Sermon #9 Series: Pictures of Grace in
Genesis
Title: Enoch - A Picture of
Grace
Text: Genesis 5:24 - “Enoch
walked with God.”
Reading:
Subject: Walking with God by faith, the gift of grace
Date: Tuesday evening - July 2, 1991
Tape #
Introduction:
My
heart is motivated, driven and governed by four great concerns. Here are four
thing I want more than anything in this world. I am not an ambitious man. But I
am ambitious for these four things. For the attainment of these four things I
am prepared, by the grace of God, to sacrifice everything else. I count all
other things to be but rubbish by comparison.
1. I want to know Christ (Phil. 3:10).
Yes,
I believe that in measure I do know him. God has revealed his grace and glory
to me in the Person of his dear Son. But I want a growing, spiritual,
experimental knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know all that he has
done for me. I want to know him. I want to know him fully.
2. I want to be totally committed to Christ.
I want to
totally lose my life to Christ and in Christ, so that I can truthfully say with
the Apostle Paul, “For me to live is
Christ.” I want to be committed to Christ as he was to the Father, so that
my heart says to him in all things, “Not
my will, thy will be done.’ It is my continual prayer that God will give me
a heart committed to the Lord Jesus Christ.
·
Committed to His will.
·
Committed to His gospel.
·
Committed to His people.
·
Committed to the cause of His glory in this world.
1. I want to be like Christ.
My heart longs
to be like him, conformed to him, made into this likeness. I want to be like
him in…
·
Love, tenderness, and thoughtfulness.
·
Zeal, dedication, and devotion.
·
Purity, holiness, and righteousness.
These goals, I
know, are not attainable in this life. But they are the things for which my
soul hungers and my heart thirsts. I cannot be satisfied with less. “Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). “I shall be satisfied when I awak with thy
likeness” (Psa. 17:15), but not until then.
1. And I want to live in communion with Christ.
Let’s read
Genesis 5:21-24 together. Like Enoch of old, I want to walk with God. “Enoch walked with God!” What a
statement - “Enoch walked with God!”
This is astounding to me. “Enoch walked
with God!’ The text does not say, “Enoch thought about God,” or “Enoch
worshipped God,” or “Enoch served God,” or “Enoch talked with God,” or “Enoch
talked about God,” though he certainly did all these things. The Holy Spirit
uses these simple words to describe the outstanding feature of this man’s life:
“Enoch walked with God!” In his daily
life Enoch walked with God, realizing God’s presence as his living Friend, in
whom he confided, by whom he was loved, “Enoch
walked with God!”
Illustration: Alexander
McClaren’s Daughter.
·
Some use Enoch as an example of sinless perfection.
·
Some use him to teach the deeper life doctrine.
·
Others use him to promote self-righteous morality.
But the Spirit
of God explains that Enoch’s life was a picture of grace, an example of faith
in Christ (Read Heb. 11:5-6). “Enoch
walked with God…(and) he had this
testimony, that he pleased God.” That is the heart desire of every true
believer. We want to walk with God in sweet fellowship and please him in all
things. How can this desire be accomplished? How can you and I walk with God
and please him?
Proposition:
This is the thing we must see, if we are to
understand what it is to walk with God and please him - It was not Enoch’s
conduct that pleased God, but his faith (Heb. 11:6). More specifically, it was
Christ, the Object of Enoch’s faith, that pleased God.
Divisions:
I want to set before you this man, Enoch, A Picture of Grace. It is my
prayer that God the Holy Spirit will teach us, like him, to walk with God and
please him. I will raise and answer from the Scriptures three questions:
1. What does the Scripture mean
when it says, “Enoch walked with God””
2. What were the circumstances
in which “Enoch walked with God”?
3. What was the result of
Enoch’s walking with God?
I.
WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE MEAN
WHEN IT SAYS, “ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD”?
How did Enoch walk with God?
What does that statement imply? The author of Hebrews gives us some help by
telling us that, while Enoch walked with God, “he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” But how, how did this
man please God? What was there about him that pleased the Lord?
A. I know this - Enoch did not always please God, nor did he
always walk with God.
Enoch was a man like us. He was not born a
saint. He did not simply decide one day that he would start walking with God.
1. Enoch was a fallen sinner.
He too was a son of Adam.
2. Enoch was, like you and me,
a fallen, depraved sinner, with a wicked heart, by nature departing from God.
He
was born in spiritual death. He went astray, like all others, as soon as he was
born, speaking lies. He was a man who needed pardon, cleansing, redemption,
atonement, justification, and regeneration, just like us. Before he could
please God, his sin had to be removed and righteousness had to be imputed to
him. Otherwise, God could never accept him, much less be pleased with him. In
order to have these things, Enoch must believe God. He must have faith in
Christ. For righteousness comes by faith in Christ “unto all and upon all them that believe” (Rom. 3:22).
