Enoch: Fact-Checking Your Walk - Part A

There's frankly a lot of things that we have added to our lives that don't add up to a hill of beans.

They're not important at all. We just get involved in them and now they're stripped away from us. Our relationship with God can be boiled down to a simple concept. The concept is walking with God.

That's it in a nutshell. What is it to live the Christian life? It is to walk with God. Sometimes we can be adding things to our faith that actually draws us away from God.

It's time to slow down and reevaluate. Today on Connect with Skip Hi-Tech, Skip shares how one of the most powerful testimonies of faith you can have comes from a simple faithful walk with the Lord. But before we begin, here's a great resource that will equip you to live in God's truth. A recent study from the Cultural Research Center found that Christians are almost just as likely to reject the idea of absolute moral truth as they are to accept it. For American adults, belief in absolute moral truth is eroding across all age groups and political ideologies, whether they're churched or unchurched. What that means is that over 75% of Christ followers or those who purport to be Christ followers are saying that nothing can be known for certain. There is no absolute truth.

What about you? We want to help you understand the nature of truth so you can pursue God's truth and apply it in your life with two brand new booklets by Pastor Skip, Why Truth Matters and God in Suicide. If you fall into that category, what do you do with the claims of Christ? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. These booklets are our thanks for your gift of $35 or more today to help keep this ministry on the air, connecting more people to God's word.

To give, call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, we're in Hebrews chapter 11 today as we get into the teaching with Skip Hyten. I'm going to make a guess that your life was pretty busy before COVID-19, that your calendar was full, that you were wishing for more time on your hands, work was piling up, deadlines were all around you, and then this hit. Of course we've already talked a little bit about that on a number of occasions, but I love this story about a traveler who was deep in the jungles of Africa. He hired locals to carry his burdens for him and they got up one morning and they pushed long and hard.

They went all day long and the traveler was very satisfied that they made good progress and was hoping that the second day would be just as ambitious. But the next morning the locals just sat there and wouldn't budge and the traveler who was hiring them to carry things and move it forward said, we got to get going because nope, we're not going to go anywhere. And so when he asked why, the chief of that group said, we moved too fast on the first day and now we're waiting for our souls to catch up with our bodies. I love that little story because even in Christian work our souls need to catch up with our bodies. You know, I've been pretty busy during this time as most of my staff members have, maybe doing a few different items, but I'm studying just as hard, just as long, but I feel like the Lord is telling me you need to sit as much as you can and listen to me.

I'm reminded of the church of Ephesus and Jesus commended them and he said, I know your work and I know that you labor, but I have something against you. You've left your first love, the love of a spousal, the intimacy of the walk. And perhaps one of the positive upswing side notes of the pandemic is that it helps us evaluate our priorities so that we get down to the irreducible minimum of what's truly important in life. Because there's frankly a lot of things that we have added to our lives that don't add up to a hill of beans.

They're not important at all, but we just get involved in them and now they're stripped away from us. Our relationship with God can be boiled down to a simple concept. The concept is walking with God.

That's it in a nutshell. What is it to live the Christian life? It is to walk with God.

So I'm hoping that through this study you will fact check your spiritual life by means of cutting out things that are unnecessary that have just become baggage for you. The term walk is a biblical expression. It's found all throughout the pages of the Bible, Old and New Testament.

It is a term that basically means your conduct or your manner of life. In Colossians chapter 2 verse 6 Paul writes, as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him. Galatians chapter 5, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the cravings or the desires of the flesh. 1 John chapter 1, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another in the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son cleanses us from all sin. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, we walk by faith and not by sight. What Paul means by that is that faith becomes the lens through which we view everything else.

We view life, we view decisions, we view the world, even the pandemic through the lens of faith. You know, I'm not a fan of pigeons. I've never liked them. I've always seen them as flying rats. I hated them at the beach. They were everywhere.

They cluttered up everything. But what fascinated me is the way they walked. And somebody explained this to me one time and says, you know why they walk so funny is that pigeons are unable to focus while they're moving. And they need to bring their head to a complete stop, focus, move it again. And so they, you see them going back and forth, head forward, stop, backward, stop, forward, stop, backward, stop, etc.

That's how they're focusing. I've discovered in our spiritual life, we have basically the same problem. It's hard for us to see while we're moving. And so, again, one of the things God has allowed us to do is to slow down, stop moving, catch our breath, let our soul catch up with our body, find out what God is saying to us personally.

We need to stop between the steps. We need to refocus on our relationship to the will of God, pulling away needless, superfluous, superficial things that complicate our walk. Now with that as an introduction, I take you to Hebrews chapter 11, where we are in this lineup of the hall of fame of faith, or simply called the hall of faith.

I'm going to read for context's sake, beginning in verse 1 down to our text, which is in verse 5 and 6. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By 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 are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and though he being dead still speaks.

Now here's where we're going to look at tonight. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is God.

He must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Enoch. Not much is known about Enoch, and that's because his story is very scant. It does not occupy much space in the biblical record.

For a lot of people it's an obscure name in a list. An interesting note about Enoch. He's an Old Testament figure, but more is said of him in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. So in all in the Bible there are there are five passages about Enoch. Two of them are just genealogies that mention his name.

