The Sands of Time are Sinking

[0:00] You can turn in your Bible to the book of Genesis. We will be there first. But if you want to find the text that Lois is going to read, she's going to read Hebrews chapter 11, two verses, verses 5 and 6.

[0:16] So here is Hebrews chapter 11, verses 5 and 6. And if you have an extra finger, you can put that in the Genesis chapter 5 text, which is where we will be firstly today.

[0:31] By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now therefore he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God.

[0:44] And without faith, it is impossible to please him. For whoever were drawn near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Thanks, Lo.

[0:56] 3,500 years ago, if you wanted to keep time, you would need to use a sundial or a water clock.

[1:08] Do you know what a water clock is? I didn't either, but it's actually quite clever. You would put water in some kind of a vessel and drill a hole in the vessel.

[1:20] And then you could either put marks on that bowl as the water decreased so you would know how quickly it was flowing out. Or you would put marks on the other bowl and you would notice how quickly the water is filling that up.

[1:34] And you could keep time, and they call that a water clock. That sounds like a lot of work. You know who else thought it was a lot of work? Sailors. Ironically, although they are surrounded by water, it's very hard to use a water clock on sea.

[1:52] And so about a thousand years ago, the hourglass was invented. Of course, that's the one that has the sand falling from one, the top piece down to the bottom piece.

[2:03] And this then enabled sailors at sea to also keep track of time. In 1658, a Dutch scientist just a couple years before had invented the pendulum.

[2:20] And in 1658, he refined his invention of the pendulum. And we have what led to very accurate and reliable timekeeping.

[2:33] And we owe that to this Dutch scientist. Why do we care what time it is? Well, I think we care what time it is because we recognize that we only get so much of it.

[2:49] God numbers our days. And every second from your very first birthday brings you one second closer to your death day.

[3:03] I don't say that to be morbid. I say that to alert you to what is true so that you are mindful of it. Time matters because we know that the sands of time are sinking.

[3:20] And we know that one day the hourglass will, in fact, run out. Faith is a never-ending walk with God.

[3:32] After God created the first man, he gave him two commands. One of his commands was positive and one of his commands was negative.

[3:43] The first command that God gave the man was, Eat everything in the garden. It was like the world's greatest all-you-can-eat buffet and God prepaid the bill.

[3:56] Eat everything you want. But God's second command was, But not that. Don't eat from that one tree.

[4:10] The tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eat anything you want except for that one thing. And God's commands included a warning.

[4:21] And we read this in Genesis chapter 2. If you're already there in 5, you can back up and you'll find this. Chapter 2 and verse 16. Here's the warning that came with God's commands.

[4:33] And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

[4:46] For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. The serpent, as we know well, Temps the man and the woman with the one tree, The one fruit that God forbids.

[5:08] The New Testament tells us that the woman was deceived, But the man willfully disobeys God. He knew exactly what he was doing. And together they take and they eat and they experience guilt and shame For the very first time.

[5:26] Now, because of God's warning that we just read together, We expect that the man and the woman are going to drop over dead, right? Like bugs when they hit the bug zapper.

[5:37] We expect, because of God's warning, That they will die. But God in his mercy refrains from bringing the judgment that he had promised.

[5:51] And though they are undeniably guilty, Guilty. God graciously chooses not to enforce the terms of his death sentence.

[6:05] But from that moment on, Every baby born is born, You might say, On death row.

[6:17] Do you know what death row is, kids? Death row is the portion of the jail or the prison That you are in when you are preparing to be executed by the state.

[6:32] That's death row. The people who are there know they are going to die for their crimes. Because of Adam's sin, Every human being is born on death row.

[6:50] We read about this in Romans chapter 5. This is verse 12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, And death through sin, And so death spread to all men.

[7:04] Because all sinned. The first man's rebellion against God Infected the human race with sin. And the punishment for sin is death.

[7:16] No sin. No death. But because of sin, Every second that you live Brings you one second closer To the judgment that your sin deserves, Which is death.

[7:35] I want us to look at Genesis chapter 5, And I want us to notice together How Adam's sin Infected And Affected Humanity.

[7:49] And kids, I hope that you will listen As we read this portion of Genesis 5 Because there is a key word, Actually a key phrase, And when you Begin to hear it And notice the repeated key word and phrase, You just feel free to join me When I get to that And you just say it.

