Walking with God

[0:00] Well, guys, today we return to Hebrews chapter 11, and we're going to talk about Enoch, one of my favorite guys in the Bible.

[0:29] Enoch, we've got to differentiate because there are at least four men in the Bible named Enoch. And we want to get on to the right one, of course.

[0:42] Those are found in Genesis 4.17, and Genesis 5.18, and 25.4, and 46.9. And in Genesis 25 and 46, the NIV gives them the name Hanuk, H-A-N-O-K.

[1:01] But other translations, such as Darby, uses the word Enoch. But in both verses, the name Hanuk is from the same Hebrew word translated Enoch in Genesis 4 and Genesis 5.

[1:21] And other translations spell them a little bit different, but the difference is the English spelling. It's the way we spell it. These are clearly not the men spoken of in our Hebrews passage.

[1:35] Now, we find this passage very early in the book of Genesis, specifically chapter 4, verse 17. It says, Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.

[1:51] When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. This Enoch was the son of Cain and the grandson of Adam.

[2:05] This is clearly not the Enoch of Hebrews chapter 11, where are listed the great men of faith.

[2:16] This particular Enoch, the direct descendant of Cain, is not a great man of faith. The Enoch we will study tonight is mentioned in Genesis 5.18.

[2:30] And it says this, When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years.

[2:46] This was before the flood and before the genetics changed. And he fathered other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.

[3:02] Verse 23, When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. We remember him, right? Oldest guy in the Bible.

[3:16] Now here's one of my favorite passages in all the Word of God. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah.

[3:30] He walked with him for 300 years. Had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

[3:43] Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. This Enoch was the great, great, great, great, great grandson of Adam.

[3:56] He did not come through the ungodly line of Cain. Cain had already been kicked out of, not just kicked out of Eden, kicked out of that whole region.

[4:08] He didn't live near Adam and Eve as mother and dad. And this Enoch came through the godly line of Seth, who was born after Cain killed Abel, and as a consequence, was driven by God from the presence of Adam and Eve.

[4:29] Now we read something very significant. In the inspired passage in Genesis chapter 5, the Holy Spirit tells us that Enoch had been alive for 65 years when he fathered Methuselah.

[4:47] And I think this was his first offspring. And we are told that after having this son, Enoch began walking with God.

[4:59] After the birth of his first son, he started walking with God. That truth has resonated with me for years. There was something that stirred the heart of Enoch when he looked at that baby.

[5:18] And he began walking with God as a result. I think God used the sight of that baby to bring Enoch to faith.

[5:32] And you know, quite frankly guys, this is not unlike my story. When my son Rob was born, there were a great many complications. His red blood cells and white blood cells were opposite of what they should have been.

[5:52] He was also having difficulty breathing on his own. One doctor told Diane and I that he might have leukemia.

[6:02] That is not something new parents want to hear. I mean, he's like 15 minutes old or an hour old and they're saying he may have leukemia.

[6:13] Now, I was not yet a believer at that time. I was searching. But I wasn't yet a believer. Rob was born at 2.30 a.m.

[6:25] Of course, you know, they're never at 2.30 p.m. And I went home at 5.30 a.m. To try and sleep for one hour. And when I got home, I got down on my knees and I began to pray.

[6:45] And it's like it happened yesterday. And I asked specifically that the Holy Spirit would stand by his crib and if necessary, breathe for him because I knew the nurses and doctors couldn't stand there.

[7:02] This was in Arlington, Texas. There were dozens of newborn babies. And I asked that the Holy Spirit would stand by there and pray and breathe for him if necessary and also to straighten out his blood cells.

[7:19] When I returned to the hospital at 6.30 that morning after sleeping an hour, things had already started to turn around for the good.

[7:31] And I looked down at that baby and I think I could say started walking with God. But we need to return to Enoch.

[7:44] The book of Hebrews gives a little more detail. Hebrews 11.5 By faith, Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death.

[8:00] He could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

[8:15] This being taken away is what Enoch is most famous for. Only two people in the Bible are said to have been chosen by God and escaped death.

