Title: Faith of the Seniors of Faith: Enoch
Contents
[Faith of our ancestors: Enoch] Hebrews 11:5-6 2006.11.26 First Advent evening service
Through the book of Hebrews, we look at how God's blessings come to believers in the form of zealots of faith. Abel was given the title of one who pleases God by offering upright sacrifices to God. Even though he died, he is praised for saying that he lives by his faith. Following Abel, the book of Hebrews speaks of Enoch, and it is said that Enoch walked with God in his sincere faith and obedience, and he became the first person to come directly to the throne of God without seeing death as a human being.
Today's Bible says that Enoch had a son at the age of 65, named him Methuselah, and walked with God for 300 years after that. Then God took him up to heaven.
1. The turning point of Enoch's life
1) All humans have transitions during the time they live. Because man is made in the image of God, he thinks about himself, and also thinks about the future and after death. This kind of thinking leads to seeking God and appears in the form of relying on God for his life. All those who have done great things in the Bible in history have come to this turning point in their lives.
2) This turning point in life actually comes to everyone. Some people pass by without realizing the turning point, but those who know it and change their life will move on to the place of God's blessing. Such turning points come from health, business failures, unfortunate accidents, and relationships with family and people.
Saint-Jubert is driving an airplane and crashes in the middle of the Sahara Desert. And in the midst of a desert where there is no one else, he comes to a turning point, a crisis of absolute desperation. After barely fixing an airplane, he wrote about his life discoveries at that time in a book called “The Little Prince.” This turning point in life can also be called the crisis of our life in other words.
3) Although Enoch is the father of faith, it seems that he also faced such a change in his life. It was a time when I thought I was the only one in this world when difficult things broke out and obstacles were right before my eyes, when the road ahead was blocked and there was no helping hand at all. When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son. He named him Methuselah. And according to the Bible, after having the son, he trusted in God and walked with God for 300 years. Then it means that you did not know God until you had a son. However, having a son became a turning point in my life as I came to know God and depend on him.
The name of the Hebrews contains the will and wishes of their father, and the name Methuselah means “spear thrower” or “one who stabs and afflicts”. It must have been some problem for Enoch to give his son a name like that. The son must have stabbed his father in the chest. The name “Benjamin” means “Benoni,” meaning son of sorrow, and it is a name that contains the sorrow of Jacob who lost his beloved wife Rachel while giving birth to a son. We do not know the details of Enoch's suffering, but it seems that Enoch suffered unspeakable pain because of it. There are times when a child who should be a joy and hope becomes such a worry that stabs a father's heart. Isn't it often said that children are enemies, not children? After giving birth to Methuselah, a turning point came in Enoch's life. That is his 65 years of life.
2. Discovering and relying on God at the turning point in your life.
1) The Bible says that he walked with God for 300 years after giving birth to Methuselah. Then his son Methuselah gave him an opportunity to discover God at the turning point of his life. It was that the son became a pain to the father and pierced his heart with a spear, so it brought pain and suffering, but Enoch discovered the great secret of life-changing through the son and turned to God. Here is Enoch's attitude to a successful life.
2) As I said, everyone stands at a crossroads in life. That fork in the road may be trials and trials of pain and suffering, or it may be doubts and doubts. The problem is that at that crossroads, people always have to make wise choices. Enoch made the right choice at the crossroads of his life. The fact that he turned his life toward God means that he has found the right path of blessing at the crossroads of his life.
3) And in his choice of blessing, he trusted him without turning back what he had once made up his mind toward God. After he chose God and set foot on the path of blessing, the rest of his life was 300 years, and he continued to walk with God for the remaining 300 years. After discovering and choosing God at the turning point of his life, Enoch continued to serve him and walk with God for the rest of the time.
3. The God who lifted up Enoch.
1) God treated Enoch specially. God took him as he walked constantly with God. To say that he was not in the world is to say that God did not see death as men do, but that God raised him to heaven. The Bible records the ascension of two people. There is Elijah, a man who ascended to heaven without seeing death and who represents God's minister. The man of power Elijah is said to be a prophet of fire. Because he worked with fire and ascended to heaven in a whirlwind. On the other hand, Enoch is the representative of the lay faithful. God, who valued his walk with God, exalted him.
2) In fact, if you look at the story of Enoch in Genesis or Hebrews, there is no event in which he showed any special ability or showed great deeds to Enoch. It is said that he discovered God when he stood at a turning point in his life, and that he trusted and followed the God he once believed in for the rest of his life. This is a very plain statement of faith. However, God praised this ordinary faith and elevated him to heaven as a representative of the lay faithful. This is because unchanging faith, obedience, and walking with God have continued for three hundred years without stopping. Enoch's faith was approved by God.
3) Today's text, Hebrews, says that Enoch's faith is the faith that pleases God, and that those who please God will receive God's reward. Today's text is verse 6. RR “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 diligently seek him.”
Conclusion.
The faith of a believer that God loves is the trust that we believe in, depend on, and follow. And trust presupposes that there is no change. At a turning point in his life, in a dilemma where his son pierces his father's heart, Enoch chose God and faith and spent the next three hundred years with God. So, “obedience, guidance, and walking with God” are the manifestations of his faith.
Let's all follow along. This is the promise of blessing to Abraham. Following is the confession we believe in and admit. The confession of our lips comes from the heart, and God fulfills such a confession. If we believe and confess with our mouth, the promise will be ours.
“I will bless you, and you will be a blessing. All the peoples of the earth will be blessed in you.”
Like Abraham, the man of blessing, and like Enoch, can we have strong faith before the Lord and the faith to fulfill our resolutions? I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become members of the faith that receive the reward of God like Enoch.