[8:06] Okay? Even though it's not going to be Bold and underlined on the screen Because I didn't want to give it away. I want to make sure you're listening. But when you Begin to hear The repeated phrase, You just say it with me.

[8:17] Okay? Adults, you can participate too If you'd like. Here's Genesis chapter 5, verse 1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, He made him In the likeness of God, Male and female, He created them, And he blessed them And named them man When they were created.

[8:35] When Adam had lived 130 years, He fathered a son in his own likeness After his image And named him Seth. The days of Adam After he fathered Seth Were 800 years And he had other sons and daughters.

[8:48] Thus, all the days that Adam lived Were 930 years. And he died. When Seth had lived 105 years, He fathered Enosh.

[9:00] Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years. And he had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Seth Were 912 years.

[9:12] And he died. When Enosh had lived 90 years, He fathered Kenan. And Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years. And had other sons and daughters.

[9:23] Thus, all the days of Enosh Were 905 years. And he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, He fathered Mahalalel.

[9:34] Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years. And had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Kenan Were 910 years. And he died.

[9:45] When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, He fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years. And had other sons and daughters.

[9:55] Thus, all the days of Mahalalel Were 895 years. And he died. When Jared had lived 162 years, He fathered Enoch.

[10:07] Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years. And had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days of Jared Were 962 years. And he died.

[10:18] When Enoch had lived 65 years, He fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God After he fathered Methuselah 300 years. And had other sons and daughters.

[10:30] Thus, all the days of Enoch Were 365 years. Enoch walked with God. And he was not.

[10:42] For God took him. Hmm. Why does the author of Genesis Repeat this phrase, And he died, At the end of every one of these Very old men's lives?

[11:02] He repeats this phrase, And he died, Because he wants to highlight And call our attention To this one man here That we read about In these few verses.

[11:14] Who lived a long time. And fathered sons and daughters Like the others before him. And yet, He didn't die.

[11:30] Enoch lived for 365 years. That is a very long time. None of us will live that long. 365 years ago Was the year 1658.

[11:49] Do you know what happened in 1658? This is when the Dutch scientist Named Christian Huygens Refined his invention Of the pendulum clock.

[12:03] 365 years ago. How did Enoch spend His 365 years? What did he do For 365 years? Well, the scripture tells us That he preached.

[12:18] Now, we don't read about this Here in the book of Genesis. We read about it In the New Testament book of Jude, Which reveals to us The earliest recorded Human prophecy.

[12:30] This is Jude, Verse 14 and 15. It was about these That Enoch, The seventh from Adam, Prophesied, saying, Behold, The Lord comes With ten thousands Of his holy ones To execute judgment On all And to convict All the ungodly Of all their deeds Of ungodliness That they have committed In such an ungodly way And of all the harsh things That the ungodly sinners Have spoken against him.

[13:03] What did Enoch preach about? Ungodliness. Do you see that there In the text, repeated? How did Enoch spend His 365 years?

[13:17] Well, he preached. But the second thing That Enoch did I think is perhaps More important Even than Enoch's preaching. Back in Genesis chapter 5 In verse 22 We read this.

[13:30] Enoch Walked with God. And then again In verse 24 Enoch Walked With God.

[13:40] What does it mean To walk With God? A couple weeks ago When Mike and I Took the children To the park When we had midweek At the Thompson's house We walked there.

[14:04] Now Imagine If as we are Preparing to leave The Thompson's house And Mike and I Are having a little Conversation And We can't settle On where we are going Maybe there are Two parks And we're not sure Which park We're going to go to And we end up Thinking like this Right?

