The Man God Took
Notes
Transcript
This morning I want to introduce to you a man whose name was Enoch. He is one of two men who did not die a physical death. He and Elijah were spared that fate. We know a lot about Elijah. But Enoch is a mysterious fellow who is briefly mentioned in the Bible. He is mentioned in our text, Hebrews 11:5-6, and in Jude 14-16. I’ll be pulling from all three places today. Enoch is mentioned in what is known as The Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. That chapter lists men and women that we should study and model our own lives after. He is a hero of the faith. Let’s discover what Scripture says about this man.
1. Enoch was saved.
A. His life is a parenthesis in a long line of death.
Genesis 5 reads like an obituary.
Adam lived 930 years and he died (5)
Seth lived 912 years and he died (8)
Enosh lived 905 years and he died (11)
Kenan lived 910 years and he died (14)
Mahalel lived 895 years and he died (17)
Jared lived 962 years and he died (20)
“and he died” echoes through the pages.
Some of you are wondering about how the people lived that long.
We shouldn’t be surprised for a couple of reasons:
1. We have many creatures that still live long lives on earth.
A koi fish in Japan lived 226 years
The Bowhead Whale lives over 200 years
Greenland sharks live 300-500 years
Some species of clams live over 500 years
2. Genesis 5 is not far from the garden. In Scripture the further you get from the garden the lower life expectancy gets.
After the flood life expectancy goes down dramatically.
By Moses day only one person is recorded to be over 120 (2 Chr. 24:15).
Man was created to live forever. Adam and Eve had perfect DNA. They had no diseases to pass on to their descendants. It took a while for the genetic code to get in the shape it is in.
The fact that people lived so much longer made death even more traumatic. Less people died in those days.
Enoch realized that he would die someday as well. If we ponder the fact that we will die it is likely we will seek the Lord.
B. Enoch was saved when he was 65 years old.
Look at verse 21. He had a son named Methuselah. Notice verse 21 says “after he fathered Methuselah, he walked with God 300 years”.
He had a son and God took hold of his heart.
How was he saved?
He realized he wasn’t walking with God. He saw his sin.
He lived in the days between the fall and the flood, and the Bible says wickedness increased in those days. Enoch wasn’t always a godly man. He was a sinner who walked according to the course of this world.
Hebrews says he was saved by faith.
He turned from his sin.
He called on God for repentance.
He trusted in God to save him.
Please notice his faith had a beginning. At the age of 65 he was saved. Your faith must have a beginning.
You say, “I’ve always believed!”
If you say that you are contradicting the Bible. You may have believed the facts as long as you can remember but you have not believed in a saving way.
Saving faith has a starting point. When was yours?
C. Enoch was translated from death to life the moment he was saved.
His eternal life would not begin the day he went to heaven. It began the moment he was saved.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (Col. 1:13)
You say, “When you got saved God didn’t take you to heaven!” You are right. I’m not in heaven but I’m as good as in heaven.
My name is in heaven (Luke 10:20).
I am seated with Christ in heaven (Eph. 2:6).
My Father is in heaven (Matt. 6:9).
My rewards are in heaven (Matt. 5:8).
The moment Enoch was saved he had a home in heaven.
2. Enoch walked with God (22).
A. Enoch had a vibrant relationship with God.
Walking with God is personal. In ancient times they walked everywhere they went. There were no cars. Only the wealthy had carriages.
When you walked with someone you :
Trusted them
Spoke with them
Confided in them
Rejoiced with them
The Bible says Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3)
Walking with God means God wants to be with you and you want to be with God.
This was not like the days of Adam and Eve where God came down and fellowshipped in the garden.
Enoch prayed.
Enoch worshiped.
Enoch obeyed.
Enoch meditated on the Lord.
Listen to me friend: If you don’t want to die like the rest, don’t live like the rest. Enoch’s life stands out in the graveyard of Genesis 5 because he walked with God.
B. Enoch persevered in his faith.
He lived for God for 300 years. That’s a long time!
The seasons of life did not deter him.
The culture did not deter him.
His age did not deter him.
Temptation comes at us throughout our life.
To the young, temptation is often relationships.
Trying to figure out who you want to walk with. Advice- Walk with the One who will walk with you when no one else will.
To the adult, temptation is often entertainment. Ball games, vacations, fishing/hunting, concerts
To the old, temptation is often leisure. “I’m tired!”
After I got saved a guy came to me and said he and others put bets on how long I’d last. It’d only been a few months and he was already impressed.
Sadly, the world is used to seeing those who claim Christ give up. That needs to change.
Enoch started walking with God when he turned 65 and he is still walking with him today. That should be the norm.
C. Walking with God takes determination.
1. Because it could be a long journey. You won’t have to do it 300 years like Enoch did but you may live a long life.
I find myself acting like my kids sometime “Are we there yet, Lord? How much longer Lord?”
The journey may be long but the rest will be longer!
2. Because it is not always easy.
Christians are in a war every day.
With ourselves
With the world
With the devil
There are many dangers that we all must face,
If we die still fighting it is no disgrace;
Cowards in the service will not find a place,
So keep on the firing line.
Our military has a medal called The Purple Heart. It is a medal given to any soldier who is killed or wounded in combat.
It’s a prestigious award.
Any common soldier can earn it in a moment’s time.
