If you would turn with me back in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, this time to Hebrews chapter 11 again; page 1007 in your pew Bibles. Tonight we look again to this chapter and we look to what the writer has to say about Abel and Enoch and faith. Abel and Enoch lived after the Fall and before the Flood. In other words, they lived in a fallen world. They lived in a world of materialism and violence and bravado. They lived in a world that was deserving of God’s judgment. They lived in a world not unlike the world in which we live. But they lived by faith, and for Abel, that meant that he died. He was killed for what he believed. He was killed for how he lived. For Enoch, it was the exact opposite. He did not die. He was taken by God and did not see death. And what the writer of Hebrews wants us to see though, is that for both Abel and for Enoch, they lived to please God. In life and in death, or not death, they lived before the face of God. And as such, they provide an example for us how to do the same – how to live before the face of God in a fallen world. How to please God in a world that is plagued by sin.
Our two points for tonight will be, number one, before the Flood, and number two, before the face of God. Before the Flood and before the face of God. Before we read God’s Word, let’s pray and ask His blessing. Let’s pray.
Father, we confess as we come before Your Word tonight that we live in a fallen world, a sinful world, and we come to Your Word tonight with sinful hearts. Our hearts are still marred by sin and by distraction and by our own desires, worldly desires. We need our hearts, our minds, our thoughts, our whole lives redirected from ourselves and from the world around us to You and to our salvation in Christ. And so would Your Spirit now do that work to turn our eyes upon Jesus. Help us to see Him and to follow Him more closely in all that we do. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Hebrews 11, verse 4:
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 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. 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.”
The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever.
Number one – before the Flood. These were the good old days, weren’t they? Last week, we looked at verse 3 and the wonders of creation. “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God.” The creation itself, you see, is one of that great cloud of witnesses that testified to the beauty and the power and the goodness of God. Genesis 1 and 2 – “It was good. It was good. It was very good.” But it didn’t last very long, did it? And it all ended quite abruptly as we see in these verses before us tonight. Maybe you’ve heard the joke from a few years ago about the TV show, Dateline. The joke goes that every episode of Dateline starts the same way – “They had the perfect marriage…” but you know somebody’s getting killed! And somewhere along the way, every episode of Dateline turned to be about murder. It’s always a terrible story. Well, Hebrews 11 starts out like that, doesn’t it? It starts with creation and quickly turns to murder. It starts with the whole universe, the galaxies, the planets, everything, all created by the Word of God, and then Abel – Abel, whose life was taken by his own brother. Abel, who was murdered for his faith. Abel, who “though he died, yet he still speaks.”
And we really don’t know that much about Abel. His story is told for us in Genesis chapter 4. He was a keeper of the sheep. He brought the firstborn of his flock as an offering to the Lord. It was a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother, Cain’s, as verse 4 says. And Cain, Cain was a worker of the ground. His offering was some of the fruit of the ground. The difference, it seems, is that Abel offered his first and his best to God while Cain did not. But really, the most important thing is that Abel offered his sacrifice, his offering, in faith. And Cain did not. Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to God because it was offered in faith. Because Cain did not offer his in faith, his sacrifice was not pleasing to God.
And for Cain, that was enough for him to rise up in anger against his brother and strike him down. And Genesis 4:10 tells us that the Lord says to Cain, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” You see, that same ground, the same ground from which God had formed Adam and breathed life into him, that same ground from which God had provided the fruit for Cain to live, now that same ground was where Abel was struck down and his life drained out of him as his blood cried out to the Lord. All in the first few pages of the Bible.
And Abel is basically blotted out of the story altogether. Did you know that Abel’s name is never mentioned again in the Old Testament. There are no generations of Abel. There are no last words of Abel, no words at all actually. There’s nothing really to show for his life. He is just a dead end. In fact, do you know what the word is that the writer of Ecclesiastes uses to describe life under the sun? You know what word it is. It is the word “vanity.” “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Well that word, “vanity,” or “enigma,” or “futility,” it’s the Hebrew word that literally means, “vapor” or “breath.” It’s the Hebrew word, “hevel,” which is the same thing as the name, “Abel.” Abel’s life was “hevel.” It was like a mist that appears for just a little while and then it vanishes away. His life was cut short, just like that.
Now Enoch’s life was cut short as well, but for a different reason. Verse 5 says that, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.” Enoch only lived a mere 365 years, “and then he was not because God took him,” as Genesis 5:24 says. “A mere,” I say, “A mere 365 years” because the lifespans in Genesis chapter 5 are much, much longer than that. The lifespans before the Flood were lives of 930 years, 912 years, 969 years. But, what we find is that by the time that Enoch lived, it was actually much worse than the time in which Cain and Abel lived. If you go back to the book of Genesis and if you follow the generations, if you count out the generations that we find in Genesis 4 and 5, we find that Enoch lived at the same time as someone named Lamech. It was Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared and then Enoch, through the line of Seth. But if you look at the line of Cain, what we find is that it was Adam to Cain, and then eventually the same number of generations you get to Lamech.
