TALK THE TALK AND WALK THE WALK (GENESIS 5:20-23)
I asked my good friend Rev. Michael Wu on an internet chat: “I am working on Enoch, do you have anything to say about him to my congregation?” After an awkward pause, these words appeared on my monitor: “Enoch is one of the two youngest board members of our church. Born in LACAC (church). 26 years-old. Enoch means steady - word root related to Amen in Hebrew. Maybe his parents want him to be steady in following Christ. I pray for that definitely.”
Of all the fifteen identified heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11, Enoch’s story in Genesis is the shortest text, with the brightest hope, and the least mentioned today. Like others, I had reasons to skip Enoch. Twice in ten years, I had the opportunity to preach this passage, but passed on it because there was so much theology, so little text, and the task so uneasy.
A little Sunday school girl said this about Enoch: “Enoch was a man who learned to walk with God, and they used to take long walks together. One day they walked so far that God said, ’Look, Enoch, it’s too far for you to go back; just come on home with me.’ So he walked on home with God.”
http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/hebrews1/0094.html
The phrase “walked with God” refers to the abundant life and blessed fellowship with God, the greatest spiritual experience of our loves. The only other person to do so was Noah (Gen 6:9), Enoch’s great grandson born 69 years after Enoch was taken up. The theological implication of Enoch’s transportation to heaven is monumental: Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, the tree of life was guarded, consequently the repeated pronouncement and epitaph in Genesis 5 “and he died” was the fate of all men. Man’s first real physical death was recorded in the same chapter. Beginning from Adam, through six generations before (5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20) and two after Enoch’s era (5:27, 30), everyone except Enoch died. Not only did he not die, he had no negative review, brightened with a lengthy, steady, and daily relationship with God.
What characterizes a man who is so close to God? Is it attainable, sustainable and practical? What profits those who spend substantial quality time with God?
Add Life to Your Years of Existence
20 Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died. 21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. (Gen 5:20-22)
A London newspaper once offered an attractive cash prize for the best answer to this question: “Which is the shortest trip to London?” Letters poured in, theories sprang up, and readers followed the outcome closely until the sponsors announced the prize-winning answer. The winning entry was this: “The shortest way to London is good company.” (7,700 Illustrations # 3903)
No matter how far the distance and rough the trip, the travel is short and sweet with the right company.
Attending classes under great men like Dallas Willard, Warren Wiersbe, Calvin Miller and Larry Crabb made a great impact and a remarkable change in my life and service. Up till then, I have listened to many good preachers: Haddon Robinson, Charles Swindoll, John Stott, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren, bought their tapes, read their books, and had heard some of them in the seminary chapel, churches, and conferences.
When I was a student at Dallas Seminary in my late 20’s, interaction with the professors was rare, short and formal. Ten years later, when I took classes under Willard, Wiersbe, Miller, and Crabb in a smaller classroom environment of about 10-25 fellow pastors for my Doctor of Ministry degree, I began to actively ask questions, comment on the issue at hand, and interact confidently, spontaneously and hungrily with professors and fellow students. Slowly the quiet, passive bystander in me disappeared. I picked up points here and there, other students shared their ups and downs, and the professors opened up their lives – the highs and lows of family life, kids, and ministry. I grew by leaps and bounds, learned bits and pieces, and things made sense, fell into place and good things happen. I blossomed, thrived and matured faster than I imagined under proper tutelage.
My wife exclaimed: “Wow, I was thinking then, ‘You spent thousands of dollars studying, especially thousands of dollars for that Dallas Willard class, and nothing happened.’ Then suddenly you are putting up internet sermons, teaching at seminary and writing for publication.” Actually, it was $2,248 for the Fuller class with Willard, I checked. $1,600 for the course, and $648 for housing and seclusion at a monastery.
Walking with spiritual giants is dizzying, invigorating and humbling. Walking with God is the road least traveled, but the healthiest activity and the best safeguard in life. Those who walk on this road and travel on this journey do not wear and tear, wax and wane, or waver and doubt.
Enoch’s walk was as light as a stroll, as brisk as a jog, and as long as a marathon. You “walk with,” not “walk around” Him like a stranger, walk behind Him like a child or walk from Him like an enemy. It is not instantaneous, hurried or forced, and it is a reality, not a fantasy; a fact, not a feeling; and an endeavor, not an escape.
Enoch was a normal father, a good parent, and a caring family man. He did not just disappear. He took care of his family’s needs before he was taken up - after his first son was born and his sons and daughters were old enough to take care of one another. Besides, Jesus is the direct descendant of Enoch (Lk 3:37).
Add Lecture in Your Instruction to Others
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
(Jude 14-16)
John Wesley, the fiery evangelistic-minded Methodist founder, used to keep young men he had sent out to preach on probation until they can answer these questions. The first question Wesley asked them was, “Has any one been converted?” If the answer was “No,” he would ask, “Do people like it when you witness to them?” And if Wesley was dissatisfied with the answer, he would ask the final question: “Did any one get mad?”
