The Hall of Fame Of Faith Series: Enoch
June 10, 2020
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Dear Visionary Leader:
Enoch is an unusual Bible character who appears three times in the Word of God, but he is an important figure in studying the Second Coming. In Genesis 5:21-24, we are told of his birth, that he walked with God, had a son, and was raptured into heaven. In Hebrews 11:5, we read that he pleased God and that he was translated into heaven. In Jude 14-15, we learn that he preached to the ungodly of his day and warned them of the coming of the Lord in judgment.
As we continue our series entitled, Walking In The Hall of Fame of Faith, we have now come to Enoch. Enoch’s life illustrates and inspires us in “The Departure Of Faith.” “And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’“
Jude 14-15, NASB
In these two short verses of Jude, the writer refers to what Enoch saw concerning the second coming of Jesus in the Book of Genesis, as well as six thousand years later, what he saw about the Lord’s coming “with ten thousands of His saints to bring judgment upon this wicked world.”
In Enoch’s day, there were two kinds of people on the earth-the descendants of Seth and the descendants of Cain. The descendants of Cain lived for this world. They are found in Genesis 4 in the marketplaces and cities of art, science, and industry. They lived a life of “doing man’s thing” to build a pain-free, pleasure-filled society.
 The descendants of Seth did not live for this world but for the things of God and the world to come. They are found in Genesis chapter 5. Here, the Word of God does not take us to the marketplace but to the morgue. In fact, throughout Genesis 5 we read over and over, “And he died…and he died…and he died…” Satan had told Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:4, “Go ahead and sin; you won’t die.” But God had told them that as surely as they would break the commandment of the Lord, they would die. Every time we see “and he died,” we are reminded that the devil is a liar. Even though Genesis began in a garden, it ended in a grave. It started with beauty, but ended with a burial. Genesis ended with Joseph dying and being buried. The point is, when man sins, man dies.
The Bible makes two comments of the Sethites that it does not make of the Canaanites. Of the godly people in the line of Seth, we read in the Word, “he lived” and “he died.” In between the deaths, there was always life. The Word of God never says the Canaanites “lived” because they chose a mere existence on the planet, not the abundant life that God provides. The Canaanites were always dying, whereas, even though the Word records deaths, we read of God’s people that “they lived.”
We also never find in Genesis, chapters 4 and 5, that God recorded any of the Canaanite deaths as precious in the sight of God. Any time a child of God passes away, however, God makes a record and knows the passing of every saint of God who is precious to Him. Message Continues In Visionary Coaching
  
Enoch was the seventh from Adam. Instead of a tomb, he experienced translation. Instead of death, he experienced departure. Instead of a grave, he made it to glory. The life of Enoch is a type of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The characteristics of the man named Enoch had several similarities with his day, time, and life as compared with our day, time, and lives.
OUR FAITH PREPARES US FOR SURROUNDING GLOOM
At Enoch’s birth, Adam was 622 years old. Seth was 492 years old. Jared was 162 years old. As a matter of fact, Enoch, the great-great-great-great-grandson of Adam lived alongside Adam for 308 years. Enoch was 65 years old when he left the earth, just a young man. The age of 65 for that period of history was just a child because people then were living above 900 years. But because man sinned, man’s life was shortened and he eventually experienced death.
An Age of Permissiveness
Enoch lived in a time of social permissiveness. There were no restraints on crime. Lawlessness flourished. Immorality was rampant. Marriage was only a convenience, not a commitment. Polygamy was a lifestyle in the day. It sounds familiar today!
An Age of Presumptuousness
It was an age of presumptuousness, when men were trying to create their own paradise based on science rather than following or obeying the Lord. Secularism was the rule of the day. The people were occupied with the necessities of life, eating, and drinking. They were also bent toward the niceties of life, marrying, and giving in marriage. Secularism was as influencing then as it is today. People were interested in the present world more than in the world to come; in gold more than God; in silver more than the Savior; in their jobs more than Jesus and in the kingdom now more than the Kingdom to come. And, it was a day of spiritualism. It was a time when ancient myths were forged. The love stories of the gods became so prominent, they influenced the religions of the Greeks. The occult was prevalent. Occult practices that were started then are still practiced today.
An Age of Progressiveness
Enoch lived in surrounding gloom. It was during this time that Enoch was translated from earth to heaven. He didn’t see a tomb, but he saw the face of God. We are living in the day and hour, much like his, when we are going to be caught away. We, too, will see the face of our God. As we look around, the signs of the times tell us that Jesus is coming soon. The signs of His coming have already been fulfilled!
OUR FAITH PROVIDES SAVING GRACE
 Enoch walked with God. Enoch had a righteous relationship with almighty God. Enoch knew God and God knew him. The Bible tells us that Enoch was blessed when God took him up without experiencing death, but he was also blessed on earth with new birth. He “begat” Methuselah. Methuselah lived long enough to see the end of this permissive age come due to the great flood.
Enoch experienced the saving grace of God. Every day we can thank God for the grace He has bestowed upon us. Enoch experienced the simple, saving grace of God, and he knew how to walk with God. Those who walk with God are those who are going to be with God. Those who are half-hearted, apathetic, cold, carnal, critical, and who care less are not walking with God. Day in and day out, we need to know how to walk with God. If we’re going to be ready when the Lord Jesus returns, we need to learn how to walk with God. OUR FAITH PERCEIVES THE SIMPLE GOSPEL
Enoch had a simple gospel to share. The gospel he shared with his lips was the same gospel he preached with his life. When we are walking with God, our lips and our life coincide. What we say lines up with the way we really are.
