I've entitled this message Enoch,
the man who never died. Now, he is one of two men in
the scripture that never saw physical death. And twice in
this passage I just read, he is described as one who walked
with God. Now, that's what I want to do.
That's what I want you to do. And I also know that every believer
does walk with the living God. This is not something only a
few attain to. If I have faith in Christ, I
do, in fact, walk with the living God. Now, let's look at this
passage again. Verse 21, Genesis chapter five,
verse 21. And Enoch lived sixty and five
years in 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 was three hundred sixty and five years, and Enoch walked
with God, and he was not, for God took him. Now in this thing of walking
with God, there's one scripture that says so much to me about
what this means. I think of what Amos said, how
can two walk together except they be agreed? How can two walk together? except they be agreed, a true
agreement. And it's my prayer that everyone
in this room will walk with God, being at complete agreement with
Him. Now I've heard a lot of, or I've
read a lot of sermons on Enoch, this man who walked with God,
and I am sure that he lived a very exemplary life, but when he is
portrayed as one who attains such a high degree of holiness
that he walked straight into heaven, If somebody presents
Enoch like that in his walk with God, all they demonstrate by
that is they have no understanding of the gospel. May the Lord be
pleased to be our teacher this morning. Now, Genesis 5 is about
the descendants of Seth, and all these men actually are mentioned
in the genealogy that Luke gives of Christ's genealogy in Luke
chapter 4. Genesis four is about the descendants
of Cain and none of them made it past the flood. And Genesis
five is about the descendants of Seth. Now look in chapter
five, verse one. This is the book of the generations
of Adam and the day that God created Adam or created man in
the likeness of God made he him. That's how Adam was created.
Male and female created he them and bless them and call their
name Adam. in the day when they were created. And Adam lived 130 years and
begat a son in his own likeness, not in God's likeness, in his
own likeness. This is talking about the fallen
nature of Seth when he was born. He wasn't created in the likeness
of God, but he was created in the likeness of Adam, in his
fallen nature. Adam lived 130 years of Megiddo's
son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name
Seth. And then, as you go on reading
in this passage of scripture, you read about the descendants
of Seth, and they lived a really long time, if you read these
passages with regard to them. I don't understand how that is.
Methuselah lived 969 years, the oldest man ever recorded to live
in the Bible. Enoch's dad, father, lived 965
years. Now, if he was alive today, that
means he would have been born in the year 1058. Now, you think
of all the history that's taken place during that time. Somebody
says, explain that to me. I can't explain that. I don't
understand it. But they did live that long. We have 900 some,
800 some, 700 some, very long lives. But you know what happened
at the end of each life? He died. He died. Now that is something that's
going to happen with me and you, perhaps shortly. You're going
to die. I'm going to die. Look in verse
5. And all the days that Adam lived
were 930 years, and he died. Verse eight, in the days of Seth
were 912 years, and he died. On and on, you can read the history
of each one of these men, and he died. Now I hope that puts
things in perspective for you and I. Me and you are gonna die.
There's nothing really on this earth that's that important.
We're going to die, and we're going to spend an eternity either
in heaven, worshiping Christ, or in hell banished from his
presence, but we are going to die. That's a sobering thought. That's what happened to each
one of these men. Now, why is there death? Now, I've already pointed out
that Seth was made in the likeness of his father, Adam, fallen Adam. And if you look at Adam and Eve
in the garden after the fall, this is what is very clear about
Adam and Eve. They had no love for God after
the fall. They had no love for him. They
didn't want to be in his presence. became spiritually stupid, the
things they thought about God after the fall. They would not
take any blame for their sin. The woman you gave me, she gave
me of the fruit. They became victims. Eve was
the same way. The serpent beguiled me. There
was no cry for mercy. There was no asking for forgiveness. There was no confession of sin.
Really, there was no understanding of sin. After the fall, they
became spiritually dead. And really, that's the way Seth
was born. spiritually dead, and all these men died. And there's
one reason for death, sin. By one man, sin entered the world. and death by sin. I was preaching
a funeral here one time. I don't even remember whose funeral
it was. It was here in this building. And I said, why did this person
die? There's only one reason anybody dies. It's sin. And the
funeral director told me after that ceremony, he said, in all
the years that I've been a funeral director, I've never heard anybody
say that. Well, that's the reason for death, sin. That's the only
reason for death. By one man, sin entered the world
and death by sin. Now, we read about a man though,
who did not die. When it says, and Enoch walked
with God and he was not, it means he never died, God took him.
