In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a little boy who prays loudly for a bike, unaware that his grandfather is sleeping nearby. The preacher then emphasizes the importance of walking worthily in the Christian life, referencing Ephesians 4:1. He explains that walking worthily involves aligning our lives with God's will and priorities. The preacher also discusses the different positions in walking with God, including walking behind God as a faithful servant and walking before God as a trusting child. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of walking lovingly, as Christ loved us and sacrificed Himself for us.

Very short text this morning. I was hoping it would be a short sermon, maybe. Genesis 5 and 24. Genesis the 5th chapter, the 24th verse. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not. Right here in the dawn of time, in the commencement of human history, we have this very brief biography of a man of God. This biography has three chapters, and the subject is Enoch, the son of Jared. Chapter 1 is Enoch's progression, Enoch walked. Chapter 2 is Enoch's position, Enoch walked with God. And chapter 3 is Enoch's promotion, and he was not, for God took him. Just three brief chapters, but they contain so much. As you look into the word of God, and the Spirit of God begins to speak to you from them, they contain so much. Enoch's progression, Enoch walked, as a figure of speech, the Bible has a lot to say about walking. Because along with the idea of progression, in walking there is a suggestion of action, of direction and destination. Usually if a man is walking, he is evidently going somewhere. And so in the Bible, the word walk and walking refers to the believer's conduct, to what he does, to what he says, to the way he lives. And this conduct reveals his true character, or else he is living a lie, he's a hypocrite. When a man lives like this, when his character is not being expressed in reality through his conduct, then somehow you can't hear what he is saying, or see what he is doing, for listening to what he is. Character must be behind conduct, otherwise he does not honor God, he does not bring glory to God. And when you think of some of the ways in which the Bible speaks about walking, and the believer's walk, it is very enlightening indeed. How should we walk? What does the Bible say about this? Well, first of all, we should walk trustingly. We should walk trustingly. That's 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7. For we walk by faith, and not by sight. The believer does not walk according to what he sees physically, or what he can think about and reason mentally, but he walks according to the revelation of God by his spirit, which is given to him personally in the word of God. And these standards are set, and they never alter, they never vary. Conditions and circumstances change, and people change, but the principles of God's word remains unchanged and unaltered. You know, we often hear it said that faith without works is dead, and it's quite true, it's scriptural, it's in the Bible. But unfortunately there are some very loose interpretations of this verse, and what these works really mean. What the apostle is saying is simply this. Unless faith is active, it is meaningless, it is dead, it is dormant, it is of no use. Faith without works is dead. It lacks vitality, it lacks meaning and purpose. I remember some years ago listening to Reverend Lionel Fletcher in Melbourne. He was addressing a huge congregation of young people, and he told them this story. It seems that he had been staying with his married daughter, with the family there. And in the house the little boy was soon to celebrate his birthday, and he was very keen to have a bike for his birthday. He'd asked his mum, and mum said, I'm sorry, I can't do anything about it, you'd better pray about it. So he'd been praying, and then grandpa came to stay with him. Now grandpa's bedroom was next door to his. So on this particular night he asked permission to say his prayers upstairs, rather than downstairs under his mother's guidance. So his mother said, yes, that's all right. In the course of time Lionel Fletcher retired to rest. And then the little boy put his plan into action. He began to pray at the top of his voice. Lord, you know I need that bike. Lord, just send me that bike. Lord, I must have that bike, you know, for my birthday, Lord. His mother came to the foot of the stairs and called up to him. Don't shout so loud. After all, you know, God isn't dead. No, I know God isn't dead, but grandpa is. Very true, faith without hints is dead. Well, we have to walk trusting. That's what we are told, walk by faith and not by sight. And then as we have heard this morning, we have to walk worthy. Ephesians 4 and verse 1, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that he walk worthy of occasion wherewith ye are called. The word worthy comes from axios, which is an adverb meaning corresponding to something, balance with something. And so in your Christian life they are possibly saying we are to balance things, live a balanced kind of life, walk in a balanced way, a balanced precept with practice, for instance. There are some movements which are long on experience and short on doctrine. They are always talking about what the Lord has done for them, the mighty revelations they have received, and so on and so on. They stress the liberty of the Spirit and the danger there is that they will end in becoming