Enoch - The Man Who Walked with God.
Enoch – The Man Who Walked with God.
I hope you remember what happened in our demonstration last week, when the black ink was dropped into the clean water - every drop of water in the bottle went black. Well, Adam and Eve were polluted with black sin in their hearts, and when they had children, they too had black sin in their hearts. The Bible says that the sons of Adam were made in Adam’s likeness, meaning they had the same corrupt nature and would also do evil.
The wicked state of their hearts soon showed up when Cain, out of jealousy, went out into the field and murdered Abel, causing his blood to gush out onto the ground.
And when more people were born into the world there were more murders. As the people multiplied, so the evil deeds of sin multiplied. Like a filthy fountain, evil always causes more evil.
In those first years after creation people lived a long time. Adam lived a total of 900 years and Methuselah lived a total of 969 years.
I want to talk to you about a man called Enoch, who lived on the earth for only 365 years - that is one year for every day in the year.
Adam was Enoch's great, great, great, great grandfather. He was the 7th generation from Adam. Enoch was born 622 years after creation.
The Bible says that for the first 65 years Enoch was like all other men in the world, walking in their own wicked ways, doing their own selfish things. But when Methuselah, his son, was born, Enoch began to walk with God.
It seems that Methuselah’s birth brought to Enoch a message that God was sending judgment upon the world, and it is true that very close to the time when Methuselah died God sent a flood upon the whole world because of the wickedness of men who hated God.
But Enoch was a godly man. He walked with God for 300 years. So we know that it was possible to please God even when others were wicked.
Walking with God means pleasing Him. The N.T. book of Hebrews says, that Enoch believed God, and he pleased God.
If someone invites you to walk with them, you have to meet him. You have to go to him and start walking right on the spot where they are at. Enoch went to God and started off on God's terms.
To walk with someone, you have to walk alongside the person going in the same direction. Enoch learned how to keep in step with God. He learned what pleased God.
How can we do that? We learn what pleases God from the Bible. We also need to know the ten commandments. Every boy and girl should learn the ten commandments to know how to please God.
#1 Have no other gods.
#2 Do not take God's name in vain - be reverent with God's holy nature and name.
#3 Do not make any likeness of God - no idols, no pictures of God - nor images of the Lord Jesus.
#4 Keep the Sabbath day holy
#5 Honour your Mom and Dad.
#6 Thou shalt not kill. Do not do what Cain did to Abel.
#7 Allow no Adultery. Believe in marriage between one man and one woman.
#8 Do not steal - put it back if it doesn't belong to you.
#9 Do not tell lies. Tell the truth
#10 Do not covet. Enjoy others having nice things and be content with your own things.
This is how we please the Lord. If you don't keep these 10 commandments in your heart you cannot be in step with God for they clearly state how we should please God.
Walking also means that you keep a steady pace, not running and then sitting. It means to be obedient every day and enjoy God's presence each day. To walk with God you must not go in different directions. You cannot serve God in the morning and forget Him all day.
Walking with God also means asking His forgiveness when we trip up and fall into sin. Thankfully, God is very kind to forgive our many sins and will lift us up onto our feet again and will give us new power to walk with Him.
Because Enoch kept the ten commandments, he chose his friends very carefully. As he walked with God he could not walk in the way of sinners. He could not have company and hang out with bad people, who talked about evil things.
That is one thing you must learn to do. You must choose friends who also have decided to keep God's law - the ten commandments. If they mock God's law and joke about sin you can't walk with them and also walk with God at the same time.
Enoch walked with God in these ways for 300 years, so we can do it for our lifetime. There is no age at which we should not be going forward step by step with God doing His will to please Him. A Christian always wants to keep walking in the ways of the Lord to enjoy fellowship with Him.
One day at age 365 Enoch went missing. He just disappeared. He did not get sick. He did not die. His body was not put in a grave. I'm sure many wondered where he went. The Bible says that God took him. God carried Enoch straight into heaven. Nobody knows how it happened. God just lifted him out of this world and brought him into heaven.
When people die their souls go missing because their souls go immediately and secretly into heaven. Their bodies are left behind, but that is no longer the living person. The soul is gone; the body is just a shell. The soul in man is like the peanut inside its shell. When a Christian dies it is a great blessing and we should be happy for that person when God takes them home to heaven. I should be happy for my friend, Dr. Cairns, who is now with the Lord. That was the first news I read of his death: "Dr. Cairns is with the Lord." And because he walked with God, and obeyed the gospel of Christ, we are sure God took his soul to heaven.
Are you ready to be taken away from this world? Is your soul saved? The Lord Jesus warned, "Be ye also ready." Don't put off your salvation. God may call you away from this world sooner than you know.