Now here’s why I talk about Lamech. Here’s what we know about Lamech from Genesis chapter 4. Lamech took two wives and he bragged to his wives. He said, “Listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” And we would call Lamech a narcissistic sociopath. He had a hunger for power and revenge, a disregard for human life. He was a repulsive and deplorable character. And what Lamech makes clear is that that murder of Abel was not an anomaly. This event, it was not an outlier in the way of this world. What Lamech makes clear, actually, is that it could get even worse. And it did. Genesis 6:5, “Every intention of man’s heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:11, “The earth was corrupt and filled with violence.” Enoch lived right in the middle of it, and yet God spared him. “God took him so that he did not see death.”
You see, these were not the good old days. No, in fact there is nothing new under the sun. This is life before the Flood. This is life in a fallen world. Abel and Enoch didn’t live in a more innocent time. They were not immune to the effects of moral decay and human cruelty. No, you see, when sin entered into this creation, the effects were absolutely devastating. And it actually downplays the effects of sin to say that things are so much worse today than they used to be. To say, “There’s so much corruption and violence and evil today,” to say, “No one cares about the things of God anymore today. It used to not be the way it is today,” except that it’s always been this way. Ever since Eve took of the fruit and ate, and ever since she also gave some to her husband and he ate, there has been this conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman; this conflict between Cain and Abel, between Lamech and Enoch. It’s a conflict between the way of faith and the way of unbelief. And the thing that the writer of Hebrews is trying to say to us is that it’s always been hard to live by faith in a fallen world.
It has never been an easy thing to do, you see. “Don’t think,” he would say to them, “don’t think that if you could go back to the sacrifices of the Old Testament, let’s say you could even go back to the very first sacrifices of the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 4, don’t think that you would be immune from suffering and persecution and oppression because Abel and Enoch weren’t.” And he would say to us, “Don’t think, don’t think that you can go back to a simpler time or to some Christian nation or to some good old days. No, living by faith in a fallen world will always be met with opposition. It will always require standing alone, going against the flow, running the race with endurance. Living by faith in a fallen world, it will always require, like Abel and Enoch, it will require us to live before the face of God and not before the face of man.
And so that’s the second thing for us to see in this passage – not just before the Flood, but before the face of God. Dr. R. C. Sproul once talked about a conversation he had with a man who was involved in international finance. And this man was talking about how Japanese companies are known for their long-term planning. So for instance, when Panasonic was started in 1932, the founder announced a 250 year plan for the company. Now that is long range thinking! And apparently, Japanese companies are known for 100 and 200 year business plans. This man said to Dr. Sproul, “What’s the big idea? Would you tell me, what’s the big idea of the Christian life? When you cut through all the particulars, when you cut through all the fine points, when you get down to the core, what is the big idea?” And the answer that Sproul gave to this man was a Latin phrase. It’s the Latin phrase “Coram Deo” – “Before the face of God.” “In the presence of God.” To live Coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God, so that the goal of Christian living, according to Dr. Sproul, is to live in order to please God.
How do we do that? How do we please God? How do we live in such a way that pleases God even within a fallen world? Well the answer, you know, the answer you know from the book of Hebrews. We’ve already learned this. Hebrews chapter 11 – it’s that we live by faith. Verse 4, “By faith, Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.” Verse 5, “By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.” Now just think about these stories, and naturally where does our mind go? Our attention goes almost automatically to the dramatic events in the lives of Abel and Enoch, don’t they? If I were to ask you, “Tell me one thing about Abel from the Bible?” what would most of you say? “He was murdered by his brother.” Same thing, what if I asked you, “Tell me one thing about Enoch.” What would you say? “He didn’t die.” Those are the dramatic events.
But you know what, even as the dying and the not dying get all of the publicity, that’s not what the writer of Hebrews is most concerned about. The writer of Hebrews is more concerned about how they lived – and they lived by faith. They were commended for their faith. Abel was commended as righteous. Enoch was commended as having pleased God. And for one, that meant sacrifice. For the other, that meant seeking God. Now those are not two different things. They are actually two ways to express the same thing. But for us, I think that’s a good way for us to think about how we live by faith in a fallen world. On the one hand, it’s sacrifice. And on the other hand, it’s seeking God. It’s looking away from ourselves and looking to the Lord in everything that we do.
