Bible Text: Gen. 5:21\u201324; Hebr.11:5 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Peter In\u00e4b\u00adnit | Series: Like you and me | \u00abAnd Enoch wal\u00adked with God\u00bb (Gen. 5:22). It is vital that we walk with God. This means that we walk through life belie\u00adving and in uni\u00adon with God. The very best thing we can do in life is to accept Jesus into our lives and ask and seek His will. So let us walk with God.<\/p>\n
Enoch is one of the bet\u00adter known per\u00adsons in the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment. This is becau\u00adse, tog\u00ade\u00adther with Eli\u00adjah, he was the only one who did not have to die. He was caught up to hea\u00adven at the age of 365. Enoch does not occu\u00adpy a lar\u00adge space in the Bible. But what is repor\u00adted about him is of the grea\u00adtest inte\u00adrest! The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, it is valuable to take a clo\u00adser look at the short descrip\u00adti\u00adon of Enoch\u2019s life from the pen of God. \u00abEnoch was 65 years old and begat Metus\u00adhe\u00adlah. And Enoch wal\u00adked with God. And after he begat Metus\u00adhe\u00adlah, he lived 300 years, and begat sons and daugh\u00adters, that his who\u00adle age was 365 years. And becau\u00adse he wal\u00adked with God, God took him away, and he was seen no more\u00bb (Gene\u00adsis 5:21\u201324 Lut.). Here is what we know about Enoch: Enoch was mar\u00adried. We also know that this uni\u00adon pro\u00addu\u00adced Metus\u00adhe\u00adlah and other sons and daugh\u00adters (Gen. 5:21\/22). In what kind of time did Enoch live? We read in Gen 6:5\u20136 Lut. \u00abThe LORD<\/span> saw that the wicked\u00adness of men was gre\u00adat in the earth, and that all the thoughts and actions of their hearts were evil for ever. Then the LORD<\/span> rep\u00aden\u00adted that he had made man on the earth, and it grie\u00adved him in his heart\u00bb. This was fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by the Flood. Only Noah and his fami\u00adly sur\u00advi\u00adved. While from gene\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon to gene\u00adra\u00adti\u00adon peo\u00adp\u00adle tur\u00adned away from God more and more, the Bible high\u00adlights Enoch with the\u00adse words: \u00abAnd Enoch wal\u00adked with God. And becau\u00adse he wal\u00adked with God, God took him away, and he was seen no more.\u00bb Becau\u00adse Enoch wal\u00adked with God, he found spe\u00adcial stan\u00adding with God. What does \u00abwal\u00adking with God\u00bb mean? Let us look at this a litt\u00adle more clo\u00adse\u00adly this mor\u00adning. How can we walk with God and what does that mean for our lives? Bible Text: Gen. 5:21\u201324; Hebr.11:5 | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Peter In\u00e4b\u00adnit | Series: Like you and me | \u00abAnd Enoch wal\u00adked with God\u00bb (Gen. 5:22). It is vital that we walk with God. This means that we walk through life belie\u00adving and in uni\u00adon with God. The very best we can do in life.\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[40],"wpfc_sermon_series":[63],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-peter-inaebnit","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-wie-du-und-ich","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-2654","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"hentry","10":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nThe Hebrew word for \u00abwalk\u00bb lite\u00adral\u00adly means \u00abto walk or stroll or even to live\u00bb. So Enoch wal\u00adked or strol\u00adled through life with God. He lived with God. That indi\u00adca\u00adtes a rela\u00adti\u00adonship! But the word has a spe\u00adcial mea\u00adning in Hebrew. Usual\u00adly this word is used for a cer\u00adtain life\u00adstyle. Halak = to walk or also live in a cer\u00adtain life\u00adstyle. Exam\u00adp\u00adle: Halak com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble, Halak hap\u00adpy, Halak rich, Halak vegan, Halak sport etc. So Enoch lived a life\u00adstyle accor\u00adding to God, accor\u00adding to God\u2019s will. At a time when peo\u00adp\u00adle were asking less and less about God and evil was gai\u00adning the upper hand, Enoch appar\u00adent\u00adly lived a very dif\u00adfe\u00adrent life\u00adstyle. I am firm\u00adly con\u00advin\u00adced that the\u00adre is a need for many Enochs today, and I wish that we too could set out today into a new Halak, into a new life\u00adstyle, into a walk with God.