[8:26] One Enoch and one Elijah. Enoch appears to have been given this privilege due to being a man who walked faithfully with God.

[8:38] Genesis 5.24 And as a man who pleased God, Hebrews 11.5 Now, for what purpose was Enoch taken away?

[8:49] The Bible does not specifically say. The most common assumption is so that he could serve as one of the two witnesses alongside Elijah in the end times.

[9:01] Remember, there are going to be two witnesses come and they're going to preach and the world's going to hate them and eventually they're going to die and the world's going to rejoice and have a party. And the Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die.

[9:15] Well, Enoch and Elijah haven't died yet. So maybe they are the two witnesses but we can't be dogmatic about it. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God had taken him.

[9:32] Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God and without faith it is impossible to please him. Him being God.

[9:44] Forever who would draw near to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Now, having already studied Abel, today we come to our second hero of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, that being Enoch.

[10:06] And you might remember from last time, Abel exemplified those who worship by faith. Enoch exemplifies those who walk by faith.

[10:22] Many people, including many Christian people, believe that works saved the saints of the Old Testament. The most common statement is that keeping the Ten Commandments saved the Hebrew people.

[10:38] Many people, including some Christian people, even believe that salvation is by works today. Let me say to you parenthetically, it has never been by works.

[10:51] Starting with Adam and Eve. Down to our time. Others modify that position and claim one is saved by grace but kept by works.

[11:02] I've got some good friends. I won't mention their domination but their Westland and they hold to that. Saved by grace but you have to keep it.

[11:14] And then I come back and say, you can't keep it for five minutes. You can't keep it. We live in the continual state of sinfulness. Well, I don't do that.

[11:26] Yeah, you do. Have you ever loved God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit? No. Have you ever loved your neighbor as yourself totally? No. Then you need a Savior.

[11:37] You need Jesus. So here we are on November 20, 2023. And if you learn nothing else, and I know you already know this, memorize the fact that salvation is not a matter of works.

[11:55] No one that has ever been saved, Old or New Testament, has been saved by works. Salvation has always been and will always be on the basis of God's unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor.

[12:12] The salvation that comes from God is never a reaction to human effort or human desire. God doesn't look down and say, well, I wasn't going to save that guy but I've got to now.

[12:24] Look at all the great stuff he's done for me. It doesn't happen like that. Paul made it clear in Romans that salvation is neither on the basis of works nor is it on the basis of human will.

[12:41] Salvation has been and always will be on the basis of God extending grace to those who do not deserve it and can never earn it.

[12:54] That's how you're saved. Now, works does have its place in the grand design of God. We are saved by grace to do good works that God's already mapped out for each individual.

[13:09] By the way, that's Ephesians 2.10 and God's already mapped out those good works for us but that's not a path to salvation. Works are a result of salvation and not the basis of salvation.

[13:28] There's another important point to be made here. God reveals to man His revelation through Scripture. But that revelation is progressive.

[13:42] Enoch had more light than did Adam. Noah had more light than Enoch. And onward, as we march down through the ages, even to this day.

[14:00] I mean, you think of us today, we have the book of Revelation. We have all these books and things that we can study. And we have more revelation than all the Old Testament saints combined.

[14:15] Now, Adam and Eve were created without sin. As such, they had the high privilege of walking with God. And mostly, I think that was Adam even before Eve.

[14:28] But when they chose the path of disobedience, Adam and Eve forfeited their right to walk with God. Fellowship was broken and they fled from God.

[14:44] And not only did they forfeit the right to walk with God, they were ashamed to do so and they hid from God. And, I'll tell you, while it's not in your notes, they did something else.

[15:00] They created a human religion based on works righteousness called fig leaf religion. They said, if we're going to make ourselves presentable to God, we've got to cover our nakedness.

[15:12] They didn't realize they were naked until the Shekinah glory of God departed. And now, hey, we've got clothes on. Let's get some fig leaves and make some clothes and then we'll be accepted by God.

