Leaving a Legacy · Transcript

1. 0:00 Great job, Cam.
2. 0:01 That was awesome.
3. 0:02 Thank you, brother.
4. 0:05 You know, you may be seated.
5. 0:06 We needed someone that was in med school to pronounce all those names this morning.
6. 0:11 He crushed it, though, didn't he?
7. 0:17 We snuck a few easy ones in there, like Seth and Jared, and then the rest were like, oh, what do I do with that?
8. 0:23 All right.
9. 0:24 Well, we find ourselves in a series right now
10. 0:28 called Foundations.
11. 0:30 And let me tell you a little bit about this series before we dive in to what we just read today.
12. 0:34 So it's so important sometimes to go back to the beginning, where it all started.
13. 0:38 And before you can understand what currently exists, you have to understand what the foundation is that was laid in the first place to support it.
14. 0:46 And that's not only true for the world in which we find ourselves, but also for our lives.
15. 0:51 And so in Genesis chapter 1, we started looking at, wow, like God created everything, and it was good.
16. 0:57 But if we're honest,
17. 0:58 Not everything is good in the world today.
18. 1:00 And so what happened?
19. 1:01 And so in Genesis chapter two, we're introduced to Adam and Eve, the pinnacle of the creation and how both men and women bear the very image of God.
20. 1:09 And they were called to create and to cultivate and to govern this world, this good world that God had created.
21. 1:15 And instead of wandering in the desert, they were created to walk with him in a garden.
22. 1:20 But then in chapter three, all hell breaks loose literally.
23. 1:24 And Adam and Eve, instead of trusting God,
24. 1:27 and honoring God and doing what he said, they decide that they want to become little gods and go their own way, and they trust a sneaky serpent instead of their Heavenly Father.
25. 1:38 And as a result, sin enters the world, and now death does too.
26. 1:42 And that's just not death physically.
27. 1:44 It's death relationally with God, death with others around us, death physically, and death in the world in which we live.
28. 1:56 Chapter 4 begins with maybe a glimmer of hope.
29. 2:01 Kent did such a great job preaching that last week as we see Adam and Eve have their first son, Cain.
30. 2:07 Maybe he's the promised son who would crush that sneaky serpent's head that deceived them and bring about the deliverance that God had promised.
31. 2:17 But instead, they're holding the first murder.
32. 2:20 And later on, that's what Cain does.
33. 2:22 He goes a different way.
34. 2:24 than what his mother and father surely wanted for him.
35. 2:28 And in fact, seven generations later, he and his family line of his great-great-grandson give birth to Lamech, the first Lamech that we're going to count in Scripture, who even had bigger anger management issues than Cain, and started saying he not only killed a man, but he'd kill a bunch of boar men if they gave him any trouble.
36. 2:50 And instead of marrying one woman, he married two.
37. 2:54 So he's living in rebellion with God and he's openly declaring his sin as permissible.
38. 3:00 Now what we find in that chapter as well is that these people are incredibly talented.
39. 3:06 They're working with musical instruments.
40. 3:08 They're building impressive cities.
41. 3:10 They're metal workers.
42. 3:11 Like they are very impressive people.
43. 3:14 But they're corrupt.
44. 3:16 And it breaks God's heart.
45. 3:19 And at the end of chapter 4...
46. 3:21 We see this little glimmer of hope leading into what we just read today.
47. 3:25 And then in that day, people began to call upon the Lord.
48. 3:29 And you're left scratching your head because you're looking.
49. 3:31 You're like, it doesn't look like anybody's calling upon the Lord.
50. 3:34 Everything's just gone from bad to worse.
51. 3:36 And now there's this little glimmer of hope.
52. 3:38 And enter Seth, the child that would now replace the brother that Cain had killed.
53. 3:46 Abel, who is no longer with us, is now replaced by Seth.
54. 3:49 And it says some interesting things.
55. 3:50 It says that through his image, he would bear the image of his father and ultimately his heavenly father.
56. 3:58 And so in this midst, we see God at work bringing hope in the midst of darkness and brokenness and despair.
57. 4:06 And what's fascinating to me is that the chapter ends with this little glimmer of hope.
58. 4:11 And then it goes through this lineage that we just read about, nine some generations, picking one man from each generation to highlight, and then ending with another promise of hope, Noah, before Genesis 6 begins.