\nHow then can we walk with God?
\nIn Psalm 1 we also read of a Halak. \u00abBles\u00adsed is he that walketh not in the coun\u00adsel of the wicked, nor trea\u00addeth in the way of sin\u00adners, nor sit\u00adteth in the seat of scof\u00adfers; but deligh\u00adteth in the law of the LORD<\/span>, and pon\u00adder\u00adeth his law day and night\u00bb. (Ps 1:1\u20132 Lut.) Here it beco\u00admes clear that wal\u00adking has a lot to do with our life\u00adstyle. We should not sim\u00adply live like the peo\u00adp\u00adle around us who do not know God. We should not sim\u00adply imi\u00adta\u00adte their life\u00adstyle, but we should rejoice in the law of the Lord and ori\u00adent our\u00adsel\u00adves to it. This is to shape our life\u00adstyle. The word for law here is Torah and stands for the Holy Scrip\u00adtu\u00adre of that time, the Bible. Today I under\u00adstand this word as the who\u00adle Bible. In it we learn a lot about God\u2019s love, but we also learn about his will and his inten\u00adti\u00adons for our lives. Only with this know\u00adledge can we walk like Enoch. This leads me to the first point of how we can walk with God:
\n1. read the bible
\nFor Chris\u00adti\u00adans, the Bible is the Word of God. It can give us pre\u00adcise ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions for the direc\u00adtion of our lives. We can get a good pic\u00adtu\u00adre of what God desi\u00adres and expects from huma\u00adni\u00adty based on the Bible. By rea\u00adding the Bible, we can prac\u00adti\u00adse a life\u00adstyle accor\u00adding to God\u2019s will! A tho\u00adrough under\u00adstan\u00adding of the Bible will help us to know what is right and wrong and to avo\u00adid wrong decis\u00adi\u00adons (exam\u00adp\u00adle tax return). The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre, it is important that we read the Bible dai\u00adly and let our\u00adsel\u00adves be gui\u00added by God\u2019s Word. And that brings us to the second point that I am sure Enoch took to heart:
\n2. do not get distracted
\nWhen we go for a walk with someone, we both go in the same direc\u00adtion. We keep a simi\u00adlar pace. We talk to each other and focus our atten\u00adti\u00adon on each other. In short; the\u00adre is harm\u00ado\u00adny bet\u00adween us and we are a unit and a com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty during the walk. So often, howe\u00adver, we get dis\u00adtrac\u00adted. In order to prac\u00adti\u00adse a life\u00adstyle accor\u00adding to God\u2019s will, we may need to let go of things that dis\u00adtract us from our rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God. The\u00adse dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions can be sins, or things that we con\u00adscious\u00adly or uncon\u00adscious\u00adly put abo\u00adve God. Remem\u00adber: many things, even very many things, shape our life\u00adstyle! \u00abFor who\u00adse heart is full, his mouth over\u00adflows\u00bb (Mat. 12:34). Let us ima\u00adgi\u00adne a walk with a fri\u00adend. If he is busy with his mobi\u00adle pho\u00adne the who\u00adle time ins\u00adtead of tal\u00adking to me, the walk would not be very plea\u00adsant to the point of being dis\u00adcordant. So if we focus on dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions ins\u00adtead of God, this will pre\u00advent us from tru\u00adly wal\u00adking with God, and lear\u00adning from Him! And even things that are bene\u00adfi\u00adci\u00adal can beco\u00adme harmful dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions if we are not careful. For exam\u00adp\u00adle, it is a good thing to work and earn money to feed our fami\u00adly. Howe\u00adver, if we beco\u00adme obses\u00adsed with work and making money, and negle\u00adct our fami\u00adly and our rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God, we have allo\u00adwed this to beco\u00adme a sin\u00adful dis\u00adtrac\u00adtion. Matthew 6:33 says, \u00abSeek first the king\u00addom of God and his righ\u00adteous\u00adness, and all the\u00adse things will be added to you.\u00bb One hundred per\u00adcent, the next point was as important to Enoch as it is to us:
