In the Garden of Eden, God came down and walked and talked with Adam and Eve.
But when sin came, it separated them from that walk.
The Old Testament records a number of instances where men walked with God.
God said to Abraham, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect" ( Genesis 17:1 ).
Abraham almost took that phrase as the identifying mark of his life.
When he was blessing his servant to send him after a wife for his son Isaac, he said,
"The Lord before Whom I walk will bless you."
Abraham really walked with God.
The Scriptures speak of him as "The friend of God."
In Genesis 6:9 we read of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, and perfect ( untainted ) in his generation: Noah walked with God.
What does it mean to have a walk with God?
It is very important for us to know what a walk with God really is, for we often have wrong ideas about it.
They get no where.
They do not commune with Him; there is none of that real hunger reaching out.
No one can walk with God unless he is tormented by a hunger after God.
If you do not have it, cry out for it until God places that hunger for Himself within your very heart.
There are people who have experiences with God, who have had the Lord answer their prayers, who are dedicated to His service, who work for Him, and who really love Him- but they do not know Him.
They do not really have a walk with Him.
The Bible speaks of only a few men who walked with God, but those who did were instruments in changing the destiny of the human race.
Abraham walked with God, and God promised him that he would be the father of kings, that through him nations would be moved and blessed.
Noah walked with God, and because of this one man's dedication to walk with God, the whole human race was preserved.
Enoch walked with God, and it is significant what God did for him.
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and 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 were three hundred sixty and five years; and Enoch walked with God ( this is repeated a second time ): and he was not; for God took him.
And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Genesis 5:21-27.
There is a little rhyme:
"The oldest man who ever lived, died before his father did."
That is true.
The oldest man who ever lived was Methuselah.
He lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, but he died before his father did because his father never died.
Enoch was translated when he was three hundred and sixty-five years old.
Enoch was an amazing man.
Hebrews 11:5,6 tells us of his tremendous faith.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he had witness borne to him that before his translation he had witness borne unto God: and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.
He believed for it with all his heart.
In Jude 14 and 15 we read, And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement upon all...
Enoch lived at the dawn of history and he wrote a book, the Book of Enoch, which is a spurious one, written about 100 B.C.
Frankly, I think that there is a true book of Enoch preserved some place and that during the great Kingdom age it will be discovered again.
No doubt other books that are mentioned in the Bible will also be found.
God always has His perfect word and revelation.
The Old Testament was perfect for the Old Testament times.
It contained all the seed principles and thoughts that were to govern the Church age and Kingdom.
It was complete, even without another revelation.
But aren't you glad we received the New Testament too?
Eventually God will add other words to govern us when the Kingdom comes, but that will be for another age.
We have everything we need right now.
We have so much that points the way.
He was listening to what God wanted him to say; he was seeing the things God wanted him to see.
He saw the great visions of the Lord's coming.
The Lord must have taught him many things, and his faith kept growing.
During Enoch's life the world became very evil, yet he was more concerned about his walk with God than anything else.
God showed him the things that would come in the end time, when He would bring judgment on all the ungodly.
Enoch was on very close terms with the Lord, but not in a "buddy-buddy" type of relationship.
That is not the relationship you want with God.
If someone says, "My dear sweet Jesus is so real to me," we know that He is not truly real to him.
If you actually met Jesus, He would not be the "dear,sweet Jesus."
He is Lord!
He is Lord indeed, and in awe you would fall at His feet.
Enoch had the kind of faith that reached in and believed for translation right out of this world.
Because Enoch walked with God, he could believe for anything.
Once again:
Because Enoch walked with God, he could believe for anything.
And he did believe for the most fantastic thing: to have his mortal body literally transformed.
Doctrinally that was impossible, for man was under the curse from the fall, and he had to adjust and cope with the curse.
True, the world had a lot of vitality, but imagine a man living for almost a thousand years- years filled with energy and force.
In spite of all the vitality the earth had, Enoch was technically a part of the human race that was depraved.
No doubt they were talking about the Adamic nature way back in those times.
There were probably some good theologians around saying, "We don't know how to cope with this situation of the fall, but one thing we do know: we can't believe for anything like they had in the Garden of Eden.
We don't believe that man can talk with God now.
We've been driven out of the Garden.
That age is past.
This is our doctrine."
But Enoch disproved it all by walking and talking with God.
When it is all decided that something is not scriptural and cannot be done, there is always someone who comes along and does it anyway.
