Well we're going to be looking
at a few verses in Genesis chapter 5 and a couple of other New Testament
passages this morning. This is the gospel in a walk,
this morning's message. Abel we saw last week, Abel showed
the way to the tree of life. The tree of life is that life
from God, that eternal life, which is the promise of God,
the covenant promise of God, the inheritance of God to all
of his people. Think about if you were with
us on Wednesday night, or if you've got the Wednesday night
audio that's on the website, on the listen page, we were looking
at Galatians chapter four. And there's the inheritance that
is that belonging to the people of God, which is salvation. Abel
showed the way to the tree of life. There's only one way. Cain
didn't know the way to the tree of life. Cain refused the way,
the one way that God had revealed. Now Enoch shows us the walk of
life, the walk to eternal life, the walk of life in faith. You know the patriarch's faith,
the faith of the patriarchs, these that we read right at the
start of the Old Testament, the faith of Adam, for I believe
that Adam was a true believer, he was a true child of God, though
he was the sinner and the one in whom all sinned, yet I believe
he was redeemed by God. He was immediately redeemed,
and he showed his children the way of faith, but many of them
didn't believe him. The patriarch's faith, the faith
of Adam, and of Abel, and of Seth, and of Enos, and of Enoch,
and of Noah, and of Abraham, and of Isaac, and Jacob, and
so on down the line, That faith was not something peculiar to
the Old Testament, but was exactly as the faith of all true believers. Again, we saw it in Galatians.
Paul has been showing in Galatians, that's exactly the case. The
faith of Abraham is the faith of all those who have the same
faith as him, and are therefore counted righteous, as he is counted
righteous. On what basis? On the basis of
the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. They with
us who believe today were numbered with those promised the inheritance
of God. You know, we saw that there was
the contract of law, this is in Galatians chapter 3, the contract
of law between two parties, but the promise, the last will and
testament, if you like, of God to his people was a one-sided
promise, just like all wills and testaments are. The promise
of God, their faith as ours, was The same, and they were promised,
as we are promised if we're in Christ, the inheritance of God. The inheritance of God is life,
true life, eternal life, the life of God in the soul. The
world then was divided. There were the followers of Cain,
who went in the way of Cain, and there were those who heeded
the directions of Abel, the way to the tree of life. as there
are today. The world, it seems like those
who are on the road to eternal life are so small in number,
it's just overwhelming, but it is not different to what God
has said it would be like. Sin increased as the world went
on in the early chapters of Genesis, but there were always some who
believed the truth. Look at chapter 4 of Genesis
and verse 26. It says, and to Seth, To him
also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Listen
to this. Then men began to call upon the
name of the Lord. There were always some who called
upon the name of the Lord. As we gather together this morning
for worship, we're calling on the name of the Lord. We're extolling
the virtues of our God. of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
the one who has saved us from our sins and redeemed us and
paid redemption's price for us by himself becoming the curse
for us, the curse of death. The curse of the law is the curse
of death. The soul that sins, it shall die. And they worshipped
these patriarchs who were true. How did they worship? As we worship. They worshipped through atoning
sacrifice. That's how we worship. Who is
our sacrifice? Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. That's the one that pays the
price to the offended justice of God. They were separate from
the rest of people. In those days, don't think there
were just a handful of people on the Earth. These people lived
a long time, and they had multiples of generations, and these generations
interbred. And I don't know what the mathematics
of it would be, but I seem to remember things like geometric
progressions from when I was doing O-level maths many, many
years ago. And there would be a lot of people
in very, very few generations. An awful lot of people. You know,
people these days, we hear it all the time, don't we, about
the infection exponentially growing. I tell you, 99% of the people
on the broadcast media who use the word exponential haven't
got a clue what they're talking about mathematically, but this
was exponential growth of population in those days. And the line of
Abel, and of Seth, and of Enos, they assembled separately from
the rest to worship, calling upon Jehovah, calling upon their
Saviour God, looking to Christ who would come, through the medium
of a picture which was a lamb sacrificed, to picture that.
