WALKING WITH GOD

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Text: Genesis 6: 9; Noah walked with God

INTRODUCTION

Various accounts are available to surely inform us that one false step generally lead to the commission of many iniquities.
1. The first act of disobedience by Adam and Eve was followed by others of a yet more heinous nature on the part of Cain (Gen. 4: 8), Lamech (Gen. 4: 23-24).
2. No sooner had they begun to propagate on the surface of the earth, than they evinced (made evident, showed clearly) an antagonistic spirit to the cause of virtue, cast off all allegiance to their heavenly King, and debased themselves by investing senseless objects with the attributes and power of the Deity, till at last they arrived at a point of corruption which called for condign (deserved, adequate) retribution (punishment, recompense) (Romans 1:18-32).
3. Unexampled for irreligion and impiety must have been the era to which the text bears reference, since amidst a succession of ages only two indi­viduals, between whom intervened a period of several hundred years, are recorded in Scripture, whose characters were at all redeemed from the awful depravity which then reigned paramount.
The first was Enoch, whose earthly career was of brief duration (Gen. 5:19-24)
Enoch (=dedicated.)

“21. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24. And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him”. (Genesis 5:21-24 AV)

“5. 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. 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. (Hebrews 11:5-6 AV)

The above passages about Enoch show us the following:
His life was given over to God.
He walked with God after the birth of Methuselah who died in the year of the flood and was so a testimony of God’s impending judgment.
Before his translation He pleased God and that this was by faith.
According to the Newberry Bible the Hebrew word for ‘walk’ means to walk HABITUALLY. (That is, it was a consistent and regular habit).

From this we can deduce the following:
We cannot please God unless we have the Spirit of Christ, and this we receive by faith alone. (Romans 8:1-11; 3:27-28)
We are to walk in the light of the Lord’s return considering the judgment that is coming on the world (2 Peter 3:9-13)
We ought to walk in the Spirit and not the flesh lest the latter gain a bridgehead in our lives. (Galatians 5:13-25)
note: occasion =bridgehead in the Greek.

The second, we are emphatically informed in the passage which has been chosen for examination and admonition this day, “Noah walked with God.”
Noah (=rest/comfort)

“5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart] only evil continually. 6. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9. These the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God. 10. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:5-13 AV)

“7. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith”. (Hebrews 11:7 AV)
Noah was the only perfect and just man in a world full of corruption and sin
His life testified against the world.

From this we learn that our walk with God:
Must not be conformed to the world in any way (Romans 12: 1-2). We must be careful, just because the world, or a majority of believers accept certain behaviours it doesn’t mean that it is right!
Our former, unbelieving state was conformity to the world, now in Christ we ought to be better. (Eph. 2: 1-10)
Walking like the world means that we are carnal, and not walking as God expects (1 Cor. 3:1-3)
Paul lists how we should be walking as God’s people. (Eph. 4:17-Eph.5:21). see also (Rom.13:13and 1 Jn:2:15-17)

These words; “Noah walked with God” follow so immediately the description of the patriarch’s general character (… a just man and perfect in his generation), that we now pause and reflect on the very significant and wholesome information conveyed.
Virtues found in Noah;
He was steadfast and devoted to God, despite that all around have apostatized from his ways.
He had strength of mind, abnegation (denial, rejection) of self, and a fidelity to religion, far beyond the usual characteristics of human nature.
He was firm and self-reliant to disregard the scoffs and sneers of their companions at their so-called bigotry and over delicacy.
He was brave in the face of actual danger, when imminent peril attends the practice of a proscribed creed
He had stability of faith and contempt of personal danger inspired by Him who is “wonderful in counsel, excellent in working.”
He was the truly pious. “When all flesh had corrupted their way on earth,”
Untainted by the general corruption, he stood forward as the fearless advocate of God’s cause, when that cause was derided by his fellowmen.

The Reward of the Virtues:
When the justly merited punishment on the human race descended from on high, and by the mighty deluge they were swept from off the face of the earth, “then were left only Noah and those who were with him in the ark.”
His undiminished faith produced its own reward, and sheds yet a halo (aura of majesty or glory) round his memory.
The record which is left of his character is one which every individual should strive to attain.
The sacred historian, after having informed us that “Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations,” adds the significant, though concise sentence, which has been selected as the text, “Noah walked with God.”

MARKS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE MAN WHO WALKS WITH GOD
He is under an habitual sense of God’s presence
That all creatures are open to his sight,
That He perceives all our actions.
That He is cognizant of our inward feelings and desires. He knows our thoughts from afar
That He views our struggles with the world, and beholds the sufferings which momentarily beset us

This consciousness when properly directed;
Encourages him in the path of virtue, notwithstanding the privations which he endures, the pangs he continually suffers.
Overcomes all the difficulties which beset his path, when harassing care would bow him down beneath an accumulated burden of woe
Teaches him to bear up cheerfully, to press forward un-despondingly, and to trust firmly in the promises of that all-merciful Being, who has declared unto such as confide in Him, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 12: 10.)
He knows that there is an ever-watchful Providence above him, and he feels stimulated to renewed exertions, being aware that he labours in the cause of virtue, in the presence of Him who will not desert him in the hour of need and adversity.

When the knowledge of God’s omnipresence, is awakened in an unbeliever
It serves as an inward monitor, to prevent, or at least check, his continuation in those depraved courses to which he has been accustomed.
The truth must eventually break on him; it is impossible that he can for ever gloss over his impious acts, and fancy that they are unnoticed or unobserved.

When he considers the boundlessness of nature, the infinite variety of beings rising from the hardly perceptible insect to man etc; how can he then avoid acknowledging that an all seeing Eye beholds his minutest action, that an omniscient Being is aware of his very thoughts, that an all-righteous Judge treasures up in the records of eternity every deed of his misspent life?

This consciousness will prove a powerful restraint on the corrupt propensities of his nature; for, though he is not free from the intrusion of evil thoughts and the influence of sin, yet in the hour of temptation his faith will raise him superior to his internal evil propensities, and enable him to say with Joseph, “How can I do this great wickedness.

Reverend Oshinyemi
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