59. 4:25 Come back next week for that, where we talk about how corrupt the world has become, that God's like, we need to cleanse it and start fresh.
60. 4:32 In the midst of all that, we find this lineage and this glimmer of hope of a man named Enoch who walked with God.
61. 4:42 As I was reading that this week, I was thinking, man, God, I want to walk with you like that.
62. 4:49 What does it look like to really have a relationship with you?
63. 4:51 Not just to believe these things about you and know right from wrong, but to actually walk with you.
64. 4:57 My God, my Savior, my Lord.
65. 5:01 And I couldn't help but think of all the busyness that was going on in my and Heidi's life.
66. 5:06 And sometimes it just feels like we're just trying to keep up and
67. 5:09 We keep sleeping less and less.
68. 5:10 We know it's bad for us, but we don't know how to keep up with all the bands around us.
69. 5:14 Is there anyone other parents in this room that feel that just sometimes?
70. 5:17 The sports, the jobs, the works, the demands?
71. 5:20 You feel it, don't you?
72. 5:22 Some of you are like, well, the kids are gone, and I still feel it too, right?
73. 5:26 My mom's retired, and she's still so busy, you know?
74. 5:31 It seems like that seems to be a constant theme in our life.
75. 5:33 We're just busy, busy, busy, going, going, doing, doing, doing.
76. 5:36 And I want to highlight this.
77. 5:38 the craziness of my week, and then in the midst of it, how God met me through a little girl there to remind me of what was really important.
78. 5:46 So on, I believe it was Wednesday morning, we had a chance, and they put the picture on there a little bit earlier, but we had a chance, or excuse me, Thursday morning, we had a chance to do the devotion for the KCS Chapel.
79. 5:57 This place is packed with kids and families.
80. 5:59 And we try to bring the scriptures to life using a hero narrative.
81. 6:02 And so we had a little house up here.
82. 6:04 That's not it.
83. 6:05 And we set the house on fire.
84. 6:08 And there was a damsel in distress that needed to be rescued.
85. 6:11 And so that was fun.
86. 6:11 It was called Cold Sparks.
87. 6:13 I've never seen this.
88. 6:14 But you can put your hand in there, and it looks like fire, but it's not.
89. 6:17 It's just amazing.
90. 6:18 Well, the kids loved it.
91. 6:19 I loved it.
92. 6:20 We had a great time.
93. 6:21 And then after that, I had a chance to join two guys at a workout.
94. 6:26 Now, I should have known.
95. 6:26 These guys are pretty jacked, and they invited me to their home turf and gym, and they crushed me there.
96. 6:31 We didn't just do one CrossFit workout.
97. 6:32 We did two CrossFit workouts, and that was fun.
98. 6:35 Then the next morning, we had the privilege of speaking at or hosting at our church all of the—
99. 6:43 Wonderful Christian schools across Miami and South Florida.
100. 6:46 And there I had a chance to talk with them.
101. 6:48 It's the other picture back, just the KCS.
102. 6:50 We had a chance to talk to them about walking with God.
103. 6:54 And it was an amazing opportunity.
104. 6:55 But it was a totally different message and different context and different team.
105. 6:59 You can imagine we have to prepare for that.
106. 7:01 Then another man from the church said, hey, Drake, come work out with me.
107. 7:04 So I had a chance to go work out with Cam, and man, he crushed me too, if I could only be 20 again.
108. 7:09 So these guys are crushing me, the workload is starting to crush me.
109. 7:12 And then yesterday, it was amazing, but we had our meaningful membership class, and we had the
110. 7:18 best discussions in there from new people.
111. 7:20 They're looking at what it really means to commit themselves to the church and each other.
112. 7:24 And it was just an amazing thing, but it was a new curriculum and a new opportunity to lead and speak into it.
113. 7:30 And so I'm just like, whew, Lord, I'm trying my best to do what I can.
114. 7:33 And then last night we had the CMDA, which is the Christian Medical and Dental Association, over to our house.
115. 7:39 And there Heidi did a great job hosting 20, 30 some med students and residents and
116. 7:43 and our community for dinner.
117. 7:45 And one of the doctors, check this out, one of the doctors who had come for the first time, he was the sports medicine resident at the side of the Florida Christian football game.
