Your Walk with God
Understanding the importance of your personal walk with God.
Frank Shimkus
Jun 9, 2019 37m
In this sermon Pastor Frank Shimkus helps us understand the eternal importance of your personal walk with God. He uses stories of Enoch and Noah of examples of what walking with God looks like. He tells us that our personal walk with God should be the most important relationship in our life. He focuses on three parts of the walk, first your commune with God, next you should be led by God, and finally be ready to be changed and shaped by God. He said your life will grow in the fruits of the spirit, and you will have an abundant life, when you live a life walking with God. Video recorded at Columbia, South Carolina.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Frank Shimkus: 00:00 Hey, if you have your Bible this morning, will you grab it, and we're going to be turning to Genesis 5. I'm going to be working out of two passages this morning. Genesis 5 verses 21 through 24, and then Hebrews 11, Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11.
Frank Shimkus: 00:19 About a quarter of a century before the tragic events of September 11th, the twin towers found themselves in the center of controversy before they were ever even completed. There was a French man, his name was Philippe Petit, and he was a high wire walker. And he had this crazy, cockamamie, idea that he wanted to put a cable in between the two towers, and he wanted to walk across the twin towers. And so he started to case the place out. He started to notice the construction workers that were going there, and he started noticing what they wore, `and so he made an outfit very similar to theirs. He saw their ID badges, he made a fake ID badge. He saw the tools that they brought in, and he knew the tools that he needed, so he made his tools look like theirs. So in case anyone stopped him, they would look pretty normal. And he sneaked up to the top of the towers over 200 times, just casing it. How long would the cable need to be? How would I get it across? What would I need? How many people would we need to pull this off? 200 times, ge sneaked up. Until August 6, 1974, they went up on that last night, the Eve of the walk and they started to get ready for his walk. It's amazing, he got a cable across the two towers, 138 feet in between them, he needed to get it. And they started by shooting a bow and arrow of fishing line across, and then he started working heavier and heavier things across, until finally they had secured the cable in between the two towers. And then August 7th, 1974 at 7:00 AM happened, and he held his breath and he was wearing an all black suit and he had an eight foot balancing pole. Taking in his breath, and he stepped out on the wire, 1,350 feet up in the air. How many of you, like me, are deathly terrified of heights? Let me see, you're deathly terrified. I'm going to show you a picture in just a second, but there was a picture from his perspective looking down, and it was so terrifying that I thought I wouldn't do that because it made me sick to my stomach and I wouldn't be able to finish preaching. But here's a picture of him before he stepped out. Here he is high up, ready to go, to walk in between the two towers. For Philippe Petit, this was the most important walk of his life.
Frank Shimkus: 02:54 And this morning we're going to take a look at a guy named Enoch, and it's the most important walk of his life. We're going to look at this obscure passage in Genesis chapter 5, four little verses, and then Hebrews 11 comments on it, and then we're going to ask what does it mean? Then we're going to take a look at your life, and my life, and we're going to do some soul searching and hopefully you'll be ready to move forward. Let the spirit of God move you in a direction he wants to move you, and get you where he wants to get you.
Frank Shimkus: 03:18 So, if you have a Bible, would you be willing to stand with me as I read Genesis 5, remain standing after I finish reading, and then I'm going to lead us in prayer, and then we'll get to what we want to talk about this morning. Let's do it. Genesis 5 verse 21, "Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah. After he begat Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Will you bow your heads and pray with me? Father, what a dense and rich passage, so much here that we could just gloss by, but I pray that we do not. I pray that we take a moment, and really press and squeeze your word, and get everything out of it that you want us to get out of it. I pray that we hold our lives up to this mirror known as your word, and we look at it and see what needs to change, and through the power of the spirit change. And I pray that all of us will be different as a result of today, and that we won't be the same, but keep progressing toward the image of your son. It's in his name that I pray and everybody said, amen. You may have a seat.
Frank Shimkus: 04:46 Well, for Philippe Petit that was his most important walk. But for this guy, this obscure guy named Enoch, we're about to see his most important walk. And I hope you have a Bible, and if it's your Bible, I want you to mark it up. Because I'm going to show you some things in Genesis that I think are really interesting, because Moses is doing something here in chapter 5 that he does quite often in Genesis, and he does quite often in the Torah. And what he does is he repeats things over and over and over again, and then when you are just expecting him to repeat it again, he doesn't. It's called disjuncture. He actually flips the script, and you're like, wait, what? No. What? No, you weren't supposed to say that. And he's doing it to highlight something. He's already done it several times in Genesis before we even get to chapter 5, let me give you a couple examples.
Frank Shimkus: 05:33 In Genesis chapter one, God creates the light, and he looks at the light and we start to hear a series of repeated phrases it says, and God saw that it was good. We see that. Then you skip ahead to the end of creation and it says, and behold, God looked at all of his creation, and it was very good. And then if you look at all of the days you're seeing, he made this, and it was good, the sun, moon, and the stars, and it was good. The land animals, and it was good. He made man, and it was good. Except there's one day in all of creation that's not called good, it just says, and it was so. It wasn't an accident, Moses didn't just put the pen down and go, oh, I forgot, it's day two. He intentionally is saying, it was so, it wasn't good. Now I have a theory on why. If you want to know why, email me and I'll let you know. But Moses does that. He does it again, remember at the end of every day of creation, it says this, and there was evening, and there was morning the first day. And there was evening, and there was morning the second day. You're like, I know where this is going. There was evening, and there was morning, the third day, fourth day, fifth day. You know what? There's no evening, and there is no morning, the seventh day. There's not, that's intentional. He's intentionally doing that to draw your attention to, to ask a question why? And he's doing it right now in chapter 5, and I want to show you what he's doing.
Frank Shimkus: 06:53 Because people have questioned what about that warning God, that you gave Adam and Eve, of on the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. What about that? That warning, what about that consequence? Well now we're about to see what happens to Adam's line, because he ate, and because all men are sinners, and all men sin, death is now coming to everyone. So I want you to look at verse 5, look at verse 5 of chapter 5, here's what it says, "So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he..." Oh, come on, ready people, come on ready? "All the days of Adam were 930 years, and he died." Yeah, it's almost like, yeah, we knew that. Okay, but he wants to draw attention to something. Look at verse 8, "So all the days of Seth are 912 years, and he died." I won't make you keep doing it, look in verse 11, "So all the days of Enosh we're 905 years, and he died. Skip down to verse 14, "So all the days of Kenan we're 910 years, and he died." Verse 17, "Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died." Eight times, we find that we hear the[inaudible], he's dead. I don't know why that was funny. He died. He died. He's dead. He's dead. Death is coming to everyone. This is the effect of the curse. No one escapes the clutches of death, until verse 21. And so we read, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died, he what? And so I want to give you the construction for every single person. Here's what it says of them, it says, they live this many years, they had sons and daughters, they live this many more years and they die. Let's do it again. They live this many years, they have a family, they lived this many more years, they die. He lived this many years, he had a family, he lived this many more years., he died. That's the composite here, that's what it is, until you get to verse 21.
