through the entirety of Genesis chapter 5, but this morning I want us just to go back, and I mentioned this last week when we went through this chapter, that there was one particular incident in this genealogical record that was worthy of a pause to bring us back and to look with greater detail into it. And it's found in Genesis 5, verses 21 through 24. It really it relates around the genealogical record of one interesting biblical historical figure the man Enoch And I'm titled the message this morning which Enoch will you follow? And you'll see why in a moment Genesis chapter 5 verse 21 Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah now in this entirety of the genealogical record He was the youngest dad at age 65. I'm not quite there yet, and I'm tired So way to go Enoch After he begat Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Let's pray. So Father, we come to this man of God, this servant of Christ, your servant, Enoch. You've left us a very, very interesting account of this man's life and testimony. Father, as we search the scripture, as we examine this, I pray that we'd examine our own hearts this morning. It would answer the question whether or not we are walking with God. And that you'd work in our hearts, draw near to those who are your children. And for those who are here this morning without Christ, that they would not walk after the course of this world and the prince and the power of darkness. that they too would desire and long after and be found to be those who walk with God. We ask these things in Christ's name we pray, amen. Well the account of the life and faith of Enoch is recorded right here for us in Genesis chapter 5 verses 21 through 24. Now he's not to be confused with the Enoch that we looked at earlier in Genesis chapter 4 verses 17 and 18 who was the son of Cain and who was a very wicked man." So understand Enoch is a fairly common name. Cain's Enoch, unlike the Enoch of our text, was a man of this world. John Gill notes that he built a city for the settlement on earth, thinking of nothing but this world and the things of it. He was a real man's man of this world. That's Cain's Enoch. He was like his father. He had no heart for God, he had no desire for God, and he had no walk with God. He stands in stark contrast to the Enoch of our text. who's not a man of this world, but who is a man of the world to come. The biblical record of Seth's Enoch, as I'll call him, in contrast to Cain's Enoch, is not very lengthy, just a few verses, and yet it is a record that is absolutely remarkable. And I think any that read across that, just pause and stop. and reflect upon this man. He is a man who had a heart for God. He is a man who lived in this world to please God. And what a testimony that is. When the eulogy of your life is given, could you imagine any higher or greater testimony given than that which is given here of Enoch He walked with God. What will they say of you men? When you're laid up here one day in a pine box, or cardboard box as I've requested, I don't care, what will they say? Well, I hope he made it. He lived in such a way to live doubt, I hope he's there. Or will they say the testimony of his life is a man who was definitely not perfect, but he walked with God. He sought to follow Christ. J.I. Packer, the author of Knowing God, once wrote that when Christians meet, he's just talking when as Christians we interact with each other, they talk to each other about their Christian work. their Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the state or condition of churches and the problems of theology, but rarely of their daily experience of God. We make it plain that communion with God is a small thing to us. It's convicting, isn't it? King Solomon had the unique opportunity to pursue all that any man on this earth could ever Want or live for? He had it all Talk about a man who gained the world if there ever was a man who gained the world it was ancient King Solomon wealth power influence, fame, material possessions, relationships. Solomon had it all. And at the end of his life, as he looks back over all of it, he says this, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. In other words, this is all that life is about. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. This is all that really matters when it's all left, when it's all said and done. Are you a man who walks with God? And you men especially, what will be the legacy left behind of your lives? Will you follow the legacy of Cain's son and be a man of this world? Or will you follow the legacy of Seth and of the Enoch of our texts? And will you be a man that walks with God, a man of the world to come? As we look at the life and lessons of Enoch in our text, do not focus on this unique departure. It's easy as we look at Enoch, our eyes right in there like, wow, what happened to Enoch? He was walking and then he's gone, what happened? All kinds of speculation about his departure, his unique departure from this life. And that's where the discussion ensues. But what I want us to focus on is not where Enoch went. but how it was that Enoch got