What is Your Decision?

Scriptures: Malachi 3:13-4:6

Introduction

A fictional tale is told in management seminars about a young manager who was to replace a retiring executive. The younger man approached the older, venerated leader and asked, "Sir, I know of the legend that you have become as a leader in this company. Could you give me some advice as I try to fill your shoes?"

The older man pondered the question and responded: "Three words: Make good decisions!"

"That is good advice," the young man replied as he wrote this down. "And what is the key to making good decisions?"

"One word," the veteran executive replied. "Experience."

"And how do I get this," the eager young man asked as he scribbled "experience" on his paper.

"Two words," the retiring man answered. "Bad decisions."

Each one of us is faced with hundreds of decisions each day. In these decisions we want to make good choices.

Why? Because we are the sum total of our decisions. We make our decisions, and our decisions make us. Mary Kay Ash said, "Be careful of the choices you make today. They will become your lifestyle tomorrow."

Each day we face choices regarding our walk with God. From the closing of Malachi's book let me explain four areas where we are forced to make decisions.

I. Will you render service to others? (3:13-15, 18)

Some of the people Malachi addressed were guilty of grumbling and complaining. They were talking to each other about their complaints against God. When confronted they denied any wrongdoing. This is the seventh time in the book they deny their errors. What were they talking about? Serving God was labor. It was useless. Worshipping, tithing, and serving had no purpose. It was all empty, vain, and futile.

This complaint rears its ugly head in our hearts today. Some people stop serving because they don't see any benefit. "I'm not getting anything out of it." Or, "I've been faithful, yet God doesn't bless me. And, what's more, evil people seem to prosper while good people suffer."

Malachi raised the bar on service. He showed that service distinguishes the righteous from the wicked (3:18). Righteousness in God's sight is more than a profession of faith. The righteousness of true faith will prove itself in a heart of service.

Serving God is serious business. He commands us to serve. Isn't it interesting that we want to be called a servant, but we don't want to be treated that way? We want people to look at our humility and say, "What a servant." But when treated like servant we complain and compare, just like the Israelites in Malachi's day. Then we say, "That's not fair. I'm not being treated right." But here's the thing: servants don't have rights. They have given up their rights. Servants don't talk about fairness. They serve.

By the way, all the great people of the Bible were called servants. God referred to Moses as "my servant Moses" (4:4). The ultimate servant is Jesus. We should follow His example.

Each day presents the choice of serving or not. What is your decision?

II. Will you revere God? (3:16)

Some of the people Malachi spoke to took God seriously. They "feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name" (v. 16). Fearing the Lord is a synonym for the heartfelt worship of God for who and what He is. Fearing the Lord is (1) a consciousness of being in the presence of True Greatness and Majesty; (2) a thrilling sense of privilege; (3) an overflow of respect and admiration; and perhaps supremely, (4) a sense that His opinion about my life is the only thing that really matters."

To esteem His name means to honor His person. There you acknowledge that the Lord is who He claims to be: the Sovereign God of the universe, the Creator of all things, and the Redeemer of humankind. He is to be held in awe. We are to tremble at the thought of offending Him in any way. He is not to be played with. He is a consuming fire and we should tremble in His presence.

God exists not just to meet our needs. If anything we exist to meet His demands. Again, He is the master; we are the servants. He has rights; we have responsibilities. He is to be worshipped; we are the worshippers. He's the Lord of Hosts, the Most High God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Almighty. He is holy, holy, holy. The only proper response He deserves is one of great reverence and respect.

Each day presents the choice of fearing God or not. What is your decision?

III. Will you be rewarded by God? (3:17)

Benefits come with reverence of God. Verse 17 reveals five aspects of God's character that identify the rewards God offers to those who serve and fear Him.

A. God listens to us

"The LORD took notice and listened" (3:16). When we reverence God, He gives us His undivided attention. The image communicated is that of God leaning forward to take in everything that is being said about Him. When we turn to God, He tunes in to our frequency.

