WEBVTT 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:18.339 What can a person give to God that God will be 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:25.739 pleased with them? Can you give your money to 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:30.179 the church and God be pleased with you as a result 00:00:30.179 --> 00:00:33.820 of that? Can you give your charitable contributions, 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:43.670 your good deeds, your moral... Can you give your 00:00:43.670 --> 00:00:50.109 good community standing? Can you give your house 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:52.609 and your home? Can you give your personality, 00:00:52.850 --> 00:00:56.130 your efforts, your exertions? Can you give your 00:00:56.130 --> 00:01:01.130 strivings to God? Can you say, God, look how 00:01:01.130 --> 00:01:06.129 hard I've worked to raise my children. Be pleased 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:10.730 with me. God, look how good my kids are. Look 00:01:10.730 --> 00:01:17.569 how impactful they are on other kids. Look how 00:01:17.569 --> 00:01:19.549 I make a difference in people's relationships 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:23.129 and other people's lives. Can we offer these 00:01:23.129 --> 00:01:25.870 things up to God and say, Lord, be pleased with 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:30.530 me based on these things. The book of Hebrews, 00:01:30.790 --> 00:01:36.930 especially Hebrews chapter 11, is especially... 00:01:39.250 --> 00:01:44.450 Emphatic. That there is only one way that a person 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:51.069 can be pleasing to God. And that is by and through 00:01:51.069 --> 00:01:58.469 faith. That is the only possible way that you 00:01:58.469 --> 00:02:03.269 can be pleasing to a holy and a righteous God. 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:09.550 The author wants to be clear. That all the Old 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:15.530 Testament heroes of the faith, all the great 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:18.870 and mighty deeds that they accomplished, all 00:02:18.870 --> 00:02:23.150 the feats that they brought about for the name 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:28.409 of God, that those were pleasing to God, not 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:31.669 because of those things necessarily, but because 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:35.590 of the faith. It wasn't that they were just so 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:39.430 good. It was that they were men and women of 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:44.229 faith. That they were living by faith, and because 00:02:44.229 --> 00:02:50.889 of their faith, they were pleasing to God. Today, 00:02:51.009 --> 00:02:55.849 we're going to consider a new figure, Enoch. 00:02:56.550 --> 00:03:00.169 We're going to consider Enoch's life before God, 00:03:00.409 --> 00:03:06.229 or his walk with God, as Genesis puts it. we're 00:03:06.229 --> 00:03:09.229 going to see that Enoch's life was, in fact, 00:03:09.250 --> 00:03:14.469 pleasing to God himself. And lastly, we will 00:03:14.469 --> 00:03:19.030 consider the reason that Enoch's life was pleasing 00:03:19.030 --> 00:03:24.270 to God. So, we'll start by reading part of Genesis 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:29.569 chapter 5, where the narrative of Enoch's life 00:03:29.569 --> 00:03:39.919 is. We'll start reading. In verse 21, Enoch lived 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:45.939 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:52.979 Then Enoch walked with God 300 years after he 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:57.360 became the father of Methuselah. And he had other 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:01.520 sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch. 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:06.789 Were 365 years. And listen to this statement. 00:04:07.110 --> 00:04:12.729 Enoch walked with God. And he was not. For God 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:20.709 took him. That is Enoch's legacy. That is Enoch's 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:24.209 godly heritage. That he walked with God. And 00:04:24.209 --> 00:04:29.649 that God took him. He spared him from tasting 00:04:29.649 --> 00:04:35.740 death. So we have to consider, firstly, Enoch's 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:42.639 walk with God, his life before God. Notice how 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:50.000 the text describes Enoch's life. He doesn't say, 00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:52.600 as we saw with Abel, he doesn't say he was a 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.060 man of faith. How does he characterize Enoch? 00:04:55.259 --> 00:05:00.600 As one that walked with God. So what is... Or 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:04.160 what does it mean to walk with God? If we want 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.100 to understand Enoch and his life, then we have 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:11.339 to understand what it means to walk with the 00:05:11.339 --> 00:05:15.439 living God and how that occurs and how that takes 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:21.699 place. To walk with God means to have a life 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:28.519 of consistent fellowship and communion with that 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:32.680 God. We can think about Psalm 16, 8, which says, 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.319 I have set the Lord continually before me. Because 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:42.420 he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:47.620 David sets the Lord before him. But the reality 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:53.220 is that we are all always before the Lord because 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:59.060 he is sovereign. He is omniscient. He is omnipotent. 