(Pretended to read from a Children’s Book from a stool onstage – this was for our “Children’s Stories” Series)
You know your mommy and daddy love you very much and they try to teach you how to grow up to be a young man they can be proud of. Well, back in the Old Testament there was a daddy who tried to do that with his kids. His name was Enoch, and he was the father Methuselah (the oldest man who ever lived) and the great-grandfather of Noah. Noah was such a righteous man that God picked him to build a giant boat called the “Ark” that carried all kinds of animals.
Methuselah and Noah grew up to be such great men, partly because Enoch was a great man. We’re told that the one thing Enoch liked to do – above everything else - was to walk with God. In fact, Enoch walked with God so much that one day God told him “It’s too far to go back; why don’t you just come on home with me.” And so, Enoch just went up to heaven with God … and he never died.
Our text today is from Genesis 5:21-24 “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
PRAYER
Someone once noted that Genesis chapter 5 is often called the Graveyard Chapter of Scripture. It tells us Adam lived 930 years and had several sons and daughters… and then he died. Then Seth lived 912 years and had sons and daughters… then he died. Enosh lived 905 years and had several children… and then he died. And on and on. It didn’t matter how long they lived - eventually they died. Eight men are listed here, and they all lived a long time, had kids… and they died. (vss. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, and 31)
This is the Graveyard Chapter of Genesis. Everybody died (pause) well, they all died except one man. (pause) Enoch… didn’t die. Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.”
You know, down through the ages, people have sought the “fountain of youth,” a way to live forever… or at least a lot longer than they do now.
ILLUS: I just recently heard about a new fad amongst the rich and famous. It’s called “Parabiosis” and essentially, older (but really RICH) folk will pay upwards of $8000 to have the plasma from of teenagers inserted into their blood system. The purpose? To revitalize aging body parts and add years to their lives. One company called “Ambrosia” had 80 people lined up for this procedure. And in Europe I’m told that they’ll even replace your entire blood supply… for a price. They belief this will guarantee a longer and healthier life, but it’s all bogus. It doesn’t work. But these folks had the money to take a chance, and because they had the money… and they figure it’s worth a try. (https://mashable.com/2017/06/01/parabiosis-blood-transfusions-startup-silicon-valley/#es3VMZ4MFOqb)
But ENOCH didn’t have to do anything like that. He was blessed with eternal life… and it didn’t cost him a red cent. Well... it did cost Enoch something. I mean, nothings free! But what did Enoch have to pay to live forever? Well, he walked with God: Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah (Genesis 5:22) … Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:24
Notice, God mentioned Enoch walking with Him TWICE!!!! And Enoch’s desire to walk with God so impressed God that Enoch got to live forever!!!!
But, was THAT it? Do you mean to say that all Enoch had to do was walk with God? I mean, that doesn’t sound all that impressive. It wasn’t as if Enoch was being praised for the nations he built, or the giants he felled, or the city walls he destroyed. Enoch just walked with God. What’s so remarkable about that?
Well, it helps to realize that God has always put a high premium on walking with Him. When God chose Noah to build the Ark, we’re told in Genesis 6:9 “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” And in Genesis 17:1 we read that “the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.’” In I Kings 9:4-5 tells us of when God told Solomon: "And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever." And in Malachi 2:6-7 we’re told that “(Levi) walked with (God) in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
The point is this: the most important to God appears to be that we want to walk with Him! That’s probably why Enoch was included 2nd in the list of the Heroes of Faith in Heb. 11. Enoch did the one thing God deeply desires from us. (walk with Him)
Now just so we have a working definition of what it means to walk with God - It means to spend time with Him. And the more time you spend, the better it is. We’re not just about showing up on Sunday for Church or Sunday School… but desiring to spend time throughout the week, where He becomes the center of our lives.
Think of this like spending time with a close friend. That’s the kind of person you get on the phone with all day because you want their advice and their help. That’s what walking with God is like.
But, it’s a little more than that. If I’m going to walk with God I have to agree to walk the same PATH that He does
ILLUS: Have you ever seen a person walk their dog? Some dogs obediently walk beside their master (They don’t need leash). When the master stops… they stop. When the master turns left, they turn left, or if the master turns right, they turn right.
But other dogs, you couldn’t get them to stay with you for nothing. They need a leash… but they’re always wrapping the leash around a tree or someone else’s legs. And they’re always pulling and tugging you in directions you don’t want to go. They don’t care where the YOU’RE going because that’s not always the way they want to go.
Amos 3:3 says, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”
If you’re going to walk with God, you have to agree to go where He goes.