B. God remembers us

"So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who feared Yahweh and had high regard for His name" (3:16). He remembers what we have done. In fact, the only thing God forgets is our confessed sins. God said, "Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands" (Isaiah 49:16). We write something on our hands so we won't forget it. God doesn't forget us. He remembers.

C. God claims us

"'They will be Mine,' says the LORD of Hosts" (3:17). The word mine is emphatic. Those who fear God belong to Him. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we transfer ownership. We are not our own. God owns us. We are a chosen people, a claimed people.

D. God treasures us

"'A special possession on the day I am preparing'" (3:17). Special possession means to set aside a thing or property. For example, you have many possessions, but those items of great value are placed somewhere for safekeeping. God treasures us in the same way. We matter to Him far more than we know.

E. God spares us

"'I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him'" (3:17). Malachi is a book of warnings of God's judgment. But it also is a book of compassion in sparing those who serve, fear, and honor God. We deserve justice, but God grants us mercy. We don't receive what we deserve. We receive more than we deserve. God spares us.

Each day the evil one confronts us with assaults to deceive and destroy us through wrong thinking. He would have us not believe in these rewards. So we are faced with a choice: will we believe the lies of Satan or the words of God? What is your decision?

IV. Will you be ready for judgment? (4:1-3)

Make no mistake about it: There will be a day of judgment, symbolized by a fire. On this day God will intervene dramatically in the affairs of history. On that day sinners will be burned up the way fire burns and destroys dry grass. The phrase "not leaving them root or branches" (4:1) indicates a complete removal from the face of the earth. The wicked are like ashes under the feet of God's people. And the saints, in contrast, will see a new day: a day of rejoicing and celebration. Just as the rays of the sun bring warmth and health, God will bring wholeness to every aspect of life.

Malachi reminds us that the day is coming. On that day we will be treated either as sinners or saints.

Are you ready for the coming judgment? That day could be this day. Are you ready? Will you face judgment as a sinner - condemned to experience the wrath of God? Or as a saint - one who has trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord. What is your decision?

Conclusion

Will you render service to others? Will you reverence God? Will you be rewarded by God? Will you be ready for judgment? Will you remember God's law? What is your decision?

In his sermon "The Writing on the Wall," William Willimon tells the story of an aggravating funeral at a country church.

The preacher pounded on the pulpit and looked over at the casket. He would say, "It's too late for Joe. He might have wanted to get his life together. He might have wanted to spend more time with his family. He might have wanted to do that, but he's dead now. It is too late for him, but it is not too late for you. There is still time for you. You still can decide. You still are alive. It is not too late for you. Today is the day of decision."

Today is the day of decision. What is your decision?

 

How Do You Treat God? - Malachi 3

 Scriptures: Malachi 3:6-12

Introduction

The title grabbed my attention: "Our Church Was Robbed Recently." The story that followed said:

"We are thankful that no one was injured physically, but it will be some time before things are back to normal. It's clear that more than one person is responsible - in fact, there may actually be many people who have been party to the crime. Two things are most unfortunate about the robbery - one is that we have no assurances that it won't happen again, and that is a bit unnerving! The other unfortunate element is that we're certain that those who carried out the robbery are members of our church. It's bad enough to know that a theft has occurred, but it's really hard to imagine that professing Christians would actually steal from God and the ministries of his church. We can certainly hope that anyone who has participated in this act will repent and repay what has been taken. It's reported that some of the stolen money has been used for vacations, cars, boats, designer clothes, athletic equipment, homes, and even dining out. We don't have a complete list of all the suspects, but there is consolation in knowing that God does.

"You haven't read about this in the papers and hopefully you won't. I realize that some of you will disagree, but it would be difficult to get a conviction in the courts given the clever way in which the robbery was carried out. You are probably also interested in how much was taken. The amount is undetermined, but at the very least exceeds many thousands of Fcfa.

"By the way, the robbery happened in full view of the church during Sunday services. It happened as the offering plates were passed during Sunday school and worship. It also happened as people who didn't come simply didn't give the Lord's tithe."

