Epic Faith Pleases God | Epic Faith - #3 | Pastor John Lindell

[Music] in week one if you're new this morning we did an overview of what faith is like the perspective of faith in week two we looked at abel and we learned that epic faith equals epic worship that you and i the condition the quality of our faith is demonstrated and i would say determined by how we worship by the way we worship the enthusiasm with which we worship how you and i come into the presence of god has everything to do with what you and i receive from god and now today we come to the third message and the title is epic faith pleases god let's read it hebrews chapter 11 verse 5 by faith enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death he could not be found because god had taken him away for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased god now immediately when you read those verses if you're not familiar with the story of of enoch and i think most people who have been in in christianity for a while might have heard of him very few people are familiar with him so if you're new this morning or you've never heard of him you're in good company but when you read those verses immediately there are some questions that come to your mind who was enoch and and why would god take him and what kind of taking are we talking about and and what about his life brought about god's commendation and caused god to be pleased with him to answer those questions we really need to go to genesis chapter 5 because in genesis 5 what you have is you have a genealogy it starts with adam and goes through adam's son seth down through noah and it is the line of righteous men let's look at it genesis 5 and verse 18. when jared had lived 162 years he became the father of enoch and after he became the father of enoch jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters altogether jared lived 962 years and then he died when enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of methuselah and after he became the father of methuselah enoch walked with god 300 years and had other sons and daughters altogether enoch lived 365 years enoch walked with god then he was no more because god took him away now i'd like to make just four observations before we jump into looking at enoch about what we have just read there first of all the first observation people lived in that time for centuries rather than decades you say how is that possible i mean because when you read the genealogy you'll find that adam the first man lived 930 years you'll find you'll notice that we saw jared enoch's father live 962 years methuselah lived 969 years he lived longer than any man how is that possible let me just say this there are some things in scripture we don't understand by faith we accept them because once you start saying well that's not true that's not true you become like thomas jefferson who basically went through his new testament cut all the miracles out and said this is what i believe and where do you stop i mean what we understand from scripture and what some scientists would say we understand that people lived a long time and some scientists have speculated that it was due to several things first of all you had a more pure genetic pool so you didn't have the diseases you didn't have the deterioration things are not evolving up they're devolving down second prior to the flood they speculate that that the soil was much more vibrant much more nutrient rich consequently the foods were different they were better than what we would have today third that there was a canopy of water vapor that shielded human beings and life from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light i mean we understand the harmful effects you spend too much time in the sun you come in looking like a sharpay i mean it's you know you stay out of the sun otherwise it creates wrinkles it causes deterioration also there were not any of the storms or weather related disasters that we would have today because prior to the flood it did not rain water the bible says came up from the surface of the earth and watered the ground and so it was a different planet all together and we'll talk about that next time second enoch is mentioned more than any other person in genesis chapter five which is a very very interesting um thought he's mentioned more than adam who was the first man he's mentioned more than noah who is maybe one of the most notable personalities in the first ten chapters of genesis that tells us that enoch was a very important person he's mentioned five times in that chapter so the highlight of genesis chapter five is really enoch he is the focus third enoch was the seventh from adam it's the book of jude in the new testament that tells us that but you can go through the genealogy and count it down from adam to enoch there were seven generations and that will tell us as we look at it in a few moments about the inability of people of humankind to live righteously because by the time of enoch seven generations in things have gotten very bad fourth enoch is the only one in the entire list until you get to noah who is said to walk with god this is very very interesting so whatever walking with god is and what we have in genesis 5 is a list of the righteous line of men starting with seth the son of adam whatever walking with god is nobody is doing it until enoch and nobody does it again until noah so what does it mean to walk with god what is it about enoch that made god look at him and say enoch i am so pleased and you're doing this by faith that i want you to come and be with me with that in mind what i'd like to do is i'd like to give us six ways epic faith pleases god six ways epic faith pleases god first of all epic faith walks with god look at it genesis chapter 5 and verse 21 enoch had lived when he lived 65 years he became the father of methuselah and then in verse 22 enoch walked with god 300 years and altogether he lives 