118. 7:54 I just started talking to him, and I found out he was spiritually curious.
119. 7:57 I said, you should come check out the CMDA.
120. 8:00 And so we got him on the email list.
121. 8:02 I've done that with a lot of people.
122. 8:03 No one ever shows up.
123. 8:04 This guy came last night, and the speaker, another doctor, shared the gospel with
124. 8:10 And that doctor received Christ in my living room last night, which was incredible.
125. 8:15 I just thank God for what he's doing, you know?
126. 8:17 He's working.
127. 8:21 And then this morning...
128. 8:23 I'm going to have the privilege of preaching to you the greatest sermon you have ever heard on Genesis chapter 5.
129. 8:29 Chances are you've never heard a sermon on Genesis chapter 5.
130. 8:32 So you can imagine, it's been a busy but wonderful week.
131. 8:36 And in the midst of all that, a little girl came into my office and said, I'm running from one thing to the next.
132. 8:42 And I realized...
133. 8:42 So much of my life feels like I'm doing things for God rather than just being with God.
134. 8:47 Can I get an amen from anybody else out there that feels that sometime?
135. 8:50 Well, that's where I'm at.
136. 8:52 And all of a sudden, this little girl comes into my office, uninvited but always welcome.
137. 8:57 And she sat down in a chair and she began an interrogation.
138. 9:04 Why do they call you pastor here but chaplain America in there?
139. 9:09 Well, it's a good question.
140. 9:11 It's kind of like your dad.
141. 9:12 They probably call him by his first name at work, and maybe you call him dad at home.
142. 9:15 So I guess location matters.
143. 9:17 Pass.
144. 9:18 Next question.
145. 9:22 Do you talk to God?
146. 9:24 I do.
147. 9:25 I do.
148. 9:27 What does his voice sound like?
149. 9:30 I try to talk to him, but I can't hear him.
150. 9:34 That's a really good question.
151. 9:37 I tried my best to explain to her different things in scriptures where God would speak through a quiet voice and through the created order and certainly through his word.
152. 9:45 But apparently it was time to move on to the next question.
153. 9:49 Do you ever sin, Pastor James?
154. 9:53 Yes, I unfortunately do.
155. 9:55 Do you say bad things?
156. 9:58 Bad words?
157. 10:01 Like what?
158. 10:01 No.
159. 10:04 Sometimes I do.
160. 10:07 Do you read your Bible every day?
161. 10:08 I try.
162. 10:13 You know, the conversation went on, but what I realized when she left, in all of her innocence and all of her sincerity, in the midst of all the craziness, was that she wanted to know what a relationship with God really looks like.
163. 10:27 And I bet you and I do too.
164. 10:29 Because that's the question I was left wondering after encountering Enoch in chapter 5 of Genesis.
165. 10:35 A man lived and he died.
166. 10:36 A man lived and he died.
167. 10:38 A man lived and he died.
168. 10:39 He had sons.
169. 10:40 He lived, had sons, and died.
170. 10:41 Lived, had sons, and died.
171. 10:42 And then there was Enoch who walked with God and was no more.
172. 10:47 And then his son had sons and died.
173. 10:51 And I was asked, what does it look like to really walk with you?
174. 10:53 And I found these old shoes of mine.
175. 10:58 They've seen a lot of miles.
176. 11:00 A lot of miles.
177. 11:02 And, you know, we read a lot of
178. 11:06 years today, didn't we?
179. 11:07 I'm going to address that in just a minute.
180. 11:10 But if you're living 900 years, you can walk a lot of miles.
181. 11:14 But the question is not so much the duration of the miles, aka the accomplishments, the experiences, the accolades, but maybe it's more about the direction we're going and most importantly who we're going there with.
182. 11:33 Because so-and-so lived and he died
183. 11:35 He lived and he died.
184. 11:37 They lived and they died.
185. 11:39 But then there was Enoch, who walked with God and was no more.
186. 11:45 I wonder if the scripture is telling us that it's not so much about the miles that we walk, but the direction that we're going and who we're going there with.
187. 11:57 With that, let me pray.
188. 11:59 God, please, I'm begging you today.
189. 12:03 to give us eyes to see and ears to hear the wonders of your word, your precious word, God.