That leaves three passages of real significance. Genesis chapter 5, that's the source. Hebrews chapter 11, that's our text. And Jude, the little book of Jude, verses 14 and 15, those are the passages on his life.

If you were to add up the number of words devoted to Enoch, 51 words are in the Old Testament, 94 words are in the New Testament. That's why I say he's an Old Testament figure, but more a set of him in the New Testament than the Old. So we're going to look at his life. He's mentioned here in Hebrews 11.

He's in the list that the author gives of examples of those who live by faith. But we're going to go back to the source, Genesis chapter 5, and consider the background of what he's writing about, and look at a few things. The life of Enoch, the legacy of Enoch, and the lessons of Enoch.

Very, very simple outline. The life of Enoch is given to us in Genesis chapter 5. I'm going to begin in that chapter in verse 18. I'm going to mention and not really talk about all these names or ages and why they lived so long, done that before. But it says, Jared lived 162 years and begot Enoch. After he begot Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had sons and daughters.

So all the days of Jared were 962 years and he died. Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Genesis chapter 5, which is the source chapter, covers a span of 1500 years.

It is a genealogical record. You might call chapter 5 of Genesis the and he died chapter because that's the recurrent phrase. It lists like nine times it says this guy did this and lived that long and he died and this guy did this and lived this long and he died and he died and he died.

It's just fulfilling what it says back in earlier chapters. In the day that you eat of this fruit you are going to die. Death entered death spread and death reigned.

So here's the record. 1500 years and everyone mentioned here died. Everyone except one and that is our hero. That is the man of the exception and that is Enoch. Now Enoch was not known for building anything like an ark, like Noah. He didn't found a city like Cain did or Nimrod did. Also famous Old Testament early patriarchal personages. He's not known for that. Enoch was really an ordinary guy who served an extraordinary God.

I've used that phrase before but I want to sort of tap into that. He was an extraordinary man and I'll say this, he had an extraordinary relationship with God because of its simplicity. He had an extraordinary relationship with God because of its simplicity. Simply put, he walked with God. That was his testimony.

He walked with God. I know a lot of people are attracted to sensational testimonies that people have. I was a drug addict, I was a murderer, I bought and sold people and I did this and then God got a hold of my life. All those are great testimonies. I love a good story and a good testimony no matter what it is. But perhaps the most dramatic testimony is an everyday person who walks with God every day. I think that's a powerful testimony.

What's your life? I walk with God. Oh really?

Yeah, I do it every single day, month after month, year after year, throughout a lifetime. That sort of sums up Enoch. Now let me give you a little sketch of this man. Enoch lived in challenging times.

What do I mean? He lived after the fall, so sin entered the world, that complicates things, and he lived right before the flood. And we get the idea that Enoch at some point made a choice to be obedient to God, to walk with God, to follow God, when no one else was doing it.

He becomes the exception during that time. He didn't always walk with God. There was a particular time, if you read the text carefully, that he decided, I'm going to start walking with God now.

I want you to see it. Look at it again. Verse 21, Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years.

He had a wife and kids. That'll do it. That'll do it. That sort of wakes people up.

I've noticed this a lot. People get married. They're young and fancy free. Then they start having children. They go, you know, I think I need to give them a moral underpinning. I was raised with one. I strayed from that, but I think I need to get back to church and get my kids involved. They want to leave something with their children.

It could simply be that Enoch knew he was surrounded by an ungodly world, and he decided now is the time to make a stand. I need to live differently. I need to think eternally.

I live in a wicked environment, and the idea of raising kids in that environment makes me want to walk with God. Now let me turn this to a personal question. If you could live 300 years, not that you'd want to, but let's say you could live 300 years. Let's say you did live 300 years. What would your testimony be? After living 300 years, would you be able to survive all the corruption and corrosion that is in the world? And could it be said of you, you've walked with God that long? Now some people hear that and they go, well, you know, it wasn't as corrupt back then as it is today.

Really? I mean, it was so corrupt that God drowned the entire world in a flood. That's pretty corrupt. Now we know that God will judge the world one day in a similar manner, though not by water but by fire, but that hasn't happened yet. It was a very wicked generation. The very next chapter says how wicked it was that God saw the intents of man's heart as being evil continually.

But here's the deal. A person who walks with God doesn't follow the crowd if the crowd's going the wrong way. If everybody's going that direction and it's the wrong direction a man or a woman of faith says, no, I'm not going to walk with them. I don't care what they think or what they say or how they'll ridicule me.

A person of faith will go against the stream, go against the flow because they're going the wrong way and so they want to go the right way. I have a story that I've loved for a long time about a spider who built a beautiful web in an old home and he kept it clean and tidy so that flies would patronize it. The minute he got a customer, he would clean up on him or attack him and eat him up so the other flies wouldn't get suspicious. Then one day a fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by the clean spider web.

Old man spider called out, come on in, have a seat. But the fairly intelligent fly said, no sir, I don't see other flies in your house and I'm not going in alone. But presently he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper.

