Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Adrian Rogers asks, "How close does God seem to you today?" Does God walk with you and talk with you? I mean, is Jesus Christ real to you when you're driving around in the automobile? When you have your pots and pans there in the kitchen? When you're sitting there at your desk, when you're at school, on the gridiron, or the basketball court? Did you know that Jesus Christ is to be very real with you? You are to walk with him.

Guest (Male): Do you picture God as way out there, far removed from your everyday life? Or is he near, right beside you? Would you like to know him in an intimate way? That's possible, and you'll find out how as we hear a lesson on learning to walk with God. This is Love Worth Finding, featuring the dynamic and biblical teaching of Adrian Rogers.

Today, we continue in the Champions of Faith series with a lesson about a man named Enoch. Hebrews 11 reveals he walked so closely with God that God didn't allow him to die; he just took him. Enoch's life is an incredible testimony to faithfulness and fellowship. Let's learn more about this remarkable hero of faith. Once again, here's Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: Enoch prophesied the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the message today will help you to get ready for the rapture. The title of the message is "Learning to Walk with God." Let's look right here in the Word of God in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse five: "By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death." That means he never died. He was taken directly to heaven without dying. "And he was not found," that is, they looked all around for him, but they couldn't find him, "because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony: that he pleased God."

Is that your testimony, that you please God? Well, the Bible says, "But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." My prayer is today that you will want to please God, and the way to please God is to walk with God. And so we're going to learn how to walk with God. Take one step at a time, day by day by day, walking with God.

Because when you are a Christian, you're not just simply one who has made a decision. You're one who has a life of intimate fellowship with God, walking day by day. Now, let me name some things about that life that we have with our Lord. And I pray God he will write these upon your heart. First of all, the walk with God is a life of faith. It is a life of faith. Let's look at Genesis chapter five. It's very interesting because in Genesis chapter five, we have the story that the writer of Hebrews talks about.

Now, Genesis chapter five is an interesting story in a lot of ways. Genesis chapter five reads like the obituary in the newspaper. For example, look in verse eight: "And all the days of Seth were 912 years." That's a long time to live, but notice how it ends: "And he died." Notice verse 11: "All the days of Enosh were 905 years." Long time. "And he died." Look if you will in verse 14: "And all the days of Cainan were 910 years. And he died." Ah, look if you will in verse 17: "And all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years. And he died." He died, he died, he died, he died, he died. What a dreary monotony.

But I want you to notice one name that stands out like a gardenia in this desert of death. Look if you will now in verse 21: "And Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him." It doesn't say he died. He was raptured. He was taken straight to heaven.

Now, what delineates this life? Number one, the life that walks with God is a life of faith. A life of faith. "And Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him." Well, how did he walk with God? Well, look in Hebrews 11:5-6 again: "By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony: that he pleased God."

And how did he please God? Verse six says, "But without faith, it is impossible to please him." So how did Enoch please God? By walking with God. How did he walk with God? He believed God. So the life of walking with God is simply a life of faith. Well, where did he get this faith? Well, he got faith from the Word of God the same way I get it, the same way you get it. Romans chapter 10, verse 17: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." You will never, never, never, never have faith apart from the will of God.

Faith is not guessing at the will of God. Faith is learning the will of God and believing God. Faith is hearing from God and believing God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Now, that Word may be through the Holy Spirit; it may be through the pages of Scripture. But you don't name it and claim it. God speaks, and you believe it. That, my friend, is faith. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. You want to walk with God, do you? I hope you do. Then you're going to walk the walk of faith.

Well, sometimes we go back to the Old Testament book of Genesis. We say, "Man, what did they know?" They didn't know anything back then. Those crude people, plowing with sticks, ignoramuses. They didn't have television. They didn't have a computer. What did they know? It may surprise you to know what Enoch, the seventh from Adam, knew. Did you know that Enoch was a prophet? Put in your margin Jude, verse 14: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, 'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.'"

Now think about that. Here's a man only seven generations from Adam, and he was prophesying the second coming of Jesus Christ. You see, the book of Genesis is the seedbed of the rest of the Bible. And you see a Calvary as you study Abel. And now you see the second coming as you study Enoch. Enoch is prophesying, "Look, behold, the Lord comes! Here he comes, followed by the armies of heaven." Is that not an amazing thing? Well, Enoch had faith. Where did he get faith? How did he learn? Who taught Enoch? How did Enoch become a prophet?

