Hebrews 11, let's read verses
5 and 6. It says, By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found. Because God
had translated him. But before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith, it is
impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and he is a rewarder. of them that diligently
seek him. Enoch, I love this story of Enoch,
don't you? We've looked at it many times
together, but three things we're going to look at. Enoch's world,
the world in which Enoch lived, just like ours, no different.
Enoch's walk. How Enoch walked. What it means
to walk by faith. We must walk the same way. And
then Enoch's translation. That is, he was transferred or
changed from one place to something else. From one place to another.
God did that. Enoch's world, go back to Genesis
chapter 4. The world in which Enoch lived,
Genesis chapter 4, was right before the flood. And so that
means it's just like ours. The Lord Jesus Christ said that
in Matthew 24. He said, As it was in the days
of Noah, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. Right
before the flood. A few hundred years or so before
the flood. Man was not primitive back then. Man has never been primitive. God created man in His image,
and so man was a brilliant creature, upright. Man has become primitive, beastly, animal-like. He started
out upright. He's now on his all-fours. I
believe in a reverse kind of evolution. I think man has turned
into a monkey. But this was right before the
flood, and man was still a brilliant creature. Look at Genesis 4,
verse 20 through 22. Adam bared Jabal. He was a father
of such as dwell in tents, of such as have cattle. They were
cattlemen, had herds and so forth. Verse 21, his brother's name
was Jubal. He was a father of all such as
handled a harp. and organ, musicians. Organ? Some kind of instrument of music.
Verse 22, Zillah, bearer, tubal cane, instructor of every artifice. Artificer of brass and iron.
They were creative. They were craftsmen. They were
artisans. They were musicians. They were brilliant. Adam. Man
lived hundreds of years. Adam named all the animals that
God brought forth. A brilliant creature. He wasn't
primitive. But look at chapter 6, verse
4. Because of the fall, man began
to fall more and more. And those years, those hundreds
of years now are reduced down to 3 score and 10, or maybe 4
score, if by reason of God-given strength. Because man is so corrupt. And this is what God said, because
he's corrupt, I'm going to reduce his year in the beginning to
120. And as it got more and more corrupt, it's down to 70. Look at verse 4 of chapter 6. There were giants in the earth
in those days. Giants. Sounds like now, doesn't it?
Just like now. But the world became corrupt. Look at verse 5. God saw the
wickedness of man was great in the earth. Every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. This
is the day of Enoch. Enoch lived just a little while
before no one. Noah knew Enoch. Noah is Enoch's
great-grandson. He knew him. Noah was 31 years old when Enoch
walked on into glory. So he knew. And they all lived
close together until Babel, until they all moved away. Look at
verse 13. It says, God said to Noah, the
end of all flesh has come before me. The earth is filled with
violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them.
Verse 12, all flesh has corrupted his way upon the earth. That
was then and that is now. That is His name, His way, corrupt,
the way, the truth, corrupt, twisted, perverted, everything. You now call evil good and good
evil, don't you? That's the way it was in Enoch
today. That's Enoch's world. So it's no worse, no better than
ours. It's the same. Alright, Enoch's
walk, chapter 5 of Genesis. Look there. Chapter 5. He walked
by faith. In Hebrews 10, verse 38, it says,
"...the just shall live by faith." Walk. We walk by faith, not by
sight. Enoch walked. Chapter 5 of Genesis,
verse 21 through 24. Enoch lived 65 years begat Methuselah. Enoch walked with God. Verse 24, Enoch walked with God. And he was not. God took him. Enoch walked with God. But he
didn't always walk with God, did he? No flesh does. We're not born walking with God. We're born, according to Scripture,
walking according to the course of this world. Look, it says
there in verse 21 and 22, Enoch lived
65 years, begat Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he
begat Methuselah. So apparently he was 65 years
old when the Lord revealed Himself to him. When the Lord, by His
grace, quicken him by his word, quicken him. And before that,
he didn't please God. Before that, like us, who were
dead and trespassed in sin, walking according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of this earth, captive
of Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our life in time
past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and the mind, were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others." That's us. That's every human being. That
was Enoch. But God, who is rich in mercy. His salvation is of the Lord. And Enoch is one of God's chosen. One of God's chosen. Someone
would hear this and say, there you go again. You're going to
talk about that election, aren't you? Absolutely. Because that's
where it all started. Why do we do this? Why do we
continue to harp on this? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. God will not share His glory
with another. Not with Abel. Not with Enoch.
