IV.

The Examples of Saving Faith in the

Pre-Patriarchal Ages (11 :4-7)
Faith is a confident assurance of the truth of
God's Word and a Spirit-produced obedience
thereto that overcomes the sufferings associated
with living faithfitlly to Jesus Christ in this
world. Faith perseveres. It does not draw back in
the hour of trial; it demonstrates its divine origin by
clinging to God's promises and enduring hardship
like a good soldier of Jesus Christ. This is the
main lesson that our author teaches, and it is
illustrated in tbe lives of each of the saints here
mentioned. Tbroughout these lessons on Hebrews
11, I have three primary goals. (I) To help you
understand the plain meaning of the text. There
are many statements in this chapter that shed light
on the historical accounts of God's people in the
Old Testament. (2) To reveal the fruit that is
always producedbypersevering, obedient faith.
(3) To challenge you to follow in the faith footsteps
of this great cloud of witnesses. These accounts
are primarily given to show God's people of all
ages the quality of life that God expects and
produces in the lives of all those whom he
draws to himseif through the gospel, and calls
to defend his name in this world.
A. The faith of Abel: A Warning against
Hypocrisy in tbe Worship of God (11 :4)
This text declares five things: (1) that Abel's
faith was the God given means of his acceptance
with God; (2) that his faith made his sacrifice more
acceptable than that of Cain; (3) that Abel's faith
laid hold upon God's promise oflife and salvation in
the Messiah, and therefore he was declared
righteous by God; (4) that Abel's faith andrigh-
teousness moved him to offer an acceptable
sacrifice to God; (5) that thereby, he has been
deemed worthy by God to be a member ofthe
glorious cloud of witnesses who now cheers us on
to the finish line, and who by their example of
persevering faith and piety, teach us hOw we must
walk in order to please God.
1. The Importance of Abel's Faith for
the History of the Church.
i. He is the first in Scripture whose faith is ex-
pressly recorded and commended. Christ identifies
him as "righteous Abel"
(Matthew 23 :35).
ii. He is the first in Scripture who e x p r e s ~ e his
faith in an act of public worship.
iii. He is the first in Scripture who suffered for his
faith.
iv. He is the first in Scriphlre who suffered
martyrdom for his faith. .
2. The Nature of Abel's Faith
i. He saw himself as a sinner in need
of satisfaction for his sins.
Ilis the condition 6f the heart that separates
Abel from Cain in the biblical narratives. Here, as
in the majority of the verses in chapter 11, faith
dominates the entire verse. It was in faith that
Abel offered Ills sacrifice, through faith that he .
received God's approving testimony, and by his
faith that he continues to.bea witness to the truth
. of God's Word to the Church today. In the Genesis
narrative and again in Hebrews, Abel is presented
to us as a man of faith: a man who accepted
responsibility for his own sins, believed in God's
promise, and casthimselfuppn God's mercy. His
offering was a recognition of his personal sinful-
ness and need of shed blood in order for his sins to
be forgiven and fellowship with Godtobe restored.
Cain, on the other hand, is portrayed as an arrogant
man who performed the outward duties of religion
while lacking all true spiritoal feeling and motiva.
tion. He expected God to receive his sacrifice and
was angry when God respected Abel's faith but
rejected him. We see how Cain enters into bitter
argument with God, far different from the humble
intercession of Abraham's life, and that Scripture
has nothing positive to say about Cain (1 John 3: 12;
Jude II). Why? Because Cain lacked faith in
God's Word, did not see himself in need of forgive-
4 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - OctoberlNovember, 2000
ness for his sins, and was a hypocrite in the things
of God.
ii. He offered the sacrifice for sins
that God commanded.
Faith comes to fiuition inAbel's life in his
obedience to God's prescribed f011n of worship.
Faith throughout this chapter is primarily assurance
"Faith throughout this chapter is primarily
assurance of the truth of Gou's revelation
and wholehearted allegiance to it."
ofthe truth of God's revelation and wholehearted
allegiance to it. A fundamental presupposition of
the account of Cain and Abel is that God revealed
his will previously respecting acceptable worship.
God revealed 10 Adam and Adam instructed his
family that a holy and just God cannot be
approached by sinners except through means of
a bloody sacrifice. Though not specifically stated
in Genesis, God no doubt used the animal skins
with which he clothed Adam and Eve as illustra-
tions that only by the shedding of blood is their
remission of sins and covering from the wrath of
God (Genesis 3:21). Abel believed God's Word,
sensed his own sin and guilt before the Lord, and
obediently offered the lamb in faith that God would
accept his person and worship. Cain, on the other
hand, believed God would accept the fiuit of his
labors before his sins were washed away through
the blood of an acceptable substitute. We see
here, then, that tbe very first lesson in the school of
religion is that true faith will always worship
(approach) in the manner revealed by him in his
Word. Abel's offering was accepted, and Cain's
offering was rejected primarily because Abel's
faith moved him to submit to God and his Word,
while Cain worshipped God in unbelief according to
his own imagination. It was for this reason that
Abel's offering is termed "more excellent." "More
excellent" meal!S "greater in value, higher in
worth." Abel's sacrifice was gre!lter in value
because it was the offering God commanded, and
he offered it in faith. Forto obey is better than
sacrifice, and without obedience to God's revealed
will, all ourworsbip and good works are unaccept-
able to God.
iii. He possessed saving faith in God's
promise of a coming Messiah.
