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February 7 winter Blind camp 2021 final meeting of the series
90 Plays3 years ago
This was the final meeting of the winter blanket of 2021 series
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Transcript
Announcement of Final Winter Camp Meeting
00:00:14
Speaker
and now I present the final meeting February 7th winter blanket morning meeting concluding that final episode of the series enjoy
00:01:14
Speaker
21, winter camp meeting for the blind and physically challenged. This is the last meeting, February 7. And we had a little dust of snow last night, 10 degrees out there, pretty cold.
00:01:29
Speaker
But we don't have all of our campers here this morning, but we got most of them. And this is the last meeting of the week. The Lord has really blessed us.
Camp Gathering Amidst Winter Weather
00:01:59
Speaker
We want to welcome you to the 2021 Winter Camp Meeting for the Blind and Physically Challenged. This is the last meeting, February 7, and we had a little dust of snow last night, 10 degrees out there, pretty cold.
00:02:17
Speaker
But we don't have all of our campers here this morning, but we've got most of them. And this is the last meeting of the week. The Lord has really blessed us through the week.
Accessing Lessons and Seminars Online
00:02:31
Speaker
And with all the things we're learning, with the pastor teaching the Bible class, and also with the Fieszczyk putting on the Healthy Living Seminar,
00:02:44
Speaker
You might want to know that these things are on the YouTube and you can go under the Holly Church website and look at all of them at your leisure.
00:03:08
Speaker
If you have trouble finding it, you can call the Holly Church or you can call Larry Hubbell at 248-634-4379 and we can help you out. Okay, now I guess we'll have the song service and then we'll go on from there.
Hymn Singing Session
00:03:50
Speaker
Let's turn in our hymnals to page 260, sweet, sweet spirit.
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There's a sweet, sweet spirit in this place. And I know that it's the Spirit of the Lord.
00:04:22
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There are sweet expressions on each face. And I know they feel the presence of the Lord. Sweet Holy Spirit, sweet
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heavenly dove. Stay right here with us, filling us with your love. And for these blessings
00:05:08
Speaker
We lift our hearts in praise Without a doubt we'll know That we have been revived When we shall leave this place Okay, let's turn over to page 530
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It is well with my soul. When peace like a river attended my way, when serums like sea billows roll,
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Whatever my Lord, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul, it is well.
00:06:31
Speaker
with my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul.
00:06:48
Speaker
My sin, oh, the joy of this glorious thought. My sin not impart, but the whole is nailed to the cross, and I
00:07:17
Speaker
no more. He raised the Lord, praise the Lord. O my soul, it is well with my soul. It is
00:07:46
Speaker
with my soul. And Lord hates the day when my face shall be sight. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll.
00:08:11
Speaker
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul.
00:08:41
Speaker
It is well, it is well with my soul. Let's turn back to page 412, our theme song.
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Look upon Jesus, sinless is he. Father impute his life unto me. My life of scarlet, my sin and woe.
00:09:26
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Covered with his life, wider than snow Covered with his life, wider than snow Fullness of his life, then shall I know
00:09:50
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my life of scarlet, my sin and woe covered with his life wider than snow.
Personal Story: God's Guidance from Youth to Career
00:10:23
Speaker
You know, the Lord has led this week. He really has. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have been able to do this. You know, it's the same God that led me back when I was 18 years old. I got the chance to go to Camp Asabo. I was right after I graduated from Adelphian Academy.
00:10:50
Speaker
And I was one of the people picked to go work in the kitchen for six weeks at Camp Asavo. Can you imagine six weeks at Camp Asavo? It was so much fun. Now we worked hard. We did a lot of work in that kitchen. But we had some free time too. And one day, one of the girls wanted to go pick blueberries. So the rest of us, we made up our mind that we would do her work.
00:11:20
Speaker
And so she could go pick blueberries. And so she had these little tiny blueberries that she brought back and made a blueberry pie, wild, wild blueberries. Boy, is that ever good.
00:11:34
Speaker
Then we got to go swimming in our free time. And we got to go skiing. And that's where I learned how to water ski that summer. Now my brother, he was one of the ones that was picked to go to. And my brother was so good at everything. He would follow the instructions. They'd tell him to just hold his hands right out there straight. And he did.