Not with Noah. Not with Abraham. Abraham was
a 75-year-old idolater. So is every human being until
God Almighty comes to them in grace and mercy and in power
and quickens them. They're dead until God Almighty
quickens them. They're not going to walk by
faith. They're not going to know God. They're not going to care
about God. They're not going to call on God. They're not going
to repent. They're not going to believe. They're dead. God
gets the glory. Salvation is of the Lord. Yes,
we're going to say that every time we stand up. Because that's
what salvation is all about. The glory of God. All glory to God. All glory to
Christ. All glory to the Holy Spirit. The gifts and calling of God.
They're of God. You see, you're calling, don't
you, brother? God hath chosen. God hath chosen. God hath chosen. God hath called. God hath raised. God hath saved. Salvation is
of the Lord. God chose Enoch. God called Enoch. God redeemed Enoch by the blood
of Christ. God quickened Enoch by the Spirit
of God. See, Scripture says, and we know
this, For by grace are you saved through faith. It says, By faith,
Enoch. Where do you get the faith? It's
not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. I love chapter
before that, Ephesians 2, chapter 1, verse 19 says, If you believe,
it's according to the working of His mighty power. What would
cause a man To walk with God who was born in this corrupt
world, born just like everybody else, believe in what everybody
else believes, acting like everybody else. What would cause that person
to all of a sudden see someone you can't see, believe someone
you haven't heard? Walk 180 degrees opposite of
what the world does, love what the world hates and hate what
the world loves. What would cause a man to do
that? God. Only God. It's a gift. I've got to go on. Enoch walked
with God. We must always make it plain
that salvation is of the Lord, lest any man should boast. And
that's what this evil religious generation is doing today. And this is not about correct
doctrine. This is not just trying to get
our doctrine correct. We're talking about the glory
of God. Not merely higher doctrine either.
It's the only doctrine. It's the only doctrine. It's
the truth. You can't preach the truth if you preach half of it.
You don't know God unless you know He is God in every sense
of the word. Enoch walked with God. Alright,
here's Enoch's walk. He walked by faith. What is it
to walk with God? What is it to walk with God?
Turn to the little book of Amos. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. A little book of Amos. Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos. I'm telling that from my benefit,
because it's hard to find. Amos chapter 3. To walk with
God, first of all, is to believe God. It's to believe God. I didn't say believe in God.
Everybody says that. You believe James said this,
you believe there's one God, you do well. You should. But
the devil believed that. That even trembles. But he's
not saved. The devil rejected God, rejected
God's Word. It's to believe God. Look at
Amos 3, 3. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? To believe God is to agree with
God, to believe God. It's to say, let God be true. And every man a liar. That's
to believe God. To walk with God is to not walk
in the counsel of the ungodly, which Psalm 1-1 says. Blessed,
oh how blessed is the man. That person is has been given
faith. If you do not walk in the counsel
of, don't believe the so-called wisdom of the ungodly, and you
see your calling, 1 Corinthians 1 says, hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? Why is it that you see the wisdom
so-called of this world as the foolishness that it is? When
the world thinks, oh, this is wisdom, when you see it as utter
foolishness, like evolution, like their concept of God, you
know. Why is that? Because God revealed
Himself to you. God hath revealed these things,
chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians, God hath revealed these things unto
us by His Spirit, His people. So to walk with God is to first
believe God. Believe that God is true and
every man a liar. David said this, Psalm 119, 128.
I love it. He said, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right, and therefore I hate every false
way, he said. I believe everything God says.
I don't fully understand it. I believe it by His grace. I believe it. Do you? What in
God's Word do you take issue with? Anything. Is there anything
in God's Word that you reject? You can't. You can't and be a
believer. What must a believer believe
in order to be saved? Everything. Understand it? No. Believe it?
Yes. Why? Because God said it. The old saying, you know, God
said it, I believe it, and that settles it. No, that's all wrong.
Leave you out of the equation. God said it, that settles it.
Whether we believe it or not. But if you're His own, you will
believe. When I worked on a railroad,
I've told you this many times, but he said, I'll believe anything
but that predestination. And he did. He believed anything. But when God, and Brother Henry,
you know, you were a free will Arminian at one time, and you
probably thought the same thing, didn't you? I won't believe that.
