“A closer walk”
Hebrews 11:5-6
I didn’t know I was competitive:
- until I got this new watch that tracks my steps
- It told me I was supposed to walk about 5700 steps a day
- I did that, and then I did 10,000, 14,000 camping
Last Thursday:
- I started walking south and got to about 4000 steps
- so I figured I’d see how many steps I could go
- I passed Dr. Wallace’s house, then I thought
I started to wonder:
- how many steps Mary Lou’s house is?
- It is just over 6,400 steps, round trip was almost 13,000 steps
- by the end of the day I had 19,413 steps
My problem now is:
- that I want to beat my own record
Doctors will tell you that:
- the best thing you can do for your health
- is walk several times a week
- consistency is important
- my Dr. wants me to exercise 150 minutes a week
The truth is….
The best thing we can do is walk regularly with God.
“Those who walk with God, always reach their destination.”
- Henry Ford
“If I walk with the world, I can’t walk with God.”
- Dwight L. Moody
“God’s mighty power comes when God’s people learn to walk with God.”
- Jack Hyles
“We want more men and women who walk with God and before God, like Enoch and Abraham.” –
- J. C. Ryle
“Smart men walked on the moon, daring men walked on the ocean floor, but wise men walk with God.”
- Leonard Ravenhill
In a way, God is saying to US RIGHT NOW….
“I’m here, Let’s walk together.”
– God
Since the beginning of time:
- God has pursued an intimate relationship with His people
- God gave Adam and Eve a perfect place to live
- and in the Garden of Eden sin destroyed that relationship
- it is the CROSS that restored what SIN destroyed
The most painful thing I have found so far in life:
- is loving someone who rejects you
- of someone meaning the world to you,
- only to find out you mean nothing to them
I imagine that is how God feels sometimes:
- how He displays His love to people
- and they do not love Him in return,
- they reject His pursuits…
What a blessing:
- that God wants a close relationship with us
- that He is not angry or indifferent
- that He made the first move towards us
- while we were His enemies…
God is not watching from a distance….
- the cross is proof that God
- God condescended to be our LORD and SAVIOR
- He desires an honest daily relationship
But a relationship takes two interested parties:
- there is no relationship
- if one person is uninterested
- it takes two, so to speak.
We can have a real:
• close and personal relationship with the Lord, but
• God will not force you to be in that relationship,
• you must want it too.
Amos 3:3 says,
“Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”
We frequently treat our relationship with God transactionally:
- Jesus died on the cross for me. Check
- I believed and was baptized, Check
- now that I am saved from Hell, Check
- our business is concluded.
Unless we are careful, we will miss:
- that God reconciled us to himself
- paying the price for our sin on the CROSS
- so that We can be together with him for eternity…STARTING NOW
Our relationship with God:
- is not supposed to start in the future
- we are to be walking with God now!
One of the strangest occurrences in the Bible
happened to a man named Enoch.
Enoch is the Bible hero:
- we are going to learn from today
- a real Hall of Famer in God’s book
- Enoch is a person that God was pleased with
Most of Enoch’s story is found in Hebrews 11 and Genesis 5
“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
Genesis 5:21–24 (NIV)
“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. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:5-6 (NIV)
Who is Enoch?
- He Adams Grandson
- the son of Jared,
- the Father of Methuselah
Enoch lived in around 3500 B.C.:
- so this is before Jesus’ ministry
- before David, Moses, Abraham
- before Noah,
- almost all the way back to the beginning of Genesis
Jude 14 tells us that:
- Enoch was a preacher
- a prophet of God
- sort of a Hell fire and damnation
Enoch was also a man who:
o walked so closely with the Lord.
o that one day they
o just walked off together to Heaven.
That God “took” or “translated” Enoch means he was:
o “taken from this life without dying.”
o The Greek word “translate” metatithemi
o Sounds like “Meta-teef- uh-me”
o literally means “to convey to another place.”
Before the flood people lived:
- much longer lives, Enoch lived 365 years
- most of Enoch’s contemporaries lived at least 700 years
- Enoch’s son, Methuselah lived 969 years.
Enoch lived in a wicked age:
- in fact it was so wicked that God
- destroyed the Earth with a flood
- in the next chapter of Genesis
“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
- Genesis 6:5 (ESV)
Of course, because God took Enoch, he did not see the flood…
God took Enoch because:
o Enoch walked with God.
o He had to learn how to live apart from sin and close to God.
o He developed a hatred for sin and a love for God.
How can we expect to walk:
- with God who is sinless
- who cannot be near sin
- if we refuse to reject sin in our own lives…
Enoch walked with God 300 years:
- 300 years is a long time
- are you walking with God?
- are you keeping up?
Enoch walked with God and:
- one day Enoch was gone
- but people did not know what happened to him
- did they put up posters, put him on a milk carton?
Enoch “could not be found”:
• the language indicates that
• They kept looking for him unsuccessfully.
• Again and again they looked.
“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.”