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:03.170 He is omnipresent. So whether or not we consciously 00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:07.629 recognize that we are in God's presence, we always 00:06:07.629 --> 00:06:15.389 are in God's presence. Every single person lives 00:06:15.389 --> 00:06:20.949 their life, quorum deo, before the face of God. 00:06:21.589 --> 00:06:27.970 Whether or not they recognize it, consciously 00:06:27.970 --> 00:06:35.149 or not. That means that in the morning we are 00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:39.490 before the face of God. In the afternoon at work 00:06:39.490 --> 00:06:42.970 we are before the face of God. In the evening 00:06:42.970 --> 00:06:46.209 at home with our children we are before the face 00:06:46.209 --> 00:06:51.089 of God. On Sunday mornings we are before the 00:06:51.089 --> 00:06:53.879 face of God. Throughout the week When we are 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:56.560 alone with our wives and with our children, we 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:00.120 are what? Before the face of the living God. 00:07:00.379 --> 00:07:08.500 Nothing escapes His sight. And so to walk with 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:14.139 God is to recognize that we are in His presence. 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:19.959 It is to have fellowship and communion consistently 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:26.449 with Him. This can manifest itself by praying 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:31.569 and talking with God. It can manifest and express 00:07:31.569 --> 00:07:35.209 itself by coming to God in His Word and fellowshipping 00:07:35.209 --> 00:07:40.589 and talking about God and who He is in many other 00:07:40.589 --> 00:07:46.589 ways. It is a metaphor for faithful living before 00:07:46.589 --> 00:07:53.660 the face of God. To do what we ought to be doing 00:07:53.660 --> 00:07:57.740 as believers. To live as we ought to be living 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:04.339 as believers. Before the face of God. Now, for 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:09.220 Enoch, or anyone else, to walk with God, certain 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:14.480 things must be true. Meaning, there are things 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.339 that are necessitated in order for a person to 00:08:18.339 --> 00:08:21.620 walk with God. Or there's requirements for a 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:25.120 person to walk with God. It first means that 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:30.579 we have to begin walking with God, right? We 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:34.460 have to start walking with God. We have to start 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:37.080 recognizing that we are in His presence and that 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:40.039 we live before Him. It means that we have to 00:08:40.039 --> 00:08:42.980 be in a right relationship with Him. We cannot 00:08:42.980 --> 00:08:46.220 be an object of wrath or displeasure, but we 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:49.580 must be an object of His delight. and pleasure 00:08:49.580 --> 00:08:53.960 if we are to walk with him. It seems like for 00:08:53.960 --> 00:09:00.059 Enoch, something took place after the time of 00:09:00.059 --> 00:09:06.460 his first child, Methuselah. We read, Enoch lived 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:10.860 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. 00:09:11.139 --> 00:09:15.840 Then Enoch walked with God 300 years. It almost 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.230 seems like... Something happened in Enoch's life 00:09:19.230 --> 00:09:22.289 around the time of the birth of Methuselah that 00:09:22.289 --> 00:09:25.970 he began walking with God. He started seeking 00:09:25.970 --> 00:09:28.889 God. He started living before the face of God 00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:33.169 actively and persistently. He started approaching 00:09:33.169 --> 00:09:37.250 and worshiping and serving God. So we must start. 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:42.590 We must begin. But we also see scripturally. 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:46.539 That if someone is to walk with God, it requires 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:51.500 that they walk in obedience and harmony with 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:56.240 God. Meaning their will, their hearts have to 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:02.080 be both in alignment and in submission to God 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:08.019 whom they would walk with. We could look at Amos 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:13.960 chapter 3, verse 3. The prophet is asking rhetorical 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:16.460 questions that everybody knows the answer to. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.019 And listen to what he says. Do two men walk together 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:24.259 unless they have made an appointment? Or, some 00:10:24.259 --> 00:10:27.879 translations say, unless they have agreed to 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:32.269 meet or unless there is agreement. Meaning there 00:10:32.269 --> 00:10:35.129 must be willingness to come together. There must 00:10:35.129 --> 00:10:38.370 be willingness and harmony and peace and reconciliation 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:41.470 in order for there to be fellowship and communion 00:10:41.470 --> 00:10:44.409 between the two parties. And in this case, it's 00:10:44.409 --> 00:10:49.889 God and His people. This is the reality of it. 00:10:50.269 --> 00:10:53.509 Willingness and agreement are the foundation 00:10:53.509 --> 00:11:00.629 for true fellowship. But we also read, In Micah 00:11:00.629 --> 00:11:07.090 chapter 6, verse 8, this. Again, we see an interaction 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:10.549 between the prophet and the people of God. And 00:11:10.549 --> 00:11:14.190 here's what we read. And the people have just 00:11:14.190 --> 00:11:18.009 asked, what must we do? And they're understanding 00:11:18.009 --> 00:11:21.129 their approach to God all wrong. They think, 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:25.080 well, should we just multiply sacrifices? Should 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.519 we offer up more alms and more prayers? Should 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.240 we slaughter more sacrifices? And that will bring 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:32.480 us closer. Is that what you're wanting? No. And 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.080 God has explained it time and time again. That 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:38.940 is not what I desire. And here's what he says. 