there. Upon what characterized his life in this world, not his departure from this world. And when I do that, I want to do that in two headings. I want us simply to look at the life of Enoch, and then I want us to look at some lessons from Enoch. Now, first of all, this morning, the life of Enoch. The Bible contains three references to Enoch outside of being listed in a couple of genealogical lists. So, in addition to a couple places where he's mentioned in a list of names, there are three biblical references to details regarding his life. We have obviously what we read here in Genesis chapter 5. We have a couple statements in Hebrews chapter 11 where Enoch is considered in that great hall of faith. And then we have an interesting text about Enoch's life found for us in Jude. Of course, Jude only has one chapter, but right there in Jude 1. So to get the full picture of this man of God, we're going to sort of take from all of these three passages to have this portrait of this man of God called Enoch. Now, first of all, let's talk about Enoch's arrival into this world. The birth of Enoch is recorded in the genealogical record that we just read here in Genesis chapter 5. And, you know, this is, as we saw last week, this is where the family tree of all of us began. You ancestry hunters who are so proud that you can trace your family tree back four or five generations, If the written record of all time were to exist, in other words, if we could all trace back our genealogical family tree, the reality is all of us would end up here in Genesis 5. This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. Now remember last week the shift that we noticed in verse 3 of chapter 5, that Adam begot a son in his likeness after his image and named him Seth. And we explored that a little bit. Though it is true that man is made, all men are made in the image of God, that we bear the image of our Creator, only Adam, prior to his fall into sin, bore the image of God in all of its glory and perfections. It is because of sin's impact on the human race that we bear more as men the image of our fathers, of our earthly father, Adam, than our heavenly father, God. And we saw that that image is a distorted image. It is an image with the imprint and the impact of our fallen nature and sinfulness. And thus, one of the purpose of Christ in redemption in this world is to rescue a multitude of sinners by His grace For whom He foreknew, He predestined. To what? To what end does God save? To what end does God justify that they might be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ? So you say, why God save me? Keep me out of hell? God saved me to make me like Christ. Men, this is the goal of your salvation. This is why God saved you men. This is why God saved all of us. A little bit more addressing men this morning, but you ladies bear with that. God in his grace seeks to restore in us that which sin marred, distorted, and destroyed. And thus Enoch, like all fallen sons of Adam, he had to contend with his sin. So what we do know about Enoch is Enoch is this son of Seth, this son of Adam, who bore this distorted image of sin. That's important. It's important because I think we can read the life of Enoch and think, man, what a super saint that Enoch was. What a cool dude he was. I mean, Enoch, I imagine you probably got this picture. Enoch got up in the morning with his Bible. and he spent six hours on his knees, praying to God, and communion with God, reading the scriptures, and then he ate breakfast, and then he went back onto his knees, and he prayed for another six hours, and maybe he ate a little lunch, and then he went back for another six hours, and then he ate some supper and fell into bed and did it all, seven days a week. Is that the kind of image you have? Some kind of super saint? Enoch was a sinner. Enoch needed the grace of God, just as we need the grace of God. And other than being in the line of Seth, we really don't know much more about Enoch other than this reality that he is a fallen son of Adam. His name, Enoch, means dedicated, which is interesting. Remember, there's two Enochs here that we're thinking about. There's Cain's Enoch, who was dedicated to the things of this world, who was a man of the world, who lived for this world. And then there is the Enoch of our text, the great, great, great grandson of Seth, who was dedicated to God and to the things of God and to the world to come. Well, that's what we know about Enoch's arrival. But second of all, what do we know about Enoch's life? It's here that we know a little bit more for sure. And it's really summed up in verse 22. Enoch walked with God 300 years. Wow. Interesting. Now he lived 365 years. Did you ever catch that? Doesn't say he walked with God for 365 years. Said he walked with God for 300 years. God did something in Enoch's life. What a life Enoch had. Now there's no record here that he heard the voice of God like Abraham in a burning bush. Or that he saw the miracles of God like Moses. Wait a minute, it was Moses. I just realized that. But anyways, you get the point. that he defeated the enemies