The Force of His Faith
Enoch is an example of one who both professes and lives the life of a believer. Not only did he know how to walk with God, he also showed others how to walk with God. We read in Scripture the force of his faith. The Word of God states that he was “well-pleasing” to God. In Hebrews 11:5, we read that Enoch knew how to please God. He knew how to please God, because he knew how to walk with God. He had an impact upon others who knew that he was a godly man.
 In some circles, it is socially acceptable for Christians to live immoral lives, to live a compromising lifestyle. Sometimes it is very difficult to tell the difference between the lost and the saved. No one doubted the life of Enoch.
He lived a life that was pleasing to God. It was a God- fearing, God-worshipping, and God-serving life. There must be a distinction in the life and walk of one who has experienced the grace of God. When we are walking with God, we are not walking with the world. When we are walking with God, there is a difference in our lives.
The Forthrightness of His Faith
Enoch said to those people of his day and time, “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all.” Enoch did not hesitate to share the gospel and judgments of God with others. We, too, can share the simple gospel. We can share that Jesus saves, heals, and fills with the Holy Spirit. We can tell about the soon coming of Christ and the judgments of God to those who refuse to accept Christ as Savior.
The Fundamentals of His Faith
Enoch learned the fundamentals of the faith. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him.” We know Enoch had faith because we know he was “well-pleasing” to God.
 As Christians and as believers, we also can learn to exemplify faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” means just that! Without faith in our lives, there is no way that we can please God. There must be a stretching, a building up, and an increasing of our faith. To build our faith, we must get into God’s Word and into prayer.
There is a great impossibility. Enoch learned that if he were going to please God he would have to have faith. He got faith by walking with God. The more we walk with God, the more faith we have in God. The better we get to know God, the more faith we have in God. The more time we spend with our Creator, the more we trust our Creator.
There was a grand imperative. We read in Scripture, “And he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek after him” (Heb. 11:6). Many in “the great hall of faith chapter,” found in Hebrews chapter 11, did tremendous exploits. Others, toward the end of the chapter, experienced persecution, pressures, and problems, but they never gave up their faith. They died believing. As long as we serve Christ, we constantly and continually build our faith in almighty God. The more we walk with God, the greater our faith will become.
For a person to be ready for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, he has to experience the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The more we walk with God, the more faith we will have in God.
OUR FAITH PLANS FOR SUDDEN GLORY
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:5, “He was translated that he should not see death.” Enoch was not only marked, but He was also missed. The Scripture reads in Genesis, “He was not…” In Hebrews, it is stated, “He was not found…” People went out looking for him and they could not find him.
 People will miss the believers on the day the church is caught away. People will miss the church and those who have walked and talked with God. There is coming a day when God will reach down for His church and for a champion. He will not only reach for a bride but for His body. When He takes us, people will know we are gone. They are going to miss us.
People went everywhere looking for Enoch, but Enoch could not be found because God took him. There is coming a day soon that God will reach down and take us all away to be with Him in glory. It’s going to be the greatest day of our lives when the captain of the conquerors, the head of the heroes, the leader of the legislators, the Prince of princes, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Master of the mighty comes back. It’s going to be the greatest day of our lives when we are raptured from this earth to spend eternity with our Lord.
Just as Enoch experienced sudden glory, we will experience sudden glory. Just as Enoch was transformed, we will be transformed. In that day we will exchange our mortality for His immortality. We will lay aside our corruption for His incorruption. There will be no more disease, discouragement, depression, or devil to plague the bodies of God’s people. There will be no more pressures, problems, pain, or agony. On that day, we will experience sudden glory. Our bodies will be changed as we shall see Him as He is. It is going to be the greatest day of our lives when Jesus takes us all away!
 There is coming sudden glory. We are living in that day and time. Just as Enoch experienced sudden glory, before we realize it, our bodies will be changed and we shall go to be with the Lord.
More than a century ago, a mother was tucking her little girl into bed when the young daughter asked, “Mother, can you tell me the greatest day of your life?” The mother thought for just a second and then said, “Honey, I can tell you the greatest day in my life. I remember it as though it were yesterday. As you know, my father fought in the Civil War. My mother and I were sitting on the porch one warm day, several months after we had received word that he had been killed in battle. I was playing with my kitten as my mother and I were sitting in the swing. Ever since Mother lost Father, she had missed him very much.
“On that day, we saw someone coming down the long, dusty road that ran in front of our small house. My mother said, ‘Oh, there’s a man coming down the road.’
 “A moment later she said to me, ‘Sweetheart, I declare that man kind of favors your father.’
“After another moment, she said, ‘Darling, I really do think that is your father!’
“At that, she leaped off the porch, ran across the front yard, through the picket fence gate, and down the road toward the open arms of my father. I was right behind my mother. I jumped for my father’s arms as I often had done as a little girl when he would swing me. However, all I found was an empty coat sleeve. I saw the scars of battle on my daddy’s face and I saw that his body was bruised from the war. I saw that he was missing an arm from the war he’d fought.”
With tears in her eyes, the mother said to her daughter, “Little girl, the greatest day in my life was when my daddy came back home.” The greatest day of our lives will be when our commander in chief, the Lord Jesus, comes back for us. We’ll look into the face of Jesus and see the scars of battle He suffered for us. The only man-made things we will find in heaven will be the scars on the Lord’s body. We will recognize that He fought a terrible battle to save us from our sins. He fought that battle for you and me. The greatest day of our lives is yet to come when Jesus comes back to take us home to be with Him!
Until The Last Person Has Heard,
 Dr. James. O. Davis
Founder/President
Global Church Network
Cochair / Global Networking
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Scientifically, Enoch’s day was an age of progressiveness when men began to build great cities that flourished. Populations exploded. It was an age of technological and scientific sophistication, much like our own today. But the people had no heart for God.