190. 12:09 I'm such an inadequate vessel to preach your word to your people today, but I pray that you would speak in spite of me and through the proclamation of your word that they may see the wonder and the beauty of the gospel in this text and the truth that can transform every one of our lives.
191. 12:27 I pray this in Jesus' name.
192. 12:29 Amen.
193. 12:32 So we begin our text with this powerful, powerful message tracing Adam, whom God created in his image.
194. 12:44 Now look at this.
195. 12:44 This is verse 1.
196. 12:45 When God had created man, he made them in his likeness, both male and female.
197. 12:50 I just want to underscore this because sometimes the Bible uses the term man to represent mankind and humanity.
198. 12:58 It's not trying to be chauvinist.
199. 12:59 You can see here that both men and women are being referenced to under this term man.
200. 13:04 So that's just very important.
201. 13:05 Again, both men and women are equal before the Lord.
202. 13:08 They both fully bear his image.
203. 13:10 One is not better than the other.
204. 13:12 They have different roles, but they are both sacred and set apart that bear the very dignity of God.
205. 13:17 Very important.
206. 13:18 And we see that in the text here that both Adam and Eve bear the image of God.
207. 13:23 And now at 130 years old,
208. 13:26 He is bearing a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and his name shall be Seth.
209. 13:33 Remember what I told you there?
210. 13:35 The scripture is doing something beautifully poetic.
211. 13:38 And then in the midst of, again, the corruption of chapter 4 and the total corruption of the world that's coming in chapter 6, here we see a glimmer of hope at the end of 4 that people began to search for God.
212. 13:48 And the beginning of chapter 5, that through the line of Seth, perhaps the promise of Genesis 3.15 would come true.
213. 13:55 And guess what?
214. 13:56 It does.
215. 13:58 Not only in the short term, but in the long term.
216. 14:01 You see, I told you, seven generations from Cain, we get Lamech, who was showing how corrupt the world had become.
217. 14:10 But seven generations from Seth, guess who comes?
218. 14:14 Enoch, a man who shows us a different path, a different way.
219. 14:18 And instead of rebelling from God, he walks with God.
220. 14:23 It's not by chance.
221. 14:24 There's beauty there.
222. 14:27 Furthermore, as we look into this amazing story, we see that there are two Lamechs that are encountering us at the end of each chapter.
223. 14:36 It's as though the Holy Spirit through Moses is writing and showing us the Lamech of Cain is that of works.
224. 14:42 And that might be what you and I try to do.
225. 14:43 Work our way to God.
226. 14:45 Earn our way.
227. 14:45 Prove our worth.
228. 14:47 But it's a dead end.
229. 14:49 And eventually our corrupt hearts will show what the works of our hand and our flesh can produce.
230. 14:54 And it's always death.
231. 14:56 Versus Abel, who left a very different sacrifice before the Lord.
232. 15:01 Not one of works, but of sacrifice.
233. 15:05 And when he left the garden, I can't help but wonder if Abel had heard from his mom and dad, Ab and Eve, about the time that God made the first sacrifice and then clothed them with that sacrifice because they left the garden in animal skin.
234. 15:22 Not plants, but animal skin.
235. 15:26 as though it was a constant reminder of their need of a sacrifice to find life, now that they were wandering outside the garden, separated from God.
236. 15:35 It was a foreshadowing of the gospel and our need for sacrifice.
237. 15:38 And Abel remembered it.
238. 15:40 And instead of coming before God in his strength through his works, he came before God through sacrifice.
239. 15:46 Can you see how every story in Genesis is beginning to whisper Jesus' name from the very beginning?
240. 15:51 And how God, in the midst of corruption and darkness, there's a thread of light and hope, of gospel and grace.
241. 15:59 And so here, Abel is now, you know, sacrificing something that's pleasing to God, he's acceptable, and God blesses it, and Cain is so mad, he murders his brother.
242. 16:11 Contrast this now to the Lamech that Seth has generations down, and it's though he's carrying on the heart of Abel,
243. 16:21 rather than the heart of Cain, through a different line.
244. 16:25 And what we see through this line of Lamech is that he is the father of Noah.
245. 16:31 That's where we're going in chapter 5.
246. 16:32 And he says, maybe Noah will help deliver us from the pain and the suffering that we're experiencing because of our sin.
247. 16:39 And catch this.
248. 16:40 I want you to see this.
