WALKING WITH GOD

The transcription discusses the importance of walking with God and following His commandments. It mentions the stories of Enoch and Noah from the book of Genesis, highlighting their faith and obedience to God. It emphasizes the need for a relationship with God and living a life of righteousness. The transcription also mentions the importance of walking in the light, walking in truth, and showing love and mercy to others. It concludes by reminding us to stay focused on God's work and not be discouraged by the opinions of others. O Thou in whose presence, O Thou in whose presence, my soul takes delight, on whom in affliction I call. By comfort, by day, and my song in the night, my hope, my salvation, my all. There shall be shepherds in store, if I should be, to see their responses of love. Then why in the valley of death should I weep, for alone in this world can I go? He looks, and ten thousand of angels rejoice, and myriads now wait for his word. He speaks, and eternity filled with his voice, he echoes the praise of the Lord. There shall be shepherds in store, if I should be, to see their responses of love. For the cross that we stand, O Lord, Lord, so safe and defending, O Lord, my all, and in thee I will ever rejoice. Thank the Lord. God desires us to see with our eyes, and to hear with our ears, and understand with our hearts, convert and be healed. God is calling us to hear his voice, and to follow his call. In order to follow his call, we must walk with God. These are some of the thoughts the Lord gave me about walking with God. First of all, saints must walk with God. Let us turn to the book of Genesis, the fifth chapter, and the twenty-fourth verse. Brother Mark, would you read that for us? Well, I'm having a lot of difficulty seeing. Oh, well, that's all right. Okay. How about...Randall, are you able to read your Bible today for us? Yes, would you say Genesis 5? 5 and 24, please. Okay, Genesis 24. 5, 24. Okay, what did you say? Genesis 5 and 24. Okay, Genesis 5, 24. Okay. And do not walk with God, and he was not, for God took him. Thank the Lord. There was no written Bible at this time that we're reading in Genesis. And the prophecy came not in the old time by the will of men, but holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. For us, to walk with God means to make a relationship with God. God wants a relationship with us, he with him, as part of our everyday lifestyle, to honor God with your choices in every aspect of life. His case here in Enoch is kind of unusual in all of the Scripture and possibly in all of human history. By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Enoch was a man of faith, and without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Praise the Lord. In this Genesis, over a little further, 6 and 9. May we get you to read that, Sister Lois? Genesis 6 and 9. What was that Scripture again? Genesis 6 and 9. 6. These are the generations of Noah. Yes. Noah was his best man and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God. Thank the Lord. There are college professors and archaeologists that does a lot of teaching and digging in old historical artifacts, and we found that what they think is Noah's Ark over in a certain mountain over in Europe, and skeptics won't believe what's been passed down, and they think it's just a fantasy story that's made up of religious people that tell in church in Sunday school. Noah was guided by the Lord to build this ship, and those instructions were given by God in what it was to be made of and the dimensions of the length and the width, and while he was building the Ark, he told people for 120 years that it was going to rain. They didn't believe him because their hearts were darkened, and it had never rained on the earth. They were worse than doubting Thomas. He wouldn't believe the truth until he saw the nail prints in Jesus' hands. We live in a highly educated society today, and the more education it seems that people have, they tend to think that their education is their God, and they're all around, and you can ask them if they're a Christian, and they'll hum and haw around the question, and folks don't talk about believing in God very much. The reference is made to a belief in a higher power, and I've heard that from people more than once, but that higher power they're talking about is not the God of the Bible. God is just kind of pushed off because of not wanting to be responsible to obey the commandments of God, and some of the same folks have been taught right, and they read the Bible for themselves, and Noah is the first person whose work was primarily redemptive. Unlike others who are busy wrangling or living from the ground, Noah is called to save humanity and nature from destruction, but you know if there had been others that were listening to Noah, I believe God would have made a way to be able to save more people. 120 years is plenty enough time for those that are in the earth to hear the truth and repent, but only eight souls were saved out of the whole population. God had already repented that he had made man, and it grieved him in his heart, the word says, because wickedness was great in the earth, and their thoughts were evil continually. Let's turn over to Matthew, not Matthew, but Micah, the sixth chapter of Micah, and the eighth verse. I'd like to get Christi to read that for us, please. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Amen. Thank the Lord. His word is plain and clear, isn't it? He still requires of these things of us today. The Bible has been published in most all languages that anyone that desires to read and know what is good according to God and what he requires of every person, there's a way that has been made. The Holy Scriptures are being taught in many colleges and universities today, and truth is presented on computers, and it's available online and the social media, and it's preached on street corners and lived by genuine saints of God. We thank the Lord for that, and we humbly ask the Lord to help us and empower us and to lead us and equip us. It'll never be easy, but especially on the road to reconciliation, but it's the road that God calls us to walk. And this is a call to listen to God and to justice, to do justice, and from the hearts of mercy and compassion marked by the humility of Christ. Walking with God expresses several connotations, and walking with God implies a walking as he walked. Let's turn over and see what 1 John, the second chapter and the sixth verse says. 1 John 2 and 6. 2 and 6. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. I heard a Muslim man say when asked about Christianity, he said he understands Christ and Christianity, but he has trouble understanding the Christian. Now, that's because some professors of Christianity give Christians a bad name. By the way, they fail to live what Christ lived. The Bible says that if someone says he abides in Christ, in him, that that person should abide in Christ the way Christ abides in the Father, and that would be to keep his commandments. And according to the rest of the verses here we read, the command that Christ gave was to love your neighbor as yourself. Walking with God also implies walking in the light. Will you turn with us over to 1 John, the first chapter and the seventh verse? But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. It's not some kind of a fellowship that's humanly made, but it's a fellowship that God calls us to be and is made within us with one another by walking in the light as he is in the light. Walking in the light means seeing the way God sees them and responding the way that he does. We walk in the light when we hate sin and name it for the ugly thing that it is, and we agree with God about it and turn from it. A person that covers his sin, the Bible says he shall not prosper, but whoso confesses his sins and forsake them shall have mercy. So confessing and forsaking sin is a crucial part of walking in the light. Nobody will have to be misunderstanding our walk with the Lord as we walk in the light because they'll see clearly that we are following what the word of God says. John's first epistle teaches us that while it's important to recognize the lines between truth and error, we must always be done with the spirit of love. Walking with God also implies walking in truth. Let's turn over to the third John. I believe he tells us something here where he says in third John 3, I'm really looking for the scripture that speaks about where he said, I greatly rejoice. I don't know if someone knows exactly where that is. When the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, he said, even as thou walkest in truth. It's the scripture that you said, for I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. Yes, thank the Lord. I'm glad you found that. My eyes just didn't get a hold to it right quick. Now, I go everywhere and anywhere that the Lord sends me, and I'm careful about attending different congregations, even if they're called Church of God. Years of experience and listening to the voice of the Lord has taught us in places among saints that there will be nothing but butting of heads and ostracizing of the truth. And when they see and hear what you are living and teaching, what God has given you, some will take it in and be blessed by it, but there are others who will stop inviting you to dinner, and the pats on the back is going to stop. And when they hear the old-time truth of the Word of God, I tell you, I have relatives who has other relatives that's in leadership in a congregation. Thinking about a time that revival was coming up soon, and I asked, well, how are they holding the truth? Are they standing firm on the one foundation of Christ? And you know I never got a reply from that. That was an indication right there behind the quietness that they may not be in the light. God has plenty of work that we may do, and we don't have to be where folks try to box God in. The poet says, we may all keep busy till the Lord we see when he comes for his faithful few. We can spend every hour for the Lord. God has plenty of work that we may do, as he says. Every hour for Jesus till he comes again when the labor of life shall end. You know, time is too short for us to be butting heads with people who want to go along with this modernistic age, or people who have been reared in the congregation of holy spiritual leaders and decided to eat their own bread and to wear their own apparel. Just let us be called by thy name. I know some of y'all know just what I'm talking about, quote, unquote. Romans, the 16th chapter, 17th and 8th verse says, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses that are contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. We have a translation by J.N. Darby here of this 1st, 3rd John 3. For I rejoice exceedingly when the brethren came and bore testimony to thy holding fast to truth, even as thou walkest in truth. Thinking about when we first met Brother Souther in Oklahoma City, 23rd Street, and we heard him minister the truth under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, I said, This brother is holding fast to truth. He didn't mind stomping his foot every now and then to emphasize what was being said. There was a ferocity of God that was exhibited in him. In the 1980s, God was sending a revival to Wichita, Kansas, and Brother Gaines in Tulsa approached me and he said, You may want to get ready for this meeting that's going to be in Wichita. There's