365 and enoch walked with god when you go back to hebrews chapter 11 and verse 5 it says for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased god so here he is he's walking with god he's pleasing god now it's interesting and you'll need to bear with me in this message because we're gonna if you're new we're gonna talk about some things that are a bit technical but i think it will help you understand some things that are important at the time of jesus christ the old testament which was written in hebrew you know in the two centuries preceding christ the old testament was translated into greek because greek was the dominant language after alexander the great greek became the dominant language in the ancient world so the old testament was translated into greek and it was that translation was called the septuagint just like we have the king james version the new international version the new living translation there was the septuagint it's interesting but the septuagint the greek old testament translates the phrase enoch walked with god as enoch pleased god so you could say the two chain the two phrases are interchangeable when one is walking with god they're pleasing god when one is pleasing god they are walking with god epic faith pleases god by walking in faith with god there's a faith component that's a part of it and hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6 says this and without faith it is impossible to please god listen for a person to say i believe there is a god is not enough for a person to acknowledge the the presence of god is not enough what god is looking for is for people who have faith in him who have placed their faith in him concerning their salvation their their need for something relative to their sin to cover their sin but then are walking with him in a vibrant faith now look at this in genesis 5 and verse 21 when enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of methuselah i want you to notice for the first 65 years of his life he's not walking with god it's a very interesting thing and after he became the father of methuselah enoch walked with god you say what in the world happened there well he had children that'll cause you to walk with god take your take your your relationship with god to a whole new level and i would say on a serious note we see a lot of people who they they go to school they go to university or they get a job and they're living the single life and then they end up getting married and they're still not really in church and then all of a sudden they have a child and now all of a sudden everything changes because they're saying i want my child in church and they begin to walk with god there are many people at james river and that's their story so we certainly can say there's something about the responsibility that a parent has for another human being that i believe can become a spiritual turning point in their life some of you are at that point right now and i would simply say by the spirit of god that god is calling you to a new level of faithfulness to a new kind of walk with god something happens to enoch and it changes him i think it's more than having a child though it can do that but notice it says he became the father of methuselah and after he became the father of methuselah that's a unique name it is definitely not in the top 1000 names people name their children but he becomes the father methuselah and what that name means methuselah means when he is dead it will be sinned what you have is god comes to enoch in some fashion we don't have it recorded for us in scripture but god reveals himself to enoch at the time of the baby's birth and god says to enoch see that baby when that baby dies i will send judgment on the earth and that so shook enoch the word from the lord the thought of the coming judgment that enoch from that point on begins walking with god he has an encounter with god and again i would suggest that there are many here today and in your own faith journey there was a moment when you encountered god and from that moment on you began to walk with god for some of you that day is today you're encountering god right now you are sensing the lord stirring in your heart maybe it was this week maybe it was last week maybe it's been in the last month but you've had some things happen and god is speaking to you and god is saying to you listen i want to do something in your life i want to walk with you and i want you to walk with me it's a life-changing moment this is what happens with enoch and what's very interesting methuselah when he is dead it will be sent what's interesting to note just as a sideline is he lives 969 years longer than any other human being what does that tell us about the grace of god that god is slow that god is patient that god is kind that god is gracious waiting to judge in his justice he knows sin has to be judged in his love he doesn't want anyone to be there he wants to give people time to what repent i mean look at it in ii peter 3 the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance but the day of the lord will come like a thief jesus is coming back judgment is coming again that's the point of second peter so here is enoch and he starts walking with god now i want you to think about this and again the scripture doesn't say anything about this but you have a man who now seven generations from adam starts walking with god and nobody's been walking with god and you have to believe people probably said to him hey enoch you can't walk with god because hey adam sinned and and remember adam walked with god in the garden he and eve in the cool of the day the lord would walk with them and now nobody's walking with god and you you have to believe there's something about it that that people are saying you know enoch you can't do that you say why would you say that because i have people i hear of people all the time who say you can't you can't really god