5.1.32 7.7.2024 Walking with God: Enoch and Noah Hebrews 11.5-7, Genesis 5.21-24 Genesis 6.5-14

Start:

Series Preface:

Much of my preaching for the rest of the year will be from the book of Hebrews. Prior to that for a few weeks we are going to look at some individuals whose

names appear in Hebrews 11. They are mentioned there for what they did in the book of Genesis. The title of the Series is

Certain of God’s Calling

I am sure the characters and their stories will be familiar to you. They must have been familiar in the early Church as the Hebrew author was able to use their stories of faith to encourage His readers. Each of these messages will relate how their faith can address our faith. We will consider the following questions

What does it mean to “walk with God?”

What does faith imply?

How and why should we wrestle with God?

How can I rise above resentment when I am mistreated?

One common thread we will find in all these stories is that worthwhile faith can be both painful and transformative. On we go!

Entice: Oh, to speculate! The meaning of life for two of the earliest patriarchs. The Hebrew author summarizes their lives and careers very succinctly.

Hebrews 11:5–7 (ESV)

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Enoch walked with God.

Noah walked with God.

Engage: Walking with God can sometimes be lonely. The Hebrew author highlights each of these men and reminds us that each stood out in their generation as a faithful, and obedient follower when others chose not to be obedient.

Enoch’s story:

Genesis 5:21–24 (ESV)

21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.

22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Noah’s story:

Genesis 6:5–15 (ESV)

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

Expand: From creation to consummation God is looking for faithful people. As bad as it was becoming in Enoch’s generation He chose to live by faith. As the circumstances continued to deteriorate Noah likewise chose to live by faith.

The life of faith means walking with God.

Expand: Let’s consider some details of what that means.

Body of Sermon: It begins with

1 Devotion.

Both Enoch and Noah were…

1.1 Pleasing to God.

Both Enoch and Noah were

1.2 Attentive to God.

(God warned Noah about what was unseen)

Each had

1.3 Reverent fear of God.

Noah’s life and work served as a testimony to

1.4 Judgement from God.

Another detail was that these men were

2 Distinct

Each of them

2.1 Pleased God in a displeasing culture.

Each of them was

2.2 Righteous in an Evil age.

And both were

2.3 Obedient amid disobedience.

A final detail; these men were tough-minded. They were

3 Durable.

This detail comes from that phrase that each “walked with God.”

3.1 A walk implies duration.

3.2 A walk covers distance.

3.3 A walk requires a direction.

3.4 A walk arrives at a destination.

Shut Down

Let’s close this loop by being a little more specific. For us the Christian walk is a New Testament way of defining discipleship.

Discipleship defines where we walk…

Behind Jesus

You can’t follow from in front.

Luke 9:23 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

And discipleship describes a walk toward holiness…

You have to be in the Light.

1 John 1:7 ESV

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 cleanses us from all sin.

Our faithful following, Like Enoch’s and Noah’s pleases God. No dead philosophy or cold calculating secularism will be pleased by our best efforts to follow it.

Because philosophies, lifestyles, cultural trends, social movements—all forms of secularism are impersonal. It’s not that they are dead. It’s that they were never living. God is a person who can be both disappointed when we are faithless and pleased when we obediently walk with Him in faith.

Let’s walk with God. It is the road less travelled, but with Him we have life and purpose.