Now we seek the Lord's face once again. Lord God in heaven. To whom can we turn at such a time as this? For thou alone has the words of eternal life. And we pray that thou sustain us by the right hand of thy power. The thankful father for him who holds thee angels, the ministers in his right hand, and we pray that thou be with us now. Bless each head bowed in thy presence and undertake for us in accordance with thy divine will and eternal purpose. For Christ's sake. Amen. It was over half a century ago When I, as a young lad, entered into what was known as the Lancashire Gospel Tent, that had been erected by the brethren assemblies in the area, upon a spur land, piece of spur ground, the town where I lived. And when I went into that Gospel Tent, well, the man was a preacher called Jack Noble. Jack was from Northern Ireland, he'd been out as a missionary, and he'd returned, he was getting on in years. I don't remember much of what he said that night. I didn't feel any great power or unction upon my soul as I left the place, but it was the text that he took that riveted me, that took hold of me, that mesmerized me, and that has challenged me down through the years. And it's that which is found in our reading tonight in Genesis chapter five, where we're clearly and distinctly told that Enoch walked with God. Enoch walked with God. And those words, powerful words, And I thought to myself, well, if he not walk with God, then I can walk with God. That's what I thought. And as I say, those words had a powerful influence upon my mind and life since that very, very day. And I want to take up the theme tonight, a rising note of a reading from Genesis chapter five. This man by name of Enoch. The name Enoch, by the way, means teacher. And his name's mentioned some 14 times in the book of God. In nine separate books, 14 times. But it's a particular trait of his walking with God that I want us to get hold of tonight. And I want to get it fastened upon our mind. We live in a time when our minds are occupied with other things. But though the stars fall from heaven, what a privilege it is for you and I to commence life's road, walking with God. I want to show you first of all the commencement of this man's walk with God, the commencement. You see, The days in which Enoch lived weren't very pleasant days, to say the least. There were days of idolatry. The Genesis account reminds us. We're told there, beloved, that men were given over to gross idolatry. It was a time of unprecedented universal wickedness. Genesis 6, verse 5, the book tells us that the wickedness of men was great upon the face of the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It was a day of compromise amongst the Lord's people when the sons of God entered into a union with the sons of men, a compromise, this mixed marriage situation. But notwithstanding this, we read of a man who stands out like a star of the first magnitude against the blackness of the hour. That man was Enoch. And what made him different from other men was just this simple fact that Enoch walked with God. The commencement of his walk with God. What we know from our reading in Genesis 5, that he was a man who, for the first 65 years of his life, he was without God and he was without hope. There was an enmity within his heart towards the things of God. He was a man who was dead in trespasses and in sin. But one day something happened to this man. It's as if a power was let loose from heaven. A power entered into this man's soul, the likes of which he'd never known before. And he could never, ever be the same again. That was the time when Enoch commenced to walk with God. The passage tells us that he had a son called Methuselah. When Enoch was 65 years old, Methuselah was born. The very name Methuselah simply means, when he is dead, God will send the flood. That's the meaning of this man's son, Methuselah. And it was as if he not saw this, this element of the brevity of life, the superficiality of the things of this life. And he saw this little child, this little bundle of life. Factions were taken up with the child. And I think as he held him in his arms and pressed him towards his bosom, he says, this is my love. This is my all in all under God. And then he said, but what a world he's come into. What does the future hold for this son of mine? And he called him Methuselah because God had told him to do so. And it impressed upon Enoch the fact that when this little one, when he ceased to live and have breath in his body, then God would send the flood. the commencement of this man's walk with the Lord. Oh yes, friend, when he is dead, the flood will come. I want to ask you something tonight. Have you commenced the pathway that leads to walking with God? How is it with your soul tonight? Was there a time in your life when you came face to face with this living God? You see, this man here, that was a time when he forsook his sin. That was the time when he handed his life over to God. That was the time when he commenced a life of communion with God. Because