[15:26] So they created a religion, fig leaf religion. The ultimate destiny of every saved person throughout human history is again to walk with God in unbroken fellowship.

[15:44] Enoch reinstituted that after Adam and Eve's fall. He stands as an illustration of what all men and women should be and that is to live and have fellowship with their maker.

[16:02] It is in Enoch that our destiny is again reestablished as he enjoyed this intimate fellowship with the Lord. Now, Enoch built on the faith of Abel and that would have been his uncle.

[16:20] There's no doubt that Enoch's faith included all that Abel did and God also graciously added to it as did Abel before him. Enoch undoubtedly offered acceptable sacrifices and they would have involved blood sacrifices.

[16:38] Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. We've already seen through Cain how God reacts to bloodless sacrifice. But Enoch carried his faith further in that he not only worshipped God, but he walked with God.

[16:58] To put it another way, Enoch pleased God. Now, how would you like in 2023 to be the year that you were well-pleasing to God?

[17:11] I put 2012, ignore that. It's 2023. From the life of Enoch, we see five features that made him well-pleasing to God and these can be ours as well.

[17:24] The first one is that Enoch believed that God is. And without faith, it is impossible to please God.

[17:36] No man has ever pleased God apart from faith. Religion has always been man's effort to please God.

[17:47] It always falls short of its goal. In reality, religion has always been a tool of Satan whose goal is to distort man's relationship with God and to offer a counterfeit path to God that is not grounded in revealed truth.

[18:11] You'll recall when Jesus was on earth, he warred against organized religion. And we can say in many respects, organized religion killed him. Had him killed.

[18:22] But it's not grounded in revealed truth. This has been true since the creation of the first human, fig leaf religion, whereby Adam and Eve, no doubt through satanic inspiration, tried to recreate through human effort the atmosphere whereby they would again be able to walk with God.

[18:49] it, like all human system of religion, failed. Religion does not please God.

[19:03] Paul said it best, and this was given to him by the Spirit of God, without faith it is impossible to please God. I'll tell you, when you read the Old Testament and you find out that one of the prevailing religions in those days was Baal worship.

[19:22] And the centerpiece of Baal worship was the killing of babies. That was the centerpiece. I would have to say the prevailing religion on earth today is a return to Baal worship.

[19:39] We're killing babies by the millions globally. And God notices every one of them. So the first step is to believe that He is.

[19:51] And that is exactly what Enoch did. God is well pleased with those who believe that He exists. That alone does not save a person, but it does serve as a first step on the journey of salvation.

[20:07] This belief must be in the true God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. and don't ever come to me and say, well, God as I perceive Him to be, that's like running your fingernails down a blackboard.

[20:21] Some of you guys are too young to know what a blackboard is. But that's, that just cringe, I cringe when people say that. God as I perceive, no matter how you perceive Him, what does the Bible teach about Him?

[20:35] And of course, many people believe in false gods and gods of their own imagination. Now, while it is true that we catch glimpses of God in His creation, you can go out on a night when there's no clouds, look up, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament His handiwork.

[20:58] You can see the fingerprints of God, but of course the existence of God cannot be proven through the scientific method. We can't recreate God in a laboratory.

[21:10] We believe in God based upon the faith that He gives us. In other words, we believe that God is. That describes the faith of Enoch.

[21:23] Something else about Enoch, which is true of us, or should be, Enoch sought God's reward. The first part of verse 6 in chapter 11.

[21:38] Whoever would draw near must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. The first step in walking with God in faith is believing that God is.

[21:50] The second step is in seeking God's reward. And that really takes us beyond the basic fact of believing in His existence.

[22:04] Our goal is to please Him and to walk with Him in a pleasing manner. Therefore, we must believe in the God of the Bible as He has revealed Himself to us.

[22:17] So what are the fundamental things that we believe about God? Well, we believe that He's moral and just. We acknowledge Him as a God of love, a God of grace.

[22:32] We believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. And the ultimate reward is a faith that is pleasing to Him and results in a fellowship so strong that we can actually walk with Him.

