2000 issue 6 - the hebrews hall of faith part 2 - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 2000 Issue 6 - The Hebrews Hall of Faith Part 2 - Counsel of Chalcedon

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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 nd a Spirit-produced obedience

thereto that overcomes the sufferings associated

with living faithfitlly to Jesus Christ n this

world. Faith

perseveres.

t

does

not

draw

back

in

the

hour of

rial;

it

demonstrates its divine origin

by

clinging to

God s

promises and enduring hardship

like a

good

soldier ofJesus Christ. This is the

main

lesson

that

our author teaches, and

it

is

illustrated in tbe lives ofeach of he 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

ofGod s

people in the

Old Testament. (2)

To

reveal the fruit that is

always producedbypersevering, obedient faith.

(3) To challenge you to fol low in the faith footsteps

of

this great cloud

of

witnesses.

These accounts

are primarily given to show God s people ofall

ages the quality of life that God expects nd

produces

n

the lives ofall those whom he

draws to himseif through the gospel, and calls

to defend his name n this world.

A.

The faith ofAbel: 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 ofwitnesses 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 Fai th for

the History of he 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

he verses in chapter 11, faith

dominates the entire verse.

t

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 ofAbraham'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

n

need of forgive-

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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 1 Adam and Adam instructed his

family that a holy

nd

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 ofsins and covering from the wrath

of

God

(Genesis 3:21). Abel believ

ed

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 unbel ief according to

his own imagination.

t

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 he coming Messiah.

For

throughout

the Old Testament, the blood ofanimal 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 heir

own interpretation

of

reality, God graciously

interposed and promised

that

the

seed of he

woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come

and

crush the seed

of

he serpent, Satan

and

all his

followers. Adam and Eve embraced this promise

and taught their children to do

the

same. t 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

hinking 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

he Church and Abel, being

a true

son

of faith

and

of the church, offered

the

lamb in expectation

of he

coming Messiah. While

we

certainly wish

to

allow for development in the

understanding

of

hat promise, we must do

justice

to the light

it

did afford the people

of God

in those

early days

of

history.

3. The Outcome ofAbel'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

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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

he 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 ofsalvation in Christ, God

declaredhim 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 ofCain's heart are

taught throughout

Scripture.

He

lacked the faith

Abel demonstrated.

He

came to God

upon the

basis ofhis 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 hou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and

if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.

And

unto

thee

sh ll 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

Scripturewas called upon to give .

the ultimate offering

in

defense of he faith:his life.

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 ofhis own household

(Matthew 10:36).

iii He

serves as an example

of

persevering faith to the Chwch.

Every subsequent generation of he 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 od

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

he earth. Abel did not die

in

vain ifwe pick up

the mantle

of

faith that he sogloricius lywore, and

continue to s tand for Christ amid all the hostilities

of

hose 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 ove.

Moralism, leading an uprightlife, avoiding gross ' .

sins, where faith is libsent, will send a manto heIl.

t isnever enough to confortn outWardly toestab

Ush norms ofmorality and civilitywhen the

heart is

at

war

with

God'

s commands and disbelieves

his

word

. Religion

is

a matter of he heart, first and

chiefly, and

where the

heart is .blackwith 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

he 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 just ified 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 la

ck

theinherroolof

faith

in

Christ. . .

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Cain's presence in the first family

offaith .

shows that the visible church contains many

hypocrites, who content themselves with outward

religiosity and acts ofworship,

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

judg

ed 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

n

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

ofmen

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. t is difficult, however, for hypocrites to

repent.

They

have trusted their own works for so

long and are so eager for the acceptance

ofmen

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. et it were

better to be known as a repentant hypocrite by

the entire universe than to be ondemned 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 builda

truly Christian congregation and civilization.

Remember Judas. You

can

kiss Jesus publicly

from

nOW on, but

you

are worthy ofa

short rope if hat

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

he house

"Beelzebub," what will they call the servants?

(Matthew 10:25)

If

hey 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 ofhuman 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. t is also very interest

ing to note that our enemies

may

sometimes be

members of he visible church. Nothing seems

more

co=on

today

than

for profess ing Christians

to persecuteverbally and psychologically their

brothers and sisters

}Vho

differ with

them over

issues of heology history. I l some cases,

those who like b e l h ~ v e maintained

the

true faith

against all thy o ~ m invention& ,of

he

chl,lrch a,re

forcibl), removed. from

the

church and

r a n d ~ d

as,'

outcasts.