of God like David, that he experienced the wisdom of God like Solomon, but greater than all those things is this simple statement, Enoch walked with God. He is one of only two men of whom it is recorded in all of Scripture that he walked with God. Now that's not to say there weren't anybody else that ever walked with God, but understand in the entirety of the Bible, only two times is it said somebody walked with God. Enoch was the first, and if we were in a class I'd say who's the other, but you're gonna be introduced to him next week, and his name's Noah. Noah was a man who walked with God. Enoch was a father. He's a family man who lived for 365 years and as we read in the text he bore many children. But it is his walk with God That sets him as part. It's his walk with God that is emphasized in verse 22 and then again in verse 24 Beloved the the importance of walking with God our creator is essential It is vital. Why does God take such note of that here? Why does He emphasize this and, as it were, place the spotlight on it and mention it two times when He talks about Enoch? He talks about this man who walked with Him. Why is that so important? Because God wants us to walk with Him. We read about this in Micah 6, verses 7 and following. Listen to this question. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? What's he talking about? It's about the old covenant sacrifice. In other words, what really pleases God? When it comes to making God happy and delighting God, is it that he really wants us to bring thousands of sheep and lay them out on an offering there in the Old Testament and sacrifice them. Does God want sacrifice? That's the point. Does He want 10,000 rivers of oil? You know, we could bring that into the New Testament time and say, is the Lord pleased with your sacrifices, with your tithes and offerings? Is that what God really wants? You know, you listen to a lot of churches, you'd think that's all the Lord wants. Is that really what honors God? That you showed up for an hour on Sunday. Wow, isn't that wonderful. God is just so happy that you are here today. And oh, by the way, drop a little something in the box on the way out and He'll just be so smile. Is this what really pleases God? Shall I give the firstborn for my transgression? Whoa, now we're upping the ante here a little bit. The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul You know, what does God want from me? What does God desire from me? What what kind of sacrifice can I give to God to to appease him for the sins? That I've committed And then comes the reply, he's shown you, oh man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. He wants humility, justice, and mercy. He wants one who fellowships with him, who communes with him, Our God desires fellowship with man. That is a remarkable statement. He doesn't need us. He doesn't need anything. But He wants to have a relationship with us. And He wants us to walk with Him. It's mind-blowing when you think about that. more than a thousand offerings in the sacrifice of our most precious possession, our own children, God wants us to walk humbly with Him. Walking with God is not something that is reserved for the two old patriarchs of Old Testament Scripture. It is that which God desires of you and I this morning, that we be men and women of God who walk with Him. He wants those who will commune and fellowship with Him. Now, what do we know about Enoch's walk with God? How was this walk demonstrated? Or what was this walk like? Well, I do think we have a couple hints or statements of Scripture that direct us to that end. First of all, Enoch's walk is a holy walk. You say, now where did you get that? Enoch is mentioned in Jude's epistle where Jude is warning of a generation of ungodly men who have turned the grace of God into lewdness and who deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Ever know a generation like that? Can you imagine a day when that would be the reality? And yet, brethren, are we not living in that reality? And this is what warning that Jude is setting forth. He's warning us of ungodly men. He's warning us when people will pervert the gospel and pervert the truth of God and be practicing all type of wickedness and denying the God that made them. Well in describing this, in sending forth this warning, he then writes in verse 11 of his epistle, woe to them! And he describes them this way, they have gone the way of Cain. These ungodly men, they're like Enoch number 1. They're like Enoch 4, descendant of Cain. They are men of the world, ungodly men. And instead of walking with God, these ungodly men, like their predecessor, Cain, they've run from him. Remember, what was the legacy of Cain? After he slew his brother, after God confronted him in his sin, instead of humbly repenting of his sin and seeking God's grace and mercy, the text says Cain departed from the Lord. Cain ran from God and he never stopped running from God and he left a legacy of men who ran from God and Enoch of the Bible number two Seth's Enoch is living in that day with the descendants of Cain running from God a generation of