god doesn't talk to you have you ever had talk somebody like that it's it really is annoying at this point in my life it's annoying he does talk to people i know he talks to people he talks to me he talks to you he speaks to our heart he speaks one way and now another he speaks to a friend he speaks through his word he speaks to that still small voice he he puts thoughts in your mind you you wouldn't have any idea where they came from except they're him and then when you act on them you watch him do what only he can do and isn't it interesting that people who don't believe god can talk to you are the ones are telling are telling you all the time god doesn't talk to you but you know he talks to you right it's kind of like this the people who say god doesn't do miracles spend a lot of time telling everybody god doesn't do miracles and then you watch him and you know he does miracles right so at some point you got to say listen whatever everybody else wants to say i know my god is real and i know my god speaks and i know my god works and i know that i'm walking with god and i'm talking with god and that i have a relationship with god listen this is a part of faith epic faith walks with god epic faith talks with god epic faith has a relationship with god epic faith understands there's a god who speaks psalm 25 in the message i love i love the verse it says god friendship is for god worshipers they are the ones he confides in listen when you're walking with god god is going to tell you things you could not know on your own it's part of that walk listen as enoch is walking god is saying hey look you see that son name him methuselah because when he is dead when he dies the flood will start and you can track out the genealogy the numbers and right at the time he dies the flood hits i mean when you're walking with god god is going god is going to talk to you he's going to tell you things he's going to show you things this is the value of epic faith there are some of you and you're saying i don't feel like god talks to me here's what i would say to that certainly i think all of us can go through seasons but if it's become a lifestyle or you've never encountered the lord speaking to you then something is lacking in your experience of god because he does talk 300 times it says in the in the niv bible and the lord said god is a god who has a lot to say he speaks to you and part of the art of walking with god is cultivating a listening ear and sometimes we have to lean into him sometimes god gives us a dream sometimes god i mean this last a couple weeks ago i had a dream was this last week i had a dream and it was very vivid very real and i was like well i wonder what that means sorry for snapping my finger right in the microphone i woke some up okay so but i i was trying to think what does that mean so debbie gets up we're having her coffee i said i had a i had a dream and i can remember it very vividly so i tell her the dream she instantly said this is what it means now i'm not saying debbie's the the dream interpreter but on on that time and i mean as soon as she said it i knew that is right god speaks in a variety of ways he can speak that way he can put something in your heart that you know that you know that you know a lot of times people get hung up but unless it's an audible voice then god hasn't spoken that's not true he speaks in a bunch of ways but god speaks and when we're walking with god we have that relationship where we're hearing from god enoch has that kind of relationship let me add this because i think this is really important it wasn't any easier for enoch to walk with god than it is for you to walk with god in fact i would venture to say his world was much much more evil and it was much more difficult to walk with the lord he doesn't have a bible he doesn't have the benefit that we have of of the teaching and the gathering and the tradition of of worshiping the lord and and having uh you know knowledge from the word of god in fact if you want to know what his life is like and what his days are like genesis chapter 6 tells us when men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them the sons of god saw that the daughters of men were attractive and they took their took as their wives any they chose then the lord said my spirit shall not abide with man forever for he is flesh his days shall be 120 years it's not saying there that men mankind men and women will live to be 120. what it's saying is god's going to judge at this point when this word happens god is saying within 120 years i'm going to judge humankind because everybody's the evil is getting out of hand the nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of god came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them and these were the mighty men who were of old the men of renown and the question immediately rises and if you're with us for a couple years ago on our series on angels and demons then you are familiar with this um it's not often taught on because today sadly there are many people who are who are afraid of what has been consistently for centuries the interpretation of the bible by the church by teachers by rabbis going back to the time of christ now when you look at verse 1 when men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them the sons of god who are the sons of god that phrase is used three times in the old testament always it refers three other times always to angelic beings so what you have is you have fallen angels who are attracted to human beings women and they are cohabiting with them and producing offspring just just so you're aware of this the oldest interpretations of the text the traditional jewish ones the view of conservative rabbis and and conservative jewish scholars even today people like umberto quesudo who is really the premier jewish scholar on the old testament and especially on the book of genesis all agree that the sons of god refers