Enoch’s Faith

I turn in the word of God this morning, if you would, to Hebrews 11. If you have a copy of the scriptures, Hebrews 11. If you weren’t here last Lord’s Day, we gave indication of the change in our practice regarding receiving the offering during the morning service. So, that’s what changed this morning, and we gave a heads up last week concerning that, along with the reasons why.

We proceed this morning to consider, as we go through Hebrews, we come to verse 5, and we’ll take a break for a little time from Hebrews and get back to it in the New Year. But here’s where we are this morning. So, let’s read the opening verses again. This is a great chapter cataloging those who have lived for God in a bygone age and form great instruction for the church, both in the first century and for you and me as well. So let’s hear the Word of God. Hebrews 11, verse 1:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And by it he, being dead, yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

We’ll end the reading at the sixth verse. And what you have heard, as always here, is the Word of God. It is eternal, it is inerrant, it is to be received and believed, and it is to order your life. You are not to ignore it. You are not to set it aside. It brings a challenge to you. And so the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray. Lord, give to us conviction regarding Your Word, that it has something to say to us, and that we are to order our lives by it. The fact that every word of God is pure. And this morning, as the table is set before us and we anticipate remembering our Lord Jesus and His atonement, we pray that You will bless, cause our hearts to swell with gratitude, cause our souls to feast upon the finest of the wheat, to meditate by faith upon Jesus, to see that One living, dying, and rising again, to consider Him, and to have our souls filled with gratitude that He not only died but He rose again from the dead.

Oh bless us, bless us with peace, bless us with understanding, bless us with Your presence. Let it not be said that the enemy has come in and destroyed this sanctuary. May Thy people here be truly flourishing in the goodness and mercy of the Lord. So give the power of the Holy Spirit. Let there be that cry from every believing heart. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. May we then, being able to hear, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Last time we came to Hebrews 11, we considered, of course, verse 4 where Abel comes at the head of the catalogue of individuals for us to consider. And one of the things we asked was why Abel and not Adam? And the same may be asked here: why does it move from Abel then to Enoch? Similarly, we can’t be definitive, but again there are some things about Enoch that put him in a position for us to consider and for us to learn from.

The seventh from Adam. A man of unique character and who experienced something unique as well. In addition to that, of course, he typifies for us much in the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has much to tell us about the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, he was born into a wicked environment. We know this. You go from Genesis 5, where Enoch is mentioned, into Genesis 6, and we see that the wickedness of man was great and that the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually, and other language that expresses the great wickedness of that generation.

And our Lord was the same. Our Lord Jesus did not come into an ideal world, into a world in which He was loved and treasured. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. There was rampant unbelief and rejection even of the Son of God in the face of His miracles. In the face of His unparalleled wisdom, He was yet despised and rejected of men.

He also walked with God and pleased God in the midst of that wicked environment. It didn’t cause Him to move away from His commitment. He remained persistent in a walk with God despite the hostility of the world around Him. And that’s again similar to our Lord Jesus. With all the discouragement, with all the hatred and animosity, with all the rejection, yet our Lord Jesus set His face as a flint to go to Jerusalem. On the way there, He carried on that ministry of healing and restoring and giving sight to the blind and preaching powerfully and informing the minds of those around Him. He did not become so discouraged that He would give up. He stayed the course. He remained faithful and could look, as it were, up into heaven knowing that He had fulfilled all that the Father had sent Him to do.

In addition, Enoch warned of future judgment. Jude tells us of this, and there are other indications which we will look at this morning of him being able to reveal things that were coming. Our Lord Jesus did the same. A big part of His ministry was warning about the judgment that was looming. A big part of His ministry, especially near the end, was telling that generation of what was about to fall upon the very city of Jerusalem, as well as things future, matters relating to judgment. Warning them, “Don’t fear Him that can destroy the body. Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

In the fourth place, through Enoch, we learn that God would appoint his circumvention of death. In this, of course, he shows something of what the Messiah would do. That death would not have a hold upon Him. That death would not have the final say in His experience. That though the circumstances are different and distinct, yet we see the same overcoming of the power of death—just like our Lord Jesus, who did something even more miraculous, more miraculous than circumventing it, as Enoch did by God’s grace and help. Jesus went through death and came out the victor over it.

And then we see also that God took him. He was taken into the presence of God, just like our Lord ascending. We’re going to see that very soon as we come to the very end of Luke’s gospel and the ascension that is revealed to us there in the final verses of that tremendous gospel.