men that hate God and But in contrast to those who ran from God, then is it in this ungodly generation of Cain's day, is this Enoch who is found walking with God. So there's a remarkable thing. We're setting a context here of Enoch's walking with God. He didn't walk with God when everything was going well, when life was easy and pleasant, where revival had broke out and people were serving God and living for the glory of God and life was easy for a child of God in Enoch's day. Not hardly. Enoch lived in a day of ungodly men who had gone the way of Cain. Enoch was like a salmon swimming upstream. to the culture of his day, to the age of his day. And he opposed the ungodliness of his day. You say, how do we know Enoch did that? Because Jude tells us about that. And he talks about Enoch in verse 14 of his letter. He says, the seventh from Adam. So he's distinguishing this particular Enoch. He wants us to get the right Enoch here. So there's no doubt about who we're talking about. He says Enoch prophesied about these men also saying behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all To convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds Which they have committed in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." So Enoch prophesies, Enoch proclaims the truth of God, and he warns his generation of coming judgment. He warns them that the day is coming. God will not tolerate this ungodliness, but God will step in. There'll be a time when God is going to do something drastically about this. He prophesies about judgment to come. He talks about a future judgment. What happened just after Enoch's day? The worldwide flood. Remember, it's Enoch who has the son Methuselah, and Methuselah's name means that when he dies, judgment. And the very year in which Methuselah dies, the great flood comes, and this ungodly generation, these descendants of Cain, are destroyed. But let me just simply say, I think there is more here in Enoch's proclamation than just the proclamation to the generation of his day. But he says, behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment. I think we also have a picture of the coming judgment of God. Enoch is warning our generation of ungodly men that God will not put up forever with the ungodliness of our day. He will one day judge the ungodly among us of all their ungodly deeds. which they have committed in their ungodly way, and of which they have spoken ungodly things about God. God will judge his people. God will judge his creation. And the life of Enoch was a testimony to this. I mean, it's easy to think of little Enoch, I say little Enoch, I don't know how big Enoch was. It's easy to think of Enoch holed up over here like a monk in a monastery, you know, just with his Bible. and never rubbing elbows with the culture, never interacting with people in his day. But that's not the picture that we're given of Enoch. This Enoch of Scripture is a man fighting the culture. He's a man of God going upstream against the culture of his day. He is convicting by his very words the wickedness of his generation. Puritan William Jenkins writes, Enoch walked with God in a corrupt age and did not only persevere in his own holiness. In other words, that would be enough if we could just live holy lives on an unholy day. Isn't that a wonderful commentary of itself? Isn't that a wonderful accomplishment? If as men we can just keep ourselves pure, if we can just preserve Own integrity and and and be found being men of God But he does more than that. He prophesies against others unholiness He's bold and he takes a stand against the wickedness of his generation and the question is men You are either living in pursuit of this corrupt age or you are standing in opposition to it. There is no other third category here There isn't you you either are a part of this fallen world in age Are you stand in opposition to it? There is no middle ground Jesus said he that is not with me is against me so there's just one line and you're on one side or the other and You're either following the Enoch of chapter 4, a man of the world, or you're an Enoch of chapter 5, a man of God. There is no middle ground. He's a man with a holy walk, but he's a man who pleased God, second of all. Enoch is the only one, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is written in Scripture that he pleased God. Again, let me say that I don't believe he's the only one that ever pleased God, but I'm just making the note here that he's the only one of whom it was written in Scripture that he pleased God. And we know he pleased God because this fact is highlighted for us in Hebrews chapter 11 Where we read in verse 5 that for before he was taken he had this testimony What was the testimony of Enoch in his ungodly day? that he pleased God that's his testimony and There's the testimony. He was a man of God, a holy man of God, who walked in his day pleasing to God. What lay at the heart of His pleasing to God? Well, we could look at the general context, the larger context of Hebrews 11, that chapter, Hall of Faith, and what is the summation of that chapter? The just, how