The people in Malachi's day had treated God badly by robbing from him. They had become bored with God. Their worship had turned from relational to ritual. As a result they offered blemished sacrifices (1:6-14); the priests had become unfaithful (2:1-9); divorce was commonplace and easy (2:10-17); their words wearied God (2:17); businessmen were defrauding their workers, cheating their customers and taking advantage of widows, orphans and aliens (3:1-5).

But the most egregious treatment of God was that they were robbing God (3:6-12). How? By withholding their tithes, by giving the worst instead of the best, by giving the least and not the most. Their attitude was, "How little can I give and still keep God happy?"

The people proclaimed their innocence, but Malachi, like a prosecuting attorney, presented the evidence to back up the indictment (charge).

Five statements stand out to me in this passage.

I. The tithe is the minimum

"'Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!' You ask: 'How do we rob You?' 'By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions'" (Mal. 3:8). The tithe comes from a Hebrew word that means one tenth. If you make $100 today, a tithe would be $10. It is simple math.

It gets more complicated, because in the Old Testament Law there were actually three tithes. The one to which Malachi referred was for the priests. A second tithe helped celebrate the annual sacred feast. The people used these funds to throw a party in honor of God. And then every third year the people would give another ten percent to help the poor. When you add that together, that equals about 23 percent of a household's income.

Tithing has always been the floor, not the ceiling, of giving to God's work. In other words, tithing is the place to begin, not the place to end in supporting God's kingdom business.

The tithe was recognized as God's. We should always refer to it as God's tithe not my tithe. People in the Old Testament didn't give a tithe but repaid it to the Owner of all things. Rarely does the Bible speak of giving a tithe, but rather of "taking," "presenting," or even "paying" tithes. No one ever said, "I feel led to tithe." The tithe was explicit and objective. It required no heart response. It was expected. Period. Offerings, on the other hand, were given from the heart when touched by God's grace. You can say my offering but the Tithe is God’s tithe.

II. The curse came from disobedience (v. 9)

"You are suffering under a curse, yet you - the whole nation - are still robbing Me" (Mal. 3:9). The Old Testament was written to the nation of Israel. God was addressing the nation. Because God's people robbed Him, they have put a curse on the whole nation. They did that to themselves.

But we must make one thing very clear: While there are spiritual and financial consequences for failing to give to God, we should never make the mistake of thinking that we will be "cursed" if we haven't tithed. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed" (Gal. 3:13 HCSB). We rest in the new covenant Christ initiated in His blood. He freed us from the curse of keeping the law. And it's because of what He did for us that we should willingly and gladly obey.

III. The storehouse represents God's work (v. 10)

"Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house" (Mal. 3:10). In Israel the people brought their tithes of grain, olives, wine, and meat to be store in the Temple. These goods supported the priests and Levites, those serving God vocationally, since they did not have other jobs. The goods also met the needs of the poor in the community. And, thirdly, these goods met the expenses of the Temple operations.

Giving has always been God's way of financing his church.He expected his people to return to support the church with part of their income.

The tithe was not a legalistic regulation. It was to teach his people to put him first. "Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields . . . so that you will always learn to fear the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 14:22-23).

When we put God first in our giving, He will be first in every area of life. We pay God first. Too many reverse this process. If there's anything left, they give some to God. This is what was happening in Malachi's day. They were giving God the leftovers and, as a result, robbing God.

IV. The test challenges God to bless (v. 10)

"'Test Me in this way,' says the LORD of Hosts" (Mal. 3:10). God challenged His people to give according to the Law so that He could bless them. Do you realize that this is the only time in Bible where God puts out that kind of challenge? Too often we get hung up on the amount and miss the promise.

It's amazing to me that people who trust God for their salvation, their eternity in heaven, won't trust God with their finances. If we can trust God for our eternal destiny, don't you think we can trust God with our careers, our finances, and our giving?

V. The blessings are out of this world (v. 10)

"'See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure'" (Mal. 3:10). This is an amazing passage of Scripture. No one can outgive God.

A young boy went to the store with his mother. The shop owner, a kindly man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. Uncharacteristically, the boy held back. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him.

