Pleasing God

Hebrews 11:4-6

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

A couple of weeks ago, we began Hebrews chapter 11 by talking about what faith is. We saw the author describe faith as the reality, or proof, of what we hope for, as we look forward to God's provision and salvation. Our faith, based on evidence of God’s work and faithfulness in our lives, is what points us forward to hope.

This is not how the modern world defines faith. Today, the definition of faith has been hijacked by the Enlightenment, the “Age of Reason”, and the New Atheist Movement to mean:

Modern definition of faith:

a belief in an idea or deity, especially without evidence or proof.

But as we can see in Scripture, that is not how we are to define faith. The author of Hebrews shows examples of faith to his readers by recalling characters from the Old Testament. He points to these Heroes of the faith as evidence of God’s approval, even though these people did not see the fulfillment of God’s promises in their lifetime.

The two characters we are looking at today do not have a whole lot written about them in the Old Testament: Abel and Enoch. However, even the short narratives of their lives point us to the importance of faith. And then in our last verse, the author points us to why faith is important, that it is the only way for us to please God.

Big Idea: Faith is the only path to God’s approval and reward

Hebrews 11:4

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

The author begins working through the many examples of Old Testament characters who had faith in God. His first example is Abel, who gave a superior gift/sacrifice to God, compared to his brother Cain. So, to help us understand why the author of Hebrews would bring up this story, lets go to Genesis 4 to read about these sacrifices from Cain and Abel.

Genesis 4:1-5

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the LORD’s help.” She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

One of the things that we may notice in this story is that the two brothers offered two different sacrifices. Many theologians have discussed how the differing sacrifices could have been a factor in God’s approval. Cain gave produce from the field while Abel gave from his flocks. Thare have been arguments made that Abel’s offering was better because it was a “blood” offering. However, that argument disregards the fact that in the Mosaic Law, there were specified offerings of grain, oil, and wine - all of these come from the fields.

There is something that sticks out to me in reading this passage that does BEGIN to define the difference in Cain’s and Abel’s offerings to the Lord. Lets look at Cain’s offering again.

Genesis 4:3

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

In the course of time Cain presented

This offering to God from Cain is the first recorded, free-will offering to God in the Bible. The description of Cain’s offering is not very specific. It simply says he gave some of the produce to the Lord.

Genesis 4:4

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering…

Now, when we look at Abel’s offering, we see some detail as to what he presented to the Lord. Abel did not just offer some of his flock. He offered some of the FIRSTBORN of his flock, along with the fat of those animals. Why are these details important?

By offering the firstborn of his flocks, Abel was recognizing that the animals he took care of belonged to God first. Though it would have been advantageous to keep the firstborn animals for himself, guaranteeing he would have animals to reproduce and increase his flocks, he offered some of those firstborn animals to God.

The fat portions would have been seen as the most expensive, choicest parts of the animal. The best tasting steak is not the one that is all lean red meat with no fat in it. The best steak has the marbling of fat throughout the meat that produces a succulent flavor in every bite. This is also why you put a pat of butter on a steak after you take it off the grill and let it rest, allowing that butter to melt and provide more flavor to the steak.

Abel giving these things as his offering to the Lord are not specifically what made his offering approved by the Lord. Let’s look again at what God thought of Cain’s offering.

Genesis 4:5

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

…but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

I said that Cain’s offering was the first one to God in the Bible. It also was the first offering rejected by God in the Bible. And how did Cain respond to that rejection? He got angry. Right there, that should tell you that Cain’s heart was not right in his sacrifice to God. Instead of feeling sorrow for his sacrifice being rejected, Cain got mad. He didn’t ask why it was rejected so that he could present a better sacrifice next time. Instead, he allowed jealousy of his brother to overtake him and he took his brother out into the field and murdered him.

Yes, Cain gave an offering to God. But it wasn’t a full, heart-felt sacrifice. it came across as more of an obligation. So he gave SOME of his produce.