do they live? They live by faith. And what is the faith of Hebrews 11? As that chapter makes quite clear, it's a life of obedience to God. Well, brethren, what lay at the heart of this pleasing God was his faith, and it's that which I want us to consider a little bit more in detail in a few minutes. But I also want us to notice here, which you can't read this life of Enoch without being struck by the fact of Enoch's amazing departure. I mean, it's phenomenal. Enoch walked with God and he was not. God took him. And then in chapter 11 of verse 5 of Hebrews, by faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. In Genesis 5 we read over and over, remember last week the three words that we just kept being struck with as we went through that list of the genealogical record, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. And then we come to the record of Enoch. And he was not. Not that he died. Now that people died is no shock. This is the record of mankind born into sin as sons of Adam for as in Adam all die. We die because the wages of sin is death and we all sin. But when we come to the record of Enoch we find that Enoch did not die. Enoch was translated directly to heaven from earth and was the only There was only one other individual in the biblical record who did the same and that was Elijah. Do you realize not even our Lord Jesus Christ escaped the pains of death. He died. Why did he die? Not because of his sin, because he didn't have any. He died for all who in faith believe. He died as our substitute. He took on our sin so that we might be able to take on his righteousness. Now you imagine Enoch with me for a moment. Imagine Enoch one day, he tells Mrs. Enoch, I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna have my daily devotions like I normally do, and he walks out the door to have his time with God. And Enoch, Mrs. Enoch, she puts her head out the door and she says, hey Enoch, your omelets are up. no he doesn't respond but she's lived with Enoch for 365 years so well probably 300 years or whatever it's been at this point so she's used to like most men they get busy doing this or that and the other and you know wives are so careful and they prepare these meals and and us buffoons of husbands sometimes just don't appreciate all the work that goes into it and we get tied up doing something and he skips breakfast so she doesn't get too upset Like most wives married for 300 years she's used to the eggs getting cold. But noon arrives and there's no Enoch. Well maybe a time or two he's done the same thing. He's down there talking to some of his buddies. Maybe he's down there confronting the ungodly culture and he got got in a big debate with someone, you know, so she lets it slide But then supper comes and no Enoch and it's starting to get dark now Enoch's wife begins to get a little bit concerned and the cry goes out and She gets the children and she gathers some neighbors and say we need to go find where your dad's at This isn't good I haven't seen him since he went out this morning with his devotions. The people begin to search and then a cry goes out. And there on the ground is Enoch's clothes, his reading glasses, his cane, and his Bible. Of course, I'm being fictitious here, but you get the point. There's no blood on the clothing. There's no tear like a wild animal had got him. No sign of struggle or trouble, just no Enoch. He walked with God, and boom, he's gone. Wow. There's just so many questions, aren't there? I mean, how did Mrs. Enoch deal with that after this point in her life? Did they understand what had happened to Enoch? Anyways. Well, beloved, that's the life of Enoch. But second of all, consider with me, a little briefer, the lessons of Enoch. We read in Hebrews 11 about Enoch's taken away, how he escapes death. But then we read another statement. We read the verse after it says he was taken because he had this testimony that he pleased God. But then there's the statement, without faith it's impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe he is and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So we come now to why Enoch pleased God. Enoch had faith. The lesson of Enoch is not that he uniquely walked with and pleased God, but rather like Enoch, you too can, by faith, walk with God and please God. That's the point here. It's not that he's so unique. He's so different. There was never anybody like him. There'll never be anybody like him. No, the emphasis of the writer of Hebrews is that we can all possess the faith of Enoch. that this faith is what it takes to please God. And all who have this faith will please God, because God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So, we see a number of things in this text. First of all, we see the necessity of faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. It's not our devotion. It's not our religious activities, our baptism, going through the motions of our worship. It's faith that pleases God. There's a place for those other things that God requires of us, but it is faith that is the heart. It is faith that is at the foundation of our