Hebrews 11:5-6 Enoch

What can a person give to God that God will be

pleased with them? Can you give your money to

the church and God be pleased with you as a result

of that? Can you give your charitable contributions,

your good deeds, your moral... Can you give your

good community standing? Can you give your house

and your home? Can you give your personality,

your efforts, your exertions? Can you give your

strivings to God? Can you say, God, look how

hard I've worked to raise my children. Be pleased

with me. God, look how good my kids are. Look

how impactful they are on other kids. Look how

I make a difference in people's relationships

and other people's lives. Can we offer these

things up to God and say, Lord, be pleased with

me based on these things. The book of Hebrews,

especially Hebrews chapter 11, is especially...

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Emphatic. That there is only one way that a person

can be pleasing to God. And that is by and through

faith. That is the only possible way that you

can be pleasing to a holy and a righteous God.

The author wants to be clear. That all the Old

Testament heroes of the faith, all the great

and mighty deeds that they accomplished, all

the feats that they brought about for the name

of God, that those were pleasing to God, not

because of those things necessarily, but because

of the faith. It wasn't that they were just so

good. It was that they were men and women of

faith. That they were living by faith, and because

of their faith, they were pleasing to God. Today,

we're going to consider a new figure, Enoch.

We're going to consider Enoch's life before God,

or his walk with God, as Genesis puts it. we're

going to see that Enoch's life was, in fact,

pleasing to God himself. And lastly, we will

consider the reason that Enoch's life was pleasing

to God. So, we'll start by reading part of Genesis

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, where the narrative of Enoch's life

is. We'll start reading. In verse 21, Enoch lived

65 years and became the father of Methuselah.

Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he

became the father of Methuselah. And he had other

sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch.

Were 365 years. And listen to this statement.

Enoch walked with God. And he was not. For God

took him. That is Enoch's legacy. That is Enoch's

godly heritage. That he walked with God. And

that God took him. He spared him from tasting

death. So we have to consider, firstly, Enoch's

walk with God, his life before God. Notice how

the text describes Enoch's life. He doesn't say,

as we saw with Abel, he doesn't say he was a

man of faith. How does he characterize Enoch?

As one that walked with God. So what is... Or

what does it mean to walk with God? If we want

to understand Enoch and his life, then we have

to understand what it means to walk with the

living God and how that occurs and how that takes

place. To walk with God means to have a life

of consistent fellowship and communion with that

God. We can think about Psalm 16, 8, which says,

I have set the Lord continually before me. Because

he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

David sets the Lord before him. But the reality

is that we are all always before the Lord because

he is sovereign. He is omniscient. He is omnipotent.

He is omnipresent. So whether or not we consciously

recognize that we are in God's presence, we always

are in God's presence. Every single person lives

their life, quorum deo, before the face of God.

Whether or not they recognize it, consciously

or not. That means that in the morning we are

before the face of God. In the afternoon at work

we are before the face of God. In the evening

at home with our children we are before the face

of God. On Sunday mornings we are before the

face of God. Throughout the week When we are

alone with our wives and with our children, we

are what? Before the face of the living God.

Nothing escapes His sight. And so to walk with

God is to recognize that we are in His presence.

It is to have fellowship and communion consistently

with Him. This can manifest itself by praying

and talking with God. It can manifest and express

itself by coming to God in His Word and fellowshipping

and talking about God and who He is in many other

ways. It is a metaphor for faithful living before

the face of God. To do what we ought to be doing

as believers. To live as we ought to be living

as believers. Before the face of God. Now, for

Enoch, or anyone else, to walk with God, certain

things must be true. Meaning, there are things

that are necessitated in order for a person to

walk with God. Or there's requirements for a

person to walk with God. It first means that

we have to begin walking with God, right? We

have to start walking with God. We have to start

recognizing that we are in His presence and that

we live before Him. It means that we have to

be in a right relationship with Him. We cannot

be an object of wrath or displeasure, but we

must be an object of His delight. and pleasure

if we are to walk with him. It seems like for

Enoch, something took place after the time of

his first child, Methuselah. We read, Enoch lived

65 years and became the father of Methuselah.

Then Enoch walked with God 300 years. It almost

seems like... Something happened in Enoch's life

around the time of the birth of Methuselah that

he began walking with God. He started seeking

God. He started living before the face of God

actively and persistently. He started approaching

and worshiping and serving God. So we must start.

We must begin. But we also see scripturally.

