Enoch
Faith of the Ancients • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Faith of the Ancients: Enoch
Faith of the Ancients: Enoch
quick review of Hebrews 11.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Last week: Our life speaks
what is your life saying to God?
What is God saying about your life?
What does your life say to others?
Abel: Though he is dead, his life still speaks
Serving
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the ways things appear
You're looking into my heart
I'm comin' back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
Intro: How do you want to die? Enoch and Elijah
Spoiler Alert: Enoch didn’t die
knock, knock.
Who’s There?
Enoch
Enoch Who?
Enoch Here
Read: Hebrews 11:5-6
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Main idea: faith in action: walk, believe, seek
1. Walking faith
1. Walking faith
Genesis 5:21–24 (NASB95)
Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.
Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
a. Background
i. Life span comparison
800-900yr average life span
him dieing at 365 was basically the prime of his life
mid thirties to early 40s
all that he left behind is that he “Walked with God”
he pleased God
ii. Lived with Adam for over 300 years (saw Adam die)
Adam lived over 900 years
Adam was live when Enoch was alive
iii. Increasing wickedness (saw Adam die)
Noah is only 50 years after Enoch
iv. Great grandfather of noah
noah’s name means: (comforter, one who brings peace)
b. "Walked" OT
i. Hebrews word - halak
ii. God walking with Adam (patriarchs walked with God)
iii. Movement - going or departing
iv. Flowing and floating in connection with water
v. Steadily and constantly
Walk in the OT implies “Continuous Movement”
I want to have a walking faith
alot of people make God a one time event
c. NT
Walk in the Spirit,
i. Galatians 5:16-18 , 25
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
ii. Every day, every choice, every step
Forever- NOw, now now now...
iii. God is not a one time event but an everyday life - life everyday - with God
2. Believing faith
2. Believing faith
a. Belief/faith integral to salvation
Belief and faith are different
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Belief/faith integral to the gospel: scripture says:
faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen
faith without works is dead
i. John 3:16 ,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
belief is part of the Roman’s road to salvation
ii. Romans 10:9-10
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
b. Belief redefined
English American Christianity has weakened the word believe to be a mental assent
a recognition of factual information
someone tells you something, and you reply: I believe you
i. More than mental assent
ii. James 2:17-19
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
The question isn’t do you believe in God
it’s do you know Him
do you have a relationship with him
A better synonym for the word believe in our context is Trust
Trust Defined: A truth that Shapes Behavior
Believe vs Trust
Trust Fall
Chair pulled out of you
Parachute
our faith and belief regularly leads us to jumping out of a plane moments
Trust in the Lord with All your Heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths (Walk with God)
c. God is completely relevant
There’s a concept out there that God is irrelevant to our lives
Deism- belief in a creator God
called the watchmaker, or clock maker approach
God made it, but now it just runs on it’s own
set it and forget it
That’s not who God is
Hebrews 11:6 (NASB95)
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
i. And He rewards (makes a difference)
Do you honestly believe that God is relevant to your life
That His Existence has everything to do with your existence
ii. Don't be a deist
iii. How is God relevant in your life?
Is he part of whole?
I surrender All song
not I surrender some
or I surrender most
Some or all?
Add or give your life?
Many people add Jesus to their life, very few people give Jesus their life
3. Seeking faith
3. Seeking faith
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
In Greek, there is a word for seek and a separate compound word for earnestly seek
this verse uses the earnestly seek
similar to the difference between looking, and searching
lose something, and quickly look
search implies actually turning things over and searching underneath
a. Seek after
i. Diligently, sincerely, earnestly
all adjectives used before seek in other translations to get the same idea across
there is a passion and genuineness to your pursuit of God
that’s those that he rewards
ii. Crave
another synonym that google gave
I get cravings (pregnancy cravings)
what if God was the craving of our life?
what if our appetite was for Him and Him alone?
song: Your all I want, You’re all I’ve ever needed.
you’re all I want, Help me know you are near
iii. Search, investigate
b. He rewards
i. Matthew 7:7-11
Matthew 7:7–11 (NASB95)
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
“Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?
“Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
In our laziness, our human nature, we want the reward without the work
ii. Matthew 5:6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
iii. James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
lost coin, treasure in the field, pearl
drop everything, give everything for the kingdom of God
Conclusion:
He is the reward.
Dwell in the house of the Lord Forever
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Bow your head and close your eyes:
Maybe you are here and you realize you might be a deist
I’ve believe in my mind about God, but the truth is that God has not been the difference in my life
His Existence hasn’t changed my existence
I don’t have a relationship with him
I can’t honestly say that I’m Walking with God
Prayer: God is real and relevant, he isn’t just someone or something. God is everything
Difference, transformation, trust, belief, relationship,
Song: You’re all I want,
You’re all I’ve ever needed,
You’re all I want,
Help me know you are near