Abel's sacrifice also reflects his faith in the
promise of the coming Messiah. For throughout
the Old Testament, the blood of animal sacrifices
was valuable to God only when by faith the offeror
embraced the promise of a Mediator, a Savior, a
promise God made to his people in the very begin-
ning (Gen. 3: 15). After Adam and Eve had
wickedly abandoned God's Word in favor of their
own interpretation of reality, God graciously
interposed and promised that the seed of the
woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come and
crush the seed of the serpent, Satan and all his
followers. Adam and Eve embraced this promise
and taught their children to do the same. It is clear
by Abel's actions in offering the sacrifice that he
understood the promise of the Messiah and based
his whole hope of acceptance with God upon the
blood of the substitnte. We must never make the
mistake of thinking that Abel and the patriarchs
offered sacrifices superstitiously, or that their faith
was fixed upon the blood and fat of sheep. God's
Word firmly declares that the person and work of
the Messiah is the grounds of our acceptance with
God in every age of the Church, and Abel, being
a true son of faith and of the church, offered the
lamb in expectation of the coming Messiah. While
we certainly wish to allow for development in the
understanding of that promise, we must do justice
to the light it did afford the people of God in those
early days of history.
3. The Outcome of Abel's Faith
i. He was declared righteous before God,
and his offering was accepted on that basis.
Through faith, Abel laid hold upon God's prom-
ise oflife and salvation through the Messiall. His
faith, as in the life of Abrallam, was reckoned or
imputed to him for righteousness. The text says
that through his faith "he obtained witness that he
was righteous." The Verb "obtained witness" is in
the passive tense, demonstrating that God declared
Abel righteous. Abel did not malce himself righ-
teous before God. Rather, God judged Abel to be
just, orrighteous,through his failil in the divine
promise. Faitll in Scripture is not the reason that
God declares us righteous, but the instrument or
Octoher/Novemher, 2000" THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - 5
means through which God imputes righteousness to
his elect. Faith is not a meritorious work before
God. Faith is God's gift; man cannot produce faith
(Ephesians 2:8,9). Hence, we learn from the very
beginning of the Church that salvation is by grace
alone through faith. Abel could do nothing to
obtain God's favor in his own strength or by his
own works. On his own, his offering would have
been just as unacceptable and blasphemous as that
offered by Cain. Because, however, Abel aban-
doned confidence in his own works, and humbly
embraced God's promise of salvation in Christ, God
declared him a righteous man and accepted his
sacrifice as the fruit of saving faith.
ii. He was brutally murdered by his brother Cain.
Abel's faith not only obtained for him the
approval of God but also Cain's wrath. The
wickedness and hypocrisy of Cain's heart are
taught throughout Scripture. He lacked the faith
Abel demonstrated. He came to God upon the
basis of his own works. God therefore rejected
him and spurned his sacrifice. God did invite Cain
to repentance. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why
art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and
if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And
unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rille
over him" (Genesis 4:6,7). Opportunity for repen-
tance, faith, and acceptance of God remained for
Cain, but he wickedly rejected this offer. Filled
with anger,jealousy, and bitterness toward God and
Abel, he rose up and wickedly murdered his
brother.
Here we see the vivid connection between
Abel's faith and the needs ofthese Hebrew
Christians, the ones to whom the epistle to the
Hebrews was written. Abel's faith was not played
out in ease and security. The very first righteous
man offaith in Scripture was called upon to give .
the ultimate offering in defense of the faith: hislife.
What was the principle God was seeking to instill
in his people? Faith is costly. A man must be
willing to give up'everything, tnoney, security,
friends, family;aiid even his life in order to obey
God in times of great'Suffering for the kingdom of
God (Matthew 1O:24ft). Notonly was Cain his
brother; but he ~ also a meinbefofthe visible
Church, who had heard the same'teaching and
enjoyed the same privileges. As Jesus said, "A
man's enemies will be those of his own household"
(Matthew 10:36).
iii. He serves as an example of
persevering faith to the Chwch.
Every subsequent generation of the church has
remembered Abel'5 faith. Though he has been
dead for almost 6,000 years, the manner in which
he took God at his Word, offered the sacrifice God
commanded, and endured martyrdom for that faith'
has earned for him aplace in the great doud iJf '
witnesses that cheers on the cbwch in evtrry age '
toward obedience to Christ and the Christiimizlition
of the earth. Abel did not die in vain if we pick up
the mantle of faith that he sogloriciuslywore, and
continue to stand for Christ amid all the hostilities
of those who are in rebellion against God. Abel ' s
faith continues to speak to us today.
4. The Lessons of Abel's Faith
i. Justifying faith is apsolutely essentialbefore God
will accept any of our. works, .
God rejects al1 human works that do not flow
from a heart putified through faith. Faith is trust in
God's promises, his Messiah, arid always produces
obedience to his cOJIimands out of a,heart of love.
Moralism, leading an uprightlife, avoiding gross ' .
sins, where faith is libsent, will send a manto heIl.
It isnever enough to confortn outWardly toestab"
Ush norms of morality and civility when the heart is
at war with God's commands and disbelieves his
word. Religion is a matter of the heart, first and
chiefly, and where the heart is .black with sin and
enslaved in darkness, no amount of outward.
morality can obtain God'sfavor. "This doctrine is
useful, and ought especially to be noticed, as we
are not easily convinced of its tnith; for when any
work, anything splendid appears, we are imtnedi-
ately rapt in admiration, and we think that it canilot
possibly be disapProved by God:'.btit God,who '
. regards only the inward purity of the heart; heeds
not the outward masks of works. Let us then
learn, that no right or good work can proceed frotn
us, until we are justified before God" (Calvin, '
Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews 268).
ii. The professing (visible) ChUrch of Christ
contains hypocrites, who keep up the external
duties of Christianity, but who lack theinherroolof
faith in Christ. . .