But God. One day He said, you will believe
this, won't you? Because I said it. You said,
I do believe. And now you reject everything
but that. So to walk with God, my, my,
I've got to go. To believe is to believe God.
In these last days, when so many turn away their ears from the
truth, God's people turn away their ears from everything else
but the truth. Reject everything as fables,
and only God's Word is the truth. The things that are seen, temporal.
The things that are not seen, eternal. It's okay to walk with
God is to believe God. To walk with God is to walk with
Christ. No man hath seen God at any time. Jesus Christ said that. No man
hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. God is Spirit. No man hath seen
or can see, ever will see. But Job said, I'm going to see
God. Who's he talking about? Jesus
Christ. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. Who's He talking about? There's
only one Redeemer whom He redeemed with His own precious blood.
Ephesians 1. Christ is the Redeemer. God has always dealt with man
through His Son. Like He did Adam. Came walking
in the garden, talking to Adam. Killed that animal before their
eye. Every single, like Proverbs 8 says, his delights were with
the sons of men, rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth.
You remember those messages we went through, the appearances
of our Lord in the Old Testament? Well, we didn't go through all
of them because there are many we don't know about. But to walk
with God is to walk with Christ. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, Christ said to Philip. God has always made the worlds
by Christ, and He gave the world to Christ. He gave the world
to Christ. God hath made this same to His
Lord. He gave the world to Him. It's
His world. All judgment, He says, is committed
unto Him. When? Starting in the New Testament?
Oh, no. From the beginning, given to
Him. Like when we looked at Adam and Eve, you know, as the Lord
God, that Lord Christ talked to them. Abel brought blood. What's that? That's Christ's
substitution. And that blood is the theme of
this book. It's the red line that goes through
this book. I've always wanted to drill a
hole through my Bible, start from
cover to cover and put a red thread through it so that I would
be reminded every time I opened it to see there's blood there,
old and new, from Genesis to Revelation. The theme of this
book is redemption by blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. You can't come to God except
by blood, starting with Adam to Zerubbabel. A to Z. Alpha to Omega. He said, I'm
the first. I'm the last. I'm the beginning. I'm the end.
Christ is all and in all. Known by all. Believed by all.
Moses wrote of me, Christ said. Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
He saw it and was glad. Abel did too. Enoch walked with
Christ. He said, it's not there. It's
hidden to the wise and the prudent. Blood is not mentioned in the
book of Jonah. Nothing like that's mentioned
in the book of Jonah, but that's the very story in which the Lord
gave to represent Himself. That old story. As Jonah was
in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man. That's
the sign. That's the red line. So he walked
with Christ. He walked with Christ. Didn't
know his name was Jesus, but he knew he was his Lord, his
Savior, his substitute, and his mediator, his intercessor. And
it says he pleased God, didn't it? They say over there in our
text that he pleased God, but without faith it's impossible. How can we please God? God looked down on the children
of men to see if there were any. Psalm 14, see if there were any
that didn't understand God. He said they all together become
unprofitable. None that doeth good, no not
one. But in Isaiah 42, He says, Behold my servant, my servant,
speaking of Christ, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth. He's
going to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. The isles will
wait for his law. And on down there it says, The
Lord is well pleased for his righteousness. Now you listen
to that. This is the heart and soul of
the gospel. God is not pleased with any human being except in
Jesus Christ, robed in his righteousness under his blood. That is the
gospel. God is holy. God cannot love
anything but absolute holiness. We are sinful. But in Christ,
we are holy. In Christ, we are righteous.
He has made unto us righteousness, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. We are complete in Him. in him. That's the heart and
soul of the gospel. All our righteousnesses, Isaiah
64, 6, are as filthy rags. Paul said, Oh, I don't want to
be found having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is by faith of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. That is, he looked to Christ
as his righteousness. That's what it is to walk with
Christ. It's to walk with God. It's to walk with Christ. Walk
believing, trusting Him. It's to walk according to God's
Word. To walk with God is to walk according
to His Word. God says this is the way. Walk
in it. The paths of righteousness. Not this is a way. Or not this
is good advice. Or not this is a good way and
this is the way. This is man's way, but this is
God's way. No, no. This is only way. Only way. It's not up for debate. It's
God's way. Are you with me? This is the
way. One way, one truth, one life.