Tl1is

;too we

may

expect

h e n e v ~ r

the

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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 avengedAbel'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

{ ~ u l ofTarsus, 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

he

martyrs will be the fertile ground from which

genuine revivals ofreligion 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

aking

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 .

t

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 ofGod 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.

t

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 s he reve led hims lf

t 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. han 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,

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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 ofwho 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 ofour 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

ofGod. It does

110t

fashion

foritself

any

God it

pleases, but it submits itself o God 's testimony

about himself. Moreover, it does not set itsel f up

as judge over the text, picking and choosing things

about God that

it

likes or rejects. It does

not

p t

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 beliefin God, and how

miserably deluded the masses in

our

culture are.

For each one of hem, fashioning a god according

to his own imagination, isentangled in his own

snperstitions. They refuse to believe

God as he

has revealed himsel f 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

im

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, t rue

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 ofhis

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: 10). It is this same attitude

that

keeps the rnajor-

October/November, iooo -TH COUN.SEL ofChalcedon - 9


7/11

ity ofAmericans 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 he 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 gr ce ofGod in Jesus

Christ, and dedicates itself o a life

of

hanksgiving

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 ofpiety, 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 ofGod. 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 heir corresponding duty

to pursue holiness before him. G e n e s ~ s

: .

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

Thessalonians2:13; I Peter 1,:2;'John

14:17;

16:13;

John 16:8). God's life-giving presence is one

of

our chief reasures in life, and Enoch was marked

by his habitual enjoyment

of

t.

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

hat obedience and the enjoyment ofGod'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 ofman. 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 he paganism of heir

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 he 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).

1 -

THE

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8/11

. ,

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 r { h S ~

forms culture. He prochiimed the truth

of

God 's .

Word

against

an ungodly culture, and called i

t

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 ofGod, 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

unbeliefand 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. t was

God who

rendered

the verdict upon Enoch's life. Before his transla

tion, God bore witness ofEnoch'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 ofh

is 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 ofa 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. ow 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 peopl

e

iii. Enoch was taken into God's glorious presence.

Our

text teaches

that Enoch was

transferred

from ear th to heaven.

This

is

the meaning

trans

lated. t s 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 theLord,

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, . '

t

is not as ifEnoch 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

ofGod

.

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

d ~ t i d s n o t the separation of

he 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

ofdeath

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


9/11

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

ifwe

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

f

faith. Faith, here, is

the

same

a,s

it has been

throughout the epistle: a confident assurance in the

truth ofGod 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 ofsl llvation 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 itsel fto pleasing

God

through obedience to his law.

Hence,

we

must give lip any thought

of

pLeasing

God

ifwe

doubt God's Word and pro,mise$.

l lor

.

.

- - . , . .

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

hem, 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.

t

is

the obedience

of

aith 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

r i s t ~

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

l k

In the words

of

Hebrews, it does

not

draw

back

: Having been sovereignly iniplanted

in

the

human heart

by

the hand ofGod, and sealed by the

Spirit

of

God, faith constantly seeks life and

salvation through Jesus

Christ

It continues this

search through all ofl ife , 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 1 5 : 1 ~ 1 ; Romans 8:1; 1

Corinthians 1:9; Ephesians 2:6; 1 John 1:1-7). t

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 li fe 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

TH

COUNSEL of Chalcedon

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October/November, 2000


10/11

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 a t 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

he 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 ofGod'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 ofdivine 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 hem, 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 ofChrist'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 ofmany

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

ifyou 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

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Chalcedon-13


11/11

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 ofyour sins - tur from them, and replace

sin with righteousness, truth, and justice.

d.

Obsession

with the things of his world will

destroy

your

walle with God Matthew 13 :22).

t

is

impossible to love God and

money

Matthew 6:24).

Now

we must

be

carefill here.

There

is a fIne

line

ofwisdom for us to seek. On the one hand, our

callings are very important. One important aspect

ofsubduing the earth and building a consistently

Christian culture is a biblical world ethic, i.e.,

faithfulness in

our

various callings. Yet, ifwe

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 ofall 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

~ t e d f s t l y to

obey

God even

if

all

men

around

us

fall away.

t 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 ofopenness 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 ofhis day to repentance

and faith, and warned

them

ofeminent judgment.

n

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 ofevery area

of life to the crown rights ofJesus Christ.

t

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 ofour 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 untilGod

translated him to heaven.

We must recognize that

sometimes God consigns whole nations and gen

erations to the garbage heap ofhis ory. 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 ofhistory 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

2000 issue 6 - the hebrews hall of faith part 2 - counsel of chalcedon

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