Hope Church LV Sermons
Not By Sight :: Enoch
Historians tell us that the book of Hebrews in the New Testament was written in the second half of the first century. Most scholars believe that it was recorded between 64 AD and 84 AD. And I want you to imagine with me this morning what it must have been like to be the author of this powerful New Testament book. To be there at that point in time and to sit down and begin to record under the inspiration and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The powerful words that we find in the book of Hebrews. Now the author wasn't writing in chapter or verse, but the author sat down and began to write God, who spoke long ago to the fathers and prophets in many portions and in many ways. And these last days has spoken to us in his son. And he continued to record what we know as Hebrews chapter one. And he moved on to what we know as Hebrews chapter two and he said, but we see him. He was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. And he continued to unpack the principles and he moved to what we know as Hebrews chapter three and he says, "Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus." And he moved to what we know as Hebrews chapter four and he said this, he says, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." And he lays down these powerful spiritual foundations that you and I know today and he continued to do that through what we know as chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, and chapter ten. And then the author got to what we know as Hebrews chapter eleven and what the Holy Spirit put in the author's mind and heart were principles about faith. He says in Hebrews eleven, verse one, "For faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen." And then at that moment you can imagine the author's heart and mind was flooded with examples of men and women of faith throughout history who had applied verse one to their life. He reaches all the way back to one of the sons of Adam and Eve and he talks about Abel and he stretches all the way forward to the early church and the disciples who were martyred because of their faith and he lists example after example after example of men and women of faith. This chapter in the book of Hebrews has been called the Hall of Faith, it's been called the faith chapter but you and I know it as Hebrews chapter eleven. And as a faith family we're studying verse by verse specifically through this powerful chapter in the book of Hebrews. So if you have your Bible this morning would you turn with me to Hebrews chapter eleven and in just a moment I want to read verses five and six. In part one of this series we unpacked some dimensions of faith that really help us get our heart and our head around what faith really is. And then in part two of this series we looked at the example, a man of faith named Abel. And this week we come to another Old Testament example of a man of faith named Enoch. So look with me at Hebrews chapter eleven, if you don't have a Bible this morning we're going to put this up on the screen so that you can follow along with us. Hebrews chapter eleven verse five says this, "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not taste see death and he was not found because God took him up. For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." So in our time together this morning we are going to unpack this example of a man named Enoch. And honestly in the scriptures we don't have a whole lot of information about Enoch. His name is only mentioned twelve times in the entire Bible. In a large percentage of those times his name is mentioned in genealogies meaning it's just his name and that's all that we have. But in most cases when Enoch's name is mentioned in the scriptures there is a very significant phrase that is attached with Enoch's name and here it is. Over and over again we see that Enoch walked with God. So this morning here is what I want to do. I want to ask and answer two very, very simple questions and here is the first one. What does it mean to walk with God? How can you and I understand what walking with God is really all about? I think that's a phrase we use a lot. That's a phrase that sometimes we associate with spiritual giants. We'll say the Apostle Paul walked with God or Dr. Billy Graham walked with God or pastors walk with God but we say that sometimes and we push it into the realm of impossibility for us but honestly we really don't even know what it means. But this morning I believe from the life of Enoch we can pull some principles out and as we leave today we can have a clear understanding at least on a base level what walking with God is really all about. But to do that I want to look at the original account of Enoch's story. So keep your place there in Hebrews 11 and turn to the first book of the Bible and let's look in Genesis chapter 5. And I want to read for us very quickly the original account of Enoch's story. Genesis chapter 5 I want to read verses 21 through 24. This is the biggest chunk of information that we have about Enoch. Here's what it says. Verse 21. Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he became the father of Methuselah. And he had other sons and daughters so all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. That's all we got. Out of this original account of Enoch's life I want to give you four consistent components of walking with God. And here's the deal. If this morning we could put up pictures of every person in history who has ever walked with God the way that Enoch walked with God, these four components would be true and evident in their life. For any person who's ever walked with God these four things are going to be true and they're actually four words. Here's the first word. First word is relationship. Let me give you a statement to unpack that. Extraordinary faith leads to a personal relationship with God. Extraordinary faith. The kind of faith we're talking about in this series. It leads to a personal relationship with God. Look at verse 21 and 22 of Genesis. It says Enoch lived for 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. The first word in verse 22 is very important. It's the word then. Here's what that tells us. That for Enoch when he was 65 years old there was a moment and after that moment he began walking with God. Telling us that what that moment meant for him was him putting his whole weight on God and beginning a personal relationship with the God of heaven. He had a moment where he began a relationship with God because that is a key component for you and I ever walking with him. Enoch embraced the invitation to begin walking in a relationship with God. And that message is consistent throughout Scripture. God has not invited us into religion. He's not invited us into specific ceremonies or special events or routine. He has invited us to himself. He's invited us into a relationship that is one personal. We can know him and that's eternal because it's going to last forever and forever and forever. If you've been in hope for any length of time you've heard us say that it's all about relationships. And we believe that the primary relationship for any person, the one that is the most significant is the one that we have with God. And for Enoch that relationship began when he was 65 years old. Let me ask you a question. Have you had a then moment? Has there been a time for you where it's made sense that what the God of heaven has invited us into isn't just going through motions or putting up a plastic front so that we appear to be spiritual? That God in the overarching message of Scripture has said, "Listen, humanity, you're broken, you're selfish, you're helpless. But I as a loving Father am inviting you to know me and if you will turn from your sin and you'll rest your whole weight on my son Jesus, I'll save you and I'll bring you into a personal and eternal relationship with me." That's component number one. And any person who has ever walked with God has first had a relationship with him. That was personal. Here's the second component. Second word, fellowship, fellowship. Here's a statement to unpack that, extraordinary faith leads to daily fellowship with God. Extraordinary faith, the type of faith that Enoch had leads to daily fellowship with God. You'll see in verse 22, the Bible says, "Then Enoch walked with God." The word with insinuates fellowship. It communicates a sacred communion. It doesn't say that Enoch walked behind God. It doesn't say that Enoch walked in front of God. It said that Enoch walked with in fellowship, in sacred communion with God. We believe in hope that the greatest thing any person can do to deepen their love relationship with God is spend time daily in fellowship with God. That's the invitation. We've said it before. There are two goals of the Christian life. Two aims, two targets of the Christian life. The overall goal is to know God, relationship, but there's a second goal. It's the daily goal, and the daily goal is to spend time with God, fellowship. And every person who's ever walked with God has made a priority out of spending daily moments carving out daily time to be in fellowship with the God of heaven. I meet a lot of people who have heard distorted teaching about what following God is all about, and they think that once you come into a relationship with God, then all the pain goes away, and all the struggles go away, and all the hurt goes away. And they think that you live on this mountain peak of spiritual fireworks day after day after day after day. Can I just clarify? That's not it. That the aim of us walking with God is not that he would take all the problems away. The thing that he's allowing us to do is have access to himself, and because we're broken and because we're distorted, there's a lot that has to change in us in order for that to happen on an intimate level. Jim Simba said this, and I love this quote. He says, "Many sensational gifts and talents, they don't mean much over the long haul. The longer I live, the more I treasure people who just keep walking with God." Can I tell you in your journey, on a daily basis, you're going to wake up sometimes and you're not going to feel very spiritual. You're not going to feel like you can conquer the world. Can I encourage you to do something in that moment? Just spend time with it. Just continually, continually when you feel like it and when you don't, carve out moments to be in daily fellowship with your heavenly Father. This weekend my small group, we were talking about this, and we were talking about the great need that all of us have on a daily basis when we wake up in the morning to find our fixation on the truth of God. And we talked about from the moment we wake up in the morning, our hearts are drifting away from the truth. Our hearts are drifting towards the world, they're drifting towards our flesh, they're drifting towards our sinful desires, and the only thing that can bring you and I back in line with God's spirit, with God's