relationship with God. Those other things are expressions of the reality that should be within us. The writer of Hebrews states a negative to reinforce the positive. Many have tried in vain as Cain to bring the fruit of their labors. They think, now if I do this and I do this and I do this, then I will please God. If you do this and that and the other in order to please God, you've missed it. You've missed the boat. We don't do anything in order to please God. Men try to please God with their works, but God's not impressed with our works. As Pink ably notes, whatever the necessity of other graces, faith is that which alone obtains acceptance with God. God is said, but to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. What makes a man right with God is not what man does for God, it's what God did for man. And there's no acceptable substitute. Not sincerity, not sacrifice, not religious devotion, or a half-hearted faith of some other kind. So then, those who are in the flesh, Paul says in Romans 8, 8, cannot please God. Yet so many still think they can do the impossible. And we meet people like that all the time. They think they're living in such a way that in the end they will please God and God will be happy with them because they weren't as bad as their neighbor or because they were more religious than the people down the street or because they donated so much and they gave so much to this cause and that cause and the church and the list goes on and on. Men think they can do the impossible but it is faith and faith alone that saves. The faith that requires that pleases Him is the faith that He gives, and freely gives as a gift of grace. It is the faith that was found in Abel, and it is the faith that is seen here in Enoch, that faith which is here further described in the text. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. So what is the nature of this faith? For he who comes to God, the text says, must believe He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So let's break this down. In order to come to God, which is a precursor to walking with God and pleasing with God, we must have the faith that is here described. A faith that has two inseparable ingredients or elements. Number one, it is a faith that pleases God, must first of all believe that God is. Not just faith that God exists. So let me explain that. Because a lot of people believe God exists. Matter of fact, we're told in James, you believe there's one God, well, good for you. I'm just paraphrasing that. Even the demons believe and tremble. He's making a point. Just believing in the existence of God doesn't save you. The devils know that and they're trembling and wicked men don't tremble very often. false religion and idolatry abound. And even though secularism has made great progress, most of humanity believes in some kind of divine being or force greater than themselves. This is not the faith that's here required. It's not enough to believe in a God, You must believe in THE God, the God of Holy Scripture as He has revealed Himself. The God who came to earth as the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the second person of the Godhead, or the Trinity. The God who said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and no man. No one comes to the Father but through Him. The one of whom it is written, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. The God who alone can only be known through the special revelation of his holy word, the Bible. Dr. Robert Martin comments here, he says, it is a faith that embraces all that God has revealed about himself. About our duty to seek him and about the reward that he promises to those who do so So first of all this faith pleases God must believe that God is that God is he is who he says he is He is who he has revealed himself to be in all of Holy Scripture. He's not the god of your imagination he's not the god of some religious denomination and He is the Holy God of the Bible. Beloved, get in your Bibles. You want to know God? Get in your Bibles, read your Bible, and seek to know the God of Holy Scripture. He is the Lord. He changes not. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. But second of all, the faith that pleases God must believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Now this statement raises a number of pertinent questions. First of all, what is the reward that belongs to those who have this saving faith? It's not the rewards promised by prosperity preachers who proclaim a life of faith in Christ brings you health and wealth and a life free of troubles. God forbid. That's not what's being taught here. This is so well refuted in the Bible and our own experience that we don't need to take time to refute that here. This isn't a promise. You seek God and you'll be blessed with all the things your heart could ever want. The Bible does promise, though, many future blessings to the children of faith. Some which are alluded to here in Hebrews 11, such as Abraham, who looks for a city, whose builder and maker is God. But Abraham knew that the greatest reward that anyone could ever possess