Group Notes | March 25

Crossroads: Walking With Jesus
March 25, 2018
Dr. Jerry Vines, Guest Speaker

Open:

It is a terrible feeling to turn your head for a moment, only to look back and your child—parent, friend—is nowhere to be seen. Can you think of an example?

We are interrupting our series, “Crossroads: Where His Road Meets Our Road,” as we welcome Dr. Jerry Vines to the pulpit. At the same time, as he brings to our attention the life of Enoch from Genesis 5:21-24, we see the amazing story of the life of a man whose walk intersected with God and became incredible. He served and “walked with God” for three hundred years, and was one of only two people in the Bible who did not die, but passed from this life directly to heaven.

Focal Passages: Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5-6; Gal. 5:22-23.

Discuss:

Enoch Walked In

  1. Read Genesis 5:21. How long had Enoch lived his life before he met God? There must be a moment at which you choose whether to walk with God or reject Him.
  2. What are some problems Enoch dealt with in his world that are similar to the same problems you face daily? Read Gen. 6:5-6. Because the ancient world was so evil, what did God do?
  3. When you—just as Enoch did—cry out to God that you want to know Him, what immediately happens? (Hint: just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned).

Enoch Walked On

  1. Read Gen. 5:22, and Amos 3:3. When two walk together in fellowship, what are some of the bonds that hold them together?
  2. What are some evidences of growth as you continue your walk daily? Read Gal. 5:22-26. How does this growth come about?
  3. The growth—sometimes sweet and sometimes painful—is a continuation of the justification gotten at the moment of salvation (question 3), and is called _________. (Hint: we are being “set apart.”)

Enoch Walks Out

  1. Enoch proved himself worthy in his walk for three-hundred years. Read Col. 1:9-11, and 1 Thess. 2:12. How are these verses—hundreds of years later—exactly what God meant when the Holy Spirit said Enoch “walked with God”?
  2. What happened to Enoch after three-hundred years? Read Heb. 11:5-6. He was not found! How many people do you imagine went looking for him? As in the opening thought, would his family have searched long and hard for him?
  3. When we pass from this life to the eternal life that is promised to believers, what is that step called (after sanctification, question 6)?

 Close

When we think of the highest praise given some men in Scripture, a few immediately come to mind: Enoch, of whom it was said (Heb. 11:5-6) that “he pleased God;” Nathanael, whom Christ said was “…an Israelite…in whom is no guile;” Abraham, who was a “friend of God; and Moses, with whom God spoke face to face as to a friend. These would indicate men who lived above the average in their godly walk.

Enoch was a man who was in a world very much like ours. For sixty-five years he was immersed in that culture—perhaps, like Lot, it could have been said of him that his righteous heart was “oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked.” However, when he cried out to God, God heard and saved him, allowing him to witness for Him for three hundred years. Jude, in verses 14-15, presents Enoch as a preacher and prophet, pointing the way to God. His walk was so filled with fellowship with his God that he was ushered into heaven, straight from the grim conditions of earth. What bliss!

Is that your walk? Do you start your day with devotions? Reading your Bible early in the morning means you are seeking to hear what God wants to say to you for your day, so you can meditate on it as you do chores. Lifting up holy hands in prayer, with your eyes open to heaven, indicates you are talking to Him. The conversation goes back and forth in fellowship. Out of the abundance of the comradeship comes the fruit listed in Gal. 5:22-23: gentleness, peace, etc. Is this your greatest desire? Seeking God, walking with Him, and persevering through trials and testing will mold you into a person whom God says is worthy of Him. Do you want to be that person?

Enoch’s world: Social disruption; emotional confusion; spiritual rebellion; and religious upheaval. Does this sound like the world in which you live?

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