activity to walk with Him on a daily basis is for us to spend fellowship with our heavenly Father. And as that happened, here's what happens. We are brought back in line with the truth of God. But the only thing that can do that is daily fellowship with our heavenly Father. And it's easy, and I'm sure you do it because I do it, to compromise my time with God because I think I'm okay, and especially if I don't have a big event that day or I'm not going to be preaching or I don't have some big decision going on, I think, well, maybe if my time with God is not that significant, it's okay. Here's the deal, that's a lie from the enemy. Is the enemy would love for you to believe and me to believe that our flesh is really not as bad as we think it is. And here's the deal, he's right. It's not as bad as we think it is, it's worse. And here's the deal, it doesn't change. I can walk through a whole day with have a good attitude and all that, and guess what, my flesh does not change. And any person who's ever walked with God has understood that our flesh will control our life if we do not make a priority out of spending daily time and fellowship with our heavenly Father because in that our relationship with God is deepened. Don't miss that this morning. Third word, submission, relationship, fellowship, submission. Here's a statement to unpack that. Extraordinary faith leads to embracing God's way as better than my way. Extraordinary faith, the kind of faith that Enoch had and that God is calling us to have leads to us embracing the reality that what God has planned, what God has designed is better than what we think and what we can come up with. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God for 300 years. And I believe it's impossible to walk with God for 300 years, for 30 years, for 3 years, for 3 days. And God not increase and us decrease. I believe Enoch had a healthy understanding that God is great, God is big, God is in control and that he could trust him and because of that Enoch could submit. John MacArthur said this, speaking of submission, it is putting every decision, each opportunity, each temptation, each desire before him and asking for his direction and his power. You see submission clarifies for us who is superior and who is not. It clarifies for us who is who is God, who is in charge and who is not. Notice the scripture says that Enoch walked with God, not God walked with Enoch. The primary influencer in the relationship was God's plan, not what Enoch desired. Here's the spiritual term, lordship. Here's what lordship demands. It demands a laying down of the will, of the rights and of the desires, understanding that the one you're laying down to is all together, greater and more powerful than you are. That's submission. It leads to a place of saying, God, even though I don't understand, I don't get it all. Your way is better than my way. And in wrestling through this, this week, obviously, this is a word that all of us need to hear, but there are two specific groups that I really want to challenge this morning in the area of submission. The first group is the group that would make a statement like this. I've already got it all figured out, and I'm talking about believers, and you know who I'm talking about. Those people who, when you share with them, you can't give them new information. They already know it all, and you get this sense of arrogance and self-righteousness, and you get the vibe that even though they're associating with Jesus, there's still a lot in them that's in it for personal gain. And you just don't see the humility that was demonstrated in the life of Jesus as you spend time with them. And hey, if you're here this morning and you're saying, well, I'm glad that's not me, listen. It's probably you, and you just can't see it right now. Since you need whoever you came with to clarify, but here's the deal. You need to submit, because here's the deal. There's nothing you can do that can impress our Father. The only thing good in us is Jesus, and you're not as great as you think you are. And I would encourage you this morning to have a time where you just submit that. And in humility, understanding that He is Lord and we are not, just to say, God, I laid on my rights, my will, and my desire, and you're better. And I trust you with that. That's one group. Another group is the group that would make a statement like this. I am overwhelmed by my circumstances. That's the group that walked in the room this morning and you're overwhelmed by what you're walking in right now. You feel like the sky is caving in and you don't know what to do. You're questioning the whole thing. Maybe it's relational, maybe it's financial, maybe it's a health situation, but right now in your life, you're just overwhelmed by the circumstances you're navigating through. Here's the deal. You need to submit, too. Honestly, this group of being overwhelmed by circumstances is where I've been living for about two weeks. Let me tell you why. A couple of weeks ago, I had a spot on my hand that I just didn't feel good about it. It didn't look right. So I went to the doctor and I was expecting the doctor to say, "Okay, here's some cream or here's some antibiotic. Take this for two weeks and call me and let me know how it's going." I get in the doctor's office and anytime I'm in a doctor's office, I just get nervous. I just don't like the vibe. The doctor said, "Travis, there's no pills. There's no antibiotic we can give you. We actually need to do a biopsy