When outside, the boy's mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy and wouldn't take a handful of suckers when offered.

The boy replied, "Because his hand is much bigger than mine!"

Conclusion

God's hand is bigger. His shovel is bigger. His wallet is bigger. His generosity is bigger. His love is bigger. Make a game of it. See if you can out-give God. That is the one game you hope you lose, and, in time, you will realize that you will always lose.

In the end, when we rob from God we are actually robbing from ourselves. We are robbing ourselves of spiritual blessings, of God's provisions, of a church that can meet the needs of others.

We are left with a choice: How will we treat God? Will we rob God by not giving our tithes, or will we be faithful in giving to God what is His?

 

Do you Honour Your Commitments ? Malachi 2:1-6

Introduction

Illustration: I read of a man who was running a training program and gave some rules for the training. He said; before we start the training we must agree for some things. No body will ask questions until the presentation. No coffee until the coffee beak. He asked if they agree and everyone said yes. Many people violated the agreement during the training. At his conclusion he remarked that how easy is it to carelessly take commitments and carelessly dishonour them.

Several Sundays ago I asked them men to stand up and we regrated that we failed in our commitment to fellowship together. I asked those who  agreed with me that we shall start meeting on Mondays to sit down and all the men sat down. The following Monday I was there and only 5 men were present. We carelessly take commitments and carelessly dishonour them. Some sit in meetings and agree that the discussion will end there but the next second they dishonour that commitment and they are spreading gossips and messages all around.

Honoring your commitment is part of your character. It is a quality that attracts people to you and enhances your relationships and opportunities. Failing to honour our commitments will tarnish our image and have a negative effect on our reputation. It can create a barrier to personal achievements and erect a roadblock against success. Honoring your commitments makes you a  person of integrity and character- Someone others can trust.

                Do you honour commitments you make to your team, friends, family members, yourself? Do you honour the commitments you have made to God? The people of Juda failed in their covenant agreement with God. They treated God with disrespect, dishonouring His name. They treated sacred things as common, turn away from God’s law, disobeying His commandments. Some divorced their Jewish wives and married the Pagan women. Malachi provides a strong rebuke to them. Why should we honour our commitments?

1.       Responsibility: We must respond in obedience to what we say

God wants us to listen and to obey. Read Mal 2:2a

It is one thing to believe something is true. It is another thing to obey it. James 1:22 says “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Two Sundays ago we learned about young Samuel who responded after hearing God’s voice in the middle of the night the third time. “Speak, for your sevant is listening”(1 Samuel 3:10). Can you say that now? Ayre you listening to God? Are you obeying God’s instructions? Are you honouring your commitments?

To know if you are doing that, you need to test yourself and Malachi gives the details.

a.       Revere God (v.5)

Many of us play games with God. We compromise, disobeying whenever we feel like  disobeying. Revering or fearing our awesome God inspires obedience.

b.      Receive truth (v.6)

To know that you honour your commitment for God, you have to see if you teach and receive the truth from God’s word. You must maintain a steady intake of the Bible. You fail to teach Bible study or devotions at home. You fail to come and be taught the pure word of God because you don’t honour your commitment with God. Levi had the law of truth in his mouth; that is what the Bible says.

c.       Righteous living v.6

Those who honour their commitments walk in a manner that is good and upright, turning away from sin. The Bible says iniquity was not in the mouth of Levi.

2.       Warning

Malachi reminds the hearers that if they fail to honour their commitments, God will curse them (Mal  2:2).  Failure to honour your commitment will damage your personal testimony, it will impact your success in life, and strain your relationship with God.

3.       Benefits of honouring your commitments v.5

Life and peace was the Lord’s covenant promise to those who honour their commitments with God. Life here speaks of a qualitative, and satisfying life. Peace is more than a quiet soul, but also welfare of every kind.

But listen, the priests failed in their responsibility to teach the law of God. The people also failed to revere God, to receive his word and to live a  distinct life. Malachi says 5 times in this chapter that they were faithless, breaking faith, or that they deal treacherously. They did not honour their commitments. They broke their vows, God no longer had to fulfill his side of the obligation. Some of us are in this situation today and you are wondering why God is not doing something for that situation. It is because you have not honoured your commitment with God.