He took him. He did that with Elijah as well.
He was brought up into heaven in a whirlwind and it happened
with Enoch. He was taken by God. He walked with God. Now here's
my question. Was Enoch a sinner? Yes. He wasn't any different
than you and I by nature. He was a sinner with the likeness
of Adam, the sinful nature of Adam. So the question is, how
could he walk with God? If he was a sinner, how could
he walk with the holy God, with the living God, with the glorious
God? He did. Scripture says he did.
He walked with God. The same thing was said of Noah.
Noah walked with God. I want the same thing to be said
of me and you, don't you? Men and women who walk with the
living God. I want that more than anything
else. Not for people to say, oh, here's somebody who walks
with God. No, I'm not interested in that. But I want to walk with
the living God, just like Enoch did, just like Noah did, just
like Abraham did, to walk with God. Now, how is it that this
man who was a sinner, that's what he was, how is it that this
man walked with the living God? Well, two things had to take
place. Number one, something would have to be done about his
sin. You see, his sin had alienated
him from God. The scripture says your sins
have separated you from God. Now, for him to walk with God,
his sin would have to be put away. Now, for me and you to
walk with God, here's what's gonna have to happen. Our sin
is going to have to be put away. God's not going to walk with
a sinner. My sin is going to have to be
put away. Now, Christ had not yet come
in the flesh. No scripture had been written.
But I love this verse of scripture. I'm more, I know I say this all
the time, but I see it more glorious all the time. Revelation chapter
13, verse eight, Christ is called the lamb having been slain. Not just the lamb who would be
slain, the lamb having been slain from the foundation of the world. Now here is the hope of the gospel. My sin was taken care of before
I was even born, before the creation of the world. Now listen to the
amazingness of that. The reason God could walk with
Adam is because his sin was taken care of by the lamb having been
slain from the foundation of the world. Now, somebody says,
well, if it was slain before the foundation of the world,
did he have to come in time to be slain? Of course he did. Of
course he did. But remember, with God, there
is no time. There's no past, there's no future. All is in
the eternal present. And Christ Jesus is the lamb
having been slain from the foundation of the world before. This is
so glorious. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a savior. This is why this man Enoch could
walk with God. His sin was taken care of. And if you and I walk with God,
it's because there's no sin. Christ put it away by his death. And that's the reason Enoch could
walk with God, because his sin was put away. He was in the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Listen to this scripture
from 2 Timothy 1.9. It says, he saved us. It's everything
we believe, isn't it? That's so simple. What's your
theology? To be honest with you, I don't
even like the word theology, you know, but here it is. He
saved us. That's who we believe. That's
what we believe. He saved us and he called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works. but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. If I have the forgiveness of
sins now, it was given me in Christ Jesus before the world
began. If I have justification now,
a perfect standing before God, it was given me in Christ Jesus
before the world began. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Somebody says,
that's awful deep. No, it's just so. It's just so. This is who God is. And for this
man Enoch to be able to walk with the living God in fellowship,
in communion, in acceptance, something had to be done about
his sin. It was taken care of, put away
by Christ. Before the foundation of the
world, in time when Christ put it away, in time in his experience,
when he saw Christ for the first time, that's when he experienced
it. Enoch believed on Christ. Somebody says, did he? Yes, absolutely. Every believer believes on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what faith is. And he
walked with God. So first, for God to walk with
him, His sin had to be put away. And for him to walk with God,
he had to be given a new nature. All he had at first was the nature
of Adam, a sinful nature that doesn't know God. He had to be
given a new heart. He had to be given a new nature
that knew God, that loved God, that gloried in God, that rejoiced
in God. He had to be born again, is what
that means. Somebody says, did that happen
in the Old Testament? Of course it did. Of course it did. He
was born from above. He was born of God. He was given
the grace to walk with God because of that. You see, the natural
man hates God. You were born into this world
with a dislike for and a hatred of the living God. Now you might
not dislike the false God that you can manipulate, that you
can get him to respond to you, but I'm talking about the God
of the Bible. The natural man hates the God of the Bible. Romans 8, 7 says the carnal mind
is enmity against God. It is enmity. It doesn't say
it's ad enmity. It says it is enmity itself against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now, through sin being put away,
And the gift of a new heart, there is now agreement. And this is the point, there's
now. agreement. Now, the natural man
doesn't agree with God. He thinks God's unfair. How can
it be fair for God to elect some and not save everybody? How can
it be fair for Christ to die only for the elect? How can it
be fair for a loving God to send man to hell? All the different
things that men think or disagree with his attributes. I don't
believe he's absolutely sovereign. I don't believe he's the first
cause behind all things. But when God saves a man, he's now
at agreement with the character of God. He loves all of his attributes. He loves him as he's revealed
in the scripture. He wouldn't change him if it
were in his power. There's perfect agreement. There's agreement with what God
says about man. He no longer disagrees. He used to argue for free will
and works and so on, but now he agrees with what God says
about man, dead in sins. Unable to do anything to save
himself. There's agreement there. That's
me. I agree with God. And there's
agreement with God in salvation. Christ is all in salvation. You
agree with that. You agree that His righteousness
is the only righteousness. You agree that His precious blood
is the only way you can be acceptable before God. There's agreement.