Frank Shimkus: 09:06 Look at verse 21, Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah." Okay, so it starting off the exact same. Now look, verse 22, "After he begat Methuselah," It should say he lived this many years, but it doesn't, it says, "Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters." Now I'm supposed to know the total number of his life, and that he died, but this is what it says, "So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Here he is, a man that doesn't die, a man that doesn't die. And I think it's so interesting the way that this succession goes, because I think it's still playing out today. Do you notice it? We live, we get to a certain age, and we look around and we're like, you know, I've done all the parties, and I've been everywhere, and I've gotten all the toys that I want, and I don't want to die alone. And so you start thinking about marriage, and you think about kids, and we have kids. And then we live a little bit more, and life is pretty much just like it was, only now there's a screaming baby and there's a car seat in the back, and you know you have more people to feed, and you've got bigger bills, and then we die. That's usually the sequence I live, I don't want to die alone, I get married, I have kids, I live a little bit more, and I die. And this is what Methuselah's doing, he's a young man here of 65 right? He lives to be 365, but this is like his sophomore year in college., that's what he is. And he's like, oh, I want to get married, I want to get married. And so he finds somebody, and they have a family, and they have a kid, but something changes. And I know that all of us look at he didn't die, and Hebrews is going to really bring that out, and they're going to say, look, he didn't die. And that is important, that is huge, that is the offset of what Moses is trying to show.
Frank Shimkus: 11:03 But I want to focus your attention to something different. Of course it says he didn't die, but do you know what Moses is pitting against one another. Remember the construction I live, I have a family, I live some more, I die. Well, here's Enoch. He lives, then he has a family, then he walks with God, then he dies. I think Moses is pitting against each other these two concepts, just living, and walking with God. Let me just say that again. I think he's pitting two things against each other, just living, and walking with God. And he's saying this one is a higher quality of life. Here's what I wrote down, I want to say it, and I want to see if you agree. Moses is essentially saying, walking with God is better than just living. And this radical Jew comes named Jesus, and he looks at people in chapter 10 of John and he says, "I have come so that you might have life, (Life again.) but that you may have it more abundantly." And he's saying there's a better quality of life, there's a better mode of life, and we all want it. And here, he is doing something more than just living, he's walking. And I think all of us would love to have that most amazing life. We would love to. He's walking with God.
Frank Shimkus: 12:29 And I want to say this for everyone, because we're going to ask the question, what does it mean to walk with God? But I just want to say this to you. You cannot enter this most amazing mode of life, you cannot enter in this thing called walking with God, unless you go through his Son. You can't. You cannot have the Father, unless you have the Son. Jesus said it very clearly, you're not getting to the Father, you're not gonna be able to walk with God, unless you go to the Son. So you can't just come to God and go, I want to have a walk with God, I want to have a higher mode of existence. He's saying, you have to go through my Son. Just think of it like this, what if you came to me and you're like, man, Frank, I want to have a relationship with you, but never bring your son around me, I never want to see your firstborn, just don't let him near me. I'd be like, get outta here. No, he's going to be everywhere that I go, he's my firstborn, he's my pride and joy. No! Some people come to God and go, I want to have a relationship with you, I just don't want anything to do with your son. And he's like, well then you have no part with me. But you can enter into this most amazing mode of existence, known as walking with God by entering it through your son.
Frank Shimkus: 13:34 But this passage just drops us off a cliff, because it makes the reader ask, what does it mean to walk with God? It doesn't tell us, nothing in this passage tells us what it means to walk with God, it just is matter of fact, Enoch walked with God 300 years. That's it, he walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him. So what does it mean? And I had you turn to Hebrews 11, because Hebrews 11 is a commentary on the life of Enoch. And I think it gives us a window into what it means to walk with God. And we're going to come up with a definition of what it means to walk with God, and we're going to see how your life and my life stacks up to that.
Frank Shimkus: 14:17 Verse 5, "By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Timeout, notice it doesn't say, he walked with God. The Old Testament says twice, he walked with God. This says, he pleased God. They're equating it, when you walk with God, you're pleasing God. When you're pleasing God, you're walking with God, these two things are synonymous. This is what we know about him, he's a man that walked with God, he's a man that pleased God, Enoch is. And then look what it says in verse 6, and you'll wonder like why is this here, "But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." There is so much in that last verse. I think we can make a working definition. We're going to make a definition of what it means to walk with God. If you have a pen and you have your bulletin today, your handout, I'd love for you to write this down. Here's my working definition, if you disagree with it, fine, but I think that it works based on this passage. I'm going to define walking with God as the following, Communing with God, being led by God, and being changed by God. This passage says by faith, I have to come to him. I have to come to him, I have to believe that he is God, that I am not. So I have to get into his presence, I've got to come to him. And then I have to seek after him, and he is going to reward me and do things in my life when I seek him. So here's my definition. Walking with God means I commune with God, I'm being led by God, and being changed by God.
Frank Shimkus: 16:05 While you're in Hebrews, look at verse 7, the next person to be mentioned is Noah. Do you know why that's interesting and not a coincidence? Because in Genesis chapter 5, the only other person in that genealogy of, and they live this many years and they died. The only other person that has said to walk with God, is Noah, and Noah is Enoch's great-grandson, and we'll get back to that in just a minute. But he also walked with God, and so these two men are connected, and the very middle of the connection is by faith, it is impossible to please God. You cannot, you've got to believe who he is, you've got to believe that he's God and you're not, and you've got to come to him and seek after him, and he will continue to reward you diligently.
Frank Shimkus: 16:49 So that's our definition of walking with God, and so I want to ask you a question. How is your walk? Nobody else's, not your parents, not your friends, your walk? Because I'm going to say to you this morning, that your walk with God is the most important thing in your life. It's more important than any relationship you have, any job you have, any hobby you have, your walk with God is the most important thing you have in your life. How is your walk? Let's break down the three steps to the definition, let me just step on your toes a little bit.
Frank Shimkus: 17:28 Your commune with God. When you walk with God, you commune with God. I want to be in your presence, and I want to talk with you. I want to share my heart first to you, above anybody else. God, I want you to know what my thoughts and my heart intentions are, I want to share it with you. That's part of it, communing with God. So many times I talk to people and I'll say, tell me what your walk with God is like, and it usually goes something like this. Well, I pray every night before bed. And I think that's fine, that's a piece of it, that's a component of it. I say, how long does that usually last? About a minute, minute and a half, a couple minutes. Okay. All right. Communion implies that the other person is speaking back, that there's give and take, that there's sharing of information. I pour my heart out, and God is sharing his heart with me. And you need look no further for any words of God, than the hundreds of thousands that are right here. Take in God's word, take in God's word, ingested it. The Spirit brings it to life, you're talking to God, and he is now talking back to you, and I'm communing with God. What's your communing with God like in your walk with God? How much does he get to talk back? I think he should talk more. To be quite honest, I think God should get the first word, and the last word, and the most important word, I think God should. Yes, you should still share your heart, but God should get some serious words into your life.