But Abel, he wanted to please God. He loved God and wanted to honor him in his sacrifice. So Abel offered the best parts of his flock to the Lord.

When you look at how you offer your life, your time, or your money to the Lord, do you give the best of what you have? Or do you give what you have left? Do give with intention? Or do you give “whatever?”

Do you give like Cain, out of obligation? Or do you give like Abel, out of love for the Lord and faith in his ability to provide for you?

Answering those questions will help you see how you view your relationship to God and just how much you choose to honor him as God.

Abel’s sacrifice was not approved because of “what” he brought. His sacrifice was approved because of “how” he brought it. His faith in God is what “approved” him in the Lord's sight, much like Abraham in Genesis 15:6, and so he was called righteous by God.

Even though Abel is now dead, the author of Hebrews says that his story speaks to us, or points us to the reality of what faith in God brings. This is not a past-tens speaking, but a present, continual action that is relevant even to us today. Remember what we talked about a couple of weeks ago. Faith is the reality for us of the things that we hope for. Our faith is based of evidence from things we know and believe, meaning they have already happened. That faith points us to have hope toward the future. The faith that Abel showed in his offering to God outlasted his own life.

How many of you can think of people whose faith in the Lord outlasted them, where their faith still has an impact on you today though they are no longer here? That legacy of faith is what the author of Hebrews is pointing out throughout this chapter and into the next.

The first Easter Sunday that I preached here at Living Word, I told the story of Stan Steward, a missionary to the Muslim country of Turkey. He and his wife had been on the mission field with their kids for a little while when Stan was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He refused to leave Turkey, but chose to stay on the mission field “dying out loud” for the Muslim people to see his faith playing out, even as God did not heal him.

Being a living example of trusting God through hardship, the Turkish people lobbied to their government to allow Stan to be buried in Turkey. At his funeral, hundreds of Muslim people took Bibles in the Turkish language because they wanted to know about the God that Stan served and loved so much.

Men, especially us fathers, I pray that our lives would reflect that type of trust, a faith that speaks to others long after we have left this earth. If you want to leave a legacy for your family, there is no greater legacy than that.

Hebrews 11:5

By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.

We next see the mention of Enoch. Not much is said about him in the Old Testament, but I want to look at the passage in Genesis 5:21-24.

Genesis 5:21-24

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 5

Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.

This is all of the biblical information we have about Enoch. You may be familiar with this name due to an ancient Jewish text called 1 Enoch. 1 Enoch is a Jewish apocalyptic work that pictures angelic rebellion, divine judgment, and the final vindication of the righteous. It is attributed to Enoch of the Bible, but could not have been written by him. Biblical scholars treat the book as not inspired but informational concerning early Jewish beliefs.

When people talk about the Nephilim, angels, or giants who roamed the earth, having children with human women before the flood, 1 Enoch is where those stories came from, influencing how some people have interpreted Scripture narratives about the world before the flood.

In this passage of Genesis 5, we see the stats of how long Enoch lived, that he was the father of Methuselah, and that he had other children. But then we see what set Enoch apart from so many others. Genesis 5:24 says that Enoch walked with God. What does it mean to walk with God?

We can actually see in Genesis 3 how Adam walked with God in the garden. After Adam and Eve sinned, we see in verses 8 and 10 that God walked in the garden. This means that God's presence was there and available for Adam and Eve to experience.

But the description of Adam and Eve experiencing the presence of God in the garden is not of walking with God, but hiding from God because of their sin. Their sin created shame and guilt that they were embarrassed by. They did not want God to know they had made a mistake. But God already knew. When God came into the garden, asking, “Where are you?” he already knew they had sinned and where they were hiding.

Sin causes us to do dumb things, like think we can hide from an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God. It causes us to shrink from God's presence because we know we have fallen short of his standard.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

But that is not where the story ends. We need to keep on reading Because only then will we see God's grace in spite of our shortcomings.