to fallen angels in genesis 6 2 notice it says the sons of god saw that the daughters of men were attractive and they took as their wives any they chose so it appears there's some violating of the women we don't know how many there are extra biblical texts like the book of first enik which while it can give you some insight i would be careful about how much credence i would lend to it though it gives us some thinking that was prominent around the time of christ and in the early church because the the book of first scenic is quoted in the book of jude but according to the book of first evict what happens is there are 200 angels evil angels that come down and cohabit with women and produce an incredible number of offspring some jewish teaching and some christian teaching and i can't say i disagree with it i just don't know and where the bible's silent i think we have to be careful but the thought is that there are evil angels and then there are evil spirits and the evil spirits are the byproduct of this union between fallen angels and human beings consequently they're constantly looking for a place to be embodied because when the nephilim died their spirit now is is roaming the earth uh whether that's true or not i don't know i'm just simply telling you this because this is this is not um only one person's opinion so you have the sons of god and they see the daughters of men are attractive this is really shocking what some people will say is they say well but now wait a minute john because uh doesn't the bible say in matthew 22 and verse 30 that angels can't marry nor are they given in marriage it doesn't say they can't it says they don't and so there are two options either you have fallen angels inhabiting the body of human men and producing offspring or you have fallen angels taking on human form in as a male body and impregnating women and it shouldn't surprise us that angels can appear as humans i mean hebrews chapter 13 says don't forget to show hospitality to strangers for some who have done this have entertained angels without knowing it so be kind to strangers you don't know they could be they could be an angel that you're interacting with whichever way you go what you have is you have fallen beings overstepping their bounds and the new testament comments on this so for example in second peter chapter 2 and verse 4 for if god did not spare angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the day of judgment so there are some angelic beings that are chained right now in the abyss they're kept in a in a dungeon setting until the day of judgment so the question arises who are these angels and what did they do that would cause god to chain them because there's a lot of evil angels doing a lot of evil things right and they're still roaming around well jude verse 6 says and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day that's almost very similar to what we read in ii peter in the next verse we read this just as sodom and gomorrah and the surrounding cities which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued a natural desire so whatever the angels did it's like what happened in sodom and gomorrah what happened in sodom and gomorrah remember two angels come down and they're with the lord and they stop and they see abraham and god says listen the sin of sodom and gomorrah now it's it's gotten so great that i've sent these two angels to go down and check it out to see if it's as bad as i've heard and if it is then i'm going to destroy it destroy the cities and abraham negotiates with the lord out of mercy this is a righteous person who cares about people and he says listen god what if there are ten righteous people will you save the city for the sake of the ten and god says yes i will which tells us again something about not only the grace of god but the preserving effect that you and i have on the society in which we live ten people can keep a city from being destroyed 10 righteous people so remember the angels go into the city square typically they would be invited in lot sees them he's then sitting in the gate he invites the man to come and spend the night at his house the men of the town gather and they say bring the men out so that we can what have sex with them what you have in sodom and gomorrah is human beings trying to engage angels in sex what you have in genesis 6 is angels engaging human beings and sex that's the correlation there you say when did that happen well we know in first peter chapter 3 verse 19 2 peter chapter 2 and verse 5 that it was during the time we're reading about from enoch to noah enoch lived in such an evil time and what's the point of all this he lived in such an evil time it would make our day look like a sunday school picnic i mean evil was rampant everywhere people were being terrorized in addition you have the line of cain which is in genesis chapter four and cain remember adam and eve had two sons cain and abel cain killed abel then seth was born and seth became started the righteous line of man and that goes all the way down to jesus and then there's the line of cain cain because he killed his brother and mark was put on his forehead he was driven from the presence of the lord but cain too procreates and produces a line of men remember enoch is the seventh from adam we meet in scripture the seventh from adam via cain his name is lamech look at this this is the seventh from adam lamech said to his wives ada and zilla so the first thing we see in the line of canaan is now we see polygamy first time we we get any insight into people who are not in the righteous line there's polygamy and we have to assume that very likely he has more than just ada and zilla he has wives from a to z it's a dad joke listen to me wives of lamech hear my words i've killed a man for wounding me a young man for injuring me if cain is avenged seven times then lamech 77 times in other words he is evil cain perfected he is 11 