00:11:58
Speaker
And he went right up the first time, never did it in his life before, went around the lake, but you think I could do that? I wanted to pull that boat right back to me, you know, and it just did not work. Finally I figured it out. I mean, they tried, they got me to do it. So then I was able to do it. But I just wanted to pull that boat, you know, didn't want to follow the instructions. Well, then I got a chance to do some other things.
00:12:28
Speaker
I got a chance to take the canoe out by myself in the evening, and I just loved to fish. And so I'd be out there, and I'd be out there fishing. And you know, I probably should have been in the campfire, but I didn't do it. It wasn't so much on going to meetings in those days. But you know what those campers did?
00:12:54
Speaker
They'd sing out across the lake, and they'd see me out there fishing, and they'd sing, I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men if you follow me. You know, that made an impression on my mind. It really did.
00:13:21
Speaker
Here I am out fishing for fish, and they're talking about fishing for men. That just went over in my mind. I'll end later on in my life.
Journey Through Ministry and Literature Evangelism
00:13:35
Speaker
I got a chance to go to Florida, and I got a job in Florida Sanitarium and Hospital, and that's where my ministry really probably started.
00:13:50
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I was taught when I prepared a person for surgery that you needed to have prayer with that person. And we did. And they appreciated it so much. And then after that, I came home after that first winter that I was there. And I worked in the Delphian Mill. And that's where I met my wife, Myrna.
00:14:17
Speaker
And it's a funny thing, Elder Carl, back in those days, he was the mill manager, and he hired me. And as soon as he hired me, he went over to the machine that Myrna was drilling holes in a big machine. He says, I just hired Larry Hubble. Now it's up to you to go get him.
00:14:48
Speaker
And she didn't want to really do that. She'd had that in her mind, you know, earlier, you know, when she heard of, she never met me before, you know. And she had it in her mind that she would maybe like to meet a guy like me and marry him, you know, just from what hearsay was, you know. So anyway, she didn't know what she was in for.
00:15:16
Speaker
But anyway, we've been together now 56 years. So that's 57. It's going to be pretty quick. Yeah. So praise the Lord. He's the one that works it all out. It's not us. It's only the power of God. But then after I was married a while, I just went to camp meeting.
00:15:46
Speaker
And they were talking about witnessing, you know, and that you ought to go out there and evangelize. And so I went to the call porter meetings and I decided to go into the literature evangelists work.
00:16:01
Speaker
Now, Literature Vangelis, what they do is they go door to door, talk to the people, share some books that they have for sale, and they encourage the family to have family worship and to take care of their health. They have health books and religious books and leave those books with them in the home and then go to the next place. And the Lord blessed with that for about 25 years.
00:16:28
Speaker
Then one of my bosses said to me that he had left the literature work and went to Christian record. He decided he wanted to be a gospel minister, and so he wanted to leave Christian record, but he didn't want to leave without replacing himself. He says, you need to take my place.
00:16:53
Speaker
Well, I thought I'd be a literature evangelist the rest of my life. I thought, well, I'm not too interested. But I did make an application. And after a long time, they called me up and they wanted to hire me. So then the Lord blessed in that same God, same God that blessed me in the literature evangelist work, same God that blessed me at the hospital, blessed in that.
00:17:19
Speaker
And so I was able to work for them for 21 years. And then they let all of their reps go five years ago. And the Michigan Conference picked up this ministry. And we've been doing it ever since. So what the future is going to be, I don't know. But I do know this.
Faith in God's Past and Future Guidance
00:17:46
Speaker
that the same God is in charge for the future that he was in the past. So let's just thank the Lord for what he's done through the week. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for guiding us in our lives. We thank you for this wonderful week that we've had.
00:18:08
Speaker
It's been a lot of work for the blind campers, but I think they've been blessed too. And we ask that they'll just now guide us through this final meeting. May there be someone that will make a decision for Jesus because of what they see, for we ask in Jesus' name, amen.
Reflecting on Blessings through Song
00:18:51
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When upon life's pillows you are tempest tossed When you are discreet, thinking all is lost
00:19:01
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Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
00:19:30
Speaker
Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly. And you will keep singing as the days go by. Count your blessings, name them one by one.
00:19:53
Speaker
Count your blessings, see what God hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. When you look at others with your hands and gold, think of Christ his promise you his wealth untold. Count your many blessings, wealth will never buy.
