The Lord had mercifully brought Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Israel was a highly favored people. Of all the nations upon the earth, no nation was more cared for, no nation was more blessed, no nation enjoyed the mercies of God quite like Israel.

But in spite of the Lord's great kindness to them, they were guilty of rebellion, unbelief, and multiplied iniquities. They departed from him, notwithstanding all of his mercies. notwithstanding the fact that God gave them His Word, His priests, His prophets. He gave them the tabernacle with all the pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gave them the sacrifices, teaching substitution, teaching death by means of teaching death by means of a suitable substitute. All of these things God did for them, he entrusted them with his own word, with his gospel.

But all these mercies that God gave them, manna from heaven, water from the rock, leading them through the wilderness to begin with crossing the Red Sea and then crossing the River Jordan into a land of plenty. Nevertheless, they denied him. He warned them not to pick up the idolatry that they would encounter in the land of Canaan, but they picked it up anyway. And amazingly, they began to sacrifice to the false gods of the Canaanites. Therefore, this nation had been forsaken by God except for a remnant according to the election of grace. Most of them had no faith. no bowing to the truth, no honoring God. They forsook approaching God by means of a blood atonement, which pointed to our Lord Jesus Christ. They knew the Messiah was coming. They knew the Son of God was coming. They knew the seed of the woman was coming, but they ceased to look to him. And they had no fear of God before their eyes.

And God who had walked with them through the wilderness, you'll recall he sent the angel of his presence before them. The Lord who walked with them then saw their rebellion. that they refused to walk with Him. You see, those who walk with God, here's the key, believe His Word. If you want to walk with God, just trust His Word to be the absolute truth. The Israelites ceased to do that.

Let me give you a couple of references. Go back to the book of Genesis. Look at Genesis, first of all, chapter five. In Genesis chapter five, look at verse 21. Can two walk together, remember the verse, very short, Can two walk together except they be in agreement? They've got to agree. Verse 21, Genesis 5.

And Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah, who lived 969 years, and we know he lived longer than anybody else did. And Enoch, watch it, walked with God. and begat Methuselah 300 years, and begat sons and daughters, and all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God." Two times we're told he walked with God.

So what can you take away from that? He agreed with God. Pretty simple, isn't it? He agreed with God. He believed God. He believed the gospel of God.

You say, well, how did he ever learn the gospel of God? Adam was still living. And Adam, as a preacher of the gospel, would have related to his seed. Remember, Enoch's the seventh generation. Adam would have related to Enoch about the seed of the woman, Christ is coming. That's what Enoch learned. And he looked forward to Christ. He looked forward to the Son of God. He believed the truth.

Adam would have told Enoch and these others as well. that the Lord illustrated what his son would do, the seed of the woman would do, in that the Lord killed an animal and clothed Adam and Eve. So he would have learned about righteousness, the means of forgiveness, the necessity of a blood redemption, Enoch learned the gospel. He walked with God. He simply believed the word of the Lord.

You want to walk with God? Believe Him. That's walking with God. You see, you can't walk with God unless you agree with Him.

See, the reason Israel couldn't walk with God and didn't continue to walk with God really was quite simple. They ceased to believe him. They ceased to rest in his word. They ceased to look forward to Messiah who was coming. If you would walk with God during your lifetime, believe what God has to say. Believe his gospel. Believe His Son. Rest in Him is the only propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a big long word that John used and Paul used, which simply means the satisfaction of divine justice. Believe Christ's satisfied justice.

If you want to walk with God, if you would walk with God, I'm going to come back here to Genesis, but hold your place and go over in Hebrews 11. Let me show what it says, see what Paul has to say about Enoch here in Hebrews chapter 11. You see, you cannot walk with God and be opposed to his word. You cannot walk with God and believe salvation by works. You cannot walk with God and believe that man's free will is what salvation hinges upon. You can't walk with God believing those things. You have to be in agreement with the Word of God. No argument.

That's not to say that you understand everything. None of us understand everything in the Bible. But I believe things I can't comprehend. Don't you? I can't comprehend the Trinity. The person who denies the Trinity is a fool, and the person who says he can comprehend the Trinity, he's a fool too. I believe what I can't comprehend, what I can't explain it to you. And this matter of believing Christ is believing one who is now seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, governing all things, bringing the eternal purpose of God to pass. I can't understand how he does that, but I believe he does. I don't question that.

If you would walk with God, agree with what he says. That's not complicated. but it's difficult. In fact, you can't believe him unless he gives you the gift of faith. Let's see what it says about Enoch over here in Hebrews 11. Look at verse five. By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. God carried him over. Translated, that means God carried him over. He carried him over death. He didn't experience death. God carried him over that. For before his translation, before his translation, he had this testimony. What was his testimony? He pleased God.

Man alive, how in the world could Enoch please God? Well, keep on reading, verse six. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Enoch believed God. He just trusted the word of God. And that was pleasing to God. Know this. There's only one man that God has ever been fully pleased with. And that's the man Christ Jesus. And none of you would dare oppose that. Christ said, I always do those things that please the Father.

Now, if you would be pleasing to God, believe His Son, and He'll be pleased with you in Christ Jesus. Believe what God has to say. The greatest danger to your soul is not to believe what God has said. That's the greatest danger to your soul. A lack of faith, a lack of faith. And go over a few more pages to Jude. Look at Jude. Jude has something to say about Enoch. Jude, it's only one chapter, so look at verse 14. And Enoch also the seventh from Adam, Adam was still living. Jude verse 14, Enoch also the seventh from Adam, he prophesied of these. He was a preacher. You wouldn't have known that if Jude hadn't told us. He preached. And he said, behold, the Lord cometh. That ETH indicates a continuing action. So this includes both the first coming of our Savior and his second coming. The Lord cometh. The Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints.

