Read at beginning of service:
John 5:19-30 (NIV)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
INTRODUCTION
Recap last message: “We are continuing today with the series that I began last week on “When the Heroes of Faith speak?” Last week we heard about our first hero “Abel”.
This morning we?re going to look at the 2nd person mentioned in God?s Hall of Faith. His name is Enoch and he is mentioned in Hebrews 11:5
READ HEBREWS 11:5-6
PRAY
Not much is written about Enoch.
He?s only mentioned in 12 verses/5 books of the whole Bible.
2 of those books I Chronicles/Luke, mention him only in genealogies.
That leaves only 3 books/10 verses that mention anything about Enoch.
How can you make it into God?s Hall of Heroes on only 10 verses?
His life may only be written out in 10 small verses, but they?re 10 very powerful verses that tell us a lot about the man known in God?s Word as Enoch.
We?re going to look at some of those verses this morning, and we?re going to discover what words of wisdom Enoch would share with us if he were here this morning.
1. The Christian Walk is a Marathon, Not a Hundred Yard Dash.
Hebrews 11:5b tells us that Enoch
Hebrews 11:5b (NIV)
5? he was commended as one who pleased God.
“had this testimony, that he pleased God.”(KJV)
That?s pretty impressive, isn?t it?
Wouldn?t you like it if saying that your testimony was that you pleased God summed up your life?
Paul writes that Enoch “Pleased” God.
The Greek word used here for “Pleased” is “euaresteo?” (yoo-ar-es-teh?-o).
It means to “gratify entirely:”
Enoch not only pleased God, but he pleased God entirely/completely/fully.
But we really grasp the full meaning of this statement unless we look at Genesis 5:21-24.
These verses tell the story of the man called Enoch.
Genesis 5:21-24 (NIV)
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Notice the sequence of events here.
Verse 21 tells us that Enoch was 65 when he had Methuselah. (Talk about aging and the effects of aging perhaps?)
I believe that the Bible is to be taken quite literally when it says that Enoch lived 365 years.
Enoch was 65 when he had Methuselah.
But that?s not the impressive part!
Genesis 5:22 (NIV)
22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
Enoch found God after the birth of his son, Methuselah.
Scripture says that he walked with God for the next 300 years, the rest of his life.
Since Hebrews 11:5 tells us that before Enoch was taken away he was commended as someone who pleased God it appears that he completely/fully pleased God for 300 years!! What an incredible testimony!!
But the question I have when looking at Enoch is, “What is it about his life that pleased God?”
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Then the writer goes on to explain that the crucial test of faith is believing that God exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. So if Enoch fully pleased God then He must have been a man of faith who believed that God existed and earnestly sought Him.
When we read about Enoch in Genesis five there is little given about His life except that he was a father, and that he lived 365 years. However there is a phrase mentioned twice that gives us insight into the special life Enoch led. The phrase is “walked with God”. In fact it was based on this that verse 24 tells us that Enoch didn?t die physically but was simply “taken away” by God.
Enoch was a man who walked with God. What the life of Enoch teaches us, then, is that faith in God is expressed in your walk with Him.
I believe Enoch would say that your faith journey should be a marathon not a 100-yard dash because he was a man who walked with God for 300 years of his life on earth and continues that walk into all eternity. The nature of a marathon is that it is a distance thing, it goes on, it requires commitment, it requires determination, it requires faith?
I want to take a few moments to talk a bit about the marathon people ? those who like Enoch can be described as someone who “walks with God”. You see, “walking with God” is not merely the description of some sort of divine stroll with the Almighty but is rather
i. A description of the godly character of the individual.
Rev. 3:4 ? Jesus in describing the church of Sardis/because of their righteous conduct they will walk with Him.
Revelation 3:4 (NIV)
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
Genesis 6:9 ? Noah is described as a righteous and blameless man in the same breath as the description of him “walking with God”
Genesis 6:9 (NIV)
9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Genesis 17:1 ? God appears to Abram and tells him to “walk before me and be blameless”
Genesis 17:1 (NIV)1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless.