00:20:21
Speaker
Your reward in heaven nor a home on high. Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
00:20:49
Speaker
Do not be disheartened, God is over all. Count your many blessings, angels will attend. Help and comfort, give you to the journey's end. Count your blessings, aim them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one.
00:21:15
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And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. I want to thank Pastor Fred for coming all week, and we'll turn the rest of the time over to him.
Lessons from David: Humility and Faith
00:21:36
Speaker
Oh, we're at the last end.
00:21:41
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That's hard. We go home today. I'm going to miss this. We're looking at David today. Let's pray. Gracious Lord, we seek your face. We want to know your will and your way. We thank you for the illustration of David, who was declared to be a man after your own heart. We want to be men and women after your heart. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:22:08
Speaker
Well, I don't know if I can do this without all four of these chairs filled. I need somebody to fill that chair. Thank you. The story of David draws us very quickly to the Psalms, particularly Psalm 23. So that's where we're going to start. And this is a paraphrase
00:22:34
Speaker
My own paraphrase, using a lot of help from my sister-in-law Terri 5S, she went to the trouble of learning Hebrew so she could understand how to translate the Bible better. And it has helped her and it helped me too. The Lord is the one who shepherds me. All my needs are supplied. He makes me lie down in pastures of new fresh grass and leads me beside the waters of rest.
00:23:01
Speaker
He restores my soul. He guides me in the ruts of righteousness for his own glory. Even though I walk through a valley of dangerous darkness, I will not fear evil, for you, Lord, are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare before me a table fit for a king. In the presence of my harassers, you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup overflows.
00:23:26
Speaker
Surely prosperity and divine favor will chase after me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in God's house forever." We touched on the story of David last night as we were looking at Solomon. Yeah, Samuel, thank you for that help. So many names.
00:23:54
Speaker
David bursts onto the scene in the story as a shepherd. He was a shepherd. And I believe that that early training impacted him the rest of his life. He learned how to lead God's people by learning how to lead sheep. We find that's an echo of Moses' experience.
00:24:17
Speaker
there is so much that we can learn from interacting with animals about how God wants us to interact with people. So I mentioned last night that he may have been an illegitimate son. There's two evidences of that and I touched on them. Psalm 51 verse 5 says he was conceived in sin and then in 1 Samuel we find his father not mentioning him, not showing him off to the
00:24:47
Speaker
preacher that asks to see his sons until he gets confronted with this.
David's Anointment and Role at Saul's Court
00:24:52
Speaker
Now, I mentioned this not to degrade David. David is super high tall figure throughout all scripture. No, this doesn't degrade David, but what it does show is that God goes beyond the circumstances of your birth, of your race, or your family background.
00:25:16
Speaker
the tough or good times that you were experiencing, you're growing up, God accepts each one of us and He treasures us. Well, rejoice in that and thank Him for it. We're all damaged goods. We're all sinners in need of a Savior. We're all damaged goods. So there's no room for any of us to be looking down on anybody else. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
00:25:44
Speaker
And we just look over and see somebody else that needs the same Savior we need. That's where it's at. So once God specifically called David out, he progresses fast. You look at that story and wow, how did you do all these things? Only by the grace of God. We read the verse yesterday that upon his anointing, the Holy Spirit came into his life.
00:26:13
Speaker
God looks for times and ways to come close to us. I believe that with a baptism like David had a couple of days ago, that Holy Spirit begins to use him in a more powerful way.
00:26:27
Speaker
I believe that when we're doing various aspects of church work and when Rodney was ordained as a deacon that empowered Holy Spirit to come into him in a stronger way and use him in service, God does this for us. David was used. Okay. Soon after his anointing in the providence of God, Saul called him to
00:26:57
Speaker
the palace to play his harp, which may have been a liar, but it was a simple, strained instrument that he used to praise God. I believe he had been doing this out in the fields with the sheep developing things like the 23rd Psalm. The whole book of Psalms, half of them are written by David and may have been written, some of them while he was out herding sheep and some of them while he was
00:27:27
Speaker
doing other things in his adventurous life. So he already had a wealth of music. And when God directed Saul to need some help, David was chosen by God, chosen by Saul too. But it was really a God thing that he was brought into the palace.
