How to be Rapture Ready! Be Like Enoch!

 

I love the story of Enoch. We don't hear much about him in the Bible, though there are extra-Biblical books attributed to him, which I highly recommend. Yet here we see the first mention of him in Scripture and just like God, the sentence is so short, succinct, yet really packs a punch!  I love it in the Amplified. 

 

And in reverent fear and obedience Enoch walked with God; and he was not found among men, because God took him away to be home with Him. 

 

Enoch is the first person to ever be raptured or taken up to heaven without dying.  But why?  Why did God take him before his death? And what was it about Enoch that made God want to take him? Recently the Lord has put Enoch on my mind a lot as it relates to our soon departure. So, I did a Scripture search on him. I know from the books he wrote that he was indeed a friend of God, that the Lord revealed much to Enoch about the earth, the wind, the stars, heaven and hell, and the calendar and seasons. Enoch was also the liaison between the fallen angels and the Lord when they realized what they had done and wanted to repent. So, we know that Enoch walked very very closely with the Lord. Remember this is back when people did not have the privilege of being filled with the Holy Spirit after Salvation.  I don't think we realize how much more difficult it was to hear from God back then and to stay on the right path. We take for granted that we have Jesus's Spirit living within us, protecting, guiding, convicting, and speaking to us.  

 

But even without the extra Biblical books Enoch wrote, we find this about him in Hebrews 11:5

 

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.  

 

I believe there's something enormously important in this verse as it relates to those of us whom the Lord will soon rescue from this world. God is looking for a certain type of person to rescue. He is looking for those of us who please Him. 

 

Who pleases God?  

 

Those who are being sanctified by following Jesus. Sanctification is the process of allowing God to change us to be more like Him

just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: 1 Thess 4:1-3

 

Those who walk with God. What does it mean to walk with God? It means to have a daily relationship with Him!

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9

Those who walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh

The mind of the flesh with its sinful pursuits is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, and those who are in the flesh, living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses, cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8

Those who bear fruit in every good work and grow daily in the knowledge of God

So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord [displaying admirable character, moral courage, and personal integrity], to [fully] please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing in the knowledge of God [with deeper faith, clearer insight and fervent love for His precepts] Colossians 1:10

Those with faith, which is a firm belief in and reliance on Jesus

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. Hebrews 11:6 

I'm not talking about "works" here. We can never work our way to salvation. I'm talking about walking with Jesus, having a relationship with Him, and in so doing, bearing fruit and being changed into His image!  That's what Enoch was doing. From what we know of him, his entire live was wrapped around walking with God and obeying Him. Finally one day, the work God had for Enoch to accomplish was finished, the flood was coming on the world, and God wanted to rescue him before that happened. 

There's another flood coming on this world. We see it on the horizon. We see war, famine, pestilence, and the rise of a One World Government that will be so evil, we can't even imagine. But those who walk with God will be rescued just like Enoch!

Just make sure you are one of them!

Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36

 

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  Revelation 3:10