Faith That Pleases

This being sermon 7 in our series: Faith that Works…we look to move from a faith that is commended to a faith that pleases.

In case you did not know, only two men in scripture never died and we speak of one of them this morning.

We will speak about Enoch.

Not much is said of him in the scripture, but what is said always comes in a great understanding that he was a man of tremendous faith.

We should say, he walked with God.

Hebrews 11:5–6 ESV

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

A Faith that Pleases will be:

A Grace Empowered Faith

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Think with me for just a minute about the faith of those men/women in scripture that is commended by God.

Their faith is not perfect and does not rest in perfect obedience in and of themselves.

Look at their lives under a magnifying glass and they will have many struggles just as others.

Yet, many are described as upright before God.

For instance, Job was not perfect yet he is described in a very endearing and honorable way by God:

Job 1:8 (ESV)

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

So what gives a guy like Job, or Mary the Mother of Jesus, or Zechariah & Elizabeth, or Gideon for that matter…what gives the Biblical writers a purpose or reason to describe them in such a good light?

Ephesians 2:8 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:9 ESV

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

God’s unmerited favor to gift faith to ones who do not earn it but receive it.

John 15:16 ESV

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 6:44 ESV

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Secondly,

A faith that pleases will be:

A Complete Life Faith

Hebrews 11:5 ESV

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

What do we know?

Enoch did not see death

He was not found

God had taken him.

He was commended because he pleased God

Genesis 5:22 (ESV)

22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

vs. 21 says he was 65 when he fathered Methuselah.

Genesis 5:23–24 (ESV)

23 Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

24 Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

So here is a guy whose complete earthly life is surrendered over.

I love the way the poet Luci Shaw states this in her poem Enoch:

“Enoch

crossed the gap

another way;

he changed his pace

but not

his company.”

Thirdly,

A faith that pleases will be:

A Practiced Faith

Hebrews 11:5–6 (ESV)

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

He Believes God Is

He Believes God Does

He believes God is who He says He is.

So Enoch believed the testimony about God.

The text says he was commended of having pleased God, but this is impossible without faith.

Not just any faith, but a fleshed out faith.

as James says,

James 2:17 ESV

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

He had a practical living faith.

He believed not just in the existence of God, but in the relationship with God.

Since he had a relationship with God, he believed God did reward and judge.

Jude 14–15 ESV

14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

So Enoch, like Noah, proclaimed the goodness of God and the Judgement of God.

Walking Away, But In...

It’s a gift from God.

It’s a life submitted to God.

It’s a practice towards God.

God has called Christians to walk in a holy manner…and with all humility men say, but I’m not holy nor could I ever be.

You’re right to say we are not holy, but He called us to be and is making us to be.

But until we are, it is His holiness imputed to us and our willingness to walk in Him.