[14:28] Like I'm going there And you're going there And now we are Not walking together Maybe we settle On the same park But Mike says I'm going to go That way And I say I think this is shorter I'm going to go This way Maybe we arrive At the same destination But we take Different paths To get there Maybe we have The same destination And we choose The same path But Mike chooses To walk At a very Quick pace And I Lag behind In all of these Cases We are not Walking Together Together But if we choose The same Place To go to And if we choose The same path To get there And if we commit To walking

[15:28] At the same pace Then we will walk Together We will walk With one another This is what Enoch did He walked With God He walked Towards the same Place Following the Same path And at the Same pace With God Enoch Walked With God Somewhat Like The first Man And the first Woman In the garden Walking with God Enjoying God's Fellowship I don't know For sure It's fun To speculate Perhaps One day After 365 Years Of walking With God God said Enoch We have walked

[16:29] A long Long way Together And we are Now closer To my place Than yours Why don't you Just come home With me Enoch Walked With God And because Of this God graciously Spared him From suffering The consequences Of Adam's Sin Faith Faith Is a Never Ending Walk With God Now flip over To Hebrews Chapter 11 Hebrews Chapter 11 And when we Read verse 5 It's so Interesting Because in Verse 5 There are Five phrases And they all Say nearly The exact Same thing But it doesn't Seem that way When you just Sort of Casually read Through it But now that I've drawn Your attention

[17:29] To that I think you'll See what I'm Talking about Five phrases But they all Essentially say The same thing You ready Verse 5 By faith Enoch was One Taken up Two So that He should Not See Death Three And he Was Not Found Did they Look for him I mean They must Have Right They must Have looked For him They must Have wondered What happened To him Where did he Go He's just Gone He is like The world's Greatest Hide and Go seek Player Isn't He He was Not Found Because For God Had Taken Him Now Before

[18:30] He was Taken Five He was Commended As having Pleased God Enoch And God Were Going To the Same Place On the Same Path At the Same Pace Put These Truths Together That we Read about Here in Hebrews And combine Them with What we Have learned From Enoch From the Book of Genesis Faith in God Faith in God Leads to Walking With God Which Results In doing What Pleases God By Faith Enoch Was Taken Up Why Was He Taken Up Because He Was Walking With God What did That Walking With God Lead To It Led To Doing The Things That Pleased God You Say Well That's Fine For You It's Fine For You

[19:31] If You Want To Pursue That Kind Of Faith But I Have My Own Religion And I'm Not Perfect But I Think I Am Doing All Right And If I Need A Little Pick Me Up Sometime Then I Will Just Add A Little Jesus To My Life But Frankly!

[19:59] Dear Friend Without Faith You Cannot Please God Without Faith And Not Just The Idea Of Faith Not Just Some Vague Notion Of Spirituality Without Faith The Kind Of Faith That Leads To Walking With God Day By Day By Day That Results In Doing What Is Pleasing To God Without That Kind That Quality That Category Of Faith It Is Impossible To Please God No Matter What You Do No Matter How Hard You Try No Matter How Good You Make Yourself Feel But You Don't Even Have To Take My Word For It Listen To What Jesus Says To You In Chapter 11 And Verse 6 And Without Faith It Is Impossible

[20:59] To Please Him Adding A Little Jesus To Your Life When You Feel Like You Need A Pick Me Up Is Insufficient It Is In In In Con In Faith Life Changing Faith Is Indispensable Necessary Critical!

[21:24] Required! Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please God Not Difficult Did You Notice That?

[21:36] Not Difficult Not You're Going To Have To Work Extra Hard To Please God Without Faith It Is Impossible If You Are Not Yet A Follower Of Jesus Your Real Dilemma Is Not That You May Not Do Enough To Somehow Tip The Scales Of Justice In Your Favor And Earn A Relationship With God That Is Not Your Real Dilemma Your Real Dilemma Is That Everything You Do Without Faith Is Sin We Read About This In Romans Chapter 14 In Verse 23 For Whatever Does Not Proceed From Faith Is Sin If You Hope To Walk With God If You Hope To Be Going To The Same Place On The

[22:36] Same Path At The Same Pace If You Want A Walk With God That Is Never Ending What Is It That You Need To Believe What Must You Believe In Order To Have This Kind Of Faith Well The Author Of Hebrews Tells Us That You Can Start With These Two Things Again Verse Number Six And Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please Him For Whoever Would Draw Near To God Must Number One Believe That He Exists And Number Two Must Believe That He Rewards Those Who Seek Him Do You Remember Our Working Definition For Faith Faith Is Careful Thoughtfulness About God If You Want A Never Ending Walk With God