00:27:51
Speaker
I believe God wanted David to be trained to be the king. He really didn't have enough background to be a king. He needed some training. And I mentioned Jonathan last night. I believe it was in the providence of God that Jonathan, Crown Prince Jonathan befriended David and early recognized that God had called David for a special work. And Jonathan said, let me mentor you.
00:28:20
Speaker
and just came alongside him and helped him. I think that both those men knew that there's things they didn't dare articulate, but they could know God has put us here for a purpose. And we have in the record where Jonathan says, David, I know you're going to be the next king. And I just want you to promise that you'll take care of me and my family and David.
00:28:45
Speaker
of course, promised that and fulfilled it in Jonathan's son Mephibosheth. So that advancing to the palace was the first step in his journey to being trained and ready to be king. But in the next chapter, this would be, that was 1623, in chapter 17, verse 45 of 1 Samuel. We're still in 1 Samuel.
00:29:14
Speaker
in the providence of God. He has spent some time in the palace, and now he has to run home and help his father for a while.
David vs. Goliath: Faith and Victory
00:29:23
Speaker
While he's helping his father, his father says, David, I want you to run some supplies over to your brothers who are serving in Saul's army. And he runs the supplies over to his brothers. While he's there, he hears something that is very, very offensive to him. He hears this big tall Philistine.
00:29:40
Speaker
He gets called a giant and that he was a giant is not disputed, but he thinking he was big stuff is calling God a weakling. Well, just because Goliath is a big strong man does not give him any excuse to criticize God. And David, David's blood is boiling. He says, you can't say that about God.
00:30:09
Speaker
So he got pushed to the front. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? That's the worst he would do for putting a slur on that man. That he should defy the armies of the living God. And verse 37, when David is talking with Saul, saying to Saul,
00:30:35
Speaker
Saul says, but you're just a singer. You're just a singer. How can you go against a man who's a warrior? And David says, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of a lion and from the paw of a bear, he will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. As a shepherd, he had to protect his flock. If wolves or bears or lions came against his flock,
00:31:02
Speaker
He would sling that slingstone at them and use whatever he needed to use in order to defend his flock. Of course he would. That's just the work of a shepherd. Jesus used that when he talked about it in John chapter 10. David says, he's just a man. I'm doing this for God. It's no contest. And Saul says, I don't understand it. And you remember the story, tried to dress him in his own armor.
00:31:32
Speaker
Saul's armor was for a extra tall man, remember? David is now maybe 17 years old, a strappling boy. He hasn't got his growth yet. It's pretty clear, he hasn't got his growth yet. That's intimated in the story. So now he comes on his way to see Goliath, and Goliath sees him. Philistine said to David,
00:31:59
Speaker
Come on here, I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. David says to the Philistine, verse 45, you come to me with a sword, you have a spear and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. So you're all well defended and you've got a lot of tools of your trade.
00:32:24
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the big huge spear, the sword, a big sword, and a shield, not only his own shield, but he's got a shield there with him. And you think you're hot stuff.
00:32:38
Speaker
David says, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you. I will take your head off from you. And this day I will give the carcass of the camp of the Philistines, not just you, but the whole group of Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth. That all the earth may know that there is a God of heaven and all this assembly shall know.
00:33:03
Speaker
that the Lord does not save with sword or spear. The battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands." What a statement of faith. What a man of God. Here is a man after God's own heart, a man who says, I will not listen to those people who want to say bad things about God without standing in God's defense.
Saul's Jealousy and David's Path to Kingship
00:33:25
Speaker
For God's glory, he wasn't making any brags about himself. His brags were about his God.
00:33:32
Speaker
And of course, you remember this story. One little stone went into the sling and the sling went round and round. One little stone went up in the air and the giant came tumbling down. Thank you. Oh, yes. And of course, this is all miraculous, but it's a God thing.
00:33:55
Speaker
Some people try to say that it was just happenstance that Goliath raised the visor of his face shield just at the right moment so that the stone hit him in the forehead. I don't know how it all came together. We're not giving all those
00:34:10
Speaker
these details, except that in the providence of God, when David slung his slingstone, and when I was a boy, I thought that a slingstone was about the size of a marble. Well, I have learned better. It was more the size of a fist. Well, getting hit in the head with something the size of the marble, well, that takes a miracle to make it knock him out. But getting hit in the head with something the size of a fist, a rock the size of a fist,
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah, there's no surprise. I saw somebody get knocked out with just one blow of a fist in the side of their face. So I know these things. Yeah, that was enough. Confronting Goliath brought him to attention of Saul. You see, one of the traditions in that kind of an army was that you could have one man represent the whole army.