They believed with the heart. They confessed with the mouth
in their generation, just exactly as true believers do today. We
gather around Christ crucified. That's what we do. That's what
I think that verse means, where it says, where Jesus said, where
the carcass is, there do the eagles gather. Where the body
of Christ is, his church, yes, but where That which speaks of
Christ crucified is, and all that that accomplished, the eagles,
lifting up on wings of eagles by faith, they gather around
that, around Christ crucified, and we gather around to worship
and to praise. to honour God. Nobody, nobody,
what does it say in Romans, the indictment against the generation
in which we live? That they were not thankful.
They were not thankful. We praise God for we are thankful
to God for our life and for our salvation and for our hope and
for our assurance and for the protection and for all the way
our Saviour leads us. And we call upon him, Lord, guide
us and lead us. Lord, that your will might be
done in these days. Lord, that your kingdom might
come, that everything that you have promised, that your purposes
will work out for eternal good to those whom you have loved
with an everlasting love. But you know, We gather together
for a set worship time. We saw last week that in verse
3 of chapter 4, and in the process of time, at the end of days,
or meaning on the regular basis, on the regular basis of coming
together in an orderly fashion to meet together and to hear
the declaration of gospel grace proclaimed. But you know, fellowship
with God isn't just for the worship time. Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God, meaning
he lived with God. It was a constant thing. He lived
with God constantly. It's not just that you sign up
to salvation from sin. Who wouldn't? Where do you want
to go, hell or heaven? Oh, well, please, heaven, let
me put my tick in that box. But no, it's not just that you
sign up for it and then file it away until death, occasionally
being reminded about it on a Sunday morning. No, it's not like that. No, Enoch walked with God. He walked with God. You know,
it says that there is therefore now no condemnation. to those
who are in Christ Jesus who walk not according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit. They walk, the true people of
God, walk according to the Spirit of God. Is that your desire and
your aspiration, your objective in life above all other things,
to walk with God, to be somebody who lives their life on this
earth knowing and being guided by and speaking with the living
God? A life of communion with God
is what this is about. We have just sung, O for a closer
walk with God. A calm and heavenly friend. O
for a closer walk with God. Not just while we're gathered
together singing hymns and reading the scriptures. but whilst we're
doing that job at work, whilst we're doing the business of everyday
life, the cleaning and the fixing things and the buying things
and the going places we need to go to, oh for a closer walk
with God in every situation. There's that other hymn that
says, abide with me, abide with me, that God might abide with
us, that we might walk with him, that we might know and love fellowship
with him. The gospel of the kingdom, which
is what the true gospel is, that's what Christ came preaching, the
gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom of God, as
opposed to the kingdom of this world, is about a journey, and
it's about a destiny. We hear lots of metaphors bandied
about in these days. The deputy chief scientific advisor
loves to trot out his metaphors about this wonderful new vaccine
that's coming along that is the savior of mankind, and there's
never been anything quite like it for doing mankind good, and
it's a train, and we've all got to get on the train, because
the train's stopped in, you know, it becomes a bit tedious, doesn't
it? Because you know, it's just empty. But the journey to the
kingdom of God is a journey. is a walk, is a constant thing,
and it's about a destiny. So let's look at the meaning
of what it is that Enoch walked with God, and the situation in
which he walked with God, and the end of his walk with God. First of all, the meaning of
it. Now let's just look at the scriptures that relate to this.