was that of a relationship with God himself. And that is why we read that Abraham knew God and that God was that exceeding great reward. In Genesis 15, one, the word of the Lord came to Abraham saying, do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shield and exceeding great reward. The reward of the one who seeks after God diligently is God. That's the greatest reward. That's the greatest thing you could ever have. For those who seek after God is to find God and to have that relationship with Him. There's nothing greater than knowing God. Paul knew that to have Christ is to have all that we need or ever could want. And that's why he writes in 2 Corinthians 1.20, for all the promises of God in him that in Christ are yes and in him amen. Packer says that when Paul says he counts the things he lost for Christ dung, he means that he does not live with them constantly in his mind. What normal person spends his time dreaming of manure? That's what Paul said, and he's using pretty frank language. Paul gives this big list of all his religious background, and he says, I count all that as rubbish, dung, manure, for the sake of knowing God. of knowing Christ. And Packer says, yet this in effect is what many of us do. It shows how little we have of the true knowledge of God. Saving faith has as its object Christ and His finished work. It's not my faith in how I feel or in what I'm done or in what I'm doing. The gospel is not believe in Christ and get stuff, but believe in God and get Christ. Live for the manure of this world and you'll lose your soul, but live following Christ. and you'll gain all things, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But another question, if the reward belongs to those who believe, how can then the reward be of grace? Grace bestows upon us what is not earned, or what is not deserved. We read of that in Romans 11 quite clearly, that if it's by grace, it's not of our works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But it is of works, it's not grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. Grace and work are on opposite sides of the fence. They're against each other. You're either saved by works or you're saved by grace, but you can't be saved by both. Grace and works are mutually exclusive of each other. How is it that it sounds here as if God is then rewarding our faith? And the answer is simple. The faith that God rewards is the faith that God gives us. You see, it's not our faith, it's the faith that's a gift of God, not of works, lest we boast. Faith is a blessing of the grace of God. It's not a faith that we must conjure up, else we would all be forever lost. We've all turned aside, we're all together unprofitable. There's none who does good, there's none who seeks God, no not one, Romans chapter three. The faith that saves is not a good work that obligates now God to somehow reward us. It is the faith that God gives us as an act of His free and sovereign grace and love for us as sinners. Faith is a gift of God. Thirdly, then how does one get the reward? The text states that it belongs to those who diligently seek Him. And the Greek verb translated here, diligently seek, or to seek out, means to seek earnestly for something and to inquire thoroughly about it. To make all diligence to look into the matter. To get serious with God. All men have an obligation to seek God God now commands all men everywhere to repent Acts 17 30 Isaiah 55 6 seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near God promises us in Deuteronomy 4 29 seek the Lord God and You will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul And yet there is a huge obstacle that lay in between God's promise of reward and our duty to seek Him. You know what that obstacle is? Our sin, our sinfulness. Our sinfulness, which is so deep and defiling that God, as I read earlier, says there's none who understands and there's none who seeks after God. So now we got a real problem, don't we? Faith is a gift from God. We're to diligently seek after God and yet at the same time we're told in the Bible that in our natural native state there's none that seeks after God. How is it then that anyone is ever saved? Robert Martin gives that answer. He says, on the one hand, the Scriptures speak of a universal neglect of the duty to seek God, but on the other, in Christ and the gospel, the Lord has purposed that people of every nation should seek Him and be saved. We're saved because God has a plan, and God has a purpose. And God has purposed in his grace to save a people out of every race and nation and tongue and gender on the face of the earth. God gives faith. God gives faith to those who diligently seek Him. Which brings us to our conclusion, number one. Men, which Enoch this morning are you following? Let's be honest. Are you a man of the world or are you a man of God? There's no middle place here. You're either a man of God or you're a man of the world. And listen, I know being a man of the world sounds cool, doesn't it? I'm a man of the world. That sounds manly, sounds tough. Being a man of the world sounds manly with his trophy