249. 16:41 I hope we can put it on the screen for you.
250. 16:44 Adam and Eve are living long periods of time
251. 16:48 You look at the screen maybe behind me and you're seeing these durations of their lives overlapping.
252. 16:54 And so the scripture tells us what is sufficient to know.
253. 16:56 It doesn't exhaust everything that we can know.
254. 17:00 And so there's a good chance that in this midst that Adam is telling his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren of what it was like to walk with God.
255. 17:13 Enoch is listening.
256. 17:15 Lamech is listening.
257. 17:17 And eventually the grandson that Adam wouldn't meet, Noah, hears the stories of what it means to walk with God and to seek him and to worship him.
258. 17:27 And so in the midst of a lot of corruption, a lot of brokenness, there's a thread of a gospel hope.
259. 17:34 And I want you to see the beauty of that there.
260. 17:37 Two paths, two ways, two opportunities to walk with God in the garden of
261. 17:46 or to wander in the proverbial desert.
262. 17:49 And then as we continue our text, we see over and over again, they lived and they died, they lived and they died.
263. 17:56 Eight times they lived and they died until we get to Enoch, who walked with God and was no more.
264. 18:04 Now the question that I was left asking myself is, what did Enoch do?
265. 18:08 How is it that he was able to walk with God?
266. 18:11 And what's fascinating is that not much is said about that here in Scripture,
267. 18:16 But elsewhere, it speaks very clearly to how Enoch walked with God.
268. 18:21 Now, before I jump to the New Testament, I do want to address one thing that we're probably all feeling here in the Old Testament.
269. 18:28 Is this really real?
270. 18:30 Is this really true?
271. 18:32 Nobody's living 900 years today, you know?
272. 18:36 Is this folklore exaggeration?
273. 18:39 This is where we all become people of faith.
274. 18:41 And the question is, what is the object of our faith?
275. 18:45 I believe perhaps that because the generational effects of sin had not yet taken their toll, that these are in fact literal ages of literal people who lived and died and lived long periods of time.
276. 18:57 There's theories that perhaps there was a cloud vapor covering the earth and it was protecting them from the harmful UV rays that cause us to age and the world to age.
277. 19:08 I don't know.
278. 19:08 The Bible doesn't give us details, but by faith, I really believe
279. 19:13 that these are long periods of time.
280. 19:15 And by the way, God didn't create Adam and Eve to die.
281. 19:19 He created them to live eternally and to walk with him and be in a relationship with him.
282. 19:24 So 900 years compared to eternity is a real short timeline.
283. 19:30 And it's almost an act of God's mercy as well.
284. 19:34 You see, our bodies age pretty rapidly now.
285. 19:36 In Genesis, I think, chapter 6, it says, you know, we're going to let man live to be up to 120.
286. 19:41 By the time you get to, I believe, Psalm
287. 19:43 90, it talks about the age of man, maybe 70, 80 years.
288. 19:48 That's general range.
289. 19:49 It's not a guarantee, it's not a promise, but it's the general range that people live.
290. 19:52 And so you can see the generational effects of sin taking their toll.
291. 19:56 And the more that sin takes the toll in our bodies and the world around us, we feel the effects of sin.
292. 20:02 And we see the darkness and the corruption of the world.
293. 20:05 And so it's almost an act of mercy, as crazy as it is, in the midst of a fallen world, even though God didn't intend for it to be this way,
294. 20:11 He created us to live and live eternally.
295. 20:13 It is an act of mercy that we die.
296. 20:16 Because eventually the pain of arthritis and the brokenness of our cells and the vulnerability to disease and the evil we see all around us and even horrifyingly inside of us, it's almost an act of mercy that God allows people to die.
297. 20:31 And so the greater the sin, it seems like the shorter the lifespan.
298. 20:38 Now, that we've addressed that,
299. 20:40 and we realize that the Bible really is talking about real people and real timelines, I want to show you what really made a difference in Enoch's life.
300. 20:50 We're going to turn, and if you have a Bible, and I hope you do, we're going to turn to the New Testament.
301. 20:56 And we're going to find there in Hebrews chapter 11 a little insight about Enoch.
302. 21:05 It says here in Hebrews chapter 11, verses 5 and 6,
303. 21:11 By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death, and he was not found anymore because God had taken him.
304. 21:21 Imagine that.
