Men of the Bible | Page 3

But with
Enoch, the increase of life's cares brought an access of fresh devotion.
New gifts of Providence roused new feelings of gratitude, and he
grappled himself the closer in attachment to the Giver of enlarged
blessing. This is as it should be. Every gift of God should be a call to
renewed praise and prayer, to a more perfect and joyous service.

This record of Enoch's piety teaches that the highest spirituality of
nature is not found in avoiding the duties and cares of life, or in seeking
a cloistered and solitary existence. The piety of monkery is not the
crown of living. It is neither an experience of healthy joy nor of
abundant fruitfulness. The healthful influences of Christianity are
immeasurably more beautiful when manifested in the joys of family
and home life, or in the discharge of honest trade and commerce, than
in the introspective gloom of the recluse, or the ceremonial round of the
ascetic. It is remarkable that the record states that Enoch's walk with
God lasted "three hundred years after the birth of Methusaleh." There
was no break in his spiritual course; it was continuous growth and
progress until the light of eventide deepened into the glory of heaven.
II.
"He pleased God."
This is to win the highest prize of life. Not only because God is highest
and noblest of beings, but also because His pleasure presupposes great
moral and spiritual qualities, and unfolds itself in blessings of untold
preciousness both in this life and that which is to come. The pleasure of
the Lord is graduated to the intrinsic beauty or value possessed by the
object which draws it out. It was manifested when the great creation
stood in finished order before Him, and He pronounced it "only good."
But of a higher kind is that pleasure said to be taken by Him in His
only-begotten Son, in His people, and in His Church. Over these He
rejoices with singing, as He rests in His love. Of such pleasure Enoch
was the recipient, and it was bestowed upon him in a most signal and
unique manner. Two especial qualities are indispensable to those with
whom God is pleased. One is faith--"Without faith it is impossible to
please God" (Heb. xi. 6). The other is uprightness--"I know also, my
God, that Thou hast pleasure in uprightness" (1 Chron. xxix. 17). The
former grace is the superlative and distinguishing feature of the people
of God. It is indeed the foundation quality on which all others rest, and
from which they spring. It is the broad separating act which marks the
difference between the saint and the sinner. Without it man is in
opposition to God. The Divine displeasure rests upon him, because

absence of faith means want of confidence and want of sympathy. The
unbeliever distrusts God, and has no fellow-feeling with Him or His
ways.
There is no more offensive feeling that can be shown by one being
towards another than distrust. It irritates our sensibility; it arrays in
opposition all the resentment of our nature. It is the parent of gloom,
dissatisfaction, pessimism, and rebellion. It writes discontent on the
brow, and bitterness on the heart. It is the fruitful parent of all ill in
human nature. But faith pleases God. It draws the human and Divine
into loving association. It leads the human to look to the Divine for
counsel, to lean upon Him for help, to refer all things to His decision,
to wait on Him for guidance in every step and enterprise in life. The
faith of the patriarchs seems to have been characterised by entire
simplicity and childlikeness. As manifested by Enoch, Noah, and
Abraham, all of whom had the pleasure of the Lord resting on them in a
pre-eminent degree, there was no stumbling or hesitancy. Some of them
had their faith severely tried, but it came forth from the test victorious,
as "gold tried in the fire." Therefore, if the command of God was hard,
faith led to obedience; if the mystery of life was deep, faith drew them
close to the Father; if the sense of sin and guilt was strong, faith never
failed, but led them to look for the promised Redeemer, and they
rejoiced to see His day and were glad.
Faith is said to be difficult to exercise in this day of bustle, excitement,
and pressure. The differences between this day and Enoch's day are
merely accidental and not essential. There were the same inducements
and temptations to evil then as now. There were scoffers and cavillers
then as now. The doubting spirit in our first parents and in Cain was
felt in all; but there was also the strong and manly faith which resisted
the sin of doubt, which looked from the seen