That if someone is to walk with God, it requires

that they walk in obedience and harmony with

God. Meaning their will, their hearts have to

be both in alignment and in submission to God

whom they would walk with. We could look at Amos

Amos 3:3

chapter 3, verse 3. The prophet is asking rhetorical

questions that everybody knows the answer to.

And listen to what he says. Do two men walk together

unless they have made an appointment? Or, some

translations say, unless they have agreed to

meet or unless there is agreement. Meaning there

must be willingness to come together. There must

be willingness and harmony and peace and reconciliation

in order for there to be fellowship and communion

between the two parties. And in this case, it's

God and His people. This is the reality of it.

Willingness and agreement are the foundation

for true fellowship. But we also read, In Micah

Micah 6:8

chapter 6, verse 8, this. Again, we see an interaction

between the prophet and the people of God. And

here's what we read. And the people have just

asked, what must we do? And they're understanding

their approach to God all wrong. They think,

well, should we just multiply sacrifices? Should

we offer up more alms and more prayers? Should

we slaughter more sacrifices? And that will bring

us closer. Is that what you're wanting? No. And

God has explained it time and time again. That

is not what I desire. And here's what he says.

He has told you, O man, what is good. And what

does the Lord require of you? But to do justice

and to love kindness and to walk humbly with

your God. A heart of faith that walks with God

and in love with the people of God. That's what

God requires. James interprets this in the book

of James as true religion. Heart religion. This

is what God requires of his people if they are

to walk and have fellowship and communion with

God. There must be a willingness and a submission

of the heart and mind to God, his word, his laws,

his requirements, his holiness, his righteousness,

and his being. If a person is to walk with him.

Now, to walk denotes or implies something that

is continual. It's not a singular occurrence.

It's something that is continuous and builds

and something that is active and present and

constantly taking place. It's a way or a manner

of living and walking with God as he has revealed

himself and made himself known. It's a pattern

of living. Or a pattern of life wherein a person

consistently, faithfully walks with God. Think

about Enoch. How long did Enoch walk with God?

A long time, brothers and sisters. 300 years.

Now as I think about that, it's remarkable. Do

you know why? Because we're only given so much

time. To grow in the grace and knowledge of the

Lord Jesus Christ. We are only given so much

time to know God better tomorrow than we do today.

But think about Enoch. He had 300 years to grow

in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus

Christ. 300 years to grow in his knowledge of

who God is. And what God is like. To grow in

his love for the Lord. It's a long time. And

it surely had hiccups in it along the way. But

obviously, if he walked with God for 300 years,

he continued to walk with God as well. He persevered

in walking with God. He pressed on in walking

with God. He kept walking with God. We see this

same metaphor in the same language used throughout

the New Testament time and time again. We could

think about Galatians 5 .16 where Paul is exhorting

the Galatian church to walk by the Spirit. What

does he mean by this, brothers and sisters? He

means to walk in a manner that is consistent

with the fruit of the Spirit. In love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self

-control. To walk in a manner, to have a way

of life, and to continue walking in that way

of life that is consistent with the spiritual

work of God's Spirit in their hearts and in their

lives. Don't live a life that is distinctly marked

by the flesh. And the manifestation of the flesh.

We can think about Ephesians 5 .2. Where Paul

exhorts the church at Ephesus. And all those

who would read that letter. To walk in love.

And then the rest of chapter 5. He goes on and

explains what it means to have a life that is

walking in love. Especially in the life of the

church. We read in Colossians chapter 1. I'll

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

read this one. Colossians 1, verse 10. So you

Colossians 1:10

will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to

please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in

every good work, and increasing in the knowledge

of God, strengthened with all power according

to His... glorious might for the attaining of

all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving

thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to

share in the inheritance of the saints in life.

Paul says to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

He's talking about consistent walking with God

in the Christian life. We can think about 1 John

1 John 1:7

1, verse 7, which says this, But if you walk

in the light, as he himself is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another, and the

blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

John exhorts his readers to walk in truth. and

true knowledge in the light. And that is the

means of having fellowship with God and His people.

All over the Bible, this language of walking

with God is used. Enoch walked with God in a

godless, wicked age. There were not a lot of

people that were walking with God in that day,

in that age, I don't believe. We read in the

book of Jude, verse 14, it was also about these

men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from

Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came

with many thousands of his holy ones. to execute

judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly

of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done

in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things

which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

You have to remember, this is pre -flood. This

is before the flood, and the Noahic covenant

has been established. The world that... Enoch

is walking with God and is wicked. And the wickedness

is progressively and gradually accumulating and

building up to God's judgment upon the world,

brothers and sisters. It was an evil place. Yet,

Enoch walked with God in the midst of all of

that evil. In the midst of all of that wickedness,

he was a preacher and a prophet for... The living

God. He probably was not the best liked man in

the world at that time. Because his message as

we see in Jude was one of judgment and condemnation.