But within the context, as we move from Abel to Enoch, it makes sense also from what we learn from each of them. Abel, for example, showed us what the world will do to the believing soul. That it will reject, that it will be, again, hostile to the point of even ending your life. It shows us how the world treats the believer. Enoch, in contrast, shows us what God will do for the believing soul. So Abel is what the world will do to the believing soul. Enoch, what God will do for the believing soul.

To encourage us as we move from these men, as we leapfrog through the genealogy of Scripture and see the individuals the Spirit would point out for us to consider and learn from. The examples given in Hebrews 11 are for our encouragement. They are to challenge us to take God at His word. This is why the apostle is listing them. These men took God at His word. The one who made all things by the word of His power and upholds all things by the same—when He speaks, you listen and you obey.

And that’s the application to you and me. When God speaks, you listen. When God speaks, you obey. If you can follow that for the rest of your life, you, like Enoch, will walk with God. The Apostle desires to put before us these people who will encourage us, and Enoch is one such individual.

By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. But before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Lots of interesting ideas about Enoch. The seventh from Adam has resulted in all sorts of ideas with the seventh from Adam. Well, maybe that indicates that, you know, because he was translated, because he points to a coming judgment and so on, maybe that’s indicating that the seventh millennium will be the millennium spoken of in Revelation 20. And there are all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas about Enoch.

But what does the passage reveal to us? Not to dwell upon things that tickle our fancy and our imagination. A very clear instruction, there is very clear instruction for us from his life. So I want us to consider Enoch’s faith with the Lord’s help.

And two main heads: his translation and his testimony. His translation and his testimony. Verse 5 brings those two things out. By faith Enoch was translated, and then we’re told before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. So let’s first consider his translation.

And we have a number of things to consider here. First, the nature of his translation. The nature of it. What does it mean? By faith Enoch was translated. If you have a margin, it may include there, “he was taken up to heaven.” That he was taken up to heaven. The language shows that something extraordinary occurred in Enoch’s life. Something that you don’t read about on every page of Scripture. Something that you only see really, paralleled in some fashion, in the life of the prophet Elijah. Who also was taken up into heaven. So there’s something going on here. Something that happened to this man.

The word translated suggests a change in place and state. So the question that arises, there are some theological things that come to our mind. Does this mean he was translated or moved body and soul? Did he die in this translation process? Did he go to heaven or where did he end up? What happened here? Okay, see, again, you ponder this, you think about this, and you have to work through it based on Scripture.

What is it saying to us? And you ponder the idea, for example, was he changed in some way? Was he moved from earth to heaven? Well, if you think about what it says, he was not, for God took him. Right? God took him. He was not found, verse 5 says. He should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. Or, as Genesis 5 says, he took him. The fact that he was not found shows that people were looking for him. They were looking for evidence of Enoch. His voice had gone silent. His preaching was no more. His warnings could not be heard. And the question that arose was, where did Enoch go?

And as they sought for him, as they looked for him, as they tried to find him, they could find no evidence. He’s no longer there. Can’t even find remnants of him. There’s no body to suggest that he died. Where is he? His body was taken. He seems to have experienced that which is spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51, “Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”

Something’s going to happen at the end. There’s going to be a transformation that occurs for those who are still alive when the Lord Jesus comes back. It seems then to me that his body was taken. His body and his soul were taken. The question is where? Some think he was taken to a place of paradise, a location that’s not heaven, ideas of what may be termed divided Hades or some kind of underworld. I don’t want to get into that subject, but I will say I have problems with it. I have problems with it based on Scripture. I don’t see the need for it. There’s no need to add in some kind of place, some kind of underworld.

The Bible’s very clear. The reason man goes to hell is because of his sin. And that place was created for the devil and his angels. There’s a place of judgment. Heaven was made for God, the habitation of God. And those who are in fellowship with God, in union with Christ, who believe on Him, they go to be with God. The Psalm we read last week, Psalm 73, Asaph refers to the fact that after this world, afterward he would be received up to glory. The verb used there, “to be received,” is the same verb used as Genesis relates to the event that happened to Enoch. Taken up, received up. Asaph says received to glory. Enoch was taken up. It’s the same verb also that’s used in relation to Elijah. As he was taken up. Received up.