You alone are responsible for your life. Stop blaming others, stop rationalizing or justifying, stop excusing your failure to honour your commitment. We have a God who honours His commitments; He keeps His promises. When we honour our commitments, we are like God.

Shalom!

You are yaweh eh You are Yaweh 2x

You are Yaweh, alpha and Omega

Present our sins in dishonouring our commitment with God (Bible studies, giving, tithing, fellowship, lukewarmness, who cares attitude). Pray for the grace to stand faithfully for the truth. Desiring the truth, teaching the truth obeying the truth. Make prophetic declarations of blessings to those who honour God.

Healthy life and prosperous life. Quality life with maturity. Peace of the soul, peace with men; happiness, goodnesss, safety to their lives and their children in Jesus name.

Sermon series 2: Walking with the Giants: Abraham’s Obedience of Faith is expressed in an exemplary pilgrim. Hebrews 11:8-10

 

ILLUS: Last Sunday I said the world say “seeing is believing” but the word of God say “Believing is seeing”.

 

1.   Abraham believed in God.

2.   He left everything behind to do God’s will.

3.   He sacrificed things of this age for the things of the age to come

4.   He exchanged the homeland for the unknown.

5.   He went where God asked him to go.

6.   He submitted to sacrifice, in obedience to faith, the son of the promise.

7.   He awaited the coming city of God.

 

a.   Abraham had to leave his home as there his faith was in danger. If he continued there he would have been serving the God’s of his father not the creator of the universe. The demand of leaving his paternal home and moving to an uncertain place was his first proof of faith, one he overcame (Gen 12). Some of us are here today but we have not abandon the old home. We still talk and do rituals, we still send money home for sacrifices and some even carry their children home for those things. Where is your faith? Some of you say things are not going well, we need to go home. While home you accept every kind of thing because you want things to go well. Abraham did not return to his old mess. His children did not return, even though they were leaving in tents as wanderers they trusted the Lord and that is why Isaac and Jacob are recorded as those who had part in Abraham’s heritage.

b.   Lot had to abandon Sodom, the land he chose when he was separating from Abraham. He abandon Sodom to avoid being exterminated with it (Gen 19)

c.   Joseph had to leave his paternal home because only in this way could he be transformed into a useful tool in God’s hands. (Gen 37:19-36). If the brothers did not sell him into Egypt, he would not have been governor in Egypt to fulfill the promise of God in his dream. Perhaps if he stayed behind the brothers would have finally killed him as they hated him the dreamer.

 

Abraham submitted to sacrifice in obedience to Faith. Some of us say we have faith but we cannot sacrifice our money, our time, ourselves to fellowship with God. Abraham sacrificed his animals and even obeyed to sacrifice his only son of the promise because of obedience to faith. If you are not sacrificing anything for the Lord, then your faith is dead; there is no obedience in your faith.

 

Abraham waited for the coming city of God, the glorious city (Rec 21:10-27). It is our eternal and permanent kingdom (2 Pet 1:11).

That coming city is a beautiful home and paternal house (John 14:2). That is where our Father lives; the one who nourishes us, the one who protects and upholds us. That is paradise; the place of rest; a homeland (Heb 11:14-16).

 

Are you preparing for the homeland? While I have invested outside my village, I still think of investing home with the hope that I will go home one day. What about heaven our eternal home? Abraham lived like a traveler, tourist on earth because his faith was directed towards heaven. We can only invest in our heavenly home by our obedience in faith to God. If we are not obedient to our faith, it just shows that we had no faith at all. The obedience is seen in what we do everyday and how we live everyday whether we are doing what God expects of us or not.

