ENOCH’S AMAZING WALK
Genesis 5:21-24
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: BIBLE RIDDLES
1. Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth? A. Ruthless.
2. Q. What do they call pastors in Germany? A. German Shepherds.
3. Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible? A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
4. Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible? A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.
5. Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible? A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, there was a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.
6. Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible? A. Samson. He brought the house down.
7. Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden? A. “Your mother ate us out of house and home.”
B. SCRIPTURES
1. “When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after[ward]...Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters....Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Gen. 5:21-25
2. “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.” Hebrews 11:5
C. EARLY REVELATIONS ABOUT GOD. Enoch is called the seventh from Adam (Jude 1:14), to distinguish him from the other Enoch of the line of Cain, who was the third from Adam. God manifested portions of the truth about Himself through the earliest godly fathers. Truths such as:
1. Through Abel God taught the need of approaching the Lord with sacrifice, the need of atonement by blood. Abel’s lamb upon the altar was accepted by God when Cain’s bloodless sacrifice was refused.
2. Through Seth and Enos God taught the necessity of our confession of our faith and of assembling for worship. In their days “men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”
3. Then came Enoch whose life went beyond atonement and confession. God used Enoch to teach the great truth of communion with God. Enoch showed us how we may be united with God in our spiritual being.
4. Church, have you, like Abel, claimed your sacrificial Lamb, trusting in Jesus’ precious blood for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you confessed Him? Are you endeavoring to walk with God as Enoch did?
D. THESIS
1. Today we’re looking at what Enoch’s walking with God implied and then look at 6 aspects of a walk with God.
2. The title of this message is “Enoch’s Amazing Walk.”
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY ENOCH’S WALKING WITH GOD?
A. HE WAS PLEASING TO GOD
1. The Book of Hebrews tells us that Enoch walked with God because he was pleasing to God. Now Enoch was a normal person; he made mistakes and sinned from time to time (The Bible says, “ALL have sinned”).
2. This means that Enoch needed pardon and cleansing, and his sins had to be atoned for, just like ours. Ps. 5:4, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; with You the wicked cannot dwell.”
B. ENOCH HAD EXPERIENTIAL FAITH
1. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” It wasn’t Enoch’s marvelous achievements that made him pleasing to God, but his faith. It was the same faith which saved the dying thief, and Mary Magdalene, and even doubting Thomas.
2. You can’t walk with a person unless you’re convinced He exists. Hebrews says, “He that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
3. Enoch didn’t simply believe in a religion or a creed; rather, he had a “know-so” salvation. Faith is the “substance” of things hoped for. Enoch came to know God by experimental knowledge. He sought God and found Him. Jer. 29:13, “You shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.”
C. HE AND GOD CONVERSED
1. As Enoch walked with God, he conversed with the Most High. What a wonderful time of sharing takes place when a person takes a walk with their friend! Day by day they walk the fields and climb the hills together; what a joyous fellowship there is. One shares his/her trouble, and the Lord consoles us. They share their secrets. They develop the close familiarity of friends.
2. But will God actually walk with humans this way? Yes, He did so with Enoch, and He’s done so with many people since. This is the root and sweetness of the Christian experience. Ps. 34:8 says, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him.”
D. HIS FELLOWSHIP WAS CONTINUOUS
1. Next we see Enoch’s walk with God was continuous. Enoch didn’t just occasionally walk with God, rather, he walked with God for hundreds of years – FOR CENTURIES!
2. What a splendid walk! A walk of 300 years! They walked so far that the patriarch kept on walking beyond time and space, and walked into Paradise, where he’s still marching on in the same divine company. He had heaven on earth, so it was no surprise he glided away from earth to heaven!
II. 6 SIX ASPECTS OF ENOCH’S WALK
A. GOING THE SAME PLACE/DIRECTION
1. Abraham looked for a city – New Jerusalem, God’s House. Heb. 11:8 says Abraham “did not know where he was going.” Martin Luther said, “I know not the way God leads me. But well do I know my Guide.”
2. ILLUSTRATION
a. An environmental research group went to the edge of the Sahara Desert and spoke to the Arabs. “We would like directions to a specific oasis.”
b. The Arab answered, “I will act as your guide.” The visitors answered, “We don’t need a guide, we just need someone to tell us the way.”
c. The Arab drew himself up and said with meaning, “I AM THE WAY.” He knew the desert by heart. So it is with God; He knows the way to heaven. If we stick with Him, we’ll get there!