[23:36] Then God Must Be The Object Of Your Faith Don't Put Your Faith In Your Self Don't Put Your Faith In Your Parents Don't Put Your Faith Not Even In Your Church Faith True Biblical Faith Has God As Its Object And That Faith Will Grow As Your Understanding Of And Appreciation For The Object Of Your Faith Grows So If You Want More Resilient Faith If You Want More Life Changing Faith If You Want Stronger Faith If You Want More Obedient Faith If You Want More God Pleasing Faith Then Spend Time With God In His Word Faith Is Careful Thoughtfulness About God First God Must Be The Object

[24:37] Of Your Faith You Must Believe That God Exists And Then Second You Must Believe That God Rewards Working Definition Faith Is Careful Thoughtfulness About God And His Promises Faith Doesn't Bring Armfuls Of Self Righteousness Armfuls Of Religious Rituals To God Expecting To Give To God No Faith Comes To God With Open Arms Empty Arms Open Hands Outstretched To God Expecting To Receive From God Rather Than To Give To Him This Is Why We Say Faith Is Careful Thoughtfulness About God And His Promises What Are His Promises To Me That Is What I Expect To Receive You Must

[25:37] Believe That He Exists And You Must Believe That He Rewards Those Who Seek Him Those Who Come To Him Expecting Him To Deliver On His Promises This Is Why We Sing Nothing In My Hands I Bring Simply To Thy Cross I Cling When We Sing That We Are Singing About Faith Faith In God Life Changing Faith What Is It That God Promises What Is It That He Rewards Those Who Seek Him With Some Kind Of A Blue Ribbon A Gold Star A Congressional

[26:38] Medal Of Honor The Chamber Choice Award Is This The Kind Of Reward That God Gives No Of Course Not Remember Enoch Why Is Verse Six Here After Verse Five About Enoch I Would Have Put Verse Six After Verse One That Would Have Made More Sense To My Thinking When You're Introducing The Idea Of Faith Tell Me What It Is That I Need To Believe But The Author Of Hebrews Places It Here After His Commentary About Enoch Why Enoch's Faith In God Led To Walking With God Doing What Pleased God And As A Result Of That Kind Of Faith God Took Him Every

[27:40] Other Person In The Genealogy That We Read In Genesis Five Dies But God Spares Enoch From Experiencing The Consequences Of Adam's Sin Even Though Enoch Was Born On Death Row Like All Of The Rest Of Mankind When The Warden Came For Enoch His Cell Was Empty God Took Him God Rewarded Him The Life Of Faith Is Rewarded With Eternal Life With God Enoch Teaches Us That Walking With God Is The Way To Life God And Just As Enoch Escaped Death Those Who Believe In Jesus Will Finally Ultimately And Totally

[28:41] Triumph Over Death Do You Believe This We Need To Grab Hold Of God's Promise Of Eternal!

[28:53] Life That's The Promise That God Holds Out To Us The Promise Of Eternal Life For Whosoever Will Believe In Jesus We Need To Grab Hold Of God's Promise Of Eternal Life And Pull That Promise Into The Present And Then Live As Though God's Promise Of Eternal Life Is Already True That's What Enoch Did That's What It Means To Walk With God To Take The Promise Of Eternal Life Pull It Into The Present And Live As Though God's Promise Has Already Come True That Is Faith What Does It Look Like To Live As Though You Already Have Eternal Life I'll Give You A Few Suggestions There Are So Many

[29:53] Options! To Choose From Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means That You Accept Jesus' Warning And You Stop Trying To Gain The Whole World And Forfeit Your Soul Remember When Jesus Warned That Way What Does It Profit A Man To Gain The Whole World And Yet Forfeit His Soul If We Live As Though We Already Have Eternal Life Right Now Then We Will Take Jesus' Warning And We Will Say I Agree With That Warning I See That Warning And I Refuse I Refuse To Profit In The Things That The World Offers And Forfeit My Soul Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means That You Can Say The Lord Is My Helper I Will Not Fear What

[30:54] Can Man Do To Me That Is Taking The Promise Of Eternal Life And Pulling That Promise Into The Present The Lord Is My Helper I Will Not Fear What Can Man Do To Me Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means Agreeing With The Apostle Paul That To Live Is Christ And To Die Is Gain That's Living Like You Already Have Eternal Life It Means Remembering That The Lord Is Your Shepherd And As A Result According To Second Peter Chapter One You Have Right Now In The Present Tense Everything You Need For Life And Godliness You Ever Say I Don't Know How To Make This Decision I Don't Know The Right Thing To Do The Scripture Tells

[31:54] You Otherwise Child Of God You Have The Holy Spirit You Have The Word Of God You Have The Community Of Faith! God Has Given Us Right Now Everything We Need That's Living Like We Already Have Eternal Life Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means That The Joy Of The Lord Really Is Your Strength Even When You Feel Weak And Even When You Feel Sad And Full Of Grief And Depressed And Disappointed And Discouraged Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means!