Frank Shimkus: 18:54 How about the second part? The second part of walking with God is being led by God. In so many times I hear people go, I want to know where God is leading me, I want to know where God is leading me. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, it's so simple, we make it so hard. You want to know where God is leading you? He's leading you and your sanctification away from your broken self, and further toward the image of Christ. That's it. I think Paul got probably so tired of people asking him, what's the will of God in my life? What's the will of God in my life? He actually writes in First Thessalonians, "This is the will of God: your sanctification." Like that's it, be like Jesus. The spirit is going to move you away from you, and that is the best gift anybody could ever give you for your brokenness and all the foibles and failings that you have. God as a walking partner saying, Oh, I can move you away from all the things in your life that you don't like, and that I don't like, and I can turn you into something beautiful, but this is the direction we're going. With God as your walking partner you don't get to say, we're going this way. Can we go that way? He's like, nope, we're going towards your sanctification. We're going right there, and at the end of the path is my son Jesus.
Frank Shimkus: 20:06 And the third part is, you better be ready to be changed and shaped by God. You come to God and you say, I come as I am, and I stay as I am. No, you do not, you cannot walk with God. You can come as you are, but be ready to be changed by the God of the universe, who wants to take your brokenness and turn to something amazing, and give you an abundant, abundant life.
Frank Shimkus: 20:33 So I want to ask you again, How is your walk? How is your walk? If I had a window your life for the last week, what would I see? Who's allowed to speak into your life? Like God should be able to speak into your life, who's been speaking into your life? Who's been leading you in a direction? Who's been changing and shaping and forming you into things other than what God wants? How's your walk? I saw on my YouTube feed the other day, it said, billionaires shares secrets of his success. I'm like, well, I want to be a billionaire, right? I don't want to lose money. Like I'm halfway there, I think, right? So I click on it, there it is. And he's like, okay, here's what I do. And this guy's interviewing him. He said, I wake up first thing in the morning and he says, and I drink a tall glass of water. I'm like, drink water, got it. Okay, all right, here we go. All right. And this is what he said, and it was amazing. The guy's not a believer, but there was so much truth to it that if you just saw what he was saying, it's amazing. He said, and I make sure the cell phone is away, and the laptop is away, TV's off, every distraction for the day is off. And then he says this to the interviewer, and he said, because people don't understand how much sovereignty they're giving up in their day when they first than they reach for is their phone. And the guy's like, dude, you just blew my mind. What do you mean sovereignty? And he's like, you have some control over your day, you do. But do you know what happens? And I monitored myself this past week, and I wanted to see what was my knee jerk reaction in the morning. And you know what it was? Grab the cell phone. Here's how my day usually started. Ready? Grab the cell phone, let's see what time it is. Okay? Oh, there's three texts on my screen, on my home screen. Oh, well I don't like that one, I'm already frustrated. Oh, that one's cool too. Okay, all right, let's open up the phone, let's unlock it. All right, let me check my emails. Oh man, somebody complaining again. Ah, I don't like that one, right? Spam mail, I hate spam mail, delete that, get out of here. Okay, all right, let me look at my calendar. Oh, I've got this meeting, I got this. I am starting to just get frustrated with my day. So you know what I do to alleviate it? Go on social media, that'll help it, right? That's perfect, because then I can compare myself to others, and then I can see what others are complaining about, and I can see how the world hates God. It's beautiful, i's just awesome. And then, I'm ticked off the rest of the day. I've let so many voices speak into my life, and I'm ticked off. And he says, I put my phone away, I put all distractions away, and he said, I get alone and I meditate.
Frank Shimkus: 23:18 Now this is where we would switch it, but he says, I get alone and I meditate. You know what I would say to you, and I'm going to ask you this at the end of the sermon. What about when you wake up in the morning you keep those distractions far from you, and you say something like this God of the universe, I want to commune with you right now. I want to take a walk with you right now. There are some things you know in my life I don't like, they need to change. I want to go in your direction, and I want to be shaped and changed by you, let's go on a walk. I don't' know if you've ever used the app that monitors your steps, I had that for a while, and I thought it was awesome. And then I was like trying to compete with my steps, and I would walk for no reason. I'm like, all right, I took this many steps today, I did this many last week, and I'm just trying to get better and better. But I noticed that drain my battery, and so I just don't do it anymore because it's just always monitored my steps, and then 30 minutes in my cell phone battery's dead. But I was thinking, you know, before we had those apps, what did we do that monitored our steps? And I went to Target yesterday, and I got a pedometer or a step counter, right? Remember these things and sometimes they had like the rolling numbers, and they would just click every time. And I wondered if I put this on each of you last week, I wonder if we rewound the clock a week ago and we said, okay, each of you are going to have a pedometer. It feels like I'm putting a beeper on, that's what it feels like. Okay? There it is. Each of you is going to have a pedometer, and at the end of the week we're going to take a look and see how many steps you took with God. Because you all looked at me and you said, oh, my walk with God is the most important thing in my life. Is it? Yes. And there it is, how many steps did you walk with God? How many steps did you walk in your own flesh, or how many steps did you walk in the world? Whose voices did you listen to other than Gods? And the end of the week we look, and we go seven steps. I prayed before I went to bed. Yeah, you did., you did, but you told me that your walk with God is the most important.
Frank Shimkus: 25:16 And here we have a man who walked with God for 300 years. Who's the godliest person you've ever met? You think about it, maybe as a parent, maybe it was a grandparent, maybe it was somebody older, and you saw them walk with God for decades and you saw God do something beautiful in their lives. Now times that by four or five, could you imagine the joy of being in the presence of Enoch? Imagine the unshakeable joy he had, imagine the patience, and the peace, the self-control. Imagine the loving attitude he had when you were in his presence. 300 years of walking with God. I heard a pastor say, and at first I was taken aback, but then I thought, yeah, that's right. He said, you can obey all the 10 commandments flawlessly, and still be a jerk. He said, you can obey all the 10 commandments perfectly, and still be a terrible husband, a terrible wife, a terrible father, a terrible mother, a terrible neighbor, a terrible friend. You could obey them perfectly, and still be a jerk. Because you know what, Paul, who was once Saul said, reflecting back in his life, kept the law flawlessly. Of the law, I was blameless. But let me say this to you, ready? You cannot be in the presence of God, you cannot walk with God, and continue to be a jerk. If you say, Lord God, I want to commune with you, and I want to go in your direction, and I want to be changed by you. You will grow in love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and kindness and self-control, you will grow and all these things, and you will have the best life ever, the abundant life. And this is what he's offering for all of you. He's the greatest walking partner ever.