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:45.460 He has told you, O man, what is good. And what 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:49.360 does the Lord require of you? But to do justice 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:52.940 and to love kindness and to walk humbly with 00:11:52.940 --> 00:12:00.850 your God. A heart of faith that walks with God 00:12:00.850 --> 00:12:06.990 and in love with the people of God. That's what 00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:10.230 God requires. James interprets this in the book 00:12:10.230 --> 00:12:17.210 of James as true religion. Heart religion. This 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:20.210 is what God requires of his people if they are 00:12:20.210 --> 00:12:23.649 to walk and have fellowship and communion with 00:12:23.649 --> 00:12:30.139 God. There must be a willingness and a submission 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:34.600 of the heart and mind to God, his word, his laws, 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.700 his requirements, his holiness, his righteousness, 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:43.360 and his being. If a person is to walk with him. 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:50.480 Now, to walk denotes or implies something that 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:55.389 is continual. It's not a singular occurrence. 00:12:56.110 --> 00:13:01.049 It's something that is continuous and builds 00:13:01.049 --> 00:13:03.730 and something that is active and present and 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:10.149 constantly taking place. It's a way or a manner 00:13:10.149 --> 00:13:15.769 of living and walking with God as he has revealed 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:19.210 himself and made himself known. It's a pattern 00:13:19.210 --> 00:13:26.309 of living. Or a pattern of life wherein a person 00:13:26.309 --> 00:13:30.110 consistently, faithfully walks with God. Think 00:13:30.110 --> 00:13:36.570 about Enoch. How long did Enoch walk with God? 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:42.549 A long time, brothers and sisters. 300 years. 00:13:43.090 --> 00:13:46.049 Now as I think about that, it's remarkable. Do 00:13:46.049 --> 00:13:50.029 you know why? Because we're only given so much 00:13:50.029 --> 00:13:54.220 time. To grow in the grace and knowledge of the 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:59.159 Lord Jesus Christ. We are only given so much 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:03.019 time to know God better tomorrow than we do today. 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:10.840 But think about Enoch. He had 300 years to grow 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:13.480 in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.620 Christ. 300 years to grow in his knowledge of 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:23.200 who God is. And what God is like. To grow in 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:29.259 his love for the Lord. It's a long time. And 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:33.460 it surely had hiccups in it along the way. But 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:35.980 obviously, if he walked with God for 300 years, 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:41.879 he continued to walk with God as well. He persevered 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:45.500 in walking with God. He pressed on in walking 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:51.980 with God. He kept walking with God. We see this 00:14:51.980 --> 00:14:55.679 same metaphor in the same language used throughout 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:59.379 the New Testament time and time again. We could 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:04.220 think about Galatians 5 .16 where Paul is exhorting 00:15:04.220 --> 00:15:09.639 the Galatian church to walk by the Spirit. What 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.100 does he mean by this, brothers and sisters? He 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:15.100 means to walk in a manner that is consistent 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:19.500 with the fruit of the Spirit. In love, joy, peace, 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:22.320 patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:26.120 -control. To walk in a manner, to have a way 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:29.000 of life, and to continue walking in that way 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.440 of life that is consistent with the spiritual 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:36.600 work of God's Spirit in their hearts and in their 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:42.460 lives. Don't live a life that is distinctly marked 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:48.059 by the flesh. And the manifestation of the flesh. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:53.399 We can think about Ephesians 5 .2. Where Paul 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:56.659 exhorts the church at Ephesus. And all those 00:15:56.659 --> 00:15:59.659 who would read that letter. To walk in love. 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.360 And then the rest of chapter 5. He goes on and 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:04.879 explains what it means to have a life that is 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:11.000 walking in love. Especially in the life of the 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:16.860 church. We read in Colossians chapter 1. I'll 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:27.960 read this one. Colossians 1, verse 10. So you 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:32.639 will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:37.139 please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:40.820 every good work, and increasing in the knowledge 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:45.100 of God, strengthened with all power according 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:48.279 to His... glorious might for the attaining of 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.340 all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:56.019 thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to 00:16:56.019 --> 00:16:59.000 share in the inheritance of the saints in life. 