Walking with God
Genesis 5:18-24
Two men in the Bible stand out as unique; unique because out of the entire scope of man’s existence, these two men alone never died. – Elijah and Enoch! We are told that Enoch had such a close relationship with God that grew so intimate that he was taken to heaven without experiencing death. His epitaph is that Enoch “walked with God”.
I. Enoch walked with God because He had a true desire to be with God.
A. Genesis 5:24 “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
B. Walking with God implies a spiritual mindset.
1. Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection (or mind) on things above, not on things on the earth
2. Enoch had to turn away from the temporal things that tauntingly tempt us daily which seek to spiritually sidetrack or derail us in our spiritual lives.
3. 1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”
4. “In the Christian life your mind is like the rudder of a ship. Whether the flesh or the Spirit controls the rudder determines the course your life will take.” – Bruce Ferris, Thomasville Baptist Church, What’s Your Mindset?
5. Romans 5:5-8 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
6. Two cannot walk together if they are going in two different directions.
7. Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”
C. Walking with God implies progress and growth
1. The very concept of walking is movement. It is a forward progression.
When a person walks, regardless of how slow he or she may move, does not remain in the same place. Those who walk with God make spiritual progress in their lives.
2. “Walk” is used as a popular biblical metaphor for our daily lives, the way we conduct ourselves day in and day out.
3. I believe the longer Enoch walked with God the brighter the light of the His presence became as the things of this world grew strangely dim.
4. Psalm 73:23-26 (ESV) “I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength1 of my heart and my portion forever.”
D. Walking with God implies a right relationship with God.
1. Remember that Amos 3:3 posed the rhetorical question “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”
2. Genesis 5:21-23 “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.”
3. There is an implication here that Enoch didn’t walk in a manner pleasing to God the first 65 years of his life. For 65 years, he walked without God, doing his own thing. We don’t know what happened but when Enoch became a father something took place that made him realize he needed to turn his life over to the Lord and walk hand in hand in constant communion with God. Sixty-five years of his life were wasted but he woke up and spent the next 300 years reconciled with God.
4. Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
5. God does not force a walk with Him on anyone! But when we say yes to Him, walking with God means abandoning the world’s way, giving up our right to choose our own way, and following God’s way.
II. Enoch walked by Faith
A. Hebrews 11:5 “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.”
B. When we walk by faith we are placing all of our trust in Him and seek to honor him by obeying His Word and doing those things that please Him.
C. When we read 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” It is saying that we no longer are relying on our judgment, doing what we want, following our own dreams, fulfilling our desires. Rather we are walking a complete reliance on God that He knows what is best for us and that our only true happiness and fulfilment in life is to be following Him unreservedly.
D. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
E. Walking by faith means living life in light of eternal consequences. To walk by faith is to fear God more than man; to obey the Bible even when it conflicts with man’s commands; to choose righteousness over sin, no matter what the cost; to trust God in every circumstance; and to believe God rewards those who seek Him, regardless of who says otherwise.” - Michael Houdmann
III. Enoch walked consistently by Faith
A. Genesis 5:21-23 “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD THREE HUNDRED YEARS!”
B. Enoch walked in intimacy with God for 300 years. Most of us have a hard time staying close to the Lord for 300 days!
C. A brief, simple, but expressive eulogy was pronounce by Martin Luther upon a pastor at Zwickau in 1522 named Nicholas Haussmann. “What we preach, he lived,” said the great reformer. Can that be said of us?
D. The only way that you and I can live consistently is by surrendering daily.
E. 1 Corinthians 15:21 “I die daily.”
F. The death he (Paul) talks about is a continuous present tense. It’s a choice I must make every day of my life to die to my own desires, rights, wishes and decisions for the sake of bringing fruit for the kingdom of God. There is no shortcut and no other way. - K.P. Yohannan, ©2002-2014 SermonIndex.net Audio Sermons
G. Christ calls us to pick up our cross daily. Someone has rightly said that we just don‘t make this decision once and then sit on it. Daily we are called to make choices and decide whether we will keep following Christ and do things according to His will and way, or do choose things without Him and do them our own way.
H. Frank Sinatra sang a song, “I Did It My Way”. Enoch’s song was “I’ll Do It His Way”
I. A.W. Tozer said, “Enoch's daily walk was a walk of faith, a walk of fellowship with God. What the Scriptures are trying to say to us is this: If Enoch could live and walk with God by faith in the midst of his sinful generation, we likewise should be able to follow his example because the human race is the same and God is the same!”
IV. Enoch’s Faith was evidenced and validated by God
A. Hebrews 11:5 “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.”
B. Enoch’s life and words stood as a testimony or clear witness for God before a corrupt vile world.
C. He was rare. Enoch was not conformed to the world and Enoch was not controlled by the world. Are you rare? Does your walk with God stand out in the midst of the world you are in daily?
D. George Barna has said, "Every day, the church is becoming more like the world it allegedly seeks to change.” – “The Third Coming of George Barna,” Christianity Today, August 8, 2002, p. 34.
E. God’s desire is that through our walking with Him as the children of God we might be “without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)
F. Enoch stood out and was commended as someone who walked with God.
G. The validity of your faith is evidenced by your walk.
H. Your walk and talk go hand in hand. One of the evidences that your faith is real is a desire to keep God's commandments. If there’s no desire to do what God says, one might have good reason to question where they are in their relationship with God. If on the other hand, you have a deep burning desire to walk with God and to live according to His will and Word and you strive to demonstrate that in your daily living your life, will validateand give clear testimony to the genuineness of your faith.