Romans 3:24

…they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

When we are in a close relationship with God, we understand our faults and our sins, but we bring those to God knowing that we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

The author of Hebrews says that Enoch was approved as one who pleased God. And how did he please God? He walked with him. Walking with someone is an active way of spending time with them. My family and I will go on family walks to the end of our street and back. We don't just walk and not say anything. We don't keep our eyes glued in front of us, refusing to look at our surroundings. We interact with each other. On some walks, we have serious conversations. On other walks, we have light-hearted conversations as we enjoy the time with each other.

This is how we should walk with God. We need to be conversing with God, reading our Bibles to see what he has to say, and then bringing our requests to him through prayer.

Sometimes our Bible reading is going to be convicting, telling us of our sin and how we have rebelled against the creator of the universe. Some passages that we read in the Bible are going to be uplifting and encouraging about how God is with us in our trials. If you are reading the Psalms, you may get both of those things within a few verses of each other.

Sometimes our prayers are going to be serious pleas for forgiveness because of sin, or heartfelt sorrow over someone who is not serving the Lord. Other prayers are going to be desperate prayers for physical or emotional healing. And some of our prayers are going to be a light-hearted thank you for the way God has provided for our needs.

That is how a relationship is built: through talking, understanding, honesty, love, and grace. You cannot do that from a distance.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us to approach the throne of grace so that we can receive mercy and grace for our time of need. Hebrews 10:22 tell us to draw near, being assured of our faith.

I believe this was the type of relationship that Enoch had with God.

Enoch was close to God.

His faith in God was so great that Genesis says, “God took him.” What does that mean? It means that Enoch never had to experience death. Enoch was given the amazing gift of going straight from here on earth to heaven without dying. The author of Hebrews is using that as a sign of God’s approval of Enoch and his faith. Our faith in Christ points us to the hope we have of being in the Lord’s presence where death is no more.

Is that what your relationship, or should I say “your walk with the Lord,” looks like? Do you spend time with God? Do you listen to what he has to say by reading His Word? Do you tell him what is on your heart through prayer?

Even more importantly, do you even desire to do those things?

Just reading your Bible and praying are not enough to create a relationship with God. Just going our on walks with my family and talking with them is not what builds our relationships. It is the intentionality, the desire to be with them that builds the love and trust and relationships with them. The same goes for God. We must desire to be in God’s presence, desire to hear from him, and to speak with him.

Ask the Lord to give you that desire to draw close to Him!

Those conversations and prayers do not happen in any depth without a relationship with the Lord.

Hebrews 11:6

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

This verse starts off with a very definitive statement. You cannot please God without having faith in him, because pleasing God requires believing God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Two weeks ago, when we started Hebrews 11, we looked at how the Biblical term for faith is a belief grounded in evidence. The amount of pushback that I received from atheists over the last couple weeks has been overwhelming, to say the least. The modern definition of faith is extremely narrow compared to the original meaning of the word from Latin - fides. Fides meant faith, trust, trustworthiness, or reliability in the secular, Roman sense of the word, as it related to relationships in society. It was a belief in people. Theologically, fides deals with the faith we have in God and his promises. But all of those ideas of faith are based on an evidence that a person, or God, could be trusted.

As I stated in my introduction, modern society views faith very differently.

Modern definition of faith:

a belief in an idea or deity, especially without evidence or proof.

The only way modern society wants to define faith is as a “blind belief.” That is not what the Bible says about faith. That is not how faith was defined for hundreds of years.

We are to have faith that God exits. If you do not believe that God exists, you will not draw near to him. It would be difficult to have a relationship with your spouse if you did not believe they existed. Belief in God comes through evidence. And not all evidence is going to be weighted the same by every single person.

Many see the perfect order of the universe, the exact makeup of the position of our planet in relation to the sun along with the intricate balance of nitrogen, oxygen, and CO2 in our atmosphere that makes life possible, the massive complexities of DNA, and the mathematical precision of chemistry and physics as pointing to an intelligent designer.

