I Heard an Old, Old Story

Just a Closer Walk With Thee

To me, there’s nothing like the older hymns! It’s like they speak directly to your soul and draw on this almost primal desire to draw close to our Creator. Today’s sermon came from two great hymns, Just a closer walk with thee and In the Garden. Both of these songs, though different in approach, discuss the main topic of this sermon… Walking with God.

The lyrics of Just a closer walk with Thee, beg that the author would have a life that is drawn closer to God and prays for guidance and protection knowing that he will be satisfied in life as long as God draws him into daily living with his Creator.

Just a closer walk with Thee. Grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

As I listen to this hymn, I hear of a life that would be improved by a better walk with Christ...

When I listen to the lyrics of In the Garden I hear a different story… This one is active… This writer puts the words of Just a closer walk with thee to action... I come to the Garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses… And he walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me that I am His own. And the joy we share as we terry there, none other has ever known...

Lets take just a minute to learn what it means to walk with God...

Walking in the most basic sense is placing one foot in front of the other, moving forward one step at a time… When you stop this action, you are no longer walking, but standing still. Walking always implies intentional forward movement or progress…

I remember when Xander was little and was learning to walk… He fell down so many times and I wanted so bad to be able to catch him everytime… When we would go for walks or go to the park, I wanted him to stay close to me so that I could protect him from hazards… As a dad, that was and is still my job, to guide him and teach him how to anticipate the problems that lie in his path.

Our heavenly Father wants the same thing for us… When we walk with God, we are moving forward, keeping in step with Him, fully confident that the way He is leading us is the best and safest way to go… but many of us are like how Xander was as a young child… we want daddy to walk with us, but then we sprint well ahead of our Father, never looking back to make sure that the way we are going is the way the our Father has intended for us to go. We run full steam ahead until we either crash head long into a hazard or until we get tired and weary, and stop moving all together… We all have tried to do things our way and found out that running into hazards hurts… When Xander would stumble and fall, he cried out for me and I would run to him and pick him up, brush him off, and hold him in my arms… God does the same thing for us when we stumble and fall… As we cry out to our Heavenly Father, He gathers us into His arms to give comfort and peace… Does this take away the pain?

No...the wound is still there, but when we are being held by our Father, somehow the pain lessens as He comforts us and calms our hearts.

Ultimately, we think that our independence is what is going to make us happy... but just like when we were little… we are always happiest when we are safe in the arms of the Father.

Today we are going to look at two people who truly walked with God. One of whom walked faithfully with God and as a result was taken to heaven without ever having to experience death. And the other who was found to be blameless in a world full of corruption and the result of his walk with God changed the course of human history.

If you are able would you please stand with me in reverence as we read first from Genesis 5:21-24, then Genesis 6:5-9, and finally Hebrews 11:5-6.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. 22 And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

5 When the LORD saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 6

7 Then the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor with the LORD. 9 These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 11

5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Let us pray:

Father God,

You have told us that where 2 or more gather, there you are also and Father, we are so grateful to be in your presence today. Father I ask that you would prepare our hearts and our minds to receive your message. Father remove me from the pulpit so that the message that you want for your people is heard here today. Lord, we love you and we ask all of this in your mighty name. Amen.

Steve Jobs was giving the commencement speech to the graduating students at Stanford University when he broke the first rule of our modern culture “don’t talk about death. He said

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right… Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death… It is life’s change agent.

We, as a society, are willing to talk about going to the gym, what series we are currently binge watching at home, our mental health… but rarely does someone broach the subject of our mortality. In Genesis chapter 5, God has no problem bringing it up… verse 5… then he died. Verse 8… then he died. verse 11, verse 14, verse 17, verse 20, verse 27… he died, he died, he died, he died, he died. It’s like reading a Bible obituary. He lived so many years, had sons and daughters, and he died.

