Walking with God. I need not to make a long or
a complicated sermon out of such a simple truth. Enoch walked
with God. Enoch walked with God. What a
testimony. What a testimony to leave behind.
If there is anything that I or you could have said of us after
we leave, this could be the best thing that anyone could say.
He walked with God. What a testimony. It doesn't
give any exploits. He lived for 365 years. You know, you don't have this
history like you do of Abraham, or David, or many of those old
patriarchs, but you have this. He, he walked with God, and he
was not. Over in Hebrews, it says he pleased
God, and God took him. God translated it, took him. Now, first question here I want
to ask. I asked myself several questions
today as I looked at this. Who walked with God? Who walked
with God? A man named Enoch, the seventh
from Adam, walked with God. A man, listen now, a man like
me and you. Just a man. He was a man like
me and you. Enoch was born in sin. Enoch
was shaped in iniquity. He had the same nature. He was
born with the same depraved, fallen nature that you and I
have. This is Enoch. This is a man walking with God.
Same one. He was a son of Adam. Now, this
ought to encourage us. As I thought about this, the
first thing that happened, who walked with God? A man. A man
who was born in sin and shaped in iniquity walked with God. This ought to encourage us. If
one man born in sin and shaped in iniquity can do it, maybe
another one can. Maybe I can. Maybe I can. Enoch was a man of like passions. He struggled with the sins of
the flesh just like you and I. He struggled with what you and
I struggle with. He wrestled with what you and I wrestle with.
He sinned as we sinned. This man was not without sin.
He sinned as we sinned. He was not sinless. No, he was
a sinner just like us. He needed the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ just like you and I needed. In every way, he needed it. And
Enoch is a witness. that sinful men and women like
you and me can walk with God through the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can walk with God. In this present evil world, we
can walk with God. Now, I'm sure, I'm sure that
any was a rebel before he was a saint. I guarantee you, Enoch
was a rebel before he was a saint. He wasn't born a saint, none
of us were. We were born sinners, lost, going from the womb, speaking
lies. Every last one of us, Enoch included. He's included. I want you to
notice something over here. It says that Enoch lived Let's
see, in verse 21, Enoch lived 65 years and beget Methuselah. He lived 65 years, he begets
Methuselah. And in verse 22, and Enoch walked
with God after he beget Methuselah 300 years. Somewhere in that
65 years, he was a rebel. Somewhere in that 65 years, this
man who walked with God, at one time did not walk with God. At
one time, you know, I read you the Scripture there, and saw
how blessed is he who walks on the counsel of the ungodly? Well,
the one of the reasons he's so blessed is because at one time
he did. At one time he did, and God saved him from it. There
was a time, I'm sure of this, that Enoch was a rebel. He was
an unbeliever. But God had mercy on him. He
found grace in the eyes of the Lord just like Noah did. Just
like Noah. He found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. He found mercy. God had mercy
on this man. God saved this man by his grace.
God revealed the gospel to this man. Through the sacrifices,
through the blood that they went through, that Adam showed to
his sons and his sons showed to their sons. And then one day,
one day after witnessing this for several years, God revealed
the gospel substitution to him. He saw it. And from that day
on he believed God and never looked back. Never went back. He believed God. Now how did
he walk with God? How did this man, this sinful
man, By faith. By faith. He believed God. He
simply believed God. He simply believed the gospel. He simply believed the gospel
of substitution and satisfaction. He believed God. And he kept
that way, and he never left it. He never left it. And he believed God. It's faith. The scripture teaches
us it is faith that pleases God. Without faith, the scripture
says, it's impossible to please God. Look over in Hebrews chapter
11. Look over in Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death, and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony, and this testimony is of God. God testified
to this, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Faith
is believing that God is who He says He is. And it's believing Him. Believing
that God is who He is. That's what Enoch believed. He
believed God is who He is. Cain didn't believe this. That's
why he brought his works before God to be accepted. And he was
rejected, because he didn't believe God. He didn't believe God to
be God. Abel believed God, and he brought
what God required to sacrifice. And God accepted him. And Enoch
did the same thing. He offered the same sacrifice
that Abel offered. He believed the same God. He
walked, Enoch walked with a conscious reality of God
at all times. Enoch believed that God was holy. He believed that God was eternal.