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:06.220 Paul says to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:11.480 He's talking about consistent walking with God 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:16.500 in the Christian life. We can think about 1 John 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:25.859 1, verse 7, which says this, But if you walk 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:28.759 in the light, as he himself is in the light, 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:32.420 we have fellowship with one another, and the 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:36.619 blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:44.029 John exhorts his readers to walk in truth. and 00:17:44.029 --> 00:17:49.309 true knowledge in the light. And that is the 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:54.390 means of having fellowship with God and His people. 00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:59.869 All over the Bible, this language of walking 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:08.069 with God is used. Enoch walked with God in a 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:13.480 godless, wicked age. There were not a lot of 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:17.619 people that were walking with God in that day, 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:21.799 in that age, I don't believe. We read in the 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:29.900 book of Jude, verse 14, it was also about these 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:33.539 men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:37.420 Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:40.950 with many thousands of his holy ones. to execute 00:18:40.950 --> 00:18:44.990 judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly 00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.990 of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done 00:18:47.990 --> 00:18:52.130 in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:55.630 which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 00:18:55.750 --> 00:19:00.809 You have to remember, this is pre -flood. This 00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:03.769 is before the flood, and the Noahic covenant 00:19:03.769 --> 00:19:08.720 has been established. The world that... Enoch 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.819 is walking with God and is wicked. And the wickedness 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:16.460 is progressively and gradually accumulating and 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:20.400 building up to God's judgment upon the world, 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:26.200 brothers and sisters. It was an evil place. Yet, 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:31.480 Enoch walked with God in the midst of all of 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:34.880 that evil. In the midst of all of that wickedness, 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:38.220 he was a preacher and a prophet for... The living 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:45.900 God. He probably was not the best liked man in 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:49.420 the world at that time. Because his message as 00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:53.420 we see in Jude was one of judgment and condemnation. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:59.779 That God would judge. That the world around it 00:19:59.779 --> 00:20:02.960 would be condemned for their godless actions. 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:10.329 Surely it was difficult. For him. But he did 00:20:10.329 --> 00:20:15.910 press on. To keep walking. With God. There is 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:24.250 a big difference. Between. Occasional. Periodic. 00:20:24.849 --> 00:20:31.069 Or even weekly. Religious observance. And walking. 00:20:31.309 --> 00:20:38.130 With God. Meaning. There's a big difference between 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:41.029 going through the motions in religious activity 00:20:41.029 --> 00:20:46.190 and walking with the living God in our lives 00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:50.970 day in and day out, brothers and sisters. They're 00:20:50.970 --> 00:20:56.329 not at odds. One requires the other. But brothers 00:20:56.329 --> 00:21:00.009 and sisters, you can have a cold, dull... distant, 00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:03.329 removed heart and go through the motions in your 00:21:03.329 --> 00:21:08.349 life while you're not walking with God. It is 00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:12.970 possible for a person to live their life and 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:16.690 to go through the motions of Christianity and 00:21:16.690 --> 00:21:19.970 the Christian faith and to never, hardly ever, 00:21:20.089 --> 00:21:25.539 have thoughts of the living God. And at the end 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:27.859 of their life, they would say, yes, I believe 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:29.799 that I'm a Christian. I'm in good standing with 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.680 God. Though, they've just gone through the motions 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:37.099 of religious experience or religious observance 00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:44.779 and never, ever walked with the living God. You 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:49.619 cannot walk with God while you have a hard, cold, 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:55.259 dull, distant heart. It requires... warmth in 00:21:55.259 --> 00:22:02.400 our heart, intentionality, exertion and conscientious 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.039 work in our minds to walk with the living God, 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:11.839 brothers and sisters. It warms our heart to have 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:16.019 sweet, delightful, intimate fellowship with the 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:21.779 living God. Do you see the difference? We can 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:27.559 go through our lives. conducting ourselves as 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:32.559 religious people all the while, being