Frank Shimkus: 27:09 You ever walk with somebody? You ever run with somebody? Maybe they come to your house, and you're like, all right, let's run at six o'clock in the morning tomorrow. And you're like, all right, all right, all right. And you wake up and you look out there, and you're like, man, I hope they're not here. Then you're like, oh, they're here. Oh that has happened to you, because it's happened to me all the time. And when they sleep in, you're like, yeah, dude, where were you man? I was so excited. No, I love going back to bed. Every morning you look out your window, there he is, wants to take a walk. I would say when you get into your car, take a walk. When you go to the gym, take a walk. When you take a run, take a walk. When you're with your family, take a walk. When you're with your spouse, take a walk. When you're by yourself, take your walk. When you're at work, take a walk. How many steps are you adding to your life? Take a walk. You know how I said it's the most important thing in your life ever. I want to say this other phrase to you as well. It's the most important legacy you will ever leave. Not only is it the most important thing in your life, specifically, it is the greatest legacy you will ever leave. Nothing better can be said of you than so-and-so born, died, walked with God, nothing ever.
Frank Shimkus: 28:19 It's amazing that here is Enoch, who walked 300 years, and he is leaving a legacy for his great grandson named Noah, who would one day rescue the earth. And maybe Noah just saw great granddad walking with the Lord, looked at that and said, that is desirable. The way that he treats his wife, the way that he treats his children, the way that he interacts with this world that hates God, the way that he is patient and kind, I want to be like that. And Noah also walks with God. You know, I want to leave a legacy. I have four kids, we're going to have number five in September, and I want to leave a legacy, I think all the time about the legacy that I will leave. You know, my oldest son, I.V. Is here right now, hey buddy. There he is right there. His name is Francis Andrew Shimkus the fourth, I'm the third. We call him I.V. for the Roman numeral four. And I stole this idea, it's not mine, I stole it from a youth pastor who did this. And then I read something else in novel, and I combined them. And what I'm doing is, I bought a Bible for him, and I am writing in it every day as I read through it. And then when I'm done with it, I will give it to him at his high school graduation. And then I will do that for all of my kids, because I want them to see constantly that their father walks with the Lord. And I.V. will look at me now and I'll say, what am I? He'll say, you're in my Bible, you're spending time with Lord. That's right.
Frank Shimkus: 29:45 And this past week, it's just amazing that this was a passage that I picked, I think a week or a few weeks ago. But I think it was like two days ago, I was in Psalm 128. And here comes this verse that just slaps me in the face and I have this intimate time with God. I'm letting him speak into my life, I'm following his direction, I'm being changed. And here's what it says, and I just start writing ferociously and crying. I mean there's like tear stains on it. Here's what it says, Psalm 128, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways." And I circled the word walk, and I underline who walks in his way, and then I start to write a commentary on the side. Now I cried in the first service, I'm the crier of the family, I'm going to try to make it through. But I cried at a commercial one time, s don't judge me. Okay? I did, it seemed sad. This is what I wrote, Walk with the Lord every day I.V., walk with him. Let people say of Francis Andrew Shimkus the fourth that he was a man who walked with his God daily. That is my prayer for you, my son, that's my prayer over your life. He will not walk with God unless he sees it's real in our lives. I know that, oh, they mimic everything I do. All my bad stuff, I can see him doing it already. The one legacy I want to leave more than anything to my children is that they walk with God. And so it starts with your walk with God is the most important thing ever in your life, you have to believe that. Hebrews 11 says, you have to believe that. And then you've got to come to God. And he says, we're going this way. And you go, all right, I'll follow. And he goes, I'm going to shape you. All right, it hurts, but all right. And he's going to let you do something better than live, he's going to let you walk. Because there's better than something than just living, and it's called walking with God.
Frank Shimkus: 31:59 On August 7th, 1974 Philippe Petit, with his balancing rod or whatever it's called, took a deep breath. Man, that's high enough for me right there. He took a deep breath, and there was a high wire there. they stretched it 138 feet. And he took his first step, and he began to walk across that wire. I want to show you some pictures from that fateful morning. There he is in between the two towers. Here's one more, you can just see just how high he is. You want to know something amazing about that crazy guy. He got to the other side and he exhaled. And he had to prepare for the wind up there, he had no idea what it's like 1400 feet in the air, what wind is like. And the towers were made to move with the wind, so he had to adjust all of that, and he made it. He made his walk across, and he figured that would be it. Do you know what that joker did? He walked across seven more times. He made eight passes across the wire. He actually knelt down on the wire, and laid down backwards on the wire. There's this great picture, he's laying down backwards, and there's two cops being like, get off that wire. And he just laying there like this, just basking in it, laying backwards. And he said, I did something that all tightrope walkers should never do, they should never do. And he said, but I figured I had this one opportunity, and I will never get this perspective again. He said, the one thing tightrope walkers never do, is they look down. And he looked down and he saw thousands of people looking up, and he started to salute them and wave to them. And you know what? On August 7th, 1974 Philippe Petit, he didn't just live, he walked.
Frank Shimkus: 34:03 And this is what God is offering for all of you right now. A walk unlike anything that just the normal course of life can offer you, it starts first by putting your faith in Christ and entering a relationship with him. But for those of you that are there, I wonder how many steps you'll put on your legacy. That when you take your last breath and die, and you will, will it be said of you that you walked with God? Here's my challenge, and I'm finished. Seven days, I challenge you. Seven days, if you'd be willing to take it. You promise to not reach for the phone first. Put it away, put the phone away. And you say, my Bible is on my phone. Yes, so is your text messages, okay? No, get a Bible, if you don't have one, we'll get one for you. Let God speak into your life. Speak back to him. Go in his direction, be changed, and watch and see if he grows you in your love, and your joy, and your peace, and your patience, and your kindness, and your self-control. Watch what he does in your walk, and watch this abundant life. Are we promising you that you will have no problems, no heartaches, no crises? Nope. , we're not promising that, in fact, you might even have more. But you'll be able to deal with it better, you'll be unshakeable, you'll have an abundant life. Because our prayer for you is that you just don't live here at Shandon, you walk with God.
Frank Shimkus: 35:33 Will you bow your heads and pray with me? Father, there is something better than just living, and it's walking with you, and I'm praying that we see that. We've been there, we've done the mundane. We've got up, gone through the motions, gone to the parties, gone to this, gone to that, bought our toys, done everything we can, and we're just living. We want to walk. And so Father, I pray for anyone in here who's never put their faith in Christ, I pray that today is the day they say, I want to accept the Son, and I want to have the Father and I want to walk. And Father, I pray for all the believers in the room, that you would bring to the forefront of their mind now, that there is nothing more important than their walk with you. It is the most important thing they have in their life, and it is the greatest legacy they can leave. So I'm praying for anyone willing to take that challenge of seven days, we are not going to let distractions be the first voice in our lives, we are not going to let other voices lead us down another path besides our sanctification to be more like Jesus. You get the first word, you get the most important word, you get to set the course, and you get to change us. But in so doing, you let us walk, which is way better than just living. Thanks for talking to us this morning. Thank you for this wonderful picture of Enoch, a man who did not taste death, because you delivered him. And a man who walked, which was better than just living. In Jesus' name, I pray. And everybody said, amen.