of those spots right now." So they prepped me and they cut a piece of it off and sent it off to test and two weeks later I got a call and I said, "Mr. Ogle, we have your results. Please come see the doctor for a consultation." I went in and the doctor said, "Travis, you have skin cancer and it's all in your hand and we need to plan a surgery soon to cut as much of it out as we possibly can." That landed on me like a ton of bricks. I mean you couldn't have said anything else that was farther from my mind than skin cancer and obviously the news could have been a lot worse but it could have been a lot better. And so it turned out that this past Monday and Tuesday I spent about 11 hours laying on a doctor's table just being cut into and they would cut a section of it out and take it and look into the microscope and come back and say, "Sorry, we didn't get it all. We got to cut again." So I'd lay there and they'd come back and cut again on Monday. That happened five times and Monday night I just said, "Doctor, I'm done. I need to come back tomorrow because I'm just done." So I came back on Tuesday morning and they continued to cut and they continued to cut and finally they said, "Hey Travis, we got it all but we found another spot on your hand that we need to buy obviously because we think it might be the same thing." And honestly, there was a lot of time as I'm laying on the table looking at the ceiling and I'm just wrestling with trusting God, with who's in control, with God's why me. And there was a lot of moments for me and here's what I had to do. God I submit. God, your way's better and I don't understand it and it doesn't make sense and I don't know why me but God I know that you see, you know and you care and God at the end of the day I can trust you. And one time it was just out loud because I just needed to hear myself say it. And I said, "God, you don't owe me an explanation and God, I don't need something good to come in my life to outweigh this bad news. Lord, if you can use this in any way, shape, or form to conform me to the image of Jesus. God, I pray that you would but Lord, I submit that what you have for my life is better than what I can understand and what I can figure out. And for you it might not be skin cancer, it might be worse. It might be financial. Maybe you just lost your house. Maybe you don't have any money. Maybe you don't have a job. Listen, this morning I want to challenge you to submit under the lordship of Jesus and just say, "God, even though I don't understand it and it doesn't make sense to me right now in this time, your way is better." It's better and here's what I believe, that these kind of circumstances, moments of crisis for the believer should fuel our faith, not shake our faith because we have a God we can trust. That's huge, I'm going to say that again, if I can remember it. Moments of crisis for the believer should fuel our faith, not shake our faith because we have a God we can trust. Enoch understood that. There was an element of submission where he was decreasing and God was increasing in his life. Here's the fourth word, transformation. Relationship, fellowship, submission and transformation. Here's a statement to unpack that, extraordinary faith leads to my life being a demonstration of his life to the people around me. Extraordinary faith leads to my life being a demonstration of the life of Jesus to the people around me. Give verse 24 and Genesis 5, Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. One of the most mysterious verses in all of the Bible and I would be wasting your time in mind if I felt like I could explain that to you today. But here's the principle I want you to see. The power of God was so demonstrated through Enoch's life that the only way it could be explained is that God did that. The word took in verse 24 means transfer, meaning that at one moment Enoch was walking with God on earth and God transferred him over death and into eternity. At one moment, Enoch was walking by faith. The next moment, he was with God, seeing him just as he is. There was a demonstration of God's power through Enoch's life because of him walking with God by faith that could only be explained as the power of God. And here's what I assure you. If we will walk with God, there will be demonstrations of the life of Jesus through us that the people around us can only explain it by saying that was God. Because when transformation happens from the inside out, it means complete change and it affects every area of our life, our attitude, our perspective, the way we love people, the way we engage in the mission. And as you and I walk with him, we're going to be changed. We're going to be made new and the one who gets the credit is God and we must be careful as that happens to make sure we know who is being changed versus who is doing the changing. Look at this quote by Major Ian Thomas. Never praise people for their faith because faith in itself does nothing. If people exercise faith and anything marvelous happens, it is not because of their faith. The activity that is released through our faith is God's and he is to be praised. Fellowship, fellowship, submission, transformation. Those four components are consistent in any person who has ever walked with God. Second question this morning, not only what does it mean to walk with God, but question number two, what can we learn from Enoch's walk with God? What can we learn from Enoch's walk with God and this is the practical stuff. We read Genesis and we