305. 21:24 You're walking, you're walking around, hanging out with Enoch.
306. 21:26 He's living a normal life in a fallen world.
307. 21:30 We don't have any accolades from Enoch, so we don't know anything really special about the guy, what he done, what he believed, a little bit about what he believed, but we don't have a lot of, we don't know what his income was, what kind of house he lived in,
308. 21:42 You know, what prestigious awards he won.
309. 21:43 What we have is just a guy who lived a faithful life in a fallen world and believed the stories that his great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, Adam was telling him about God and he was responding to it.
310. 21:57 And in the midst of all that, he just believed.
311. 22:00 And here's what verse 6 says about Enoch's faith.
312. 22:02 And without faith, it's impossible to please God.
313. 22:06 For whoever draws near to God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him.
314. 22:12 Because the author of Hebrews is referring back to Enoch, we have a glimmer into Enoch's heart.
315. 22:18 He was a man that truly believed in God.
316. 22:21 Like really believed.
317. 22:23 Let me see if I can show you what that means.
318. 22:26 So in the Greek New Testament, there's a word called pistou, which means faith.
319. 22:33 But it's not just an intellectual faith.
320. 22:35 We talked about this in Meaningful Membership yesterday.
321. 22:37 Chances are, some of the people that know the most about theology...
322. 22:42 is Satan and his demons.
323. 22:44 So it's not just an intellectual knowledge.
324. 22:48 It's a trusting knowledge.
325. 22:50 It's a truth that transforms.
326. 22:52 And so when the Bible says that Enoch believed God, it wasn't some sort of intellectual accent.
327. 22:58 Because the book of James addresses that.
328. 22:59 You believe they're a God?
329. 23:00 Great.
330. 23:01 So do the demons.
331. 23:02 The difference is they haven't bowed their knee to him.
332. 23:05 So what the Bible's saying about Enoch is that he truly believed God, and he placed his faith in God.
333. 23:13 There's a difference between believing this stool can hold me and then placing my weight on it.
334. 23:18 And that's the kind of faith that God calls us to.
335. 23:20 And that's the kind of faith that Enoch had.
336. 23:23 He really believed God.
337. 23:25 I wonder what that would look like in your and my life, you know, if we really believed God.
338. 23:29 That God was going to help us deal with that challenging situation with work.
339. 23:34 And we don't need to compromise, but we can truly trust Him.
340. 23:36 I wonder what it would look like when the bills are getting tight and we feel like we're doing what God's calling us to do, but we're just...
341. 23:43 We're just wondering how we're going to make ends meet in a city like Miami.
342. 23:46 I wonder what it would really like to believe in God.
343. 23:48 I wonder what it would look like for the single person in here that really is wanting someone else, to be in a relationship with someone else.
344. 23:58 And they're tempted to make compromises right now to go with Mr.
345. 24:02 Right now rather than Mr.
346. 24:04 Right.
347. 24:05 I wonder what that would look like for us to really believe God.
348. 24:08 That he's with us and he's for us and he's our heavenly father and he's going to see us through.
349. 24:12 Enoch really understood that.
350. 24:14 And it really pleased God.
351. 24:16 And it doesn't stop there, does it?
352. 24:17 Because it says what he believed is that God was a rewarder of those who trust him.
353. 24:24 Now, that doesn't mean we're talking health, wealth, and prosperity.
354. 24:29 I believe, Lord, so bless me.
355. 24:31 Bless me.
356. 24:32 Send me the money.
357. 24:34 Go to the mailbox.
358. 24:35 It's not there.
359. 24:36 Dang it.
360. 24:37 Got to believe harder, try harder, do more.
361. 24:40 No, that's not it at all.
362. 24:41 The scripture tells us that the greatest reward you and I will ever have is Christ himself.
363. 24:48 And he'll never leave us nor forsake us.
364. 24:51 And that's why he said, I no longer call you a servant, but I call you my friend.
365. 24:55 And he wants to walk with us, just like he walked with Adam in the garden, just like he walked with Enoch, and just like he walked with Elijah, who was no more.
366. 25:03 He wants to walk with you and I.
367. 25:04 And guess what?
368. 25:05 Spoiler alert.
369. 25:06 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 says that whether we die or whether we're alive, guess what?