He says, seek, ask and seek for the own paths. All of God's people have walked
God's way. It's the only way there is. And
that way is Christ. And it's the way of holiness
and sanctification. That means set apart. Set apart
from what? The world. the world. It's to walk not according to
the course of this world. That's the way we used to walk.
But when God sets our feet in paths of righteousness, we follow
Christ. Follow God. Walk according to
His Word. Different principles. Completely
different principles. Affections set on things above.
That's what I said about man. Adam walked with God. His affections
were set on God. When he fell and all mankind
fell in him, now his affections are set in the dirt. He doesn't
look up. Adam looked up. Adam was upright,
looking up, walking, talking, listening, believing, loving,
enjoying God. But when he fell, he became like
a beast. Grebbling, no better than an
animal. Eating, drinking, and, well, sex. That's it. That's
what man has become, isn't it? Well, God gives us new life,
and it has to be given. New life. He sets the affection,
the heart, the mind, the principles of new creature. Everything become
new. Things he'd never had before.
Desires Godward, heavenward. Thoughts on things above, not
things below. Looking for unseen things. That's holiness. And when we
say holiness, that doesn't mean self-righteousness. Most so-called
holiness people are just self-righteous. Holier than thou. Look at me.
I wear my hair this way. I wear my clothes this way. I
drive a certain car. That's not holiness. Our Lord
ate and drank with publicans and sinners. He was holy. And
the holiness people, the self-righteous ones, despised Him. Sinners were
drawn to Him. That just completely blows man's
concept of holiness out of the water, doesn't it? That sinners
were drawn to the holy man. It's a way of mercy. It's a way
of gentleness. It's a way of meekness as opposed
to pride. It's a way of temperance. It's
a way of love as opposed to hate. It's a way of mercy as opposed
to self-righteousness. Not looking down on others, but
esteeming others more highly and so forth. It's the opposite
of the world. Opposite. Enoch walks according to God's
Word. And to walk with God is to walk
with Him, is to follow Him. follow Him. And when Christ came
and called His disciples, who followed who? They followed Him to walk with
Him. They didn't know where He was
going. From day to day, they did not know where He was going.
He did. That's all they needed to know.
And we don't either. We don't know what a day may
bring forth. But we're walking by faith. We
follow Him. We just follow Him. Trusting
Him. Walk by faith, not by sight.
To walk with God is to commune with God. To commune with God. When you
walk with somebody, if you walk very far, you're going to be
talking to them, aren't you? Huh? You're going to be talking
to them. To commune with God. And God's
people, they call on the Lord. It's said back in Genesis, Enoch,
not Enoch, but when Seth was born, son of Adam, it says men
began to call on the name of the Lord. Began to call on God. And when God Almighty does this
work of faith in a believer, they begin to call on the Lord. When Saul of Tarsus was saved,
that self-righteous Pharisee, he did a lot of praying before
that, but he wasn't calling on God. He was like that Pharisee
in the temple, bragging on himself. But when Christ revealed Himself, The Lord said to old, what's
his name, that came and preached to Paul. Anyway, he told him,
he said, you go and behold, he breathed. He breathed. He's calling on me. He's calling
on me now. So, now it's going to bother
me. I can't think of that name. Anyway, it's to commune with
God. Talk with God. And if we're not
calling on the Lord, we're not walking with Him. But if you're walking with Him,
communing with Him, you're never alone. Never alone. If we feel alone, And that's
not what we call it. Must be looking somewhere else.
Thinking about something else. Right? Old Brother Davis. You remember Brother Hubert Davis?
You and I went to see him in the nursing home. Committed himself
to a nursing home. He's a preacher over in Farmville,
Virginia. He committed himself to a nursing home because he
had a 45-year-old son that required constant care, who was like a 5-year-old. And he didn't
want, and Brother Hubert had Parkinson's disease and began
to be wheelchair-bound and didn't want his wife to care for both
of them. He committed himself to a nursing home. And he was all hunched over like
this. He couldn't straighten up. And Dad and I went to see
him that day. He was a wonderful preacher.