 

 

Men of faith are men:

1.   Of prayer, like Elijah (Jam 5:17)

2.   Workers, like Noah. People who believe and do.

3.   Obedient, like Abraham

4.   Pleasant to God, like Enoch

I encourage you to develop the courage

-      To live a life that pleases God, like Enoch

-      To work for God in the middle of mockery, like Noah

The foundation of Noah’s faith was the gracious warning of God. Noah believed in the coming judgement. The Bible says they were things not seen; but he moved with fear, prepared an ark to save his house and by that action he condemned the world.

While Noah was building the ark in the area where no one ever believed they could have abundant water not to talk of flood, people mocked at him. But the motivating force of his faith was the fear of the Lord. What is your motivating force in the kingdom walk? Is it your money, salary, acclamation from people, pride? If the force behind your faith is not the fear of the Lord, then you cannot be consistent like Noah in the mist of mockery.

Faith without works is dead. Faith must have an action, if you say you have faith but you are not acting then you have no faith. Noah’s action was his obedience and he built the ark.

When you act by faith in obedience to the Lord, there is always a result. Noah’s result of his faith was the salvation of his family. What is the result of your faith? Are you having any results?

Faith always have a testimony. Do you have a testimony of your faith? Noah had a testimony of his faith and that was the  condemnation of the world. So the reward of Noah’s faith was that he became heir of justice.

 

 NOAH’s FAITH WITNESSES TO A LOST GENERATION. 

Noah teaches us the third principle of a life of faith: 
“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an Ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith”(v7).

“When the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water” (1Peter 3:20).

“God did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2Peter 2:5). 

Noah has a good faith-report from God because believing that God’s judgement was coming, he was concerned for the salvation of the lost. He gave his life for the work of the Lord - by 

(1) WITNESSING  (despite the ridicule and hostility against him), and 

(2) by BUILDING AN ARK in obedience to God which was a PLACE OF SAFETY and SALVATION for the lost to come into and be saved (which also served as an amazing visual-aid getting people’s attention so when they asked about it he could witness to them, which would only have increased the attacks against him).   By giving them God’s Word and providing a place of salvation for them Noah removed all their excuses for rejecting God. In this way he ‘condemned the world.’

Noah is a type and example for New-Testament believers, especially for us who live in the generation just before the Rapture. 

Jesus said: "As the days of Noah were, so also will the Coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the Flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the Ark, and did not know until the Flood came and took them all away, so also will the Coming of the Son of Man be (for at the Rapture believers will disappear from view as Noah did and this will be followed immediately by the Flood of the Tribulation). 

Then two men will be in the field: one (the believer) will be taken (in the Rapture) and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one (the believer) will be taken (in the Rapture) and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming (like a thief comes unannounced with the world in darkness to take the precious things (the believers) from the earth) at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:37-44).    

To the world Jesus will come in the Rapture as a thief in the night, but He is only taking what belongs to Him. In this comparison the world-wide judgements of the Tribulation are likened to Noah’s Flood. The unbelieving world continues as if there was no God, and believers (like Noah) must witness to them, warning of the coming judgement and telling them of God’s way of salvation. 

 

But to be like Noah we also have to help build the Ark. This corresponds today to building the Church. The Ark is firstly a type of Christ - the place of protection and salvation, for those in the Ark are protected from judgement and enter into a new-life.

But secondly the Church, the body of Christ, is also called Christ because 
we are in (union with) Him. Therefore the Ark serves also as a picture of the Church. 

Like Noah, our work for the Lord involves building the Church, working to build a strong united community of love and acceptance, where people can come and be saved. By faith we know the Lord will judge the wicked but will save the righteous, removing them from judgement in the Rapture. 

 

Therefore we must warn people of sin and judgement and provide them a place of salvation. All who believe and come into the Ark (Christ & His Church) will be raptured before judgement falls. 

As God removed Noah to safety before the Flood, showing His pleasure with his faith, so God will remove believers in the Rapture before the Judgements of the Tribulation will fall. In fact the last sign the world will have before the Tribulation (the Day of the Lord) is the disappearance (removal) of believers who are lifted up high above the floods of judgement. But before God does this we must make the best use of the remaining time to witness of God’s grace and judgement and to build God’s Ark (the Church) so people have a place they can come and be saved and come under God’s shelter and provision, a place where they can dwell in His Presence with His people rather than living spiritually under the world-system. 

