What words, what wonderful words
we just sang. You know, I was going to sing
the solid rock, but I'm thankful that Kathy questioned that because
I would not have, I didn't even stop for a moment to think about
that song on the next page there. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device or creed. Folks, there is no rest in this
man who stands before you. There's no rest in the religions
of this world. You got to go out and do these.
Two of the Mormons showed up yesterday in our parking lot.
What were they doing in the parking lot of a Baptist church? But
trying to proselyte my sister-in-law. She was out here wandering around,
walking the dog. And they just come into the parking
lot. They knew where they were. They saw the sign. She tried
to defend them and say, they didn't see the sign, it's too
small. I said, no, they saw it. They go, yeah, we saw it. I said,
you guys got a lot of gumption coming in here with your false
religion. Folks, there's a lot of faiths
out there, but there's only one faith, one true faith. And it's a faith that is not
in device or creed. It's not in anything that we
can do to earn. It's not in anything we can work
in. We trust the Everlasting One in Him alone, don't we? That's
where our faith is in. It's not even in our faith that
we trust in. It's in the one our faith points
us to. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. What a blessing. Turn over to
Hebrews chapter 11, if you would. We're gonna continue. our study of this great list
of hosts, this great cloud of witnesses. And I remind you what
we read in verse 1 of chapter 11. Now, faith is the substance,
that's the assurance, of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. Now, I have expressed this many
times, so I'm going to express it again, though, because so
many of us fall into that trap of, am I saved? Am I really saved? And don't think you're alone in that.
I've never met anyone who didn't ask that question. The Lord gives
us an example of that when He tells His disciples, one of you
will betray Me. Every one of them got up and
said, Lord, is it I? So we're not alone. We're not
alone in questioning our faith. And we should, question. It tells
us in Scripture to examine yourself. Am I in the faith? What faith
is it I'm putting my trust in? Is it in a device of mine? Is
it in something I can do, like going out like those men yesterday
and trying to proselyte people? You know, I cannot express this
enough. You know how many churches base
their Salvation on what they do? How can we be wrong is what
they say. Look at the numbers that we have. How can we be wrong with thousands
of people? Folks, religionists are sincere. They're sincere about what their
faith is. They're just sincerely wrong. And the grace point of
this whole message is that you and I, some of us were right
there in that same boat, weren't we? I could probably say all of us.
I may not have been in some religion that's called a religion, but
I was in the religion of John. And those of you who are not
in a religion, you know exactly what I mean by that. I was in
my own religion, thinking about how I'm the one who's in charge
of my destiny. I'm the one who's going to work
out my problems. Well, here in verses 5 and 6
for today's study, we see a man by the name of Enoch. And it
says in verse 5, by faith, Enoch was translated that he should
not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he
had this testimony. Did you catch that? He had this
testimony that he pleased God. You know how God's children know
we please God? Is it something we've done? Is
it device or creed? No. No. It's simply this. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that he's the one
who gave me that faith, that belief. I believe it's all of
him. That's what pleases God. It's
not our belief in that. It's what His Son has done in
giving us that faith. It's what His Son... His Son
is the only one that He has said, this is my Son in whom I'm well
pleased. Well, who gave us the faith?
His Son. So when He's pleased with us,
it's not us in the flesh that He's pleased with. He's pleased
with the results of what His Son has done. Do you get that? Enoch was no different than you
and I, folks. He came out of his mother's womb
lying and cheating and all that. It says, you know what, let's
do this. Let me finish reading our text
here real quick. So, he pleased God, and then verse 6, but without
faith it is impossible to please Him. And that goes right along
with what I was just saying. What is it we do to please God? We believe His Son and the record
of Him. For he that cometh to God must,
what? Must believe that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. I'm
gonna stick to my notes. I was gonna get away from my
notes there for just a moment. Folks, true saving faith gives believing
sinners the witness and testimony of God the Holy Spirit that in
Christ and because of Christ we please God. That's what we
just talked about a moment ago. Our only pleasing to God Almighty
is from what His Son has done in us. From what His Son, the
work that His Son has began to do. Enoch was caught up into
heaven. Not temporarily, as Paul was, but more like Elijah. He was caught up into heaven
forever. He never came back. Folks, people don't go to heaven
and then come back to this earth. I know a lot of people say, oh,
I saw the light. You should have seen it. It was
so bright. But it wasn't my time yet. God
sent me back. No, he doesn't. I want you to
go through that door marking death. That's it. That's it. Now there was a time when the
Lord raised some people from the dead, but they had not left
this world yet. There is an intimate relationship between this life
and the glory after that we see here in Enoch walking with God
on earth. And one day, he did not return, it says. God took
him. He took him to glory. Look over
at Philippians chapter 1. Turn over to Philippians chapter
1. There's a correlation. between
what we do on this earth and what happens in the world after.
Listen to this, look at these words in Philippians 1 verse
21. For me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain. These are words that Enoch experienced
right off. He was taken. But if I live in
this flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall
choose I want not. For I am in a strait betwixt
between the desire to part and to be with Christ, which is far
better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful of you." So we see the relationship between
this life and the glory of heaven for God's people. Old Testament
believers knew and expected and enjoyed the hope and eternal
life through faith just as you and I do. You want to see that?
Turn over to Romans chapter 4, verse 3. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham what? He believed God. That's what we're talking about
here in Enoch. And we're going to look at that
even deeper as we get further over into chapter 11 here. But
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. All of this list that we're going
to look at here is Old Testament saints. And every one of them
that's listed here, and it's not an extensive list. Folks,
there's hundreds. David's not talked about here.
