Enoch, The Man who Pleased God
Part 1, The Groundwork of Faith
2004 : Week 12  |  Printer Friendly Version  

Today’s message is Part One of a Series by Ralph E. Wingate, Jr., Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Normal, Illinois. Pastor Wingate has been pastoring for 36 years and has been at Calvary for 20 years. His sermons are outstanding, and he’s been a blessing to all that are fortunate enough to attend Calvary.

Pastor Wingate has 2 children and 6 grandchildren, but that’s not the main thing he wanted you to know about him. If you could know only one thing about him, he’d tell you that the desire of his life is to the know Lord better today than he did yesterday. His passion to know the Lord will become evident as you read his upcoming messages.

Hebrews 11:1-5, as revealed by the Holy Spirit to Ralph E. Wingate, Jr. ...

As I begin our message, I do so with an overwhelming responsibility that I treat these heroes of the faith correctly. I am constrained to grasp why God chose these particular individuals, so that we, too, can strive for the caliber of faith that God counts noteworthy.

The heroes of our faith had a remarkable relationship with the Lord. They each served God with single-minded resolve. They listened with a keen sense of hearing to God’s call on their lives. They responded to the inner “I will” when God called them, and as a result God propelled them into heroes of the faith.

The opening verses of Hebrews 11 lay the groundwork for faith. Scripture says that, ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for’. What exactly are those ‘things hoped for’? I believe they are God’s promises. The author of Hebrews (probably Paul though there is some dispute about that among Bible scholars) is saying that God’s promises are worthy of our hope. They are, in fact, more reliable than sight. They are utterly worthy; so worthy that we can stake not only the hope of our hearts on them, but we can confidently step out into unknown lands, we can endure ridicule, we can forsake treasures, and we can even triumph over stonings, alien armies, and all manner of adversities that strike terror in the heart of man. They are that worthy.

The author of Hebrews goes on to say that faith gives us a sure understanding of how the worlds were framed by the word of God. Since the beginning of mankind, men and women have been asking the same question: “How was the world created?” By faith, we can be confident in the knowledge that God created the world out of nothing, that He is the Maker and Framer of all things. Faith, not science, not astrology, not philosophy or any other manmade school of thought, gives us the solution to the puzzle that no man was present to witness. It provides answers to the greatest science quandary in history. It sees beyond what man can view with the naked eye and it discerns beyond what man can explain with the mortal mind.

The opening verses of Hebrews 11 also say that the elders or the Old Testament saints obtained a good report. These early believers gained God’s approval through this same type of unswerving confidence. They were tested and proven true. They understood the premise of faith, accepted it, acted upon it, and became historical illustrations of it.

Enoch is one of these Old Testament saints; He is the seventh generation from Adam, and his relationship with the Lord teaches us much. Enoch is mentioned in only twelve verses in the entire Bible. Those verses are scattered amongst five books in the Bible. Of those verses, two times, in First Chronicles and Luke, he is mentioned only in the genealogies. That leaves the following ten verses within three books (Genesis, Hebrews, and Jude) that mention anything about Enoch’s life:

	18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
	Genesis 5:18-24 (KJV)

	5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
	Hebrews 11:5 (KJV)

	14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
	Jude 1:14-15 (KJV)

How can you make it into God’s honor roll with only ten verses? That is one of the things that intrigues me about Hebrews 11. How can we ever hope to put our finger on the type of faith we’d like to emulate when we have so few verses to work with? We’ll look at this in greater detail upcoming weeks.

God’s faith and grace is real. Let us walk by faith as Enoch did.

Pastor Ralph E. Wingate, Jr.



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