How can two walk together except they be agreed? And those who walk with God are
in agreement with God concerning who he is, concerning who they
are, and concerning how he saves sinners by his son. Agreement. That's how someone walks with
God. They are at agreement with God. And what a joy it is to
be able to walk with God in communion, in peace, knowing that God is
satisfied with me for Christ's sake. What a glorious thing it
is to walk with the living God. Now, let me tell you something,
give some New Testament information about Enoch. You can't walk with
God and not be involved in this thing called the preaching of
the gospel. Can't be done. with me to the little book of
Jude right before the book of Revelation the last book in the
Bible the book of Jude. Verse 14, Jude verse 14, And Enoch also The seventh from
Adam. Now, see, he's speaking about
the Enoch we're reading about in Genesis chapter 5. Somebody
says, well, how did Jude know this? I don't know, but he did.
He was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Every word of God is inspired
by God, and the Lord taught Jude this. And Enoch also, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied of these. Well, who are these? Well, this
whole time he'd been talking about false prophets. He prophesied
of these false prophets. Before we go on reading, look
at the first part of Jude in verse 4. Let's read verse 3 first. Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, the salvation that every believer experiences, it
was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints. For there are certain men crept
in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men. These are the men he's talking
about, but let's go on reading. He calls them ungodly men, turning
the grace of our God into lasciviousness. and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you listen to the average
preacher, he'll say, you gotta beware of those people who tell
you that it's okay to live a lascivious life because salvation's all
by grace. Now, have you ever had anybody
say that to you? It doesn't matter if you live a lascivious life
because salvation's all of grace. You can stand all you want because
you don't need to worry about it because salvation's all of
grace. I've never heard anybody say that. Not in those words. Here's what this ungodly man
does. That word turning is also translating. Here's his translation. Grace
will lead to lasciviousness. If you believe salvation is all
by grace, that'll lead to a lascivious, immoral, ungodly life. Now that's what the average preacher
says about The grace of God. Why? That'll lead to sin. If
you believe that way, if you believe salvation's utterly and
completely by grace, and it doesn't have anything to do with your
works. If you believe salvation is holy in Christ and everything
God looks to you for, he looks to his son for. Nothing else. Why? What about obedience? What about holiness? What about
the way I live? Why? And that's the natural man's
response. So this is what he's warning
us about, those people who would say grace will lead to sin. No, it doesn't. Now back to Jude 14. And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, these false prophets, these men bringing
a false message. And you can read everything he
says after verse four is about these men. And Enoch also, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying, behold, the
Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints. Now he's talking about
the second coming of Christ. He knew about the second coming
of Christ then. The Lord cometh. And that's what the Old Testament
is. Somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. He knew of that. Why
is he coming? Verse 15, to execute judgment
upon all. And do you know that's not just
talking about condemnation. When Christ died on the cross,
judgment was executed for every believer. My sin was put away,
was punished, and I was justified. It's also talking about the punishment
of the unbeliever when he comes, when they'll be sent away into
everlasting perdition. You think of what the Lord said,
come ye blessed. We're given this picture of judgment
day in Matthew chapter 25. Come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And then he says to the wicked
depart. ye into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. So he came to execute judgment upon all and to convince
all that are ungodly. There's that word again. He used
that in verse four. Ungodly means irreverent, critical
of God, judgmental of God, no awe of God, no reverence for
God, impious, impious. Now look what he says to to convince
all that are ungodly of ALL their ungodly deeds, which they have
ungodly committed, and all of their hard speeches, which ungodly
sinners have spoken against him." And you know, you hear those
ungodly speeches all the time. How could it be fair for God
to being in control of everything. And how could God be right to
let the pandemic, why is he doing this? How could it be fair for
God to elect some and pass by others? How could it be fair
for Christ to die for the elect and not die for everybody? How
can those things be fair? Standing in judgment on God is
what that is. Being critical of God. Now that's what these
ungodly men are guilty of. And Enoch prophesied of these,
didn't he? Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Here's
some more New Testament information we're given regarding this man. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5. By faith, Hebrews 11 verse 5,
by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.