B. It was by faith that Enoch pleased God (Heb. 11:6).
Enoch
was not pleasing to God by virtue of his conduct, his works, his disposition,
or his personal character. There was nothing at all remarkable about the man by
nature that caused God to look upon him with pleasure. God was pleased with
Enoch because Enoch believed God! He believed that which God had spoken.
Enoch’s faith was the same as Abel’s before him and Noah’s after him. The faith
by which Enoch walked with God and pleased God was the same faith that the
dying thief possessed when he cried, “Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Lk. 23:42). And it is the
same faith that God’s elect have today.
This
is vitally important. If you want to walk with God, you must believe. Walking
with God is neither more nor less that believing God. The only way anyone can
walk with God and please him is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Enoch had experienced a
mighty change by the power and grace of God.
The
Lord God had changed his heart. God changed the bent, bias and direction of his
will. This fallen sinner had been given life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
(Eph. 2:1-10). This was a work of grace, without which Enoch could never have
walked with God and pleased him. Long before Enoch was translated into glory,
he had been translated in his heart and soul. He was delivered from the power
of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. That which the
Holy Spirit commends to us is not Enoch’s character and conduct, but Enoch’s
faith in Christ, the grace of God upon him.
a. Enoch believed God’s
Revelation - The Word of God.
b. Enoch believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer God had promised.
c. Enoch believed God’s promise
of immortality and eternal life in Christ (Jude 14-15).
d. Enoch believed that God is
and that he is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
2. So, when we are told that “Enoch walked with God” and that “he pleased him”, this is what the Holy
Spirit means for us to understand - Enoch believed God!
Understand
this - Nothing pleases God except his Son. The onlyway you and I can walk with
God and be pleasing to him is by faith in his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
(John 14:6; 1 Pet. 2:4-5).
a. The highest form of
sanctification is exactly the same as the earliest beginnings of salvation - It
is believing God. To grow in grace is to grow in faith.
The
strongest believer lives exactly as the weakest babe in Christ - by faith! We
stand before God by faith! We grow strong only as we know ourselves to be weak
and lay hold on Christ’s strength by faith. Having begun in the Spirit, we are
not then made perfect by the works of the flesh! We do not begin and go a
certain distance by faith in Christ, and then finish our course, making up the
difference by the works of the law. Salvation is by grace alone! Our standing
before God is by grace alone! Our acceptance with God is by grace alone! To
walk with God is to continue as we begun - by faith (Col. 2:6-7).
b. The believer’s life is a
life of faith!
I
stress this point because it needs to be stressed. Enoch pleased God because he
believed God. He walked with God by faith. We are sometimes tempted to strive
after some imaginary “higher ground” or “deeper life”, by looking to our
feelings, or our works, instead of looking to Christ alone. That is wrong. Any
doctrine, any religion, any sermon that leaves you looking to yourself, that
turns your eyes away from Christ is evil. We are not to look to our feelings,
but to Christ. We are not to look to our works, but to Christ. We are not even
to look to the image of Christ created in us by the Holy Spirit, but to Christ
alone! Jesus Christ alone is our acceptance with God. By faith Enoch walked
with God. By faith Enoch pleased God. Let us follow his example.
C. Enoch’s
walking with God by faith implies many things.
When I read that “Enoch walked with God” and that “he pleased God”, my heart cries out, “That’s what I want as I make
my pilgrimage through this world - I want to walk with God and please him in
this world!”
What
is it to walk with God?
1. To walk with God is to live
in the realization of his presence (Phil. 4:4-5).
2. To walk with God is to enjoy
familiar communion and fellowship with him (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
This
is what Paul means when he says, “Pray
without ceasing.” Live in communion with God.
·
Seeking His will (Prov. 3:5-6).
·
Trusting His grace.
·
Submitting to His providence.
3. The term “walked” implies
perseverance and continuance.
Enoch
persevered in faith. He walked with God for 300 years! His religion was not in
spurts. His communion with God was steady and constant. He walked with God,
steadily, for 300 years!
4. The phrase “walked with God”
also implies progress.
Enoch’s
faith was not stagnant, but progressive. At the end of 300 years he stood upon
the same ground, was built upon the same foundation and was in the same company
as in the beginning. But he was not in the same place. And he was not the same
man. Enoch went forward in faith. At the end of his days he knew more, enjoyed
more, loved more, did more, believed more, received more, and gave more than in
the beginning of his walk with God.
Illustration: A
believer walks with God in this world like a
little child walks through
the woods with its father.It is a loving walk, a walk of confidence and trust,
an instructive walk, a happy walk, and a safe walk.
II. WHAT WERE THE
CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH “ENOCH WALKED WITH
GOD”?
You might have a tendency to
think, “Enoch lived in a different time. The world was different then. It was
relatively easy for a man to walk with God in those days.” If you think like
that, you are wrong. The details of Enoch’s life are sketchy. We do not know
much about them. But you can be sure that the life of faith was not easier then
than now. Enoch lived in the most trying, most stressful, most difficult times
the world has ever known. He lived in those days just before the flood. And in
those dark, dark days, “Enoch walked with
God.”