Hebrews 11:5 (NIV)
1. Faith must begin with belief that God exists
To come to God has two presuppositions here:
A. The person must believe that there is a God and then.
B. Believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Two key words/phrases:
o “one who comes”
o and “who earnestly seek”
o are present tenses.
This indicates continual coming and continual seeking
o One must keep coming as a lifestyle.
o One must keep seeking as a regular,
o habitual predominant way of life.
Some may not believe that God exists:
o There are many more who believe that God exists, but
o Who do not believe that he rewards?
I find believers everywhere I go:
- they believe God is real
- but their faith in Him is DEAD
We do what we can to get rewards:
- I remember one time the gym was giving away tickets
- and the more tickets you got
- the better chance you would get a prize
They were giving away nice leaf blower:
- and I did everything necessary
- to get the tickets, to win the leaf blower
- and I won the leaf blower.
The strange thing is:
- apparently being kept out of eternal burning Hell doesn’t motivate people
- spending eternity in heaven, having sins forgiven doesn’t move people
- and I’m not just talking about the LOST…
People with dead faith:
- will break their backs
- to please the world
- to win prizes and possessions that won’t last
- but REFUSE to do something that will please GOD
When Jesus comes back rewards will be handed out:
- God will right every wrong
- rewards will be awarded, but also
- punishments will be assigned to the LOST
Remember, that without FAITH, it is impossible to please God.
Faith that pleases God is a daily FAITH:
o not a once and done faith,
o it is a continual faith that,
o seeks to know God and enjoy His presence
J.C. Ryle states,
“Make it a part of every day’s business to read and meditate on some portion of God’s Word….yesterday’s bread will not feed the laborer of tomorrow. Do as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Gather your manna fresh every morning….Give the Bible the best, and not the worst, part of your time”
2. Faith is more than a belief in God’s existence; faith is a right relationship with God.
Believing that God exists is only the beginning:
even the demons believe in God’s existence.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”
James 2:19–20
Enoch was relocated from the Earth to Heaven:
• That is what we all want isn’t it?
• The point is that if you want to go from earth to heaven.
• It is based on your FAITH and NOT your works.
Of course if:
o your faith does not include works,
o Faith without deeds is dead, useless, and worthless.
o Without faith it is impossible to please God
WE need to have faith:
- that Jesus is the Messiah
- the Savior of the world
- we need to believe in Him, which is like placing faith in Him
- we need to confess Him as Lord
- we need to be washed in the blood of Jesus by immersion
- and we need to walk daily, continually, with JESUS
In the Garden of Eden:
- man and women walked with God
- then sin entered the world
- and like Adam and Eve, we have all sinned
- our sin separated us from God who is Holy
God fixed on the cross, what our sin destroyed
We are Reconciled by faith:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Romans 5:1 (NIV)
God is seeking a relationship with us
Faith is more than a feeling:
• Faith walks with God.
• Faith talks with God.
• Faith spends time with God...
3. Faithfulness is lavishly rewarded by God
I remember a few years ago:
- I was coming back from Knightstown
- and I came to the y in the road where
- you can either go to Rushville or get on the Carthage Pike
I wasn’t familiar with the road:
- and I started to take the road to Arlington
- but the corner was tighter than I expected
- I was going to fast and I was committed to turn
I might have been able to stop:
- I also might have slide into the ditch
- my car was front wheel drive, so
- I did what any reasonable person would do
I turned hard, down shifted, and hoped for the best!
We made it, and nobody was more surprised than my passenger.
BTW:
o that is not how I was taught to drive…
o that was from watching too many
o Dukes of Hazzard episodes
How I took that corner:
- is how many people treat the future
- go fast and hope for the best!
Many people are being reckless with their faith:
- they see what is in front of them
- but they don’t think about what is next!
You want to know what is NEXT?
- Jesus RETURNS and then the JUDGEMENT, or
- WE DIE and then the JUDGEMENT
That is it in a nutshell.
Enoch believed that:
? God would reward him for his faith, and
? God did so by taking him to heaven so that he did not die.
? The reward of faith is important in Hebrews (10:35; 11:26; 12:11).
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”
Hebrews 10:3 (NIV)
LOOK AHEAD TO YOUR REWARD!
The most defining thing about Enoch:
- not his looks, or his profession,
- not even his possessions
- it was his WALK WITH GOD
Walking with God implies consistency daily:
o Enoch did not just walk with God for a while and then quit.
o He did not stand still with God he kept pace with God.
o He walked beside God and he never left His side.
Enoch’s faith pleased God!
Does your life please God?
WE all walk through this life, but I have a few questions:
o What are you walking towards?
o Who are you walking with?
Right now we invite you:
- to walk with the Lord
- to surrender your life to God
- to walk the path of righteousness.
Right now:
- decide to take the first step
- in a lifelong journey
- that will lead you to heaven!
Credit:
I am not great a citing sources. The outline is mine. I started with much content here started from LOGOS commentaries. I'm not sure at this point what is mine and what is borrowed. I try to only post sermons that seem under represented on SC and that are mostly my material. Although I milked a load of cows, I feel like I churned my own butter on this particular sermon. Some of the illustrations are from SC.
