SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: September 2001
Date Preached: September 18, 2001
Church: BBC (PM) Sunday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Learning Lessons from the Past
Title: Walking is Great Exercise
Text: Genesis 5:21-24
Introduction:
Have you noticed how over the past few years that there are many commercials and advertisements for how to lose weight and become physically fit?
Diet and exercise has always been the doctor’s prescription for a healthy life, and today that is still a great way to approach the way we treat our bodies.
But have you recently looked at the magazine rack in the local grocery store checkout line, many of those magazines have articles in them that focus on diet and exercise for all people at all phases of life.
These articles help to sell the magazines because people want to know the newest and most recent trends in exercise and the fastest way to lose weight and tone up their muscles.
So what is the “BEST” exercise? These articles have many different opinions, but I believe that there was a man in the Bible who discovered the best exercise and tonight we are going to read about him.
Turn with me to Gen 5:21-24 and let’s read the passage [read passage] Enoch had a great exercise…He walked with God. Our passage tonight tells us that, “…Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him…”
Now looking at the original Hebrew word in this passage it does not translate as we might think. It is NOT speaking of the physical exercise of placing one foot in front of the other…but it references and is referring to a lifestyle.
Tonight I want to go over with you how you can have a HEALTHY Christian walk with God by sharing 5 characteristics of walking with God or Living The Christian Life.
The 1st characteristic that we need to observe is that when we are ‘walking’ with God we are going in HIS direction.
The Hebrew phrase or idiom that is translated ‘walking with God’ is used to describe GOD’S lifestyle. So for Enoch to be able to walk with God, he had to be going in God’s direction.
If you are going to take a walk with someone, you must go in the same direction that that person is walking. So for us to live the Christian life or “Walk With God” we must go in God’s direction and not our own.
God’s direction is one that we must pursue, it is NOT impossible and God has made it obtainable to those who truly desire to follow Him.
1st of all God’s way is clearly marked. The man in our passage tonight, Enoch, responded to God’s revelation in his life. Whatever God disclosed to him, he accepted it as the way that he should live.
To live the Christian life today, we no longer have to guess or ponder on which way God is going. God was supremely revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and if we follow the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ…we will be following God.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 2;6 “…the one who says he abides in Him out himself to walk in the same manner as He walked…”
In other words “…those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did…”
But not only is God’s way clearly marked, God’s way is clearly the BEST way we can travel, regardless of what we feel or think.
When one reads Gen 5 they are convinced that Enoch found the BEST type of life to live. The other people mentioned in this chapter had meaningful lives, but relatively uneventful lives.
But we find Enoch standing out from the crowd and his life was special because he chose to follow the BEST way…to follow God’s way!
Sometimes walking with God is not the most comfortable or most convenient way to live. It is NEVER going to be the easiest way to travel. The reason it is NOT easy is because you are traveling AGAINST so many other people going the WRONG way…going against God…walking against God.
So for us to live the Christian life that we need to live we first must be going in the direction that God is going…to do that as Christians we must follow the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ that we find in the Bible.
But not only is walking with God, going in His direction, the 2nd characteristic we can find here is that walking with God also means to proceed at God’s pace.
If you think about it, when you go to walk WITH someone, you have to walk at the same PACE as them, or you are NOT walking WITH them.
Enoch had to keep up with God and God’s pace. We know what direction God is headed by looking to Christ, but what do we know about God’s pace?
Well first of all God’s pace is a deliberate and determined pace. God desires to lead you thru your life here on this world. If you desire to live according to God’s lifestyle, you must commit yourself to Him fully and totally!
He will then move you in a direction that will allow Him to create in you a godly character and mature you spiritually as you walk with Him. However, you must NOT try to set the pace and God’s pace is the perfect pace. His timing is perfect timing.
There are times when we feel that God is moving too fast and then there are times when we feel that God is not moving fast enough. I want to share with you this morning that God changes the speed of His kingdom work according what He sees fit.
God’s pace will vary on different occasions. We don’t read that Enoch found walking with God a boring or tedious affair. Enoch found that God varied his leadership, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and sometimes God simply chooses to wait.
In living the Christian life, or walking with God, means that you proceed at God’s pace. We must make sure that we are not trying to be one step ahead of God or that we are lagging one step or more behind God…we must keep HIS pace to walk in Him.
When living the Christian life we must be focused on going in God’s direction by following the example of Jesus and we must be willing to follow God at HIS pace, but the 3rd characteristic we can gather from this passage is that walking with God also means that progress is going to be made.