Recorded in Columbia, South Carolina.
Frank Shimkus: 00:19 About a quarter of a century before the tragic events of September 11th, the twin towers found themselves in the center of controversy before they were ever even completed. There was a French man, his name was Philippe Petit, and he was a high wire walker. And he had this crazy, cockamamie, idea that he wanted to put a cable in between the two towers, and he wanted to walk across the twin towers. And so he started to case the place out. He started to notice the construction workers that were going there, and he started noticing what they wore, `and so he made an outfit very similar to theirs. He saw their ID badges, he made a fake ID badge. He saw the tools that they brought in, and he knew the tools that he needed, so he made his tools look like theirs. So in case anyone stopped him, they would look pretty normal. And he sneaked up to the top of the towers over 200 times, just casing it. How long would the cable need to be? How would I get it across? What would I need? How many people would we need to pull this off? 200 times, ge sneaked up. Until August 6, 1974, they went up on that last night, the Eve of the walk and they started to get ready for his walk. It's amazing, he got a cable across the two towers, 138 feet in between them, he needed to get it. And they started by shooting a bow and arrow of fishing line across, and then he started working heavier and heavier things across, until finally they had secured the cable in between the two towers. And then August 7th, 1974 at 7:00 AM happened, and he held his breath and he was wearing an all black suit and he had an eight foot balancing pole. Taking in his breath, and he stepped out on the wire, 1,350 feet up in the air. How many of you, like me, are deathly terrified of heights? Let me see, you're deathly terrified. I'm going to show you a picture in just a second, but there was a picture from his perspective looking down, and it was so terrifying that I thought I wouldn't do that because it made me sick to my stomach and I wouldn't be able to finish preaching. But here's a picture of him before he stepped out. Here he is high up, ready to go, to walk in between the two towers. For Philippe Petit, this was the most important walk of his life.
Frank Shimkus: 02:54 And this morning we're going to take a look at a guy named Enoch, and it's the most important walk of his life. We're going to look at this obscure passage in Genesis chapter 5, four little verses, and then Hebrews 11 comments on it, and then we're going to ask what does it mean? Then we're going to take a look at your life, and my life, and we're going to do some soul searching and hopefully you'll be ready to move forward. Let the spirit of God move you in a direction he wants to move you, and get you where he wants to get you.
Frank Shimkus: 03:18 So, if you have a Bible, would you be willing to stand with me as I read Genesis 5, remain standing after I finish reading, and then I'm going to lead us in prayer, and then we'll get to what we want to talk about this morning. Let's do it. Genesis 5 verse 21, "Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah. After he begat Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Will you bow your heads and pray with me? Father, what a dense and rich passage, so much here that we could just gloss by, but I pray that we do not. I pray that we take a moment, and really press and squeeze your word, and get everything out of it that you want us to get out of it. I pray that we hold our lives up to this mirror known as your word, and we look at it and see what needs to change, and through the power of the spirit change. And I pray that all of us will be different as a result of today, and that we won't be the same, but keep progressing toward the image of your son. It's in his name that I pray and everybody said, amen. You may have a seat.
Frank Shimkus: 04:46 Well, for Philippe Petit that was his most important walk. But for this guy, this obscure guy named Enoch, we're about to see his most important walk. And I hope you have a Bible, and if it's your Bible, I want you to mark it up. Because I'm going to show you some things in Genesis that I think are really interesting, because Moses is doing something here in chapter 5 that he does quite often in Genesis, and he does quite often in the Torah. And what he does is he repeats things over and over and over again, and then when you are just expecting him to repeat it again, he doesn't. It's called disjuncture. He actually flips the script, and you're like, wait, what? No. What? No, you weren't supposed to say that. And he's doing it to highlight something. He's already done it several times in Genesis before we even get to chapter 5, let me give you a couple examples.
Frank Shimkus: 05:33 In Genesis chapter one, God creates the light, and he looks at the light and we start to hear a series of repeated phrases it says, and God saw that it was good. We see that. Then you skip ahead to the end of creation and it says, and behold, God looked at all of his creation, and it was very good. And then if you look at all of the days you're seeing, he made this, and it was good, the sun, moon, and the stars, and it was good. The land animals, and it was good. He made man, and it was good. Except there's one day in all of creation that's not called good, it just says, and it was so. It wasn't an accident, Moses didn't just put the pen down and go, oh, I forgot, it's day two. He intentionally is saying, it was so, it wasn't good. Now I have a theory on why. If you want to know why, email me and I'll let you know. But Moses does that. He does it again, remember at the end of every day of creation, it says this, and there was evening, and there was morning the first day. And there was evening, and there was morning the second day. You're like, I know where this is going. There was evening, and there was morning, the third day, fourth day, fifth day. You know what? There's no evening, and there is no morning, the seventh day. There's not, that's intentional. He's intentionally doing that to draw your attention to, to ask a question why? And he's doing it right now in chapter 5, and I want to show you what he's doing.
Frank Shimkus: 06:53 Because people have questioned what about that warning God, that you gave Adam and Eve, of on the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. What about that? That warning, what about that consequence? Well now we're about to see what happens to Adam's line, because he ate, and because all men are sinners, and all men sin, death is now coming to everyone. So I want you to look at verse 5, look at verse 5 of chapter 5, here's what it says, "So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he..." Oh, come on, ready people, come on ready? "All the days of Adam were 930 years, and he died." Yeah, it's almost like, yeah, we knew that. Okay, but he wants to draw attention to something. Look at verse 8, "So all the days of Seth are 912 years, and he died." I won't make you keep doing it, look in verse 11, "So all the days of Enosh we're 905 years, and he died. Skip down to verse 14, "So all the days of Kenan we're 910 years, and he died." Verse 17, "Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died." Eight times, we find that we hear the[inaudible], he's dead. I don't know why that was funny. He died. He died. He's dead. He's dead. Death is coming to everyone. This is the effect of the curse. No one escapes the clutches of death, until verse 21. And so we read, he died, he died, he died, he died, he died, he what? And so I want to give you the construction for every single person. Here's what it says of them, it says, they live this many years, they had sons and daughters, they live this many more years and they die. Let's do it again. They live this many years, they have a family, they lived this many more years, they die. He lived this many years, he had a family, he lived this many more years., he died. That's the composite here, that's what it is, until you get to verse 21.
