A Man Who Went to God

Driving home: As one has quaint, God could not engage in loaning to this world. The Hebrew word for Enoch is exactly the same as in 2nd Kings 3 and 5, knowing of Elijah.

Martin uses the 'now you see it, now you don't' magic trick to illustrate the suddenness and completeness of Enoch's disappearance from the earth.

Now the words, was not, what do they intend to convey? Well, they are telling us that in the 365th year, Enoch got up and went forth to his responsibilities in communion with God, seeking to live in conformity to the will of God. He went out to the duties of a given day, prepared where necessary to get into the face of a wicked generation, and to witness for God. Suddenly, he was gone. Not, that is, on the face of the earth. As some of you, perhaps most of you, have seen someone engaging in sleight of hand, that which is wrongly called, magic, and they hold an object before us and says, now yo...

4:30 - 5:41 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Drawing from Hebrews 11:5, Martin elaborates on Enoch's translation, explaining that he 'did not see death' and 'was not found.' He defines 'translated' as a bodily transfer from…

The account of the sons of the prophets searching for Elijah after his ascension is used to explain why the text might say Enoch 'was not found,' implying a search for him.

Unless some regarded it lost and went looking for it. And that's exactly what happened in the case of Elijah in 2 Kings chapter 16 and 17. The sons of the prophets were a little bit skeptical as to precisely where Elijah was. And in 2 Kings chapter 17, this is what we read.

11:49 - 12:15 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And you see for a man who walks with God, though it is a glorious experience, it's not a jarring experience, for it is not something, of a qualitatively different kind, it is something of an intensely augmented quantity,…

The carrying of Jacob's bones from Egypt to Shechem is used to illustrate the meaning of the Greek word 'translated' (metatiphymy) as a physical transfer from one place to another.

But here in Acts chapter 7, we have a wonderful example of the true significance of the word. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers, unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of Hamor in Shechem. What did they do with Jacob and the other fathers? When they carried them over to Shechem, they turned to another.

15:18 - 16:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And you see for a man who walks with God, though it is a glorious experience, it's not a jarring experience, for it is not something, of a qualitatively different kind, it is something of an intensely augmented quantity,…

An analogy of a man being lifted from the ground and placed into a carriage is used to further clarify the physical nature of Enoch's translation.

And that's the precise significance, of this verb. In secular Greek, it is used in one segment of literature to describe what happened when a man was into a horse-drawn his body, the terra firma, and placed in a carriage. He was translated, he was to any vile in fact, being more accurate, in contempt, say he was, he did not see death, he was not born, he was not trans. So what God is saying is, that in the full vigor of his at an age when people were living two to two and a half times lived, Enoch the man, body,

16:01 - 17:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And you see for a man who walks with God, though it is a glorious experience, it's not a jarring experience, for it is not something, of a qualitatively different kind, it is something of an intensely augmented quantity,…

Martin vividly imagines Enoch's last morning on earth, waking up to familiar sights, sounds, and even his wife's 'dragon's breath,' to emphasize that his translation occurred in the midst of an ordinary day of walking with God.

amazing union of body, one day he woke up on earth, and he had the smell of a fist in his, he had the sounds of perhaps birds that may have chirped in his area, he had the sound of the bustling of his lard, he woke one morning, amidst all the familiar sights and sounds, he turned over to kiss his wife, and they had had something with garlic the night before, and she had dragon's breath, and he pecked her on the forehead and said, we'll wait for a kiss on the lips till later dear, an ordinary day, and he went out to the place where he had his special communion with God, where alone with God is ...

17:16 - 18:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And you see for a man who walks with God, though it is a glorious experience, it's not a jarring experience, for it is not something, of a qualitatively different kind, it is something of an intensely augmented quantity,…

Martin uses the analogy of earthly smells (like a lily) and sounds (like a symphony) being 'skunk smell' and 'cacophonous' compared to heaven, to convey the augmented sensory experience of glory.

of a qualitatively different kind, it is something of an intensely augmented quantity, we see through a glass darkly, but what we see, quantitatively in terms of the clarity of vision, yes, and as this man walked with God, amidst the scenes and smells of this life, he ended the day, looking upon the face of his God, no longer any need to struggle, and to wrestle in prayer, with his remaining pressure of an ungodly, and that which, intercession and entreaty, and if some of you say, why you think heaven will have smells, when you have those hints, of the visions of John, in the book of the revel...