as Amos tells us, how can two walk together except they be agreed? And so the Lord had been speaking with this man and he not responded and he said, Lord, I believe all that you've said. I accept all that you've said. And so it came to pass. He became a new creature and he became a new creature in Christ Jesus because the provision for that transaction, well, it was made before the foundations of the world when God was going to send forth his son. made of a woman made under the law that he might redeem. And so this man here is reconciled to God, is brought into the presence of the divine being, he's 65 years old. That tells me this, you're never too old to commence to walk with God, and you can never be too young to walk with the Lord. The founding minister of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland, a man by the name of W.J. Greer, I knew old Mr. Greer, is now with the Lord. And you know, he once told me, he says, in a moment he said, he said, there was never a time when I didn't have aspirations to walk with God. I can't remember the day or hour when I did not want to walk with God. He couldn't put his finger on the moment of his conversion. But there'd come a time in that man's life, didn't know just when, as a young child, maybe a little babe, I don't know, when God sent forth his power, the power and personality of the Holy Ghost took hold of him and changed his heart, as I often say. Yes, and changed his will. and turned that man's feet to Zion's hill. And so, friend, from that moment on, this man Enoch's no longer walking according to the course of this world or dictated by the lust of the flesh. This man's commenced on a pathway. He's walking with the Lord. Are you walking with God? That's the question. Am I walking with God? Note secondly, the characteristics of one who walks with God. The characteristics. Verse 22, an Enoch walked with God. That tells me something of Enoch's consciousness. He become conscious of the presence and the nearness and the reality of the living God. Walking with God. If I'm walking down the street with someone, conscious that they're with me, conscious that they're by my side and I can look at them and they can look into my face and eyes and I can see them and I can hear them and I can communicate with them. That's how it is, beloved, when a soul begins to walk with God. They're conscious of a presence in the life they've never known before. They're mindful of the nearness of the Lord. This thing's better felt than tellt. Felt than tellt. They're conscious that they're no longer talking to the roof when they're praying. They're talking to the divine being, and he's listening. And they're conscious that he's interested in them, and they're interested in him. Oh yes, they're not like that man in the brethren circles He supposedly got saved one night, saved on a Sunday evening, and then he turned and he said to God, bye-bye, God, I'll see you in heaven. No, that was not the case with this man here. There was a consciousness of the presence of the Lord. And not only was there a consciousness of the reality of the living God, well, others could see it. I once knew a man who worked for the council not far from my hometown, and he mowed the lawns. Mowed the lawns. Men may say he's only a manual worker, but he was more than that. And he'd walk along those lawns on the housing estate, cutting the grass for the council. And somebody said, he's always talking to himself, that fella. He was called Old Sam. He keeps talking to himself, just walking along, mowing, talking. Well, is he off his mind? One day somebody said, Sam, why do you keep talking to yourself? He said, I'm not talking to myself. He said, I'm talking to the Lord. Talking to the Lord. The reality of a man who's walking with God, and he spoke to the Lord, and such was the reality that the Lord spoke to him. And not only was there this consciousness of God in his walk, it suggests the thought here of a continuousness in the walk. When it says in verse 22, he not walked with God, that Hebrew word means he walked habitually with God. It wasn't a one-off thing. It wasn't something he did every six months or every few months. You know, one minute he's walking with God, next minute he's not. It means the habitual characteristic of his life. was marked by this element that this man, Enoch, thank God, is walking with the Lord. Walking with the Lord. I'm asking you tonight, not when were you converted. I'm asking you, when did you commence to walk with God? And you say, well, it was such a time. Well, let me ask you another question. Are you continuing to walk with the Lord? You see, many can commence to walk with God, then they become lukewarm, or they become cold, and they become apathetic, or they become indifferent. You remember what Paul said to the son of Galatia? He said, you did run well, what did hinder you? What's hindered you from walking with God as you once did in those early days? And many are like, Lot himself, he began to cease to walk with God to a big degree