6 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedlin - October/November, 2000
Cain' s presence in the first family offaith .'
shows that the visible church contains many
hypocrites, who content themselves with outward
religiosity and acts of worship, yet who lack a
heart that fears and loves God (Matthew 15:7).
Indeed, nothing is more common today than CE
Christians, those who attend on Christmas and
Easter in order to keep up some semblance of
Christianity, but whose hearts are estranged from
God and still held in the grip of Sin. Cain's ex-
ample serves as a warning to all such vain profes-
sors do not think that your periodic religious acts,
prayers, and sermon attendance will ohtain heaven
for you if your heart is not right with God through
faith in Jesus Christ. Where faith is absent, your
displays of devotion are so many acts of hypocrisy,
in which your deceptive heart seeks to obtain
something good from God through its own effocts
and keep up an appearance of goodness before
men. Beware of hypocrisy in the worship of God!
Itturned Cain into the church's rust murderer,
earned a fiery hell for him and a life of intense
misery and alienation from God's true people.
iii. Hypocrisy is detestable to God,
cannot be atoned for by our own works,
and will be severely judged by God.
Moreover; God loathes hypocrisy. Without
faith, it is impossible to please God and to obtain
one ounce of his favor. Scripture is universal in its
strong expression of God's disgust for hypocrisy,
and calls upon all hypocrites today to repent of
their outward religiosity, repent, and cast them-
selves upon God's mercy in Jesus Christ. Consider
these verses: (1) Job 36: 13 -Hypocrites heap up
wrath for themselves. (2) Matthew 6:2,5,16 -
Hypocrites love the praise of men and will be ..
rejected by God. (3) Matthew 23 - Terrible woe
awaits all hypocrites. Hypocrites can expect the
fury of God to rest upon themselves and their
families in this life, and God's special condemnation
in the next. Repentance is the only remedy for
hypocrisy. It is difficult, however, for hypocrites to
repent. They have trusted their own works for so
long and are so eager for the acceptance of men
that they find it very difficult to admit their hypoc-
risy, confess it before men and angels, and surren-
der their hearts and lives to God. Yet it were
better to be known as a repentant hypocrite by
the entire universe than to be condemned as an
unrepentant one before the judgment seat of
Jesus Christ. Hypocrisy is especially deadly to
the church, for it hinders her in fulfilling her divine
mission, swells her ranks with pretenders of
religion, and can keep the church from experienc-
ing God's full blessing upon her efforts to build a
truly Christian congregation and civilization.
Remember Judas. You can kiss Jesus publicly from
nOW on, but you are worthy ofa short rope if that
kiss is one of self-righteousness and outward show.
iv. Faithful Cluistians can expect persecution
when they live according to their faith.
Abel teaches the church in every age that she
can expect resistance from the wicked. Abel's
martyrdom is rather striking, in that the first man
Scripture proclaims as righteous is also the first
persecuted believer. This is not an accident. The
Holy Spirit thereby teaches us from the very first
family thatit is through much tribulation thatwe
must enter the kingdom of God. This is why Jesus
co=ands us to count the cost of discipleship
before we enter his ranks (Luke 14:28-31). For if
they have called the Master of the house
"Beelzebub," what will they call the servants?
(Matthew 10:25) If they have persecuted the
Master, they will certainly try to kill his disciples.
But the one who endures to the end and maintains
his confession of faith in Christ shall be saved
(Matthew 10:22). This has been especially true in
periods of human history in which the general
influence of Christianity has waned, and the
wicked have been given free reign to build a
civilization based upon humanism. Whenever the
Christian element in that society returns to its roots
in new faith and repentance, confesses allegiance
to Christ, then the wicked have no choice but
repentance or antagonism. It is also very interest-
ing to note that our enemies may sometimes be
members of the visible church. Nothing seems
more co=on today than for professing Christians
to persecute verbally and psychologically their
brothers and sisters }Vho differ with them over
issues of theology history. I!l some cases,
those who like maintained the true faith
against all thy invention& ,of the chl,lrch a,re
forcibl), removed. from the church and as,'
outcasts. Tl1is;too we may expect the
OctoberlNoveinber, 2000 -THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon-7
church is not unifonn in its faithfulness to God but
is filled with error, hyppcrisy, and humanly devised
worship.
v. God will avenge the blood ofthe martyrs.
Though God did ordain and allow Cain to
murder Abel, God avenged Abel's blood that cried
out to him from the ground. He excommunicated
Cain from the visible church and thereby consigned
him over to Satan. He cursed him with a life of
fear, uncertainty, and bitterness. At Cain's death,
he no doubt cast him into eternal hell, where all
those who practice hypocrisy, persecute God's
church, and worship God according to their imagi-
nation will fmally reside. God does call upon us to
suffer, yes, sometimes to give up our life for the
defense of his kingdom. When called upon to
endure persecution, we must consider ourselves
blessed by God to suffer for Christ, and
unhesitatingly yield ourselves to his will. For the
one who loves his life will lose it (John 12:25). Yet
we can depend upon our heavenly Fath.er to
avenge our blood, and even pray to that end, that
he would either convert the church's persecutor, as
he did in the case of Tarsus, or consign
them to his terrible judgments, as David prayed
throughout the psalms (10:15; 31: 17,18; 68:2;
71:13; 104:35; 145:20). Either way, the death of
the saints is precious in God's sight (psalm 116: 15),
he will avenge their deaths (psalm 34:21,22;
58: 10,11; Revelation 6), and the blood of the
martyrs will be the fertile ground from which
genuine revivals of religion and Christian civiliza-
tions spring.
vi. Faith obtains God's approval, and a
good name down through future generations
in the Church of Jesus Christ.