I preached with him many times. I stayed in the motel room with
him for days on end. I just loved him dearly. We went
to see him in the nursing home. We came down the hall, found
his room, and the door was open, and there he sat all hunched
over in his wheelchair. I said, Brother Hubert, are you
alone? He said, no, brother, the Lord's
with me. Oh, Lord, give me that kind of,
oh, bent over double in a nursing home. Happy. Why? Walking with the Lord. He can't
even walk. He's walking with the Lord. Communion. And you can be content
to be alone if you're walking with the Lord. You can be content
with it. He wasn't alone. He was content. Why? He wasn't
alone. Walking with the Lord. If we
feel alone, start talking. Start calling. He said, I'm a
very present. We need His presence. He said,
I'm very present. Very present. To walk, and I'm
going to take all the time I want. To walk with the Lord is to walk
from somewhere to somewhere. When you're walking, you've got
a destination in mind, don't you? To walk, you leave somewhere
to go somewhere, don't you? That's what walking is all about.
Well, here in chapter 11 it says, all those people were they that
embraced the promise, received the promise, saw them afar off,
persuaded of them, embraced them, confessed they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth, and they that say such things. Do
you say such things? They declare plainly they seek
a country. Not mindful of that one, but
looking for a better country. Heavenly. God's not ashamed to
be called their God. He prepared for them a city.
So that's where they're headed. Like Bunyan's pilgrim in the
Pilgrim's Progress. Remember that? When he's fleeing
the city of destruction. God came and warned him to flee
the city of destruction. Where you live, I'm going to
destroy it. Now look at yon wicked gate.
That's Christ's, the way. Go through that gate. It's straight,
it's narrow. You've got to go through it.
And then you look beyond that gate, you'll see the celestial
city. The city of Emmanuel. That's where you're headed. Don't
look back. Don't look to the right, to the
left. Head straight on. And so what did old Pilgrim do?
He had this burden on his back. He's fleeing the city. He's looking
straight forward and it says he put his hands on his ears
and cried, life, life, eternal life, while he headed to the
celestial city. While everybody was saying, don't
go, don't go, stop. Life. That's what it is to walk. With
God is to walk. We're headed somewhere. Where
are we headed? Going to God. Going to a better place. Going to be with our Lord. So
to walk with God is to have that destination. To walk with God,
to walk with Christ, is to walk with those who walk with God. There's a great train. Oh, I love Psalm 24. It says
the King of Glory is coming in the gates. Open the gates, the
everlasting door. The King of Glory is coming in.
Look behind me. There's a great procession. His
train fills the temple. His people are following Him.
To walk with Him is to walk with those who walk with God. Moses
said to his father-in-law, Come thou with us. We'll do the good. God has promised great things
for Israel. Come on with us. Where are you
going? David said, I'm a companion of
all them that fear Thee. Those are my companions. Where
are you going? Going to worship God. I'll go
too. That's where I want to go. Where are you going? I want to
go and be with my Lord. That's where I want to go to.
And many have gone before us, haven't they? It's been translated. That's the next thing. Enoch
was translated. It says he was not. He was not found. He was not
found. This happened. It's a real story.
One day, Enoch was 365 years old. How many children did he
have? Maybe hundreds. Maybe thousands.
He lived that long. Right, Jennifer? How many would
you have? Patrick? How many did he have? Did he have a job? He had to
work to feed all those mouths. Did he have a wife? Sure he did. Okay? So he walked with God. It's to walk with God, but you
still work. You're still in this world. But
you walk with God in the world. Enid did. All God's people did.
Had a job? Alright? Maybe two jobs, huh,
Patrick? Maybe three. He went to work
one day, kissed his wife goodbye, said, See you later, honey. He
walked on in the glory. And his wife waited on him. Where's
Enoch? He should have been home by now. He is. Bonnie, hook her one day, walked
on in the glory. Your granddad walked on in the
glory. Your mother walked on in the
glory. That's right. Christ comes for
all His people. He's going to come someday for
all of them. But when it's your time, you're
translated. You're not found in this world.
I'll tell you where you are found. In Him. Won't that be wonderful? Won't
that be wonderful? To be absent from the body, present
with the Lord. Walk out of this body, walk into
a new one. Isn't that amazing? True story. So will it be with all of God's
people. That's what we're looking for.
That's what we're hoping. Well, all that walk by faith,
all that look to Christ, love Christ, And upon him our Lord
promised, he that believeth in me shall never perish, never
die, to be translated. No death, translation. And I
can't say too much about that, because it hasn't happened yet.