Communion with God rather than scholarship opens to us the mind and thought
How often God says to His servants as they begin to tremble before approaching danger: "Do not fear, for I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10). How safe the trusting child feels with father or mother by its side. A little girl was once playing in a room below while her mother was above, busy about household duties. Every little while the child would come to the foot of the stairs and call up: "Mamma, are you there?" "Yes, darling, what is it?" "Nothing, I only wanted to know if you were there." Then again a little while: "Mamma, are you there?" "Yes, darling, what is it?" "Nothing, I only wanted to know if you were there." Ah! is not that all we want to know, that God is here, right here by our side?
There may be plagues, there may be war, there may be famine, there may be thugs on the street, there may be burglars in the house, there may be houses of sin, and unprincipled men and women on every hand; yes, our wrestling may not be with flesh and blood but "but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms," but what does it matter? God is with us. Oh, if only we bore in mind at every moment the thought of His presence with us, if only we could hear Him saying, "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand," there would never be one single bit of fear in our hearts under any circumstances.
No matter how the war increases, no matter how near it may come to our own doors, there would be unruffled calm, abounding peace. We could constantly say, under all circumstances, "The LORD is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident." No wonder the Psalmist wrote in this connection, "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." The conscious companionship of God is the great secret of abiding peace.
3. The third result of walking with God is spiritual enlightenment.
Communion with God rather than scholarship opens to us the mind and thought of God. There is no hint that Enoch was a man of science or letters. I am very sure he was not a higher critic, and yet this plain man by walking with God and talking with God got such an insight into the purposes of God as no other man of his time had. In the Epistle of Jude, the 14th and 15th verses, we learn that even in that far-away day, a thousand years before the flood, Enoch got hold of the great truth of the second coming of Christ. So today some old washerwoman, or