Finally, Abel's faith leads us to consider the
glory of taking our place in the great hall offaith.
The list is begun and summarized here in Hebrews
II. But our author now reminds these Hebrew
Christians that the hour has come for them to add
their names to great and glorious company who
throughout world history has believed God's
promises and stood valiantly for his cause in the
face of persecution. For the list here is not com-
prehensive .. It will continue to grow until Christ
returns to consummate his kingdo,m and consign all
the wicked to hell. Our duty is to raise the stan-
dard afresh in every generation, and if necessary,
to seal our testimony with our blood. In so doing,
not only will the name of God be greatly glorified
and our own faith purged and vindicated, but it will
also obtain for us a blessed name down through our
generations. This is not selfish ambition. It is the
desire of every faithful child of God who has been
saved by grace for his name to be remembered as
part of God's faithful anny, who did not hesitate to
stand for Christ in the midst of suffering, who did
not draw back in the hour of battle, and whose
testimony calls a new generation to stand reso-
lutely in Christ's glorious army (proverbs 10:7;
22:1).
B. The Faith of Enoch: The Blessedness
of a Life Dedicated to Pleasing God
Enoch's life reveals one primary lesson: where
true faith is present, a man is dedicated to pleasing
God. Verses 5 and 6 should be taken together.
Verse 6 confrnns that Enoch was indeed a man of
great faith, or else it would have been impossible
for him to please God. Taken together, the text
before us declares five things: (I) Enoch did not
die because God brought him into his presence. (2)
Enoch had a reputation for walking in close com-
munion with God for many yeats before his trans-
lation. (3) God bore witness to Enoch's faith by
translating him into his glorious presence. (4)
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. (5)
True faith accepts God's testimony and seeks him
exclusively.
I. The Nature of Enoch's Faith
i. Enoch believed in God as he revealed himself
to be - BELIEVES GOD.
Enoch was able to please God because he
believed God tO,be whom he had revealed himself
to be. To "believe that God is" is more. than a
simple assent to the existence of God. Even the
devils believe in this sense, and their beliefwill
obtain eternal perdition for them becaUse that
belief is not coupled with love, adoration, and
humility (James 2:19). Beliefin God, as Calvin
wrote, "is that by which we not only conceive that
there is a God, but also grasp what befits us and is
proper to his glory, in fine, what is to our advantage
to know of him. Indeed, we shall not say that,
8 - THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon - October/November, 2000
properly speaking, God is known where there is no
religion or piety" (Institutes 1:2: 1). There are at
least two things that must be preseut before a man
can say that he truly believes in God: (I) a clear
knowledge of who God is as revealed in his Word;
(2) a life consecrated to loving, obeying, and
walking with God. Without a true knowledge of
God as he has revealed himself, we are worship-
ping an idol, a god of our own imagination. Without
adoration and obedience, we possess head lmowl-
edge bnt lack the transformed life that is always
accompanied by a saving knowledge of God.
Here again, the true natnre offaith is brought to
the forefront. Faith begins and ends with the Word
of God. It does 110t fashion foritself any God it
pleases, but it submits itself to God' s testimony
about himself. Moreover, it does not set itself up
as judge over the text, picking and choosing things
about God that it likes or rejects. It does not pit
God's love against his anger, his mercy against his
justice, his sovereignty against his sinlessness.
Even here, we see how far away many professing
Christians are from a tme belief in God, and how
miserably deluded the masses in our culture are.
For each one of them, fashioning a god according
to his own imagination, isentangled in his own
snperstitions. They refuse to believe God as he
has revealed himself in SClipture but dare to create
him according to their own tastes. Such individuals
lack true faith and cannot please God.
ii. Enoch ea\1lestly sought God's mercy and
grace (Christ) SEEKS GOD.
Enoch's submission to God's revelation led him
to seek God's face and favor. This too is a hall-
mark of true faith. It does not content itselfwith
speculative Imowledge of God, but as it dearly
loves the living God, and recognizes in him life,
light, joy, and salvation, it does not rest until it has a
secure interest in him and is enjoying close com"
munion with him. For sinners, faith begins with a
search for a remedy for sin. Above all, faith
teaches us that it is a holy God with whom we
have to do, and that unforgiven sinners cannot
stand in his presence. As Christ alone is the God-
ordained remedy for human sin in every age ofthe
church, we must say that Enoch, following Abel,
sought God primruily by embracing God's promise
of salvation through the coming seed of the
woman, the Messiah. In so doing, he ohtained the
reward of faith, life with God on the basis of
Cluist's blood ruld tighteousness, close COllUDUllion
with him, and the gracious, sanctifying influence of
the Spitit.