fanatical. There are others who are long on teaching and short on living. It's always the Word, the Word, the Word, the Word. They have no time for the Spirit, but the Word, the Word, the Word. They stress the authority of the Word and they become evil. It's very sad when you meet people like this who are always talking about what the Bible teaches, but is so far removed from their own life and experience. I think the worst thing about people like this is those who are always heresy hunting. They are forever stressing the negative. They are looking for things that they can condemn. When they find them, they really go to town on these things which they believe to be wrong. It reminds me of an old fellow in the village where I was born in Wales. He was a poacher. Everybody knew this, even the priests. For many years he had been pursuing this poaching business. In the course of time, the dog that he had been using had grown very tired and very old. The result was that when he took him out on this poaching work, the dog would enter into it with great zeal and enthusiasm, and he would raise this rabbit and raise that one and get them really running, and he would chase after them and lose them every one. In the end, in sheer frustration, he would sit down and bark at the moon. There are so many like this in the Christian life. They are looking for things to condemn. They are chasing after heresies and wrong things, and in the end, in sheer frustration, they sit down and bark at the moon, it seems to me. No, this isn't the way to walk. Walk worthily. Balance one thing with another and see that your life is consistent. And then walk lovingly, says the Apostle. Ephesians 5 verse 2, this is one which was missed in our reading. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God. As we heard Pastor Paul speaking some time ago about love and telling us that there was a taking love, and there was a giving and taking love, and there was a giving love. Well, this is the giving love, divine love. And this love is to saturate the personality, not merely flavor it, but really get down deep into the inmost places of our heart. When it gets there, it will do things. Our conduct will be effective, and the way we walk will be evident. And then walk victoriously. That's Galatians 5 and 16. This I say, then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit. Lead the life of the Spirit. For the choice is yours and mine. What kind of a life will this be? It will be the exact opposite of what is selfish, and carnal, and lustful. It will be victorious living, victorious walking, walking in freedom and in liberty. For then ye will know the life of victory over all conscious sinning. Not sinless perfection, but Christian perfection. Not a state into which you enter and from which you can never fall, but a standing by faith in Jesus Christ. This is living and walking victoriously. God intends that each one of us shall walk in this way. He doesn't talk here about the eradication of the sin principle that he here sometimes mentions. It is not eradication, it is counteraction by the Spirit of God of those principles which are unlike him, and which cause him displeasure. And so we are to walk victoriously. And then walk humbly. That's Micah 6 and verse 8. We are told, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. How refreshing that is, isn't it? How simple. It's we who make it so difficult to understand, with all our theories, and all our explanations, and all our definitions. But it's very simple from God's standpoint. Walk humbly with thy God. I have a feeling this is how Enoch must have walked humbly with God. You know, the meaning of the name Enoch is very interesting. It has three meanings, actually. One meaning is fully initiated, fully initiated, indicating that Enoch walked with God, not occasionally, not periodically, but continually, habitually. That's the thought behind it. He was fully initiated into walking with God. He was in the habit of walking with God. I heard an old Welsh preacher once give his definition of this. He said, To me this is what it's saying, and Enoch strolled at ease with God. And I like it. Enoch strolled at ease with God. The second meaning of his name is well of discipline. And self-discipline is certainly involved in walking with God. I heard recently of a young girl who was, I think, a member of the Oxford group movement. And she said to some Christians she was talking to, I can take the Lord with me wherever I go. I've got that freedom. The man who was listening said, Well, I don't know. He said, It's strange to me. I always understood it was the shepherd who led the sheep, not the sheep who led the shepherd. And that's true, isn't it? You can only go the way that he is going, because if you walk out of this plan and his purpose and out of his will, you will soon hear him saying, I'm sorry, I can't go this way. If you go this way, you must go alone. Self-discipline. The third meaning is narrowed down, narrowed down. And I'm sure that Enoch, walking with God, recognized God's priority in his life. He was narrowed down to this, God and himself, in communion, in fellowship, giving God first place in his life. No clash of loyalty, no divided interests, no taint of compromise, but God having his rightful place, the central place in his heart and life. Enoch walked, and his walk recognized the priority of God. The young varsity student who came from a Christian home, without having gone to the university, somehow