00:35:05
Speaker
And of course, the natural person to represent the Israel army would be the king of Israel. And he was tall. He was strong. He was known to be a warrior, but he did not have confidence that God was with him. He had been told that God had left him because of his sin. And so he is afraid to confront Goliath. Now, you want my perspective on this?
00:35:34
Speaker
I think he could have gotten on his knees and said, God, this is about you. It's not about me. Give me the strength and I will go forth in your strength. I think God is quick to forgive and to restore. But Saul was not willing to humble himself before God and plead his need. Guys, that's what we have to do.
00:35:58
Speaker
We have to admit there's nothing that we can do or say to make ourselves worthy of God. All we can do is say, God, I know you have said you love me and you are providing for my needs. I'll give you what I have, which isn't anything, but I'll let you use me. Saul refused to do that. He wanted to think he was still worth something in his own self. David was quick to humble himself.
00:36:27
Speaker
And after he had killed Goliath and the armies of Israel rushed against the armies of Philistia and wiped them. It was a bad slaughter. They still had to go back and do it again and again, but it was, this was a very thorough victory. Saul recognized that it was a God thing and he said, David, I need to put you in charge of the army. And he did. David had some significant time as charge of the army and of course,
00:36:56
Speaker
Chapter 18 talks about that and after he had done such a thorough winning of the battle, the
00:37:05
Speaker
He's coming back in victory, bringing his trophies of war, and the song gets composed. Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands. Well, David slayed his tens of thousands as the soldier under Saul. So Saul gets the credit for all of David's tens of thousands. But Saul, in his jealousy, in his selfishness,
00:37:33
Speaker
in his refusal to acknowledge God as being about this whole thing. He starts saying, well, they credit me with thousands and David with tens of thousands. This isn't fair. And he got jealous of the commander of his army. Got messy. Got really messy.
00:37:55
Speaker
And of course, David presses on to become king and we have to keep moving the story along. So let me ask you a question. What was the secret of David's prowess? I have three things that I'm going to mention.
David's Humility and Repentance
00:38:10
Speaker
First of all, I suggest humility. He didn't get the big head. He didn't think I am, I can. He thought God is, God does. His humility.
00:38:24
Speaker
Most of the time he didn't think very highly of himself. He thought he was the least of Jesse's children. And he only confronted Goliath when God was mocked. It wasn't that he was challenged. It was God who was challenged. He says, we can't ignore this. As a reward for having slain Goliath, the promise was
00:38:46
Speaker
that he would become a son-in-law to the king. The king would give him one of his daughters to be his wife, which in many regards would put him in line for the throne since he's part of the royal family. He said, I'm not worthy of that. And when the king, getting jealous of David, gave this promised daughter to somebody else, he said, man, it's okay.
00:39:09
Speaker
I wasn't needing to get married right away anyway. He was humble. He did not think too highly of himself. And of course, Saul's other daughter fell in love with David, thought he was really good stuff. And finally, Saul persuaded David to earn a bride price. We talked about that with Jacob, earning the bride price.
00:39:39
Speaker
And the bride price was 100 Philistine foreskins. And Philistines realized, I'm not going to give up my foreskin except that you kill me first. And so David went out and with his army, he had a group of soldiers with him, but they didn't only get 100 Philistine foreskins. They got 200 Philistine foreskins.
00:40:08
Speaker
presented them as bride price. And so Saul had to give David his daughter. I think Saul expected David to die at the hands of the Philistines going after those foreskin. But God's in charge of this. David's humility is probably a first lesson on why he was so successful and the secret for his serving of God. Second lesson that David learned
00:40:36
Speaker
was to wait for God to act. We've been talking about this all week. All these hearers of faith, they get in trouble when they run ahead of God. Let me help you, God. But things go well when they say, God, you've told me to do this. And I've gone as far as I know how. You're going to have to deal with it. And God says, nothing's too hard for me. I can make a 90-year-old woman pregnant. God can do this.