When Enoch walked with God, he made noticeable signs of progress. When you think about it, you cannot WALK anywhere without moving.
What we need to remember is that our journey or walk with God…our Christian life begins with one simple first step. For Enoch to have walked with God he had to take the 1st step.
There was a day when Enoch started living his life in accordance with God’s lifestyle. Just like Enoch, the Christian life begins with the simple step of faith in accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
When we are parents we take great joy when our children take their 1st steps, in fact we brag about it to the other parents and to anyone who will listen. We are happy because we know that these 1st steps are but a beginning and that more steps will follow as that child grows and matures.
God rejoices in the simple first steps of the Christian for 2 reasons. Number 1 because those first simple steps of faith represent a new believer and a new person in the Kingdom. Number 2 because God knows that there are many more steps to come…and He desires to see us mature in Him.
But after that first simple step of faith that begins our Christian walk or life with God, it continues with a series of successive steps…we must keep walking.
The first step in the Christian life is NOT the end, NOT the final step. Walking with God means a series of steps…it is growing and building process. To walk with God means that we are willing to take more and more steps in His direction and at His pace.
The 4th characteristic of walking with God is when we walk with Him we also must realize that it means that we are to share an intimacy with Him. Enoch walked with God…Enoch had an intimate relationship with God for God took him without Enoch having to die.
If you have ever went for a walk with someone, it is usually a great time to share feelings and become closer to that person that you are walking with. Enoch shared his life with God and God shared His life with Enoch.
As Christians we are to share our entire life with the God we are serving and in turn He will share intimately with us. God shares His life with humanity. One of the most amazing facts of life is that God has chosen to share His life with sinful humanity.
He lets us know of His love and concern for us through His Word. When one walks with God, he or she is begins to understand more and more about the nature and character of God.
But not only does God share His life with us we are blessed to be able to share our lives with Him. Walking with God tells us that we have an intimate friendship with Him.
As we walk and talk with God, we may share our hopes and dreams with Him, or we may share our frustrations and fears with Him. Whatever is on our hearts we can share with Him because of the intimate relationship that we have with Him.
Going in God’s direction, keeping up with God’s pace, moving forward in our walk with Him and becoming more and more intimate with God are 4 great characteristics of living the Christian life.
But there is one more characteristic I would like to share with you and that is that when we walk with God we are going to arrive at a destination.
The Bible speaks of Enoch’s destination, “…and he was not…” This refers to Enoch’s translation in God’s eyes and out of this world. In the book of Heb 11:5 it tells us that, “…by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God…”
Because Enoch chose to walk with God he had a destination, which was with God in paradise…Enoch had reached his destination.
As believers, we recognize that only through God can we ever reach the potential that God has for us here in this world.
Enoch did not find the ultimate meaning of life after God took him. Everyday as Enoch walked with God, he discovered more and more…more of the meaning…more of the significance of living a life that pleases God, living a God-type life.
But not only is God the cause of our reaching our potential and full understanding here on this world, but it is God who causes us to reach our final destination.
Beginning to walk with God leads us to a pilgrimage that ends with us in ultimate fellowship with God in heaven. That is our destination!
So ask yourself the question this evening, are you tired of walking through life without any purpose? If so, then I know just what you need, you need a relationship with the God of this universe.
That relationship is possible because of what Jesus Christ has done for you. You need to begin a profitable journey and walk with God. Open your life to Jesus Christ and you will be strengthened for continuing in that journey and finally led to your destination at the foot of the Throne of God in heaven.
For our Christian walk to be effective and all it should be, we must 1st be going in God’s direction, not our own.
2nd we must proceed in this walk, in God’s direction, at His pace and not meandering on our own pace, or not racing ahead out of impatience. God’s pace and God’s timing is always perfect and we must submit to it.
3rd we must progress in our walk with Christ. To go on this journey it requires movement on our part. We cannot get closer to God if we do not make progress and strive to get closer.
4th, our Christian walk can only be fully realized if we have an intimate relationship with God. Through Jesus we CAN have that relationship, and once we do obtain it…we must strive to get closer to Him to know Him more…to know how to serve Him.
Finally, our Christian walk will prosper if we realize that the result of this Christian walk will be a permanent destination. We will one day dwell with God in HIS kingdom of Heaven. We have a final destination that the world does NOT.
The key to that last characteristic and really to each one of these characteristics is that we can share them with others around us and bring them into the same relationship and walk with God as we are experiencing.
Walking (living the life of a Christian) with God is the best ‘exercise’ the Christian could ever implement into his or her life!