Frank Shimkus: 09:06 Look at verse 21, Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah." Okay, so it starting off the exact same. Now look, verse 22, "After he begat Methuselah," It should say he lived this many years, but it doesn't, it says, "Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters." Now I'm supposed to know the total number of his life, and that he died, but this is what it says, "So all the days of Enoch were 365 years and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Here he is, a man that doesn't die, a man that doesn't die. And I think it's so interesting the way that this succession goes, because I think it's still playing out today. Do you notice it? We live, we get to a certain age, and we look around and we're like, you know, I've done all the parties, and I've been everywhere, and I've gotten all the toys that I want, and I don't want to die alone. And so you start thinking about marriage, and you think about kids, and we have kids. And then we live a little bit more, and life is pretty much just like it was, only now there's a screaming baby and there's a car seat in the back, and you know you have more people to feed, and you've got bigger bills, and then we die. That's usually the sequence I live, I don't want to die alone, I get married, I have kids, I live a little bit more, and I die. And this is what Methuselah's doing, he's a young man here of 65 right? He lives to be 365, but this is like his sophomore year in college., that's what he is. And he's like, oh, I want to get married, I want to get married. And so he finds somebody, and they have a family, and they have a kid, but something changes. And I know that all of us look at he didn't die, and Hebrews is going to really bring that out, and they're going to say, look, he didn't die. And that is important, that is huge, that is the offset of what Moses is trying to show.
Frank Shimkus: 11:03 But I want to focus your attention to something different. Of course it says he didn't die, but do you know what Moses is pitting against one another. Remember the construction I live, I have a family, I live some more, I die. Well, here's Enoch. He lives, then he has a family, then he walks with God, then he dies. I think Moses is pitting against each other these two concepts, just living, and walking with God. Let me just say that again. I think he's pitting two things against each other, just living, and walking with God. And he's saying this one is a higher quality of life. Here's what I wrote down, I want to say it, and I want to see if you agree. Moses is essentially saying, walking with God is better than just living. And this radical Jew comes named Jesus, and he looks at people in chapter 10 of John and he says, "I have come so that you might have life, (Life again.) but that you may have it more abundantly." And he's saying there's a better quality of life, there's a better mode of life, and we all want it. And here, he is doing something more than just living, he's walking. And I think all of us would love to have that most amazing life. We would love to. He's walking with God.
Frank Shimkus: 12:29 And I want to say this for everyone, because we're going to ask the question, what does it mean to walk with God? But I just want to say this to you. You cannot enter this most amazing mode of life, you cannot enter in this thing called walking with God, unless you go through his Son. You can't. You cannot have the Father, unless you have the Son. Jesus said it very clearly, you're not getting to the Father, you're not gonna be able to walk with God, unless you go to the Son. So you can't just come to God and go, I want to have a walk with God, I want to have a higher mode of existence. He's saying, you have to go through my Son. Just think of it like this, what if you came to me and you're like, man, Frank, I want to have a relationship with you, but never bring your son around me, I never want to see your firstborn, just don't let him near me. I'd be like, get outta here. No, he's going to be everywhere that I go, he's my firstborn, he's my pride and joy. No! Some people come to God and go, I want to have a relationship with you, I just don't want anything to do with your son. And he's like, well then you have no part with me. But you can enter into this most amazing mode of existence, known as walking with God by entering it through your son.
Frank Shimkus: 13:34 But this passage just drops us off a cliff, because it makes the reader ask, what does it mean to walk with God? It doesn't tell us, nothing in this passage tells us what it means to walk with God, it just is matter of fact, Enoch walked with God 300 years. That's it, he walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him. So what does it mean? And I had you turn to Hebrews 11, because Hebrews 11 is a commentary on the life of Enoch. And I think it gives us a window into what it means to walk with God. And we're going to come up with a definition of what it means to walk with God, and we're going to see how your life and my life stacks up to that.
Frank Shimkus: 14:17 Verse 5, "By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Timeout, notice it doesn't say, he walked with God. The Old Testament says twice, he walked with God. This says, he pleased God. They're equating it, when you walk with God, you're pleasing God. When you're pleasing God, you're walking with God, these two things are synonymous. This is what we know about him, he's a man that walked with God, he's a man that pleased God, Enoch is. And then look what it says in verse 6, and you'll wonder like why is this here, "But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." There is so much in that last verse. I think we can make a working definition. We're going to make a definition of what it means to walk with God. If you have a pen and you have your bulletin today, your handout, I'd love for you to write this down. Here's my working definition, if you disagree with it, fine, but I think that it works based on this passage. I'm going to define walking with God as the following, Communing with God, being led by God, and being changed by God. This passage says by faith, I have to come to him. I have to come to him, I have to believe that he is God, that I am not. So I have to get into his presence, I've got to come to him. And then I have to seek after him, and he is going to reward me and do things in my life when I seek him. So here's my definition. Walking with God means I commune with God, I'm being led by God, and being changed by God.
Frank Shimkus: 16:05 While you're in Hebrews, look at verse 7, the next person to be mentioned is Noah. Do you know why that's interesting and not a coincidence? Because in Genesis chapter 5, the only other person in that genealogy of, and they live this many years and they died. The only other person that has said to walk with God, is Noah, and Noah is Enoch's great-grandson, and we'll get back to that in just a minute. But he also walked with God, and so these two men are connected, and the very middle of the connection is by faith, it is impossible to please God. You cannot, you've got to believe who he is, you've got to believe that he's God and you're not, and you've got to come to him and seek after him, and he will continue to reward you diligently.
Frank Shimkus: 16:49 So that's our definition of walking with God, and so I want to ask you a question. How is your walk? Nobody else's, not your parents, not your friends, your walk? Because I'm going to say to you this morning, that your walk with God is the most important thing in your life. It's more important than any relationship you have, any job you have, any hobby you have, your walk with God is the most important thing you have in your life. How is your walk? Let's break down the three steps to the definition, let me just step on your toes a little bit.
Frank Shimkus: 17:28 Your commune with God. When you walk with God, you commune with God. I want to be in your presence, and I want to talk with you. I want to share my heart first to you, above anybody else. God, I want you to know what my thoughts and my heart intentions are, I want to share it with you. That's part of it, communing with God. So many times I talk to people and I'll say, tell me what your walk with God is like, and it usually goes something like this. Well, I pray every night before bed. And I think that's fine, that's a piece of it, that's a component of it. I say, how long does that usually last? About a minute, minute and a half, a couple minutes. Okay. All right. Communion implies that the other person is speaking back, that there's give and take, that there's sharing of information. I pour my heart out, and God is sharing his heart with me. And you need look no further for any words of God, than the hundreds of thousands that are right here. Take in God's word, take in God's word, ingested it. The Spirit brings it to life, you're talking to God, and he is now talking back to you, and I'm communing with God. What's your communing with God like in your walk with God? How much does he get to talk back? I think he should talk more. To be quite honest, I think God should get the first word, and the last word, and the most important word, I think God should. Yes, you should still share your heart, but God should get some serious words into your life.