he lost sight of this principle. Before very long, he was living it up. He was going with a crowd. Funny thing was, the crowd wasn't going anywhere. And the time came eventually when his room began to show evidence of this thinking. On the walls there were plastered pin-up girls, scantily dressed in some nude. And it didn't seem to bother him at all. Then his mother came to visit him, and she saw what was happening. She never said a word in condemnation. Then the boy's birthday came around, she sent him a gift. Then he unwrapped it, he saw what it was. A copy of that great painting that he sent from the cross. It really challenged him. Sometime later, his mother went to see him again. This time, as she entered his room, she saw everything was taken down except that one page, and there it hung. She didn't say a word to him. But he said, I know, he said, I know, I understand. Well, mother, it's like this, you know. Before I hung him there, everything seemed to be all right. When I put him there, everything was out of place. So he said, I've taken it all down, and he's going to occupy the place now, and forever. Narrow down. Ah, yes, my friends, I know we're living in days when they tell us the Christian life is too narrow, and we are narrowing things too much, and so forth. But if you have room in your life for yourself and God, primarily giving him the priority that he deserves, you'll never be narrow in actuality. You'll be as broad in your vision as God is. Enoch's progression, and Enoch walked. Chapter 2, Enoch's position, and Enoch walked with God. In relation to God, there are three positions in walking. First, it is walking behind God as a faithful servant. That's Hosea 11 and 10. They shall walk after the Lord. He shall roar like a lion. When he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. If you're following after God, you don't have to do any roaring, you know. Leave it over to him. I know we're told the devil goes about as a roaring lion, but it's like his cheek and evidence of roar. He's an old serpent, not a lion. But Christ is the lion of the tribe of Judah. When you walk behind God as a faithful servant, he'll do your fighting for you. You've got no need to worry. When I was a young Christian, I remember listening to an evangelist, like Mark Jackson is now. This was a Welsh evangelist. His name was James Jones. He was very fond of holding open air services. On one particular occasion, the hooligans of the village got hold of him, and they locked him up in a shed. They said, We're going to mention the man's name who was the village pugilist, and he's going to deal with you. James Jones knelt in this shed, which was locked, of course, and he prayed. He said, Lord, you know that I've tried to follow you. You know I want to be your faithful servant. But here it is, Lord, I can't fight this man that's coming, and I wouldn't even if I could. Lord, you'll have to handle him. By and by you could hear him coming, but he turned, and the door was open, and the man was pushed in, a great big fellow, heavily. James Jones went on praying where you can imagine he would, very earnestly and very enthusiastically. Not he prayed, he prayed for this man, and he prayed that the Lord would get into his heart and life and break him down. And God did just that, saved him on the spot. And James Jones found to his amazement that the very man who was thrusting to give him a hammering turned around and challenged everyone outside to lay a finger on him. Oh, yes, it's true, isn't it? They shall walk after the Lord, and he shall roar like a lion. He'll do the roaring. Don't you do any roaring at all. You do the thrusting. He'll walk before God as a trusting child. Genesis 17, verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. And the promise here is, I will guide thee with mine eye. Walk before God as a trusting child, and he will guide you with his eye, because he knows the way that he should take. What a lovely thing it is to realize this, isn't it? I knew two brothers in the flesh who were also two brothers in the spirit in the old country, Florence Williams and Don Williams. They were both converted miners, poor miners, that is, of course. And they went to America by invitation. When they got there, they found that somebody had spread rumors about them that were anything but nice. And the result is that the very doors which they expected to be opened were closed against them. And John Williams was feeling it very, very much. His brother was elderly too, but brother was older and didn't seem to express much of it. But John Williams was looking into a great big shop window there in one of the cities in America. And as he was looking in, it wasn't to see what was there, but so that people wouldn't see he was weeping. And the tears were rolling down. And he was saying, Oh Lord, there's a mistake somewhere. You know, Lord, you spoke to me prophetically and said we were to come here. But here we are. What's happening? Nobody wants us. And then he heard the sound of a young voice. And he looked, and he saw a young man hopping off the pavement onto the roadway, up and down, up and down. And as he did this, he was saying, My Father knows where I'm going. Oh, yes, my father knows where I'm going. And behind him, he could see what everything was off the pavement onto the roadway, up and down, up and down. And now he did this. He was saying, My Father knows where I'm going. Oh yes, my father knows where I'm going. And behind him, he