And the verb is specific. It’s not found all over the place. It’s used, and it has significance theologically. And I can’t spend time working this out with you this morning. But if you look at it, if you look at the Hebrew word found in Genesis 5, Psalm 73, and the references to Elijah as well, you’ll find the same verb that’s being used about being taken up. And the psalmist says, “to glory.” And I don’t know why people have a problem just believing that, that that’s where believers go. They go to be with God.

Old Testament and New, the same salvation, the same blood atonement, the same grounds of hope, takes them to be with God. I know there are passages where it’s argued, you know, what’s going on here, passages in Peter and so on about Jesus going and leading captivity captive and so on. I don’t agree with the translation that’s being used there, the interpretation rather of that passage. It seems clear to me the simplest solution is God’s people go to be where God is. Those who are not the Lord’s people go where the devil is being purposed to go. It’s going to be judged.

There’s more I could say there, but of course it leads to challenges as well. If he does not die and he goes, he’s carried into the presence of God, alive, body and soul, which seems to be the case since his body is not found, then it leads to challenges, doesn’t it? Genesis 3:19, when God says to Adam, “For thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return.” What about Enoch? Hebrews 9:27, this very book that we are studying together. “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.”

But again, with Enoch you’re dealing with the miraculous. The normal things don’t apply. This is undeniable that a miraculous event occurred in Enoch’s life. I don’t think I need to argue that point. And in any case of miraculous interventions from God, the normal experiences are circumvented. That’s what happens with Enoch. So I take it that Enoch, by a miraculous act of God, was taken into the presence of God, body and soul.

I’ve wrestled over that and what that means in terms of others, of course, who go there, their soul, and what does that mean for the judgment and the resurrection of the body and so on. I’ve wrestled with that, but it seems that as the body was searched for and it was not found, the impression is being given, the teaching is being given, that God has a claim upon the body.

And for those who believe in Him, it will be spared, it will be kept, it will be preserved, it will be united to the soul and be in the presence of God forever, away from this fallen world and all of the judgment that will ensue. It seems to be a message pointing to something. In fact, as I was thinking about it for the first time, I was wondering, is this what Job, is this where Job got it? That his body, skin worms, the destruction of his body, yet in my flesh shall I see God? How could Job know that, living at the time around Abraham? How could he know that in his flesh he would see God?

Except that someone like Enoch had communicated something, that which happened to one who lived before, what God did for him and what was communicated and passed on, led Job to conclude that man in his flesh will be before God.

Consider also the timing, not just the nature of his translation, but the timing of it. We know that Abel was the first to die in the world, first recorded to die. We have no reason to doubt that he was the very first person to experience death in that sense of the ending of existence in this world.

And what’s interesting as you come to the genealogy in Genesis 5, where time is given to the various generations and those that lived following Adam and following, is that as you look at all the years, Adam of course lives for 930 years. That’s a long time, and you’ll find that many of them live for a long time there. Most of them leading up to Enoch live for 900 years or thereabouts. I think there’s one maybe that comes up a little short.

The next person then to leave this world after Abel is Adam. And Adam experiences, we would imagine, a natural death. That must have had an impact upon people. I imagine the first man is now gone. He’s no longer in the world. I think that would have been newsworthy. That those around, every single person can trace their existence back to a man who’s still alive. I mean, he’s gone. Every single person on the planet has grounds and reason to attend that funeral. It would have left a mark.

The next person to disappear from the world, according to the genealogy, is Enoch. 57 years later, Abel being murdered, Adam dying of natural causes, and Enoch disappearing. I think again there’s a message there. The impression made by Adam’s death was that you will not live on in this world. That God, what He said, that you will die, will come to pass to everyone. After 900 and something years, specifically 930 years in the case of Adam, he is gone. They see the body break down, they see the process of death. It wasn’t an anomaly where Abel died because his life was taken physically from him. Man will, in his existence in this world, peter out and be gone.

And people would think about this, the fact that it was coming to them as well. And then there’s this one who circumvents it. They’ve spent 57 years thinking about the fact that this is what happens. You die. And then Enoch, who’s been preaching, preaching messages that relate to the future, warning about coming judgment, and things that pertain to the details and circumstances of death, one day he’s just not there. He’s not there.

God is communicating something. He’s communicating that by His power, by His grace, if you listen to the message, if you believe on Him, you can circumvent the full consequences of death. Listen to what Enoch’s saying. Remember Adam’s death. See this man who’s preaching, who’s warning. If you believe the message he presents, that’s the only hope you have. I think it’s powerful. It’s powerful. The illustrative nature of Adam and the way he died and then Enoch’s disappearance.