a brother coming from Florida, and they say he's a little piece of leather, and he's well put together. That was Brother H. Hargrave. And I went and I saw, and I didn't want to hear anything less than the whole truth. He held fast to truth also. I want to say right here that we are not lifting up the brothers in the ministry. It's the truth that they hold fast. And we want it and desire it in our lives, and God has it to give to us. If we will obey in his word, believe, the poet says, he'll prepare us to dwell on high. Many of the ministers' meetings when critical issues were on the floor, and those brethren would be the one that's showing forth the word of God to make things clear of what God was calling for on the issues of the Church of God doctrine. Amen. And it made those compromisers cringe. Amen. When we have what God wants to have, God is going to cause his truth to be out in the open and clear, because this thing was not done in a corner. God wants to have that Holy Ghost bonus. It was traditionally thought to be John the Apostle who said, For I rejoiced exceedingly when the brethren came and bore testimony to thy holding fast to truth, even as thou walkest in truth. He was acknowledging what God was doing through Gaius. And there were men working and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don't have to feel shame because of some uninformed brethren think that we're carrying it too far. If it's the Bible, it's just right, praise God. I want to say that walking with God implies walking in the Spirit. Let's see where that's brought out in Galatians 5 and 25. Would you get that for us, Sister Lewis, and read it in Galatians 5 and 25? 5 and 25? Yes. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Excuse me. Living by the Spirit involves keeping in step with the Spirit. It involves adjusting our pace to master pace and direction the Spirit is leading. We've got to be honest. We've got to have faith. I have faith in a scripture that meets the situation, and you say, oh, that don't mean nothing to me. Well, what's wrong with you? We've got to be in an agreement, not in picking or fault-finding, not if I say one thing and you try to say the opposite. It's called variance. And the definition of variance is the state of fact of disagreeing or quarreling, contention, strife. The Bible calls variance as a work of the flesh. And if we're going to contend for anything, it ought to be earnestly contending for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Down in this book, same book in 5 and 19 to 24, it says, the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance. There it is. Variance. And it goes on with a list of other things that are the works of the flesh. And we want to avoid these and work against these and follow and obey what the Spirit says. He says, I have also told you in time past was they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. You know, it's good for us to write these things down as we read them and find out what the meaning of these things and be familiar with what the Spirit is having us to follow and to do and have on hand in our lives and asking God and seeking God for us to have these things working in us. It says, meekness, temperance. Against us there is no law, and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affection and lust. Look at that, it says, long years have we dwelt in confusion and strife and groped where contention and error arise. But now we have found what we sought for so long, that the people of God united once wrong. Light breaks at last. Hallelujah to God. Darkness is past. Let us shout it aloud. From the mountains and hills, let us gather the few who will stand for the right and dare to be true. We don't have to have a disagreeable spirit. Walking with God implies walking by the same rule. Let us turn over to Philippians, the third chapter and 16th verse, if you would read that for us, Christi. Philippians 3 and 16. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things. Amen. Thank you for reading that. Living up to what you have attained. In this passage, this verse comes from Paul, and he's encouraging us to grow into maturity. When we first start out in the Lord, we may not have quite the same amount of graces and maturity that you see someone who has been following the Lord for a number of years. By following Paul's example, this is an ongoing process. He said he pressed to the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. This is a pressing way. We have to have a continual press in us if we desire to be successful in running this race. By the grace of God, we're not going to run it in vain, because he'll help us and give us the grace that we need to be successful in it. But what is this teaching us? All of us who are mature should take a view of things, and if on some point you think differently than what maybe another saint thinks, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Walking with God implies walking in his ways. If we listen to the voice of God and we pay close attention to it, he'll teach us to walk in his ways and his path. Joshua, the 22nd chapter and the 5th verse. Randal, would you read that for us over in Joshua 22 and 5? But take notice that he, to the commandment of the Lord God, It's known that the servant of God trusts you to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, and to please him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Thank you, Randal. This is an intense and across-the-board call to wholehearted devotion for each one of us for obedience and service to God. It encapsulates the fundamental aspect of the Israelites' relationship with God and their commitment to live according to his will. And it's the same for us today, to walk in his ways. That's his will for us. To walk with God implies walking in the old path. Jeremiah 6 and 16. Sister Lois, would you get Jeremiah 6 and 16 for us? Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the way, and see, and ask for the old path, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. All right. Thank you very much for that reading. But they said, We will not walk therein. The old path is the highway of holiness. I get excited when I hear saints talking about the old path. Most of the saints that we grew up with who were the elder men and women that lived faithful to God are gone on now. And they held true to the standard of holiness unto the Lord. Many of the younger generations, might be a few, but they want to be entertained. But I'm not here to entertain. An old saying, a saint used to sing a song that says, You can't do wrong and get by. No matter how hard you may try, nothing hidden can be, everything he does see, you can't do wrong and get by. Many folks want a religion that helps them to normalize sin and find loopholes that allows them to have one foot in God and the other foot in the world. But the Bible says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. I hope that when the rest of our children see Christi, that they take knowledge that she's a woman who's been with Christ. Not just going along and professing Christianity. But God wants and exhorts his rebellious people to pause and examine themselves and to find their way back to the roadways of their faithful ancestors. My old grandmother, her grandfather Knight, was sweetly saved and sanctified by the Holy Ghost man. And he was living before I was born, about two years. But they told me, because he made an impression and an influence upon those that followed behind. And they told me one of his favorite hymns was the Kingdom of Peace. Here's the kingdom of peace, it is reigning within. It shall ever increase in my soul. We possess it right here, when it's saved from all sin. And to last while the ages shall roll. No, he wasn't dreaming of an age to come like you hear so many people that goes around the neighborhoods and knocking on these doors and want to give you their literature. Tell you about an age to come. Praise God, you need to be ready because they may knock on your door one of these days. And you can tell him I don't have to wait for an age to come because he's reigning in my heart today. We possess it right here when he's when we're saved from all sin. What a pleasure in life it is bringing and what assurance and hope ever bright. Oh, what rapture and bliss are waiting when our faith shall be lost in his sight. People may not see the things that we as the saints of God, true Christians are going through. But praise God, I'm walking with the Lord and everything may not feel good all the time. And I may have distresses and different things happening. But I'm learning to count it all joy. I get so much joy sometimes I say, Lord, I think this is about all I can handle right now. But praise God, when we be learning how to count things all joy, we don't have to be moved by the afflictions and the things that happen to us. We got a hope within us that goes beyond this world of toil and care, beyond this veil of gloom. There's a land, there's a happy land, there's a place that we call our home. Oh, yes, we'll trust him while we live and we'll trust him when we die. And then when all our work is done, we're going to reign with him on high. That'll be long enough, won't it? Praise God. We're going to leave these old shacks down here that we're living in. Even though we appreciate where the Lord blessed us to have a place, for one sweet day, we've got a mansion that's waiting in glory. Aren't you thankful for that? Is that your hope today? Amen. That's mine. A mansion in glory is waiting to welcome the holy and true. When to the Savior no living, they'll sing a sweet anthem for you. Oh, home above of peace and love, I'm going to dwell in that home above. Oh, will you seek a home above, get ready for sinner and come. I'm determined by the grace of God not to let the world or anything else hinder me from making heaven my home. The devil will try to tell you to get your mind off of so much about heaven. He's got a false claim of all the kingdom and the riches of this world, he says, if you just fall down and worship him. But that's a false claim because everything belongs to God. You know, the devil is the father of lies. He never abode in the truth. The Bible says that he's the murderer from the beginning. So it won't pay no good for us to pay any attention to what he says. Let's move on a little further. Now, walking with God implies walking in the newness of life. Romans, the sixth chapter and the fourth verse. Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, praise God. That the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free from sin. We're buried with him by baptism into death. This means that a real spiritual transaction has taken place when we are saved. On a spiritual level, we experience death and burial with Christ. Then God gloriously raised us from that spiritual death just as he raised Christ from the physical death. If any man be in Christ, the word tells us he's what? I think some of us know what that says. But I'm going to say it. He is a new creature. All things are what? Passed away, praise God. Somebody knows what I'm talking about. Behold, all things are what? Become new, thank the Lord. That's why I can sing this song. This is why I love my Savior. Why I love to follow him. For he died my soul to ransom and he washed me from my sin. Though all men may look on me with wonder at the change that's taken place. I will walk down the road no longer. Bless the Lord for saving grace. This is why I love my Savior. Why I love to follow him. For he died my soul to ransom and he washed me from my sin. Praise God. I'm walking with God now. The crowd that I once used to run with, they think it's strange that we don't run with them to the same way that we used to do anymore. God's called us to be a peculiar people. Not a picky people but a peculiar people. A chosen generation. A royal priesthood. And holy nation, he says. Do you know that there are promises to those that walk with God? Let's take a look in the Word of God over here in Psalms 84 and 11. They shall have all good things. Christi, would you read that scripture for us? I believe we're going to just about conclude with this one. Psalms 84 and 11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will be withheld. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Praise the Lord. They shall have all good things. Isn't that wonderful? You know, sometimes the enemy want to make us forget all these wonderful promises God has given us. But we need to turn a deaf ear to him and just rely on his promises and obey what he says. He'll teach us his ways and he'll help us and cause us to walk in his path. We love him with all of our hearts, our souls, our mind and strength. Not leaning to our own understanding and acknowledge him in all our ways, he said he would direct our path. God is a sun and a shield. This is like a clothing. Clothing with the metaphor of light. In order to identify God as the source of all good. As one who is himself good. And as one who is in himself the first good. In the order of goodness. This understanding of Psalms 84 fits us well with the rest of the verse which says, No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Praise the Lord. Let us bow our heads in our hearts in prayer today. Lord Jesus, give us the strength and the grace to walk uprightly before you. Lord, by the power of your spirit, cause our trust to be in you and your son. Lord, your word is for our time. Just because this is a modern world, the word of God still holds the same and holds true for us right now. It is the word to us through the words of David. It shows us how to press on and to trust God in the midst of a crisis and tremendous difficulty. Lord, you are in your holy temple. We are your temple. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In this age of destruction and deception, may we honor your temple and not allow ourselves to be polluted by the world. O Lord, commune with us in your temple. In your most holy place, Lord, you said in your word, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, you said. Come out from among this world and be separate, said the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty. These requests we ask in the name of your holy child, Jesus. Amen. Praise the Lord. We have a song on page 289. It's called, By Faith and Not by Sight. Remember, we start out with Enoch. He walked with God until he was not, and God took him. And he had this testimony that he pleased God. Well, if we walk with the Lord, we're going to have to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the substance of things that are hoped for, and it's the evidence for things that are not seen. The things that are seen are temple, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Praise God. 289. I'll start it out. Jesus has purchased me for his own. Sweetly he reigns in my heart his own. Pardon he granted, and wash me, what? By faith and not by sight. Walking with Jesus, I'm in the light. Walking with Jesus in robes of white. Walking with Jesus, my way is bright. By faith and not by sight. Seeking dearly to the Holy Spirit. Holy, I came to the cross of grace. And the Holy Spirit is mine. By faith and not by sight. Walking with Jesus, I'm in the light. Walking with Jesus in robes of white. Walking with Jesus, my way is bright. By faith and not by sight. When I was held in affliction chain. Suffering much from disease and pain. Jesus then touched me and healed me quite. By faith and not by sight. Walking with Jesus, I'm in the light. Walking with Jesus in robes of white. Walking with Jesus, my way is bright. By faith and not by sight. Walking with Jesus daily. When in this blindness I stand complete. With the ransom in heaven light. My faith is lost inside. Walking with Jesus, I'm in the light. Walking with Jesus in robes of white. Walking with Jesus, my way is bright. By faith and not by sight. Praise the Lord. That's the only true way to walk. Walking by faith. Anyone else testimony or thanksgiving? Answer to prayer? Exhortation? Just continually thanking the Lord for how he helps us day by day. Amen. Not always easy, but the Lord knows how to help strengthen and encourage you. Yes, he does. Thanks for this message today. Praise the Lord. Anyone else? Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We give thanks again for the Lord's faithfulness to us, to me here today. And each one that is on the call. And let us be encouraged to walk by faith and not by sight. If there's nothing further, we may look to the Lord for a dismissal and a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we come before you as we come to close to this service. Yes, Lord. We thank you for the faith that you have for us. Yes, Lord. We ask that you give us more faith and be able to walk in your holy way. Yes, Lord. Through the trials and the tests of life, know that you have grace for us. Amen, Lord. We ask that you bless each one that has heard these verses. That they'll come back to all of us and encourage us this coming week. Do, Lord. We pray that you would help us in the trials of life. Yes, Lord. And we ask that you will please be victorious for us. Yes, Lord. Amen. Amen.