\n3. pray and be still
\nPray\u00ader allows us to be in per\u00adso\u00adnal con\u00adnec\u00adtion with God. Pray\u00aders of thanks\u00adgi\u00adving, prai\u00adse and sup\u00adpli\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon all have their place. The most important thing is that we pray from the bot\u00adtom of our hearts. Let us think about our beha\u00adviour when we are out in natu\u00adre with someone. The\u00adre is tal\u00adking, laug\u00adhing and also crying tog\u00ade\u00adther. Some\u00adti\u00admes we also walk in silence next to each other. Lis\u00adtening and respon\u00adding to each other deepens the rela\u00adti\u00adonship or con\u00adnec\u00adtion with the other per\u00adson. It is the same with pray\u00ader: We can talk, laugh and cry with God at any time and in any place. Sim\u00adply being quiet and coming befo\u00adre God in this way is also pray\u00ader. Let us take ple\u00adnty of time for pray\u00ader and to ask God for his way for our lives. As in Psalm 46:11: \u00abBe still and know that I am God\u00bb. Prac\u00adti\u00adsing this life\u00adstyle is often a chall\u00adenge in our busy times. Coming from silence and pray\u00ader, the 4th point was also easier for Enoch:
\n4. be a doer of the word
\nJames 1:22 \u00abBut be doers of the word, and not hea\u00adrers only.\u00bb So, in order to walk with God, we must beco\u00adme doers. In prac\u00adti\u00adcal terms, this means we must obey the bibli\u00adcal ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions, the com\u00admandments of God, which God has made available to all man\u00adkind. Only then can our walk be reflec\u00adted in good moral beha\u00adviour. Alt\u00adhough some of the\u00adse com\u00admandments invol\u00adve rest\u00adric\u00adtions for us humans in our dai\u00adly lives, they are meant to pro\u00adtect huma\u00adni\u00adty and to stay spi\u00adri\u00adtual\u00adly con\u00adnec\u00adted to God. We also honour God with our obe\u00addience. Enoch obvious\u00adly hono\u00adu\u00adred God with his life\u00adstyle. What does that look like for us? Often the ver\u00adse from Matt. 26:41 \u00abThe spi\u00adrit is wil\u00adling but the fle\u00adsh is weak!!!\u00bb pro\u00adves true in our lives. Even though we want to \u2013 we don\u2019t make it. Befo\u00adre Jesus went to hea\u00adven, he pro\u00admi\u00adsed tho\u00adse left behind that he would send them a hel\u00adper and com\u00adfort\u00ader \u2013 the Holy Spi\u00adrit. Let us allow our\u00adsel\u00adves to be gui\u00added by this gift \u2013 the Holy Spi\u00adrit. He wants to gui\u00adde us on good paths so that we, as bles\u00adsed ones, are a bles\u00adsing to our neigh\u00adbours. Point 5 also beca\u00adme an enrich\u00adment for Enoch:
\n5. walk with others who are on the same path
\nIt is very important that we fel\u00adlow\u00adship with fel\u00adlow Chris\u00adti\u00adans in and out\u00adside the church. Solo Chris\u00adti\u00adans cer\u00adtain\u00adly live dan\u00adge\u00adrous\u00adly. Alo\u00adne, one is rather defen\u00adce\u00adl\u00adess against dis\u00adtrac\u00adtions. But tog\u00ade\u00adther we can be the\u00adre for each other, encou\u00adra\u00adge each other and move for\u00adward in faith tog\u00ade\u00adther. Tog\u00ade\u00adther we are strong. The small groups in our con\u00adgre\u00adga\u00adti\u00adon also ser\u00adve to help us prac\u00adti\u00adse fel\u00adlow\u00adship. In spi\u00adte of ever\u00ady\u00adthing, Enoch also beca\u00adme tired and despera\u00adte\u00adly nee\u00added point 6:
\n6. don\u2019t give up!