There are also the grounds for Enoch’s translation. Why was he translated? When the author of Hebrews makes it clear, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death. By faith. This is what makes the difference. He believed. He had a real vibrant, living, saving knowledge of God. So what did he believe? Well, he believed what Adam believed. He believed that the only hope is in the seed of the woman. And I think he must have given it a lot of thought. A lot of thought.

Because in that first gospel promise of Genesis 3:15, which I’m assuming a lot here, I’m assuming that you all are familiar with that, and what God said there at the time of man’s fall, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent.” I am pondering this in preparation for this morning and thinking about him and especially, as we’ll see, his focus upon messages of judgment.

And it appeared to me that Enoch, as he pondered all that was contained and packed into that message, the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, his understanding—God, through one to come, will deal with this problem. But there’s a clear dividing, if you like. There’s clear parties involved. And if you’re on the side of Satan, if you’re with the serpent, you’re under the judgment. And if you believe in the promised seed, you’re in life. You’re in possession of the promise of life.

So I’m quite certain he gave a lot of thought to it. And he considered it and it became then a platform for his preaching. The seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. So if you align with the serpent, if you live under his power and his sway by his policies, then that judgment is going to fall on you necessarily as well. The seed of the woman brings life, hope, salvation.

So he believed. By faith then, he’s looking to that. What is he looking for? By faith he was translated that he should not see death. Because that’s what he believed. He believed that through the seed of the woman, God’s promise is that death is dealt with. That the curse is dealt with. That the answer is in the seed of the woman. There’s man’s hope. And he believed it.

I don’t know if he anticipated at any point or it was revealed to him at any point that he was going to himself in a unique fashion entirely circumvent the experience of death. I don’t know that. But by faith he’s looking forward. By faith he’s seeing what God is promising. Similar to those we’re going to get to later in Hebrews 11, Abraham and others who are looking forward and seeing something that God is promising that goes beyond the mere land and so on. But looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and having a sense of looking and anticipating something that they don’t actually realize fully in their life.

And Enoch, maybe that’s as far as it went for him. He could see it, and he’s believing it, and he’s taking God at His word, and he’s preaching it, and he’s giving comfort to those who believe, and warning to those who will not. And one day, he becomes an illustration of God’s power to circumvent the curse. But it was by faith, and it’s the same for you and me. Your only hope of salvation, your only hope, as you live in a world under judgment and experience the curse within your body and the world and environment in which you live, your only hope is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, God’s answer, is in Him.

He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If a man believes in me, he will never see death.” Your eye needs to be fixed on Him. Your hope needs to be entirely upon Him. If it is not, you will perish.”

So the ground of his translation was the fact that he believed God. He took God at His word. “By faith he was translated.” It’s not like he kind of just thought and believed really hard. I’m going to believe really hard. But his faith united him to God. Right? And that becomes the grounds upon which God can do this for him.

It’s going to happen for you and me as well one day. We are going to be body and soul in the presence of God forever. Enoch illustrates it so powerfully early on in this world’s existence. What’s the significance then of Enoch’s translation? Well, the significance we’ve already touched on. It’s a token of God’s power over death and the curse. It reassures those who believe of the reality of eternal life, of God’s ability to reverse the curse, to give hope to men that they don’t have to live under this judgment without any sense of hope.

Enoch stands there before people to show that God has the power to deal with the curse, that God has the power to deliver men from the curse. And so his whole life becomes a testimony to that power and to that hope. Again, it’s in Jude’s epistle, you may want to go over there. A little epistle of Jude just before Revelation. You see how Enoch is mentioned, just so you’re aware of his presence in other parts of the New Testament.

Jude, just the one chapter here, is dealing with apostasy, is dealing with the fact that there are generations that rise up and are wicked, and we need to be careful not to listen to false preachers, false teachers. We must hold fast to the truth and abandon the false. And in verse 14, Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

So here’s Enoch’s message summarized here. He’s prophesying of wicked people, and the Lord’s coming. He’s going to deal in judgment. How did he know? Perhaps there was direct divine revelation to Enoch as a preacher. Given some of the details, it would appear to me that that would be necessary. But on the other hand, I wonder, I do wonder, I wonder if there’s enough in the scriptural record for him to come to these conclusions and preach it authoritatively. Again, because the Genesis 3:15 verse, the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, creates a clear line of division.