ignorant, 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:40.559 distant, and distant from the living God. Or 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:43.599 we can walk with Him day in, day out, morning, 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:47.160 afternoon, and evening, and be faithful to Him, 00:22:47.339 --> 00:22:50.240 knowing there's going to be challenges and struggles 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:54.490 along the way. There's a big difference. Between 00:22:54.490 --> 00:23:00.950 those two. We think about this idea. Of walking 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:08.210 with God. We might think. That doesn't seem very 00:23:08.210 --> 00:23:15.410 practical. That doesn't seem very practical in 00:23:15.410 --> 00:23:21.930 my life. You know how busy I am? You know everything 00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:26.099 in my schedule? Do you know all that I have to 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:29.539 do this week? Do you know all my responsibilities? 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:32.759 Do you know what is required of me? I don't have 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:35.460 time to take my mind off of these things to focus 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:42.539 on something else. Brothers and sisters, walking 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:48.940 with God is utterly practical. It is vitally 00:23:48.940 --> 00:23:54.960 practical. If a person does not walk with God 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:59.940 in their life as a believer, with intentionality 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:04.339 and perseverance and consistency, then brothers 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:09.940 and sisters, what usefulness, what power will 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:13.279 they have in their life for the purposes of God? 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:18.900 Martin Luther said something similar to this. 00:24:19.380 --> 00:24:23.369 He said, I have so much to do today. That I'll 00:24:23.369 --> 00:24:25.329 have to spend three hours in prayer this morning. 00:24:26.930 --> 00:24:31.329 Now what was he getting at in that? He's saying 00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:37.490 that we are prepared to meet the day. By spending 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:43.289 time with God himself. Brothers and sisters. 00:24:44.269 --> 00:24:48.869 What use. Is a minister who is only among the 00:24:48.869 --> 00:24:54.339 people of God. But never with God himself. In 00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:58.099 the 20th century, there's been a radical change 00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:02.440 in perspective with regards to pastoral ministry. 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:06.480 I see it all the time as I read and I look on 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:10.880 things about it. The minister must be the man 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.559 among the people, the man in the community. The 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.240 man with his face seen. He must be practical. 00:25:18.430 --> 00:25:20.950 build relationships and have influences in the 00:25:20.950 --> 00:25:23.369 community. Is there truth to that? Absolutely. 00:25:24.210 --> 00:25:28.670 Yes. But brothers and sisters, before the 20th 00:25:28.670 --> 00:25:31.430 century, do you know what the requirement was 00:25:31.430 --> 00:25:35.849 for ministers? That they be preeminently men 00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:40.289 who spent time with the living God. Because then 00:25:40.289 --> 00:25:43.130 their interactions and their work would be meaningful. 00:25:43.930 --> 00:25:47.650 and have power and authority and influence, they 00:25:47.650 --> 00:25:52.410 would be useful to God in His purposes. Brothers 00:25:52.410 --> 00:25:56.910 and sisters, walking with God is absolutely essential 00:25:56.910 --> 00:26:02.769 for your usefulness as believers in Jesus Christ. 00:26:03.390 --> 00:26:10.750 If that means slowing down at times, Living slowly 00:26:10.750 --> 00:26:15.809 enough to think deeply about God, as J .I. Packer 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:18.470 said, there's a lot of truth packed up in that 00:26:18.470 --> 00:26:22.650 statement. To turn our hearts and our minds from 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:26.869 the task at hand to the living God, it requires 00:26:26.869 --> 00:26:30.869 discipline, but we must do it, brothers and sisters, 00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:33.549 for the good of our own soul, for the good of 00:26:33.549 --> 00:26:36.750 God's people, and for the glory of God's name. 00:26:38.410 --> 00:26:43.559 Now, This leads us to the fact, and we see this 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:46.819 clearly in the text, especially of Hebrews chapter 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:52.519 11, that Enoch's life was, in fact, pleasing 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:59.099 to God. His walk with the Lord was pleasing to 00:26:59.099 --> 00:27:01.819 the Lord. Listen to what we read in verse 5. 00:27:06.429 --> 00:27:09.630 Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. 00:27:10.349 --> 00:27:13.269 And he was not found because God took him up. 00:27:14.009 --> 00:27:17.910 For he obtained the witness that before his being 00:27:17.910 --> 00:27:26.289 taken up, he was pleasing to God. The emphasis 00:27:26.289 --> 00:27:31.890 on Hebrews 11, 5 -6 is not so much on the walk 00:27:31.890 --> 00:27:37.190 of Enoch, but on... The pleasing life and faith 00:27:37.190 --> 00:27:43.789 of Enoch. Now, we know for a fact from the text, 00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:47.670 without a shadow of a doubt, that Enoch and his 00:27:47.670 --> 00:27:52.670 life were pleasing to God. There's evidence of 00:27:52.670 --> 00:27:56.369 it. And the text makes it very, very clear. What 00:27:56.369 --> 00:28:00.210 is the evidence? The fact that God took him. 00:28:02.730 --> 00:28:06.289 The fact that God removed him from this world 00:28:06.289 --> 00:28:11.390 supernaturally and miraculously. There's two 00:28:11.390 --> 00:28:16.069 men in the Bible who did not taste or see death. 