[22:51] He experienced such a fellowship for 300 years on earth and now an eternity in heaven. This seeking of God goes far beyond mere head knowledge or merely acknowledging Him.

[23:08] yeah, I believe God's out there somewhere and real. It is said that Albert Einstein, perhaps the smartest man that ever lived, believed in God, but he described Him as a cosmic force that you couldn't really know.

[23:28] Of course, Einstein was horribly wrong. He can be known. We can know God, we can please Him, and to please Him, we must know Him as our personal, loving, caring, moral God who responds in grace to those who sincerely come to Him.

[23:48] Well, Enoch both knew and trusted God and he received a reward. The reward for his faith was salvation.

[24:01] Every good thing that God gives His children originates with faith. What are some of those good things? They include forgiveness, a new heart, eternal life, joy, peace, love, heaven, and the list goes on.

[24:18] We are described as mutual heirs with Christ. All that God gives to His own Son is ours as well.

[24:31] When God looks at you and I, He sees His Son living in us. Another thing, Enoch walked with God having the faith that produced a sound belief in the existence of God.

[24:46] That's the first step. such faith is pleasing to God, but it's only a first step to continue to be pleasing to God. We must fellowship with Him. And we refer to fellowshipping, that's a form of walking with God.

[25:01] Enoch was able to walk with God because he had been reconciled to God. Remember, he looked down at that baby and started walking with God. He was reconciled.

[25:13] It takes two people to walk together. Amos said that. Do two walk together unless they've agreed to meet? Most people live in rebellion to the true God.

[25:25] As fallen humans, we do not at some point become rebellious. We are born rebellious. But for Enoch, the time of rebellion was over.

[25:39] His relationship with God had been restored by an act of grace on the part of the Lord. To walk with God, we must have similar interests.

[25:52] The theologians of old call this having a corresponding nature. They coined that phrase. When God saves us, He gives us a new nature and we become heavenly citizens.

[26:07] Your citizenship is not here. It's in the heavens. Being partakers of the divine nature allows us to walk in fellowship with God because we walk on common ground.

[26:21] Only those who are morally fit can walk with God. The good news is that God imputes that level of morality to our account. This fitness is accomplished by God in Christ taking away our sins.

[26:38] How does He do that? Well, He doesn't wink at them or ignore them or close his eyes to them. He puts them on Christ, His perfect Son. And by that one act, we become just in His sight.

[26:53] The only way God walks is in holiness. We too are to walk in holiness. It is through the imputed holiness of His Holy Son.

[27:08] To be pleasing to God, we must continue to walk with Him. It is not walk with Him for a few moments. In some church meeting, as you come down the aisle, walking with God is not what we do.

[27:21] It is who we are in Christ. It's who we are. Another thing Enoch did, Enoch preached for God.

[27:33] We learn about Enoch preaching for God from this brief writing in the book of Jude, verses 14 and 15. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

[28:12] This may have been the only message that Enoch ever preached, but what a message, and he was probably repetitious, but this was the inspired message that God gave him to preach.

[28:28] We do not know how effective Enoch was, but that's not what is important. I used to measure a pastor's sermon, who came forward and got saved.

[28:41] If no one did, I said, well, we failed this Sunday. Maybe we'll do better next Sunday. No, that's not important. We only know that Enoch was faithful, and that is vitally important.

[28:53] God gives the increase. God does. He did what God asked him to do, and he left the results to God. God. That should be the hallmark of every believer on earth.

[29:07] What is the importance of being a faithful witness for Christ? What if our witness falls on deaf ears and is ignored? It is still powerful because those who hear it are without excuse in the day of judgment.

[29:24] I tell people from time to time that reject the gospel message, I say, I came in here, your best friend, I'm leaving your worst enemy. I didn't intend to do that, but you'll never be able to say to God, I never heard that, because I've been sent to tell you.

[29:43] Well, Enoch, like us, lived in a day surrounded by false teachers and false teaching. He lived among a host of unbelievers.

[29:55] There's no doubt he faced opposition. All true followers of Christ face opposition. Like Noah, who would come later, he told his generation that they were ungodly and that God was going to judge them.