That if you’re with the seed of the woman who’s going to bruise the head of the serpent, if you’re on that side, it’s life and hope and salvation. If you’re with the serpent, it’s death and destruction and the full consequences of the curse. And he knows that the devil’s not alone in his rebellion, that there are other angels who are following with him. And so that’s where they’re going. They’re going to a place of judgment, whereas the angels who kept their first estate, they will come with the Lord to redeem all those who have put their trust in Him.

Here’s a man who studied his Bible, as it were, studied the oral accounts that they were given, the messages that were coming from Adam, listened at the feet of Adam, listened to the feet of others, and just sat and absorbed all that was coming to him, meditated upon it, and perhaps again with some other enlightenment where God would speak to him directly, he was thrust forth into the world to preach with confidence this message of judgment as well as hope.

And also Enoch’s awareness of his translation. His awareness of his translation. Go to Hebrews 11 again. It seems likely to me that Enoch was somewhat aware of what was going to take place. He was not found. I can’t be dogmatic here. But the fact that it uses language like, “he was not found,” indicating others were seeking after him, may, I think it’s as far as I can go, may indicate that Enoch has said, “Here is what’s going to happen to me. I’m going to disappear. God is going to take me.” Listen to what that means and explain to them the significance of it.

Of course, like Noah, who came after him, they would have dismissed him. They would have said, “He’s mad.” They would have said, “He’s crazy. Who does he think he is?” I mean, Noah was doing the same thing. He was preaching about things that people couldn’t fully comprehend. He was dealing with subjects of judgment that people were looking at and going, “No, the man’s crazy.” Why not Enoch as well? Dealing with things and people are looking at it and saying, “The man has lost it. He’s completely lost his marbles. Don’t listen to him.” But then, one day, as he said, he’s not there. And they’re searching and scanning the globe. Where did Enoch go?

He was not found. Don’t tell me that means that they just went out one day and kind of hollered for five minutes, “Enoch, Enoch, Enoch,” and then decided, “Well, we don’t know where he is.” It indicates to me there was a search. Find Enoch. Where’s Enoch gone? He’s not to be found anywhere. He may have known that. He may have used that in his communication. The brevity of his life in comparison to his contemporaries must have compounded the point. They lived nowhere near as long as the rest of them.

And he also warned of other things as well. He knew things were coming. He knew something was coming to this world. He knew it. Indeed, when you go back to Genesis 5, it seems that the beginning of his walk with God commenced at the time when he had his son, Methuselah. Methuselah is born, and that seems, and I think most are in agreement there, it seems to trigger in Enoch an increase of devotion and commitment. And why not? It would appear once again that God had revealed something to Enoch that resulted in him naming his son Methuselah. The word, the name is a compound word of death and send. And I agree, I think some would disagree here, but I think there’s warrant based on another detail to suggest that the name is very specific in communicating a message. When he dies, it shall be sent.

Because when you go and calculate in Genesis, the year that Methuselah dies, and he lives longer than anyone else, 969 years. The year that Methuselah dies is the year the flood comes. God takes Methuselah just before the flood ensues upon the world. When he dies it shall be sent. Enoch is a man whom God is speaking to and revealing things that relate to coming judgment, and he is communicating it.

As I say, this birth of Methuselah, and he has other sons and daughters, but this birth of Methuselah seems to trigger in him a commitment, and why not? If God is giving a son, and the name is that he’s going to destroy the world when his son dies, that will sober him up. And he begins his ministry with his son there, with a name that constantly preaches, and even after Enoch goes, his son’s name is preaching to the world. When I die, it will come.

So you have this man who’s been raised up by God, and a generation that refuses to hear, increasingly wicked. He’s preaching of judgment, a warning of what’s happening, and he’s naming a son, also something that indicates that when he comes, when he dies rather, this judgment will come upon the world. What a message. What mercy of God too, and I’ve reflected on this many times. Isn’t it such a reflection of God’s character, of His mercy toward men, His patience to men, that the one who becomes the, that this is the signal, right?

The flood, the destruction of the world pivots on the death of Methuselah. That that man lives longer than anyone else. But God doesn’t hasten his judgment. He extends it out, causing Methuselah to live longer than anyone else because He’s patiently bearing with men day after day, year after year. Listen, listen, turn. Has He not borne long with you? Do not ignore and imagine that His patience with you means He will not carry out His judgment. His patience is just that, patience. It will conclude eventually.