We have all of these men who lived x number of years and died… There is no mention of what they did in their extremely long lifetimes… Think of how skilled you would become in a craft in 900 years, yet there is not a single word about what they discovered, invented, or built… they lived, they reproduced, they died… over and over again...But among all of these individuals who live then die, we see a hiccup in the pattern of live, reproduce, die… Suddenly there are two individuals who stand out from the crowd ...but what was so special about them that they didn’t die in the same way that all of the others did? In verse 24, we read Enoch walked with God , then he was not because God took him. and then as we get to the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6, this Noah guy appears… and he was different from everyone else. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. Gen 6:9

The difference is this... THEY WALKED WITH GOD…

They walked with Him… they placed one foot in front of the other, moving forward one step at a time, making intentional forward progress with the Almighty.

What does it mean to walk with God??? What does the life of a person who walks with God look like? Here are four ideas of what A Life that Walks With God is...

1) A Life that Walks With God Is... a Life of Faith

Genesis 5:21–22 CSB

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

The life of Enoch is an interesting one and, honestly, it’s one I can relate to... I can relate to Enoch because there was something that happened to him 65 years into his life that changed the course of his life forever…

Have you ever experienced an life event that changed your entire perspective on life? Maybe it was the birth of a child....or maybe it was a medical diagnosis of yourself or a loved one… maybe it was a sudden traumatic event that shocked the world... Something like the terror attacks on 9/11, or the Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing, or maybe a natural disaster like the Joplin tornado.… Whatever it was, it made you take a look deep inside… Sometimes major events in our lives lead to “Come to Jesus” moments where we come to the Lord, seeking answers.

For Enoch, it was the birth of his son, Methuselah. The Bible makes it quite clear that Enoch faced a turning point when his baby boy was born. “Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. AND AFTER he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God… Enoch had a come to Jesus moment that began his faithful journey with the Lord and in that moment, Enoch appears to have come to a tipping point where he made the conscious decision to stop believing in himself… to stop depending on himself, and start believing in and depending on God!

As a father, I can only imagine the profound impact that life change had on his son. While the Bible doesn’t say what kind of men Methuselah and Lamech were, one would hope that the generational chains that Enoch had broke when he turned his life toward God and began walking with Him would have been an amazing example to his children… 3 generations later, Noah comes along and scripture tells us that Noah was a righteous man. Genesis 6:5-9

Genesis 6:5–9 CSB

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” Noah, however, found favor with the Lord. These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

The words that God used here to describe Noah…righteous and blameless mean this: righteous comes from the Hebrew word saddiq, which means that Noah was innocent and devout... and blameless is from the Hebrew word tamim… meaning Noah was without fault, free from blemish… it doesn’t mean that he was sinless… it means that he led a life of integrity.

Hebrews 11:5–7 CSB

By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

A Life that Walks With God Is... a Life of Faith

2) A Life that Walks With God is… A Life of Fellowship

Amos 3:3 CSB

Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?

First and foremost, you must be willing to spend time with God in order to walk with Him!!!

Back in the days when there were no planes, train, cars, or bicycles, people walked. They walked everywhere they went. Its how people got from point A to point B. People would often traverse a road on foot with friends or family members for additional safety and as you walked, you talked… you talked about what was going on in your life or whatever was on your mind at that time… That’s what it means to walk with God… to spend time with Him in fellowship, sharing whats going on in your life… your struggles… your passions… your desires…

We enjoy being in the presence of someone we love… Going for a walk with someone you love allows you experience intimacy on a level that you will never get sitting on the couch during a night of “netflix and chill”… or in my house, watching Cardinals baseball (Believe it or not, that one is on Christy… not me!!! I’m a Royals fan)... the simple act of walking with your bride or your groom, talking about what is in your hearts as you look at each other and laugh cannot be compared to anything else in the world. Even when you’re just being goofy and singing a weird song in the mall loud enough to embarrass the snot out of your bride... those times are so powerful and significant. 

As we grow in our faith and make the conscious decision to walk with the Lord daily, we are changed in a way that can baffle even our closest friends and relatives. As we take those steps with God each day we find ourselves transformed and renewed as we get to know our Father personally. Christian… God wants so much more than someone who believes in Him… He wants someone who is going to walk with Him!!!