It is the duty of evelY man to seek God, and to
continue seeking until God is pleased to reward the
"Where there is no seeking after God,
no striving to please him, no earnest
longing for his life-giving presence,
true faith is absent."
search with life and salvation (Deuteronomy 4:29;
Isaiah 8:9; Matthew 7:7). Where there is no
seeking after God, no striving to please him, no
eal11est longing for his life-giving presence, true
faith is absent. For faith obeys God's command to
seek. It is the wicked that will not seek -God
(Psalm 10:4; Romans 3:11). Faith creates a hunger
and thirst after righteousness in the heart ofthe
believer, that even though he may have been a
believer for many decades, he never ceases
drawing near to God and seeking in God what he
lacks in hitllself. . There are several things to note
conceming the right seeking of God.
a. God mnst always be sought in the mal11ler he
has prescribed in Scripture.
b, God promises to reward the faithful seeker
- I Chronicles 28:9; Ezra 8:22; Psalm 69:32;
Matthew 7:7. All our seeking must be done in
expectation that as we seek God sincerely, bibli-
cally, and in faith, he will graciously reward our
diligence.
c. David's example is seek God early and with
great longing - Psalrn 63: 1. It is done with fervent
prayer, fasting, and evenlllouming - Daniel 9:3;
10: 12. Seeking is never dOlw with a take it or
leave it attitude. The Christian says, ''Unless God
gives me himself this day for life, grace, and
salvation, I will surely perish." This attitude
chru'acterizes the intensity and diligence of his
plU'suit of God.
d. The greatest hindra!lce to an earnest seelc-
ing after God ispride and self-reliance. It is this
tllat kept Israel from retuming tl> the Lord (Hosea
7: 1 0). It is this same attitude that keeps the rnajor-
October/November, iooo -THE COUN.SEL ofChalcedon - 9
ity of Americans today frOlIl humbling themselves
under God's hand recognizing thein.ttter inability to
do anything to please God, and casting themselves
upon Jesus Christ as he is freely offered in the
gospel.
iii. Enoch made pleasing God the chief end of his
life - PLEASES (WALKS WITH) GOD.
Enoch's faith was rewarded with salvation
througj:! the coming Messiah. Yet his faith did not
steip there. Enoch was no carnal Christian who
appreciated having a fIre insurance policy, but who
felt little responsibility to live obediently to God's
commands. On the contrary, true faith never stops
with the obtaining of salvation in Jesus Christ; it
always moves from thereto obedience. Faith is
amazed at God' s offer and granting of mercy and
forgiveness, rejoices in the grace of God in Jesus
Christ, and dedicates itself to a life of thanksgiving
and obedience. Enoch dedicated his life to pleas-
ing God. Quite simply, Enoch made it his. goal to
honor and glorify the name of his God and Savior
in every area oflife. Whether in the home, work
place, fIelds, orrecreating with friends,Enoch was
consumed with pleasing God. He wanted to see a
smile on God's face more than anything else. He
wanted to hear those glorious words, "Well done,
good and faithful servant," above all. And know-
ing that a life that is pleasing to God must be
pursued every moment ofthe day, he set about it
early in his life. Of Enoch's desire to please God,
the Puritan commentator William Gouge wrote that
"Enoch had God always in his eyes, whether he
were alone, or in company, about duties of piety, or
other affairs. Thereby he was moved carefully and .
conscionably to avoid what might be displeasing
unto God, and diligently to do what was agreeable
to the will of God." Enoch's habitual practice was
pleasing God. There are two things about pleasing
God th.at shol.lld be observed.
. a. He enjoyed continuous, intimate
commUnion with Gad.
Moses presents Enpch as a man Who enjoyed
intimate communion with God. Men who walk
with God are self-consciously aware of his pres-
ence in their lives, and of their corresponding duty
to pursue holiness before him. G e n e s ~ s 11': I; .
48: 15). God P.I:omises to walk atnong his people,
t11at is, to allow them free entrance into his gra"
cious, life-giving presence (Leviticus 26: 12; 2
Corinthians 6: 16). He abides with us by his Holy
Spiritto comfort, sanctify, instruct, convict, and
protect (John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 9:31; 2
Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1,:2;' John 14:17; 16:13;
John 16:8). God's life-giving presence is one of
our chief treasures in life, and Enoch was marked
by his habitual enjoyment of it. This means that
Enoch's life was no doubt marked by constant
reflection upon God's promises and commands,
regular times of prayer, and frequent fellowship
with God's covenant people, the place where God
specially promises to meet with his people.
b. He practiced obedience to God's revealed wilL
God' s presence is both the reward of,faith, and
the motivation to holiness. For a hoiy Gbdmust
have a holy people (Leviticus; 2 Corinthians 6: 16'
18; 1 Peter 1 :15). The holy ones who lIlay dwell in
God's holy hill are those who separate themselves
from worldliness and zealously obey him (psahn
15). Hence, for Enoch to have enjoyed God's
presence with such depth and conSistency neces-
sarily means that he was marked by intense loyalty
to God's revealed will, and endeavored to obey
God's will in all things. Enoch's life teaches us
that obedience and the enjoyment of God's gra-
cious presence go hand in hand.
2. The Boldness of Enoch's Faith
i. Enoch walked with God in an age
oflawlessness.
Increasing apostasy from God and his word
was the chief characteristic ofEnoch,'s age (Gen-
esis 6: 1ft). Cain's descendants were numerous,
and they self-consciously sought to subdue the
earth for the glory of man. This state of affairs
was certainly a burden to. Enoch. Perhaps he saw
many professing followers of God turning away
from the truth in favor of the paganism of their
neighbors. Yet throughout the difficulties ofliving
for God in ahostile culture, Enoch was able to
please God by an upright life. This is not an easy
road to take. It will ineVitably bring the criticisms,
scoffs, and persecution of the world. Enoch's
faith, however, overcame the world in rebellion
against God and remained steadfast to him,
ii. Elloch preached against lawlessness and,
warned of colIlingjudgIllent (Jude 14).