because of his wife and because of his family and because of a place called Sodom where he should never have been in. Many like Demas, Paul says, he was a fellow laborer of mine. He was a preacher. He said, but he's gone back into the world. He's forsaken me. Having loved this present world, he's no longer walking with God. And I can tell you preachers tonight, you can preach well. but they're no longer walking with God. In fact, not even going to church some of them. That's how bad it becomes. This man continued, friends, to walk with the Lord. Now, you may say, well, it's okay for you saying this, but you know, my situation is a difficult one. The people at work are so sinful. They were sinful on Enoch's day. The wickedness was unprecedented. The powers of hell had been let loose upon society. Yet Enoch walked with God. Maybe you say, but I'm a family man here tonight, and I've got a family to think about. I can't be living in this walking with God day by day. I've got to think about my family. Enoch was a family man, just as you and I are, yet the book says Enoch walked with God. And no wonder the apostle says in Colossians, he says, as you've received the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, walk ye in him. Some men walk behind the Lord, like Peter when he denied Christ. Some men walk in front of the Lord instead of waiting for the Lord, like Moses, when he murdered a man. He thought this is the time I'm going to become a prominent figure in Israel. and he ended up murdering a man. We neither walk behind the Lord and lag behind like lost wife, he lingered, or like the man Moses. Of course, that wasn't characteristic of his life, it was a one-off. But this man continued, you see. This man, though he had family responsibilities, he continued to walk with the Lord. And that's what the Lord requires of you and I. We don't want fair-weather Christians, people who are big talkers and they seem to be so enthusiastic and full of zeal. And a month later, they're no where with God. No where with God. You'd never think for a minute there were a time when they commenced to walk with the Lord. We sometimes sing a hymn in Blackburn. Once I thought I walked with Jesus. All such changeful moods I had, sometimes doubting, sometimes joyful, and he says sometimes sad. Friend, we need to be walking with the Lord day by day like this man is walk, characterized by this continuous element. It wasn't just a one-off thing and something else about this man's walk. I think it was a consistent walk. was it like some believers, they put their Sunday clothes on on a Sunday morning, and they take them off on the Sunday evening, and that's the beginning of it for them for a week, you see? Yes, friend. Some people are like angels in the house of God, and they become like devils in the home. There are others, beloved, that seem to be so godly in the church. But in their place of employment, nobody even knows that they're a Christian people. But this man here, he wasn't an inconsistent professor, no sir. He was a man who literally walked with the Lord. And then I tell you, mother, he was a man whose walk was separated from that which marks an unregenerate man. He sought to live a life that was separate from the things of this world. It says in Genesis chapter 6 verse 2, the sons of men saw that the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of them. But not so with Enoch. Enoch was a man who walked with God. He was a man, beloved, who separated himself from all wilderness. And if there were any sin that rose up in his life, he would deal with it immediately. Immediately. So that if you looked at Enoch, and you were looking through the window of your home and you saw Enoch walk by, as the woman of Shunem saw Elisha the prophet walk by. You remember what she said of him? She said, I perceive that he is a holy man of God. And because he looked at Enoch, he's a man who's walking with the Lord, he's a holy man, he's a godly man, he's a gracious man. Because only holy men can walk with God. You say, how do you know that? Because I read in the Bible. That's how I know it. I read this book. I don't need to read anything else. Because my Bible says in Psalm 24, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands. Yes, and he's not giving himself over to iniquity. This is the man who can walk with God. So we're looking at this man Enoch. He's a man who sought to walk with God. and his walk was progressive, progressive. I think as you looked at the life of this man in that text in Genesis 5, underline the word walked, walked. I think that speaks of a progression. If I'm walking, I have a definite aim in view and I'm making progress as I go down the road and I'm getting nearer and closer to my goal. And I think each year, This man's faith grew from strength to strength, until like Abraham, he was no longer staggering because of unbelief at the promises of God, but he became strong in faith, giving glory to the Lord. He was a man, you see, month by month, his love towards God was drawn out