[30:12] That's not a real exciting message to hear, you know. But that's what he told them, because that's the message God gave him. That has never been a popular message.

[30:24] God was well-pleased with Enoch because his message went beyond the verbal. It was demonstrated by his life among a sinful people.

[30:37] We should also be putting our lives on display. His faith was active, it was dynamic, vocal, and fearless.

[30:49] That's the same kind of faith we're to have. And then we're told, and this is going to happen to us someday, maybe today, Enoch entered into God's presence.

[31:04] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. And he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God.

[31:21] Enoch lived this fateful life for 300 years. Think about that. In that time, Enoch believed, walked, and preached.

[31:35] God marvelously took him to heaven without Enoch ever experiencing death. He pleased God so much that God reached down and lifted him up to dwell with him in heaven.

[31:47] And what a way to go. It sounds like a rapture, doesn't it? Why did God take Enoch home in this manner? That's a good question.

[31:59] And like all good questions, you need to reserve that for God someday. Ask him. In other words, we don't really know, but we do know this.

[32:10] Enoch is a beautiful picture of believers who will be taken directly to heaven when Christ returns to take us home. The church is going to experience the rapture.

[32:25] The rapture is the next tick on God's prophetic clock. And may I say to you, tonight, we've never been closer to the rapture than we are right now.

[32:40] now he may come in a thousand years, but he may come in five minutes or less. But it's the next tick on the prophetic clock.

[32:51] Nothing else has to happen prophetically for the Lord to come back for the church. 1 Thessalonians 4.17 says, Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

[33:10] Wherever he's at, we'll be with him. When he comes back to establish his thousand year millennial reign, we'll come with him. We're going to be with him wherever he's at. Well, I would be derelict if I did not close with this.

[33:24] I heard this story many years ago. It has stayed with me through the years. There was a small country church in a rural part of America.

[33:37] They had a bus ministry, one bus, and they would go out every Sunday morning in that rural area and mothers had their children up and dressed and they'd put them out by the curb and the church bus would come by and pick them up.

[33:57] And they would attend church, get there by the bus, attend Sunday school and church, the church fed them and then got them home. there was a small black boy in that area and his mother made sure that he was on the church bus every Sunday morning.

[34:15] For his part, the pastor had a mini-sermon and he would bring the kids down front. I think we used to do that. And he would give them a mini-sermon, preach to them for a few minutes.

[34:29] And that morning he asked the youngsters if anyone knew what happened to Enoch. Well, this little black boy, that arm went up, he almost tore his arm out of the socket.

[34:39] He shot that arm up and the pastor called on him. He knew him and Jeffrey. He was there every Sunday. He always liked to answer the questions.

[34:51] He said, tell us, Jeffrey. He said, well, every day Jesus and Enoch would meet and play in the woods.

[35:05] Here's a little boy's description. And when the son would start going down, Jesus would tell the boy, well, you better be heading home. It's getting dark, but I'll see you again tomorrow.

[35:20] And we'll walk together and play in the woods together. And one day the little boy and Jesus played so hard, they didn't realize that the sun had already set.

[35:33] And it was really getting dark. So Jesus told the boy, instead of trying to walk home tonight through the dark woods, why don't you just come home with me?

[35:45] So Jesus took Enoch up with him to his home in heaven. Guys, I tell you what, I don't think that professors of theology can explain that any better than that little black kid did.

[35:58] I've always enjoyed that explanation. So let's close with a word of prayer. thank you Father that we can study Enoch, the man who walked with you and was no more because you took him home.

[36:16] And Lord, as we approach your return, just make sure we understand it's going home. I think there was a black spiritual about that good getting up morning.

[36:29] time. And what a time we live in, Lord. Turmoil, wars, rumors of wars, your chosen people, though they have not yet come to you, being attacked, even babies being beheaded.

[36:47] Lord, this is an exciting time to be alive. May our witness be faithful because the time is short.

[36:57] I thank you for these men, Lord. May they have a great Thanksgiving with their families. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.