He walked straight into heaven. Somehow he was given a new nature. He was given a glorified body.
He didn't go into heaven still with a sinful nature. Somehow
he was translated. And he walked straight into heaven.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.
He was not found. Evidently people were looking
for him. Whatever happened to Enoch? He's gone. I love thinking about
that. All of a sudden he was just gone.
What happened? What happened? They're looking
for him. He's no longer there. God took him. God took him. He brought him straight into
glory. And he was not found because God had translated him. For before
his translation, he had this testimony. that he pleased God. That's God's testimony regarding
this man. You know, we can give our assessment
of somebody, ourselves, and it doesn't really mean anything.
That man really pleases God. Well, I don't know whether he
does. Matter of fact, I know he doesn't. I know he doesn't.
I really please God. No, you don't. If somebody thinks,
well, my life is such that God would be pleased with me, you're
deceived. You have no idea what you're
saying. Nobody in here has a life, their personal character and
conduct and thoughts and so on that you could say, well, God's
pleased with me. Well, how did he please God then? It says God
was pleased with him. He had this testimony and this
testimony was from God, that God was pleased with him. How's
that? Well, look at verse six. But
without faith, It is, what? 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. Now, what is faith? Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. God's not gonna be pleased with
you. God's wrath will be upon you, apart from this thing called
faith. What is faith? Without faith,
it is impossible to please God. Well, look up in verse one of
this same chapter. Now, faith, It's the substance,
the ground, the reality, the confidence of things hoped for. Now, what do you hope for? Well,
here's what I'm hoping in. It's from the scriptures. I have
a hope that when I stand before God in judgment, he's going to
look at me and he's going to say, well done. thou good and
faithful servant. And the reason he's going to
say that to me is because the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is mine. He's going to look at me, I'm
pleased with you. How? Because the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is mine. You see, my sin became his. That's
why he died. He took my sin to himself and
he put it away. And just as truly as he took
my sin to himself, he took his righteousness and gave it to
me. It's called substitution. And I have a hope that on judgment
day, I'll stand before God without sin. You know what else I have
a hope for? I have a hope that Everything
that happens between now and then is for my good and His glory. It's the substance of things
hoped for. It's the evidence. Look what
he says next. It's the evidence of things not seen. Now, can I see my justification
before God by looking within? Can I see that I'm without sin?
Can I see that I stand perfectly righteous before God? No, I can't
see that. No way I can see that, not by
something I see physically. What's the evidence you are?
I believe the gospel. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I can't see how everything's
working together for my good. I mean, there's all kinds of
things that are painful, that are grievous, that I don't see
how they're working for my good. They're rough experiences. Whatever it might be, whatever
happens in providence, whatever happens in time, I can't see
how it's working together for my good, but I believe it is.
How? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. For by it, verse two, for by
faith, The elders obtained a good report. Now, how was it that
Enoch obtained this good report? Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. How did he get a good report
card? That's what it is. Faith in Christ. Not because
of his own goodness. By faith, the elders obtained
a good report. Listen to me, Abraham was not
saved because of any personal goodness in him. He looked to
Christ only. So did Enoch. So did Noah. By faith, the elders obtained
a good report. Look what it says in verse three.
Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. We know that by faith. God is
the creator. God is the governor. God is the
cause of all things. We know that by faith. Verse
four, by faith. Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. And he being dead, by it he being
dead yet speaketh. Now this thing of faith, is seen
in Abel, he came into God's presence one way, through the blood sacrifice
of Christ. And his person could not be separated
from that sacrifice. Righteous. That's God's testimony
of him. Now, with these things in mind
concerning faith, verse 5, 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 that he pleased God, but without faith, it is
impossible to please him for he that cometh to God. Now that's
somebody that walks with God, you know what they do? They come
to God. They come to Christ, same thing. He that cometh to
God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder. of them
that diligently seek him." Now, it doesn't say he must believe
in his existence. Somebody says, I believe in God.