Number one – sacrifice. You see, for Abel, his standing, his confidence, his vindication in a fallen world was his faith. It wasn’t actually his sacrifice that commended him as righteous. The “through which” in verse 4 is actually referring to his faith. It was “through faith” that he was commended as righteous. And it was because he was counted righteous that he offered sacrifice. And it was because of his faith that his sacrifice was acceptable to God. And here’s what Abel recognized. He recognized that his righteousness was not his own, therefore he could look away from himself in how he lived his life.
I heard an interview with a standup comedian this past week, and he was talking about dealing with fame and notoriety. His answer to the question he was asked, it seemed to catch the interviewer off guard. He wasn’t used to hearing answers quite like this. The comedian, his whole job is to stand up on stage by himself with only a microphone in his hand; he is the center of attention. Literally it is all about him. And this is what he said about handling fame and notoriety. He says, “How I try to handle it is, I really try to remind myself that it’s not about me. And so I’m living a life of service. Right before I go on stage, I remind myself that this has nothing to do with me. This is not about me. It is not a celebration of me. It’s a show for everybody in that crowd, and I want to do the best show for them.” That’s not a very celebrity answer. That’s not a very 2025 answer. That’s not a very “life in a fallen world” answer, is it?
But it is something like what we find in the life of Abel. Abel trusted God. He offered his first and his best to God. And his sacrifice, his sacrifice, his offering, it was a confession that he was a sinner in the sight of God, he was undeserving, and everything that he had was a gift from God. And so Abel, he’s an example of someone who was not self righteous but repentant. He wasn’t self promoting, but humble. Not worldly, but reverent. Not materialistic, but spiritually minded. Not seeking his own kingdom but seeking the kingdom of God. Jesus, in Matthew 23, calls Abel “righteous Abel,” just like we find here in Hebrews 11 verse 4. By faith he was commended as righteous. By faith he offered a more acceptable sacrifice. Sacrifice – just like we saw this morning from Hebrews chapter 9 – even when it’s unpopular, even when it’s costly. But that’s what it means to live by faith in a fallen world in order to please God. It’s to look away from self and it’s to live a life of serving God and others. And to do so because, as we see in verse 6, God rewards those who seek Him.
There’s sacrifice and there’s seeking God. Look at verse 6. It says, “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.” It probably should be a good rule of thumb that it’s not a very good sign when my calculator comes out during sermon preparation. After all, an Excel spreadsheet with data is usually not what makes for very much spiritual sustenance. What do the analytics say? It might be a good question for the red zone, but probably not for the pulpit! But I got a little lost in the numbers this week as I was studying this passage and looking especially at Genesis chapter 5.
I won’t go into all of the details of the numbers that I was adding up and comparing, but I say this just because Genesis chapter 5 is mostly about numbers. Things like verses 6 to 8 say, “When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.” It’s almost like a template all the way through Genesis chapter 5. You could almost drop a chart between Genesis 4 and Genesis 6 and you’d get the idea. For nine generations it goes like that, all the way until you get to Noah, except for one. Except for one. And it’s when you come to Enoch. Because Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” And that little phrase, that little break in the pattern that happens all the way through that chapter, it is significant. It is significant because it is God’s commendation of the life of Enoch – that he walked with God, he pleased the Lord, he believed that God rewards those who seek Him.
What do we sing in “The Sands of Time are Sinking”? “The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom’s face. I will not gaze a glory, but on my King of grace. Not on the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hands. The Lamb is all the glory, of Emmanuel’s land.” That’s what it means to seek Him. It’s not looking at the reward but looking at the One who gives the reward. It’s looking to the Lord in all that we do. That’s what we see with Enoch, and that’s what we are called to do as well. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Walk with Him by faith. Walk in His ways. Walk like He walked. And wait. Wait on His reward not the one of this world.
Because there’s so much noise, isn’t there? So much noise. And it will, it will crowd out the supports that we have for living by faith. What? One hour a week maybe of hearing, listening to the preaching of God’s Word – what about the other 167 hours? Sleep. Work. Politicians. Media. Sports. Influencers. Don’t give way to those things. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus because He is the one who offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Abel. And He was raised so that it’s not just Enoch that walked with God and was not into eternal life, but whoever believes in Him, whoever believes in the Son of God should not perish but have everlasting life. You see, any other reward, any other prize, it’s cheap, it’s flimsy, it’s fleeting. How do we live by faith in a fallen world? By sacrifice and by seeking God. It’s by living every day, Coram Deo, before the face of God. Let’s pray and go do that. Let’s pray.Father, we bow before Your face once again to close this Lord’s Day, this Resurrection Day where we remember the great sacrifice and victory of Jesus over sin, over a fallen world, so that all things might be renewed into the glory which You have for it and for us. And so we pray that You would help us to live not by sight but by faith, that we would give of ourselves, that we would lay down our lives and seek You in all that we do in this week to come and in all the days of our lives, that we would live before Your face and live for that reward which only You can give. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name, amen.