And in Genesis chapter 5, if you go to verse 18, Genesis chapter
5 and verse 18, you will read, And Jared lived an hundred sixty
and two years, and he begat Enoch. And Jared lived after he begat
Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And
all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years,
and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five
years, and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after
he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were
three hundred, sixty, and five years. And Enoch walked with
God, and he was not, for God took him. Unlike all the rest,
if you look back up the verses of that chapter, you look down
there, you will see again and again, and he died, and he died,
and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died, but not
in the case of Enoch. He walked with God, and he was
not, for God took him. That's the first passage. Now
turn over to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
5. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death, that he didn't die, and was not
found, obviously they looked for him, was not found because
God had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony that he pleased God. 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. And then finally, in the little
epistle of Jude, just before the book of Revelation, and in
verse 14, Jude only has one chapter of 25 verses, but verse 14 of
Jude, And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, because there's another
Enoch in the line of Cain, but this is a different one, this
is the one who is the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied
of these, these people distorting the truth of Scripture basically,
the truth of God, saying Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands
of his saints. This is what Enoch preached to
his day. The Lord comes with ten thousands
of his saints 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 speeches
which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. That's the testimony
of Jude concerning this man Enoch, of which we just read those few
things. So how did Enoch walk with God? How was he well-pleasing to God? He was well-pleasing to God by
faith. By faith. It was his faith that
made him pleasing to God. Not a work that he did. Faith
isn't a work that we do. Faith, not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. It was his faith. It was what
he looked to. It was not Abraham's believing,
but what Abraham believed in that made him righteous in the
sight of God. It was what Christ did. It was
the faith of Christ that makes his people righteous. And that's
what Enoch looked to, and that's what Enoch believed, and that's
what Enoch celebrated when he worshipped God, and that's how
he walked with God, looking to that reconciliation with God
in the blood of the Lamb. He walked with God. It says in
Amos chapter 3 and verse 3, it asks the question, can two walk
together except they be agreed? The obvious answer is no, they
can't. If you're disagreeing, it's very hard to walk together,
but if you're walking together pleasurably, it's because you're
agreed. Enoch was agreeable to God, like
friends walking together. The walk was a walk of intimate
communion, and of communication. It was a walk of love, love between
God and Enoch, and Enoch and God. And even though he was a
man who was a sinner, because why? How can I say that? So confidently,
he was a child of Adam. As in Adam, all die. He was a
child of Adam. Though a man of like passions
as we are, though he was a sinner, a son of Adam, in need of pardon
for his sins, for God cannot tolerate sin and is of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity, he was in need of cleansing from
that sin. He was in need of forgiveness,
not just sweeping under the carpet, but the removal of it, the judicial
removal of it. He was in need of being justified
before God. He had to have that holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord. And he had it in Christ,
for Christ would come and accomplish it for him. He who was the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. He had to be made
as righteous as God. And in Christ, who knew no sin,
but was made sin for all his people, the people are made the
righteousness of God in him. And his faith was the evidence
of it. His faith was the possession
of it, the apprehension of it. This is how he possessed this
knowledge and this confidence. of acceptance with God, and in
that he walked with God, he communed with God. His works, though he
be a sinner, his works were acceptable to God. You know, as it says
in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 7, all your works are accepted by God.
You know, eat your bread, drink your wine, all your works are
accepted by God. in faith, looking to Christ on
the basis of what He is. Out of all mankind, and we're
talking about the days before the flood of Noah, which doesn't
come until Genesis chapter 6, 7, 8, but before that flood,
out of all mankind, some had faith. Some believed Adam's message. Some believed it. What was Adam's
message? It was the message of this is
the way to the tree of life. We had that alternative translation
of verse 24 of chapter 3. So he, God, drove out the man,
and he, God, dwelt at the east of the garden of Eden, between
the cherubims, as a shekinah, a glory, to keep open the way
to the tree of life. That's such a profound way of
putting that verse, and so filled with gospel grace. For God meets
with his people between the cherubims, as on the mercy seat in Moses'
law, the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant, and God
met with his people face to face. on the basis of blood, the blood
of an acceptable sacrifice, between the cherubims on the mercy seat,
and that guarded the way to the Tree of Life which was in the
midst of the Garden of Eden. This is where true life is, and
some believed it. Some believed Adam's message,
and Abel picked up that message and he preached it, and Seth
and Enos, and there was a line a godly nine, that heeded God's
message, that message about the way to the tree of life, pointing
to the lamb, to the seed of the woman, promised in verse 15 of
chapter 3 of Genesis, the seed to come who would pay redemption's
price. And the faith they were given,
you see, we need more than natural sight to see the truth of God.