That God would judge. That the world around it

would be condemned for their godless actions.

Surely it was difficult. For him. But he did

press on. To keep walking. With God. There is

a big difference. Between. Occasional. Periodic.

Or even weekly. Religious observance. And walking.

With God. Meaning. There's a big difference between

going through the motions in religious activity

and walking with the living God in our lives

day in and day out, brothers and sisters. They're

not at odds. One requires the other. But brothers

and sisters, you can have a cold, dull... distant,

removed heart and go through the motions in your

life while you're not walking with God. It is

possible for a person to live their life and

to go through the motions of Christianity and

the Christian faith and to never, hardly ever,

have thoughts of the living God. And at the end

of their life, they would say, yes, I believe

that I'm a Christian. I'm in good standing with

God. Though, they've just gone through the motions

of religious experience or religious observance

and never, ever walked with the living God. You

cannot walk with God while you have a hard, cold,

dull, distant heart. It requires... warmth in

our heart, intentionality, exertion and conscientious

work in our minds to walk with the living God,

brothers and sisters. It warms our heart to have

sweet, delightful, intimate fellowship with the

living God. Do you see the difference? We can

go through our lives. conducting ourselves as

religious people all the while, being ignorant,

distant, and distant from the living God. Or

we can walk with Him day in, day out, morning,

afternoon, and evening, and be faithful to Him,

knowing there's going to be challenges and struggles

along the way. There's a big difference. Between

those two. We think about this idea. Of walking

with God. We might think. That doesn't seem very

practical. That doesn't seem very practical in

my life. You know how busy I am? You know everything

in my schedule? Do you know all that I have to

do this week? Do you know all my responsibilities?

Do you know what is required of me? I don't have

time to take my mind off of these things to focus

on something else. Brothers and sisters, walking

with God is utterly practical. It is vitally

practical. If a person does not walk with God

in their life as a believer, with intentionality

and perseverance and consistency, then brothers

and sisters, what usefulness, what power will

they have in their life for the purposes of God?

Martin Luther said something similar to this.

He said, I have so much to do today. That I'll

have to spend three hours in prayer this morning.

Now what was he getting at in that? He's saying

that we are prepared to meet the day. By spending

time with God himself. Brothers and sisters.

What use. Is a minister who is only among the

people of God. But never with God himself. In

the 20th century, there's been a radical change

in perspective with regards to pastoral ministry.

I see it all the time as I read and I look on

things about it. The minister must be the man

among the people, the man in the community. The

man with his face seen. He must be practical.

build relationships and have influences in the

community. Is there truth to that? Absolutely.

Yes. But brothers and sisters, before the 20th

century, do you know what the requirement was

for ministers? That they be preeminently men

who spent time with the living God. Because then

their interactions and their work would be meaningful.

and have power and authority and influence, they

would be useful to God in His purposes. Brothers

and sisters, walking with God is absolutely essential

for your usefulness as believers in Jesus Christ.

If that means slowing down at times, Living slowly

enough to think deeply about God, as J .I. Packer

said, there's a lot of truth packed up in that

statement. To turn our hearts and our minds from

the task at hand to the living God, it requires

discipline, but we must do it, brothers and sisters,

for the good of our own soul, for the good of

God's people, and for the glory of God's name.

Now, This leads us to the fact, and we see this

clearly in the text, especially of Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

11, that Enoch's life was, in fact, pleasing

to God. His walk with the Lord was pleasing to

the Lord. Listen to what we read in verse 5.

Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death.

And he was not found because God took him up.

For he obtained the witness that before his being

taken up, he was pleasing to God. The emphasis

on Hebrews 11, 5 -6 is not so much on the walk

of Enoch, but on... The pleasing life and faith

of Enoch. Now, we know for a fact from the text,

without a shadow of a doubt, that Enoch and his

life were pleasing to God. There's evidence of

it. And the text makes it very, very clear. What

is the evidence? The fact that God took him.

The fact that God removed him from this world

supernaturally and miraculously. There's two

men in the Bible who did not taste or see death.