[32:37] Testifying The Joy Of The Lord That's My Strength For Today Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Means You Don't Need To Be Prickly Or Brittle Or A Religious Lemon Sucker You Know Just All Like Shrewd And Pulled In On Your Self And Angry At The World And Brittle And You Get Touched And You Get Poked And You Feel Prickly And No One Wants To Be Around That Living As Though You Already Have Eternal Life Says No To That It Affirms The Claim That Jesus Makes In John Chapter 10 That You Have Life That Is Abundant What Does That Life Look Like It Is Life That Is Full And Free And Celebratory And Passionate And Hopeful And Obedient God And God Centered And Others Focused

[33:37] I So Love The Gospel Accounts Of Jesus Baptism And Transfiguration It Must Have Been Truly Amazing To Hear The Father's Voice From Heaven This Is My Beloved Son With Whom I Am Well Pleased You Would Think The People There Would Have Gotten It You Know That This Really Is The Promised One You Hear The Voice From Heaven And The Voice Tells You This Is My Beloved Son With Whom I Am Well Pleased How Did Jesus Walk Well Jesus Is Trust In The Father Led To Walking!

[34:30] With Him In Perfect Submission Which Resulted In A Life That Was Truly Pleasing To God Jesus Walked With The Father To The Same Place On The Same Path At The Same Pace And He Went All The Way To The Cross!

[34:58] That's Where Jesus' Walk With The Father Ended But On The Third Day On The Third Day God Raised Him From The Dead And Similar To Enoch It Shouldn't Surprise Us Forty Days Later God Took Jesus Home Spares Jesus From Any Consequence Of Adam's Sin Because He Is Not The Son Of Adam He Is The Son Of God He Did No Sin He Knew No Sin In Him Was No Sin So On The Cross After He Had Gone To That Place And Suffered The Wrath Of God On Our Beh There Is No!

[35:50] Sin To Hold Him In The Grave No Sin To Keep Him There God Raised Him From The Dead And Took Jesus Home God Has Highly Exalted Jesus Bestowed On Him The Name That Is Above Every Name So That At The Name Of Jesus Every Knee Should Bow And Every Tongue Confess That Jesus Christ Is Lord To The Glory Of God The Father Have You Trusted In Jesus Have You Been Born Again Is Jesus Your Savior Won't You Repent And Believe The Gospel Today Adam's Sin Means That You Will Not Live Forever In Your Current Body Nab!

[36:41] of time are sinking. And unless Jesus returns, all of us, like Abel, will die without fully receiving God's promise. But all who trust in Jesus, like Enoch, are promised victory over death.

[37:03] Death and the grave may get you, dear child of God, but death and the grave will not keep you.

[37:15] So you keep your eyes on Jesus. You walk with God to the same place, on the same path, at the same pace, and one day, perhaps you will hear Jesus say something like, we have walked together for such a long time. When we're closer now to my place than to yours, why don't you just come home with me? Faith. Faith is a never-ending walk with God. Let's pray.

[37:49] Father, we are so grateful for all that you have done for us in Christ.

[38:03] We are grateful to be the recipients of your mercy and your grace and your love. blessed Holy Spirit, would you please come right now and do business with our hearts where we need to confess and repent. Please give us the strength and the courage to do that. Where we need to be comforted and encouraged, please give us that comfort and encouragement. Where we need to be provoked and motivated and spurred on in our walk with God. Would you please do that?

[38:46] Please help us as we take a few moments to prepare our hearts for a time of celebrating the Lord's Supper. Father, we are grateful to have this time together and ask that you would continue to lead us in our worship and be glorified in all of the things that are said and done here. We receive the forgiveness of our sins that is ours by grace through faith in our Savior, the Lord Jesus.

[39:19] And we celebrate and affirm together that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.