In our text today, we are introduced to a man whose distinctiveness and character was extraordinary and astonishing. In our lesson as we try to identify him, we know that his fingerprint leaves minimal evident, but yet there is enough evident to convict him of the charges of being the one that we are looking for, and with all of the evident that we have collected, all of the investigators has come up with the same conclusion. The investigators have excluded him as Jonah the runner because he was found in Nineveh. The case has been argued and concluded that it was not David, because David was found hiding in a cave. The evident, proves without a reasonable doubt that it was not Paul, because Paul was found on the road of Damascus. Who is this man that you are building a case against? Who is this man that you want to prove that is so extraordinary, amazing, astonishing, and astounding?
What is it that makes him stick out in the scriptures? What gives him the right to be on the front pages of the message this morning? Who is he Spies? Where did he matriculate, graduate, or escalate from? Where is he an alumnus from? Well I don’t have a lot of information to give you, in fact I don’t have much information at all other than his name is Enoch and the twelve words that describes who he was, and what made him famous.
The bible says these twelve words that gave credibility to his fame: and those twelve words were that Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him. I think that a good place to start for all of you that want to be famous and known, a good place or position to be in is walking with God.
Because I’ve heard that if you walk with Lord then your name will be written in the Lamb book of life, and I rather that my name be written in the book, then to have them up in lights, because the bible says: in Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Can I encourage someone on the live this morning to just walk with him? Can I encourage someone just to know that Enoch’s walking with the Lord made him known?
And I think I ought to let someone know this morning that walking with God, will bless you, walking with God will help you, walking with God will lift you, walking with God will is the best provision for the forthcoming of his judgement.
Enoch walked with God in other words, Enoch did not taste death, Enoch didn’t touch death. Enoch didn’t see death. Death saw him, but could not touch him because God took him. The Lord took him without discussion; he took him without a debate. Others died Enoch walked, others were buried, Enoch walked, his other family members had wakes, funerals, and memorials but Enoch just walked, he didn’t die, God took him from life to life. For 300 years the death angles had been scoping him out, but they couldn’t touch him. Father time didn’t punch him out, grave clothes didn’t stain his body, and the grim reaper couldn’t collect on his corpse God took him.
What a great testimony of a worldly journey. Covid didn’t claim him, He wasn’t on hospice, he was never embalmed, he was never in a coffin. He simple walked with God, God took him. As He was walking and talking with God the next thing that he noticed is that he was no more. None could keep him when God decided to take him. Yet none could take him, while God kept him.
The text says that God took him, the Hebrew word for took in this text is Law-kakh, which means to (Take Away, to take, to receive, to fetch, to bring, to get, and to take out. God took him for the world of sin, god took him from the agony of pain and suffering. God took him from the land of mortality into a land of immortally. God took him.
I heard one preach say, God took him denotes the force of the Divine will. He took him excluding all others. God took Enoch at His own appointed time. He couldn’t leave early nor could he stay any longer than God permitted. In Enoch, there was translation without expiration. In Enoch, there was removal without death and corruption.
Look at others Poor man Lazarus was carried by the angels. Elijah left by the might of a world-wind. Jesus left by the Divine power of Ascendency. But Enoch left walking with God, because God has the power to move and remove whom He wills. God has the power to root and uproot. God has the power to plant and water. God has the power to seed and harvest. God has the power.
In Enoch, the Lord showed us that He has power over death. When this life is over, God will take us to. The under-taker will take our body, but God will take souls. Death is a two-fold deposit. Our bodies are deposited into the earth, but our spirits are commended into the hands of God.
What I love about this lesson is that Enoch’s body was not buried nor was his spirit commended; he was simply taken by God. He was translated for heaven, transferred from earth into the very presence of God. The living Enoch passed directly from time to eternity.
Now death is the ordinary departure of the soul from this life. But Enoch’s departure was chosen by God to be an extra-ordinary occurrence. The event of his departure could not die because Enoch did not die. His life was different. His exit was different.
He along with Elijah, by passed the valley of the shadow of death and took another road to brilliant sights of glory. He left this world without dying. He left this world without a will and testament. He left this world without say good-bye. Enoch left without a corner report. Enoch left without a death certificate. He left without a medical report. He left this world without autopsy. He left earth without being embalmed.
When God took Enoch, he was missing. The text says; "For he was not." Those who looked for him could not find him. He left like a vapor that vanished away in the air. They checked with family members, but Enoch was not found. The CIA, FBI, the DEA couldn’t locate him. CNN, NBC, ABC, BBC, CBS and FOX couldn’t find him. There were no tweets about him. He was not listed on Facebook, and the boarder control had not seen him because God had taken him.
God took him and what a way to go, and I don’t know about you, but walking with God seems like the way go.
Allow me to offer you a few ways that you can walk with God
First, we must give our lives to the because salvation is the only way through Christ Jesus.
Secondly, we must turn from our wicked way and from the ways of this world, and walk upright.
To walk with God means that we must be a witness for him, this means that we must tell men and women, boys and girls, that the wages of sin is still death, but the gift of God is eternal life
You all ain’t going to like this one: if you want to walk with the Lord Matthew 5:44 says “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
The bible teaches us that in other to walk with the Lord means that we must pray for those that despitefully use you, misuse you, and mistreat you.
And let me just suggest one more, if you are going to walk with the Lord, then you are going to have to allow the Lord to lead you and you are going to have to trust God no matter what the situation looks like.
And that reminds me of a story about a young man who really didn’t believe in God. This same man decided that he would take a cruise, and one day while he was on vacation was on the cruise, he heard a church service going on, as he was passing by the door. He heard a preacher talking about a God that can save, only if you let him lead you.
It is said that he just brush it off, and kept on walking to his cabin, but a few hour later the ship had a wreck while out on the sea. It is said that he was the only survivor of a shipwreck washed up on a small uninhabited island.
He was there for several weeks and every day he cried out for help. Every morning it is said that he would scan the horizon looking for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
He was exhausted, and tired he eventually managed to build a rough hut and put his few possessions in it. After having a hard day of work, he laid down in his hut still stranded on the island, but then he remember what the preacher on the ship said, he said that he was a God that saves. So, I heard that he prayed that night to the Lord to save his soul and to save him off the island.
Then I heard that the next morning he got up and went hunting for food, after hunting for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; he was stung with grief and he said Lord I believe in you, and now my hut is burned down.
I heard that while he was there talking to God a ship drew near the island and blew their horn and he was rescued.
He got on the ship and he was amazed that they found him so he asked the captain, sirrr “How did you know I was here?” the captain said sir we saw your smoke signal,” and right then and there he knew that it was the Lord leading him. The Lord led him on a hunting trip because if he would have been home, he would’ve put out the fire. The Lord led him to sit down and watch the smoke, because if he would have left, he would have miss the boat. We must walk with God.
The songwriter wrote song lyrics that just warmed my heart:
I AM WEAK AND I NEED THY STRENGTH AND POWER
TO HELP ME O-VER MY WEAKEST HOUR
LEAD ME THROUGH THE DARKNESS THY FACE TO SEE
LEAD ME OH LORD LEAD ME
Lead me, guide me along the way,
Lord if you lead me, I cannot stray.
Lord let me walk each day with Thee.
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
They came back and changed the second chorus a little bit and said:
Chorus
Lead me, guide me along the way,
For if you lead me I cannot stray.
Lord let me walk each day with Thee
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