Now he's talking about the second coming of Christ to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard or fierce speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, against his deity. against his successful work of redemption, against his sovereign reign, against his grace,

Enoch was a preacher. And as a preacher of the gospel, he walked with God because he just simply believed, he embraced, he leaned on the bare Word of God. That's all. Now go back to Genesis, and now look at chapter six. Chapter six. Enoch walked by faith, you see, believing that which God had said. And before I talk to you about Noah, just remember this about Enoch. He was a fallen sinner just like the rest of us. Now, don't put him in a higher category. Yeah, well, he was much more spiritual and so forth than we are. He was a sinner saved by grace. And that's true of all the writers of Scripture. That's true of the apostle Paul, or John, or Peter, or Enoch, or as I'm going to show you, Noah. They were sinners, frail, ungodly by nature, but God taught them the gospel. and God gifted them with faith to believe what God had said.

You see, here's the truth. You'll never believe what God has said unless God gifts you with faith. All right, Genesis 6, look at verse 9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man. Noah was a righteous man. Now remember, there's none righteous. No, not one. So he didn't have this righteousness on his own. The righteousness he had before God, he was justified by grace and justified through the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he would work out, the Savior would work out by his obedience in life up to and including his death. Noah was justified the same way you're justified. by the righteous obedience of Christ.

And the scripture says he was perfect in his generation. He was complete. That word perfect means complete. Everything a holy God demanded of Noah, Noah had. He lacked nothing. For you see, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, if you have Christ, you lack nothing. Isn't that wonderful? Nothing a holy God demands is lacking with any of his people.

We say, well, I'm not as faithful as I ought to be. I don't believe like I ought to believe. I fail on many, many points. Is Christ all you trust? Is He all your confidence? Say, yes, He is. You're perfect in Him. That's what Paul says in Colossians, you're complete in Him. And the Apostle Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 1, of God are you, you, you, me, of God are you in Christ Jesus, And of God, Christ is made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, that's holiness, and redemption. You are complete. You lack nothing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Paul says, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Noah, the last statement says, and Noah walked with God. Well, how did he walk with God? He agreed with God. He didn't fuss about what God said. He didn't take issue with the word of God. Noah would have learned the gospel from men like Enoch and Methuselah. In fact, Methuselah, his name means, when he dies, it shall happen. What shall happen? A flood. The judgment of God. Noah learned the gospel. Somebody taught him. He had to hear. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And there were people who believed, though the vast amount of people in the world had fallen away from liking and loving to hear the gospel, and they tuned their ears to false doctrine over a few hundred years there. Noah believed the truth, and he walked with God. He walked with God.

How do you know Noah believed the Lord? He built an ark to the saving of his house. It's what it says in Hebrews 11. Noah, why are you building that ark? It wasn't a boat because it wasn't made for navigation. It was made to float, a great big rectangle for Noah's family and the animals that God would instruct him to bring into the ark. What possessed Noah to build an ark? He believed God. That's it. He believed God. Lord told him what to do. He did it.

Let me give you another reference. Look at Genesis 48. Genesis chapter 48 and verse 15. This is Israel or Jacob, but he's called Israel in the context. Genesis 48, 15, and he blessed Joseph and said, God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk. This is what Israel said, that is Jacob, but his name in the context is Israel. He says, Abraham and Isaac walked with God. He walked with God. which simply means he agreed with God.

Now, I'm not gonna ask you to turn back to the book of Amos chapter three, but the word agreed is a very interesting word, and it's kind of a compound word. It means to meet together, to meet together. But it also means assigned or by appointment. You see, no one can walk with God unless the Lord himself has appointed it. Unless he has assigned us to walk with him. You see, faith is a gift of God. And faith is given to those who are appointed unto salvation. And here's what we can conclude. If tonight you walk with God, that is, if you believe the Lord, You believe Him by divine assignment, by divine appointment. You are appointed unto eternal life. You are appointed. to know God, you are appointed unto salvation, you are appointed to be redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you were appointed to walk with God.

You see, if we walk with one another, let's say Ron and I gonna go walk down Central Park. I'll meet you there tomorrow, 12 o'clock. That's the appointment. And we'll meet there and walk. You see, if you're gonna do something with somebody, there's gotta be an appointment. There's gotta be a time set where both of you meet, or both of the ladies meet. You see, before the world began, God assigned us unto salvation. He appointed unto us that redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And we're brought by the Holy Spirit to believe him and to rest in him. And so we walk with him. And we walk with him not by our choice. That is, it didn't begin with us. We do believe him. But the reason we believe the Lord is because he ordained us, he appointed us, he assigned us to receive his word and thereby to walk with him.

Now here's what this gives us insight into. And I might preach on this, maybe the Lord's Day, I'm not sure. You remember that passage of scripture in John chapter 6, where our Lord had a lengthy sermon? And you get down to John 6 and 66, it says, and many of them walked no more with him. You remember that? They walked no more with him. Well, what can you take away from that? Number one, they didn't believe his word. They didn't believe his word. And number two, they were not assigned to believe his word. They were not appointed to believe his word. They walked away and he didn't say, no, wait, come back, come back. He didn't say that. He's gone. He just looked over to his disciples and said, well, what about you fellas? You gonna leave me too? Peter said, to whom shall we go? We're gonna walk with you. We're gonna walk with you, because we believe. We believe your word.

Wanna walk with God? Believe him, and if you believe him, It's because he assigned you to believe him. Well, let's sing the closing song.