after himself until he could say with Asaph, who am I in heaven but thee? And there's none upon the earth that I desire beside thee, panting and longing after the Lord. And I think each week his knowledge of God increased until he could say with Paul and the Philippians that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. Because the more I get to know the Lord, the more I want to know about the Lord. And each day, he became a holier man. It's sad sometimes when we're confessing the same sin every day, or every week, or every month, and at the furthest, it's the same thing. We're confessing this victory in Christ. There's no perfection. But Enoch strived to overcome the loss of the flesh. He was only a man of light passions, with you and I, but he made progress in the life of holiness and in the life of true, true godliness. Oh yes, this was the man, the man who walked with God. Now I don't want to live with a point tonight because the time's going on and it's nine o'clock now. Well, it's not quite nine o'clock and I know the hour's changed. What about this man? the consequences of his walk with God. Why should I walk with the Lord? I could give you many answers to that question. But this man, because he walked with God, number one, he was able to witness for the Lord, to witness. You remember what you read in Jude 14 and 15? Enoch prophesied saying, behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all. But this man backed up his preaching and his ministry with his life. And so he was able to testify to God and to others. And when our life does not Back up our words, we're better keeping our mouths shut. Yes, first of all, the consequence of this is able to witness to others. Tell them about the Savior. What a wonderful thing it is to talk to people about the Lord Jesus. And sometimes in our reformed circles, we can papoo some of these things and think they're childish and they're just, there's not much depth and so on and all the rest of it. But I'll tell you something, Zola, Those who do not witness for Christ, God will not testify for them. If you're ashamed of him, ashamed of the Lord, it's a powerful thing to be able to speak to others of the Savior. It's wonderful. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, by the way, he said, I read him some time ago. I've been reading him for over many, many years. He said, most people are converted not under the preaching, but through the testimony of other believers. I thought that's powerful, isn't it? The testimony. Where's our zeal gone for personal evangelism? What's happened to us? Why are we not witnessing as we ought to do and having an impact upon others as we ought to have? I'll tell you why, one reason. One main reason, we're no longer walking with God. And all we can offer is a word or a text whereby we should be able to introduce men into the presence and into the reality of the living God. And so this man, because of his walk with God, he was able to witness for God. And because of his walk with God, he was able to please the Lord. You remember the passage in Hebrews 11. He had this testimony that he pleased God. This testimony, that's a powerful testimony, isn't it? If God should speak tonight over the battlements of glory and speak into our meeting just now, And he should say, Norman, you're pleasing me. If he could say, Ali, you're pleasing me, I'm pleased with you. Is the Lord pleased with us tonight? I know what I accepted in the beloved. I know we have the righteousness of Christ put to our account. I know that we're complete in him. But there's another side to the coin. He had this testimony that he pleased God. And I need to develop a sermon around that theme. For Blackburn, just pleasing the Lord. He was walking by faith and not by sight. Because without faith, it's impossible to please him. It's impossible. Just to trust him, brother. Just to confide in him. Just to take him at his word. Just to lean upon him. He'll never let us down. He says, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He had this testimony, you see, that he pleased the Lord. And I'll be pleasing to the Lord if I'm seeking to walk with him and seeking to set the affections upon his own dear son. And then another thing about this man, his consequence of walking with God, he had fellowship with God. fellowship with God. That which we have seen and heard, declare I unto you, John said in his epistle. We've seen him, we've heard him. There's a difference between a man talking about someone who you don't know and talking about someone who you do know. I once went into a full-time Christian worker's home. I don't know whether I've said this before, And I read those words from John's epistle, that which we have seen and heard, declare I unto you. I said, have you seen the Lord today? I've had a visit today this morning from the Lord. Have you heard his voice? Have you seen his face? What a lovely face it is to look into the face of the only begotten Son. When Saul of Tarsus saw that face, his life was completely