\nNo mat\u00adter how many times we stumb\u00adle or fall, we have to get up again and keep going. God will not turn us away, even if we stray from the path for a short time. Fall down, get up, straigh\u00adten the crown, keep wal\u00adking. The Bible is full of such peo\u00adp\u00adle. For exam\u00adp\u00adle, David in the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment fell down by com\u00admit\u00adting adul\u00adtery, Peter denied Jesus three times, all the disci\u00adples left Jesus when he was taken cap\u00adti\u00adve, etc., etc. But the\u00adse men, by the grace of God, were allo\u00adwed to get up, straigh\u00adten their crowns and walk on. The\u00adre is not\u00adhing that can sepa\u00adra\u00adte us from the love of God and the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre the\u00adre is no reason to ever give up.
\nWhat does \u00abwal\u00adking with God\u00bb mean for our lives?
\nLet us return to Enoch. \u00abAnd becau\u00adse he wal\u00adked with God, God took him away, and he was seen no more\u00bb. This descrip\u00adti\u00adon is fan\u00adta\u00adstic. It is writ\u00adten of all the peo\u00adp\u00adle in the Bible that they died. Of Enoch it says that he was no more, he was sim\u00adply not found becau\u00adse God took him away. The text does not expli\u00adcit\u00adly say that Enoch did not die, but it is inter\u00adpre\u00adted that way by many. And this inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon is con\u00adfirm\u00aded in the NT<\/span>: \u00abBy faith Enoch was caught up, that he might not see death, and was found no more, becau\u00adse God had caught him up; for befo\u00adre he was caught up it was testi\u00adfied to him that he had plea\u00adsed God.\u00bb
\n(Hebrews 11:5). Isn\u2019t the image of Enoch beau\u00adtiful and roman\u00adtic? So it is worth wal\u00adking with God. Mean\u00adwhile, we can ima\u00adgi\u00adne a very clo\u00adse rela\u00adti\u00adonship bet\u00adween God and Enoch. Cer\u00adtain\u00adly Enoch desi\u00adred not\u00adhing but to walk with God and to be plea\u00adsing to Him. Sin\u00adgle-min\u00addedly, Enoch was only inte\u00adres\u00adted in doing the will of God. Is it jus\u00adti\u00adfia\u00adble to ask whe\u00adther Enoch was sin\u00adless? Jus\u00adti\u00adfied, yes, but Enoch was also a sin\u00adner like you and me. But he lived enti\u00adre\u00adly by the grace of God and held fast to faith in God. He trus\u00adted that God for\u00adga\u00adve him. Enoch lived a rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God that I wish for my life! Wal\u00adking with God is wort\u00adhwhile. We will expe\u00adri\u00adence God and grow in our rela\u00adti\u00adonship with Him, now and for all eter\u00adni\u00adty! But, wal\u00adking with God does not mean that ever\u00ady\u00adthing will just go won\u00adderful\u00adly. Now I want to cut back a litt\u00adle on the roman\u00adti\u00adcism of Enoch\u2019s life. The text its\u00adelf gives us important clues that we tend to negle\u00adct becau\u00adse they don\u2019t fit the roman\u00adtic pic\u00adtu\u00adre we want. Let\u2019s look a litt\u00adle clo\u00adser at the ages of the ten gene\u00adra\u00adti\u00adons from Adam to Noah. Adam, 930 years old, Set 912, Eno\u00adsh 905, Ken\u00adan 910, Maha\u00adla\u00adlel 895, Jered 962, Enoch 365, Metus\u00adhe\u00adlach 969, Lamech 777, and Noah 950 years old. Wait a minu\u00adte. Enoch lived just over a third of the life of his son Metus\u00adhe\u00adlach. Enoch lived by far the shor\u00adtest. This is con\u00adtra\u00adry to what we think. Becau\u00adse we