10 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - October/November, 2000
'. ,
From Jude, we learn that Enoch's faith did not
overcome the world through separatism. Enoch
was a thoroughgoing reconstructionist who saw the
relationship between Christ and culture in .a very
specific way: transformationalism - Christ
forms culture. He prochiimed the truth of God' s .
Word against an ungodly culture, and called it"
back to its Christian foundations. Though outnum-
bered by the wicked, by faith he looked forward to
the Lord's co)Iling and judgment upon the wicked,
a prophesy that may have been fulfilled in the
worldwide flood during Noah's day. His duty as a
servant of God, he believed, was not only to Pllrsue
personal piety in his own life, as important as that ,
duty is, but also to fight actively in the war against
unbelief and error, proclaim God's truth against it,
and call upon his culture to repent of its sins and
obey God' s law.
3. The Reward of Enoch' s Faith
i. Enoch received God's approving testirn.0ny.
As with Abel, through faith Enoch received,
God's approval that he pleased God. "Witness"
is in the passive tense. It was God who rendered
the verdict upon Enoch's life. Before his transla-
tion, God bore witness of Enoch's great faith and
accepted his obedience as pleasing unto him. Now
lest we think that there is some kind of works
righteousness taught here, let us remember that
God will receive our works only when our hearts
are purified by faith. Abel taught us this. Hence,
God' s work of grace in Enoch' s life came first.
He graciously brought Enoch out ofhis blindness
and into the kingdom oflight. Then, filled with
faith in God's promise and zeal for his law, Enoch
lived his faith before the watching eyes of a hostile
world with holiness and commitment to God's
Word.
, ii. Enoch was delivered from death.
God displayed his great pleasure in Eriqch's ,
holiness by delivering him from the cOlll1n,onlot pf
sinful man: death. This is highly significant and
demonstrates how much delight God had in Enoch.
For God decreed that the penalty for sin wa,s . '
death. While a remedy was supplied for spiritual ,
death through the coming Messiah, God was
pleased to provide none for physical death. Yet, so
faithfully did Enoch walk with God in a crooked
generatipn, that God sovereignly chose to exempt .
him from death. Elijah is the only other man whp
has received this great privilege. Now from this
we see how much God is pleased when our lilies
are consumed with pleasinghim. For though he
does not choose to free us from the pains of death,
but rather uses our deaths to remind'us of our
mortality due to sin, provide one final chastening,
and keep us faithful to him throughout our short
lives on earth, yet in Enoch he has shown every
generation in the church how much he loves the
faithfolness of his covenant people.
iii. Enoch was taken into God's glorious presence.
Our text teaches that Enoch was transferred
from earth to heaven. This is the meaning "trans-
lated." It is used in various senses: "carried over"
(Acts 7: 16), "removed" (Galatians I :6), "changed"
(Hebrews 7:12), and "turning" (Jude 4). Enoch
was removed from his earthly home to his heav-
enly one by an immediate act of God. As Hughes
wrote, Enoch was "suddenly and supernaturally
removed from this earthly existence" (458). So
close was Enoch's daily walk with the Lord, that
one day, knowing that Enoch's heart was closer to
heaven than to earth, to give an abiding testimony
to the church of his acceptance of Enoch's faith
and an encouragement to follow his example, the
Lord tOok Enoch to heaven to enjoy his immediate
glorioUs presence. There are several things tobe
noted about Enoch's translation.
. a. His translation involved the whole person.
After Enoch's translation, he could not be found, . '
It is not as if Enoch suddenly, secretly died and his
spirit went to heaven to be with the Lord. Tile text
says that a diligent search WaS made. for his
whereabouts, but as in Elijah's case, he could not
be found (2 Kings 2: 17). Enoch was taken up body
and spirit into the very presence of God ..
b. His translation was biblically allowable. The .
Bible'sleaching on the universality of death does
not bar such an event from occurring, The goal of
the separation of the body from the .
soul so that we might enter Goll' s presence. Our '
physical bodies do not keep us from God's pres- .
ence. Paul clearly states tha,t the goal of death is
notto be unclothed, i.e. , separated from our
physical bodies, but to be clothed with immortality, .
October/Npvember, 2000 - 'IHE COUNSEL of Chalcedon-ll
bodies and spirits cleansed from the delilement of
sin and made fit for our etemalinheritance with
Christ in the new heavens and earth (2 Corinthians
5:1-4). On the contrary, he longs for his heavenly
body in which he may as a complete person enjoy
God's glorious presence.
c. His translation required bodily change. We
must notthink that Enoch entered heaven with the
same physical bogy with which he walked with
God upon the earth. For it is impossible for the
corruptible to inherit the incorruptible (1 Corin-
thians 15:50). GodimmediatelymadeEnoch's
physical body fit for its immortal existence.
4. The Lesson of Enoch's Faith
i. Faith is absolutely necessary if we
are to please.God.