Then Wesley would say to unproven young evangelists: “I don’t think the Lord had called you to preach the gospel. When the Holy Ghost convicts people of sin, they are either converted or they don’t like it and get mad.” (Adapted from Moody’s Anecdotes, Page 123 http://www.sermonillustrations.com/preaching.htm)
Enoch’s view was not attractive then or now, to the saved or unsaved, whether outspoken or reworded. He was a moral crusader, a spiritual prognosticator, a truth serum, and a bearer of bad news. Enoch’s generation had sinned against God in word and deed (v 15). They were corrupted inside and outside (v 16a), and flattered themselves and others (v 16b), but he prophesied against ungodly acts, ungodly way and ungodly sinners.
Enoch was from the godly line seven generations removed from Adam. The seventh generation from ungodly Cain were three brothers – Jabal, Jubal and half-brother Tubal-Cain - who established construction and livestock (Gen 4:20); music and arts (Gen 4:21), craftsmanship and industry (Gen 4:22). In contrast, Enoch served the Lord and prophesied on sin, judgment, and the Lord’s coming.
The nutshell on biblical judgment is this: “The Lord, the Judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25), is a righteous judge (Ps 7:11, 2 Tim 4:8), and He will judge the world (Ps 98:9, Acts 17:31, Rom 3:6), all men and women (Heb 12:3), the living and the dead (Acts 10:42, 2 Tim 4:1).”
The Bible puts more force behind the word “judge” (v 15) than the word “punish,” as demonstrated by its New Testament occurrences. The New Testament alone has 113 Greek references for the word “judge” but only two occurrences for the word “punish” (kolazo) (Acts 4:21, 2 Peter 2:9). Judgment is divine, universal, impending, just and righteous. Judgment is certain, but punishment is optional - we decide our own punishment.
The Greek word for “convict” (v 15) is even more dramatic. It means telling a fault, rebuking or reproving. It is the proof of evidence, not the fabrication or planting of evidence; uncovered by light and not concealed in secret (John 3:20, Eph 5:11-13); a straightforward, uncontested and swift verdict, not a deadlock jury, a drawn-out trial or a delayed sentencing. clean
Add Longevity to Your Relationship with God
23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. (Gen 5:23)
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. (Heb 11:5)
In the breakthrough book on management “Built to Last,” authors James C. Collins and James I. Porras told an interesting parable – the parable of the black belt. A martial arts student, after working tirelessly many years for a hard-earned black belt, knelt before his teacher who was to confer him a black belt on the day of his graduation. The teacher asked: “Before granting the belt, you must pass one more test. You must answer the question: What is the true meaning of the black belt?” The student said, “The end of my journey. A well-deserved reward for all my hard work.” The master spoke: “You are not ready for the black belt. Return in one year.”
A year later the student returned and knelt again in front of the teacher. “What is the true meaning of the black belt?” asked the teacher. “A symbol of distinction and the highest achievement in our art,” said the student. The teacher again replied, “You are still not ready for the black belt. Return in one year.”
A year later, the wiser student was back and knelt once again in front of the teacher. And again the teacher asked, “What is the true meaning of the black belt?” Finally, the student replied to the master’s satisfaction: “The black belt represents the beginning – the start of a never-ending journey of discipline, work, and the pursuit of an ever-higher standard,” says the student. (Built to Last 199-200, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras. NY: Harper & Collins, 1994)
Someone once said, “The conversion of a sinner takes a moment, but the growth of a saint takes a lifetime.” The Chinese say, “It takes 10 years to plant a tree, but 100 years to plant a man!” Spiritual growth is not a short hop, a fast track or a quick fix.
Enoch began walking with God at the age of 65, and he walked with God for the next 300 years, up to the ripe old age of 365. He wasn’t a spiritual giant instantly, irregularly or grudgingly. It was 300 years of purpose, not by chance. His walk commenced at the young age of sixty five, after his first son, Methuselah, was born. In our time, we would call him a young man, a young adult or a young father.
Dallas Willard once said in a class I took: “The person who says, ‘I don’t have time’ is very close to reproaching God.” God the Creator, the Maker and the Author of Life, has made us for fellowship with Him. Is He your companion for life, confidant in life, and counsel through life?
Giants are made, mentored, and monitored, and God is the biggest, truest, surest spiritual giant. It begins with daily devotions - reading God’s word, conversing with Him, and abiding in Him.
Fellowship with God began with Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall, continued by Enoch and Noah, and extended to you and I, here and now and for all eternity. Are you ready for heaven? John Bunyan said, “When you come to the paradise of God, you shall have white robes given to you, and your walk and talk shall be every day with the King, even all the days of eternity. There you also you shall serve Him continually with Praise, shouting, and Thanksgiving.” (The Book of Jesus 534, Calvin Miller)
Conclusion: To walk an hour with God is a devotion; to walk a day with God is a discipline; but to walk a lifetime with God is devotion plus discipline plus dependence. Fellowship with God is the biggest thrill in our lives, the highest task of our lives, and the sweetest thing in life. It is for starving sinners, sleeping saints, and spiritual munchkins. You and I have lots of time and plenty of reasons to begin walking with God. Would you take the first step, the next step, and step by step?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
www.epreaching.blogspot.com