think that if someone lives with God, and God is well plea\u00adsed with him, then he will sure\u00adly live long. Then God will sure\u00adly see to it that he has money, suc\u00adcess and a long life (pro\u00adspe\u00adri\u00adty gos\u00adpel). The life of Enoch shows that wal\u00adking with God is free from any cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon. He lived much less than anyo\u00adne else. How can this be explai\u00adned? It is writ\u00adten of all the others that they lived, and then that they died after so and so many years. Enoch had a com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent ori\u00aden\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon. He is the only one, it is writ\u00adten, who not only lived but also wal\u00adked with God. Again, Enoch wal\u00adked with God. For him, life was not a means to satis\u00adfy his own desi\u00adres, or to get his way, or to suc\u00adceed. Enoch wal\u00adked with God, had his life\u00adstyle ali\u00adgned with God\u2019s stan\u00addards. He only wan\u00adted to do God\u2019s will. What about us in this regard? Are we hun\u00adgry to seek God\u2019s will and to do it? To what ext\u00adent am I pre\u00adpared to pay a pri\u00adce? The\u00adse are ques\u00adti\u00adons that should real\u00adly con\u00adcern us. And as men\u00adtio\u00adned at the begin\u00adning, the text sug\u00adgests to us that Enoch was the only one who wal\u00adked with God, who was plea\u00adsing to God and wan\u00adted to do God\u2019s will. Let us ima\u00adgi\u00adne the oppo\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adon. After all, he lived just befo\u00adre the Flood, in a time of inju\u00ads\u00adti\u00adce, wicked\u00adness, explo\u00adita\u00adti\u00adon, fal\u00adse wit\u00adness, lies, vio\u00adlence and mur\u00adder. Not much dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from today! And just the\u00adre stands Enoch with a firm faith in God. Cer\u00adtain\u00adly he did not let hims\u00adelf be brought down by ridi\u00adcu\u00adle, by insults and by humi\u00adlia\u00adti\u00adon. We all know how uncom\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble it can be to think or be dif\u00adfe\u00adrent from the mas\u00adses. Enoch cared more about what God thought about him than what peo\u00adp\u00adle thought about him.
\nDear con\u00adgre\u00adga\u00adti\u00adon, I would like to encou\u00adra\u00adge us all. We live in an inse\u00adcu\u00adre world. Vio\u00adlence and inju\u00ads\u00adti\u00adce pre\u00advail on both the lar\u00adge and small sca\u00adles. Wal\u00adking with God, today as then, is not a pony farm. Others, inde\u00aded many others, have wal\u00adked this jour\u00adney of faith faithful\u00adly befo\u00adre us. And we have Jesus Christ to streng\u00adthen and help us, who died for us. Every now and then things come upon us that force us to choo\u00adse faith. Per\u00adhaps when we say in our cir\u00adcle of fri\u00adends that we belie\u00adve in God, we may be laug\u00adhed at or ost\u00adra\u00adcis\u00aded. Per\u00adhaps, if we say we are a Chris\u00adti\u00adan at work, we may expe\u00adri\u00adence dis\u00adad\u00advan\u00adta\u00adges. Or may\u00adbe, if we want to be honest and sin\u00adce\u00adre, while ever\u00adyo\u00adne else is chea\u00adting, we get strong reac\u00adtions. What mat\u00adters more, what others think about us or what God thinks about us? The very best thing we can do in life is to accept Jesus into our lives and ask and seek His will. So let us walk with God.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"