we need faith which is the sight of the soul to see it. And Hebrews
11 is that chapter of faith, that what the patriarchs saw
and what in Christ we see now. The faith they were given, because
it is the gift of God as I've already said, enabled them to
see the satisfaction of justice applied to them. that there is
no other way of redemption, there is no other way of reconciliation
with God, there is no other way of peace with God. Without faith
it is, what does he say, impossible to please God. And the fact that
you can see it, can you see it? You, you who say I don't know
whether I'm a believer or not, can you see this? Can you see
the truth of it? It's proof that you're on the
road to possessing it, if not there already. And with it, everything
to make you a sinner pleasing to God is in what you see by
faith. How do I know I'm pleasing to
God? How do I know? Because I must
be pleasing to God if I'm to go to heaven, and I believe I'm
pleasing to God. I tell you, it's not on the basis
of anything, anything, anything I am or have done. There are
many today who will tell you that you believe Christ for justification
and then you live under the rule of the law of Moses for your
sanctification to make you pleasing with God. Lie. Downright lie. That is not what the scripture
teaches. If you follow that road, read Galatians. It's a damnable
heresy, it truly is. Let him be accursed, says Paul
twice, about that idea. All our righteousness, all of
our justifying, all of our sanctifying righteousness is in Christ and
in Him alone. Enoch started by seeing redemption
accomplished by faith. And he continued walking in it,
walking in the good of it with God. Galatians 3 verse 3, Paul
asked them a question, having begun in the Spirit, are you
now going on? Are you walking? Are you made
perfect in the flesh? No, of course not, is the obvious
answer. Having begun in the Spirit, you
continue in the Spirit. You walk in the Spirit. Those
who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8, 1, 2, 3, those early verses. The highest measure of
sanctification, the highest measure of that which makes us pleasing
to God, listen, is exactly the same as the earliest beginnings
of salvation. And what are the earliest beginnings
of salvation? Faith. Faith. Lord, I believe. Faith. Faith. Salvation is not
a clean slate for what went before and then over to you. You've
had a leg up, now it's all on your back. No. My sin, not in
part, but the whole, is nailed to his cross and I bear it no
more. It's, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him. And always run the race, Hebrews
12, run the race that is set before us. How? How are you to
run it? In your own strength? No, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. So Enoch lived realising that
God was present with him. He walked with his friend who
was God. He believed God. He honoured
God. He feared God, in that reverential
child-to-father relationship. He sensed that God is. You know, there's the thing called
the imminence of God, the immediate presence of God. He sensed that
God is. Not just a theory regarding God
in the head, but confiding in God. walking with him. He walks
with me, he talks with me, along life's narrow way. You know,
it is said that there is more communication goes on when you're
walking together with someone than at any other time. You enjoy
company together, there's a familiar communion. I can just say that
one of the best experiences of communion and fellowship with
two of my sons that I've had in the last three or four years
was the day when we climbed Blencathra in the Lake District and that
walking and climbing and being together and talking and exchanging
ideas is such a good environment in which you enjoy fellowship
together. Well, this is what it is, walking
with God. He tells us, God tells us gospel
mysteries, you know, he reveals them to his saints. We tell him
our joys. We wing prayers to heaven, like
Nehemiah when he's in the presence of Ahasuerus, the king, and he's
terrified because you're not supposed to look sad in his sight.
And the king asks him, what's wrong with you, Nehemiah? You
look sad. And oh gosh, that was almost like a death sentence.
And so what does Nehemiah do? I prayed to my God. He wings
a prayer up to God. Lord, guide my lips, guide what
I say, guide the things that I do now. He's with us in our
sorrows, and oh, we go through times of great sorrow, don't
we, and anguish and pain. This life is not a bed of roses. There is anguish and hurt and
pain at every stage, but God is with His people in that. We
praise Him. We genuinely praise Him. Oh,
look, it's like knowing you had such an enormous debt, and the
benefactor who paid your debt, you constantly feel Not obligated,
but obligated by your own heart to be thankful. and to confess
sins before him. He knows, he knows, we confess
our sins before him. We don't confess them to a priest,
we confess them to our great high priest who is Christ. He
walks with me, he talks with me along life's narrow way, says
that old chorus. And it's steady, it's not intermittent,
it's not on a while and then it's off a while. It's a steady
walk and with Enoch it was for 300 years. 300 years. Did he stay still? No,
it was a walk. A walk suggests progress in a
particular direction. He's walking towards heaven.