David was a faithful man of God. There's several here that are
not spoken of that were faithful men of God. But this one Enoch,
he expected the same thing, he enjoyed the hope of eternal life,
and it was all through faith, just as we do. Enoch went to
heaven, as some shall at the coming of Christ, without dying. You can read in 1 Corinthians
15, where some will be taken up into heaven. But we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with those
who have gone on to us before us and to heaven. The primary
thing that we want to understand this morning is the fact that
Enoch walked with God by faith. What does it say there? By faith,
Enoch was translated that he should not see death. I want
you to turn over to Genesis and let's look Genesis chapter 5,
verse 21. Actually, we'll start at verse
19. And Jared lived after he begat
Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And
all the days of Jared was nine hundred and sixty-two years,
and he died. That's verses 19 and 20 of Genesis
chapter 5. And Enoch lived sixty and five
years, and begat Methuselah, for he begat Methuselah 300 years,
and he begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were
365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God
took him. So I wanted you to see that,
where it said Enoch walked with God. How is it that Enoch, this
is the primary thing that we want to consider, that Enoch
walked with God by faith. It is faith in Christ that pleases
God. Look over at John chapter 6.
John chapter 6. What is it that we do that pleases
God? The same thing that David Enoch
did. We walk with God in faith. Folks, we walk by faith, not
by sight. Isn't that true? Isn't that what
Scripture tells us? We walk by faith. I have to trust. I haven't seen the death of my
Savior. I haven't seen that it was for
me. I have to believe that He says it was for me. And that's
what we do. We believe God. And the record
that God has given of His Son. That's why we preach Christ and
Him crucified. We don't preach all that other
stuff. We preach one subject. Christ. That's what sinners need. You
don't need me to tell you what you're doing is sin. You already
know it if you're a child of God. If you're a child of God,
you know that everything we do is sinful. Even the good things
we do is sinful. It's full of sin. That's what
it means to be full of sin from the top of our head to the bottom
of our feet. One of the things that I praise
my Lord for that my pastor told me over and over and over and
over again. He didn't say John, but he said this. And you know,
those of you who've been under the preaching of Gene Harmon,
you know he said this. He said, we sin because we're
sinners. We're not sinners because we
sin. Sin is what we naturally are.
Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work
the works of God? And here our Lord is telling
us, pleases God is. Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent. What is it we do? What must we do? What must we
do that we might work the works of God? Believe in God. Believe on him whom he hath sent. is the work of God. And it is
this faith in Christ that receives testimony from God, that like
Christ Himself, because we are in Him, the Father says of you
and I, I am well pleased. Like Enoch, God's people in this
world please Him, satisfy Him, and are accepted by Him only
by faith in Christ. Enoch did not please God by his
own works, by his own obedience, but by faith in Christ. That's
what we just read there. By faith, Enoch was translated
that he should not see death. So we see it's by faith. Enoch
did not please God by his own works or his own obedience, but
by faith in Christ. Without faith, it is impossible
to please Him is what we read in verse 6. In other words, every
true believer pleases God, just like Enoch did. We believe in
God. Like Enoch, all who trust Christ, being partakers of the
first resurrection, the new birth, shall not see death. Then on
that great day of judgment, it shall be declared that we please
God perfectly. The Lord will say, enter. Come
and enter, ye faithful servant. Look over at Hebrews chapter
3. I want you to see something there. Talking about the testimony,
the faith. Did you know that Enoch was a
prophet? While you're turning over to
Hebrews chapter 3, let me read for you from Jude. Over in Jude
it tells us he was a preacher, a prophet. And I'll read it for
you here. Over in Jude chapter, there's
only one chapter, but verse 14. And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these saying, behold, the Lord cometh with
10,000 of his saints. So we see Enoch himself was a
prophet of his day as well. Over here in chapter three, we
see this. Wherefore, holy brethren, verse
one, partakers of the heavenly calling, what is the heavenly
calling? It's faith in his son, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider the apostle and the high priest of what? Our profession. That's the witness that all of
God's people have. Our profession, Christ Jesus. Do you get that? Without faith,
it says in verse 6, it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh
to God must believe that He is. You gotta believe that He's God.
I'm not, I'm not talking about a God who's, who's just waiting
around for you to do something for him. We're talking about
the God. Folks, there's only one. And
he, he's not someone who's waiting for his creation to do things
for him. He's not put his creation out
there and let them, okay, let's see what happens. No, he already
knows what's happening. Because He's purposed all things.
That's the God we serve. That's the God that Enoch prophesied
about. The God who is sovereign in all
that He does. Look over at 1 John chapter 4. And we'll bring this to a close.
1 John chapter 4. And in 1 John chapter 4, we read
these words in verses 1 through 6. Beloved, believe not every
spirit, But try the spirits, whether they are of God. You
know the best way to try the other spirits? Remember that
poster out here over the walkway. You remember that. You can try
the spirits of the world by just remembering those phrases out
there. If your God is trying, your preacher is lying. Period. Believe not every spirit, but
try them. Try the spirits, whether they
are of God. Because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come and
the flesh is of God. What did we read back in our
text again? You must, for he that cometh to God must believe
that he is. You gotta believe that he's God. You gotta believe in Him in spirit
and in truth. Isn't that what the Word tells
us? We must worship Him in spirit and in truth? Hereby know ye
the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of the Antichrist, wherefore ye have heard that
it should come, and even now is already in the world. Year
of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater
is He that is in you than he that is in the world. They are
of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world
heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth
God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Now turn over to the next chapter,
chapter 5. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we
know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep
his commandments. For this is the love of God that
we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Amen. Oh, what a beautiful picture
the Lord has given us of this cloud of witnesses that has spoken
up here in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. I pray the Lord bless
you with that.