Enoch and Elijah, the prophet. We don't know

the details of what it all looked like. Somehow

they were supernaturally translated from this

world into the next. Speculation beyond that

is probably unhelpful. The focus of the text

is not on the supernatural or the miraculous

translation of Enoch. What does that, or what

is that meant to point us to? The character of

his life. The fact that God was, in fact, pleased

with... And we know this because God took him.

Now, the testimony regarding Enoch God gives

is that he was pleased with this man, his life

and his deeds and his walk and his faithfulness

before him. This miraculous translation is a

divine affirmation that God and his pleasure

were upon. Enoch and his life. It was a verdict,

a testimony concerning the reality that God and

his mercy and his grace were upon this man and

his life. And this testimony was propagated among

those of Enoch's own day. Notice that it says

that he was not found and the idea in that is

that people looked and they kept on looking.

And they kept on looking. And they kept on looking.

But guess what? They never found him, brothers

and sisters. So what does that do to the memory

and the legacy of this man in his own day, in

his own age, this one who walks so faithfully

and diligently and persistently with God for

300 years? It burns into their minds that there

was something unique about this man in his life.

He just disappeared. He was gone. God took him.

And this man was pleasing to God. He was faithful

in his generation. My prayer for every single

person here is that you would be pleased with

God in your life. That you would love Christ

with your heart. That you would be content and

satisfied with the things of God. And that you

would not settle for lesser things in this life

to make you happy. To make you content and satisfied

and fulfilled. But that your heart would be anchored

to the Lord and to Jesus Christ. I want every

single person here to delight in the living God,

in Jesus Christ, His Son, and for the Spirit

of God to work in your heart and your mind powerfully

that you would taste and see that the Lord is

good more and more and more. As 2 Corinthians

talks about, as we look to Christ with the Spirit

of God dwelling within us, that we would be transformed

from one degree of glory to the next. as we look

by faith to the person of Christ. I long for

that for each and every one of you here. Every

single person, I want you to know and love and

be pleased with Jesus Christ. But you know what

I want more than that? You know a greater prayer

than that for each and every one of you? Is that

God would be pleased with you. That He would

look upon you as an object of divine pleasure

in His Son. That He would receive you and accept

you. Because if God is not pleased with you,

then you are in fact an object of His hatred

and His displeasure and His wrath. I do not want

that for you, brothers or sisters or friends

here today. The ultimate need in your life is

not for you to be accepting and pleased with

God, but the ultimate need in your life is for

God Himself to be pleased with you in Christ.

So many people sit in judgment of God and say,

Oh, I'm angry with God. I'm frustrated with God.

That doesn't matter. You are not God's judge.

God is holy. God is perfect. God is righteous.

He never does anything wrong. What matters is

whether or not He is pleased with you. Stop exalting

yourself in pride and arrogance and humble yourself

and ask, does God have His mercy and His grace

upon me in Christ? Is He pleased with me? Because

if you're not, He has a holy, righteous hatred

for you because you are a rebel and you are unsubmissive

and you are casting off his authority and living

for yourself and you don't care about his glory.

The ultimate need of your life is for God to

be pleased with you. Yes, delight in God. Seek

him. Go hard after the Lord. But ask yourself,

does God know me? Does God receive me? Does God

accept me? Is God pleased with me in this life?

Not because of me, but because of Christ. Obviously,

that leads us to an important question. How is

it? That God is pleased with anybody. This leads

us to the last thing we have to consider in the

life of Enoch. The reason Enoch's life was pleasing

to God. And what is that reason? It's because

Enoch lived a life of what? Faith. Enoch was

a man of faith. Genesis describes his life as

one who walked with God. Hebrews, in a sense,

interprets it and explains it and says that his

walking with God was a manifestation and product

of his faith in God. He was a man that looked

to the promises of God and believed in God and

believed in God's Word. Enoch was a man that

had the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction

of things not seen. This definitively marked

this man of faith before the flood. A long, long

time ago, this man was living by faith in the

promises that God has made to his people. people.

We saw in Abel that his true worship was an expression

or manifestation or product of his faith. So

we see the same thing in Enoch. But the emphasis

is not on true worship with Enoch. The emphasis

is on walking and fellowship and communion with

God himself. So his walk with God is a manifestation

or expression of or a product of his faith in

God. This is why he was pleasing to God. Enoch

had a present, very active, wholehearted confidence

and assurance. and conviction of things hoped

for and things not seen. God and his promises

were the realest thing in Enoch's life. They

were the preeminent things in Enoch's life. This

means that it wasn't just a pattern of life that

Enoch lived. Brothers and sisters, it was a life.