B. HIS WALK WAS PROGRESSIVE
1. Walking requires forward movement. Enoch walked with God. At the end of 200 years he was not where he began, but he was in the same company. He had gotten closer to where God was going.
2. At the end of the 300 years Enoch understood more, loved more, had received more. A person who walks with God will grow in grace and in the knowledge of God and in likeness to Christ.
3. In 1970, David Kunst began his walk around the world. He walked for four and one-half years and for 15,000 miles. He wore out twenty-two pairs of shoes.
4. God’s not asking us to walk around the world but He is asking us to make progress. Everyone in this room can become more like Jesus. Jewish leaders observed that Jesus’ disciples had become like Him (Acts 4:13).
C. THERE WAS MUTUAL DEPENDENCE
1. “Two are better than one....If one falls down, the other can help them up....Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm....Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” Eccles. 4:9-12.
2. People who travel in large groups are less likely to be attacked by robbers. If they lack something they can borrow some from their fellow travelers. If they fall ill they have someone around them to look after them. It’s always better to travel in company.
D. THEY HAD PEACEFUL RELATIONS
1. People won’t travel together unless they get along or have some affinity. You wouldn’t want to be around someone who was vile, rude, or violent. Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together unless they be agreed?” We need to be like God.
2. ILLUSTRATION
a. A farmer noticed a lot of dust and noise in his neighbor’s corral. Two oxen were fighting. His neighbor was urging them on with a stick. He asked, “Instead of urging the oxen on with a stick, why don’t you stop them?”
b. His neighbor said, “I can’t use them to pull my ox cart until they learn to get along. If I harness them together before they learn cooperation, they will pull in different directions.” WE NEED TO LEARN TO COOPERATE WITH GOD!
E. HE & GOD KEPT THE SAME PACE
1. Have you ever walked with someone with long legs and had trouble keeping pace? Or with someone who had short legs and you had run alongside?
2. Gal. 5:25, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” To walk with God, we must match the pace of God’s steps. It’s a choice to walk with God.
F. THEY HAD SWEET COMPANIONSHIP
1. You must enjoy each other’s company. To converse, people need to think the same things and like to talk about the same things.
2. “Companion” actually means “One who accompanies another for a longer or shorter period, either from choice or casually; an associate or partner.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Oluchi Nwankwo was a child growing up in Nigeria. He’d heard about Jesus -- how He loved children, His miracles, how He healed the sick and accepted all who came to Him.
2. He was anxious to see this Jesus face to face. He wanted Him to touch him. But of all the Christians he’d met, none resembled this affectionate Jesus. He prayed to meet Jesus.
3. Then one fateful day, on the street of Aba in Abia State, Nigeria, this little boy, age 6, was hawking bananas as instructed by his Aunty. “Banana, banana” he chanted along the way.
4. Suddenly he was bumped by a bus, knocked down and his bananas were crushed and mashed. He wept as he remembered the whipping that awaited him at home. He began to wail.
5. Yet no one cared; people walked around him going on with their business. Then suddenly a man walked up & asked why he was crying. He pointed at the crushed bananas and told of the punishment that awaited me at home.
6. The man smiled & asked how much they cost? He told him. The man pulled 500 Naira out from his pocket (approx. $4.00) and bade me “go in peace.”
7. Joy filled Oluchi’s heart. At last he’d met Jesus! Who else could be so good? He asked the man: “Sir, are you Jesus?” He simply smiled and said, “No, but I am his ambassador; I’m a child of God.”
8. That encounter changed Oluchi’s life forever. Oluchi HAD SEEN JESUS through the life of one of His disciples, in that singular demonstration of the love of Christ.
9. “…You are the Epistle of Christ …written not with ink, but with the Spirit of God” 2nd Cor. 3:3. [Told by Sis. Nwankwo.]
B. THE CALL
1. Will you make a commitment to walk with God? Will you take one step that will bring you closer to God?
2. You have to decide whether you will listen to God or listen to the Devil. Will you listen to God? Will you do what He wants you to do today? Prayer.
