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