get excited and passionate and zealous. Well, this question is going to help us clarify. How does that flesh out for me? Because we all read Enoch's story and say, "I want that. That's awesome. What can I do? What qualified him to do that?" Well, what qualified him to do that wasn't his leadership skills, it wasn't his degrees, it wasn't his social status, it wasn't his political standing. It was his faith in a great God who was faithful and he applied that to himself day by day. For the past two weeks, we've given you a point that I want to put back up on the screen for us and it's very simple but it's very practical. Faith in Christ is not a decision I make. Faith in Christ is a life that I live. It's a day by day, moment by moment, walk with Jesus. I meet people all the time who said, "Man, my schedule is so slammed that I really don't ever have time to think about God except when I'm at church." Listen, that's not Christianity. It's emotion because the Christianity of the Bible says that I am in him and he is in me and when we leave this place, God doesn't stay here. I am in him and he is in me and he leaves with us and the extraordinary faith that we're talking about believes that and knows that and has that assurance on a moment by moment basis and the worship services we have on the weekend should really just be a crescendo of the worship that's been happening in your life all week long. That's very important and I would challenge you this morning if you think that your relationship with God revolves around a large gathering. That's not the Christianity of the Bible. Yes, this is great and we're glad to worship together but he is working in you and desires to work through you on a day by day, moment by moment basis. Think of the example Jesus gives us in John 14, it says this, Jesus said, "Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?" Jesus says, "The words I speak are not my own but my Father who lives in me does his work through me." That's not based around a gathering. That's based around walking by faith in a relationship day by day and moment by moment. Next week we gave you a practical explanation of living by faith and it was this, to live life not trusting in myself but resting moment by moment in his very life in me. I want you to look back at Hebrews 11 verse 6 and I want to give you three takeaways as we conclude. First take away from us this morning, the practical stuff. God's ultimate desire is for me to walk with Him by faith. God's ultimate desire. What brings Him joy is for you and I to walk with Him by faith. Look at the first part of Hebrews 11 verse 6. Jesus says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him." The word impossible is kind of a two part word. It means without capacity, without ability, meaning if you and I are not demonstrating faith, if we're not walking in faith, we were without the ability to please and honor our heavenly Father. And that's why I believe God finds great joy when you and I wake up in the morning and say, "God, I don't bring anything to you, I'm not significant, I'm not special in any way, but Lord today I rest my whole weight on you believing by faith that that brings you joy and that pleases you as my heavenly Father. God's ultimate desire for us is to walk with Him, not ahead, not behind, but walk with Him by faith. Take away, walking by faith is a constant pursuit. It's a constant pursuit. Look at the next half of the verse, "For He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." That word seek means to look for something passionately that is lost. That means that we are pursuing a God who we know exists, who we know loves us and by faith we are pursuing Him passionately. I dare say in the room, there are people who are pursuing things on earth more passionately than you're pursuing things of heaven. All of us struggle with it. But God said, "I am pleased with people who acknowledge there's more than what they can see and they earnestly seek after those things of heaven, understanding that God is real, that God is alive and He is active and I want to pursue and join in what He is doing." Last takeaway, walking by faith is worth it now and in eternity. Walking by faith, this thing we're talking about this morning, listen, it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it today. It's worth it now. When Enoch was walking with God on that 300th year, he wasn't doing so thinking, "Man, maybe God's going to show up and take me to heaven." No, he realized that the good that he was experiencing was access to God. And as a result of that, he was carried into eternity. It's worth it for you today. It's worth it for you next week. It's worth it for you next month. It's worth it for you now to walk daily by faith. But it's also worth it for eternity. Do you know who the great-grandson of Enoch was? Enoch's son was named Methuselah. Methuselah's son was named Lamek, Lamek's son was named Noah. You asked the question, "Where did Noah have such a heritage of faith that he could be on the earth when people didn't know what rain was and he was building this art and literally everyone around him was telling him he was wrong and he had missed it?" He said, "No, God's faithful, and I'm going to do what he told me to do." That was laid down by his great-grandfather. God's a rewarder. That doesn't mean he's a genie in a bottle, but that does mean the God we put our faith in is faithful. He is called us as his people to walk by faith and not by sight. [BLANK_AUDIO]