Did you know that Enoch was a contemporary of Adam? Did you know that Adam had walked in the Garden of Eden with God? Can you imagine the school of theology that Adam must have had? Can you imagine walking in Eden with God? Adam did. He walked in the garden; they talked. And Enoch and Adam were contemporaries. They lived as contemporaries. You study the Bible, and you're going to find out that when Enoch was born, Adam was 622 years of age. That's pretty old. Well, he was just in the prime of life. Adam lived 930 years. He and Enoch walked together for 308 years.

Think how much that Adam must have taught Enoch about the Word of God. I can imagine Enoch saying to Adam, "Adam, tell me. Adam, what was it like in Eden? What was it like when you and God walked through the garden?" I can see Adam as his eyes tear up, his chin begins to quiver. "Oh," he says, "Enoch, to walk with God. It was just wonderful. We walked through golden meadows together. We walked through pristine green forests together. We climbed mountain peaks together. Oh, to walk with God. It was so wonderful." You see, Enoch listened to Adam. He knew Abel. He knew all of these. And now Enoch is a prophet of God who is walking with God.

Question: Do you want to walk with God? I mean, walk with God. I'm not talking about just coming to church. I'm not talking about learning the facts. Would you like for God to be more real to you than the person sitting next to you? Possible. So pay attention. Number one, this walk with God begins with faith. This entire chapter is about faith. And the emphasis is that he walked with God because he believed God.

Now, number two: Not only is walking with God a life of faith, but it becomes a life of fellowship. You see, you step in by faith, but you walk on in fellowship. Now, the Bible says here in Genesis chapter five, verse 22, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters." And then again, Hebrews 11, verses five and six: "By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony: that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Enoch and the Father are walking hand in hand in intimate fellowship. Do you have fellowship with God? You know I do. I don't want to boast about it, but I want to praise God for it. I know him. I know him. He's real to me. I walk with him. Did you know what the Apostle Paul said? Paul says, "I know whom I have believed." He doesn't say, "I know in whom I have believed." That's the way many people mistranslate that. Paul didn't want a preposition between him and Christ. He said, "I know whom I have believed." Not "I know about him." He did know about him, but he said, "I also know him." You may know about somebody without knowing somebody. But you are to know the Lord Jesus Christ intimately. You are to know him. It is a life of fellowship.

Now, Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" Put that in your margin. And then put this verse down. I love this verse—one of the greatest verses in all of the Old Testament. It is Micah chapter six, verse eight: "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good." You want to know what is good? You want to hear something good? "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee? Number one, what's good. Number two, what does God want? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

And God says, "Look, show mercy to people. Do right yourself, and just walk with me." You ask some people, "What does God want?" Some people say, "Well, God wants us to serve him." Well, friend, if God wanted service, if that's all he wanted, he'd just use angels. They'd do a better job than we do—always instantly obeying, always on the job, full of power. But God doesn't want mere service. Of course, we should serve him, but that's not why he created us.

Well, you say, "God wants scholars. God wants us to learn all the facts about him." No. He wants you to study. But what is the bottom line? God wants to walk with you. Why did he create you? He created you in his image so he could have fellowship with you. Did you know that you can know all about him and not know him? I'm going to read to you a part of an essay written by a 17-year-old boy who was a student in a Christian school. This boy wrote an essay on union with Jesus Christ. As you listen to it, you're going to say, "That is a good essay." But I'm going to tell you ahead of time before I read it so you can be measuring it. The person who wrote it was Karl Marx.

Karl Marx, the founder of godless, atheistic communism. The one who wrote the diabolical book, Das Kapital. The one who's caused more misery, more bloodshed, more hatred, more violence, more division, I suppose, than any other man who ever lived. Karl Marx wrote this when he was a 17-year-old boy. Listen to it: "If we examine the history of man's nature as an individual, we constantly observe that spark of divinity in his breast. The enthusiasm for what is good, the struggle for wisdom, the longing for truth, are being smothered by the flames of desire and greed. The zeal for virtue becomes deafened by the tempting voice of sin and turns into a mockery as soon as we feel the full impact of life."

"Our hearts, reason, history, the Word of Christ—all call out to us loudly and convincingly to tell us that union with him is absolutely necessary, and without him, we would be rejected of God. For he alone is able to deliver us. Once a man has obtained this virtue, this union with Christ, he will await quietly and composedly the blows of fate. He will bravely oppose the storms of passion and endure undaunted the rage of the wicked. For who can crush him or rob him of his Redeemer?"

What's the problem with all of that? Not a thing in the world, so far as truth is concerned. But if he had been writing an essay on geography or history, he would have done just as good a job because he had a brilliant mind. He knew the answers, but he didn't know Jesus. Founded atheistic communism. Can you imagine a person knowing all of that truth and yet not knowing the Lord? God made you to have fellowship with him. It is a life of fellowship. And you're to say, "The voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses. And he walks with me, and he talks with me."