times more evil he is 11 times more proud he is 11 times more wicked he is 11 times more murderous and here's what he's saying i am i'm a bad dude and i dare god to do something about it if you judge cain let's see god mess with me that's what you have going on simultaneous to enoch then as well you take genesis chapter 6 and verse 5 the lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil so that by the time you get down to the flood and we're going to look at this next week there are only eight righteous people on the earth at the time of the flood i mean can you imagine planet earth populated and only eight people who are righteous this is the time in which enoch lives and enoch is walking with god and he's pleasing god and he's talking with god and he's loving god and this is an amazing amazing individual number two not only is epic faith walking with god but epic faith pleases god by believing god exists now now back to hebrews chapter 11 verse 5 by faith enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death he could not be found because god had taken him away for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased god so the question is immediately well boy i would like to please god how do i please god here it is and without faith it is impossible to please god if you're going to please god if you're going to walk with god you have to be a person of faith and the more faith you have the more you please god the more faith you have the more the stronger your faith this is why epic faith is so important the more faith you have the more epic your faith is the more your life will please god and the closer you'll be walking to god right what does it look like what does what is faith that pleases god look like here it is anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists in other words you've moved beyond why the question of i wonder whether there's a god or not at some point you got to decide either there is or there isn't that is a volitional decision that you can make you have to at some point say i believe the bible's true let god be true and every other person a liar i believe that what it says about god is true that he is a creator god that the design of the creation tells me there's a designer that god exists that there is a being who spun the world into order and not only that god exists but that he is knowable that i can walk close to him that's implied because what we're talking anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists what is it this is an amplification of this what is it talking about with enoch enoch walks with a personal god powerful enough to create the universe personal enough to walk with enoch to know him to talk to him to have relationship with him listen what this is telling us is if you and i want to walk in epic faith there is a place in walking with god where you grow closer and closer and closer and closer to him god wants that for you god desires that for every single one of us it's not just enough to believe there's a god you have to believe he is personal enough to walk close to you number three epic faith believes it pays to serve god epic faith says you know what god is a rewarder of people that god sees everything i've done hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10 he's not unjust he'll remember everything you've done he'll remember in galatians be not deceived god is not mocked whatsoever man sows that will he also reap that can be bad or that can be good you sow good seed you're going to reap a good harvest therefore he says don't give up don't become weary in doing good for in due season you will reap a reward look at it in hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6 because anyone who comes to him must believe not only that he exists but he rewards those who earnestly seek him that word reward could be translated remunerates to pay somebody for work for service or for loss when you're going to remunerate somebody so you have the insurance company they remunerate you because you experience the loss they make it up do you know you know when you're serving god and you're walking with god some of you this this should make you shout because you've experienced the loss god can make that up you're walking with him god says you know what i'm not i'm not going to let them experience loss or some of you have gone through a season of loss and god look at the book of job you know people at times are like you know i just don't think we should talk about all this i don't know why the bible talks about it a lot job lost but in the end he had twice as much it's not that you're never going to have a hard time it's not that there's never going to be difficult it's just that god sees god knows and god honors people who honors them and and it pays to serve god i'm just going to tell you it does i've said before and and it's true if i were not a believer i would tithe because god will not ever owe a man anything he will not god will always honor what you do you hear testimony after testimony i'm just telling you we do that because people struggle more than anything to believe that it pays to serve god you honor him he'll honor you you give him your time he'll multiply it back to you you give him your energy he'll multiply it back to you you give him your resources multiply back to you you give him your life he'll multiply it back to you anything you give to god god blesses that's the idea and anyone who's gonna walk with god by faith if you're gonna have epic faith you believe it pays to serve god i'm gonna tell you what it would pay let's put it in a practical sense it would pay you to get and grow track it would pay you to get in the life group it would pay you to be a wednesday night prayer meeting it would pay you to give in the offering it would pay you to give your life to make sure that god you win all ties i'm going to serve you with all of my heart because i'm telling you