He's walking towards his departure from this life. He's walking
towards eternal glory. And on the way, walking with
God, how can he not grow in grace? As Peter says, last verse of
Peter's second epistle, chapter 3, verse 18, grow in grace and
the knowledge of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was
growing in grace and knowledge. He wasn't progressively getting
sanctified. He was sanctified as much as
he ever could be in Christ. But he was growing in grace and
knowledge. He was like a child walking with
its father. You remember that? Those of you
that are fathers will remember the time when a son or a daughter
was, let me say, about three or four years old. When there's
enough ability to walk and communicate completely freely, But there's
a great innocence in the relationship, and there's an overwhelming trust
that where Daddy's taking me and what we're doing is perfectly
safe, and all my interests are in his heart, and he won't let
any harm come to me. You know, that kind of trust.
This is the walk of a child of God with his Heavenly Father.
Comfort from the Father's presence. It's all that matters, whatever
the circumstances, you know, and so we can say with the psalmist,
yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
and it feels like that so much, doesn't it? I will fear no evil,
for thou art with me. You might say, well, yes, it's
all well and good, you preaching this to us in 2020, but wasn't
it so much easier for Enoch then than for us today? Wasn't it
so much easier? Think about the circumstances
of Enoch's time. If you think for one moment that
he had an easier ride as a believer in God, walking with God, than
you do or I do today, think again. His society was every bit as
evil as ours. Look at, just turn over the page
to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. This is God looking down from
heaven. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. That was then. and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,
and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth,
and it grieved him in his heart. judgment was coming for the state
of that society. Was it easier for Enoch? No,
it most definitely was not. As Enoch walked with God, he
preached the gospel, as we read in Jude. He testified to his
generation about their evil, and about the coming of judgment,
and about the fact that God would not tolerate sin. As Enoch walked
with God, he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, but he
was opposed, with their godless speeches against him, their godless
railing against him, as we read in Jude 14 and 15. That was what
Enoch experienced, was great opposition. He knew the truth,
he preached the truth, he was a visible public man, he was
a patriarch. He was standing as it were head
and shoulders in his society, above the common man, in terms
of integrity, because of his walk with God. And he was preaching
the truth of God, but he was under constant pressure to renounce
his faith. That's what Jude 14 and 15 tells
us. Those ungodly speeches against
him, to conform to this world around. Just, why don't you just
drop all of this, Enoch? this holier-than-thou stuff,
and just come and join in with the rest of us." And God says,
the thoughts and the imaginations of their hearts are only evil
continually. You know, sin bound up in the
heart of man. The heart of man is evil above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Lord knows
it. Well, you say, OK, but all right,
I concede that, he had opposition. But he didn't have the distractions
of modern life, did he? You know, yes, he did. He was
a public man. He was a family man. Did you
read? that he begat sons and daughters. His firstborn was
Methuselah. You know Methuselah is recorded
in Genesis as the man who lived longer than anybody else, 969
years. That was the son of Enoch. But
Enoch himself only lived 365 years, 300 of them after Methuselah
was born. But all that time he begat sons
and daughters. There would be a huge family,
you think about it. There would be a lot. Yes he
had pressures, he had pressure to provide for his family, he
had family responsibilities, to teach, direct, restrain, the
sin in the hearts of his children would be like the sin in the
hearts of others, and it was his responsibility to teach and
to guide and direct all the time while walking with God. In his
day there was pressure to unite the world And the church, the
true line of those who believed God, constantly, again in Genesis
6, 1 to 3, it came to pass when men began to multiply on the
face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the
sons of God, this is the godly line, saw the daughters of men
from the ungodly line, and they were fair, and they took them
wives of all which they chose. And in that way, there was an
attempt by Satan to dilute the line of the truth of God. But
none of this, none of the opposition, none of the responsibilities
kept Enoch from walking with God. Do you know something? We
all aspire to a happy life, we all aspire to a fulfilled life,
but do you know no life, someone said this, no life can surpass
that of a man or woman who quietly continues to serve God in the
place where providence has placed him. I had to mull that over
a few times and think, yes, you know, there's real riches in
that. No life can surpass that of a
man or woman who quietly continues to serve God in the place where
providence has placed him. What do we read in the New Testament?
Godliness with contentment is great gain. We read of no adventures
for Enoch. We read of no bucket list of
the things he felt he had to do before he left this earth.
You know, wring every last drop of enjoyment out of it while
you can. His only thing that we read about is his walk with
God. What higher existence than fellowship with the eternal God?