00:41:05
Speaker
how many times God shows himself able to work miracles, even with Hannah. That was a miracle that she had a child, Samuel, and then precious, and I didn't mention this last night, but she had plenty more children. She was a very blessed mother. David waited for God to act. Now that builds on the issue of humility with a whole bucket load of patience.
00:41:35
Speaker
He waited until God invited, at least most of the time. We see this particularly when Absalom tried to take over the kingdom. David waited for God to resolve this thing. A third lesson, a third point of why David was able to be used so well by God is his quickness to repent. When we get confronted with sin,
00:42:04
Speaker
We have to choose whether we're going to justify ourself or acknowledge our sin before God and repent. That's a pivotal story in David's life. He was confronted regarding his fling with Uriah's wife Bathsheba. Second Samuel, we've all moved from first Samuel to second Samuel chapter 12. I didn't put a marker in there, but I can find it.
00:42:34
Speaker
Starting with verse 16. That moves the story down farther than where I wanted to start. David gets confronted by Nathan the prophet. Nathan the prophet comes and tells David a very touching story about a man who stole his neighbor's sheep, killed her, and served her to a guest. And David, being a shepherd, loving the sheep,
00:43:04
Speaker
got very angry about this and I can just see him. Nathan has told the story and told the story and David finally stands up off from his throne and he says, whoever did this thing, he needs to pay for, for the one that he stole. And Nathan raises his finger to David and says, you're the one. David realizes, instantly he realizes he wasn't talking about sheep, he was talking about wives.
00:43:32
Speaker
I've got a handful of wives and I stole another man's wife and killed him. David pronounced his own sentence and he paid that price. Even that child who was conceived in sin,
00:43:55
Speaker
was worthy of protection. The baby that was born to Bathsheba and David from that sinful liaison, that baby, Nathan said, is going to die. It's part of that same confrontation story. David, verse 16, pleaded with God for the child. David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. He spent a week not eating anything, pleading with God.
00:44:25
Speaker
It's not the baby's fault. It's my sin, not the baby's sin. Please, Lord, save that child. He doesn't deserve to die for my sin. Well, Jesus didn't deserve to die for my sin either, but he did. There's some powerful lessons in this. David prays and prays. After a week, the baby dies and the servants are saying to themselves,
00:44:49
Speaker
David has been so distraught while the baby's been sick, we're afraid to tell him that the baby's died, he might kill himself. David sees them whispering and he says, what's happened? Something's changed. Has the baby died? Yes. Oh, okay. He gets up, washes himself off after a week of fasting laying before the Lord.
00:45:09
Speaker
He needs to take a bath. He washes himself, and he goes and sits down. He says, I'm ready to eat now. And they say, what? What gives? How does this work, David? David says. Turn the page.
00:45:29
Speaker
While the child was alive, I fasted and wept for I said, who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious and that the child may live? But now that he's dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I should go to him, but he shall not return to me. He understood. He understood.
00:45:47
Speaker
And he moved on with
Consequences of David's Sins
00:45:49
Speaker
life. Now, don't miss that David's pronouncement was indeed fulfilled. He had said four for one and he lost four of his sons. And I believe that you can trace it directly to the sin with Bathsheba.
00:46:10
Speaker
This first boy, I call him A, since all the others have names that start with an A. I'll give this one the letter A. This baby boy, conceived in incest, died at one week of age. That was the easiest one on David. I'm telling you, that was the easiest one on David. His oldest son, Amnon,
00:46:32
Speaker
had his own incestuous fling, this time with his sister Tamar. And David felt that he couldn't deal with it. And so he ignored it. Well, David was Amnon's father. He was Tamar's father. He had a responsibility as father to Amnon to confront him and say, boy, this is not the way we do things. He had a responsibility as the father of Tamar to say, I am your defender, your protector.
00:47:01
Speaker
I'm going to deal with this. And there's plenty of ways it could have should have been dealt with. It was not dealt with. David ignored it. So Tamar had a brother. His name was Absalom. He was just as good looking as Tamar. And he said, Sis, I'll take care of it. You must be quiet. I'll deal with this. It took him two years, but he dealt with it. He murdered his brother Amnon.
00:47:28
Speaker
I know there's echoes of Cain and Abel, and maybe Absalom had a little more excuse than what Cain did, but it's still. Fratricide is the big name for it, killing of a brother. Well, Absalom, after having killed his brother, felt he needed to run away from home for a time, and he did. Finally, David brings him back home.