Frank Shimkus: 18:54 How about the second part? The second part of walking with God is being led by God. In so many times I hear people go, I want to know where God is leading me, I want to know where God is leading me. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, it's so simple, we make it so hard. You want to know where God is leading you? He's leading you and your sanctification away from your broken self, and further toward the image of Christ. That's it. I think Paul got probably so tired of people asking him, what's the will of God in my life? What's the will of God in my life? He actually writes in First Thessalonians, "This is the will of God: your sanctification." Like that's it, be like Jesus. The spirit is going to move you away from you, and that is the best gift anybody could ever give you for your brokenness and all the foibles and failings that you have. God as a walking partner saying, Oh, I can move you away from all the things in your life that you don't like, and that I don't like, and I can turn you into something beautiful, but this is the direction we're going. With God as your walking partner you don't get to say, we're going this way. Can we go that way? He's like, nope, we're going towards your sanctification. We're going right there, and at the end of the path is my son Jesus.
Frank Shimkus: 20:06 And the third part is, you better be ready to be changed and shaped by God. You come to God and you say, I come as I am, and I stay as I am. No, you do not, you cannot walk with God. You can come as you are, but be ready to be changed by the God of the universe, who wants to take your brokenness and turn to something amazing, and give you an abundant, abundant life.
Frank Shimkus: 20:33 So I want to ask you again, How is your walk? How is your walk? If I had a window your life for the last week, what would I see? Who's allowed to speak into your life? Like God should be able to speak into your life, who's been speaking into your life? Who's been leading you in a direction? Who's been changing and shaping and forming you into things other than what God wants? How's your walk? I saw on my YouTube feed the other day, it said, billionaires shares secrets of his success. I'm like, well, I want to be a billionaire, right? I don't want to lose money. Like I'm halfway there, I think, right? So I click on it, there it is. And he's like, okay, here's what I do. And this guy's interviewing him. He said, I wake up first thing in the morning and he says, and I drink a tall glass of water. I'm like, drink water, got it. Okay, all right, here we go. All right. And this is what he said, and it was amazing. The guy's not a believer, but there was so much truth to it that if you just saw what he was saying, it's amazing. He said, and I make sure the cell phone is away, and the laptop is away, TV's off, every distraction for the day is off. And then he says this to the interviewer, and he said, because people don't understand how much sovereignty they're giving up in their day when they first than they reach for is their phone. And the guy's like, dude, you just blew my mind. What do you mean sovereignty? And he's like, you have some control over your day, you do. But do you know what happens? And I monitored myself this past week, and I wanted to see what was my knee jerk reaction in the morning. And you know what it was? Grab the cell phone. Here's how my day usually started. Ready? Grab the cell phone, let's see what time it is. Okay? Oh, there's three texts on my screen, on my home screen. Oh, well I don't like that one, I'm already frustrated. Oh, that one's cool too. Okay, all right, let's open up the phone, let's unlock it. All right, let me check my emails. Oh man, somebody complaining again. Ah, I don't like that one, right? Spam mail, I hate spam mail, delete that, get out of here. Okay, all right, let me look at my calendar. Oh, I've got this meeting, I got this. I am starting to just get frustrated with my day. So you know what I do to alleviate it? Go on social media, that'll help it, right? That's perfect, because then I can compare myself to others, and then I can see what others are complaining about, and I can see how the world hates God. It's beautiful, i's just awesome. And then, I'm ticked off the rest of the day. I've let so many voices speak into my life, and I'm ticked off. And he says, I put my phone away, I put all distractions away, and he said, I get alone and I meditate.
Frank Shimkus: 23:18 Now this is where we would switch it, but he says, I get alone and I meditate. You know what I would say to you, and I'm going to ask you this at the end of the sermon. What about when you wake up in the morning you keep those distractions far from you, and you say something like this God of the universe, I want to commune with you right now. I want to take a walk with you right now. There are some things you know in my life I don't like, they need to change. I want to go in your direction, and I want to be shaped and changed by you, let's go on a walk. I don't' know if you've ever used the app that monitors your steps, I had that for a while, and I thought it was awesome. And then I was like trying to compete with my steps, and I would walk for no reason. I'm like, all right, I took this many steps today, I did this many last week, and I'm just trying to get better and better. But I noticed that drain my battery, and so I just don't do it anymore because it's just always monitored my steps, and then 30 minutes in my cell phone battery's dead. But I was thinking, you know, before we had those apps, what did we do that monitored our steps? And I went to Target yesterday, and I got a pedometer or a step counter, right? Remember these things and sometimes they had like the rolling numbers, and they would just click every time. And I wondered if I put this on each of you last week, I wonder if we rewound the clock a week ago and we said, okay, each of you are going to have a pedometer. It feels like I'm putting a beeper on, that's what it feels like. Okay? There it is. Each of you is going to have a pedometer, and at the end of the week we're going to take a look and see how many steps you took with God. Because you all looked at me and you said, oh, my walk with God is the most important thing in my life. Is it? Yes. And there it is, how many steps did you walk with God? How many steps did you walk in your own flesh, or how many steps did you walk in the world? Whose voices did you listen to other than Gods? And the end of the week we look, and we go seven steps. I prayed before I went to bed. Yeah, you did., you did, but you told me that your walk with God is the most important.
Frank Shimkus: 25:16 And here we have a man who walked with God for 300 years. Who's the godliest person you've ever met? You think about it, maybe as a parent, maybe it was a grandparent, maybe it was somebody older, and you saw them walk with God for decades and you saw God do something beautiful in their lives. Now times that by four or five, could you imagine the joy of being in the presence of Enoch? Imagine the unshakeable joy he had, imagine the patience, and the peace, the self-control. Imagine the loving attitude he had when you were in his presence. 300 years of walking with God. I heard a pastor say, and at first I was taken aback, but then I thought, yeah, that's right. He said, you can obey all the 10 commandments flawlessly, and still be a jerk. He said, you can obey all the 10 commandments perfectly, and still be a terrible husband, a terrible wife, a terrible father, a terrible mother, a terrible neighbor, a terrible friend. You could obey them perfectly, and still be a jerk. Because you know what, Paul, who was once Saul said, reflecting back in his life, kept the law flawlessly. Of the law, I was blameless. But let me say this to you, ready? You cannot be in the presence of God, you cannot walk with God, and continue to be a jerk. If you say, Lord God, I want to commune with you, and I want to go in your direction, and I want to be changed by you. You will grow in love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and kindness and self-control, you will grow and all these things, and you will have the best life ever, the abundant life. And this is what he's offering for all of you. He's the greatest walking partner ever.