1 John 1:6-7
1 John 1:6-7 (NIV)
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Walking in God (in the light) results in a Godly character. John is indicating here that your claim to fellowship with God (or walking with God) is substantiated by the character in your life (walking in darkness or light). When you walk in the light as He is in the light ? ie. Your character is like that of Christ ? then you have fellowship with Him and you are purified from all sin. Not only do you identify with Christ in word but also in practice. The “practice” of walking in the light makes you more like the light!! John is mainly talking about the character of love in this book. Reading further John writes in verse 6, “Whoever claims to be in him [God] must walk as Jesus did”. This begs the question, what is the “way” Jesus walked? Jesus walked in the “way” of His father ? He walked with His father, His father walked in Him and through Him!
John 4:34 (NIV)
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
John 5:19 (NIV)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
John 5:30 (NIV)
30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
This leads us to the next understanding about the phrase “walking with God”?
ii. A description of a persons? way of life.
Genesis 5:22,24 ? Enoch “walked with God” for 300 years. For Enoch “walking with God” was simply a way of life!
Genesis 5:22-24 (NIV)22 And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
Genesis 24:40 ? Moses says to his servant, “?The Lord, before whom I have walked?”
Frequently the phrase, “walk in his ways” [ways of the Lord] crops up in the Bible referencing that they were to embrace God?s way for their way of life. An example is in Joshua 22:5; Judges 2:17.
Joshua 22:5 (NIV)5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”
Judges 2:17 (NIV)
17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the Lord’s commands.
The scriptures indicate there are two clear paths of walking ? in the way of the Lord or in the way of the world (flesh, sin, satan). Walking with God is a way of life ? it is when your faith in Christ affects every area of your life ? though and actions.
Leaving our understanding of walking with God here however will leave us with an impossible task. For it is impossible for us to have a godly character on our own ? to embrace godly living as a way of life on our own. It is impossible to please God with what we do or think. Observed in this light walking with God is a nice goal but impossible reality. BUT there is a third understanding of “Walking with God” that must not be forgotten and it hinges on the word with!! It has to do with faith you see “Walking with God” is also?
iii. A description of an individual?s personal relationship with God.
Leveticus 26:11-12 ? When the law is given to the Israelites God lists what He will do in response to their obedience. Within this list is God?s promise to, “?walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people?” This would be the greatest reward the Israelites could hope for in obeying God and following His decrees!
Psalm 89:15, “Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.”
Micah 6:8
Micah 6:8 (NIV)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The requirement (only!) of the Lord is to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly WITH God!
Jesus says in John 6:29
John 6:29 (NIV)29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
CONCLUSION
If you are a marathon Christian you are someone who “walks with God” and ?
recognizes that the godly character in you is shaped and created by the work of Christ in you
embraces the life of Christ as your life and “walking with God” is a way of life for you..
pleases God because of your faith in Christ and your personal relationship with Him.
Jesus talks about the 100 yard-dash people in Mark 4 ? these are people who never know what it is to walk with God?
Mark 4:3-6 (NIV)
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Later, in Mark 4:16-17, Jesus explained this parable for His disciples.
Mark 4:16-17 (NIV)
16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
If you?re here and trying to live the Christian life like a 100 yard dash, you need to give up this morning and just give yourself fully and completely to Jesus.
The only way you?ll ever find happiness in the Christian life is to give yourself fully to Jesus, plant yourself deeply in His Word, and drink yourself full of the Living Water of Christ.
There are a lot of 100 yard- dash people in this world?
?People who let the trials/difficulties of life distract them from a life with Jesus.
?People who let the blessings of life lead their attention from the one who gives the blessings.
?People who will run with Jesus a short time, then fall to the wayside.
Enoch would plead with you to be a marathon Christian.
He would plead with you to stand strong for Jesus no matter what comes in this world.
Let me ask you ? Are you a marathon Christian ? or a 100 hundred-yard dash Christian?
The Apostle Paul knew what it was like to run and marathon for Jesus.
I pray that at the end of my life and yours, we can echo the last written words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy.
At the end of his life, as he waited in Rome under house arrest for his execution for preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, He wrote his 2nd recorded letter to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
The reward for one who walks with God (the marathon runner) is “finishing the race”. Not only do I believe Enoch would say to us this morning that “The Christian walk is a marathon not a 100-yard dash” but I also believe that Enoch would look you in the eye this morning, and a great smile would break out over His whole face, and he?d remind you that:
God Always Rewards the Faithful!!
Enoch would be the first to tell you, “Don?t be afraid to walk closely with God, the rewards are out of this world!”?