Well, so does the devil. So does the devil. So does everybody
else who's ever lived at one time or the other. They might
be atheists now, but they didn't begin that way. Everybody believes
in the existence of God. He doesn't say that he that cometh
to God must believe that he exists, but he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. He must believe his isness, his
character as he's revealed in the Word of God. HE THAT COMETH
TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS. NOW, WHO GOD IS IS MANIFEST IN
THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST. THERE'S NO TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF
GOD. THERE'S NO TRUE KNOWING GOD. THERE'S NO WALKING WITH GOD.
THERE'S NO TRUE EXPERIENCE OF GOD WITHOUT AN UNDERSTANDING
OF. rejoicing in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what is the cross of Christ
to you right now? What does it mean to you? I know what it means to every
believer. The cross of Christ is who God is. Every attribute of God is revealed
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's God's self-revelation. It's God's manifestation of himself.
Who he is is seen in the cross. Somebody says, explain that to
me. Well, his hatred of sin is seen in the cross, isn't it?
His love of sinners is seen in the cross. His power to put away
sin is seen in the cross. Every attribute of God, every
attribute of God that he's been pleased to make known is revealed
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And anything I hear that
is contrary to any attribute of God is false. Now let me give you an example
of that. Probably 99% of the churches if you would call them a church,
it's not really a church, but religious institutions, would preach that
Jesus Christ died for all men without exception, wanting to
save everybody. He made salvation available for
all people, but it's up to you. Now, do you know that every attribute
of God is denied by that statement? His sovereignty is denied. His
justice is denied. He can send somebody to hell
even though their sins are paid for. His immutability is denied. His love is denied. He can love
somebody and end up sending them to hell. He loves everybody.
His wisdom is denied. His immutability, every attribute
of God is denied by that statement. His intention, you know, if he
intended to save everybody, And somebody that he died for ends
up in hell. That means his death is a failure.
Now that every attribute of God is denied by that. Somebody says,
does somebody preach a gospel, preach that? No, they don't.
No, they don't. My gospel, your gospel better
line up with every attribute of God. If it doesn't, it's false. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is a declaration of the isness of God. Now, I would like to
close with these thoughts regarding Enoch as a type of Christ. And
I'm gonna give these to you real briefly, but I think this is
so glorious. Enoch pleased God. Scripture says that. He pleased
God. Christ pleased God. God the Father was infinitely
pleased with Christ in every single way. His life was perfect. He said, I do always those things
that please the Father. And His death pleased the Father. Isaiah 53 10, it pleased the
Lord to bruise him. And that doesn't mean he got
some kind of satisfaction out of seeing his physical pain. What that's talking about is
the satisfaction of his death. When Christ died, God was infinitely
satisfied with that sin payment so that he could be infinitely
satisfied with everybody he died for. He pleased God. Enoch walked with God. Oh, how
Christ walked with his father. I wish I could speak of the way
he did, but oh, for 33 years, how he walked in perfect obedience
to his father. Enoch believed God. Christ believed him perfectly. I love to think of if you can
say it that way. I love to think of Christ being
on the cross, forsaken by his father, even when he was forsaken
and felt nothing but his awful wrath, he never quit believing
God. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? He never quit believing God. He said, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him. Oh, he trusted the Father completely. Oh, a little providence doesn't
go our way, and all of a sudden we're, oh, why is God doing this
to me? Nothing like that ever happened
to him. He believed God completely. Somebody had to. He did. Enoch was a faithful witness.
We read about that in Jude 14, about he bore witness against
those false prophets. Christ is the faithful witness. Scripture calls him that. He's
the witness of all who God is. Enoch believed God's is-ness.
Christ is the is-ness of God. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Enoch had God's testimony that
he pleased God. Christ has God's testimony. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Enoch walked into heaven alive. I don't understand all that's
involved in that, but Enoch walked into heaven alive. He never saw
physical death. When Christ was raised from the
dead, he walked upon this earth for 40 days, him that liveth. And when he ascended into heaven,
he ascended into heaven living, him who lives. And Enoch had the oldest child
to ever live that's recorded, Bethuselah. You know, most Folks
would say, yeah, I mean, Methuselah, 969 years old. Christ's children
live eternally. Christ's children live eternally. And they have always had existence
in Christ. I don't understand that. And
I know that before there was a sinner, there was a savior.
So Christ comes first, obviously, but God's people have always
been in him and they live eternally. Enoch, the man who never saw
death, the man who walked with God. If you and I believe the
gospel, The way Enoch did, we walk with the living God. Let's pray.