00:28:16.650 --> 00:28:21.789 Enoch and Elijah, the prophet. We don't know 00:28:21.789 --> 00:28:25.269 the details of what it all looked like. Somehow 00:28:25.269 --> 00:28:29.470 they were supernaturally translated from this 00:28:29.470 --> 00:28:33.440 world into the next. Speculation beyond that 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:39.720 is probably unhelpful. The focus of the text 00:28:39.720 --> 00:28:44.480 is not on the supernatural or the miraculous 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:48.900 translation of Enoch. What does that, or what 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:54.460 is that meant to point us to? The character of 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:59.539 his life. The fact that God was, in fact, pleased 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:05.190 with... And we know this because God took him. 00:29:05.869 --> 00:29:11.369 Now, the testimony regarding Enoch God gives 00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:15.289 is that he was pleased with this man, his life 00:29:15.289 --> 00:29:18.269 and his deeds and his walk and his faithfulness 00:29:18.269 --> 00:29:23.390 before him. This miraculous translation is a 00:29:23.390 --> 00:29:28.369 divine affirmation that God and his pleasure 00:29:28.369 --> 00:29:33.559 were upon. Enoch and his life. It was a verdict, 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:39.420 a testimony concerning the reality that God and 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:42.859 his mercy and his grace were upon this man and 00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:48.700 his life. And this testimony was propagated among 00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:52.279 those of Enoch's own day. Notice that it says 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:55.359 that he was not found and the idea in that is 00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:59.039 that people looked and they kept on looking. 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:02.819 And they kept on looking. And they kept on looking. 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:06.079 But guess what? They never found him, brothers 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:11.119 and sisters. So what does that do to the memory 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:13.619 and the legacy of this man in his own day, in 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:16.180 his own age, this one who walks so faithfully 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.880 and diligently and persistently with God for 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:22.319 300 years? It burns into their minds that there 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.640 was something unique about this man in his life. 00:30:25.819 --> 00:30:29.579 He just disappeared. He was gone. God took him. 00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:34.059 And this man was pleasing to God. He was faithful 00:30:34.059 --> 00:30:41.480 in his generation. My prayer for every single 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:47.299 person here is that you would be pleased with 00:30:47.299 --> 00:30:52.079 God in your life. That you would love Christ 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.900 with your heart. That you would be content and 00:30:55.900 --> 00:30:58.880 satisfied with the things of God. And that you 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:01.900 would not settle for lesser things in this life 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:05.940 to make you happy. To make you content and satisfied 00:31:05.940 --> 00:31:11.440 and fulfilled. But that your heart would be anchored 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:15.410 to the Lord and to Jesus Christ. I want every 00:31:15.410 --> 00:31:19.109 single person here to delight in the living God, 00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:21.589 in Jesus Christ, His Son, and for the Spirit 00:31:21.589 --> 00:31:24.450 of God to work in your heart and your mind powerfully 00:31:24.450 --> 00:31:28.569 that you would taste and see that the Lord is 00:31:28.569 --> 00:31:33.549 good more and more and more. As 2 Corinthians 00:31:33.549 --> 00:31:36.490 talks about, as we look to Christ with the Spirit 00:31:36.490 --> 00:31:39.109 of God dwelling within us, that we would be transformed 00:31:39.109 --> 00:31:42.799 from one degree of glory to the next. as we look 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:46.900 by faith to the person of Christ. I long for 00:31:46.900 --> 00:31:49.960 that for each and every one of you here. Every 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.740 single person, I want you to know and love and 00:31:53.740 --> 00:32:00.160 be pleased with Jesus Christ. But you know what 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:05.339 I want more than that? You know a greater prayer 00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:07.880 than that for each and every one of you? Is that 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:14.730 God would be pleased with you. That He would 00:32:14.730 --> 00:32:20.089 look upon you as an object of divine pleasure 00:32:20.089 --> 00:32:26.569 in His Son. That He would receive you and accept 00:32:26.569 --> 00:32:30.210 you. Because if God is not pleased with you, 00:32:30.430 --> 00:32:34.670 then you are in fact an object of His hatred 00:32:34.670 --> 00:32:38.250 and His displeasure and His wrath. I do not want 00:32:38.250 --> 00:32:40.710 that for you, brothers or sisters or friends 00:32:40.710 --> 00:32:49.380 here today. The ultimate need in your life is 00:32:49.380 --> 00:32:53.339 not for you to be accepting and pleased with 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:55.900 God, but the ultimate need in your life is for 00:32:55.900 --> 00:32:59.000 God Himself to be pleased with you in Christ. 00:33:00.700 --> 00:33:04.180 So many people sit in judgment of God and say, 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:07.140 Oh, I'm angry with God. I'm frustrated with God. 00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:14.160 That doesn't matter. You are not God's judge. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:19.640 God is holy. God is perfect. God is righteous. 