He believed that God was unchangeable. He believed that God was a God
of love. He believed that God was a God of mercy. He believed
that God was a God of creation. He believed that God was a God
of grace. And he walked accordingly. His
walk proved his faith. Enoch believed God. He believed that God, listen,
Enoch believed that God would fulfill his promise concerning
the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ. He looked to the
same Christ you and I look to. He looked to the same seed we
look to, Enoch did. All of Enoch's hope was bound
up in the promise of the seed of the woman. It wasn't in his
doings. It wasn't in his offerings. He
was looking beyond that to that seed, that promised seed, who
the sacrifice of the blood represented. He looked to Christ just like
we look to Christ. He was born of God. He was born
of God, just like you and I are born of God. Born of the Spirit
of God. Flesh has never walked with God.
Flesh never has. Everyone that's ever been saved
has been born of God. And he looked for the Deliverer. All his hope was bound up in
that Deliverer. He's coming. He's coming. He
believed He was coming. He believed that the seed of
the woman was going to come and destroy the wicked and deliver
the righteous. Let me show you that in the Word
of God. Turn over to the book of Jude. This man was a preacher. This man was a preacher of righteousness,
just like Noah. In the book of Jude, Look in verse 14. And Enoch also,
the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the
Lord cometh. That's the seed. That's the seed
of the woman. That's the promised seed. The
Lord cometh with what? Ten thousand of his saints is
redeemed. And he's going 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 harsh speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken
against them." He was a preacher. He was a preacher. This man, I tell you what, he
looked for that Redeemer and he preached that Redeemer. He
preached the one he looked to and looked for. and the life that he was given. I don't know how much all of
it, you know, we had the complete Word of God. He didn't have this.
Moses wrote this. Moses wrote the first five books.
He didn't have all this. We have this. But I do know this. He looked to the same Christ
we look to. He looked to that seed. We know who the seed is.
The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We know who he is. But we look
to the same one, believe the same God. We believe the exact
same God that Enoch believed and Noah and Abraham. Same God, same God. But this
here says Enoch walked with God. This shows the close relationship
between the believer and God. It wasn't just a visitation once
in a while. It wasn't just a service on one
day a week. He walked with God. Every day, he walked with God.
Enoch did not see God. No more than we see God. God
is spirit. He can't be seen. But he walked with Him. He walked
with Him in prayer. I guarantee you, he prayed every
day. He walked in a spirit of prayer,
just like I believe every one of God's children walk in a spirit
of prayer. You know that by experience.
He walked in meditation. Do you? Do you think upon the
Lord during the day? I know you do if you're His.
I know you do. He walked with God. Christ was
His life, just as He is our life. Now,
where did Enoch walk with God? Where? On this earth. on this earth. He walked with
God on a cursed earth, in a cursed world. That's where Enoch walked. Enoch did not walk with God in
the Garden of Eden. He walked with Him in a world
that had been cursed. He walked with Him in a world
that was full of wickedness. Full of wickedness. That's where
he walked with God. home. He walked with God. I guarantee you his children
knew what he believed. They may not have all known who
he believed, but they knew what he believed. He walked with God in his home
before his family. He was the prophet. He was the
priest of that home. And I assure you he made known
God to his family. I'm sure he did. in his community. He walked with
him in his community. Before wicked men, look over
in Genesis chapter 6. that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. You know, the flood happened,
I think I've read it right today, around sixty-some years after
Annie was taken. It was just shortly after he
was taken that the flood came. He lived in this wicked generation.
He lived it. I mean, this was a wicked generation,
but he walked with God in this wicked generation. His walk was
every bit as difficult, if not more difficult, as ours. Don't think he had an easy walk.
No, he had a difficult walk, very difficult. He walked before
a wicked generation. Wickedness filled the earth as
men began to multiply. It says that the daughters And
it came to pass when the men began to multiply on the face
of the earth, and the daughters were born unto them, that the
sons of God, that were those who believed, saw the daughters
of men, that they were fair, and they began to marry. Believers
began to marry unbelievers. And what a mess. What a mess.