Verse 6 a syllogistic argument intended to
prove that Enoch was a n;J.an of great faith, and
that it was his faith that moved_him to dedicate
himselfto pleasing God. The argument runs: it is
impossible to please God without faith. Enoch
pleased God. Therefore, Enoch was a man Of
faith. Faith, here, is the same a,s it has been
throughout the epistle: a confident assurance in the
truth of God 's Word, his promises, commands, .and
threats. Faith apprehends that God is the living and
true God, the Creator ofthe world, who cannot lie,
who always fulfills what he decrees. As such,
faith receives God's testimony of himself with
humility, confidence, and obedience. Without such
faith, a n;J.an may well try to pleaSe God, as Cain
did, but he shall not succeed. As faith submits to
God's Word, man is able to see God as God has
revealed himself: holy, true, just, awesome, and
righteous. Faith then leads man to see himself as
he truly is: a guilty, depraved, and impotent sinner
inneed of divine grace and mercy, Thus illumined
as to his true condition; the sinner will g;tadly
believe God's promise ofslllvation throug):llesus
Christ: rest upon and receive hini alone for salvac
tion. saved 'by the grace of Christ and filled
with love for God, faith dedicates itselfto pleasing
God through obedience to his law.
Hence, we must give lip any thought of pLeasing
God if we doubt God's Word and pro,mise$. Allor
. '. ! - - . , . .
our works; if not sanctified through faith m J eS\lS
Clpist, are displeasing to God. Hence, we see the
tragic fiction entertained by many today that
sincerity is the mark of acceptability with God. As
long as you sincerely do your best, it is routinely
maintained, regardless of your personal religious.
convictions or lack of them, and lifestyle, God will
accept you. Wrong! Many sincere people, who
lack faith in God's Word and submission to
God's Son, Jesus Christ, will spend eternity in
hell. For, first and foremost, faith receives the
truth with all submission from God's hand, and
rests itself upon his testimony. It is the obedience
of faith that God accepts, not the self-empow-
ered efforts of man to gain God's approval
through his own merits and energies.
"Having been sovereignly implanted
in the human heart by the hand of
God, and sealed by the Spirit of God,
faith constantly seeks life and salvation
, through Jesus
ii Faith habitually seeks fellowship
. with God through Christ.
"
Enoch'S life teaches us that faith constantly
draws near to the Jiving and true.Goq. A.s God's,
Word presents him as the one in whom all life;
light, goodneS$, salvation, and joy reside, faith
habitually dfaws near to him in order'to find in God
its lik In the words of Hebrews, it does not draw
back: Having been sovereignly iniplanted in the
human heart by the hand of God, and sealed by the
Spirit of God, faith constantly seeks life and
salvation through Jesus Christ It continues this
search through all oflife, amid tribUlations for the
kingdom, and in times of relative ease and security.
Faith abides in Christ, walks with God, and enjoys
fellowship with him (John Romans 8:1; 1
Corinthians 1:9; Ephesians 2:6; 1 John 1:1-7). It
has no greater joy than walking with God, con-
scious of his gracious presence, conforming to his
revealed wilL Faith does not.view Jesus as a one-
time cure for the penalty of Sin, but our daily Lord
and Savior through whom weare admitted into
fellowship with God and enjoy the righteousness
and life he has obtained for us. Hence, the life of
, faith is the life of constant.,and increasing
knowledge of God, prayer to God, fellowship
with God, and love for God (2 Peter 3:18;
. Romans 12:12: Philippians 1:9; I Thessalonians
12 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - October/November, 2000
3: 12). This life is not reserved for those willing to
enter the higher plane of spiritnality, but is the
common experience of all God's faithful people in
every age - there is no other faith!
iii. Faith is consumed with pleasing God.
Enoch's life teaches us that the goal of every
child of God is to please God. Paul reiterates this
to the Thessalonians, and declares that it is their
duty to walle in such a way as to please God more
and more (1 Thess. 4: 1). The question becomes,
"How do we please God?" Fortnnately, though a
variety of answers are given to that question,
God's Word is clear. We please God by obeying
his revealed will in Scripture. "He hath showed
thee, 0 man, what is good, and what doth Jehovah
require ofthee, but to do justly, and to love kind-
ness, and to wallchumblywith thy God?" (Micah
6:8; ASV) "For this is the love of God, that we
keep his cOimnandments. And his commandments
are not burdensome." (l Jolm 5:3; NKJV) God is
pleased with ns when we dedicate ourselves
to obeying his revealed commandments, The
fundamental way we please God is to receive his
Son as our Lord and Savior with all humility. This
is the first duty of man, obedience to which is
necessary before we can please God at all. We
must then move from there to obey our Father's
will as revealed in Scripture. Now what then shall
we say about a generation of the church that
waters down the gospel message, no longer
considers God's law relevant to the modem Chris-
tian, does not keep the Sabbath holy, tithe, educate
their children in the ways of God's covenant,
memorize and meditate upon Scripture, hold their
pastors accountable to the law of God, and demand
tlmt civil government obey God's law? Shall we .
say tllat such a generation is walking with God, is
pleasiog God? On the contrary, the personal and
public lives of God's professing people today
demonstrate that far from pleasing God, our lives
are often an abomination unto him, and the state of
our churches, families, and country today are his
judgment upon an apostatizing church that is no
longer consumed with pleasing him through obedi-
ence. Ifwe are to dedicate ourselves to pleasing
God, several things should be noted.
a. Faith and repentance are absolutely neces-
sary to pleasiog God. WitllOut saving faith, which
only God can give, we cannot please God. All of
your works are an abominlltion to him unless they
are purified tlrrough faith. Without true repen-
tance, which is a turning away from the ways of
sin to walk in the ways of obedience, you cannot
please God. Until a man is born again, however,
he call1lot have saving faith and repentance.