A. Enoch was a public man, with great responsibilities.
1. That patriarch was the head
of a large family. As such, he was a prophet, priest, and king in his
household.
2. Enoch also had public cares
and responsibilities as a public leader.
3. And Enoch had his trials. He
bore the brunt of opposition from powerful men who hated the way of faith, who
hated God and his truth. Yet, this man walked with God for 300 years.
B. Enoch was also a family man.
Like you and me, he had the responsibilities
of providing for, caring for, disciplining and educating a large family. He had
a wife and many children. Yet, he walked with God.
C. Enoch lived in
a terribly wicked, degenerate society.
In those days, men commonly lived to be more
than 800 years old. Their long lives gave them opportunity to invent many forms
of evil. Sin covered the earth. The sons of God and the daughters of men were
making their unholy alliances.
1. There were few who believed
God.
2. Scoffers, mockers,
unbelievers and infidels were abundant.
3. And the few who professed to
believe God compromised every principle and tried, as much as possible, to make
a marriage of righteousness and unrighteousness. Yet, Enoch walked with God!
D. Still there is more - Enoch faithfully bore witness to Christ in the midst of that wicked
generation (Jude 14-15).
1. He delievered his testimony
in spite of opposition.
2. He stood his ground firmly
against the tide of blasphemy.
3. The moe men spoke against
God, his Son and his truth, the more Enoch spoke for his Redeemer.
“Enoch walked with God.” He was a man of
faith, and therefore a man of conviction, purpose, boldness, and courage. In
the midst of greater evil, greater opposition and greater trials than you and
I, this man could, by the grace of God, walk with God in his day. Then you and
I, who are saved by the same grace, washed in the same precious blood, and
sanctified by the same Spirit, can walk with God today.
III. WHAT WAS THE
RESULT OF ENOCH’S WALKING WITH GOD?
Enoch left here at a comparatively young age.
Compared to others in his day, he was just a young man, in the prime of life,
when God took him. He was only 365 years old. He seems to have finished his
course early. Since he walked with God, it would appear, that it did not take
Enoch long to do all that God had for him to do. Be that as it may, here are
three things which are clear results of Enoch’s walking with God.
A. Because he walked with God, Enoch escaped death.
Let us walk with God by faith, with our
hearts set upon Christ, and we too shall escape death (John 11:25; Rev. 20:6).
Soon we too shall be translated to glory (2 Cor. 5:1-9; Col. 3:1-4).
Illustration: Whitefield’s
last sermon.
Herman Pruitt
B. Because he walked with God, Enoch was greatly missed.
When Enoch was gone people began to look for
him, but “he was not found.” When men
and women like Enoch, people who walk with God are taken from us, they are
missed.
C. Because he
walked with God, when Bro. Enoch went to glory, he left a testimony behind him.
“Before he was
translated he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Everyone who knew Enoch knew
about his God, his righteous judgment and his salvation in Christ.
1. Enoch’s translation is a
warning to all men and women. Soon you will be swept out of this world, without
warning, and ushered into eternity to meet the holy Lord God in judgment.
2. Enoch’s translation to glory
is a testimony of comfort to encourage God’s pilgrims in this world. God “is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.”
I can almost hear Enoch’s voice. He is
saying, “Press on, weary pilgrims, press on. Walk with God by faith. There is a
kingdom prepared for you, where there is no more sorrow, no more weeping, no
more pain and no more death. There is a Redeemer waiting to embrace you. There
is a God waiting to crown you. There are saints and angels waiting to welcome
you. There is a Fountain to refresh you forever, a Tree to feed you forever, a
Light to lighten you forever! Press on. Walk with God. Make your steps lively.
And keep on ‘Looking unto Jesus, the
Author and Finisher of our faith.’”
Application:
What are we to learn from this man, Enoch who
“walked with God”? Learn these four
things:
1. The only way any sinner can
ever be accepted with God is in Christ. We must be in Christ by faith, or we
can never please God. But, being in Christ, all who are in Christ always please
God!
“Nearer, so very near to
God,
Nearer I cannot be,
For in the Person of His Son
I am as near as He!”
With His spotless garments
on
I am as holy as God’s Son!”
2. God sometimes makes great
differences in his providence toward his beloved children.
Both
Abel and Enoch walked with God and pleased God. Both were loved, chosen of God,
redeemed by the blood of Christ and saved by his grace, but Abel was murdered
and Enoch was translated. And today both are seated around the throne in the
presence of Christ.
3. That which God did for Enoch
he will do for all who walk with him by faith in Christ (1 Cor. 15:51-58).
·
Some saints must die, in a sense, and be resurrected.
·
Some saints will be taken alive into glory.
·
But all will be translated into the glorious image of Christ!
4. Only those who walk with God
in this world by faith will live with God in that glorious eternal world called
“Heaven”. Let us then walk with God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.