But also Enoch’s testimony, not just his translation but his testimony. He had a clear testimony, didn’t he? Hebrews 11, verse 5, before his translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. He pleased God. What does Genesis tell us about him? Twice it says that he walked with God. He walked with God. That comes together, doesn’t it? The fact that he pleased God is because he walked with God. What does it mean to walk with God? What does that mean?

If I were to say to you, walk with God, how would you interpret that? Is it just a legal obedience to the instruction we glean from Scripture? Or to go to the other side, is it just an emotionally driven feeling that imagines that God loves you and you love Him back? What does it mean to walk with God? That’s a whole subject in and of itself. But let’s think of it in just two texts, the positive and the negative.

Positively, Psalm 25:10, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. I think that text encapsulates the positive: mercy and truth. Those who are keeping His word, those who are walking with God, are on a path of mercy and truth with the Lord. Mercy and truth.

Not harsh judgment. Not criticism. Not finding fault all the time. Not endeavoring to exact every possible judgment upon a person that you can. No. Mercy. And this is our problem because we have on the other side truth. And truth says, “Thou shalt, thou shalt not.” Truth comes with this binding sense of influence upon us. This is what’s true. Let me follow through on that. Tutti, absolutely. But you think of how it’s balanced by the Lord with this aspect of mercy.

So, you know, God warned, “The day you eat thereof you will die.” Truth, truth, for God to remain true should, taken in its exacting way, mean that God doesn’t even come to communicate with Adam. Adam and Eve partake of that fruit, and they are left to die in that moment that the fruit hasn’t even reached their stomach, but they are gone. That would be true, exacting truth. But there’s mercy. Mercy pours in.

To walk with God positively is to have in balance the sense of truth and mercy. Negatively, Psalm 125:5. “As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.” God will lead those who turn aside under the crooked ways to destruction.

The whole book of Proverbs, especially the early chapters and a few other sections, is really this warning that you do not align with the workers of iniquity. The psalm we sang this morning, Psalm 1, calling us to keep away from workers of iniquity. If you want to walk with God, you can’t trifle with this world, you can’t play games. To walk with God means you’re separate from the world.

Enoch was a man, and his walk with God, pleasing God, meant that he was distinct from the world around him. He wasn’t entering into all of their wicked ways, and he wasn’t participating in all of their error and sin. To walk with God speaks of a number of things. We might say his consistency, doesn’t it? To walk with God in the way that Enoch did. There’s a consistency.

His life was marked by this unwavering faithfulness, a rhythm of abiding with the Lord, keeping true to His word. If you want to walk with God, you can’t escape that consistent element. You can’t say, “I’m going to obey God on Sunday, and then abandon the rest of the week.” That’s not walking with God.

And you’re not walking with God on the Lord’s day when you’re not walking with God on the other days of the week. To walk with God requires this regular rhythmic living before His presence, conscious of His nearness, desirous of His favor, seeking His face, considering Him at all times. You can’t walk with God without there being consistency in the patterns of your life. There’s communion as well. He had fellowship with God.

I’ve already indicated things that God revealed to him, things that he understood, the Scriptures opening up, what Adam taught him, what was communicated from Adam. It came to his heart with power. He mused upon it. There seem to be other details suggesting that there were other direct revelations given to him. In his walk with God, God is speaking to him. He gives him the name. In some way, He communicates. This is what you’re calling your son, Methuselah.

And so we enjoy communion with God. To walk with God is to have a sense of communion. It’s not robotic, it’s not mechanical, it’s not through a pattern of years of habits simply saying that I know what the Christian life looks like and I can do it in my own strength. I fear that. You should fear it too. You should fear the ability over years of disciplined living and an environment that’s conducive to such a life that you mechanically do what Christians should do with zero sense of communion. There’s no fellowship. There’s no enjoyment. It’s a stale existence.

We should fear it. We should fear it as the very mark of hell. Because hell is a place where God doesn’t communicate. God has nothing to say to the man in hell. It’s the mark of hell. Communion is the mark of heaven. It’s the mark of fellowship. Of friendship. Of knowledge. Consistency, communion, and comfort. You don’t get comfort amidst the world crashing down.