Fellowship with others is one of the most basic characteristics that God instilled in us. He recognized that need from the beginning of creation. He created Adam and walked with Him in the Garden. Genesis 3:8 says

Genesis 3:8 CSB

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Though not expressly written I don’t believe this was the first time that God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve… God walking with people normally suggests closeness and intimacy and fellowship. The natural connotation, to me, is that God often did this, perhaps daily “in the cool of the day,”… In fact, I know that God saw the need for fellowship before the fall.

In Genesis 2:19-23 , God brings all of the animals that He had made to Adam for him to name them… and as God watched Adam give His amazing creation names like the fried egg jellyfish, the spiny lumpsucker, the tassled wobbegong, the chicken turtle, the hummingbird hawk moth, the red lipped batfish, and the pleasing fungus beetle… I think this is when God realized that Adam NEEDED a “Helper”…

Genesis 2:19–23 CSB

The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man.

To walk side by side with someone throughout your life implies that there is a relationship that has been built on faith and trust that when we begin to struggle or face hardships, we will be able to lean on them for support. As we walk with God we become not only able to, but willing to lean the entirety of our human personality upon the Messiah in absolute trust and confidence that His power, wisdom, and goodness can and will support and guide us, not only in our times of need, but in every moment of every day… This is true fellowship

A Life that Walks With God is… A Life of Fellowship

3)A Life that Walks With God is... a Life That Pleases God

Marcus Dodds, in his commentary on the book of Genesis said that “Enoch walked with God because he was His friend and liked His company, because he was going in the same direction as God, and had no desire for anything but what lay in God’s path. We walk with God when He is in all our thoughts; not because we consciously think of Him at all times, but because He is naturally suggested to us by all we think of; as when any person or plan or idea has become important to us…”

When I spend a lot of time with a person, I begin to pick up on their personality. I start using their sayings, I pick up on their verbal queues, I learn what their body language means… I also learn what upsets them and try to avoid doing it in order to avoid uncomfortable situations…

When you begin to walk with God, the same thing happens. It is in our nature to push yourself to suit your companions… so as you become conscious of God’s constant presence in your life, it is only natural that you would find yourself striving to please Him… pushing away the thoughts that you know He would disapprove of… and learning more about His personality, sayings, and verbal queues through studying scripture. Walking with God opens our hearts and lives up to His purposes and hopes, and in the process we begin to seek His approval on the schemes of our life and how we pursue happiness.

When you walk with God, you please Him! Its what God wants from you more than anything else.… That you would simply walk with Him… Micah 6:8 says this

Micah 6:8 CSB

He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God

In the early Church, the believers were known for their radical commitment to God, often at great personal cost. They understood that a life that pleases God required sacrifice and courage. As they faced persecution, their faith only grew stronger. Their legacy teaches us that when we align our lives with God’s will, even amidst trials, we bear witness to His love and grace all the more powerfully. The lives of Enoch and Noah would have been no different… in fact it may have been worse. They lived in a time that was so dark that God was willing to erase the mistake of mankind from the face of the earth… He was fed up… but he found one man who was righteous among his contemporaries and because the life that Noah lived pleased the lord, He chose to preserve mankind and not go back on His ultimate plan of redemption.

All it took was one man who pleased God… One man who was willing to submit to the will of the Father in his own life and walk faithfully with the Father… One man saved the fate of mankind from the wrath of God...

Every sacrifice you make for the Gospel is an act of love that the world can see! Each act of obedience dedicated to pleasing God, thought it comes with challenges and sometimes heartache, ultimately leads to a deeper relationship and a life that pleases the Lord!!!

A Life that Walks With God is... a Life That Pleases God

4) A Life that Walks With God is… A Life That Produces Fruit

Jesus told a parable in Luke 8:4-8

Luke 8:4–8 CSB

As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it. Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture. Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

This parable isn’t about the location of where the seed falls… its about the condition of your heart!!! Is your heart fertile like the ground that produced the plant that produced the fruit… or is your heart hardened to the teaching of God’s Word and resistant to Him as a result???

