The three men in the Bible that never died.

 Number one: Enoch! 

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were 360 and five years. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. According to genealogy, Enoch was the seventh generation of Adam. He was the father of Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived in the Bible. In the midst of a generation that was sinful and evil, Enoch walked with God. In Genesis chapter three, we see the history of the fall of mankind, the result of the first willful human sin and all the consequences that come with this sin.

 In Genesis chapter four, we are given the awful history of Cain and Abel, and we witness the first murder ever recorded in human history. And this murder is not between two strangers. It is between two brothers. And four times. In Genesis, chapter four, the Bible refers directly to Cain and Abel's relationship. His brother. His brother. His brother and his brother. Four times in this chapter, we are reminded of their relationship. It's almost as if God wanted us to truly appreciate the heinousness and the wickedness of Cain to murder his very own brother. In Genesis chapter six, we see the wickedness of the world. Genesis six, verse five. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

However, in chapter five, we are introduced to a man called Enoch or walked with God when the world was at its evilest state. And all of mankind's thoughts were continuously evil. Evil through and through. Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God. Moreover, he had a tenacious consistency. Not many believers are consistent in the Christian faith. Some would barely walk with God a month without being allured by the world. But Enoch had an outstanding record of being consistent in his walk with God. He had fellowship with God. James four, verse eight. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. The life of Enoch is an example to all of us. We see other instances where regular men became the friends of God and God became their friend. Enoch walked with God. He didn't walk behind God. He didn't walk in front of God.

 He walked with him and enjoyed every step he took with God. Apart from the Book of Genesis, two other books of the Bible recorded fantastic testimonies about the life of Enoch. These books are Hebrews and Jude. Hebrews 11, verse five and six. By Faith. Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before His translation. He had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Enoch sought God diligently and walked with God. We all have faith. Enoch didn't have any special advantages over us. He lived in a sinful generation, in an ungodly world where God was looked at as undesirable.

Yet he chose to seek and walk with God. And you can too. We were made to walk with God. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. And the way it is written in Genesis five is so that it gives an impression that his walk with God continued, so that all believers may know that to walk and fellowship with God in this life is not all there is, but to fellowship with God in this life and the next life is what we have to look forward to. In Hebrews. It says he did not see death. God took him straight to heaven. God took a man that pleased him. A man that walked with him. A godly man. He took him. He did not die, but God took him. And sometimes I wonder about the family of Enoch as they looked into the distance with amazement and awe at where Enoch went. Enoch is a man that never died. Death didn't take him, but the Lord himself took him. What a privilege. 

Number two: Elijah. 

Elijah was a prophet of God like no other. His name means Yahweh is my God or the Lord is my God.

 He was a tishbite. And we see this in First Kings 17, verse one. He arose during a turbulent season in Israel's history, when the nation had turned away from the Lord to worship Baal. It was the time when Ahab, the King of Israel, formed an alliance with Sidon by marrying their Princess Jezebel. Elijah's mission was to restore the Israelites to the only true God, and he accomplished this mission before he was taken up to heaven. Moses represents the law. Elijah represents the prophets. And what a prophet Elijah was. Elijah contested the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It was the contest that Elijah used to prove that Jehovah is God. Elijah story is inspiring because he stood publicly for the God of Israel as one man, despite being outnumbered by earthly opponents. 

First Kings 18. Verse 21 and 22. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between two opinions. If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him. Not a word. Then, said Elijah, unto the people. I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are 450 men. He challenged the prophets of Baal and brought them to Mount Carmel. Elijah proposed a test between God and Baal in front of 450 men that hated him. Elijah stood up and proclaimed to these Baal worshippers, Call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God that Answereth by fire.

Let him be God. The prophets of Baal prayed and prayed for fire from their God, and there was no answer from their God. Elijah then prepared his altar and Elijah prayed. And the result was that the Lord answered by fire.

 First Kings 18, verse 38 to 40. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. 

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, He is the God. The Lord. He is the God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal. Let not one of them escape. And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishan and slew them there. Elijah was a prophet like no other. He caused the rain to cease for three and a half years in First Kings 17, verse one. He was fed by Ravens. Can you imagine that? A raven feeding a human being. I always envisioned this bird travelling towards Elijah. Elijah was a prophet like no other. He raised the dead in First Kings 17.

 He released Rain from Heaven and ended the drought in First Kings 18. He proclaimed judgment upon Jezebel, the Wicked Queen. He released fire that consumed the first captain and all of his men in Second Kings one.  He released fire that consumed the second captain and all of his men in Second Kings one. He divided the water in a river so that he may cross on dry land in Second Kings two Verse eight. James 517. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. Elijah's life was filled with turmoil. The Bible describes him as a man with a nature like ours. At times, he was bold and decisive and at other times fearful and hesitant. This should encourage us because it shows us that God uses normal people. Normal, ordinary people. This surprised me. After all the miracles Elijah performed, he is still described as a man with nature like ours.

 God answers the prayers of normal, ordinary people. We do not need to be special, spiritual people for God to answer our prayers. Elijah had all the frailties as we do. On the day God took Elijah from the earth, Elijah followed him until he received a double portion of his anointing. Second Kings two, verse 11 says. And it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elijah did not experience death. His transition to heaven was witnessed by Elijah. Elijah was not taken like Enoch.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine entering Glory without experiencing death? But on Chariots of Fire?

 And number three: the Lord Jesus Christ.

 Unlike Enoch and Elijah, Jesus had victory over death. David prophesied that Jesus will not experience the decay of human flesh after death. Psalm 16, verse ten says, For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.

 Everything about the life of Jesus was prophesied. He only came to fulfill those prophecies. Jesus's ultimate mission on Earth was to reconcile humanity to God through the shedding of his blood. Hutt brought enmity between God and man as sin, and that is what Jesus came to purge. The Angel Gabriel confirmed this in Matthew one verse 21, where he said, And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Unlike Enoch and Elijah, Jesus died. Jesus did not faint. He died. The deaths of all deaths. Jesus was not killed. 

Jesus was not killed. No one can kill God, but rather he laid down his life when it was time for him to lay down his life as the sacrifice for sin he accepted to death while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus surrendered to the will of God for him to taste death. 

Jesus died and on the third day was resurrected. The son of a widow in Zarephath was raised from the dead, but he still died.

Jairus daughter was raised from the dead, but she still died. The Lord Jesus Christ cried out, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus was raised from the dead. Yet he still died. Eutychus was raised from the dead, but he still died. There is a big difference between being raised from the dead and being resurrected from the dead. Being raised from the dead is a temporary victory over death. We see that all those who were brought back to life later died again.

 But being resurrected from the dead like Jesus did is a permanent victory over death. Revelation one verse 17 and 18. Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Jesus Christ is the living one. All life flows from him. Behold, I was dead. But I am alive forevermore. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the bread of life. I am the fountain of living water. I am the water of life. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me though he were dead. Yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. For in him. We live and move and have our being.