It never works. Unless God just wreaks His anger
and does something. But he walked in this wicked
generation. He didn't walk with the world,
he walked with God for 300 years. We walk what? If the Lord saved
us when we were young, we might walk 50. He walked for 300 years and never went back and never
looked back. Never look back. He didn't come
and go. He steadily, he steadily walked
with God. He steadily believed God. He
steadily kept going forward. He steadily kept looking to Him,
pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. He steadily kept going. He walked
with God. When we walk with God, we walk
with the best company. We walk with the best company
when we walk with God. How can this be that a man, a
mortal, a sinful man, how can a sinful man walk with God? Well,
first of all, it's by the power and grace of God that we can
do it. And to just simply put it, it's through the blood and
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can walk
with God. We can walk with God. By faith
in the one whom the blood and the sacrifice represented, Ennick
walked with God. And he was justified, sanctified,
glorified, in the Lord Jesus Christ, the same as we are. Ennick didn't go to glory because
he was a good man. He went to glory on the same
grounds that you and I go there. on the blood and righteousness,
the person of the Son of the living God." That's how he went there. He says in Hebrews 11, 5, that
I read to you, he says, God translated him. First, listen, God translated
him out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear
Son. You can read that over in Colossians 1, that happens to
everyone whom God saves. He translates them out of the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. And
then he translated him, body and soul, body and soul, to glory,
just as he willed every one of us. He experienced, Enoch experienced,
The same thing believers will experience when the Lord returns,
and they will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. He experienced
that. He experienced it. He did not
see death. He did not see death. It says
God took him. It says God, over in Hebrew,
God translated him. Now listen, when God translates
us, we won't see death either. I know these bodies are going
to die. Some of us, our bodies are going
to have to die unless the Lord comes right now. Our bodies are
going to have to die, but we are not going to see death. Look over there at 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 51, Behold, I show you
a mystery. We shall not all what? Die, death,
sleep. We shall not all go to sleep
tonight. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For
the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. That's what he experienced. He
experienced that twinkling of an eye change. And he didn't
see death. And though we die, and lay this
body, this corruptible right here, this body in the grave,
we won't see death. We won't see death. Because the
action from the body has to be present with the Lord. Now why did God take Why did
God take him? Why did God translate him like
this, at this time? Well, first, I think he did it
for our learning. He did it for our learning. And
he did it for our encouragement. That a man like Enoch, born of
Adam, just like us, can be taken to the glory, straight to glory.
And we can too. Through the blood and righteousness
of Christ, we can too. And then he had this testimony,
it says. Why did God take him? He had this testimony. That he
pleased God. And I think the best way to say
this is that his Lord pleased God. His substitute pleased God. That's
who pleased God. In Christ, yes. Because it says, any please God.
And those who believe God, do you believe God? Do you really
believe God? You please God. God's pleased
with any son. He's pleased with that which
he gives, and he gives faith. And that faith is of God, and
it pleases God. And that testimony that he pleased
God came from God. This was up Moses' opinion. Moses
wasn't even living at this time. God revealed this to Moses. God
revealed this to Moses and said, this man Enoch pleased me and
I took him. Did Abel please God? Enoch pleased
God and he took him. What about Abel? He was murdered.
Abel pleased God too. God has a time and a way for
every one of us to leave this world, and it's His sovereign
right and His sovereign will, whichever way He does it. If
He takes any, fine. If He allows Abel to be
murdered or Stephen, fine. It's the Lord, let Him do as
He will. Abel was just as pleasing to God as any. This is pleasing. In Christ, God is well-pleased
with every one of His children. Every one of His children, God
is well-pleased with every last one of them in His Son. Now, to close, we can, by faith,
walk with God now. We can, in this flesh, in this
world, in this life. In this sinful world, we can
truly walk with God every day. Every day. Not just on Wednesdays. Not just on Sundays. Actually,
if you don't do it every day, you're not going to do it on
Wednesdays and on Sundays. It ain't going to happen. Walking
with God. I thought about that today. I
thought, I can't bring this out. The way it ought to be brought
out. There's too much here. There's too. It's too high. What do I
know? Walking with God. When Adam lost, Christ restored. Adam, get out. Get out of the
garden. God, it says, drove him out of
the garden. And here he is, one of his sons,
walking with God. Enjoying the communion and fellowship
with God Almighty. enjoying it every day. We can
do the same thing. What I'm trying to hope I set
this clear, Enoch was no better than we are. Enoch was a man
just like us. If he can walk with God, we can
walk with God by faith in Christ. We can do that. Those who walk by faith, who
believe the gospel of Christ, can walk with God. And someday, someday, be translated
and be with the Lord forever. And be with the rest of the hosts
of heaven. Be with the rest of those whom the Lord has already
taken. Okay, Mike.