You may feel that you can draw parallels to your current age. The world is crashing down, madness is everywhere. You’re looking at decisions people are making. He’s seeing the spiraling nature of man’s decadence and willful rebellion against God, and it just seems to get worse. And of course, you and I have to—you know, we start to become aware of this maybe when we’re about 20-ish. We become increasingly conscious of it for the next 60 years or so before finally we’re gone. But these men, like Enoch, had to endure this for 300 years, watching this.

300 years versus your 60. Can you imagine? Just go to America 300 years ago and ask yourself how today compares to what America looked like 300 years ago and ask yourself what those people have seen. A very different world. Well, Enoch was living in such a time, and yet he had the comfort, the comfort of God’s presence, the assurance that God was in control, the knowledge of hope through the gospel promise. The seed of the woman is coming. He didn’t need to despair.

And so he walked with God, and he pleased God. He pleased God. Oh, let that burn in. Let it burn into your soul. He pleased God. See it. How did he please God? Note first the faith. By faith, he took God at His word. He believed in His salvific promises. He believed that God would provide for him. He believed that God would save him, that God would forgive him, that God would pardon him, that God would receive him.

He enjoyed, then, fellowship with the same God, communing with Him, revealing truth to him. He served Him, enjoyed serving Him. And he had this testimony, he pleased God. Do you have it? Do you? You don’t need to go to some convent or live in a cloister to please God. He lived a normal life. I mean, he had other sons and daughters. He enjoyed being in this world. Yet he pleased God.

What’s the evidence of walking with God? I’ll just mention these things. Not only the experience of walking with God but the evidence. The evidence, most of this we’ve already looked at. His message of judgment. He boldly declared what was coming. He stayed faithful. It wasn’t a pleasant message. But he was faithful. And he communicated fearlessly, confronting sin, confronting a world that didn’t want to hear what he had to say, testified of the only hope of man.

So his message was evidence of walking with God, but also his miraculous translation was evidence of walking with God. As everyone looked for Enoch after he was gone, maybe some of them cried out, “Help, Lord! For the godly man ceaseth!” What does it mean when God removes the godly? But Samus was worried about it. Concerned about God removing the godly. This should have pressed upon that society.

Here’s a man who’s faithful. 300 years he’s walked with God. This world needs his voice desperately. But God is going to remove him. It’s effectively God forcing Enoch to shake the dust off his feet and go elsewhere. It’s a symbol of judgment. What a legacy he left. Enoch’s translation showed to that generation that man’s only hope is found in what God provides, that God has promised one born of woman will be the deliverer. You have to rest there. And He will give such deliverance that it will overcome all the consequences of the curse.

We’ll die. That will not be the end of the story for us. In our flesh, we will see God. So the challenge, the challenge for you and me looking at Enoch is to walk with God as he did. To walk with Him. That’s what God wants. He wants you to walk with Him. He told Abraham many centuries later, “I am the almighty God, walk before me. Be thou perfect.”

Godly King Hezekiah was able to say before God in Isaiah 38, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and I’ve done that which is good in Thy sight.” Walk with God. And the apostle in Colossians 2, verse 6, makes it plain to you and me. “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Walk in Him.

It’s like your footsteps are governed by His footsteps. You’re moving in a rhythm patterned after His commands. You’re moving in a sense of nearness and fellowship with Him. So walk ye in Him. So that you can come to a table, a table where we are to dine, and think upon Him, that you can do so with a semblance of your knowledge of Him.

I know this table. And I know the host. It’s Jesus, the lover of my soul. You’re not dealing with someone that you just know about. You’re communing with One that you walk with. This is our call. May the Lord help us like Enoch, by faith, to walk with Him. Let’s bow together in prayer.

Are you a wavering Christian? How are your footsteps these days? How is your soul? Has this message awakened your conscience to shortcomings that need to be acknowledged? Then don’t delay, acknowledge them now. Run to Christ. Confess your sins, see His glance as He glanced to Peter and he went out and wept bitterly.

See the loving look of your Redeemer who’s lamenting because you are not walking with Him, and He is bidding you afresh to come near. Lord, help us. We confess, oh, how we confess our wavering footsteps and plead for grace to walk with consistency in this wicked world. We thank Thee for the triumph of the gospel. May we live in its triumph.

As we consider the success of the cross around this table and the merit of Thy Son, may our hopes be further established. May our expectation be increased. And may we walk away today from this place with fresh grace to walk with Thee, we pray. In Christ’s name, Amen.