00:33:19.859 --> 00:33:24.440 He never does anything wrong. What matters is 00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:31.400 whether or not He is pleased with you. Stop exalting 00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:34.480 yourself in pride and arrogance and humble yourself 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:38.119 and ask, does God have His mercy and His grace 00:33:38.119 --> 00:33:44.039 upon me in Christ? Is He pleased with me? Because 00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:50.130 if you're not, He has a holy, righteous hatred 00:33:50.130 --> 00:33:54.450 for you because you are a rebel and you are unsubmissive 00:33:54.450 --> 00:33:56.809 and you are casting off his authority and living 00:33:56.809 --> 00:33:59.329 for yourself and you don't care about his glory. 00:34:02.150 --> 00:34:06.029 The ultimate need of your life is for God to 00:34:06.029 --> 00:34:14.869 be pleased with you. Yes, delight in God. Seek 00:34:14.869 --> 00:34:20.139 him. Go hard after the Lord. But ask yourself, 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:24.019 does God know me? Does God receive me? Does God 00:34:24.019 --> 00:34:27.099 accept me? Is God pleased with me in this life? 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:35.199 Not because of me, but because of Christ. Obviously, 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:41.679 that leads us to an important question. How is 00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:48.090 it? That God is pleased with anybody. This leads 00:34:48.090 --> 00:34:49.710 us to the last thing we have to consider in the 00:34:49.710 --> 00:34:54.690 life of Enoch. The reason Enoch's life was pleasing 00:34:54.690 --> 00:35:00.949 to God. And what is that reason? It's because 00:35:00.949 --> 00:35:09.829 Enoch lived a life of what? Faith. Enoch was 00:35:09.829 --> 00:35:17.179 a man of faith. Genesis describes his life as 00:35:17.179 --> 00:35:20.199 one who walked with God. Hebrews, in a sense, 00:35:20.280 --> 00:35:24.219 interprets it and explains it and says that his 00:35:24.219 --> 00:35:28.579 walking with God was a manifestation and product 00:35:28.579 --> 00:35:35.800 of his faith in God. He was a man that looked 00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:40.320 to the promises of God and believed in God and 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:46.889 believed in God's Word. Enoch was a man that 00:35:46.889 --> 00:35:50.510 had the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction 00:35:50.510 --> 00:35:56.869 of things not seen. This definitively marked 00:35:56.869 --> 00:36:04.849 this man of faith before the flood. A long, long 00:36:04.849 --> 00:36:09.869 time ago, this man was living by faith in the 00:36:09.869 --> 00:36:14.019 promises that God has made to his people. people. 00:36:15.179 --> 00:36:21.480 We saw in Abel that his true worship was an expression 00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:26.980 or manifestation or product of his faith. So 00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:31.380 we see the same thing in Enoch. But the emphasis 00:36:31.380 --> 00:36:34.739 is not on true worship with Enoch. The emphasis 00:36:34.739 --> 00:36:39.239 is on walking and fellowship and communion with 00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:45.619 God himself. So his walk with God is a manifestation 00:36:45.619 --> 00:36:52.139 or expression of or a product of his faith in 00:36:52.139 --> 00:37:01.820 God. This is why he was pleasing to God. Enoch 00:37:01.820 --> 00:37:07.420 had a present, very active, wholehearted confidence 00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:12.929 and assurance. and conviction of things hoped 00:37:12.929 --> 00:37:18.670 for and things not seen. God and his promises 00:37:18.670 --> 00:37:26.190 were the realest thing in Enoch's life. They 00:37:26.190 --> 00:37:31.750 were the preeminent things in Enoch's life. This 00:37:31.750 --> 00:37:34.849 means that it wasn't just a pattern of life that 00:37:34.849 --> 00:37:38.190 Enoch lived. Brothers and sisters, it was a life. 00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:44.579 A faith that Enoch lived. Time and time again. 00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:47.440 So we see that he walked with God for 300 years. 00:37:47.699 --> 00:37:51.760 What does the author of Hebrews tell us? That 00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:56.460 he believed in God for 300 years. That he trusted 00:37:56.460 --> 00:38:01.159 in God for 300 years. That he was faithful to 00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:06.849 God for 300 years. That's a long time. That's 00:38:06.849 --> 00:38:09.050 a long time for your faith to be strengthened, 00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:17.369 to be grown. He was a man of faith. And the author 00:38:17.369 --> 00:38:20.090 of Hebrews wants us to understand this loud and 00:38:20.090 --> 00:38:23.510 clear. The author of Hebrews is putting forth 00:38:23.510 --> 00:38:28.130 a pattern with Enoch and Abel and all the rest. 00:38:28.269 --> 00:38:33.550 He's saying this. The pattern is this. Enoch 00:38:33.550 --> 00:38:36.989 walked with God, or we could say, Abel worshipped 00:38:36.989 --> 00:38:41.429 God. Or we could say that. Abraham sought God. 00:38:41.550 --> 00:38:44.849 Or obeyed God. Add in anything you want from 00:38:44.849 --> 00:38:49.710 Hebrews chapter 11. This person did this. This 00:38:49.710 --> 00:38:54.050 was their life. So we know with Enoch. Enoch 00:38:54.050 --> 00:39:06.000 walked with God. Enoch was pleasing to God. Therefore, 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:12.480 Enoch lived by faith. Because the only way to 00:39:12.480 --> 00:39:18.099 please God is to live by faith. Do you see the 00:39:18.099 --> 00:39:21.980 argument the author is putting forth for his 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:29.300 readers? The people pressuring them to forsake 00:39:29.300 --> 00:39:31.780 Christianity and return to the Jewish system? 00:39:32.940 --> 00:39:37.559 They could not point to Enoch and say, he was 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:44.119 a man of works. They could not point to Abel 00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:47.599 and say, he was a man that earned his salvation. 00:39:49.340 --> 00:39:52.840 No, they were men of faith. And the only reason 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:54.960 and the only way that they were pleasing to God 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.980 was because of the faith that God had graciously 00:39:58.980 --> 00:40:04.940 gifted and given. To them. Then the author gives 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:09.500 us a principle. That's drawn from Enoch's life. 00:40:09.739 --> 00:40:17.400 We read this in verse 6. And without faith it 00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:21.980 is impossible to please him. That's the principle. 