A faith that Enoch lived. Time and time again.

So we see that he walked with God for 300 years.

What does the author of Hebrews tell us? That

he believed in God for 300 years. That he trusted

in God for 300 years. That he was faithful to

God for 300 years. That's a long time. That's

a long time for your faith to be strengthened,

to be grown. He was a man of faith. And the author

of Hebrews wants us to understand this loud and

clear. The author of Hebrews is putting forth

a pattern with Enoch and Abel and all the rest.

He's saying this. The pattern is this. Enoch

walked with God, or we could say, Abel worshipped

God. Or we could say that. Abraham sought God.

Or obeyed God. Add in anything you want from

Hebrews chapter 11. This person did this. This

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

was their life. So we know with Enoch. Enoch

walked with God. Enoch was pleasing to God. Therefore,

Enoch lived by faith. Because the only way to

please God is to live by faith. Do you see the

argument the author is putting forth for his

readers? The people pressuring them to forsake

Christianity and return to the Jewish system?

They could not point to Enoch and say, he was

a man of works. They could not point to Abel

and say, he was a man that earned his salvation.

No, they were men of faith. And the only reason

and the only way that they were pleasing to God

was because of the faith that God had graciously

gifted and given. To them. Then the author gives

us a principle. That's drawn from Enoch's life.

We read this in verse 6. And without faith it

is impossible to please him. That's the principle.

For he who comes to God. Must believe that he

is. And that he is a rewarder of those. Who seek

him. He gives us an absolute. And a universal

principle. That is not just true of Enoch. But

is also true of Abel. And Moses. And the prophets.

And everybody else in Hebrews 11. And all men

from all time. But the only way to please God.

It is by faith. And without it, it is impossible

for a person to please the living God. That is

an absolute, unchanging, universal principle

that the Word of God is putting forth. The author

of Hebrews is fairly clear. Do not expect that

you can approach God based off of works righteousness.

Do not think that you are found acceptable in

the sight of God because of any moral goodness

that a person might have. No, it doesn't work.

The only method of pleasing God is by way of

faith. This was true of Enoch. And this is true

of every single one of us. as well. This is a

principle that we must grasp. This is a principle

that you must grasp if you don't know Christ.

That everything in your life does not please

God if you do not have true, credible, justifying,

operative faith in your life. Nothing you do,

nothing you say pleases God. Nothing in your

life brings Him delight or pleasure. You must

have faith. Now we have to return to us as believers

in Jesus Christ. The only way that you will be

pleased with God and pleasing to God is by and

through faith, brothers and sisters. It is the

only possibility for your life. This leads us

to ask a few questions, doesn't it? How real

is God in your life? Because the author says,

For he who comes to God must believe that he

is. Meaning he must be a present, vital, active

reality in your life. But he also says, and that

he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Meaning

that God is personal. That God is redemptive.

That God takes note of a person's life as he

did Enoch. That He's a gracious and a merciful

God that is responsive to His people. Is God

real to you? Do you ever think about the Lord

in your life? Do you ever have conviction about

the way you're living? Does the reality of His

being and His person and His word and His work,

does it orient, influence, change, or redirect

your life? How does the person and the work of

Jesus Christ change you daily? Do you wake up

and think about the Lord? Do you move on through

your day and never give a second thought to the

Word of God, to Christ, and to the fact that

you are walking Coram Deo? Or do you think about

Him on Sunday mornings before church? How real

is... the person of Jesus Christ to you? Do you

have an assurance and a conviction of unseen

realities which direct and orient your life throughout

the day? Do you walk before God and know that

He sees you? Do you find joy and pleasure in

the fact that He does see you? Does that give

you confidence and bolster your strength and

your hope in life that God does see you? Or does

it bring fear and trembling and anxiety to the

fact that God sees you? Do you have a wholehearted

confidence that every word God has spoken with

regards to the person and the work of Jesus Christ

is true? That he will accomplish everything he

has said he will. And that he will bring about

every last redemptive word he has made. Does

your life built on that reality? Does your hope

and your emotions anchor to those things? Or

is your life built off of and directed by and

oriented by lesser things? things which are insignificant,

and ultimately will pass away. Brothers and sisters,

do you have real, genuine faith in God, in Jesus

Christ, in the work that He has accomplished

and that He has done? This is the only way that

you as a person will be able to live a life That

is pleasing. To that God. By trusting in him.

And what he has said.