And he walked with an eye to the end, with an eye on the goal. Yes, do everything you need to
do in this life to the full, the full responsibility that
God has given you, but always know it's fleeting. Hold everything
he gives you on an open palm, knowing that he can take it just
as quickly as he gave it. Have your heart, as Christ said
in the Sermon on the Mount, set on things above. Lay up treasure
in heaven, where moth and rust doesn't corrupt. So then he walked
with an eye to the end, and we'll just quickly look at this, the
end, the goal, his translation. He's walked with God and Him
being taken. The goal of salvation is eternity, is it not? Is this
not what we aspire to when we believe the Lord Jesus Christ?
We believe what Christ said. John 6, 47 and many other places,
verily, verily, this is the Son of God, this is God become man,
come down from heaven, speaking eternal truth from God who cannot
lie, He says to His people, verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believeth on me hath everlasting life. That's it. Everlasting
life. True life. Rich life. Life not distorted and twisted
by sin. Life that is pure in the fellowship
of the God who has made us. You say, but we see everyone
around us die, and so it is. Only two things certain, taxes
and death. That's it. That's still as true
today as when it was first spoken. How do we know that death isn't
the end? Answer, we have the Word of God,
taught by God's Son. But he gave us further assurance.
You see, Christ said, he who believes me has everlasting.
Yes, I know you're going to die, but you have eternal life. How
do I know? He's given us further assurance
with two people in the Bible, and only two, Enoch and Elijah. Both of them went to heaven without
passing through the chill waters of death. Both of them did. Elijah in a chariot of fire,
observed by the prophets, watching him go. Enoch, in his generation,
walking with God, and then one day he was not, for God took
him. 365 years was a short life in
those days. People say, gosh, surely you
don't believe all that about 900 and odd years, come off it.
You know, you are now proving to me that you are completely
off your rocker. No sane person can believe that. I believe what
the Word of God says. And if the Word of God says it,
it's true. And I have no reason to doubt
it. Before the flood, men lived hundreds and hundreds of years,
but Enoch only lived a very short life, 365 years of a short life. compared with his own son Methuselah,
969. It seems that the day came when
Methuselah was 365 years old when God said, as he walked with
him, come home Enoch. There's no further need for you
to be out of heaven any longer. Everything's accomplished that
you need to accomplish. Come home. One day he was there
and visible and opposed by the world around and then he was
gone. They sought him. It says that
in Hebrews chapter 11. He was not found, meaning that
they were looking for him. They couldn't find him. They
sought him, but they couldn't find him. In a moment, he was
changed from sinful flesh to a heavenly body. Why? Because
we read in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50, flesh and blood, natural
flesh and blood, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now God's
word cannot lie. You might call God a liar in
your unbelief, but God's word cannot lie. This is all the assurance
you need. God has spoken. The one who walked
with God is now eternally in the sinless presence of God outside
of time. To his generation, it said, there
is a future life in eternity, that translation of Enoch, just
before the flood. And it says the same to you and
me, if we will believe God. Hordes of people would soon be
swept away, all but eight living on the face of the earth would
be swept away in a literal flood of judgment against sin. And
so it is the same today. There will not be a flood of
water, but a judgment is coming. The world is going to end in
judgment. God is coming in judgment. Christ
is coming again as the judge, and every eye shall see him.
But the people of God have an eternal home in glory. Here is
good news that exceeds the best hope the world can grasp. Think
about it. What's the best hope the world can grasp? Oh, a new
vaccine! Ah! Here is the good news that
exceeds the best news, the best hope the world can grasp, as
much as the noonday sun outshines the darkest night. We've had
some very gloomy days just lately. It would be lovely to see the
glorious, beaming sun coming out of a clear blue sky, but
I guess it's because it's December, that's what it's like here. But
you know what I mean. The contrast between a bright,
shiny day and the darkest of nights. Well, that's it. That's
the contrast. Will you believe it? Seek the
Lord while he may be found, is the message of scripture. Call
upon him while he is near. Oh everyone, without money, without
price, everyone that is thirsty, are you thirsty to know God? Come. And make this your cry,
Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, and cause me to walk with you
to your glorious kingdom. There is no higher calling. There
is nothing more fulfilling. There is nothing more true. There
is nothing more filled with hope and encouragement. May the Lord
bless this message to us. Amen.