could see whatever he was. The boy's father watching him as he made progress along the pages. My father knows where I'm going. And George Williams dried his tears in a hurry and said, Yes, of course, my father knows where I'm going too. My father knows what I'm doing. Walking before God as a trusting child, knowing that he knows the way that you take. From that day forward, incidentally, the doors which had been closed were open wide, and they had more work than they could put in. It was a marvelous experience. Walking behind God as a faithful servant, walking before God as a trusting child, then walking beside God as a favored friend. He not walked with God. Walking with God. It's a very embarrassing thing to walk with God if your life isn't right, isn't it? Very embarrassing. If you're walking with him, alongside him, beside the Lord himself, then you know very well that if your life is not right, you can't stand him. The Spirit of God is there convicting you all the time. Because of his presence, the fire of conviction will begin to burn in your heart and life. God has a wonderful way of putting his finger on the thing which causes the trouble. If it is true, as the Bible says, that our God is a consuming fire, then indeed, as the Bible asks, who can dwell with the everlasting burning? Who can do this? Who can walk with God? Well, you cannot, or I cannot do it, unless we are prepared to say to him, burn up the dross of base desire and make the mountains flow, O God, make the mountains flow. Let nothing which is of the flesh and of the carnal abide in my life, that may I be wholly and completely under your control. Let the fires burn, and they will burn, they will cleanse, they will drive out the things which are contrary to his will. The young fellow who is a pastor in the Apostolic Church yesterday, Jack Ewing, he was one of my students in the Bible Training Institute, the Bible Training Center in Hamilton, when I was principal there. We used to have an early morning training. I remember that Jack was praying on this particular morning, and he cut off what he was saying right in the middle of his prayer. He got up and went out. What for? He went down to see the Baptist minister in Hamilton. Because, as he explained afterwards, he had said some things about this man of God which were not very nice. And while he was praying, God convicted him of what he was doing. He had to stop there and then, get up and walk down to see the minister. He saw him and explained what had been taking place, and asked his forgiveness. They had prayer together, and then Jack returned and went off, alone by the side in his praying. What was it? No one needed to have known about that. But he knew, and God knew, and the Spirit of God understood. God comprehended the kind of thing that was going on, and therefore he wouldn't allow it. Walking with God is embarrassing unless you are prepared to have your life made right by him. Walking beside God as a favored friend. Then, if that's so, our constant prayer will be that his burning holiness may purge us of all iniquity and all evil. Spirit of burning, my life inspired. For I am yearning to feel the fire, searching, defining from every sin, cleansing, consuming deep within. For this I pray in his dear name. Burn in my soul, thou living flame. Are you ready to pray like that? Are you willing to say those words? Then finally, chapter 3, Enoch's promotion. And he was not, for God took him. One other man beside Enoch had this experience of going into God's presence without going through the gateway of death. It was Elijah who went up to heaven in the chariot of fire. As for Enoch, the writer in Hebrews 11, 5 and 6 tells us that by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him. So I guess Enoch must have walked by faith, too, in order to have this experience. I wonder what happened when he was taken away like this. I have heard many explanations, but the best I've ever heard was given by a little Sunday school scholar, a little girl of about ten years old. They had been having some studies in their Sunday school on Old Testament characters, and Enoch was one that they had been discussing. And so she was asked to give her interpretation, if you like, her understanding of what took place when Enoch was translated. So she went forward and stood before the Sunday school, gathered together, and she said, Once upon a time there lived a man called Mr. Enoch, and he was very fond of going walks with God. One day God came to Enoch's home and he said, Mr. Enoch, are you ready to go with me today? And Enoch said, Yes, just wait a minute, Lord, and I'll be with you. So at last they started to walk together, and they walked and they walked and they talked and they talked, and the time went on. In the end Enoch said to God, Don't you think I'd better go back home now? We seem to have gone a long way today. And while I know it's lovely to be with you, I'm getting a little bit tired. And then she said, the Lord looked at Enoch and said, You know, Enoch, we have walked a long way today, haven't we? He said, Yes, we have. In fact, we've walked so far that you are much nearer my home than you are to your own now, aren't you? He said, Yes, Lord. Well, then what about coming to live with me forever? And Enoch said, That would be lovely. And he was not, but God took him. Three brief chapters, Enoch's progression, Enoch's walk, Enoch's position with God, Enoch's promotion, he was not, but God took him. God bless you.