Biblical Values:
Even though many people around us violate biblical values, we are to walk with God.
Here now is Gene:
Here we have Genesis chapter 5:21-24:
"Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah.
And after the birth of Methuselah,
Enoch walked with God..."
I love that phrase.
He walked with God.
By the way, remember Adam, before he sinned, walked with God.
And God came walking, to walk with him and Adam was hiding.
Why was he hiding?
Because he was guilty of sin.
"Where are you, Adam?"
See, God knew where he was but God comes down to where we are in His communication.
Here's a man, in spite of the fact that the whole world was deteriorating around him,
he walked with God.
"...300 years he fathered sons and daughters.
So Enoch's life lasted 365 years..."
Those were days when people lived to be a ripe old age.
"...Enoch walked with God,
and he was not there, because God took him."
And that's a very interesting phrase.
And if you'll go to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5,
we have a New Testament perspective on this:
"By faith, Enoch was taken away so that
he did not experience death..."
God honored him. And as far as we know, I think there are only two illustrations when God
took people without death.
And one was Elijah, you remember, went up within the whirlwind of fire.
And the other, by the way, was Enoch:
"...and he was not to be found because
God took him away.
For prior to his transformation he was approved,
having pleased God."
In other words, here's a man who walked with God regardless of the environment around him.
Many people were violating biblical values, and he walked with God.
And we need to follow Enoch's example.
If he could walk with God, we certainly ought to be able to walk with God
with all that we have accessible to us.
Matthew 7:13 to14 says,
"Enter through the narrow gate..."
It is a narrow gate.
"...For the gate is wide..."
That gate of decadence gets wider and wider, and it's really easy to walk down that road.
And more and more people are walking down that road,
and they have ever since sin entered the world.
"...[For] the gate is wide [and] the road is broad
that leads to destruction..."
Jesus said that.
"...and there are many who go through it.
How narrow is the gate [and] difficult the road..."
And the difficulty there is that we don't
want to choose it.
We'd rather choose the wide road.
The tough choice is to choose the narrow road, but the narrow road leads to life.
Enoch chose the narrow road even in his setting there in the Old Testament.
"...there are many who go through it..."
That is the road to destruction.
"...How narrow is
that gate [and] difficult the road
that leads to life, and few find it."
Relatively speaking
in terms of the choices that are made.
And in Principle 18 in Matthew, we really outlined this principle when we were studying
Matthew, and that is:
To be true to the Scriptures, we must believe and teach
that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the
one and only way to inherit eternal life.
In other words, this is a way that is very narrow. And Jesus said,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and no man comes to the Father but by Me."
That is restrictive, isn't it?
But this was God in Christ who said that.
That's why He came into the world,
because all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
So He came into the world to provide the narrow road.
I remember when Billy Graham was on "Good Morning America" and he was being interviewed.
And Charlie Gibson was interviewing him.
I'll never forget the interview.
It was right after Billy published the book "Amazing Grace."
That was several years ago.
I still remember Charlie saying, "Well Billy, what about the people who've never heard?"
And I remember Billy, in his inimitable way, he came back and he said,
"Well Charlie, let me quote Jesus."
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and no man comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).
But Billy, that just doesn't seem fair.
Then Billy looked at Charlie, and he said, "Well Charlie, one thing I can also say,
God is a righteous judge."
End of discussion.
I thought that was so wise.
He didn't get into an argument.
He says Charlie, Jesus said this and God is a righteous judge.
So what are we going to do with that?"
They went on to another subject.
I know some Christians who would've had a big argument right there,
trying to prove a point.
Billy made his point, and it was very clear in quoting Jesus Christ.
We have to be as wise as serpents, harmless as doves, as Jesus said (Mt 10:16).
And here, I think, is a good illustration.
And, so, the principle really is:
Even though many people around us violate biblical values, we are to walk with God.
We must choose the narrow road.
And the question is:
How can we as Christians be "light" and "salt" in this world without
becoming like the world?
And we're supposed to be.
And the next principle really speaks to that more specifically.