he will open the windows of heaven in every dimension whatever you give to him he's going to get back to you he's going to multiply in your life god rewards those who serve him and if we have time i'd walk you through a whole theology of rewards because it's all over the bible number four epic faith wholeheartedly follows god without faith it is impossible to please god because anyone who comes to him must one believe that there is a god he's a not only a creator god he's a personal god you can walk with him number two he rewards people you he remunerates you he compensates you he pays you he takes care of you he multiplies back to you he will never owe a man or woman anything and number then and number three those who earnestly seek him listen the problem for a lot of people is you're half-hearted in your service of god i'm not judging you i'm saying when i have somebody who says well i haven't seen any of that stuff and i don't know that that's not been my experience i never have god talk to me and i never have this and i'm like okay stop the music just for a moment are you wholeheartedly serving god with every ounce every inch every fiber of your i'm not asking if you're perfect i'm asking is or does god win every time in your life are you are you wholeheartedly looking to the lord in every decision are you asking god when you lay your head down at night are you asking him lord i pray tonight you would set your hand upon my heart my mind that as i sleep when i get up in the morning i'm ready when you get up in the morning are you saying god before i do anything before my feet touch the ground i am i am needing your help i'm asking you to go before me let me hear your voice let me see with your eyes let me let me be led by you god i just want to walk close to you listen the scripture says this the eyes of the lord range to and fro throughout the earth seeking to strengthen the hearts of those who are what fully committed to him i can't remember who it is i think it's oswald sanders who says every one of us can have as much of god as we want how much do you want this this is not is there's not like a select club and only a select few get to join it because god says i'll take her and i'll take him and her and him and her and now god is looking and god is saying oh there's a person who loves me there's a family devoted to me there's a family listen god is looking and when god sees that god rewards god speaks god talks god blesses epic faith wholeheartedly follows god are you wholeheartedly father i can't think of anything that that would be more beneficial than whether you're single and you go home and say listen i'm going to make and and let's start it this way between now and easter pick a short season and say you know for the next for the next it's less than 30 days but between now and easter i'm going to set my heart on seeking the lord like i never have before i can tell you this in order to do that you're going to have to get get rid of a few things the problem with a lot of people is they're so full of everything else they have no room for god so maybe what you do is you say i'm going to get rid of some of the things that are taking up they're not bad things they're just taking up too much time they're just keeping me from walking with the lord in a way that will draw me closer to the lord and do a first season and watch what happens and see what god does in your life number five epic faith tells others about god enoch told people about the lord because here's the way it works when you when you know how awesome god is the closer you get to god the more you know about god the more you know god can help everybody and god wants to help everybody and everybody ought to know him and you know how wonderful he is and you care about people you want people to go to heaven you don't want them to go to hell and all those things become a reality for you so you tell people about god and one of the things people need to know is there is not only a heaven there is a hell and that if you believe it and i believe it to be completely true we're living in the last days the the return of the lord jesus christ is extremely close some of you are saying well i i remember when i was little they used to say that well guess what we're way closer than when you were little because you are old it's close really close listen to this enoch the seventh from adam prophesied about these men see the lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him you know what's interesting god had told him about the first worldwide judgment and god said guess what enoch after that first worldwide judgment there's going to be another worldwide judgment and enoch preached about it as well he told people about jesus let me ask you this who are you telling about jesus maybe a better question is who aren't you telling because why wouldn't you tell everybody i mean tell people about jesus number six epic faith expectantly watches for the rapture hebrews 11 5. by faith enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death that's amazing he could not be found you know what that tells you people were looking for him like when elijah was taken up into heaven two people in the whole span of human history have not died elijah the prophet a chariot of fire came down and picked him up and elisha his servants saw it happen and then people said we need to go look for elijah maybe somewhere elijah's like no he's he's in heaven and they're like no let us go look and so they go look for three days to come back and say we couldn't find him and elisha is like this is going to be a long ministry but i told you not to do it with enoch we assume the same thing happens he could not be found because god had taken away for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased god look at it again by faith enoch was taken god had taken him for before he was taken that word taken could be translated as transported