370. 25:11 When Christ comes back, he's going to raise us just as he rose Elijah and Enoch, and we will be no more because we will walk with him.
371. 25:19 Do you see the glimmer and the hope of eternity in the scriptures?
372. 25:23 It's just not in Christ that we have an understanding of eternity.
373. 25:26 It's in Genesis chapter 5.
374. 25:29 In the midst of all the craziness and all the brokenness, God just snatches Enoch, who was no more, because he believed in him.
375. 25:36 And he trusted that he would provide for his needs.
376. 25:39 And he'd meet his greatest needs, which was his forgiveness and salvation.
377. 25:44 And he took him to walk with him eternally.
378. 25:45 And one day in Christ, that will be our story in him as well.
379. 25:50 See the beauty of the gospel in this story?
380. 25:53 Now there's one other place in the scriptures that talks about Enoch.
381. 25:57 And I want to draw your attention to it.
382. 25:59 And it's here in verses 14 and 15.
383. 26:03 And it says that Enoch...
384. 26:06 seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord is coming in the midst of this corrupt generation.
385. 26:16 You see, Enoch not only believed God, he not only trusted God to provide and meet his every need, he also spoke the truth.
386. 26:25 Remember, Genesis 4 ends with Lamech living outside of God's will, boldly, flagrantly publicizing his sin.
387. 26:34 Corrupt and cruel,
388. 26:36 In Genesis chapter 6, where the world's about to be flooded because it broke God's heart, that every inclination of man's heart was evil.
389. 26:44 And here in chapter 5, we find Enoch, an ordinary man living an ordinary life, believing God, trusting God, and speaking the truth.
390. 26:56 Church, that's what we must do.
391. 26:59 And we're not doing it to earn God's love.
392. 27:01 We're doing it because we have God's love.
393. 27:03 And we're not trying harder and doing more.
394. 27:05 I'm not here to burden you with three things to do and then you can be like Enoch.
395. 27:09 No, this is a fruit of what it looks like to walk with God.
396. 27:12 You're going to believe in him more and more.
397. 27:14 The next step you take is going to be a bigger step because you're going to see God's faithfulness in your life.
398. 27:18 And you're going to believe him in ways that you never thought possible.
399. 27:22 Remember Matthew, the tax collector?
400. 27:25 He was sitting there.
401. 27:26 Jesus encountered him.
402. 27:28 And Matthew said, what are we doing here, Jesus?
403. 27:31 And Jesus said, Matthew,
404. 27:33 We're going to go have a party.
405. 27:34 Matthew's like, really?
406. 27:35 Where are we going to do it?
407. 27:36 Your place, Matthew.
408. 27:37 All right.
409. 27:39 Who should I invite?
410. 27:39 No one likes me.
411. 27:40 That's all right.
412. 27:41 I'll invite some friends.
413. 27:42 Come.
414. 27:43 And Matthew stepped out from behind that tax collector's desk, and he took his first step to follow Jesus.
415. 27:48 Now, if you would have told Matthew at that moment, hey, you're eventually going to give your life as a martyr, and you're going to write a gospel before you die, and your life is going to change the world, and people are never going to get your name, and your name will be honored and esteemed.
416. 28:01 He would have never believed it.
417. 28:03 But that's what it looks like when you just take your first step.
418. 28:05 Jesus, I don't know where we're going or what we're going to do, but I'm just going to trust you.
419. 28:10 And just don't go too fast, don't go too far, but I'm going to start walking with you, Lord.
420. 28:16 And that's what is going to happen.
421. 28:17 All of a sudden, you're going to have bigger and bolder faith that you just walk with your Heavenly Father.
422. 28:21 The beauty of walking is it says you want to spend time with somebody, that you're in conversation with them, and you're headed in the same direction.
423. 28:29 And when we do that, no matter how small the start or the step, it becomes a
424. 28:34 huge impact over time in our lives.
425. 28:37 And we begin to trust God with more and more as we see His faithfulness time and time again.
426. 28:43 And eventually, lovers tell.
427. 28:46 You can't hide it inside because His word burns within you.
428. 28:51 You know it's true.
429. 28:51 You know it's His voice.
430. 28:53 And if you really love someone, you tell them the truth.
431. 28:57 And that's what's going to happen as you and I continue to walk with God just as Enoch did.