wife, his fancy car and truck, a garage full of man toys. Wow, that's what every man would dream about, being a man of the world. But I want you to hear what God's assessment of being a man of the world is. 1 John 2.15, do not love the world or the things of the world, because if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So before you set all your focus on saying that's it, man, I want to be a man of the world, be warned. Be warned. God has warned you. God has commanded you not to love the world. He goes further in James 4.4, do you not know men, I added the word men, that friendship with this world is hostility, that's what the word enmity means, with God. It means you are at war with God. When you align yourself with the world, when you choose the world and being a man of the world, and I'm gonna be like Enoch chapter four, You have made yourself an enemy of God. You are hostile with God. Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself, makes himself an enemy of God. You pursue the world, you're pursuing war with God. The God of the Bible is your enemy if you are a friend of the world this morning. When you say, I'm going to plant my flag behind this world, I want the world, I want the things of the world, the relationships of the world, the wealth of the world, all that this world, that's what I want. I want to be like Solomon. In the beginning of his life, he had it all, and that's what I want. When you do that, you have declared war against God, and do I need to say who's going to win that one? Do I dare even need to say anything about that? Will you live as one in love with this world, pleasing men, or will you live like Enoch, by faith, walking with God and pleasing Him? And then second of all, A word to you that may say, I want to please God. I don't want to be like the men of this world. How can I please God? How can I be like the Enoch of Genesis chapter 5? Then go to Christ and ask Him for the gift of faith. The desire itself is a work of God drawing you to Himself. The world doesn't care about that this morning. That's not on their radar. They could give no further thought to the pursuit of faith in God, of having a saving faith. Listen to me, especially some of you young people, you struggle with this. You don't have to understand the theology of God's saving work to be saved. You don't have to understand the doctrines of grace or the points of this or the points of that. You don't have to know those things in order to be a Christian. You need only believe Him who said that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Don't tell me that, well, I prayed once and nothing happened. I looked for God for a few days and I don't feel anything. Listen, half-hearted, self-reliant faith doesn't save. The faith that saves is the faith that cries out, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to your cross I cling. When I was a teenager, there was a period of time where I was under deep conviction of my sin, raised in a religious home, gone through all the emotions, baptized, said I was a Christian, thought myself for years to be a Christian, but I knew something was wrong. I did not walk with God. I did not love his word. I was all in it for myself, and I knew that. And I wrestled with that reality. And God convicted me for an extended period of time, and I mean months. And it wasn't till he brought me to the recognition one day of seeing that I was putting my trust in prayer, and I was putting my trust in religious works, and putting my trust in all kinds of things except Christ. And I can remember crying out, God, if I'm going to be saved, you've got to save me. Now I wasn't a five point this or that or the other. I didn't understand anything about theology at that point in my life. I just understood I was a sinner and I needed a savior. Jesus was the savior and he had brought me to the place of saying that if I'm going to be saved, it is the grace of God that saves me and not anything that I had done or was presently doing. and it was after that that God gave me peace. It is the faith of the woman with an issue of blood who just sought to touch the hem of Christ's garment. O taste and see, my friend, the Lord is good, and blessed is the man who trusts in Him. By faith you can walk with God, and by faith you can, like Enoch, please Him, for the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, and in those who hope in His steadfast love. So what kind of Enoch are you going to follow? Everybody in this room is following Enoch this morning. You're following Seth's Enoch or Cain's Enoch? What kind of Enoch are you going to be like? Well, I thank the Lord that the testimony of the vast majority of you is that you are men and women of faith. who love the Lord Jesus Christ, who want to serve Him and want to please Him in all things. And you have a saving faith in Him. And so I want to say just a word to you. You who are saved by the grace of God, you who are members in good standing with the Lord's church, I want us now to realize what we're about to do here at this table. We're not doing anything here to save ourselves.