00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:27.059 For he who comes to God. Must believe that he 00:40:27.059 --> 00:40:30.820 is. And that he is a rewarder of those. Who seek 00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:37.880 him. He gives us an absolute. And a universal 00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:42.019 principle. That is not just true of Enoch. But 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:46.739 is also true of Abel. And Moses. And the prophets. 00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:51.099 And everybody else in Hebrews 11. And all men 00:40:51.099 --> 00:40:58.179 from all time. But the only way to please God. 00:40:59.050 --> 00:41:03.750 It is by faith. And without it, it is impossible 00:41:03.750 --> 00:41:11.150 for a person to please the living God. That is 00:41:11.150 --> 00:41:17.250 an absolute, unchanging, universal principle 00:41:17.250 --> 00:41:23.469 that the Word of God is putting forth. The author 00:41:23.469 --> 00:41:27.760 of Hebrews is fairly clear. Do not expect that 00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:30.219 you can approach God based off of works righteousness. 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:34.500 Do not think that you are found acceptable in 00:41:34.500 --> 00:41:36.699 the sight of God because of any moral goodness 00:41:36.699 --> 00:41:39.679 that a person might have. No, it doesn't work. 00:41:40.619 --> 00:41:44.260 The only method of pleasing God is by way of 00:41:44.260 --> 00:41:53.360 faith. This was true of Enoch. And this is true 00:41:53.360 --> 00:41:59.309 of every single one of us. as well. This is a 00:41:59.309 --> 00:42:04.769 principle that we must grasp. This is a principle 00:42:04.769 --> 00:42:07.530 that you must grasp if you don't know Christ. 00:42:09.829 --> 00:42:15.349 That everything in your life does not please 00:42:15.349 --> 00:42:21.170 God if you do not have true, credible, justifying, 00:42:21.210 --> 00:42:25.780 operative faith in your life. Nothing you do, 00:42:25.840 --> 00:42:30.619 nothing you say pleases God. Nothing in your 00:42:30.619 --> 00:42:39.119 life brings Him delight or pleasure. You must 00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:47.679 have faith. Now we have to return to us as believers 00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:54.719 in Jesus Christ. The only way that you will be 00:42:54.719 --> 00:43:01.960 pleased with God and pleasing to God is by and 00:43:01.960 --> 00:43:06.619 through faith, brothers and sisters. It is the 00:43:06.619 --> 00:43:11.880 only possibility for your life. This leads us 00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:16.280 to ask a few questions, doesn't it? How real 00:43:16.280 --> 00:43:22.519 is God in your life? Because the author says, 00:43:25.670 --> 00:43:29.010 For he who comes to God must believe that he 00:43:29.010 --> 00:43:34.650 is. Meaning he must be a present, vital, active 00:43:34.650 --> 00:43:40.110 reality in your life. But he also says, and that 00:43:40.110 --> 00:43:43.409 he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Meaning 00:43:43.409 --> 00:43:48.010 that God is personal. That God is redemptive. 00:43:48.369 --> 00:43:52.329 That God takes note of a person's life as he 00:43:52.329 --> 00:43:56.889 did Enoch. That He's a gracious and a merciful 00:43:56.889 --> 00:44:03.670 God that is responsive to His people. Is God 00:44:03.670 --> 00:44:06.929 real to you? Do you ever think about the Lord 00:44:06.929 --> 00:44:13.070 in your life? Do you ever have conviction about 00:44:13.070 --> 00:44:15.570 the way you're living? Does the reality of His 00:44:15.570 --> 00:44:18.309 being and His person and His word and His work, 00:44:18.389 --> 00:44:21.809 does it orient, influence, change, or redirect 00:44:21.809 --> 00:44:28.070 your life? How does the person and the work of 00:44:28.070 --> 00:44:33.610 Jesus Christ change you daily? Do you wake up 00:44:33.610 --> 00:44:38.750 and think about the Lord? Do you move on through 00:44:38.750 --> 00:44:41.190 your day and never give a second thought to the 00:44:41.190 --> 00:44:43.750 Word of God, to Christ, and to the fact that 00:44:43.750 --> 00:44:47.889 you are walking Coram Deo? Or do you think about 00:44:47.889 --> 00:44:51.929 Him on Sunday mornings before church? How real 00:44:51.929 --> 00:44:59.599 is... the person of Jesus Christ to you? Do you 00:44:59.599 --> 00:45:04.519 have an assurance and a conviction of unseen 00:45:04.519 --> 00:45:10.460 realities which direct and orient your life throughout 00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:14.179 the day? Do you walk before God and know that 00:45:14.179 --> 00:45:19.159 He sees you? Do you find joy and pleasure in 00:45:19.159 --> 00:45:24.159 the fact that He does see you? Does that give 00:45:24.159 --> 00:45:27.119 you confidence and bolster your strength and 00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:30.139 your hope in life that God does see you? Or does 00:45:30.139 --> 00:45:33.860 it bring fear and trembling and anxiety to the 00:45:33.860 --> 00:45:38.739 fact that God sees you? Do you have a wholehearted 00:45:38.739 --> 00:45:44.380 confidence that every word God has spoken with 00:45:44.380 --> 00:45:47.179 regards to the person and the work of Jesus Christ 00:45:47.179 --> 00:45:52.300 is true? That he will accomplish everything he 00:45:52.300 --> 00:45:54.380 has said he will. And that he will bring about 00:45:54.380 --> 00:45:59.599 every last redemptive word he has made. Does 00:45:59.599 --> 00:46:05.320 your life built on that reality? Does your hope 00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:11.039 and your emotions anchor to those things? Or 00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:15.219 is your life built off of and directed by and 00:46:15.219 --> 00:46:19.059 oriented by lesser things? things which are insignificant, 00:46:19.139 --> 00:46:27.699 and ultimately will pass away. Brothers and sisters, 00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:34.440 do you have real, genuine faith in God, in Jesus 00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:36.960 Christ, in the work that He has accomplished 00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:42.920 and that He has done? This is the only way that 00:46:42.920 --> 00:46:47.900 you as a person will be able to live a life That 00:46:47.900 --> 00:46:53.900 is pleasing. To that God. By trusting in him. 00:46:54.099 --> 00:46:56.079 And what he has said.