transformed. He saw the glory of God. streaming down from the face of the Redeemer. I said, have you had a visit, have you seen him, a fellowship with him today? I said, I don't mean just saying your prayers, you may as well just say your beads. But have you seen the Lord and heard from the Lord? And when I left the house, he spread it about in that particular community that I was at in my mind. I was asking people, have they seen the Lord? Well, you know what I am saying, don't you? You'll understand this. Doesn't John tell us in that epistle, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. God has fellowship with me. He says in the Song of Solomon, let me see thy face, let me hear thy voice. That's the Lord speaking to us. And the Lord delights to see my face. My wife, I don't know whether she always likes to see me, but the Lord always delights to see me. Loves to see my voice and hear my voice and see my face. It's lovely. And better still, it's lovely when I see his face and hear his voice. And when that happens, especially in the meeting, I'll be shouting glory. I'll be shouting glory. It's a powerful man. I was reading Psalm 29 the other day, verse nine, and the latter part of it, in God's house, it says, in the temple, they shall shout glory. Can't restrain themselves, not worked up into a frenzy by some band, but the reality of the soul. And so when we walk with God, we have fellowship with God. And so it was with this man. And I want to just come to the last thing, the culmination of this man's walk. One day, Enoch had been walking with the Lord. And I think he'd been walking for some considerable time that day. The Lord by his side, they were having a conversation together, because the Lord delights to dwell with his people. That's why he gave them the mandate to build this tabernacle, you remember, in the wilderness, that I may dwell among them. That's why there were temples of the Holy Ghost. He's taken up His residence within us because He loves us. No one ever loved you, brother, like the Lord Jesus. No one ever loved me like the Son of God. And I'm telling you, if you're not converted tonight, Jesus loves you. And He died for sinners like you. And He desires that if you come to Him, the only place you can meet with God, He says, there at the mercy seat, I will meet with thee, and that mercy seat is the blood-sprinkled pathway that leads us up to Calvary, and where is she, that blessed one who was wounded for our transgressions? And so Enoch, he knows the Lord now, and he's walking with the Lord one day, and the book tells us here, one day the Lord said to Enoch, You've walked a long way with me today. Why don't you come home? Come home. And so it says, he and it was not, because he was translated. God took him home, didn't he? That's lovely, that, isn't it? The Lord took him home. One day the Lord will take us home. Yes. And you know, it's very interesting to know this man, Enoch, They went out, remember, to find Enoch. Where's Enoch gone? It says he was not found in the account of Hebrews. They couldn't find him. Why were they looking for Enoch? I'll tell you why they were looking for Enoch. Because they missed him, brother. They missed him. They missed him. They missed that man. They said, oh, Enoch, where's Enoch gone? I miss his presence. I miss his company. We miss him. And friend, we should so live that when we die, will be missed. People say, what's so good I can hear my father's prayers? What's so good I can sit at my mother's knee and hear the stories of Jesus? Wonderful, friend. It's a wonderful thing to walk with God. Well, God took him that day and he went home to glory. He was one of the only two people mentioned in the Old Testament who didn't die. but he was taken straight to heaven. And that tells me of the reality of heaven. He's there in heaven tonight, and when we see him, we'll have a good talk with him, won't we? But best of all, we'll be looking at the Savior. And we'll talk it over together, by and by, when we meet together with the Savior in the sky. What a wonderful thing it is. God wants us to walk with him. wants me to walk, I've got to get back to walking with the Lord. You know, you can backslide and you can get away and lose it, you know, you know that. But the great doctrine of the scripture is this, God's a God of new beginnings. And you can begin afresh, you're beginning afresh, I hope, the next weekend. Beginning afresh, to do what? To walk with the Lord. If we've not got that, we've got nothing. If we have that, what more do we need? Walking with the Lord. And one day, as you have it in the book of the Revelation, we will walk with Him in robes of white. Thank God He wants our company. Thank God He loves us. Thank God He says, come, start tonight. If you're not saved tonight, start tonight. Say, Lord, I want to start tonight with this walk. Though I can't tell you, words cannot describe, a pen is not adequate to portray how wonderful it is to be walking with Jesus day by day, moment by moment, and to be kept in His love. Amen.