Christian… whether you realize it or not, the condition of your heart affects your connection with others and with your connection with the Father…

One of the most important elements involved in developing a relationship is your ability to connect… Connection is an absolute necessity when it comes to building intimacy with others… John 15:5-8 says

John 15:5–8 CSB

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

I am the vine you are the branches… this statement indicates that we are to be joined to Christ as a branch is to a vine… the implication of this one statement is huge… we either join to him and draw from Him our every need, like a branch draws the nutrients that bring it life… or we separate ourselves from Him and lose the life sustaining power that only He can provide.

This is the image of Enoch's walk with God — an extraordinary intimacy that brings forth radical transformation. Enoch chose to join himself to God like a branch to a vine planted by a river, its roots entwined in the rich soil, drinking deeply from the life-giving water. Just as the vine bears fruit when rooted deeply, so does our relationship with God when we walk with him daily, devoting our time and our energy toward Him and His will in our lives.

Enoch’s choice to walk in a sustained relationship was evidenced by the fruit that He produced… His decision to faithfully walk with God is not recorded to have either a positive or negative effect on Methuselah… We don’t even know what kind of impact it had on Lamech… but if I was a gambling man… and being a Bible believing, God fearing, Southern Baptist… we know I’m not… but if i were, the words of Genesis 5:29 would make me lean toward Lamech and Methuselah being believers if not followers of God.

Genesis 5:29 CSB

And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

I know it sounds like a lot of words derived from 4 letters… but the etymology of the name, nōaḥ, though not totally certain, many commentators connect it with the root nwḥ, means ‘to rest’

The fruit reproduced by Enoch was not only evident by how he didn’t die, but it is evident in how Noah walked with God. Enoch broke generational chains and those broken chains would have been visible and evident to his children, his grand children, and because he left this earth before he would have met Noah, I believe that the fruit Enoch produced lived on in his son and grandson, Noah’s father, Lamech.

*Disclaimer time: There is no Biblical documentation that says that Noah learned to walk with God by watching his father and grandfather. He may have learned about Enoch’s walk with God by hearing stories of his great grandfather and learned on his own… My hypothesis is drawn in part from the views of other theologians, from personal study, and from personal experience.

Part of my hypothesis comes from watching every little boy try to follow exactly what his daddy does… walk in his steps… say the same words, sometimes in a not good way… pray the same way… Little boys want to be just like their fathers and tend to mimic everything they do… right or wrong.

A Life that Walks With God is… A Life That Produces Fruit

What Does It Look Like To Walk With God Daily?

Here are 3 simple steps that you can take to start your daily walk with Jesus… NOTE: Just because I said they are simple, does not make them easy

What Does It Look Like To Walk With God Daily?

1) Daily Prayer and Study

Make time to regularly communicate with God both in prayer and in the the study of His Word. Relationships are built on time, so take the time to learn more about His character and will as you take time to be alone with Him each day.

What Does It Look Like To Walk With God Daily?

2) Live in line with God’s will

As you begin to spend time with the Lord in prayer and study, He will begin to guide your direction in your daily decisions. Trust in His commands and trust in His promises in obedience and faith. Seek to live a life that pleases the Lord by avoiding things and situations that may cause you to stumble.

Christian, as you begin to follow Him, understand that you will stumble and fall… There was only 1 person who got it right and it’s through His blood that we are cleansed from our sins… learn to recognize your dependence on Him and turn back to Him in that moment with a repentant heart and He will guide you.

What Does It Look Like To Walk With God Daily?

3)Make God the Center of Your Life

Start making decisions with God’s will in mind and at heart! Constantly seek His guidance and wisdom in all aspects of your life.

Learn to express and relay the love and compassion of Christ to all that you meet... and seek opportunities to serve others and demonstrate His love, just as He has loved you.

As the praise team comes forward… I want to close with this thought

Faith is not just a belief; it is an active, living force that motivates people to do extraordinary things…

Enoch and Noah are the only 2 men in the bible that the words and he walked with God were attributed to… Their lives were devoted to walking with God and that lead to an eternal legacy and communion with the Almighty...

When time is over and all is said and done… When God looks at the book of your life, will it read “He lived… He reproduced… He died”??? Or will it read He lived, he walked with God, and he was no more because God took him???

Just a closer walk with thee… Grant it, Jesus, is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.