00:47:53
Speaker
But Absalom gets the big head and starts trying to take over the kingdom and actually has himself crowned as king. David flees. And the armies get ready to fight. And they do fight. David's army and Absalom's army. Absalom may have had a bigger army, but David had a better trained army. And it was really, since there's a god establishing this thing, it's really not about the size of the army. It's about the rightness.
00:48:23
Speaker
Absalom was killed. So that incestuous fling by Amnon got himself killed and then got his murderer killed. So those are easy to understand. Well, toward the end of David's life, this boy's name was Adonijah. Adonijah was
00:48:44
Speaker
in the line of who was born first, Adonijah was right up there close to the top. And Adonijah started getting his own big head, saying, Daddy's getting old and sick. I think I should take over. It's about time. Now, he knew that his father had indicated, and God had indicated, that someone else, Solomon, was to be the next king.
00:49:09
Speaker
You know, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He says, I'm going to give it a try. And David, hearing of that, made a very clear and strong pronouncement establishing Solomon as king. Solomon accepted his responsibility and David said to Solomon,
00:49:29
Speaker
you're going to have to deal with Adonijah. So Adonijah's big head, I believe, has a strong echo from the foolishness of David with Bathsheba. And Solomon acted very graciously. You read this story, you find Solomon said, Adonijah, as long as you behave yourself, everything will be cool.
00:49:54
Speaker
Well, Adonijah figured out a way that he thought he could advance his position as if he would be the next king. And Solomon said, no, you have, you have crossed the line and had him executed.
Legacy of Faith and Psalm 23 Paraphrase
00:50:13
Speaker
David was a man after God's own heart. What that indicates to me is that he let God into his life
00:50:24
Speaker
allowing God to use him and glorify God through him. That's all God wants to do with us. God only wants us to invite him into our heart and let him shine through us for his glory.
00:50:43
Speaker
Jesus died for his friends. Well, David was one of his friends and he wants us to be his friends. He died for you. He didn't wait for us to be his friends to die for us. While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us. So I started this message with the 23rd Psalm. Let me give it to you again with a little bit more free paraphrase, but I think you'll appreciate it.
00:51:10
Speaker
The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need. He gives me a safe place to live and abundance of good food and clean water for all of my needs. His provision for my physical needs illustrates how generously he provides for the mental, emotional, social and spiritual aspects of my life. He guides me in well-established ways of right living so my life can be a continual song of praise to him.
00:51:42
Speaker
God even fluences abundant care for me in the face of those who wish me harm. Well, there are times loved ones die and I even know myself to be close to death from illness, accident, persecution. I live without fear knowing my life is protected by his glory. I am filled with gratitude for the generous provision God gives me. God's goodness, kindness, care and grace keep piling up around my life.
00:52:11
Speaker
I live as pampered as a house pet in his presence continually. Amen.
Closing Reflections and Prayers
00:52:30
Speaker
Pastor Fred, I want to thank you from the bottom of our heart for coming this week.
00:52:39
Speaker
Well, we have two. We really thank you. And we want to thank the pastor's roommate, Luke Arthur, for coming and running the PA system and for Arlene helping him run the PA system. We really appreciate that. We thank the blind campers that were able to come. And we thank David Schloniger
00:53:07
Speaker
for coming and helping us out this week. And we thank David Shin for going and getting him. And then we thank Colin for coming and participating in this. We thank Paul Middleton for going and getting him.
00:53:28
Speaker
And then we thank Rodney Ritchie for coming. And we thank Randy Noschinger for going and getting him. And we thank you for thank Jamie Stowe for coming. We really appreciate Rich going and getting him many of the days that we're here. And we want to thank David Hubbell
00:53:57
Speaker
for leading the song service a lot of the times here. And Pam Nielsen for coming in the evening and providing the special music. And I'm going to probably forget somebody, but I hope I don't. Yes, that was wonderful, wasn't it?
00:54:23
Speaker
And we thank you, yeah, the cooks. We really appreciate them coming. Cheryl and Ron Knapp came all the way from Petoskey to come down and cook for us. Wasn't that a blessing? It really was. Right, right. And then we really appreciate the people that called in or we called them, you know.
00:54:53
Speaker
And there was Pat Page.
00:54:57
Speaker
Pat told all about how this Winter Camp for the Blind started back in 1999. And then Keith Elliott, we want to thank Keith and Helene for talking with us on the phone. And then there was Peggy Hanson. She called, or we called her.
00:55:23
Speaker
She told some wonderful experiences of how Lord has blessed wine camp. Then last night, Howard Myers. Yeah, Howard Myers.
00:55:44
Speaker
And by the way, you said something about Harold. I made a mistake. I did say Harold, but then I corrected myself right away. His name is Howard. Howard Meyers. But with the word Harold coming up, I want to recommend something. There's a fellow by the name of Percy Harold, and he's on YouTube.
00:56:14
Speaker
What do you call it, Arlene? YouTube, you can do a search, Percy Harold, and you can Google him too. Percy Harold will read the Sabbath school lessons every day of the week. He not only reads the Sabbath school lesson, but he reads all the text.
00:56:39
Speaker
that are in there. It is really a blessing. So Google Percy Harold, I think you'll be blessed. Then another thing that I recommend to Google is Ellen White Audio. What this does is it has two versions of the Bible first.
00:57:02
Speaker
It has alphabetically all of the books that Ellen White has wrote. It has the devotional books. And then after they're done with that, then they have the books of the early Adventist pioneers. It's such a blessing. I've learned so many things as I've listened. And you know, I've just listened to a little bit. There's enough to keep you busy all your life in there.
00:57:31
Speaker
It's just wonderful. But then, so I'm thankful for those two things that has been a blessing in my life, and I hope that they'll be a blessing in yours too. Then let's see. Oh yes, we need to thank the Holly Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:57:58
Speaker
They opened this church up for us to do this virtual camp meeting for the blind. And I understand when the board met that it was unanimous. They wanted us here. Praise the Lord. No one voted against it. That's amazing to me.
00:58:18
Speaker
And then they even bought some special equipment so that this could all work out here the way it is working out here. So they spent some money on this PA system so that this would work. So praise the Lord for them. Now, you want to put the picture on the screen?
00:58:46
Speaker
I want to thank my better half, Myrna, for helping out. She's been a real encouragement. I remember Larry Pitcher, the president of Christian Records Services, he told me how he appreciated what we were doing for the camps for the blind. But he says, you know what? He says, you wouldn't be able to do it if it wasn't for Myrna.
00:59:16
Speaker
And I didn't know if I believed it or not, but I'm believing it more and more all the time. And then that's our daughter there with Myrna, and that's Peggy, Peggy Hubble. And she's helped with this camp even though she's in Canada.
00:59:39
Speaker
I would call her up and I'd say, Peggy, can you send me a picture of Peggy Hanson? And she'd go on the line and she'd find a picture of Peggy Hanson and she'd send it. I says, can you find a picture of Pat Page? And so she'd go online, find a picture of Pat Page, so we could have that up there.
01:00:04
Speaker
Then I asked her, also Scott and Debbie. Yeah, that's right. We've got to thank Scott and Debbie for calling in or talking to us and explaining how they got into the camps for the blind. But she found all these pictures out there.
01:00:29
Speaker
send them to me, and then I sent them to Luke, and Luke was able to put them right up there, just amazing how these smart young people, they just know how to do things. It's so wonderful. So anyway, there's where to stand in the door. You want to come join me for a prayer?
01:01:00
Speaker
You might have to come this way. Well, I want to thank you for encouraging us along the way, honey. You're welcome. That's what your wife is supposed to be for. Well, thank you. Well, let's have a closing prayer.
01:01:29
Speaker
Our Father in Heaven, we thank you so much for all that you've done for us this week and throughout all of our lives. We thank you that David made his decision to be baptized. And we ask that they'll fill him with the Holy Spirit, help him to tell his people in the spirit of the Lord so that they might accept it. And we know that this is your will.
01:01:53
Speaker
So we thank you for answering our prayer. Just guide us now all as we go home that we might remember the things we've learned this week for we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. And thank you Lord for being with each camper as they go home. Thank you for sending the holy angels before them and with them. And thank you for no harm or accident before all of them. And thank you for miracles in your work, for your work. Amen. Amen.
01:02:25
Speaker
Breakfast will be served soon. Folks, this is all. Thank you for enjoying this episode. And if you like what you heard, take care and be blessed. Until next episode, bye-bye.