432. 29:03 So,
433. 29:04 Enoch believed God.
434. 29:06 He trusted God.
435. 29:08 And he proclaimed God.
436. 29:11 And that's just what we as followers of Christ and the church are called to do.
437. 29:16 Now I want to leave you with the beauty of the gospel.
438. 29:19 You've probably seen it a million different places in our text today.
439. 29:23 But I just want to make it clear.
440. 29:25 You see, Enoch walked with God and was no more.
441. 29:30 But Jesus came down here as God
442. 29:34 And walked with us and suffered and died.
443. 29:39 Eight times we read, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died.
444. 29:50 But in Christ we hear, because he lives, I will live.
445. 29:56 Because he walked, I can walk.
446. 30:00 Because he lives, I will live.
447. 30:02 Because there is Jesus, we have hope that there's a God who loves us and has eternity set apart for us.
448. 30:12 And he's not asking us to do more or to be more, but to believe in him, trust him, and boldly shine bright in a dark world for him.
449. 30:23 And when we do that, I believe you and I will begin to understand what that little girl was asking me in that office yesterday.
450. 30:29 What does it look like to have a relationship with God?
451. 30:34 Let's pray.
452. 30:36 Lord, thank you for the beauty of your word today.
453. 30:40 May it burn in our hearts that you haven't called us to be busy running in endless directions and to forget that ultimately the only thing that matters is that we are walking with you.
454. 30:52 Would you help us to take our next step with you no matter how small or how far, Lord?
455. 30:57 Do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
456. 31:00 Save us and sustain us this day.
457. 31:03 I pray these things in Jesus' name.
458. 31:05 Amen.
459. 31:05 All right, we're going to do something special here.
460. 31:08 So as we end with a response in worship, I'm going to give you an opportunity to take your next faith step.
461. 31:18 Fun story.
462. 31:20 We're coming back from Christmas, well, from North Carolina.
463. 31:25 It's about a 12-hour drive back to Miami
464. 31:28 And my wife drove 10 of those hours.
465. 31:33 And I finally said, Heidi, you got to let me drive just a little bit.
466. 31:37 And she said, all right.
467. 31:38 I like to drive, but okay.
468. 31:40 And I said, I got it, woman.
469. 31:41 Just relax.
470. 31:44 Yeah, you know where this is going.
471. 31:47 I took the wheel and getting the seatbelt on, all that, got us going.
472. 31:52 We're talking, having a great conversation.
473. 31:53 This is probably about Fort Pierce area.
474. 31:55 Yeah.
475. 31:56 All of a sudden, 45 minutes into our conversation, I'm like, exit's Fort Orlando this way.
476. 32:01 What?
477. 32:05 You guys, I went the wrong direction.
478. 32:10 I added an hour and a half to our two-hour trip.
479. 32:14 My wife was like, I'm driving.
480. 32:16 Get out of there.
481. 32:17 Getting us home.
482. 32:20 Here's why I say a lot.
483. 32:22 Some of us have put a lot of miles...
484. 32:25 in the wrong direction.
485. 32:27 And today, maybe it's a chance to turn things around and head in the right direction, most importantly, with the right person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
486. 32:36 And so during this response song, I'm going to have some of the leaders of our church down front with me.
487. 32:41 And if you want to start walking with God, then you take your first step here, and we're going to come and welcome you to pray with you.
488. 32:48 And I know that's intimidating, but guess what?
489. 32:50 This is home turf, baby.
490. 32:52 We are cheering you on in your relationship with God.
491. 32:54 When you go out there, that's when you should be scared.
492. 32:56 And here, this is your family.
493. 32:58 We love you.
494. 33:00 And we want to cheer you on to no end.
495. 33:03 So you come and you take your first step with Jesus.
496. 33:05 We're going to pray with you today.
497. 33:07 And for those of us who have maybe found ourselves going to some detours we didn't expect, who know the Lord and are wanting to walk with Him, but find ourselves in a ditch.
498. 33:16 Because remember,
499. 33:17 For every one mile of the straight and narrow, there's two miles of ditch.
500. 33:21 And somehow we found ourselves in a ditch.
501. 33:24 Then I want to invite you to come today and get back on the path and walk in with the Lord.
502. 33:29 He has something better for us, mainly himself.
503. 33:32 So during this song, you come, you come.

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