The glory of this reward is the courage it reveals.
The soldier didn’t run.
The soldier faced the enemy.
Perhaps he was killed.
Perhaps he was wounded.
That doesn’t matter. What matters is he fought. Until he could fight no more. Our country could ask no more of him. That takes determination.
Fight for God folks!
Don’t give in!
Don’t give out!
Keep walking with the Lord until you give out or go up!
3. Enoch became a preacher (Jude 14-16).
A. He lived in a culture of ungodliness.
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14-15
Did you notice how many times the word “ungodly” was used? Four times.
These are bad folks. It’s so bad in the next chapter God is going to flood the earth.
He is walking with God. But he is walking among ungodly people. His presence among them was an act of God’s grace. God sent these folks a preacher.
B. He preached to the people.
He wasn’t silent.
He saw their godlessness.
He heard their blasphemy.
He responded by preaching to them.
He called them to repentance.
He warned them of judgment.
Amazingly his sermon was about the second coming of Christ and Christ had yet to come the first time. That’s important because it reminds us that Jesus will even judge those who lived in the Old Testament. Let’s look at the judgment:
Jesus is coming with an army of angels.
Jesus is coming suddenly.
Jesus is coming to execute judgment on the ungodly.
When you walk with God you think about heaven a lot.
When you think about heaven a lot you think about the return of Christ.
When you think about the return of Christ you think about lost people.
When you think about lost people you share the gospel with them.
When we walk with God, we will warn the lost.
4. Enoch was taken by God (24).
A. This was a blessing to Enoch.
Enoch had a relatively short life compared to others in his generation. He didn’t live half as long on earth as everyone else in chapter 5. I think death broke his heart.
Nobody wants to go through the process of dying. That process can be ugly.
Illustration: Visiting hospitals, nursing homes.
When death is slow sorrow is deep.
I’ve had many people say to me through the years “I wish the Lord would take me on.”
That’s a tough thing for a pastor. There is no answer we can give the suffering that will help.
Many people have prayed “Lord take me on!”
I wonder if Enoch prayed for that.
“God take me out of this sinful world!”
Hebrews gives us a little commentary on these verses. It says Enoch was taken so that he would not see death.
This man was blessed. He didn’t have to die a slow death. He was removed from this sinful world with ease.
This is why we should pray “Come Lord Jesus!”
The last generation on earth will not taste death.
In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye, we will be caught up with the Lord. That’s how I want to go!
B. This proves there is a heaven.
God took him.
Where did He take him? It was nowhere on earth because he could not be found. The text says, “he was not.”
Does that mean he ceased to exist?
No. That would be death. Hebrews said he was taken so he would not die.
God took him. That means God took him to Himself.
The world will tell you there is no such thing as heaven. Don’t you believe it. There is a heaven! The devil doesn’t want you to believe in it. It is the belief in heaven that keeps us walking with God.
We’re not walking with God in circles. He is leading us somewhere. He is taking us to heaven.
God says:
I go to prepare a place for you!
Where I am there you may also be!
Illustration: Little boy with kite (How do you know it’s up there? I can feel it’s tug!)
My mind is set on things above!
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,
and cast a wishful eye
to Canaan's fair and happy land,
where my possessions lie.
When God saves you, He will make you homesick.
We’re pilgrims! Just passing through this world.
The bible calls us strangers in this world.
The Bible says Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:10
Heaven is not a new concept. It isn’t a New Testament idea. Believers wanted to go to heaven as far back as the book of Genesis.
Did you know Adam was alive when Enoch was? I wonder if Enoch ever talked to Adam. I wonder if he asked him about:
The Garden of Eden
Walking with God
Seeing the beauty of God
I don’t know if he did. We are blessed to have a whole Bible that tells us more about heaven than we can comprehend.
If you will walk with God
If you will study what the Bible says about heaven
You will want to go to heaven.
You will think about it often.
C. This is our hope.
Not to be taken out but taken up.
I have heard some in anger say of the death of a loved one “Why did God take him/her?”
I understand the hurt. I understand the devastation of death.
It is not bad news for the believer when God takes them. It’s good news.
“God took him” is good news in this text.
Death didn’t take him.
The devil didn’t take him.
God took him.
Why did God take him?
Because he was His to take.
Because he wanted God to take him.
I heard an old preacher years ago tell a story about Enoch that stuck with me. He said he didn’t know exactly how the translation of Enoch happened but maybe it was something like this:
One day Enoch was walking with God as they usually did. They were fellowshipping and rejoicing. Soon the sun began to set as they had spent the entire day together. Enoch was about to go home. The Lord said to him “You know we’re a lot closer to my house than we are to yours. Why don’t you just come home with Me?”
That’s obviously a story but I like what it illustrates. I think Enoch was surprised. I think he was walking with God one day and the Lord suddenly took him into His presence.
Enoch didn’t have a headstone. He didn’t even have a grave, If he had a headstone I think it would be appropriate to write on it “He walked with God.”
“I walked with God” is the greatest testimony you can have.
Is that your testimony?
Can your life be summarized in such a simple and impressive manner?
Are you walking with God?
You can’t walk with God until you do the first thing Enoch did in this message. You must be saved. That is when your journey begins.
Salvation is through:
Faith in the finished work of Christ.
Repentance from sin.
Calling on the name of Jesus.