 

So Noah teaches us that a man of real faith will 
(1) witness to a world that will often reject his message, 
and (2) build the Church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:16-19). 

So, a Biblical Christian must be committed to his local Church.

 

 

 

Sermon series 1: Walking with the Giants: Enoch the man that pleased God. Hebrews 11:5-7

 ILLUSTRATION: The world says, "Seeing is believing, but the Word says, "No, believing is seeing."

That's why Hebrews chapter 11 begins by stating, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

There is another saying that "If you want to grow in your faith, walk with the faithful." So we are going to walk with people of Faith (Abel, Enoch, Noah etc).  

Surely one of the most godly, as well as interesting, characters who ever lived was Enoch. He is one of only two who lived before the Flood (Noah also, Genesis 6:9) of whom it is said that he “walked with God.” He is also one of only two individuals who never died (Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11). Little is known about him, but the Bible reveals him to be exemplary among men and special to God.
Enoch's name literally means, "dedicated one" or "consecrated one." In other words, he was "sold out" for God.

Some have suggested that Enoch’s ministry is not yet over. All men die, for “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27), and Enoch has not yet died. Perhaps he is one of the two tribulation “witnesses” (Revelation 11:3) whose messages are so much like those of Enoch and Elijah who will be martyred, resurrected, and taken up to heaven directly from Earth (vv. 4-12). At any rate, Enoch is certainly one of the great heroes of the faith whom we shall meet some day.

1. ABEL - FAITH IN THE BLOOD (v4). Abel gave us the first lesson for our life of faith. Faith must based in the Blood Atonement of Christ. Because of sin, our life and blessing in God cannot be based on our own righteousness, but only by trusting in God’s grace, available through the Blood of Christ. He paid the price in full for our salvation.

2. Enoch is an enigmatic figure in the Bible, mentioned only a couple of times. Very little is said about him, and yet he strangely appears in the “hall of faith” of Hebrews 11. Though little is said about him, the portrait that is drawn of him is actually a beautiful and inspiring one. The author of Hebrews clearly has Genesis 5 in mind when he speaks of Enoch. It is there that we learn how it is that Enoch earned a place among the heroes of the faith. Enoch was not simply a man who walked by faith; he was, in particular, a man who “walked with God” (Gen. 5:24). Enoch was pleasing to God because he not only lived his life by faith in the God of heaven and earth, but he also lived his life in intimate communion with God.

From the book of Genesis, the first sibling set in history (Cain and Abel) embody the first scene of murder and martyrdom. Adam’s family portrait is a broken one, and Eve, the mother of all living, is also the mother of the brokenhearted. But God still showed them His grace. Cities are built, music is made, and most importantly, “people began to call on the name of the Lord” (4:26).

Toward the end of Genesis 4 we encounter Lamech, an obtrusive figure who cannot be missed in any study of Enoch. Lamech is the antithesis of Enoch, yet Lamech and Enoch are intended to be viewed as actors on the same stage, continuing the tension first displayed in Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel were not only the two sons of Eve, they were also the human beginning of what would develop into two opposing kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. In Cain and Abel, the tension between the two “offspring” or “seeds” of Genesis 3:15 is perpetuated. That tension continues to unfold on the scene of history as Lamech, the seventh son of Adam in the line of Cain, proudly and boastfully exalts himself. He is a kingdom builder of the worst kind, as his singular goal is to glorify and enjoy himself. His loud, self-exalting claim to have killed a man in Genesis 4:23–24 makes this perfectly clear. He is Cain perfected, so to speak, as is seen in his vow: “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold” (v. 24). Lamech, by his own proclamation, is ten times as proud, self-righteous, and murderous as Cain, and Lamech has sworn to take the law into his own hands and execute judgment as though he were God. Lamech, the seventh son of Adam, is truly in line with the seed of the serpent.