transferred translated so you could read it this way if you go back to hebrews 11 verse 5 by faith enoch was transported from this life he did not experience death because he could not be found because god had translated him away for before he was transferred he was commended as one who pleased god here's here's the point of that first of all people can walk with god number two god loves to walk with people he he wants to walk with you he wants relationship with you god wants to make your life so rich with his presence that that you see him working all the time in a thousand ways in your life that is not something that's reserved for a select few it's god's heart for everyone there's some of you today and you're living with a whole lot less of god's presence on your life in your home at your business or in your heart then god would desire for you i don't say it to be mean or judgmental i say it because there's so much more for you but you're never going to experience it unless you want it you're never going to have that unless you reach out for it unless you take the steps if you're going to walk with god you've got to start walking with god you know go for a walk only go with god practice his presence think of his presence walk in his presence [Music] sing pray listen think about what you read think about god what should you do when you encounter a difficulty before you before you respond to it pull back and say god help me with this i know you've got a perspective on this give it to me because i need it i'm human i can't understand how to process it any will i mean the third thing about this whole thing is that there's coming a day enoch's a picture of believers because there's coming a day when jesus is going to come and catch us away it's called the rapture of the church it'll happen before he comes to judge the world and it's all over scripture first thessalonians chapter 4 paul says this for the lord himself will come down from heaven with a cloud command with the voice of the archangel with the trumpet call of god and the dead in christ will rise first after that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so will be with the lord forever in other words he's going to come down he's going to take the righteous out of the earth he's going to resurrect the bodies of the righteous dead their spirits are already in heaven we're all going to be up in heaven and he's going to pour out his fury and wrath and judgment on the earth and you don't want to be there but the only way you're going to be raptured is if you're right with the lord jesus himself said in luke chapter 12 listen to this you also must be ready because the son of man will come in an hour when you do not expect him he is coming soon are you ready if the lord comes back this afternoon are you going or are you staying do you know you're right with god do you know that you're a child of god do you know that you've given your heart to the lord [Music] jesus closes the book of revelation it's the revelation of jesus christ and the final revelation of him is this in revelation chapter 22 and verse 12 look i am coming soon bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds i'm the alpha and the omega that's the first letter of the greek alphabet and the last letter of the greek alphabet he says i'm at the beginning and i'm at the end and i'm everywhere in between you can't spell anything in life without me [Music] the first and the last the beginning and the end he is coming and the question is are you ready so there's two categories of people we'll close here there's some of you and you know the lord you're just not walking very close to the lord and i for the life of me can't understand why you would not want to walk as close as you possibly can because i'm telling you he's more wonderful than you can possibly imagine [Music] and then there's others and you're not only not walking close to him you're not walking with him at all and he's coming soon and there's judgment coming on the earth and if you don't know him and you've not started walking with him you will face the fury and the wrath of god like you never imagined it first on planet earth and second in an eternity in hell and god sent you here today or had you watching online today because god wants you to be ready he's warning you he's speaking to you this is a methuselah and enoch moment where god is saying to you listen i'm sending judgment it changed enoch's life the question is will it change yours hey everybody thank you so much for joining james river church on our youtube channel our prayer is that you were encouraged and your faith was strengthened today and we want to let you know that we want to connect with all our online family you can just click the link next to me to connect to us we'd love to meet you and connect with you as well we'd love if you subscribe to the channel and press the bell for notifications i'll tell you what it's a great thing to do because we're always putting out great sermons new worship content and that helps you stay up to date with everything that's happening we hope you have a great day today and we'd love for you to join us live for our services every sunday and wednesday thank you again for watching and god bless

Channel: James River Church

Views: 3,475

Rating: 4.8974357 out of 5

Keywords: church, faith, john lindell sermons, james river church, james river church sermons, sermon, sermons, pastor john lindell, john lindell, epic faith, epic, church online, online church, pleasing god, god, jesus, hebrews, hebrews 11, epic faith pleases god, john, lindell, best sermon, 2021, bible, biblical, online, live, preaching, preacher, what is faith, sermon on faith, sermons on faith, faith in god, having faith, have faith, encouraging, inspirational, james river worship, message, messages

Id: xPIy2VLxAhY

Length: 51min 15sec (3075 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 08 2021