Frank Shimkus: 27:09 You ever walk with somebody? You ever run with somebody? Maybe they come to your house, and you're like, all right, let's run at six o'clock in the morning tomorrow. And you're like, all right, all right, all right. And you wake up and you look out there, and you're like, man, I hope they're not here. Then you're like, oh, they're here. Oh that has happened to you, because it's happened to me all the time. And when they sleep in, you're like, yeah, dude, where were you man? I was so excited. No, I love going back to bed. Every morning you look out your window, there he is, wants to take a walk. I would say when you get into your car, take a walk. When you go to the gym, take a walk. When you take a run, take a walk. When you're with your family, take a walk. When you're with your spouse, take a walk. When you're by yourself, take your walk. When you're at work, take a walk. How many steps are you adding to your life? Take a walk. You know how I said it's the most important thing in your life ever. I want to say this other phrase to you as well. It's the most important legacy you will ever leave. Not only is it the most important thing in your life, specifically, it is the greatest legacy you will ever leave. Nothing better can be said of you than so-and-so born, died, walked with God, nothing ever.
Frank Shimkus: 28:19 It's amazing that here is Enoch, who walked 300 years, and he is leaving a legacy for his great grandson named Noah, who would one day rescue the earth. And maybe Noah just saw great granddad walking with the Lord, looked at that and said, that is desirable. The way that he treats his wife, the way that he treats his children, the way that he interacts with this world that hates God, the way that he is patient and kind, I want to be like that. And Noah also walks with God. You know, I want to leave a legacy. I have four kids, we're going to have number five in September, and I want to leave a legacy, I think all the time about the legacy that I will leave. You know, my oldest son, I.V. Is here right now, hey buddy. There he is right there. His name is Francis Andrew Shimkus the fourth, I'm the third. We call him I.V. for the Roman numeral four. And I stole this idea, it's not mine, I stole it from a youth pastor who did this. And then I read something else in novel, and I combined them. And what I'm doing is, I bought a Bible for him, and I am writing in it every day as I read through it. And then when I'm done with it, I will give it to him at his high school graduation. And then I will do that for all of my kids, because I want them to see constantly that their father walks with the Lord. And I.V. will look at me now and I'll say, what am I? He'll say, you're in my Bible, you're spending time with Lord. That's right.
Frank Shimkus: 29:45 And this past week, it's just amazing that this was a passage that I picked, I think a week or a few weeks ago. But I think it was like two days ago, I was in Psalm 128. And here comes this verse that just slaps me in the face and I have this intimate time with God. I'm letting him speak into my life, I'm following his direction, I'm being changed. And here's what it says, and I just start writing ferociously and crying. I mean there's like tear stains on it. Here's what it says, Psalm 128, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways." And I circled the word walk, and I underline who walks in his way, and then I start to write a commentary on the side. Now I cried in the first service, I'm the crier of the family, I'm going to try to make it through. But I cried at a commercial one time, s don't judge me. Okay? I did, it seemed sad. This is what I wrote, Walk with the Lord every day I.V., walk with him. Let people say of Francis Andrew Shimkus the fourth that he was a man who walked with his God daily. That is my prayer for you, my son, that's my prayer over your life. He will not walk with God unless he sees it's real in our lives. I know that, oh, they mimic everything I do. All my bad stuff, I can see him doing it already. The one legacy I want to leave more than anything to my children is that they walk with God. And so it starts with your walk with God is the most important thing ever in your life, you have to believe that. Hebrews 11 says, you have to believe that. And then you've got to come to God. And he says, we're going this way. And you go, all right, I'll follow. And he goes, I'm going to shape you. All right, it hurts, but all right. And he's going to let you do something better than live, he's going to let you walk. Because there's better than something than just living, and it's called walking with God.
Frank Shimkus: 31:59 On August 7th, 1974 Philippe Petit, with his balancing rod or whatever it's called, took a deep breath. Man, that's high enough for me right there. He took a deep breath, and there was a high wire there. they stretched it 138 feet. And he took his first step, and he began to walk across that wire. I want to show you some pictures from that fateful morning. There he is in between the two towers. Here's one more, you can just see just how high he is. You want to know something amazing about that crazy guy. He got to the other side and he exhaled. And he had to prepare for the wind up there, he had no idea what it's like 1400 feet in the air, what wind is like. And the towers were made to move with the wind, so he had to adjust all of that, and he made it. He made his walk across, and he figured that would be it. Do you know what that joker did? He walked across seven more times. He made eight passes across the wire. He actually knelt down on the wire, and laid down backwards on the wire. There's this great picture, he's laying down backwards, and there's two cops being like, get off that wire. And he just laying there like this, just basking in it, laying backwards. And he said, I did something that all tightrope walkers should never do, they should never do. And he said, but I figured I had this one opportunity, and I will never get this perspective again. He said, the one thing tightrope walkers never do, is they look down. And he looked down and he saw thousands of people looking up, and he started to salute them and wave to them. And you know what? On August 7th, 1974 Philippe Petit, he didn't just live, he walked.
Frank Shimkus: 34:03 And this is what God is offering for all of you right now. A walk unlike anything that just the normal course of life can offer you, it starts first by putting your faith in Christ and entering a relationship with him. But for those of you that are there, I wonder how many steps you'll put on your legacy. That when you take your last breath and die, and you will, will it be said of you that you walked with God? Here's my challenge, and I'm finished. Seven days, I challenge you. Seven days, if you'd be willing to take it. You promise to not reach for the phone first. Put it away, put the phone away. And you say, my Bible is on my phone. Yes, so is your text messages, okay? No, get a Bible, if you don't have one, we'll get one for you. Let God speak into your life. Speak back to him. Go in his direction, be changed, and watch and see if he grows you in your love, and your joy, and your peace, and your patience, and your kindness, and your self-control. Watch what he does in your walk, and watch this abundant life. Are we promising you that you will have no problems, no heartaches, no crises? Nope. , we're not promising that, in fact, you might even have more. But you'll be able to deal with it better, you'll be unshakeable, you'll have an abundant life. Because our prayer for you is that you just don't live here at Shandon, you walk with God.
Frank Shimkus: 35:33 Will you bow your heads and pray with me? Father, there is something better than just living, and it's walking with you, and I'm praying that we see that. We've been there, we've done the mundane. We've got up, gone through the motions, gone to the parties, gone to this, gone to that, bought our toys, done everything we can, and we're just living. We want to walk. And so Father, I pray for anyone in here who's never put their faith in Christ, I pray that today is the day they say, I want to accept the Son, and I want to have the Father and I want to walk. And Father, I pray for all the believers in the room, that you would bring to the forefront of their mind now, that there is nothing more important than their walk with you. It is the most important thing they have in their life, and it is the greatest legacy they can leave. So I'm praying for anyone willing to take that challenge of seven days, we are not going to let distractions be the first voice in our lives, we are not going to let other voices lead us down another path besides our sanctification to be more like Jesus. You get the first word, you get the most important word, you get to set the course, and you get to change us. But in so doing, you let us walk, which is way better than just living. Thanks for talking to us this morning. Thank you for this wonderful picture of Enoch, a man who did not taste death, because you delivered him. And a man who walked, which was better than just living. In Jesus' name, I pray. And everybody said, amen.
Recorded in Columbia, South Carolina.
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