Genesis: Early World, Judgment, and the Nations

Walking With God - 1

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2016-02-07

Synopsis: In this introductory message of the 'Walking with the Lord' series, John Weaver examines what it means to walk with God, using Enoch as the primary example. He explains that walking with God requires first walking before God—living consciously in His presence, in obedience and holiness. Sin separates us from this walk. The sermon explores five implications of walking: communion and fellowship, purpose, progress, agreement, and resolution. Weaver emphasizes that walking with God is a consistent, daily lifestyle, not a sporadic activity, and that it is the duty and privilege of every believer.

[John Weaver] This is message number one. Out of about seven or eight, I don't know, I didn't finish the series yet, so it may be six, seven or eight, but the title of the message, in fact, the title of each of the messages. Will be walking with the Lord, so I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter five, Genesis chapter five. We're going to read verses 22 through 24. This will be just kind of an introductory message to the whole series. We will certainly be more specific as we get into the series. The title is Walking with the Lord. Notice Genesis chapter five, beginning with verse 22.

[John Weaver] The Bible says an Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Walking with the Lord is the duty, obligation, and privilege of every child of God. The question that I must ask you is very simple. Are you walking with the Lord? Do you even know what it means to walk with the Lord? Do you have any idea what walking with the Lord entails and how to go about walking with the Lord. Many disregard and despise this inestimable privilege of commuting with the Lord. So you ask, well, how in the world do people despise it?

[John Weaver] And the answer is simply, by sin. Sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord. If you look, holding Genesis 5, back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 8, the Bible speaking of Adam and Eve says this, And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. So at this point, Adam and Eve had sinned. They heard the voice of God walking in the garden. They'd previously walked with him, but now they hide themselves because of their sin. So the implication is that they can no longer walk with him now because of the sin.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in Isaiah 59 verses 1 and 2, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot say, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he will not hear. So obviously, sin does divide and sin does cause us to not walk with the Lord.

[John Weaver] David said it very plainly in Psalm 66 and verse 18. He said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. So now we're talking about walking with the Lord. If we walk with Him, we must walk separately from and away from that which is contrary to Him and His law. The Bible tells us very plainly that Enoch walked with the Lord. Now, Why do we not walk with the Lord?

[John Weaver] I'm going to answer that question. And I want you to listen. Why do we not walk with the Lord? And the answer is because we do not know what it is to walk with the Lord. One of the reasons we do not walk with the Lord, listen carefully, is because we do not walk before the Lord. If you will turn in your Bibles, we're going to certainly come back to Genesis five. But look at Genesis chapter 17 and every verse that I'm going to show you in the following 15 minutes or so. Is the exact same Hebrew word for before notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 17 in verse one, the Bible says, and when Abram was 90 years old and nine, The Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. Now notice what he said. Walk before me. He did not say walk with me. He said, walk before me and be thou perfect. And the word is the word panin.

[John Weaver] And it literally means to walk as in my face or walk as in my presence. So he tells Abram then, I am the Lord God Almighty. Walk in my presence. Walk as if you are before my face and be thou perfect. Now walking before God means that Abraham was to walk as if he was in the very presence of God. It means that Abraham was to consciously do that which was pleasing unto the Lord, and to abstain from that which was contrary to the Lord.

[John Weaver] So let me spell it out. It just means that he was to walk in obedience, holiness, uprightness, and without hypocrisy. It also means that he was to serve the Lord. For instance, turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Again, here is the same exact Hebrew word, paunim, 1 Samuel chapter 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 30.

[John Weaver] Here is what God said concerning Eli and his house. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel said, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever. But now the Lord has said, be it far from me for them that honor me will honor and they that despise me shall be likely esteemed. Well, Eli had sinned against God. He allowed his sons to sin against God. But he said, I said that your house and the house of my father should walk before me. Well, Eli was a priest. So it means then that they were not only to walk as in the presence of God, they were also to serve Him as well. So walking also has the connotation of serving the Lord as well.

[John Weaver] David explained what this word meant to Solomon. So if you look in 1 Kings chapter 2, just turn over a few pages, 1 Kings chapter 2, and look at verse 4. Interestingly enough, First Kings chapter two. And verse four. In fact, if you'll go back, let's read verse one. Now, the days of David drew neither. He should die and he charged Solomon, his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth.

[John Weaver] Be thou strong, therefore, show thyself a man and keep the charge of the Lord by God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes and his commandments and his judgments and his testimonies. As it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself, that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way to walk before me, that is, in my presence, in truth, with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee, saith he, a man, to sit on the throne of Israel." Here is the word walking before God as well. Now if you look in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, you're going to see that God confirmed David's interpretation of what it means to walk before the Lord. For in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, God says this to Solomon. He said, and thou wilt walk before me, that is, before my face in my presence, as David thy father walked, Here's what it means, an integrity of heart and an uprightness to do according to all that I have commanded thee and will keep my statutes and my judgments.

[John Weaver] So, what in the world does it mean to walk before the Lord? It means that we not only serve Him, but that we walk in His presence and that we literally obey Him. If you would look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles, turn right on over, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, And notice, if you would please, verse 17, by the way. In Second Chronicles, Chapter seven again. Notice this, if you would please, Second Chronicles, Chapter seven. And notice, if you would please, verse 17. Second Chronicles seven and verse 17, and as for thee, If thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked, I do according to the law I have commanded thee, and shall observe my statutes and my judgments."

[John Weaver] So he said the same thing again. So, I want you to think for a moment. To walk before the Lord has this meaning. It means that we are to walk in obedience. It means that we are to walk holily. We are to walk and follow His law and to serve Him. If you would ask yourself this question, why is there so much sin, meanness, wickedness, and rebellion in our society today? What's the answer? Because people do not walk as in the presence of God.

[John Weaver] Let me give you a funny illustration, but a true illustration. Mel Trotter. was a drunk. And Mel Trotter was saved by the grace of God. The story goes that Mel Trotter had stolen the shoes off of his baby's feet and was taking them to pawn them so he could just get a drink of whiskey. And he was passing down the street and there was a gospel meeting going on and they were singing and the singing caught his attention. And so it was cold outside and he went inside and sat down to listen to the singing. And then when the singing was over, the preaching started and God opened his ears and God opened his eyes and God opened his heart and Mel Trotter was converted.

[John Weaver] In fact, he he began a rescue mission as well. And so Mel Trotter is pretty well known for trying to reach other drunks and prostitutes, et cetera, things like that. And there was a lovers lane area and Mel would go down there and preach as these people were parked committing fornication. And he would preach to them. Some of them would drive off, some of them would laugh at him, some would ignore him.

[John Weaver] But he wondered what he could really do to stop this. And so he got a neon sign. This was back in the 30s. He got a neon sign with nothing but a giant eyeball. And every time it flashed, it said, Thou my God, seest me. Thou my God, seest me. Thou my God, seest me. And pretty soon, Lovers Lane was just kind of devoid of anyone there. This is what it means literally to walk in the presence of God in one sense of the word.

[John Weaver] That is, we abstain from that. And when we do not abstain from that and when society does not abstain, then, of course, it's because of what the psalmist said in Psalm 36 and verse one, where he said, the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. So the wicked do not fear God. That's why Romans 3 in verse 18, the Apostle Paul says concerning the wicked, there is no fear before their eyes. So if one does not fear God, then obviously he's not going to walk before him and he's certainly not going to walk with him because sin, therefore, makes it impossible to walk with God.

[John Weaver] Now, there's another truth, and I'm going to quote this verse a little bit later. There's another truth. that if we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him. Because Amos 3.3 says it like this, can two walk together except they be agreed? So we have to understand that wherever there is a positive, there is a negative. Wherever there is a negative, there is also a positive. But if we are not walking before the Lord and with the Lord, then the negative is we are walking contrary to Him and we are walking against Him.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you. Look in your Bibles. The first Kings chapter 15. First Kings chapter 15. And notice what the Bible says concerning Jeroboam. Now remember Jeroboam was a wicked man. He's the man that made the two golden calves. King Jeroboam. So look what the Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 3. And we're talking about Jeroboam the king. And the Bible says in he, that is Jeroboam, walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." Note if you would, and he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. So if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary to Him, and you're walking against Him. If you would hold first Kings right now, just for a moment and turn to second Kings chapter 17, second Kings chapter 17.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand. That this is true, not only concerning individuals, it's also concerning nations, it's concerning society or people, if you want to say so in second Kings chapter 17 and verse seven. And so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. Now watch. And walked in the statutes of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel which they had made. So here's the people now that are rejecting all of God's law and all of God's commandments And they're walking in the statutes and in the laws of these pagan, wicked, ungodly kings. Now, I want you to hold this passage. Watch. Turn right back to 1 Kings chapter 11. Holding 2 Kings, but turn back to 1 Kings chapter 11.

[John Weaver] Now, watch carefully and let's begin reading, if you would please. Verse 31, here's where God's going to divide the kingdom. He's going to give ten tribes to Jeroboam and leave the rest for Rehoboam. But look what he said. Notice, if you would please. Come on in, 1 Kings 11, notice if you would please, verse 31. And he said to Jeroboam, take the ten pieces for thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee. But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem's sake, the tribe which I've chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. Now, why is God dividing the kingdom? Why is the kingdom being taken away from Solomon? and from Rehoboam his son. Here's why.

[John Weaver] Because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. Note, if you would, if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary and against the Lord.

[John Weaver] So it's not just civil rulers. It's not just kings. If you'll go back to 2 Kings chapter 17. While we're talking about walking with the Lord, it's entire nations, it's entire peoples. Notice if you would, again, we just read in 2 Kings 17, 7 and 8, how it was Israel who left God and served just like Solomon did. Skip down, if you would please, down to verse 19. In fact, let's read verse 18. Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, that is, those ten northern tribes, and removed them out of His sight. There was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also, Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

[John Weaver] So here we have the southern kingdom now doing exactly that which the northern kingdom had done, and the northern kingdom had already been taken into captivity. And they knew that. The point I'm trying to make is very simple. If you are not walking before the Lord, if you're not walking with the Lord, then obviously you're walking contrary to him and against him. Now. I want you to go back in your Bibles to Genesis chapter six, our text is in Genesis five, and I'm going to come back there. I'm just trying to show you in this introductory message. what it literally means to walk with the Lord. You're going to find that there were a number of individuals in the Bible that the Bible declares that they walked with the Lord. If you look in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 9, the Bible says this.

[John Weaver] These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Noah walked with God. Well, my question that I ask at the very beginning of this message is, are you walking with the Lord? Do you know what it means to walk with God? I pointed out that you must walk before him, that is, as in his presence, as you are before his face in order to walk with him. If you do not do that, then you're walking against Him, and you're walking contrary to Him. Now, the Bible says that Noah walked with God. The Bible also says that he was a just man and perfect in his generations. Now, if you want to know what that means, look in Genesis 7, verse 1. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me, in this generation.

[John Weaver] It's the same exact Hebrew word. I've seen you living in my presence. I've seen you living before my face. So it means that Noah then, like Enoch, was doing that which was lawful and holy and right and pleasing in the sight of God. He was conforming his life to that which was scriptural and obedient to God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back to our text, to Genesis chapter 5, and I'm going to develop this far more fully We're going to see this not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. Not all today, obviously, but notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 5, verse 22, the Bible says in Enoch walked with God after that he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you. Why in the world? Do you think it is important that God tells us specifically that Enoch walked with God for 300 years after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters. You know, there is nothing in the Bible that is extraneous. God puts things there that we need to know. So why would God tell us that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters. Why should we know this fact? Here's why. Because God is telling us that Enoch was a family man. He had a wife. He had children. Enoch was the father of the long-lived Methuselah, 969 years.

[John Weaver] He was also the great grandfather of Noah. As a family man, it meant therefore that he had to provide for his wife and provide for his children. He must educate and train his children. He had all of the obligations that every husband and every father had. And still has. And yet he walked with God. The point I'm trying to make is this. Enoch never gave the excuse that he was too busy.

[John Weaver] Or there was not enough time. He was a family man with a wife and children, and yet the Bible says he walked with God. And notice if you would what else the Bible tells you in verse 22. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years. and begat sons and daughters. Now, 300 years is a long time. None of us will make it that long, I can assure you. Why does the Bible tell us that he walked with God for 300 years after he begat sons and daughters? We never read in the Bible about any lapses or any failures in Enoch. What the Bible is telling us is that he was consistent. He was constant.

[John Weaver] He didn't start and stop. When he walked with God, he began and he continued 300 years, and most of us cannot continue walking with God for a day or a week. or a puny 70 or 80 years. And he walked with God consistently for 300 years. In all of his obligations, he was walking before the Lord. While he was walking before the Lord, he was a husband, he was a father, he was working, he was educating, he was teaching, he was doing everything that husbands and fathers needed to do and had to do. Hmm.

[John Weaver] You know what I believe he learned, I believe he learned the principle. Of first Corinthians 10 and verse 31, where God said, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. So in it then was just simply consistent and constant.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to note something. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him. Now Enoch pleased God. And he walked with God. Notice he lived 365 years, so that means at 65 years of age, he started walking with God and he did so consistently for 300 years until God took him. He walked with God. It's kind of like. As if Enoch and the Lord were walking together along the road. Communing. Talking. Fellowshipping. I think Enoch might say, well, you know.

[John Weaver] I'm getting a little tired. And the Lord would say something like this, well. We're closer to my house than yours. You just come on and spend a few days with me. And Enoch says, sure. And when he gets there, he finds out that One day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. He was not for God took him. The Lord's God said, just come on home with me. It doesn't say he died. God took him. The Lord said he just went to be with the Lord, period. Now, I'm sure that he'd much rather be with the Lord than in a world of sin and misery, that is for sure. But I want you to note something beginning today. Because we're going to see this all through the Bible.

[John Weaver] The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word walk is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life. Thus the word walk, W-A-L-K, is synonymous with lifestyle. It is how one lives.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you today just several things by way of introduction that the word walk implies. And you need to keep these in mind as we go through this brief series of seven or eight messages. First of all, walking implies communion and fellowship. Walking implies communion and fellowship. It's often that husbands and wives will take a walk together. Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and children will take a walk. Alice and I used to walk regularly.

[John Weaver] We haven't had time to recently. But interestingly enough, when we would walk, we always had company. Not only with the dogs, but you remember we had a pet pot-bellied pig. She used to walk with us. Pony used to walk with us. Follow us, you know. And it didn't matter if we walked one mile or two miles. They were there with us. But you have to understand that whenever you are walking, there is the implication of communion and fellowship.

[John Weaver] It's not just simply exercise. It is communion and fellowship. So the same is true with our walk with the Lord. It's not just that we are exercising in a godly manner. It is indeed that we are fellowshipping and communing with him.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn your Bibles, hold Genesis chapter five, but turn in your Bibles to first John chapter one, first John chapter one. And I want you to see this from the Bible. Here's an interesting passage. First, John chapter one. John says this in verse three. Watch carefully. First, John one verse three. He says that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.

[John Weaver] That you also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. Wow. Has it ever dawned upon you? That Adam was once our federal head and representative. And everything we had in Adam, we lost. And Adam, of course, was created in original righteousness, holiness. Knowledge, but when he sinned, we sinned in him. And the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Jesus Christ is the second Adam. Now, as the second Adam, it means he is our second federal head and representative. Everything that we lost in the first Adam, we gain back plus more in the second Adam. In the first Adam, we were placed on a mutable footing.

[John Weaver] That is, we could change. That's why Adam sinned. In the second Adam, we are on an immutable footing because now we are seated in Jesus Christ. And if you look in 1 John 3, beginning there with verse 1, look what he says. 1 John 3, verse 1, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in himself, purify himself as he is pure. What did he say? Beloved, now are we the sons of God. We are right now the sons of God. And we know one thing, that when he appears, we're going to be like him. In other words, we are on an immutable footing in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Like Philippians 1, 6 says, that which He began, He's also going to finish. But I want you to go back to 1 John 1, because while we are in Him, we have that communion with Him. Look in 1 John 1, verse 6. 1 John 1, verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. So if we say that we have fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, while at the same time we're living a life of disobedience and sin and rebellion, he says we're lying and we're not doing the truth. But watch verse seven. He says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Now, John had already said in verse 3 that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, naturally leads to fellowship with the brethren.

[John Weaver] As we walk with Him, we are also walking with others who are walking with Him as well. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So, walking implies fellowship and communion. Secondly, walking implies purpose. Walking implies purpose. There's usually a reason for taking a walk. I understand that sometimes people want to take a walk just simply for the exercise, sometimes for the fellowship. But do you realize there are other purposes as well? There have been times I've asked people to walk with me just so I could get them away from everyone else and share something with them that I wanted to share with them. In other words, as we walk, We oftentimes confide in each other, or we share secrets with each other, or we admonish each other. The Bible says in Psalm 25 and verse 14, listen carefully. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.

[John Weaver] The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. So God reveals things to us as we walk with Him. And Proverbs 3 and verse 32 says this, For the froward It's an abomination unto the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a point, and I want you to get ready to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. Listen carefully. I want you to go ahead and find 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. I want you to listen to this. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. Here's a statement. Those who walk with the Lord, those who are saved. No things that the unsaved do not know. And will never know unless they're saved by the grace of God. Moreover. Christians know things Did not even angels know? Isn't that amazing? Look in 1 Peter 1, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Peter 1, verse 10. Of which salvations the prophets, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. So some of the Old Testament prophets who prophesied concerning Jesus Christ and all of that grace, they did not understand everything that they were prophesying. But they searched diligently to try. Watch verse 11.

[John Weaver] Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Now watch. Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us They did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, where the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into. Can you imagine that? Angels desire to look into certain things concerning Christ that only Christians know. There was no redemption for angels. You had the elect angels and the non-elect angels.

[John Weaver] You have those that were chosen and those that fell. There was no redemption. Angels don't understand redemption. They don't understand being saved by grace through faith. And so those elect angels who do not understand these things desired to look into them as well. So obviously, there is a purpose in taking a walk. And as we commune with Him, He reveals His secrets to us, He teaches us, and we learn more and more. He enlightens us and gives us understanding as we walk with Him. Thirdly, walking implies progress. One of the most notable things about walking is you're making progress. You're moving from one point to another point. You may also look back and see how far you have traveled or how much you have progressed.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something, there is not one person in this room. That is perfect. I never will be until we get to glory. OK, but one thing we could say is this. Thank God. I am not what I used to be. We can also say I am not what I should be yet, but I am different today than I was yesterday. I am not what I am yet to be by the grace of God, but thank God I am not what I used to be.

[John Weaver] So we can see progress in our lives. Sometimes it may be slow progress, but we can see progress in our lives. And, you know, sometimes the progress is so slow we get to thinking, I don't see why so-and-so back there can't see this. I've seen this for years. Yes. And you've probably been walking for years when he has not been walking for years. And we forget how slowly sometimes things transpire in our life. But there is progress.

[John Weaver] That's why the Bible says in Psalm 84 and verse 7, they go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeared before God. So our walk should be like this. It should be continually going upward. Unhappily, many times our walk is like this, up and down, up and down, up and down, when it should be on a plane. The Bible says in Proverbs 10 and verse 29, the way of the Lord is strength. to the upright. So the more upright we are, the stronger we should be. The Bible says in Habakkuk 3 in verse 19, the Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like Heinz feet and he will make me to walk in high places. And then, of course, Romans 1 in verse 17, for there is the righteousness of God revealed from faith. To faith.

[John Weaver] That is, here you may have a little faith, but you're increasing and increasing and increasing until you have a great faith. And then he says, the just shall live by faith. So the Lord is the strength of our lives. And as we walk with him, our progress in a Christian life should be improving. You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible. If you're not making progress, you're just not walking with the Lord. Fourthly, walking implies agreement. When we walk with someone, the implication is there's basic agreement.

[John Weaver] You remember that passage I quoted earlier, Amos 3, verse 3, where the Bible asks, can two walk together except they be agreed? I would never waste my time walking with someone with whom I absolutely, totally disagreed and had absolutely nothing in common unless he was willing to listen as I taught him or preached to him or told him about the truth of God. But otherwise, I'm not going to waste my time. Why? There's nothing in common.

[John Weaver] We have no basis of fellowship. There's nothing to commune over or commune with. We're totally, absolutely different. You know, the Bible says in the book of Micah, chapter 4, verse 5, now listen carefully, for all people will walk everyone in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God forever and ever. So their son, that's going to be walking in the name of their God. But we're going to walk in the name of the one true, the living God. forever and ever. So there is no basis of fellowship for those who are serving a false God and those who are serving the truth. If we're walking with the Lord, it implies, listen carefully, it implies that we confess and acknowledge and believe that he is the one true and the living God.

[John Weaver] And beside him, there is no other. Moreover, it implies that we agree with him, that his word is truth. That he is right. And we're here in order that we may listen and learn and obey. In Leviticus 18, verse four, here's what God says, listen carefully. You shall do my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk therein. I am Lord your God to walk therein. In Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12, he said it like this. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God and to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul? So if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with him. I agree with him. concerning everything. I agree with him concerning my sin. I agree with him concerning Jesus Christ. I agree with him concerning the need of repentance. I agree with him for everything. Fifthly, walking implies resolutions. There are times that friends may have a disagreement or misunderstanding.

[John Weaver] And one can say to the other, let's take a walk. And as we walk, let's try to iron out this problem, let's work it out. And so the walk then is an opportunity to discuss the problem. And usually as the problem is discussed and addressed, it leads to a solution and a resolution of the conflict. Did you know that our Lord invites us to reason with Him.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to listen. He gives us a very good incentive to reason with Him and to work out our problems. He said in Isaiah 1, verses 18 and 20, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now listen, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Now listen. If you be willing and obedient. You shall lead to the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Now. If I'm sinning against God and God says. Let's reason together. Let's think about your sin. Let's think about what you're missing. By sitting against me. You're missing forgiveness, you're missing blessings.

[John Weaver] Now, he said, while we're raising, let's consider what's going to happen to you if you continue to sit against me. I don't know about you, but that's pretty powerful reasoning in my book. And I'd really like to reason with him in that way. Because I understand that he's right. And I'm wrong, and I need to submit to his divine rationale.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. I'm going to try to close this momentarily, but look in Mark chapter 4. Watch carefully. Mark chapter 4. Notice, if you would please, verses 33 and 34. Mark chapter 4, verse 33. Our Lord has been teaching. He's been teaching in parables, and the Bible says this. And with many such parables, spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable, spake he not unto them, and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. First of all, I want you to note that our Lord does indeed give us truth as we're able to hear it. There is a reason why we did not learn certain truth years ago. The reason is we were not able to hear it. We were not able to receive it. In Hebrews chapter five, you remember that passage where the apostle said, of whom we have many things to say to you, hard to be uttered, seeing your dull of hearing.

[John Weaver] He said, for the time When you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of God." In other words, he said, you're just not listening. You're dull-witted, you're hard-headed, and you got wax in your ears. You're not able to hear. Did you know Paul said the same thing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1 and 2?

[John Weaver] Listen to what he said. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as in the spiritual world, as in the carnal, as in the babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, yet neither now are you yet able." He said, you're a bunch of babies. I can't give you the meat because you're not able to hear. Our Lord will speak to us as we're able to hear.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. A lot of times you hear things in preaching or you see things in reading your Bible that you don't understand. And believe it or not, I have actually had people. To get mad at me over over some things that I preach. And I think, why should they get mad at me? I mean, it's right here in the word. But they don't understand.

[John Weaver] Do you know what the proper response should be? If you don't understand something. The proper response is not to get angry, not to go on a rampage and cuss and fuss and. No, no, look at your Bibles to Mark chapter four and verse thirty four, but without a parable speaking not unto them and when they were alone. He expounded all things to his disciples. If you want to understand something, you need to get along with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.

[John Weaver] He's the only one that can do it anyhow. He's the only one that can give you understanding. So if you really and truly want understanding, you need to get along with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the amazing thing is sometimes people who get mad, of the people who don't even read their Bibles. It's amazing. So here's my question. With whom do you walk? You're walking with someone. Are you walking with the Lord? What is your lifestyle? Walking with the Lord is not A once a week thing. It's not a hit and miss proposition. Walking with the Lord is a daily walking. An hourly walking. Sometimes a minute by minute and moment by moment. You have to understand.

[John Weaver] The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 8, listen carefully, for bodily exercise profiteth little. Now it does profit some, not much. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having a promise of life that now is and of that which is to come. We cannot walk with the Lord. Until we learn to walk before the Lord, that is, as in His presence. Before His face. You stop and think.

[John Weaver] When you were a child. There were things that you would do. But never in front of your parents. Because you know what would happen. If you live as in the presence of God. And walk and obey him. You will be fearful. To violate his law and to sin against him. You can't walk with God until you learn to walk before him as in his presence. Enoch walked before God and he walked with God. Noah walked before God and he walked with God. Abram walked before God and he walked with God.

[John Weaver] You need to start walking. with the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth, and we pray that you would indeed, Lord, truly help us and enable us to walk with thee, to learn what it means to walk before thy face. To honor thee, to serve thee, to obey thee. Give us grace that we may serve thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Walking With God - 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	22916111576
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Genesis: Early World, Judgment, and the Nations
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-02-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 146: Walking With God — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	67

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Question of Walking with the Lord

Weaver introduces the series and reads Genesis 5:22-24 about Enoch. He poses the central question: Are you walking with the Lord? He notes that many despise this privilege through sin.

This is message number one, out of about seven or eight—I don't know, I didn't finish the series yet, so it may be six, seven, or eight—but the title of the message, in fact, the title of each of the messages, will be "Walking with the Lord." So I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 5. Genesis chapter 5. We're going to read verses 22 through 24. This will be just kind of an introductory message to the whole series. We will certainly be more specific as we get into the series. The title is "Walking with the Lord." Notice Genesis chapter 5, beginning with verse 22. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 5:22-24

"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

Walking with the Lord is the duty, obligation, and privilege of every child of God. The question that I must ask you is very simple: Are you walking with the Lord? Do you even know what it means to walk with the Lord? Do you have any idea what walking with the Lord entails and how to go about walking with the Lord? Many disregard and despise this inestimable privilege of communing with the Lord. So you ask, "Well, how in the world do people despise it?"

And the answer is simply, by sin. Sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord. If you look, holding Genesis 5, back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 8, the Bible, speaking of Adam and Eve, says this:

Scripture Reading — Genesis 3:8

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

So at this point, Adam and Eve had sinned. They heard the voice of God walking in the garden. They'd previously walked with Him, but now they hide themselves because of their sin. So the implication is that they can no longer walk with Him now because of the sin.

Sin Separates Us from Walking with God

Using Genesis 3:8, Isaiah 59:1-2, and Psalm 66:18, Weaver shows that sin divides and prevents walking with God. Adam and Eve hid from God after sinning.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 3:8

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

The Bible says in Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." So obviously, sin does divide and sin does cause us to not walk with the Lord. David said it very plainly in Psalm 66 and verse 18. He said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:18

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

So now we're talking about walking with the Lord. If we walk with Him, we must walk separately from and away from that which is contrary to Him and His law. The Bible tells us very plainly that Enoch walked with the Lord. Now, why do we not walk with the Lord?

Walking Before the Lord: The Prerequisite

Weaver explains that we cannot walk with God unless we first walk before Him—living as in His presence, in obedience and holiness. He cites Genesis 17:1, 1 Samuel 2:30, and 1 Kings 2:4.

I'm going to answer that question, and I want you to listen. Why do we not walk with the Lord? And the answer is because we do not know what it is to walk with the Lord. One of the reasons we do not walk with the Lord—listen carefully—is because we do not walk before the Lord. If you will turn in your Bibles, we're going to certainly come back to Genesis 5, but look at Genesis chapter 17. And every verse that I'm going to show you in the following 15 minutes or so is the exact same Hebrew word for "before." Notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 1, the Bible says, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." Now notice what He said: "Walk before me." He did not say "walk with me." He said, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." And the word is the word panim.

And it literally means to walk as in my face, or walk as in my presence. So He tells Abram then, "I am the Lord God Almighty. Walk in my presence. Walk as if you are before my face, and be thou perfect." Now, walking before God means that Abraham was to walk as if he was in the very presence of God. It means that Abraham was to consciously do that which was pleasing unto the Lord, and to abstain from that which was contrary to the Lord.

So let me spell it out. It just means that he was to walk in obedience, holiness, uprightness, and without hypocrisy. It also means that he was to serve the Lord. For instance, turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Again, here is the same exact Hebrew word, panim. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 30.

Here is what God said concerning Eli and his house. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 2:30

"Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."

Well, Eli had sinned against God. He allowed his sons to sin against God. But He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 2:30

"I said that your house and the house of your father should walk before me."

Well, Eli was a priest. So it means then that they were not only to walk as in the presence of God, they were also to serve Him as well. So walking also has the connotation of serving the Lord as well.

David explained what this word meant to Solomon. So if you look in 1 Kings chapter 2, just turn over a few pages, 1 Kings chapter 2, and look at verse 4. Interestingly enough, 1 Kings chapter 2 and verse 4. In fact, if you'll go back, let's read verse 1.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 2:1-4

"Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth." "Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel."

Here is the word "walking before God" as well. Now if you look in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, you're going to see that God confirmed David's interpretation of what it means to walk before the Lord. For in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, God says this to Solomon. He said, "And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments."

The Meaning of Walking Before the Lord

Walking before God means serving Him, obeying His commandments, and living in integrity. Weaver references 1 Kings 9:4 and 2 Chronicles 7:17 to confirm this interpretation.

So, what in the world does it mean to walk before the Lord? It means that we not only serve Him, but that we walk in His presence and that we literally obey Him. If you would look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles, turn right on over, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and notice, if you would please, verse 17. By the way, in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 again. Notice this, if you would please, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and notice, if you would please, verse 17. 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 17: "And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments."

So He said the same thing again. So, I want you to think for a moment. To walk before the Lord has this meaning: It means that we are to walk in obedience. It means that we are to walk holily. We are to walk and follow His law and to serve Him. If you would ask yourself this question: Why is there so much sin, meanness, wickedness, and rebellion in our society today? What's the answer? Because people do not walk as in the presence of God.

The Consequence of Not Walking Before God

When people do not walk before God, they walk contrary to Him. Weaver illustrates with Mel Trotter's neon sign and cites Psalm 36:1 and Romans 3:18 about the lack of fear of God.

Let me give you a funny illustration, but a true illustration. Mel Trotter was a drunk. And Mel Trotter was saved by the grace of God. The story goes that Mel Trotter had stolen the shoes off of his baby's feet and was taking them to pawn them so he could just get a drink of whiskey. And he was passing down the street and there was a gospel meeting going on and they were singing, and the singing caught his attention. And so it was cold outside and he went inside and sat down to listen to the singing. And then when the singing was over, the preaching started and God opened his ears and God opened his eyes and God opened his heart and Mel Trotter was converted.

In fact, he began a rescue mission as well. And so Mel Trotter is pretty well known for trying to reach other drunks and prostitutes, et cetera, things like that. And there was a lovers' lane area and Mel would go down there and preach as these people were parked committing fornication. And he would preach to them. Some of them would drive off, some of them would laugh at him, some would ignore him.

But he wondered what he could really do to stop this. And so he got a neon sign—this was back in the '30s—he got a neon sign with nothing but a giant eyeball. And every time it flashed, it said, "Thou God seest me. Thou God seest me. Thou God seest me." And pretty soon, Lovers' Lane was just kind of devoid of anyone there. This is what it means literally to walk in the presence of God in one sense of the word. That is, we abstain from that. And when we do not abstain from that and when society does not abstain, then, of course, it's because of what the psalmist said in Psalm 36 and verse 1, where he said,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 36:1

"The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes."

So the wicked do not fear God. That's why Romans 3 and verse 18, the Apostle Paul says concerning the wicked,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 36:1

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

So if one does not fear God, then obviously he's not going to walk before Him and he's certainly not going to walk with Him because sin, therefore, makes it impossible to walk with God.

Now, there's another truth, and I'm going to quote this verse a little bit later. There's another truth: that if we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him. Because Amos 3:3 says it like this: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" So we have to understand that wherever there is a positive, there is a negative. Wherever there is a negative, there is also a positive. But if we are not walking before the Lord and with the Lord, then the negative is we are walking contrary to Him and we are walking against Him.

Walking Contrary to God: Examples from Israel's History

Weaver shows from 1 Kings 15:3, 2 Kings 17:7-8, and 1 Kings 11:31-33 that individuals and nations who forsake God's ways walk against Him. Jeroboam and Israel are key examples.

Now let me show you. Look in your Bibles. 1 Kings chapter 15. 1 Kings chapter 15. And notice what the Bible says concerning Jeroboam. Now remember, Jeroboam was a wicked man. He's the man that made the two golden calves. King Jeroboam. So look what the Bible says in 1 Kings chapter 15 and verse 3. And we're talking about Jeroboam the king. And the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 15:3

"And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father."

Note, if you would,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 15:3

"and he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father."

So if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary to Him, and you're walking against Him. If you would hold 1 Kings right now, just for a moment, and turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17.

I want you to understand that this is true, not only concerning individuals, it's also concerning nations, it's concerning society or people, if you want to say so. In 2 Kings chapter 17 and verse 7:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:7-8

"And so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made."

So here's the people now that are rejecting all of God's law and all of God's commandments, and they're walking in the statutes and in the laws of these pagan, wicked, ungodly kings. Now, I want you to hold this passage. Watch. Turn right back to 1 Kings chapter 11. Holding 2 Kings, but turn back to 1 Kings chapter 11.

Now, watch carefully and let's begin reading, if you would please, verse 31. Here's where God's going to divide the kingdom. He's going to give ten tribes to Jeroboam and leave the rest for Rehoboam. But look what He said. Notice, if you would please, 1 Kings 11, notice if you would please, verse 31.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:31-33

"And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)"

Now, why is God dividing the kingdom? Why is the kingdom being taken away from Solomon and from Rehoboam his son? Here's why.

"Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father." Note, if you would, if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary and against the Lord. So it's not just civil rulers. It's not just kings. If you'll go back to 2 Kings chapter 17, while we're talking about walking with the Lord, it's entire nations, it's entire peoples. Notice if you would, again, we just read in 2 Kings 17:7-8, how it was Israel who left God and served just like Solomon did. Skip down, if you would please, down to verse 19. In fact, let's read verse 18.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:18-19

"Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made."

So here we have the southern kingdom now doing exactly that which the northern kingdom had done, and the northern kingdom had already been taken into captivity. And they knew that. The point I'm trying to make is very simple: If you are not walking before the Lord, if you're not walking with the Lord, then obviously you're walking contrary to Him and against Him. Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6. Our text is in Genesis 5, and I'm going to come back there. I'm just trying to show you in this introductory message what it literally means to walk with the Lord. You're going to find that there were a number of individuals in the Bible that the Bible declares that they walked with the Lord. If you look in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 9, the Bible says this:

Noah and Enoch: Examples of Walking with God

Noah walked with God as a just man (Genesis 6:9). Enoch walked with God for 300 years as a family man, demonstrating consistency and constancy despite obligations.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 6:9

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

Noah walked with God. Well, my question that I ask at the very beginning of this message is: Are you walking with the Lord? Do you know what it means to walk with God? I pointed out that you must walk before Him, that is, as in His presence, as you are before His face, in order to walk with Him. If you do not do that, then you're walking against Him, and you're walking contrary to Him. Now, the Bible says that Noah walked with God. The Bible also says that he was a just man and perfect in his generations. Now, if you want to know what that means, look in Genesis 7, verse 1. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

It's the same exact Hebrew word. "I've seen you living in my presence. I've seen you living before my face." So it means that Noah then, like Enoch, was doing that which was lawful and holy and right and pleasing in the sight of God. He was conforming his life to that which was scriptural and obedient to God.

Now, I want you to go back to our text, to Genesis chapter 5, and I'm going to develop this far more fully. We're going to see this not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. Not all today, obviously, but notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 5, verse 22, the Bible says, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." Now, let me ask you: Why in the world do you think it is important that God tells us specifically that Enoch walked with God for 300 years after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters? You know, there is nothing in the Bible that is extraneous. God puts things there that we need to know. So why would God tell us that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters? Why should we know this fact? Here's why: Because God is telling us that Enoch was a family man. He had a wife. He had children. Enoch was the father of the long-lived Methuselah, 969 years.

He was also the great-grandfather of Noah. As a family man, it meant therefore that he had to provide for his wife and provide for his children. He must educate and train his children. He had all of the obligations that every husband and every father had—and still has. And yet he walked with God. The point I'm trying to make is this: Enoch never gave the excuse that he was too busy. Or there was not enough time. He was a family man with a wife and children, and yet the Bible says he walked with God. And notice if you would what else the Bible tells you in verse 22: "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." Now, 300 years is a long time. None of us will make it that long, I can assure you. Why does the Bible tell us that he walked with God for 300 years after he begat sons and daughters? We never read in the Bible about any lapses or any failures in Enoch. What the Bible is telling us is that he was consistent. He was constant.

He didn't start and stop. When he walked with God, he began and he continued 300 years, and most of us cannot continue walking with God for a day or a week, or a puny 70 or 80 years. And he walked with God consistently for 300 years. In all of his obligations, he was walking before the Lord. While he was walking before the Lord, he was a husband, he was a father, he was working, he was educating, he was teaching, he was doing everything that husbands and fathers needed to do and had to do. Hmm.

The Christian Life as a Walk

The word 'walk' describes one's lifestyle and habitual manner of life. Weaver introduces five implications of walking: communion, purpose, progress, agreement, and resolution.

The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word "walk" is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life. Thus the word "walk," W-A-L-K, is synonymous with lifestyle. It is how one lives.

Now, let me give you today just several things by way of introduction that the word "walk" implies. And you need to keep these in mind as we go through this brief series of seven or eight messages. First of all, walking implies communion and fellowship. Walking implies communion and fellowship. It's often that husbands and wives will take a walk together. Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and children will take a walk. Alice and I used to walk regularly.

Walking Implies Communion and Fellowship

Walking with God involves fellowship with the Father and the Son, as seen in 1 John 1:3-7. This fellowship extends to other believers.

We haven't had time to recently. But interestingly enough, when we would walk, we always had company. Not only with the dogs, but you remember we had a pet pot-bellied pig. She used to walk with us. Pony used to walk with us. Follow us, you know. And it didn't matter if we walked one mile or two miles. They were there with us. But you have to understand that whenever you are walking, there is the implication of communion and fellowship.

It's not just simply exercise. It is communion and fellowship. So the same is true with our walk with the Lord. It's not just that we are exercising in a godly manner. It is indeed that we are fellowshipping and communing with Him.

Now, I want you to turn your Bibles—hold Genesis chapter 5—but turn in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. And I want you to see this from the Bible. Here's an interesting passage. 1 John chapter 1. John says this in verse 3. Watch carefully. 1 John 1, verse 3. He says, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,

that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Wow. Has it ever dawned upon you that Adam was once our federal head and representative? And everything we had in Adam, we lost. And Adam, of course, was created in original righteousness, holiness, knowledge. But when he sinned, we sinned in him. And the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Jesus Christ is the second Adam. Now, as the second Adam, it means He is our second federal head and representative. Everything that we lost in the first Adam, we gain back plus more in the second Adam. In the first Adam, we were placed on a mutable footing.

That is, we could change. That's why Adam sinned. In the second Adam, we are on an immutable footing because now we are seated in Jesus Christ. And if you look in 1 John 3, beginning there with verse 1, look what he says. 1 John 3, verse 1: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." What did he say? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." We are right now the sons of God. And we know one thing, that when He appears, we're going to be like Him. In other words, we are on an immutable footing in Jesus Christ. Like Philippians 1:6 says, that which He began, He's also going to finish. But I want you to go back to 1 John 1, because while we are in Him, we have that communion with Him. Look in 1 John 1, verse 6. 1 John 1, verse 6:

Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:3-7

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."

So if we say that we have fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, while at the same time we're living a life of disobedience and sin and rebellion, he says we're lying and we're not doing the truth. But watch verse 7. He says,

Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:3-7

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Now, John had already said in verse 3 that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, naturally leads to fellowship with the brethren.

As we walk with Him, we are also walking with others who are walking with Him as well. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." So, walking implies fellowship and communion. Secondly, walking implies purpose. Walking implies purpose. There's usually a reason for taking a walk. I understand that sometimes people want to take a walk just simply for the exercise, sometimes for the fellowship. But do you realize there are other purposes as well? There have been times I've asked people to walk with me just so I could get them away from everyone else and share something with them that I wanted to share with them. In other words, as we walk, we oftentimes confide in each other, or we share secrets with each other, or we admonish each other. The Bible says in Psalm 25 and verse 14, listen carefully: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."

Walking Implies Purpose, Progress, Agreement, and Resolution

Weaver explains that walking with God involves receiving His secrets (Psalm 25:14), making progress (Psalm 84:7), agreeing with Him (Amos 3:3), and resolving conflicts through reasoning with Him (Isaiah 1:18-20).

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." So God reveals things to us as we walk with Him. And Proverbs 3 and verse 32 says this: "For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous." Now, let me make a point, and I want you to get ready to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. Listen carefully. I want you to go ahead and find 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. I want you to listen to this: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." Here's a statement: Those who walk with the Lord, those who are saved, know things that the unsaved do not know, and will never know unless they're saved by the grace of God. Moreover, Christians know things that not even angels know. Isn't that amazing? Look in 1 Peter 1, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Peter 1, verse 10: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." So some of the Old Testament prophets who prophesied concerning Jesus Christ and all of that grace, they did not understand everything that they were prophesying. But they searched diligently to try. Watch verse 11.

"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." Can you imagine that? Angels desire to look into certain things concerning Christ that only Christians know. There was no redemption for angels. You had the elect angels and the non-elect angels. You have those that were chosen and those that fell. There was no redemption. Angels don't understand redemption. They don't understand being saved by grace through faith. And so those elect angels who do not understand these things desired to look into them as well. So obviously, there is a purpose in taking a walk. And as we commune with Him, He reveals His secrets to us, He teaches us, and we learn more and more. He enlightens us and gives us understanding as we walk with Him. Thirdly, walking implies progress. One of the most notable things about walking is you're making progress. You're moving from one point to another point. You may also look back and see how far you have traveled or how much you have progressed.

Now, let me tell you something: There is not one person in this room that is perfect. I never will be until we get to glory. OK, but one thing we could say is this: Thank God, I am not what I used to be. We can also say, I am not what I should be yet, but I am different today than I was yesterday. I am not what I am yet to be by the grace of God, but thank God I am not what I used to be.

So we can see progress in our lives. Sometimes it may be slow progress, but we can see progress in our lives. And, you know, sometimes the progress is so slow we get to thinking, "I don't see why so-and-so back there can't see this. I've seen this for years." Yes. And you've probably been walking for years when he has not been walking for years. And we forget how slowly sometimes things transpire in our life. But there is progress.

That's why the Bible says in Psalm 84 and verse 7, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." So our walk should be like this: It should be continually going upward. Unhappily, many times our walk is like this: up and down, up and down, up and down, when it should be on a plane. The Bible says in Proverbs 10 and verse 29, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright." So the more upright we are, the stronger we should be. The Bible says in Habakkuk 3 and verse 19, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." And then, of course, Romans 1 and verse 17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith."

That is, here you may have a little faith, but you're increasing and increasing and increasing until you have a great faith. And then he says, "The just shall live by faith." So the Lord is the strength of our lives. And as we walk with Him, our progress in a Christian life should be improving. You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible. If you're not making progress, you're just not walking with the Lord. Fourthly, walking implies agreement. When we walk with someone, the implication is there's basic agreement.

You remember that passage I quoted earlier, Amos 3, verse 3, where the Bible asks, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" I would never waste my time walking with someone with whom I absolutely, totally disagreed and had absolutely nothing in common unless he was willing to listen as I taught him or preached to him or told him about the truth of God. But otherwise, I'm not going to waste my time. Why? There's nothing in common. We have no basis of fellowship. There's nothing to commune over or commune with. We're totally, absolutely different. You know, the Bible says in the book of Micah, chapter 4, verse 5, now listen carefully: "For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever." So they're going to be walking in the name of their god. But we're going to walk in the name of the one true, the living God, forever and ever. So there is no basis of fellowship for those who are serving a false god and those who are serving the truth. If we're walking with the Lord, it implies—listen carefully—it implies that we confess and acknowledge and believe that He is the one true and the living God.

And beside Him, there is no other. Moreover, it implies that we agree with Him, that His word is truth, that He is right, and we're here in order that we may listen and learn and obey. In Leviticus 18, verse 4, here's what God says, listen carefully: "Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God." To walk therein. In Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12, He said it like this: "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?" So if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything. I agree with Him concerning my sin. I agree with Him concerning Jesus Christ. I agree with Him concerning the need of repentance. I agree with Him for everything. Fifthly, walking implies resolutions. There are times that friends may have a disagreement or misunderstanding.

And one can say to the other, "Let's take a walk." And as we walk, let's try to iron out this problem, let's work it out. And so the walk then is an opportunity to discuss the problem. And usually as the problem is discussed and addressed, it leads to a solution and a resolution of the conflict. Did you know that our Lord invites us to reason with Him?

Now I want you to listen. He gives us a very good incentive to reason with Him and to work out our problems. He said in Isaiah 1, verses 18 and 20, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." Now listen: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Now, if I'm sinning against God and God says, "Let's reason together. Let's think about your sin. Let's think about what you're missing by sinning against me. You're missing forgiveness, you're missing blessings."

Now, He said, while we're reasoning, let's consider what's going to happen to you if you continue to sin against me. I don't know about you, but that's pretty powerful reasoning in my book. And I'd really like to reason with Him in that way. Because I understand that He's right, and I'm wrong, and I need to submit to His divine rationale.

Getting Alone with Jesus for Understanding

Using Mark 4:33-34, Weaver encourages believers to get alone with the Lord to gain understanding of His Word, rather than reacting in anger.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. I'm going to try to close this momentarily, but look in Mark chapter 4. Watch carefully. Mark chapter 4. Notice, if you would please, verses 33 and 34. Mark chapter 4, verse 33. Our Lord has been teaching. He's been teaching in parables, and the Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:33-34

"And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."

First of all, I want you to note that our Lord does indeed give us truth as we're able to hear it. There is a reason why we did not learn certain truth years ago. The reason is we were not able to hear it. We were not able to receive it. In Hebrews chapter 5, you remember that passage where the apostle said, "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing."

He said, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God." In other words, he said, you're just not listening. You're dull-witted, you're hard-headed, and you got wax in your ears. You're not able to hear. Did you know Paul said the same thing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1 and 2? Listen to what he said: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." He said, you're a bunch of babies. I can't give you the meat because you're not able to hear. Our Lord will speak to us as we're able to hear.

Now, I want to show you something. A lot of times you hear things in preaching or you see things in reading your Bible that you don't understand. And believe it or not, I have actually had people to get mad at me over some things that I preach. And I think, why should they get mad at me? I mean, it's right here in the Word. But they don't understand. Do you know what the proper response should be? If you don't understand something, the proper response is not to get angry, not to go on a rampage and cuss and fuss and—no, no. Look at your Bibles to Mark chapter 4 and verse 34:

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:33-34

"But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."

If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.

He's the only one that can do it anyhow. He's the only one that can give you understanding. So if you really and truly want understanding, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the amazing thing is sometimes people who get mad are the people who don't even read their Bibles. It's amazing. So here's my question: With whom do you walk? You're walking with someone. Are you walking with the Lord? What is your lifestyle? Walking with the Lord is not a once-a-week thing. It's not a hit-and-miss proposition. Walking with the Lord is a daily walking, an hourly walking, sometimes a minute-by-minute and moment-by-moment. You have to understand.

Conclusion: A Call to Walk with the Lord Daily

Weaver concludes by urging a daily, consistent walk with God, beginning with walking before Him in reverence and obedience. He closes in prayer.

The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8, listen carefully: "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." We cannot walk with the Lord until we learn to walk before the Lord, that is, as in His presence, before His face. You stop and think. When you were a child, there were things that you would do, but never in front of your parents, because you know what would happen. If you live as in the presence of God, and walk and obey Him, you will be fearful to violate His law and to sin against Him. You can't walk with God until you learn to walk before Him as in His presence. Enoch walked before God and he walked with God. Noah walked before God and he walked with God. Abram walked before God and he walked with God.

You need to start walking with the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth, and we pray that You would indeed, Lord, truly help us and enable us to walk with Thee, to learn what it means to walk before Thy face, to honor Thee, to serve Thee, to obey Thee. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Walking with God as a Lifestyle

Summary: The Christian life is described as a walk, meaning one's habitual manner of living. Walking with God is a daily, consistent practice, not a sporadic event.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word "walk" is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life.' (27:09.7-27:43.8)

Walking Before God as Prerequisite

Summary: To walk with God, one must first walk before Him—living consciously in His presence, in obedience and holiness. This involves fearing God and keeping His commandments.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'walking before God means that Abraham was to walk as if he was in the very presence of God... to walk in obedience, holiness, uprightness, and without hypocrisy.' (04:36.5-05:48.8)

Sin as the Barrier to Walking with God

Summary: Sin separates us from God and makes it impossible to walk with Him. Unconfessed sin hinders fellowship and communion.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord.' (01:41.3-02:29.5)

Consistency and Constancy in the Walk

Summary: Enoch walked with God for 300 years without recorded lapses, demonstrating that a consistent walk is possible even amid family and work obligations.

Evidence: Weaver notes: 'He didn't start and stop. When he walked with God, he began and he continued 300 years... he was consistent. He was constant.' (23:54.0-24:47.7)

Fellowship and Communion with God

Summary: Walking with God implies intimate fellowship and communion, as seen in 1 John 1:3-7. This fellowship is with the Father, the Son, and other believers.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'walking implies communion and fellowship... our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' (28:31.9-30:00.9)

Agreement with God

Summary: Walking with God requires agreement with Him—acknowledging His truth, His Word, and His ways. Amos 3:3 underscores that two cannot walk together unless they agree.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything.' (42:45.8-44:14.9)

Progress in the Christian Life

Summary: Walking with God implies making progress, moving from strength to strength. A lack of progress indicates a failure to walk with the Lord.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.' (40:39.6-41:19.4)

The Fear of God in Society

Summary: The lack of walking before God leads to societal wickedness because there is no fear of God before their eyes (Psalm 36:1, Romans 3:18).

Evidence: Weaver asks: 'Why is there so much sin, meanness, wickedness, and rebellion in our society today? ... Because people do not walk as in the presence of God.' (09:33.8-10:13.7)

Key Arguments

Walking with God requires first walking before God

Summary: One cannot walk with God without first learning to walk before Him—living as in His presence, in obedience and holiness. This is the foundational prerequisite.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'if we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him. Because Amos 3:3 says... Can two walk together, except they be agreed?' (13:00.5-13:33.6)

Sin is the primary obstacle to walking with God

Summary: Sin separates us from God and must be dealt with through repentance and obedience. Unconfessed sin breaks fellowship.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' (02:30.0-02:56.9)

Walking with God is a consistent, lifelong practice

Summary: Enoch's 300-year walk demonstrates that walking with God is not a short-term endeavor but a constant, daily commitment regardless of life's obligations.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes: 'He didn't start and stop... he walked with God consistently for 300 years.' (23:54.0-24:47.7)

Walking with God involves fellowship and communion

Summary: The walk is not mere rule-keeping but a relationship of intimate fellowship with God, as described in 1 John 1:3-7.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' (30:00.9-31:13.3)

Walking with God implies agreement with His Word and ways

Summary: To walk with God, one must agree with Him on all matters—sin, salvation, and obedience. There is no fellowship without agreement.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything.' (42:45.8-44:14.9)

Walking with God leads to progress and strength

Summary: A genuine walk with God results in spiritual growth and increasing strength, moving from faith to faith.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.' (40:39.6-41:19.4)

Walking contrary to God is the alternative

Summary: If one is not walking with God, they are walking against Him, as seen in the examples of Jeroboam and Israel.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary to Him, and you're walking against Him.' (13:35.2-14:46.7)

Understanding comes through private communion with Christ

Summary: When believers do not understand spiritual truths, they should get alone with Jesus, who expounds all things to His disciples (Mark 4:34).

Evidence: Weaver says: 'If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you.' (49:01.6-49:39.2)

Scripture References

Genesis 5:22-24

Context: The primary text about Enoch walking with God, used to introduce the series.

Genesis 3:8

Context: Adam and Eve hid from God after sinning, illustrating that sin breaks the walk with God.

Isaiah 59:1-2

Context: Iniquities separate us from God; His face is hidden because of sins.

Psalm 66:18

Context: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

Genesis 17:1

Context: God commands Abram to walk before Him and be perfect, introducing the concept of walking before God.

1 Samuel 2:30

Context: God said Eli's house should walk before Him forever, linking walking before God to priestly service.

1 Kings 2:1-4

Context: David charges Solomon to walk before God in truth with all his heart, defining walking before God as keeping God's statutes.

1 Kings 9:4

Context: God confirms that walking before Him means integrity of heart and obedience to His commands.

2 Chronicles 7:17

Context: God repeats the condition of walking before Him as David did, observing His statutes.

Psalm 36:1

Context: The transgression of the wicked shows there is no fear of God before his eyes.

Romans 3:18

Context: There is no fear of God before their eyes, describing the wicked.

Amos 3:3

Context: Can two walk together except they be agreed? Used to show agreement is necessary for walking with God.

1 Kings 15:3

Context: Jeroboam walked in the sins of his father, his heart not perfect with God, illustrating walking contrary to God.

2 Kings 17:7-8

Context: Israel sinned and walked in the statutes of the heathen, showing national departure from God.

1 Kings 11:31-33

Context: God divided the kingdom because Solomon forsook Him and did not walk in His ways.

2 Kings 17:18-19

Context: Judah also walked in the statutes of Israel, following the northern kingdom's disobedience.

Genesis 6:9

Context: Noah was a just man and walked with God, another example of walking with God.

Genesis 7:1

Context: God saw Noah righteous before Him in that generation, confirming Noah walked before God.

1 John 1:3-7

Context: Fellowship with the Father and Son; walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing from sin.

Mark 4:33-34

Context: Jesus spoke in parables as they were able to hear, but expounded all things to His disciples when alone.

Historical References

Mel Trotter

Context: A converted drunk who used a neon sign with a giant eyeball and the words 'Thou God seest me' to deter sin at Lovers' Lane, illustrating walking in the presence of God.

Jeroboam

Context: Wicked king of Israel who made two golden calves and walked in the sins of his father, used as an example of walking contrary to God.

Eli and his house

Context: God said Eli's house should walk before Him forever, but they failed due to sin, illustrating the call to serve God.

David and Solomon

Context: David charged Solomon to walk before God in truth; God confirmed this interpretation, showing the standard of walking before God.

Noah

Context: Described as a just man who walked with God, serving as an Old Testament example alongside Enoch.

Enoch

Context: The central figure of the message; walked with God for 300 years as a family man and was taken by God without dying.

Important Quotes

Walking with the Lord is the duty, obligation, and privilege of every child of God.

Significance: Establishes the foundational premise that walking with God is not optional but essential for believers.

Sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord.

Significance: Clearly states the primary obstacle to walking with God, setting up the need for holiness.

If we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him.

Significance: Summarizes the key argument that walking before God (in His presence) is the prerequisite for walking with Him.

The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word 'walk' is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life.

Significance: Defines the biblical concept of 'walk' as lifestyle, not just occasional activity.

You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.

Significance: Asserts that spiritual growth is an inevitable result of a genuine walk with God.

If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.

Significance: Encourages personal communion with Christ as the means to gain spiritual understanding.

Walking with the Lord is not a once-a-week thing. It's not a hit-and-miss proposition. Walking with the Lord is a daily walking, an hourly walking, sometimes a minute-by-minute and moment-by-moment.

Significance: Emphasizes the continuous, moment-by-moment nature of the Christian walk.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to 'walk before the Lord' as described in Genesis 17:1, and how does that differ from simply 'walking with the Lord'?

Context: Weaver explains that walking before God means living consciously in His presence, in obedience and holiness, as a prerequisite to walking with Him.

How does sin specifically hinder our walk with God, and what steps can we take to remove that barrier?

Context: Weaver cites Isaiah 59:1-2 and Psalm 66:18 to show that sin separates us from God and prevents Him from hearing us.

Enoch walked with God for 300 years as a family man. What practical lessons can we learn from his consistency amid daily obligations?

Context: Weaver highlights that Enoch was a husband and father with responsibilities, yet he maintained a constant walk with God.

In what ways does walking with God imply fellowship and communion, and how can we cultivate that in our daily lives?

Context: Weaver uses 1 John 1:3-7 to show that our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and that walking in the light fosters this communion.

Why is agreement with God essential for walking with Him, and what areas of our lives might reveal a lack of agreement?

Context: Weaver references Amos 3:3 and explains that walking with God means agreeing with Him on all matters, including sin and obedience.

How can we assess whether we are making spiritual progress in our walk with God, and what should we do if we see little or no progress?

Context: Weaver states that walking with God inevitably leads to progress, moving from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).

What does it look like to 'get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ' to gain understanding, as seen in Mark 4:34?

Context: Weaver encourages believers to seek private time with Christ for teaching and understanding, rather than reacting in anger to difficult truths.

How does the fear of God (or lack thereof) affect our walk and the moral state of society, according to Psalm 36:1 and Romans 3:18?

Context: Weaver uses the illustration of Mel Trotter's neon sign to show that living as in God's presence deters sin.

Applications

Cultivate a conscious awareness of God's presence

Summary: Believers should live as if they are always before the face of God, which will deter sin and promote obedience.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'walking before God means that Abraham was to walk as if he was in the very presence of God... to walk in obedience, holiness, uprightness, and without hypocrisy.' (04:36.5-05:48.8)

Deal with sin immediately to maintain fellowship

Summary: Since sin separates us from God, believers must confess and forsake sin promptly to restore the walk.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' (02:30.0-02:56.9)

Pursue consistency in your daily walk

Summary: Like Enoch, believers should strive for a constant, uninterrupted walk with God, not starting and stopping.

Evidence: Weaver emphasizes: 'He didn't start and stop... he walked with God consistently for 300 years.' (23:54.0-24:47.7)

Seek intimate fellowship with God through Christ

Summary: Walking with God is not just rule-keeping but a relationship of communion; believers should prioritize time with God.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' (30:00.9-31:13.3)

Examine your life for agreement with God's Word

Summary: To walk with God, believers must align their beliefs and actions with Scripture, agreeing with God on all matters.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything.' (42:45.8-44:14.9)

Expect and pursue spiritual progress

Summary: A genuine walk with God will produce growth; believers should actively seek to move from strength to strength.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.' (40:39.6-41:19.4)

Get alone with Jesus for understanding

Summary: When faced with difficult truths or confusion, believers should seek private communion with Christ for clarity.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you.' (49:01.6-49:39.2)

Make walking with God a moment-by-moment practice

Summary: Walking with God is not a weekly event but a continuous, daily, even momentary lifestyle of obedience and fellowship.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Walking with the Lord is a daily walking, an hourly walking, sometimes a minute-by-minute and moment-by-moment.' (50:56.6-51:41.2)

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:36:42Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T00:53:01Z

Clean Transcript

Walking With God - 1

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

This is message number one, out of about seven or eight—I don't know, I didn't finish the series yet, so it may be six, seven, or eight—but the title of the message, in fact, the title of each of the messages, will be "Walking with the Lord." So I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 5. Genesis chapter 5. We're going to read verses 22 through 24. This will be just kind of an introductory message to the whole series. We will certainly be more specific as we get into the series. The title is "Walking with the Lord." Notice Genesis chapter 5, beginning with verse 22.
#1 | 0:01 to 0:48 | cleaned
The Bible says, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Walking with the Lord is the duty, obligation, and privilege of every child of God. The question that I must ask you is very simple: Are you walking with the Lord? Do you even know what it means to walk with the Lord? Do you have any idea what walking with the Lord entails and how to go about walking with the Lord? Many disregard and despise this inestimable privilege of communing with the Lord. So you ask, "Well, how in the world do people despise it?"
#2 | 0:48 to 1:40 | cleaned
And the answer is simply, by sin. Sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord. If you look, holding Genesis 5, back to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 8, the Bible, speaking of Adam and Eve, says this: "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." So at this point, Adam and Eve had sinned. They heard the voice of God walking in the garden. They'd previously walked with Him, but now they hide themselves because of their sin. So the implication is that they can no longer walk with Him now because of the sin.
#3 | 1:41 to 2:29 | cleaned
The Bible says in Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." So obviously, sin does divide and sin does cause us to not walk with the Lord.
#4 | 2:30 to 2:56 | cleaned
David said it very plainly in Psalm 66 and verse 18. He said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." So now we're talking about walking with the Lord. If we walk with Him, we must walk separately from and away from that which is contrary to Him and His law. The Bible tells us very plainly that Enoch walked with the Lord. Now, why do we not walk with the Lord?
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I'm going to answer that question, and I want you to listen. Why do we not walk with the Lord? And the answer is because we do not know what it is to walk with the Lord. One of the reasons we do not walk with the Lord—listen carefully—is because we do not walk before the Lord. If you will turn in your Bibles, we're going to certainly come back to Genesis 5, but look at Genesis chapter 17. And every verse that I'm going to show you in the following 15 minutes or so is the exact same Hebrew word for "before." Notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 1, the Bible says, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." Now notice what He said: "Walk before me." He did not say "walk with me." He said, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." And the word is the word panim.
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And it literally means to walk as in my face, or walk as in my presence. So He tells Abram then, "I am the Lord God Almighty. Walk in my presence. Walk as if you are before my face, and be thou perfect." Now, walking before God means that Abraham was to walk as if he was in the very presence of God. It means that Abraham was to consciously do that which was pleasing unto the Lord, and to abstain from that which was contrary to the Lord.
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So let me spell it out. It just means that he was to walk in obedience, holiness, uprightness, and without hypocrisy. It also means that he was to serve the Lord. For instance, turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30. Again, here is the same exact Hebrew word, panim. 1 Samuel chapter 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 30.
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Here is what God said concerning Eli and his house. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30: "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." Well, Eli had sinned against God. He allowed his sons to sin against God. But He said, "I said that your house and the house of your father should walk before me." Well, Eli was a priest. So it means then that they were not only to walk as in the presence of God, they were also to serve Him as well. So walking also has the connotation of serving the Lord as well.
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David explained what this word meant to Solomon. So if you look in 1 Kings chapter 2, just turn over a few pages, 1 Kings chapter 2, and look at verse 4. Interestingly enough, 1 Kings chapter 2 and verse 4. In fact, if you'll go back, let's read verse 1. "Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth."
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"Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel." Here is the word "walking before God" as well. Now if you look in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, you're going to see that God confirmed David's interpretation of what it means to walk before the Lord. For in 1 Kings 9 and verse 4, God says this to Solomon. He said, "And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments."
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So, what in the world does it mean to walk before the Lord? It means that we not only serve Him, but that we walk in His presence and that we literally obey Him. If you would look in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles, turn right on over, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and notice, if you would please, verse 17. By the way, in 2 Chronicles chapter 7 again. Notice this, if you would please, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, and notice, if you would please, verse 17. 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 17: "And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments."
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So He said the same thing again. So, I want you to think for a moment. To walk before the Lord has this meaning: It means that we are to walk in obedience. It means that we are to walk holily. We are to walk and follow His law and to serve Him. If you would ask yourself this question: Why is there so much sin, meanness, wickedness, and rebellion in our society today? What's the answer? Because people do not walk as in the presence of God.
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Let me give you a funny illustration, but a true illustration. Mel Trotter was a drunk. And Mel Trotter was saved by the grace of God. The story goes that Mel Trotter had stolen the shoes off of his baby's feet and was taking them to pawn them so he could just get a drink of whiskey. And he was passing down the street and there was a gospel meeting going on and they were singing, and the singing caught his attention. And so it was cold outside and he went inside and sat down to listen to the singing. And then when the singing was over, the preaching started and God opened his ears and God opened his eyes and God opened his heart and Mel Trotter was converted.
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In fact, he began a rescue mission as well. And so Mel Trotter is pretty well known for trying to reach other drunks and prostitutes, et cetera, things like that. And there was a lovers' lane area and Mel would go down there and preach as these people were parked committing fornication. And he would preach to them. Some of them would drive off, some of them would laugh at him, some would ignore him.
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But he wondered what he could really do to stop this. And so he got a neon sign—this was back in the '30s—he got a neon sign with nothing but a giant eyeball. And every time it flashed, it said, "Thou God seest me. Thou God seest me. Thou God seest me." And pretty soon, Lovers' Lane was just kind of devoid of anyone there. This is what it means literally to walk in the presence of God in one sense of the word.
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That is, we abstain from that. And when we do not abstain from that and when society does not abstain, then, of course, it's because of what the psalmist said in Psalm 36 and verse 1, where he said, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes." So the wicked do not fear God. That's why Romans 3 and verse 18, the Apostle Paul says concerning the wicked, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." So if one does not fear God, then obviously he's not going to walk before Him and he's certainly not going to walk with Him because sin, therefore, makes it impossible to walk with God.
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Now, there's another truth, and I'm going to quote this verse a little bit later. There's another truth: that if we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him. Because Amos 3:3 says it like this: "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" So we have to understand that wherever there is a positive, there is a negative. Wherever there is a negative, there is also a positive. But if we are not walking before the Lord and with the Lord, then the negative is we are walking contrary to Him and we are walking against Him.
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Now let me show you. Look in your Bibles. 1 Kings chapter 15. 1 Kings chapter 15. And notice what the Bible says concerning Jeroboam. Now remember, Jeroboam was a wicked man. He's the man that made the two golden calves. King Jeroboam. So look what the Bible says in 1 Kings chapter 15 and verse 3. And we're talking about Jeroboam the king. And the Bible says, "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." Note, if you would, "and he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." So if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary to Him, and you're walking against Him. If you would hold 1 Kings right now, just for a moment, and turn to 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17.
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I want you to understand that this is true, not only concerning individuals, it's also concerning nations, it's concerning society or people, if you want to say so. In 2 Kings chapter 17 and verse 7: "And so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made." So here's the people now that are rejecting all of God's law and all of God's commandments, and they're walking in the statutes and in the laws of these pagan, wicked, ungodly kings. Now, I want you to hold this passage. Watch. Turn right back to 1 Kings chapter 11. Holding 2 Kings, but turn back to 1 Kings chapter 11.
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Now, watch carefully and let's begin reading, if you would please, verse 31. Here's where God's going to divide the kingdom. He's going to give ten tribes to Jeroboam and leave the rest for Rehoboam. But look what He said. Notice, if you would please, 1 Kings 11, notice if you would please, verse 31. "And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)" Now, why is God dividing the kingdom? Why is the kingdom being taken away from Solomon and from Rehoboam his son? Here's why.
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"Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father." Note, if you would, if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary and against the Lord.
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So it's not just civil rulers. It's not just kings. If you'll go back to 2 Kings chapter 17, while we're talking about walking with the Lord, it's entire nations, it's entire peoples. Notice if you would, again, we just read in 2 Kings 17:7-8, how it was Israel who left God and served just like Solomon did. Skip down, if you would please, down to verse 19. In fact, let's read verse 18. "Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made."
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So here we have the southern kingdom now doing exactly that which the northern kingdom had done, and the northern kingdom had already been taken into captivity. And they knew that. The point I'm trying to make is very simple: If you are not walking before the Lord, if you're not walking with the Lord, then obviously you're walking contrary to Him and against Him. Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6. Our text is in Genesis 5, and I'm going to come back there. I'm just trying to show you in this introductory message what it literally means to walk with the Lord. You're going to find that there were a number of individuals in the Bible that the Bible declares that they walked with the Lord. If you look in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 6 and verse 9, the Bible says this:
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"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Noah walked with God. Well, my question that I ask at the very beginning of this message is: Are you walking with the Lord? Do you know what it means to walk with God? I pointed out that you must walk before Him, that is, as in His presence, as you are before His face, in order to walk with Him. If you do not do that, then you're walking against Him, and you're walking contrary to Him. Now, the Bible says that Noah walked with God. The Bible also says that he was a just man and perfect in his generations. Now, if you want to know what that means, look in Genesis 7, verse 1. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."
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It's the same exact Hebrew word. "I've seen you living in my presence. I've seen you living before my face." So it means that Noah then, like Enoch, was doing that which was lawful and holy and right and pleasing in the sight of God. He was conforming his life to that which was scriptural and obedient to God.
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Now, I want you to go back to our text, to Genesis chapter 5, and I'm going to develop this far more fully. We're going to see this not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. Not all today, obviously, but notice, if you would, in Genesis chapter 5, verse 22, the Bible says, "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters."
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Now, let me ask you: Why in the world do you think it is important that God tells us specifically that Enoch walked with God for 300 years after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters? You know, there is nothing in the Bible that is extraneous. God puts things there that we need to know. So why would God tell us that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah and after he begat sons and daughters? Why should we know this fact? Here's why: Because God is telling us that Enoch was a family man. He had a wife. He had children. Enoch was the father of the long-lived Methuselah, 969 years.
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He was also the great-grandfather of Noah. As a family man, it meant therefore that he had to provide for his wife and provide for his children. He must educate and train his children. He had all of the obligations that every husband and every father had—and still has. And yet he walked with God. The point I'm trying to make is this: Enoch never gave the excuse that he was too busy.
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Or there was not enough time. He was a family man with a wife and children, and yet the Bible says he walked with God. And notice if you would what else the Bible tells you in verse 22: "And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." Now, 300 years is a long time. None of us will make it that long, I can assure you. Why does the Bible tell us that he walked with God for 300 years after he begat sons and daughters? We never read in the Bible about any lapses or any failures in Enoch. What the Bible is telling us is that he was consistent. He was constant.
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He didn't start and stop. When he walked with God, he began and he continued 300 years, and most of us cannot continue walking with God for a day or a week, or a puny 70 or 80 years. And he walked with God consistently for 300 years. In all of his obligations, he was walking before the Lord. While he was walking before the Lord, he was a husband, he was a father, he was working, he was educating, he was teaching, he was doing everything that husbands and fathers needed to do and had to do. Hmm.
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You know what I believe he learned? I believe he learned the principle of 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 31, where God said, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." So Enoch then was just simply consistent and constant.
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Now, I want you to note something. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Now Enoch pleased God, and he walked with God. Notice he lived 365 years, so that means at 65 years of age, he started walking with God and he did so consistently for 300 years until God took him. He walked with God. It's kind of like as if Enoch and the Lord were walking together along the road, communing, talking, fellowshipping. I think Enoch might say, "Well, you know,
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I'm getting a little tired." And the Lord would say something like this, "Well, we're closer to my house than yours. You just come on and spend a few days with me." And Enoch says, "Sure." And when he gets there, he finds out that one day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. He was not, for God took him. The Lord God said, "Just come on home with me." It doesn't say he died. God took him. The Lord said he just went to be with the Lord, period. Now, I'm sure that he'd much rather be with the Lord than in a world of sin and misery, that is for sure. But I want you to note something beginning today, because we're going to see this all through the Bible.
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The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word "walk" is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life. Thus the word "walk," W-A-L-K, is synonymous with lifestyle. It is how one lives.
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Now, let me give you today just several things by way of introduction that the word "walk" implies. And you need to keep these in mind as we go through this brief series of seven or eight messages. First of all, walking implies communion and fellowship. Walking implies communion and fellowship. It's often that husbands and wives will take a walk together. Fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and children will take a walk. Alice and I used to walk regularly.
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We haven't had time to recently. But interestingly enough, when we would walk, we always had company. Not only with the dogs, but you remember we had a pet pot-bellied pig. She used to walk with us. Pony used to walk with us. Follow us, you know. And it didn't matter if we walked one mile or two miles. They were there with us. But you have to understand that whenever you are walking, there is the implication of communion and fellowship.
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It's not just simply exercise. It is communion and fellowship. So the same is true with our walk with the Lord. It's not just that we are exercising in a godly manner. It is indeed that we are fellowshipping and communing with Him.
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Now, I want you to turn your Bibles—hold Genesis chapter 5—but turn in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. And I want you to see this from the Bible. Here's an interesting passage. 1 John chapter 1. John says this in verse 3. Watch carefully. 1 John 1, verse 3. He says, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
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that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Wow. Has it ever dawned upon you that Adam was once our federal head and representative? And everything we had in Adam, we lost. And Adam, of course, was created in original righteousness, holiness, knowledge. But when he sinned, we sinned in him. And the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Jesus Christ is the second Adam. Now, as the second Adam, it means He is our second federal head and representative. Everything that we lost in the first Adam, we gain back plus more in the second Adam. In the first Adam, we were placed on a mutable footing.
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That is, we could change. That's why Adam sinned. In the second Adam, we are on an immutable footing because now we are seated in Jesus Christ. And if you look in 1 John 3, beginning there with verse 1, look what he says. 1 John 3, verse 1: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." What did he say? "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." We are right now the sons of God. And we know one thing, that when He appears, we're going to be like Him. In other words, we are on an immutable footing in Jesus Christ.
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Like Philippians 1:6 says, that which He began, He's also going to finish. But I want you to go back to 1 John 1, because while we are in Him, we have that communion with Him. Look in 1 John 1, verse 6. 1 John 1, verse 6: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." So if we say that we have fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, while at the same time we're living a life of disobedience and sin and rebellion, he says we're lying and we're not doing the truth. But watch verse 7. He says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." Now, John had already said in verse 3 that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. So fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, naturally leads to fellowship with the brethren.
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As we walk with Him, we are also walking with others who are walking with Him as well. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." So, walking implies fellowship and communion. Secondly, walking implies purpose. Walking implies purpose. There's usually a reason for taking a walk. I understand that sometimes people want to take a walk just simply for the exercise, sometimes for the fellowship. But do you realize there are other purposes as well? There have been times I've asked people to walk with me just so I could get them away from everyone else and share something with them that I wanted to share with them. In other words, as we walk, we oftentimes confide in each other, or we share secrets with each other, or we admonish each other. The Bible says in Psalm 25 and verse 14, listen carefully: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."
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"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." So God reveals things to us as we walk with Him. And Proverbs 3 and verse 32 says this: "For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but his secret is with the righteous."
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Now, let me make a point, and I want you to get ready to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. Listen carefully. I want you to go ahead and find 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. I want you to listen to this: "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." Here's a statement: Those who walk with the Lord, those who are saved, know things that the unsaved do not know, and will never know unless they're saved by the grace of God. Moreover, Christians know things that not even angels know. Isn't that amazing? Look in 1 Peter 1, beginning there with verse 10. 1 Peter 1, verse 10: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you." So some of the Old Testament prophets who prophesied concerning Jesus Christ and all of that grace, they did not understand everything that they were prophesying. But they searched diligently to try. Watch verse 11.
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"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." Can you imagine that? Angels desire to look into certain things concerning Christ that only Christians know. There was no redemption for angels. You had the elect angels and the non-elect angels.
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You have those that were chosen and those that fell. There was no redemption. Angels don't understand redemption. They don't understand being saved by grace through faith. And so those elect angels who do not understand these things desired to look into them as well. So obviously, there is a purpose in taking a walk. And as we commune with Him, He reveals His secrets to us, He teaches us, and we learn more and more. He enlightens us and gives us understanding as we walk with Him. Thirdly, walking implies progress. One of the most notable things about walking is you're making progress. You're moving from one point to another point. You may also look back and see how far you have traveled or how much you have progressed.
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Now, let me tell you something: There is not one person in this room that is perfect. I never will be until we get to glory. OK, but one thing we could say is this: Thank God, I am not what I used to be. We can also say, I am not what I should be yet, but I am different today than I was yesterday. I am not what I am yet to be by the grace of God, but thank God I am not what I used to be.
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So we can see progress in our lives. Sometimes it may be slow progress, but we can see progress in our lives. And, you know, sometimes the progress is so slow we get to thinking, "I don't see why so-and-so back there can't see this. I've seen this for years." Yes. And you've probably been walking for years when he has not been walking for years. And we forget how slowly sometimes things transpire in our life. But there is progress.
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That's why the Bible says in Psalm 84 and verse 7, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." So our walk should be like this: It should be continually going upward. Unhappily, many times our walk is like this: up and down, up and down, up and down, when it should be on a plane. The Bible says in Proverbs 10 and verse 29, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright." So the more upright we are, the stronger we should be. The Bible says in Habakkuk 3 and verse 19, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." And then, of course, Romans 1 and verse 17, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith."
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That is, here you may have a little faith, but you're increasing and increasing and increasing until you have a great faith. And then he says, "The just shall live by faith." So the Lord is the strength of our lives. And as we walk with Him, our progress in a Christian life should be improving. You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible. If you're not making progress, you're just not walking with the Lord. Fourthly, walking implies agreement. When we walk with someone, the implication is there's basic agreement.
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You remember that passage I quoted earlier, Amos 3, verse 3, where the Bible asks, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" I would never waste my time walking with someone with whom I absolutely, totally disagreed and had absolutely nothing in common unless he was willing to listen as I taught him or preached to him or told him about the truth of God. But otherwise, I'm not going to waste my time. Why? There's nothing in common.
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We have no basis of fellowship. There's nothing to commune over or commune with. We're totally, absolutely different. You know, the Bible says in the book of Micah, chapter 4, verse 5, now listen carefully: "For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever." So they're going to be walking in the name of their god. But we're going to walk in the name of the one true, the living God, forever and ever. So there is no basis of fellowship for those who are serving a false god and those who are serving the truth. If we're walking with the Lord, it implies—listen carefully—it implies that we confess and acknowledge and believe that He is the one true and the living God.
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And beside Him, there is no other. Moreover, it implies that we agree with Him, that His word is truth, that He is right, and we're here in order that we may listen and learn and obey. In Leviticus 18, verse 4, here's what God says, listen carefully: "Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God." To walk therein. In Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12, He said it like this: "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?" So if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything. I agree with Him concerning my sin. I agree with Him concerning Jesus Christ. I agree with Him concerning the need of repentance. I agree with Him for everything. Fifthly, walking implies resolutions. There are times that friends may have a disagreement or misunderstanding.
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And one can say to the other, "Let's take a walk." And as we walk, let's try to iron out this problem, let's work it out. And so the walk then is an opportunity to discuss the problem. And usually as the problem is discussed and addressed, it leads to a solution and a resolution of the conflict. Did you know that our Lord invites us to reason with Him?
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Now I want you to listen. He gives us a very good incentive to reason with Him and to work out our problems. He said in Isaiah 1, verses 18 and 20, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord."
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Now listen: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Now, if I'm sinning against God and God says, "Let's reason together. Let's think about your sin. Let's think about what you're missing by sinning against me. You're missing forgiveness, you're missing blessings."
#57 | 45:08 to 45:56 | cleaned
Now, He said, while we're reasoning, let's consider what's going to happen to you if you continue to sin against me. I don't know about you, but that's pretty powerful reasoning in my book. And I'd really like to reason with Him in that way. Because I understand that He's right, and I'm wrong, and I need to submit to His divine rationale.
#58 | 45:57 to 46:24 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. I'm going to try to close this momentarily, but look in Mark chapter 4. Watch carefully. Mark chapter 4. Notice, if you would please, verses 33 and 34. Mark chapter 4, verse 33. Our Lord has been teaching. He's been teaching in parables, and the Bible says this: "And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples." First of all, I want you to note that our Lord does indeed give us truth as we're able to hear it. There is a reason why we did not learn certain truth years ago. The reason is we were not able to hear it. We were not able to receive it. In Hebrews chapter 5, you remember that passage where the apostle said, "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing."
#59 | 46:24 to 47:34 | cleaned
He said, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God." In other words, he said, you're just not listening. You're dull-witted, you're hard-headed, and you got wax in your ears. You're not able to hear. Did you know Paul said the same thing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 1 and 2?
#60 | 47:34 to 48:00 | cleaned
Listen to what he said: "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." He said, you're a bunch of babies. I can't give you the meat because you're not able to hear. Our Lord will speak to us as we're able to hear.
#61 | 48:00 to 48:26 | cleaned
Now, I want to show you something. A lot of times you hear things in preaching or you see things in reading your Bible that you don't understand. And believe it or not, I have actually had people to get mad at me over some things that I preach. And I think, why should they get mad at me? I mean, it's right here in the Word. But they don't understand.
#62 | 48:28 to 48:59 | cleaned
Do you know what the proper response should be? If you don't understand something, the proper response is not to get angry, not to go on a rampage and cuss and fuss and—no, no. Look at your Bibles to Mark chapter 4 and verse 34: "But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples." If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.
#63 | 49:01 to 49:39 | cleaned
He's the only one that can do it anyhow. He's the only one that can give you understanding. So if you really and truly want understanding, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the amazing thing is sometimes people who get mad are the people who don't even read their Bibles. It's amazing. So here's my question: With whom do you walk? You're walking with someone. Are you walking with the Lord? What is your lifestyle? Walking with the Lord is not a once-a-week thing. It's not a hit-and-miss proposition. Walking with the Lord is a daily walking, an hourly walking, sometimes a minute-by-minute and moment-by-moment. You have to understand.
#64 | 49:39 to 50:55 | cleaned
The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 8, listen carefully: "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." We cannot walk with the Lord until we learn to walk before the Lord, that is, as in His presence, before His face. You stop and think.
#65 | 50:56 to 51:41 | cleaned
When you were a child, there were things that you would do, but never in front of your parents, because you know what would happen. If you live as in the presence of God, and walk and obey Him, you will be fearful to violate His law and to sin against Him. You can't walk with God until you learn to walk before Him as in His presence. Enoch walked before God and he walked with God. Noah walked before God and he walked with God. Abram walked before God and he walked with God.
#66 | 51:42 to 52:51 | cleaned
You need to start walking with the Lord. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth, and we pray that You would indeed, Lord, truly help us and enable us to walk with Thee, to learn what it means to walk before Thy face, to honor Thee, to serve Thee, to obey Thee. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.
#67 | 52:54 to 53:28 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:36:42Z

Walking With God - 1

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this introductory message of the 'Walking with the Lord' series, John Weaver examines what it means to walk with God, using Enoch as the primary example. He explains that walking with God requires first walking before God—living consciously in His presence, in obedience and holiness. Sin separates us from this walk. The sermon explores five implications of walking: communion and fellowship, purpose, progress, agreement, and resolution. Weaver emphasizes that walking with God is a consistent, daily lifestyle, not a sporadic activity, and that it is the duty and privilege of every believer.

Introduction: The Question of Walking with the Lord

Weaver introduces the series and reads Genesis 5:22-24 about Enoch. He poses the central question: Are you walking with the Lord? He notes that many despise this privilege through sin.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 5:22-24

"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 3:8

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

Sin Separates Us from Walking with God

Using Genesis 3:8, Isaiah 59:1-2, and Psalm 66:18, Weaver shows that sin divides and prevents walking with God. Adam and Eve hid from God after sinning.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 3:8

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 66:18

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

Walking Before the Lord: The Prerequisite

Weaver explains that we cannot walk with God unless we first walk before Him—living as in His presence, in obedience and holiness. He cites Genesis 17:1, 1 Samuel 2:30, and 1 Kings 2:4.

Here is what God said concerning Eli and his house. 1 Samuel 2 and verse 30:

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 2:30

"Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed."

Well, Eli had sinned against God. He allowed his sons to sin against God. But He said,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 2:30

"I said that your house and the house of your father should walk before me."

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 2:1-4

"Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth." "Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel."

The Meaning of Walking Before the Lord

Walking before God means serving Him, obeying His commandments, and living in integrity. Weaver references 1 Kings 9:4 and 2 Chronicles 7:17 to confirm this interpretation.

The Consequence of Not Walking Before God

When people do not walk before God, they walk contrary to Him. Weaver illustrates with Mel Trotter's neon sign and cites Psalm 36:1 and Romans 3:18 about the lack of fear of God.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 36:1

"The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes."

So the wicked do not fear God. That's why Romans 3 and verse 18, the Apostle Paul says concerning the wicked,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 36:1

"There is no fear of God before their eyes."

So if one does not fear God, then obviously he's not going to walk before Him and he's certainly not going to walk with Him because sin, therefore, makes it impossible to walk with God.

Walking Contrary to God: Examples from Israel's History

Weaver shows from 1 Kings 15:3, 2 Kings 17:7-8, and 1 Kings 11:31-33 that individuals and nations who forsake God's ways walk against Him. Jeroboam and Israel are key examples.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 15:3

"And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father."

Note, if you would,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 15:3

"and he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father."

I want you to understand that this is true, not only concerning individuals, it's also concerning nations, it's concerning society or people, if you want to say so. In 2 Kings chapter 17 and verse 7:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:7-8

"And so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made."

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:31-33

"And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)"

Now, why is God dividing the kingdom? Why is the kingdom being taken away from Solomon and from Rehoboam his son? Here's why.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 17:18-19

"Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made."

Noah and Enoch: Examples of Walking with God

Noah walked with God as a just man (Genesis 6:9). Enoch walked with God for 300 years as a family man, demonstrating consistency and constancy despite obligations.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 6:9

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

The Christian Life as a Walk

The word 'walk' describes one's lifestyle and habitual manner of life. Weaver introduces five implications of walking: communion, purpose, progress, agreement, and resolution.

Walking Implies Communion and Fellowship

Walking with God involves fellowship with the Father and the Son, as seen in 1 John 1:3-7. This fellowship extends to other believers.

Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:3-7

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."

Scripture Reading — 1 John 1:3-7

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Walking Implies Purpose, Progress, Agreement, and Resolution

Getting Alone with Jesus for Understanding

Using Mark 4:33-34, Weaver encourages believers to get alone with the Lord to gain understanding of His Word, rather than reacting in anger.

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:33-34

"And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."

Scripture Reading — Mark 4:33-34

"But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples."

If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.

Conclusion: A Call to Walk with the Lord Daily

Weaver concludes by urging a daily, consistent walk with God, beginning with walking before Him in reverence and obedience. He closes in prayer.

Walking With God - 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	22916111576
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Genesis: Early World, Judgment, and the Nations
Genre	Sermon
Date	2016-02-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 146: Walking With God — Chapter 1
Source Timed Segments	67

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Question of Walking with the Lord: Weaver introduces the series and reads Genesis 5:22-24 about Enoch. He poses the central question: Are you walking with the Lord? He notes that many despise this privilege through sin.
Sin Separates Us from Walking with God: Using Genesis 3:8, Isaiah 59:1-2, and Psalm 66:18, Weaver shows that sin divides and prevents walking with God. Adam and Eve hid from God after sinning.
Walking Before the Lord: The Prerequisite: Weaver explains that we cannot walk with God unless we first walk before Him—living as in His presence, in obedience and holiness. He cites Genesis 17:1, 1 Samuel 2:30, and 1 Kings 2:4.
The Meaning of Walking Before the Lord: Walking before God means serving Him, obeying His commandments, and living in integrity. Weaver references 1 Kings 9:4 and 2 Chronicles 7:17 to confirm this interpretation.
The Consequence of Not Walking Before God: When people do not walk before God, they walk contrary to Him. Weaver illustrates with Mel Trotter's neon sign and cites Psalm 36:1 and Romans 3:18 about the lack of fear of God.
Walking Contrary to God: Examples from Israel's History: Weaver shows from 1 Kings 15:3, 2 Kings 17:7-8, and 1 Kings 11:31-33 that individuals and nations who forsake God's ways walk against Him. Jeroboam and Israel are key examples.
Noah and Enoch: Examples of Walking with God: Noah walked with God as a just man (Genesis 6:9). Enoch walked with God for 300 years as a family man, demonstrating consistency and constancy despite obligations.
The Christian Life as a Walk: The word 'walk' describes one's lifestyle and habitual manner of life. Weaver introduces five implications of walking: communion, purpose, progress, agreement, and resolution.
Walking Implies Communion and Fellowship: Walking with God involves fellowship with the Father and the Son, as seen in 1 John 1:3-7. This fellowship extends to other believers.
Walking Implies Purpose, Progress, Agreement, and Resolution: Weaver explains that walking with God involves receiving His secrets (Psalm 25:14), making progress (Psalm 84:7), agreeing with Him (Amos 3:3), and resolving conflicts through reasoning with Him (Isaiah 1:18-20).
Getting Alone with Jesus for Understanding: Using Mark 4:33-34, Weaver encourages believers to get alone with the Lord to gain understanding of His Word, rather than reacting in anger.
Conclusion: A Call to Walk with the Lord Daily: Weaver concludes by urging a daily, consistent walk with God, beginning with walking before Him in reverence and obedience. He closes in prayer.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Walking with God requires first walking before God

One cannot walk with God without first learning to walk before Him—living as in His presence, in obedience and holiness. This is the foundational prerequisite.

Weaver argues: 'if we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him. Because Amos 3:3 says... Can two walk together, except they be agreed?' (13:00.5-13:33.6)

Sin is the primary obstacle to walking with God

Sin separates us from God and must be dealt with through repentance and obedience. Unconfessed sin breaks fellowship.

Weaver states: 'your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.' (02:30.0-02:56.9)

Walking with God is a consistent, lifelong practice

Enoch's 300-year walk demonstrates that walking with God is not a short-term endeavor but a constant, daily commitment regardless of life's obligations.

Weaver emphasizes: 'He didn't start and stop... he walked with God consistently for 300 years.' (23:54.0-24:47.7)

Walking with God involves fellowship and communion

The walk is not mere rule-keeping but a relationship of intimate fellowship with God, as described in 1 John 1:3-7.

Weaver says: 'truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' (30:00.9-31:13.3)

Walking with God implies agreement with His Word and ways

To walk with God, one must agree with Him on all matters—sin, salvation, and obedience. There is no fellowship without agreement.

Weaver argues: 'if I walk with the Lord, I am basically saying I agree with Him. I agree with Him concerning everything.' (42:45.8-44:14.9)

Walking with God leads to progress and strength

A genuine walk with God results in spiritual growth and increasing strength, moving from faith to faith.

Weaver states: 'You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.' (40:39.6-41:19.4)

Walking contrary to God is the alternative

If one is not walking with God, they are walking against Him, as seen in the examples of Jeroboam and Israel.

Weaver says: 'if you're not walking with the Lord, if you're not walking before the Lord, you're walking contrary to Him, and you're walking against Him.' (13:35.2-14:46.7)

Understanding comes through private communion with Christ

When believers do not understand spiritual truths, they should get alone with Jesus, who expounds all things to His disciples (Mark 4:34).

Weaver says: 'If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you.' (49:01.6-49:39.2)

Scripture References

Genesis 5:22-24: The primary text about Enoch walking with God, used to introduce the series.
Genesis 3:8: Adam and Eve hid from God after sinning, illustrating that sin breaks the walk with God.
Isaiah 59:1-2: Iniquities separate us from God; His face is hidden because of sins.
Psalm 66:18: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
Genesis 17:1: God commands Abram to walk before Him and be perfect, introducing the concept of walking before God.
1 Samuel 2:30: God said Eli's house should walk before Him forever, linking walking before God to priestly service.
1 Kings 2:1-4: David charges Solomon to walk before God in truth with all his heart, defining walking before God as keeping God's statutes.
1 Kings 9:4: God confirms that walking before Him means integrity of heart and obedience to His commands.
2 Chronicles 7:17: God repeats the condition of walking before Him as David did, observing His statutes.
Psalm 36:1: The transgression of the wicked shows there is no fear of God before his eyes.
Romans 3:18: There is no fear of God before their eyes, describing the wicked.
Amos 3:3: Can two walk together except they be agreed? Used to show agreement is necessary for walking with God.
1 Kings 15:3: Jeroboam walked in the sins of his father, his heart not perfect with God, illustrating walking contrary to God.
2 Kings 17:7-8: Israel sinned and walked in the statutes of the heathen, showing national departure from God.
1 Kings 11:31-33: God divided the kingdom because Solomon forsook Him and did not walk in His ways.
2 Kings 17:18-19: Judah also walked in the statutes of Israel, following the northern kingdom's disobedience.
Genesis 6:9: Noah was a just man and walked with God, another example of walking with God.
Genesis 7:1: God saw Noah righteous before Him in that generation, confirming Noah walked before God.
1 John 1:3-7: Fellowship with the Father and Son; walking in the light brings fellowship and cleansing from sin.
Mark 4:33-34: Jesus spoke in parables as they were able to hear, but expounded all things to His disciples when alone.

Historical References

Mel Trotter: A converted drunk who used a neon sign with a giant eyeball and the words 'Thou God seest me' to deter sin at Lovers' Lane, illustrating walking in the presence of God.
Jeroboam: Wicked king of Israel who made two golden calves and walked in the sins of his father, used as an example of walking contrary to God.
Eli and his house: God said Eli's house should walk before Him forever, but they failed due to sin, illustrating the call to serve God.
David and Solomon: David charged Solomon to walk before God in truth; God confirmed this interpretation, showing the standard of walking before God.
Noah: Described as a just man who walked with God, serving as an Old Testament example alongside Enoch.
Enoch: The central figure of the message; walked with God for 300 years as a family man and was taken by God without dying.

Important Quotes

Walking with the Lord is the duty, obligation, and privilege of every child of God.

Establishes the foundational premise that walking with God is not optional but essential for believers.

Sin is that which separates. Sin divides. Sin makes it impossible to walk with the Lord.

Clearly states the primary obstacle to walking with God, setting up the need for holiness.

If we do not walk before Him, we cannot walk with Him.

Summarizes the key argument that walking before God (in His presence) is the prerequisite for walking with Him.

The Christian life is often referred to as a walk. The word 'walk' is used to describe one's continued course of action and his life. It is his habitual habit and manner of life.

Defines the biblical concept of 'walk' as lifestyle, not just occasional activity.

You cannot walk with the Lord without making progress in your Christian life. It's impossible.

Asserts that spiritual growth is an inevitable result of a genuine walk with God.

If you want to understand something, you need to get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him teach you. Let Him open your eyes.

Encourages personal communion with Christ as the means to gain spiritual understanding.

Walking with the Lord is not a once-a-week thing. It's not a hit-and-miss proposition. Walking with the Lord is a daily walking, an hourly walking, sometimes a minute-by-minute and moment-by-moment.

Emphasizes the continuous, moment-by-moment nature of the Christian walk.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to 'walk before the Lord' as described in Genesis 17:1, and how does that differ from simply 'walking with the Lord'?

[Context]

Weaver explains that walking before God means living consciously in His presence, in obedience and holiness, as a prerequisite to walking with Him.

[Question]

How does sin specifically hinder our walk with God, and what steps can we take to remove that barrier?

[Context]

Weaver cites Isaiah 59:1-2 and Psalm 66:18 to show that sin separates us from God and prevents Him from hearing us.

[Question]

Enoch walked with God for 300 years as a family man. What practical lessons can we learn from his consistency amid daily obligations?

[Context]

Weaver highlights that Enoch was a husband and father with responsibilities, yet he maintained a constant walk with God.

[Question]

In what ways does walking with God imply fellowship and communion, and how can we cultivate that in our daily lives?

[Context]

Weaver uses 1 John 1:3-7 to show that our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and that walking in the light fosters this communion.

[Question]

Why is agreement with God essential for walking with Him, and what areas of our lives might reveal a lack of agreement?

[Context]

Weaver references Amos 3:3 and explains that walking with God means agreeing with Him on all matters, including sin and obedience.

[Question]

How can we assess whether we are making spiritual progress in our walk with God, and what should we do if we see little or no progress?

[Context]

Weaver states that walking with God inevitably leads to progress, moving from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7).

[Question]

What does it look like to 'get alone with the Lord Jesus Christ' to gain understanding, as seen in Mark 4:34?

[Context]

Weaver encourages believers to seek private time with Christ for teaching and understanding, rather than reacting in anger to difficult truths.

[Question]

How does the fear of God (or lack thereof) affect our walk and the moral state of society, according to Psalm 36:1 and Romans 3:18?

[Context]

Weaver uses the illustration of Mel Trotter's neon sign to show that living as in God's presence deters sin.

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