Hence, "you must be born again" (John 3:7). Do
not go away from this text with mere resolutions to
please God more in tlle future. Good resolutions
without true faith will speedily wither under the
corrupting influence of sin. Receive its warnings
meekly, ask yourself, "Am I in Christ? Do I
believe the gospel promise?" You have no hope of
pleasing God and no promise of divine strengtll
unless you can answer those questions affirma-
tively. And if you admit that you have no faith and
repentance, that you remain outside the kingdom of
Christ, cast yourself upon his free gospel promise,
confess your sins, repent of them, and rest upon his
obedience and shed blood as your only hope before
a holy and just God.
b. Wallcing with God requires diligence in daily
acts of divinely .commanded piety andworship.
This iovolves Bible stndy, prayer, adoring medita-
tion upon Gorl's promises and:commands, personal
and family worship, and regular participation io the
worship assemblies of Christ's Church. Without
these, a man call1lot say that he walks with or
pleases God. Your walk with God, hence your joy,
peace, contentment, purposefumess, and strength
are directly based upon your diligence in each of
these.
c. Unrepented sin in any fonn will keep you
from pleasing God. Clearly we are guilty of many
sins of which we are unaware, and our heavenly
Father mercifully remiods us ofthesefrom time to
time that we might confess and forsake them. Yet
if you know ofa sines) in your life, and refuse to
give it up, your walk with God will be intenupted.
A holy God must have a holy people (1 Peter 1: 15).
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord (He-
brews 12: 14). IfI regard iniquity in nly heart, the
Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66: 18). Our sins
separate us from the Lord (Isaiah 59:2). All these
biblical testimonies reflect one major trutll: GOD
HATES SIN AND CANNOT FELLOWSHIP
WITH THOSE WHO HABITUALLY GIVE
OctoberlNovember, 2000 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon-13
THEMSELVES TO SIN WITH NO RE-
MORSE, REPENTANCE, AND REFORMA-
TION OF LIFE (1 John 1:6,7). Therefore, in
order to begin walking with God again, you must
repent of your sins - turn from them, and replace
sin with righteousness, truth, and justice.
d. Obsession with the things of this world will
destroy your walle with God (Matthew 13 :22). It is
impossible to love God and money (Matthew 6:24).
Now we must be carefill here. There is a fIne line
of wisdom for us to seek. On the one hand, our
callings are very important. One important aspect
of subduing the earth and building a consistently
Christian culture is a biblical world ethic, i.e.,
faithfulness in our various callings. Yet, if we
become so preoccupied with earning a living,
raising our children, and the many other activities
in Which we frequently engage, that we forget our
God, our purpose for being here, and our duty to
seek after regular intercourse with him in the way
he has commanded in Scripture, we cannot please
God. All of these activities are often necessary
and good. Pleasing God does not require monasti-
cism, but it does require us to dedicate ourselves to
pleasing God consciously and biblically in every
activity of our lives. Whatever we undertake
must be done for the glory of God and the ad-
vancement of his kingdom (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Such a motivation will sanctify each endeavor and
keep us focused on our chief end in life, which is to
glorify and enjoy God.
iv. Faith perseveres amid world
upheaval and rebellion.
Enoch's faith, like that of all the other men and
women in this chapter, reveals that faith over-
comes the various trials that are inevitable in living
for Christ. Enoch's obedience in a culture moving
progressively toward apostasy and the judgment of
the flood shows us today how we must continue
to obey God even if all men around us
fall away. It is the character of faith that it would
rather stand alone for God and his law than fall in
with the majority who are compromising in the
name of openness and toleration.
v. Faith resists evil and calls the world
to repentance and faith.
Faith does not retreat into its corner, however.
Epoch had a transformational worldview that
demanded the submission of all men to God's law
order. He called the men of his day to repentance
and faith, and warned them of eminent judgment.
In our day, Christians are calling for the same and
they are viewed negatively in the media and church
alike. They are condemned as intolerable, bigoted,
and enemies of America. This should not surprise
us. The last thing an apostate culture in the fInal
throes of its existence wants is to be confronted
with its sin and called back to its Christian roots.
Enoch teaches us that true faith is transformational
in nature - it demands the surrender of every area
of life to the crown rights of Jesus Christ. It calls
all men to repentance and fai th through the gospel,
and then shows how as converted men and
women, they must obey God's law out oflove for
Christ.
vi. Faith anticipates the fmal coming of Christ and
the consummation of our salvation.
Finally, faith patiently awaits the final judgment.
Through the millennia, Enoch saw a day coming
when the living God and J1.ldge of all would right all
wrongs and give all men their just due. This vision
enabled him to persevere in obedience until God
translated him to heaven. We must recognize that
sometimes God consigns whole nations and gen-
erations to the garbage heap of his tory. Some-
times, he does not want certain men and nations
converted; he intends to judge them for apostasy
and nothing can change his mind. Where does this
leave the church? She must continue to proclaim
God's message in God's way, and even ifher
words do not seem to be vindicated fully in the
unfolding of history at that particular time, she
faithfully awaits the final judgment. This gives her
great boldness, for she knows that her testimony
will be vindicated on the fInal day when the Lord
Jesus Christ comes with all his thousands to be
glorified by all who believe, .
TO BE CONTINUED
14 -THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon" October/Novemher, 2000