He was delighted. He was not afraid if lots of flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing and just before he landed a bee zoomed by and said, don't land there stupid, it's fly paper. But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, don't be silly, those flies are dancing. There's a big crowd down there, everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong. He died on the spot.

Fairly intelligent but not smart enough. A wise person will not go with the crowd if the crowd is going in the wrong direction. Enoch walked with God when the world was not walking with God. Something else to note about him, not only did he live during challenging times, but Enoch was a prophet according to the Bible, according to the New Testament.

Remember I said there's more written about him in the New Testament than the old. Jude, who happened to be the brother of Jesus, incidentally half brother, wrote a little epistle, one chapter called the book of Jude. He talks about Enoch. And according to Jude, Enoch preached a message as a prophet to his generation. I'm quoting now from Jude verses 14 and 15 it says, Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men also saying, behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all. Here's a guy who lived before the judgment of the flood and he predicted there is a coming judgment.

How did he know there was a coming judgment? I believe God gave him a revelation through which he named his son, it says here Methuselah. Now we read Methuselah and the only thing most people know about Methuselah is he's the oldest guy in the Bible, 969 years. But the name Methuselah means man of the sending forth or another way to translate it when he is dead it shall be sent forth. So the idea is he's proclaiming a judgment is coming he names his son when he is dead it shall be sent. What's interesting about that is if you do the math and you calculate the 969 years of Enoch you discover the year he died is the exact year the flood was sent. The year he died is the year the flood was sent. So here's the idea he's not going to die and when he does for a long time and when he does die is when the judgment is coming and that's when the flood was sent. So as Enoch walked with God, God revealed that to him that judgment would come.

Now I don't know how you raise a kid like this because I think if you're Mr. Enoch or Mrs. Enoch you don't want to let your kid go out of the house because you want to do everything you can to forestall judgment if when he dies judgment is coming right it's like oh we got a cold oh my goodness right this could be it you got COVID you know because you know the judgment is coming when this guy kicks the bucket I'm sure all the neighbors wanted to babysit him give him vitamins do everything they can to keep this kid alive. But Enoch was a prophet the Bible says and he proclaimed and looked forward to a coming judgment and that's that's even seen in the name of his son. And then a third factor about Enoch and probably the most interesting to most people is that Enoch didn't die a physical death. It says in Hebrews 11 our text verse 5 by faith Enoch was taken up he was taken up so that he did not see death and he was not found because God had taken him for before he had taken him he had this testimony that he pleased God. Now that's explained back in Genesis chapter 5. So if you go back to Genesis chapter 5 it says that it says Enoch lived so Enoch lived so many years but verse 23 all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God and he was not and that's a funny little phrase it's like one day there he was the next day there he wasn't he's just like well where's dad he didn't come home for dinner and where's my husband and he just was gone and it says in Hebrews the Lord took him and it says that here in Genesis God took him he didn't die. Now back in Hebrews where we started where it says by faith Enoch was taken away that little phrase taken away means to be carried over or to be carried across or you could translate it as some do he was suddenly transferred a sudden transfer from earth to heaven so God carried Enoch over death sort of like picking him up off one shore and moving him over onto another shore. You might say that his is the longest walk anyone ever took with God because it's still going on he just kept walking with God and walking with God and walking with God and walking with God and walking with God every day consistently and then God just took him to heaven. Enoch was the subject of a Sunday school class and the teacher tried to explain it to the kids kids came home one set of parents asked their daughter so what was Sunday school about she said it was all about this guy named Enoch and so they said well tell us the story and here's her explanation there was a man who every day went out to walk with God and one day they walked together and they walked until it was almost dark when this man started to go back God said hey Enoch you've walked with me so long and you're so far from home why don't you just come home with me and he's been with God ever since I like her explanation I think that's beautiful he just walked with God and said walk with me into heaven so he's on earth one moment next day boom gone and instantly in heaven so Enoch didn't die he becomes the exception to the rule then it's appointed unto every man wants to die not him he hadn't died yet there's all sorts of theories about him I'll spare you but but let me throw a suggestion out to you Enoch becomes a type of believer who will be alive on earth in the future when God calls that generation home it's coming you know the bible does predict that that there will be people who will miss death all together first corinthians chapter 15 paul says behold I show you a mystery we will not all sleep or die but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye that's Skip heisen with a message today from the series fact check right now here's Skip to tell you how your support helps keep these messages coming your way and connects more people to God's word you know the world doesn't understand Christians and with good cause we're called to be set apart from the world while also living in it but sometimes we need encouragement and that's where this broadcast comes in we seek to equip and encourage friends like you in your walk with the Lord and you can help keep these faith-building messages on the air here's how you can give a gift today visit connectwithskip.com donate to give your gift today that's connectwithskip.com donate or call 800-922-1888 again that's 800-922-1888 coming up tomorrow Skip heitzig shares how you can take big steps forward in your faith by getting back to the essentials what is it like to relate with God please God walk with God that's simplicity I love that you see a walk with God is different from a jog with God or a chat with God or a weekly visit with God let's go have a weekly hour with God a walk with God is consistent daily foot of the crossing connect with Skip heitzig is a presentation of connection communications connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times