20:10 - 21:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Enoch's translation served as a powerful, early revelation of immortality and bodily resurrection, providing objective data for the faith of the godly. It demonstrated God's…

The funeral service for Adam, where the head of the human race was placed in the earth, is used to highlight the universal experience of death that Enoch's translation uniquely broke.

To Adam there was a peculiar significance because God had said to Adam, Dust you and to dust you will. And Enoch had said, That funeral service in which how many hundreds or thousands may have been gathered when the head of the human race was placed in the earth.

25:06 - 25:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: John Owen commenting in Hebrews on this text, Hebrews 11.5, writes, This was a divine testimony that the body itself is also capable of eternal life.

Quotations from Lutheran commentator Leupold and Puritan John Owen are used to underscore Enoch's translation as the first definite indication of immortality and the body's capacity for eternal life.

bringing him into paradise restored. Leupold, the very perceptive and helpful Lutheran commentator on the book of Genesis, stated this incident was the first definite indication of immortality offered in the scriptures. John Owen commenting in Hebrews on this text, Hebrews 11.5, writes, This was a divine testimony that the body itself is also capable of eternal life.

26:57 - 27:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There is a world that cannot be seen with these eyes. With realities that cannot be touched with these fingers. With realities that cannot be heard with these ears. That's where Enoch is.

A lengthy quote from John Owen is used to explain how Enoch's translation visibly judged the cause on his side, confirming God's truth against a scoffing world.

materialistic age that lives as though there's nothing but what can be seen and touched and smelt and held and possessed. God's Enoch home in that context was gone, particularly to those who despise him. The redemptive, grace which alone could prepare them for the great day of judgment. Owen picks up on this theme and writes, I am fully satisfied. In other words, Owen says, this is my settled conviction. From the prophecy of Enoch, recorded by Jude, that he had a great contest with the world about faith, obedience, the worship of God, with the certainty of divine vengeance on ungodly sinners, ...

39:13 - 40:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: There is a world that cannot be seen with these eyes. With realities that cannot be touched with these fingers. With realities that cannot be heard with these ears. That's where Enoch is.

A quote from Candlish's exposition is used to emphasize that Enoch's translation was a 'palpable proof' of bodily resurrection and final judgment, doctrines denied by his generation.

contest, God visibly judged the cause on his side, confirming that God had a great contest with Enoch to his ministry to the strengthening of the faith of the Church and the condemnation of the world. And then in what I regard as an even more perceptive insight, Candlish in his marvelous exposition of this passage writes, but more than that, as the doctrines of the resurrection, the final judgment, and the eternal state were probably those which have been太平 which a scoffing generation most earnestly corrupted or denied, so Enoch was appointed to be a witness in his person as well as by his min...

40:32 - 41:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin shares a personal anecdote about his father's peaceful death, illustrating how a life of faith can lead to a tranquil passing, echoing Enoch's experience of going to God…

Martin shares the personal story of his father's peaceful death, including singing hymns and his mother's prayer, 'Lord Jesus, receive his Spirit,' to illustrate a tranquil passing for a believer.

May I share this illustration out of the recent experience of my own father's death, which has been such a bittersweet experience. I had visited with him on the Monday and Tuesday before he died on the following Lord's Day, four days later. And there are times when he was semi-conscious and coherent, the more fervent, the more fervent, the more fervent, the more fervent, the more fervent, that was being administered to kill the pain of the cancer that had riddled his frame at times would cause him obviously to see things and his hand would reach out like to touch or catch a butterfly. I don't ...

51:35 - 52:15 Read in full sermon