Others see that the world “just is that way.” The “why” question does not matter to them.

Some see how archeological discoveries have given credence to Biblical accounts because the artifacts name people or places having lived or existed in the time the Bible says they did.

Many Christians also look at the subjective, or circumstantial, evidence of seeing how people’s lives have changed when they came to a knowledge of Christ. For non-believers, this evidence is often thrown out because people of other religions say that they experience this same sort of “feeling” about their beliefs.

Some people need a specific evidence to believe God exists. What kind of evidence do you need?

You see, the second part of pleasing God is believing that he rewards those who seek him. It is possible to believe God exists and still never meaningfully believe He rewards those who seek Him. You could have a picture of God in your head as an ogre who is cruel and mean to all of his creation.

This is the way we could view Allah of Islam. In the Muslim faith, you work and do good deeds in hope for Allah’s mercy at the final judgment. He may give it, he may not. The hope described here is not a Biblical hope, where we believe it will come to pass because the God we serve is faithful to keep his promises. The hope that Muslims have in the mercy of Allah is one of wishful desiring that may or may not come to pass - like me “hoping” that the Mariners will win a World Series.

But

The God we serve does keep his promises.

There is a general concensus that Scripture contains 48 Messianic prophecies. These prophecies are promises that God made to bring a redeemer for all of mankind. When we look at the statistical probability of one person fulfilling even 8 clear Messianic prophecies — 1 in 100 quadrillion (one with 17 zeros behind it) — this isn't something that happens by chance.

Some try to argue that the fulfillment of these prophecies was culturally influenced, meaning Jesus and his disciples knew about the prophecies of the Messiah and constructed a narrative after the fact that would describe Jesus fulfilling prophecy. But even though Jesus knew the prophecies, he couldn't control being born in Bethlehem, being betrayed for exactly 30 silver pieces, or being crucified between criminals. And the Jewish expectation was a conquering king, not a sacrificed Messiah. The fact that Jesus fulfilled 48 prophecies—including ones that went against cultural expectations—shows this wasn't him trying to act out scripture. He was walking the path the Father had placed before him, knowing he was the fulfillment of the promises God had made to his people.

We serve a God who keeps his promises.

And since we can see how God has kept his promises in the past to people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and more, we can put our faith in God, looking forward in hope to the future fulfillment of the promises he continued to make throughout Scripture.

Pleasing God involves faith, trust, seeing evidence that God keeps his promises, and drawing near to him because of it.

This really gets to the heart of the Gospel itself. I have stated many times that there are not enough good works that we can do to earn God's favor. Ephesians 2 says that our salvation is a gift from God and not something that we earn through our works. Because if we could earn our salvation, we could take pride in ourselves and boast about how great we are.

Do you know how the world tries to get rid of this problem? They just say God doesn't exist. You don't have to worry about pleasing God if you don't think he exists. This does not change the fact of whether or not God exists; it just provides a statement about what you believe.

But if you believe there is a God, draw near to him. Seek him out. Understand that God is faithful. Abel and Enoch understood this. Their faith was in the fact that God was faithful to keep his promises. Today, we see that God keeps his promises through Christ. Jesus is the object of our faith, the one who shows us the faithfulness of God.

Draw near to him today. Seek him and find your reward. That reward is greater than a 401k, greater than gold, greater than all of the wealth this world can provide. In Philippians, Paul considered all of his achievements as rubbish, refuse, dung, human excrement in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.

For those who claim Christ, can you make that declaration today? Is knowing God the most important thing in your life? Is your life marked by putting your relationship with Jesus above everything else? If not, ask God for the renewed desire to seek him wholeheartedly today.

If you have not submitted your life to Christ but you believe he is there, look to him, draw near, believe that he is calling you to himself. Submit your life to him and receive your eternal reward!