Does God walk with you and talk with you? I mean, is Jesus Christ real to you when you're driving around in the automobile? When you have your pots and pans there in the kitchen? When you're sitting there at your desk? When you're at school, on the gridiron, or the basketball court? Did you know that Jesus Christ is to be very real with you? You are to walk with him. Now, sometimes we come to church and we act differently at church. Now, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. Obviously, when somebody is preaching, you're to be quiet. Obviously, when we sing, you're to join together. But don't change your personality. Don't suddenly get spooky when you come to church. "Oh, we're in church now. We're holy, holy, holy."

Listen, a Christian is perfectly natural and naturally supernatural. Supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural. We don't change. Sometimes I'll be over here sitting as a guest preacher, and there'll be the pastor, the host pastor at the church, and we'd be talking back and forth, and he seems perfectly normal. And then he gets up, comes over to the pulpit to talk. And this guy is very natural with, "Dearly beloved." And he talks like he's got a steeple stuck in his throat. Sometimes people don't like to come into church and hear people kind of greeting one another and chattering like birds in a tree. They say, "Oh, be quiet. We've come to worship."

Friend, when you meet your brothers and sisters in Jesus, be cheerful, be happy. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. Now you say, "But I think we're to be still and know that God is in his holy temple." There's a time to be still. Bible also says shout unto the Lord. Oh, there's a time to cry; there's a time to laugh. That's what Ecclesiastes tells us. Oh, there are times when we are exuberant in our worship. Bible says, "Clap your hands, all ye people." Bible says, "Lifting holy hands to God in prayer." There are times when we're to be on our face, on our knees with the Lord. All of these things are true. All of these things are true.

But the point is that we're to be natural. We're to be natural. Don't get the idea that our faith is something that we kind of put on when we come to church. What I'm trying to say is that we are to walk with God 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Now, we come to church to worship, but listen: we also bring our worship to church. How wonderful when people who already have been walking with God come to church to continue to do corporately what they've been doing individually all week long. That's what makes a glorious service. So when you come in here and God comes in with you and you come to praise him together, it is a life of fellowship. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, leaning on the everlasting arms. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

Now, thirdly: It is not only a life of faith and a life of fellowship. A walk with God is a life of faithfulness. One of the verses that motivates me a lot is this: that Jesus went about doing good. And sometimes I just say, "Lord, I don't have an agenda today. Just let me go about doing good." Now, why was this man so faithful? He was faithful for 300 years. Look if you will in Genesis chapter five, verse 22: "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters." 300 years. That's 109,500 days. Good days, bad days, hot days, cold days, snow, rain, blizzard, drought, flood, war, peace, opposition—walking with God.

He didn't turn it on, turn it off. There is the constancy, the faithfulness of his walk. And by the way, he did not do it in a monastery. If you read the life of Enoch, he had a family. He had children. Doubtless he had a job. He had a home. He had business. And he did not do it in an easy age. When Enoch walked with God, he walked with God at a time called the days of Noah. Violence and vice and wickedness were rampant, so much that God decided he was going to destroy the world with a flood. In the days of Noah, Enoch walked with God. In a day of demonic force, he walked with God.

Now, friend, don't you say, "Pastor, easy for you because you're a preacher. You don't know where I work. You don't know what my house is like. It's hard for me to walk with God." It's hard for anybody to walk with God if he does it in his own strength. Enoch walked with God. It is the God who walks with you who empowers you in every demand upon your Christian life is a demand of the God who walks within you and walks with you day by day.

Guest (Male): How encouraging to see that Enoch was able to maintain such a close relationship with God even in such violent and wicked days. Surely, we know that God can walk just as closely with us even in this generation. We are greatly encouraged here at Love Worth Finding with the people who are responding to God's truth. You know, that truth is encapsulated in what the early believers discovered. They were asked to come and see that empty tomb. They were asked to see the nail prints in Jesus' hands and the hole in his side where the spear pierced him. Come and see, and then go and tell.

And that's what we do every day right here. We come and see what the Lord Jesus did, what he said to us, how he lived, how he treated others. And then we go and tell the difference that he has made in our lives. If you want to be a part of that, I encourage you to listen to these broadcasts, study along with us in God's Word for yourself, and come and see as you go and tell. Spread the truth of the forgiveness and the mercy and the love and grace of God to those that you know and you love.

Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD. That's 1-877-568-3463. Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183.

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