ILLUS: I recently got a call from a man who said he wanted to ask questions about God. He said he was a baptized believer, but he didn’t go to church, and he wanted to talk with me about some things in Scripture that confused him. But as he began to ask his questions, it was obvious he wasn’t confused - he just didn’t like what the Bible said. It didn’t matter what the Bible said… if it didn’t agree with him – it was “confusing!” And it was obvious to me that he didn’t go to church because he couldn’t find a church who would agree with him.
He didn’t want to walk with God. He wanted God to walk with HIM!!!! He would quite content with God, if God would just agree with his terms. The guy was just like the dog who has doesn’t want to go where his master goes.
ILLUS: I was talking with another preacher about this Sunday’s sermon, and he said that when he first became a Christian he struggled with this idea of being faithful in his walk with Christ. He said it was hard for him to surrender control of his life to Jesus. And he was right. In order for us to “walk with God”… we have to decide to give up control TO GOD!
ILLUS: I was once talking with a young man who wanted to get baptized, so I asked him the usual questions: 1) Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? He said “yes.” 2) Do you believe that you are a sinner and that only Jesus can remove that sin? Again, he replied “yes.” 3) but then I got to the idea of confessing Jesus as LORD (Romans 10:9) and I explained that this meant he had to be willing to surrender everything he had to Jesus. And he paused…. He didn’t like that! He didn’t like the idea of giving up control of his life. The only way he KNEW things would go his way was if he kept control. I mean, after all, God might just mess things up. He didn’t want to trust God to take care of things.
But what that young man didn’t understand was that, in rejecting God’s ownership of his life, he was missing out on the blessings God wanted to bring into his life!
Just as an example, do you remember the 23rd Psalm? Repeat it with me:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I WALK through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for THOU ART WITH ME…”
You know what that’s saying? It’s saying that when I walk with God, I can walk through the darkest and scariest things of life without ever being afraid, because He is right there with me!!!!
Then there’s Jeremiah 6:16 “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and WALK in it, and find rest for your souls.’”
REST... in Psalm 127:2 God tells us "...he gives to his beloved sleep."
ILLUS: Do you know why a lot of people have trouble sleeping? It’s often because their minds are cluttered with all the fears and failures of their lives. They go over… and over… and over those things… worrying about what they can’t change and will never resolve. But if you walk with God, that means you’ve committed yourself to turning all that stuff over to HIM (let Him worry about it). If you do that, you can literally find rest for your soul!
But now, how do I know if I’m walking with God? What measuring stick can I use to discover how well I’m doing it right!
Galatians 5:25 says “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (NKJV) But what’s that mean? How can I know if I’m walking in the Spirit? Well that verse (Galatians 5:25) is the tail-end of the passage we call “the Fruit of the Spirit.” If we “walk in the Spirit” we’ll get the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love (pause), joy (pause), peace (pause), longsuffering (you can put up with a lot) (pause), kindness(pause), goodness (pause), faithfulness (pause), gentleness (pause), and self-control. Against such there is no law.
So, the more we walk with God, the more we’ll sense the presence of that fruit of the Spirit in our lives
That last part of the Fruit Of The Spirit – self-control – is brought up again in I John. “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth — but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7
So, if I’m walking with God, I’m NOT walking in the darkness and I won’t be practicing EVIL THINGS in my life. I’ll have self control. I’ll walk IN THE LIGHT as He is in the light. And then I have fellowship in other Christians, and the blood of Jesus will cleanse me from all sin!!!
That’s what I’ll be shooting for!
But when do I start “walking with God?” I mean, do I have to be a Christian for a couple of years, or take a few classes to make sure I’m doing it right?
No….
Romans 6:3-4 tells us that “all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might WALK in newness of life."
That means that – when you became a Christian - you died to your past sins, and you BURIED all that past sin in the watery grave of baptism. When you rose from the baptistry you rose to start walking with God!!!! You start walking with God right away! You might mess things up as you walk with God, but once you get a taste of walking with God, you’ll never want to go back to the old way of life.
CLOSE: Oh… I forgot to mention one last thing. And it’s the most important thing i could tell you about. Do you remember the reward Enoch got for walking with God? HE DIDN’T DIE! He got eternal life!
Do we have that promise? Can we get eternal life. In John 11:25-26 Jesus told Martha “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
So yes… we get eternal life. Jesus taught us in John 3 that we get eternal life because we’ve been born twice, once of our mother and once when we’re REborn of the water and the Spirit. But if you’re not born twice (if you haven’t been reborn as a Christian) you die twice. Once at the grave… and once at the judgment seat.
One person put it this way “It’s better to be born twice, and die only once, than to be born only once, you die twice.”
INVITATION