Playing opposite Lamech, however, is Enoch. Enoch is also the seventh son of Adam, but he descends from the more faithful line of Seth. In other words, if you created a family tree of Adam’s descendants, Lamech and Enoch would each be seven generations down, but standing on opposite sides—one in the line of Cain and the other in the line of Seth. One side will prove to be chosen and faithful, and the other will prove to be rejected and rebellious. Enoch clearly stands in the line of the faithful, and rather than exalting himself with the proud boasts of Lamech, Enoch is a man of humility and faith. Enoch walks with God. To walk with God in Genesis is not unique to Enoch. The same wonderful affirmation is made of Noah (6:9) and Abraham (17:1; 24:40), and the phrase clearly suggests that these godly men lived in communion with God and in accordance with God’s ways. Later in Scripture, God often referred to the necessity of Israel to walk in His ways as the means of staying in right fellowship with Him. By faith, Enoch walked in the ways of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

This leads us to Enoch’s being “taken up.” According to Genesis 5:24, Enoch did not taste death. He lived a life of faith in which he walked with God, and in the midst of that walk, “God took him.” What a marvelous statement. The text does not say that Enoch simply went to heaven (though he surely did), but rather that God took Enoch for Himself as one whose walk with God began on this earth and continued into the joys of eternity.

In Abel we see the first example not only of martyrdom, but of those who enter into heaven with God through the veil of death. Enoch, however, does not taste death. He enters into God’s eternal rest as one who lived by faith, walked with God, and then was miraculously taken up into the presence of God. These are the two doors into heaven: those who die and yet live by way of being raised up on the other side of death, and those who are alive at Christ’s coming and are simply carried into the bliss of eternal life apart from experiencing death.

The life and translation of Enoch display not only how it is that we come to please God but also what the reward is for those who live and seek God by faith. The reward is God Himself. This is exactly what God tells Abraham in Genesis 15:1. God is Abraham’s shield as well as his very great reward. What greater thing can await us in heaven than that of perfected communion with God? 

Hebrews 11:6 makes it very clear that the life that is pleasing to God is a life lived by faith and by seeking after God Himself. Faith is not meritorious. It does not earn anything from God, as God’s favor and promises cannot be earned. Yet faith receives and rests upon Christ in the gospel and apprehends the promises of God in wondrous ways. Scripture compels us to join with faithful Enoch and imitate his well-pleasing faith by seeking God and walking in sweet fellowship with Him by faith.

God Himself is our reward. While we have already begun to experience the joy of that communion with Him now by way of our union with Christ, the fullness of our reward is something we must continue to seek by faith until we enter glory either by the veil of death or by being caught up alive into heaven. Our great calling is to seek the things of God. As we do, the things of this world must, as the old hymn goes, “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Pride. Arrogance. Self-exaltation. These are the things that displease God and are found in the way of Lamech—the way of death. But the way of life—well-pleasing life in the eyes of God—is humble faith and a joyful seeking after God Himself. Those who seek will not only please God in this life, but they will enjoy the greatest pleasure of all: the pleasure of walking with God.

Enoch’s faith pleased God and the main way he showed his faith was in coming to God continually, believing in God’s goodness, believing that every time he would draw close to God, God would draw close to him and reward him. Enoch shows us FAITH for FELLOWSHIP, faith to come close to God and spend time with Him. Enoch teaches us that the main purpose of faith is not for healing or miracles but to have intimate fellowship with God, for we were created for this. 

He walked with God, pleasing God by his faith by coming to God with expectancy and God showed His pleasure with Enoch by taking him to be with Him forever. Smith Wigglesworth said that Enoch walked with God every day. One day he got so far out in the Spirit that God said to him: ‘We are closer to My place than yours, so why don’t you just come home with Me.’ So Enoch said O.K. He was the first man raptured in the Bible! One day he just disappeared before their eyes. They sent out search parties but he could not be found.

We will then have the same testimony as Enoch who walked with God and was raptured. Jesus said to us (His Bride): "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (this speaks of eternal fellowship, our fellowship with God in this life is just a preparation and anticipation of our future face-to-face fellowship with the Lord)” (John 14:1).