Would you like to be one of those people?
The only qualification you need to do signs and wonders and exploits is to walk with God.
...But the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits ( Daniel 11:32 ).
Tremendous things will happen because you know Him, you trust Him, and you draw from Him.
A number of things were involved in Enoch's walk with God.
He had real faith.
According to our text, without that faith it is impossible to please the Lord.
Really walking with God means that you are more concerned about worshiping and communing with the Lord than you are in communing with any other individual on the face of the earth.
It is very easy to let the Lord take a second place.
When you love someone in this world, and you want to be with him all the time, it is very easy to put him ahead of the Lord.
It is very easy to put something that you are vitally interested in ahead of the Lord.
A person can even take a blessing from the Lord and give it precedence over the Lord.
That is why God had to say to Abraham, "Offer up your only son; put a knife in his heart."
He had to demand that of Abraham to see if he loved and worshiped the blessing of God more than he loved and worshiped God.
A walk with God involves your faith, your communion, your worship, and your obedience.
It involves the fear of the Lord and submission to God- that no matter what God does or what He requires, you are absolutely submissive.
It requires a great deal of discipline.
Daniel was a very busy man, an executive with many responsibilities, yet he managed to walk with God.
It takes time to walk with God, to pray and read the Word the Bible, and it is so easy to place more importance on other activities and interests.
God cannot have any rivals.
A walk with God takes a great deal of dedication, because it is something that is very illusive.
When you write a book, there is always the satisfaction of seeing the finished product.
If you make some pottery or build a house, you can see the finished product.
You can go out and earn money, and see the result of your labor.
But you can spend endless days and years walking with God, while Satan torments you, saying it is all worthless, that it is worthwhile, because it is so illusive.
A walk with God- who can even define it, let alone know whether he has it or not?
But you will know!
It is a very real thing and it is worth the effort.
Isaiah 40:31 is a familiar Scripture.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.
That is great- mounting up with wings as eagles, in those soaring experiences in God, when you exclaim, "Oh, I soared into the third heaven; I saw wonderful things."
They shall run, and not be weary.
It is marvelous to be dedicated and to work at the job with endurance.
But the last is the greatest of all- they shall walk, and not faint- to walk with God with a heart that will not faint, with a spirit that will not judge, without letting anything get in the way.
Then you will say, "I am not going to let anything trip me up or push me in a corner.
I have set my course.
I'm going to walk with God."
There will be people in this generation who will walk with God during this time of judgment in the earth.
If you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, the other things will be added.
People are often disappointment because God cannot give them what He wants to give them.
But when you put God first and seek Him first, it will be the one time of your life when you will not be disappointed and disillusioned.
A walk with God is based upon wholehearted love and service.
Abraham walked with God, and God rained money upon him like dew from heaven.
Here was a man after God's own heart, who loved God and walked with him; and God blessed him and made him exceedingly rich.
Job was a man perfect in all his ways before the Lord, and God made him a very rich man too.
There cannot be any restriction of finances, any restriction of health, any spiritual limitation, any inadequacy whatsoever, there cannot be anything but happiness and real joy and fulfillment in life for anyone who is walking in the perfect will of God.
To walk with God can open the door to fantastic blessings, as it has in every instance in Scripture.
Is a walk with God something that you want?
Do you want to discipline yourself to get up in the morning and seek God?
Get away from the practice of saying prayers and reading the Bible as a ritual.
Read it until it lives.
Read it until you eat it.
Read it until you feel the Author breathe down your neck as He whispers into your ears what it is all about, what He really meant when He wrote it.
Read it until the fire that burns in the prophet's heart burns in your heart as the Word is transferred from a cold page to the tablets of the heart.
Love Him.
Trust Him.
Repentance is a good practice.
Repent of every time you have displeased the Lord.
Repent in depth, until you see the awfulness of even the most insignificant thing, if it kept you from breaking through to that communion with God.
Be obedient.
If you promised the Lord something, do it.
Be submissive.
In your heart, come to the full submission of all that He has said.
Hold everything else loosely; lay it all on the altar.
Be ready to turn your back and walk away from everything in the world- if that is the price required to walk with God.
Do not let anything rival God!
Come to the place where you want Him above everything, even your own life.
Oh, how God blesses those who yearn after Him!
What is the most profitable thing you can do?
Micah 6:8:
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Today we have the Holy Spirit, so take a walk in the Spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment