Walking With God in Your Generation (Norwegian) — Zac Poonen

Exceeding the Faith of Old Testament Saints

God has provided something better for us, we read in the last verse, so whenever you read about any old man or any saint, you must always think, I can rise higher than that. So every time you think of one of these saints from the Old Testament, you must think like this, God has provided something better for me, provided something better for me, I can rise higher than that.

When we read about the humility of Moses, he was the humblest man on the face of the.

Earth, I say I can rise higher than that, or the fearlessness with which Elijah faced all those false prophets, we can rise higher than that, that should be what we bear in mind every time we read about some Old Testament saint, God has provided something better for us, because our example is Jesus.

I remember once I was speaking to a preacher, he was saying how even Elijah was depressed,.

So we are not better than him. So I said, if Elijah is the author and finisher of your faith, then you must be depressed.

So I said to him, if Elijah is the author and finisher of your faith, then you must be depressed.

But we read in Hebrews 12 verse 2, that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. These people had faith, we read in Hebrews 11.

But theirs was a faith which could not help them to overcome depression, or overcome anger,.

Or overcome the spirit of revenge against one's enemies, like you read in the book.

Of Psalms. There were many things they could not overcome. So their faith was at a lower level.

And there are many Christians who look at these Old Testament saints to find comfort for their sin. I want to tell you that God has not given you this book to find comfort for your sin. If you look for that, you'll find it.

You won't find it in the life of Jesus or Paul, you'll find it in the Old Testament. So it's very important that you young people have the faith of Jesus, and not what is being.

Proclaimed nowadays.

Walking With God and Entering God's Rest

So I want to turn to an Old Testament passage, Genesis 5.

Now I want to look at a passage in Genesis 5. And here we see how long the different people lived, right from Adam's time.

And I was once looking at all these ages.

And I found something interesting, which I'd like to share with you.

Adam walked with God. We don't know whether it was for one day or more than one day. We certainly know that he walked with God on that first day of his life, which was the Sabbath day. You see, the first day of Adam's life was the day he walked with God.

For God, it was the seventh day. For Adam, it was the first day.

Because he was created at the end of the sixth day.

So before God sent him into work in the garden, he said, you must spend one day walking with me. And that was to be the pattern of his life, that he was to walk with God. And that is the meaning of the Sabbath.

Many people haven't understood the meaning of the Sabbath. You see, our Seventh-day Adventist friends, they believe that you have to literally keep a Sabbath Saturday and don't work on it. They haven't understood it.

There is only a picture of an inner Sabbath that God has for his people. In Hebrews 4, the Word of God says there is a Sabbath rest for God's people. A life of perfect rest. That is how God wants us to live.

And that rest can come only if we walk with God. And it is God's will that we live in rest all the time.

There is only one day a week in the Old Testament.

And you young people must strive, like it says in Hebrews, to enter into that rest. All of our service and our life must come out of a life of rest in God. Very few Christians enter into this life. So strive to enter into that rest.

So how do we come into that rest? Let me show you a verse in Isaiah 58, verse 13.

This is speaking about the Sabbath. Isaiah 58, verse 13.

So if you just think of this one verse, you will understand what the New Testament Sabbath is.

And if you live this life, verse 14 will be the result of your life.

So to keep the Sabbath means not to do my own pleasure. That is the first thing. And that every day I shall treat as a holy day of the Lord. And I will not seek my own way or my own pleasure. Or even speak what I feel like speaking.

That is the Sabbath. Do you think the Israelites understood it? They only thought, I don't light a fire, I don't cook any food, I don't travel.

It is so easy for Christians just to be taken up with these outward things.

And not go to the depth of the meaning of what God is saying. And the Lord was telling them, this is the real Sabbath, that you don't do your own will. That when you are tempted to say something to somebody, you speak your own word.

And there we can learn also why we get into so much unrest.

All the unrest is because we do the opposite of what is written here.

If I speak my own word and speak whatever comes into my mind. And choose my own way. Then my life will be in unrest and I deserve to be in unrest. But if I choose this way, the way of the Sabbath. Walking with God.

It says in verse 14, then I will take delight in the Lord. And I will ride on the heights of the earth. That means I shall live a heavenly life and not an earthly life. So I see that this is how God wanted man to live.

Where man was to walk with Him.

Enoch's Radical Conversion and Prophetic Calling

So after Adam, we don't read of anybody walking with God until the time of Enoch. And there were so many other people mentioned in Genesis 5.

And there were so many other people mentioned in Genesis 5. But then we read about Enoch.

And in Genesis 5 verse 21 it says, Enoch lived for 65 years. And then he had a child. He probably had no children until he was 65.

I don't know what exactly happened at that time.

But there was some type of crisis that took place in Enoch's life when his first child was born. And from that moment, it says in verse 22, he began to walk with God. Now it's very significant that that child that was born lived right up to the day when God sent the flood.

He named his son Methuselah. And there was some revelation, I believe, he got from God that when this child dies, I'm going to judge the world.

See, the reason I say that is because in the book of Jude,.

We read that Enoch was a prophet. And he prophesied of judgment that God was going to bring on the earth. Enoch was obviously living in a world that was very corrupt and full of sin. In the book of Jude, in verse 14 to 15, Enoch spoke about the second coming of Christ.

He didn't know that that was more than 4000 years later. And he didn't know about the first coming of Christ or Calvary or anything like that. He looked at all the sinners around him and he prophesied on judgment.

He didn't do that for 65 years. Because 65 years, he was a godless sinner like everybody else. Just like many of us were in our unconverted days. So Enoch, at the age of 65, experienced something like we experience when we are born again.

But unlike many believers, Enoch walked steadfastly to the end of his life from that time on.

That means his conversion was radical.

Many young people today, their conversion is not radical. They don't come into the Sabbath type of life that we read in Isaiah 58. Where I don't speak my own word anymore and I don't do my own pleasure and I don't walk my own way.

It's a very sluggish type of conversion. Where, okay, I get baptized and I go to the meeting and I read the Bible now. It's not a radical conversion. But Enoch's was radical. And that's how your conversion must be.

Lord, from now on, I don't want to live for myself.

I don't want to live like other believers. I don't want to say whatever comes to my mind.

I don't want to put a restraining force on my tongue like the bridle of a horse. Yeah, that's what Enoch did. And when God sees a person like that, He makes him a prophet. He can put his words into the mouth of a person who will not speak his own words.

Even to a person who refuses to speak his own words. I believe that God wants His sons and daughters to prophesy. And that's written twice in Acts chapter 2. My sons and daughters will prophesy when I pour out my Spirit on them.

On my bond slaves, men and women, I'll pour out my Spirit and they will prophesy. They will speak the words of God to other people. And one of the most important requirements to prophesy is that you stop speaking your own words.

You just try that from today. Say, Lord, your word says.

That you want me to prophesy.

And I want to prophesy. I want your Spirit to come upon me. I want to prophesy. I said that to God when I was 22. I said, Lord, I want to prophesy. If you don't have a desire, God won't do it. It is the most useful gift of the Holy Spirit.

More than tongues, more than healing, more than miracles. And the Bible says, we got to 1 Corinthians 14, 1. We must earnestly desire to prophesy.

And as it says in 1 Corinthians 14, 1. We must earnestly desire to prophesy.

And one of the greatest griefs of my own heart is that so few people earnestly desire to prophesy. God wants all His children to prophesy. Not one or two. Every one. That is in Acts 2 .17. If you are a son or a daughter of God, that is your birthright.

But it won't come unless you earnestly desire it.

So Enoch walked with God.

He didn't have a Bible. He didn't have Acts 2 .17 or any such thing. But he longed to speak forth the words of God. Even if you don't have a Bible and you don't have any promise if you walk with God like Enoch you will long to share His word with others.

If you walk with God like Enoch then God will give you the word to speak. So we see in Judges 15 Enoch took judgment.

And he said that God is going to execute judgment on everybody. On those who have done ungodly deeds in an ungodly way and the harsh things they speak. Words and deeds. That's what he convicted people of.

He was the first prophet in the Old Testament and he was a prophet of judgment. And that has been the mark of every true prophet in the history of the world. A prophet speaks against sin and he speaks about God hating sin.

And God's judgment against sin.

If a person doesn't speak on that he's not a prophet. And if you prophesy you're going to speak against sin. And you will not be popular. If you want to be popular with your friends don't ask God for the gift of prophecy.

You may not even be popular in the church. Enoch walked alone. You know I don't know whether you noticed that Enoch lived for 300 years with Adam.

300 years without. With Adam. And Adam lived up to 930 years. And Enoch was born when Adam was a little over 600 years old. And then when Enoch had his son Methuselah Adam was still alive. And he must have known that Adam walked with God in Eden.

And I have a feeling that he must have gone up to Adam and said tell me how it was when you walked with God.

And Adam would have told him a little bit how wonderful it was. How he lost everything by listening to his wife.

And Enoch must have had a longing in his heart. I want that. He got a little taste of what he heard from Adam. That old Adam was not interested. But this Enoch this new generation he was interested. There were so many others in between who were not interested.

See when you read about godly men in another generation who walked with God.

In earlier generations. When you read about them do you feel that you get a desire to live like them? When I was young I read the biographies of many of these men. And that's what inspired me to walk with God.

I want to hear what you say. I want to walk very close to you. And I want to speak to others what you tell me.

And I believe that God wants you young people to have that type of desire.

Whenever you hear about a man who walked with God there are not many living like that. I think I met only one or two in my whole life in my younger days. But I was so challenged by the one or two I met.

Because there was a freshness about them. Even if I heard a brother like that speak the same message the 10th time there was a freshness about it. And I knew that was because he walked with God. Like Enoch got a little desire when he heard about Adam.

We hear about how people walked with God and how God used them. There should be a desire in your heart for the same thing. And so as I said God showed him that he's going to judge the world. And that's what he prophesied.

And that seemed to happen when his child was born.

Now nobody knows exactly the meaning of Methuselah. Because we don't know what language it is. Because we don't know what language Enoch used in his time. This was before the Tower of Babel where they spoke the same language.

And it was in Hebrew. We don't know what it was. But I read in one of my old Bibles that the meaning of Methuselah could be that when he dies judgment will come. Imagine naming your child like that. When he dies judgment will come.

And you know every time Methuselah got sick Enoch would have been worried.

He never knew that he's going to live up to 960 years old. And you have a baby you don't know how long he's going to live.

I see that Enoch lived every day recognizing judgment is going to come upon this earth. And that's what challenged him to walk with God. I tell you, if you believe that judgment is going to come soon upon this world in all its lust and passion, you'll start walking.

With God too.

Living in Light of Christ's Return

I meet many young people everywhere who are disappointed with the sad state of Christianity. They are disappointed with the ungodliness they see in their parents and their leaders. They are disappointed with the hypocrisy they see in many who preach such a high standard.

And live at such a low standard. And they are disappointed with the divisions and stripes among the Christian leaders. And I tell them don't look at these bad examples.

Just remember that this world is going to pass away pretty soon.

And you'll have to stand before God and you can't say to Him Lord, there were no good examples. There's one good example all of us have and that's Jesus. We have more than what Enoch had. Enoch had no example.

His father, grandfather, great-grandfather none of them walked with God. He had to go all the way to seven generations to talk to Adam to know a little bit about what walking with God means. And even then Adam could only tell him about one day he walked with God.

That sparked a desire in young Enoch's heart and I want to walk with God. And if God can spark a desire in your hearts now that I want to walk with God and if He can convince your mind like He convinced Enoch this world is going to be judged completely.

It will change your whole life.

Imagine Enoch every time he called his child. How does he call him? Hey, judgment will come when you die.

Come here. Hey, judgment will come when you die. Come here.

Hey, judgment will come when you die.

Hey, judgment will come when you die. God made sure he never forgot it with that little child in front of him.

Paul says because we know we shall stand before the Lord we know the fear of God we have to give an account to Him.

And that's what enabled Enoch to walk with God.

And He's the first person we read of who didn't die. And I want to say that that possibility.

Exists for all of us. I'm not looking forward to death. I'm looking forward to the coming of Jesus.

Even if I'm a hundred years old I will not look forward to the grave.

I look to the sky. Even if I'm a hundred years old I will not look forward to the grave. I look to the sky.

And to being with Jesus. There are only two places in the Bible that refer to the last days. One is Jerusalem. Jesus said Jerusalem will be trampled down.

Until the time of the Gentiles are full. Luke 21.

Also in Zechariah 14 that God will gather all the armies around Jerusalem. And we see about a hundred years ago even sixty years ago nobody spoke about Jerusalem. But now almost every day Jerusalem is in the Bible.

And the second place mentioned in the Bible is in Revelation 9 and Revelation 16 is the land around the river Euphrates. It is the land that is around the river Euphrates and that's Iraq. You can translate that as Iraq and there will be war and we never heard about war in Iraq until about ten years ago or even less than that.

So every day it's in the papers now Jerusalem, Iraq. How is it we are not alert?

Do we realize the times in which we are living? I'm excited that the Antichrist is somewhere on the earth already. That the Antichrist is somewhere on the earth already.

I don't know who he is.

I have a feeling he is already born and that excites me.

And that challenges me that I don't have time to waste now.

And there is no time for you young people to waste. Christ is coming soon. Christ is coming soon. Time is very short.

This is not the time to seek pleasure and to listen to useless music. This is not the time to sit back lazily.

This is the time to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now is the time to seek this young people and to study the word of God and to seek for the gift of prophecy and to walk with God like Enoch and to share the word with others.

Noah's Faith in a Corrupt Generation

That's how Enoch lived for 300 years. And then Methuselah. We don't read about him walking with God.

Sometimes that happens a man walks with God and his son doesn't seem to have that much of an interest. Imagine seeing your father walk with God for 300 years and taken out to heaven and you don't seem to have much interest to walk with God.

And then Methuselah had a son called Lamech. Lamech also had no interest about his grandfather. But then Lamech had a little boy called Noah. Noah's grandfather was Methuselah. And I can imagine little Noah sitting on his grandfather's lap And said, Grandpa, I heard that your father.

Walked with God.

Here's this 12 year old boy asking his grandfather, how was that?

And his grandfather would tell him about Enoch.

And in the heart of that little boy came a longing to walk with God. His father didn't have that longing. And his grandfather could talk about someone. But didn't have that longing.

I find, you know,.

People talk about somebody whom they knew there when they were young who walked with God. I've heard stories, somebody says, I knew this brother, he's dead now but oh, he used to walk. But this man himself is not walking with God.

I remember when I came here to Norway first 38 years ago. I was only about 31 years old then. And I heard these stories.

Of different men who had walked with God I met one or two of them. And in my heart there was a longing I didn't know much I didn't know whether God would ever do anything through me in India. I never wanted a ministry.

But I got a little longing to walk with God. And the examples that I heard of some of these men challenged me. But I was surprised that so many other people around me who were here for years.

Who were talking about it didn't seem to have that same desire. They only talked about it. Like Methuselah and Lamech. But Noah had this desire. And he grew and he didn't let that desire die out. I want to say to you young people You can have a desire in your heart to walk with God.

And then you can look around at older people like Lamech and Methuselah who talk about it and don't walk with God.

And then you can get discouraged.

These people talk about it but they don't do it themselves. You must not get discouraged. You must say, Lord, I don't want to judge them. You are their judge. I hear something about some men before their time who walked with God whom I never met.

Haven't you young people heard your fathers or grandfathers talk about some man of God whom they knew who walked with God here?

Haven't you young people heard your fathers or grandfathers talk about some man of God who lived in old age? That's exactly what little Noah heard.

And he didn't let that desire die out. What was the result? Let me read it.

Genesis chapter 6. First of all, the condition of the earth. There was a lot of sexual sin. Terrible sexual sin.

Abnormal sex. Verse 4 The sons of God saw the daughters of men and I don't know all that's involved there but it's some type of abnormal sex. And then there was a lot of violence. It says in verse 5 The wickedness of man was great on the face of the earth.

And the thoughts of men every single thought was evil. Abnormal sex. Abnormal sex and violence and evil thoughts.

It's almost like the description of the 21st century. Jesus said the last days will be like the days of Noah.

Listen to these sad words. Verse 6. The Lord was sorry. He was sorry that He made man on the earth. Is He sorry that He made you? I think about that. I say Lord. You brought me to the earth nearly 70 years ago.

Are you sorry about the way I'm living? I don't want to make you sad. There were a lot of people you were sorry with at that time.

You were sorry that you even allowed some people to be born. When you read words like that You must apply it to yourself. Forget the others. Lord, are you sorry that you brought me to this earth?

Does it grieve your heart like it says the way I live?

Does it grieve your heart like it says the way I live?

Noah as a Preacher of Righteousness

But in the midst of all that wickedness.

In verse 8 God found delight in one man. God found delight in one man.

And that was Noah. And that was Noah. Because he did not let that desire to walk with God die in his heart. And what was the result? In the midst of all that wickedness He lived.

He was a righteous man. And listen to these wonderful words.

The second man who walked with God.

Noah walked with God verse 9.

Enoch walked with God. In a couple of generations nobody did. And another generation walked with God. Many of you are in that type of situation. You may be like Noah. The fourth generation.

After some other man who walked with God. Who walked with God. Do you have a desire?

Lord, I want to walk with you. I want to walk with you like my great grandfather.

Not like all the people I see around me.

We are living in such times If the world is going to be like Noah's time It also means that God wants a few people on the face of the earth like Noah. It says in verse 12. God looked on the earth It was corrupt, all flesh had corrupted His way on the earth.

And in verse 11 The earth was filled with violence. And then Noah became a prophet. We read in 2 Peter 2 verse 5. It says. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. 2 Peter 2 verse 5.

And he preached judgment. He said, God is going to judge the world with a flood.

The second man who walked with God was also a spokesman for God.

And he also preached judgment against sin. Another verse, Hebrews 11.

And verse 7. It says about Noah in verse 7 in the middle of that verse that he condemned the world. What does that mean? When everybody else in the world was thinking of making more money and building bigger houses.

When everybody else was thinking of making more money and building bigger houses.

And enjoying themselves.

Noah condemned the world by a completely different way of life. His way of life was a judgment to the world around him. His way of life was a judgment to the world around him.

Is your way of life a judgment.

To the world around you?

Pleasing God Through Family Life and Witness

And he had a good support from his wife. Otherwise he could not have brought up three sons to fear God. You don't read much of Mrs. Noah but I'm sure she was a God-fearing woman who supported him completely in the building of the ark and did a tremendous job at home to bring up his children.

So that all his three children were saved.

That's the amazing thing about this man.

That's the amazing thing about this man.

In the midst of a wicked world. Every one of his children were saved. Because they saw that what daddy preached on the streets he was living at home. That's the type of life we must live.

That our children see.

That what we speak in the church we live at home. And that we don't live for the world. That our way of life condemns the world. We're not here to please our relatives.

Or please our neighbors. We're only here to please God. And we're willing to offend all our relatives and all our neighbors.

If we have to please God. It says about Enoch also in verse 5. Before he was taken up he had a testimony that he was pleasing to God. One of these days we will be taken up. And that verse should be written about us Before he was taken up.

Before she was taken up He had a testimony they pleased God. I believe with all my heart that God is looking for such young people throughout the world. But I find very few who are responding to that call.

I hope God will find some here. The Lord is sorry when he sees the condition of many believers. The Lord is sorry when he sees the condition of many believers. It betrays the Lord and says that he has given them so much revelation in his word and just because they don't live for it.

Don't you think. It grieves the heart of the Lord today when he sees.

All the division and fighting and backbiting going on among Christians.

Raising Children to Build the Church

He is looking for young men like brother Noah and young sisters.

Like sister Noah whose way of life will condemn their generation.

And say Lord even if no one walks with you I'm going to walk with you.

Can you imagine the delight that God had when he found one man who brought up his family right who lived right.

And brought his family up right. I'm sure he was as strict with his children. His children must have been just like children today with all the temptations in the world around him.

He was a strict loving father.

And he got his children involved with him in building the ark.

To get us and even get involved with our children in building the church. That's a great need. Some of you young people get married from childhood. You've got to work with your children. They must look at your life and see what a wonderful thing it is to live for Jesus.

And the peace and joy in your home.

Because Jesus Christ is Lord so that there is peace.

And joy in your home because Jesus Christ is Lord. This is what your children must see from the time they are two years old. Let's pray. As I say every time we must respond to the word we hear.

Wholehearted Response to the Call of God

And Lord, I respond to it wholeheartedly. You have sparked a desire in my heart today and I don't want to ever lose it. I don't want to be challenged only when I hear a message. I want the Holy Spirit to challenge me every day.

I don't want to be challenged only when I hear a message. I want the Holy Spirit to challenge me every day. Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. It's not enough that I was filled yesterday I want to be filled again today.

Thank you, Father. You love us beyond what we understand.

You will give us the power of your Spirit to live for you in these days.

Lord, give us the power of your Holy Spirit to live for you in these days and to help us to be witnesses for you in this generation. In Jesus' name we pray.