CHARACTER OF ENOCH.

ENOCH WALKING WITH GOD.,

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah : And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis v. 21-24.) AMONG all the patriarchs before the flocd, there is no one so singularly celebrated for his piety, and for the favour of God towards him, as Enoch; called by St. Jude, "the seventh from Adam." Concerning most of the others, little else is stated than the dates of their birth and death. All lived to more than twice the age of Enoch: he, however, in what might then be accounted a short life, (namely, three hundred and sixty-five years,) attained to a higher character, and a nobler distinction than they all.

He is mentioned in three different parts of Scripture; namely, in the book of Genesis, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the Epistle of St. Jude. St. Paul (Heb. xi. 5.) attributes his eminent character to his faith. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation.

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he had this testimony, that he pleased God:"-adding significantly, "But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him :" (verse 6.)

To study this character, therefore, is (as in the case of Abel) to trace the pure and simple workings of faith. The life of Enoch, brief as the sacred narrative may be, abounds with evidences of the existence and operation of this living principle.

1. First, then, as to the Ground of his faith, let it be noticed that Enoch was contemporary with Adam rather more than three hundred years. He must therefore, in all probability, have enjoyed full opportunities of religious instruction from his aged ancestor. If it be inquired, consequently, on what his faith rested; the reply is obvious-It rested on the testimony of God, as delivered to him by Adam, Seth, Enos, and others of that great religious body, which was gradually raised up in the midst of a wicked world. The revelation of God in those days was indeed but a small light; yet it was sufficient to walk by, during that long night of increasing darkness. All the fathers before Christ, as St. Paul expresses it, "received not the promise:" the promise, that is, of the Redeemer. He means, that this promise was not in their day accomplished. They "received" only the promise, not its fulfilment. They knew, however, that a Redeemer would in due time appear: and they as truly trusted in him, as though he had been already come.

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2. This faith of Enoch, moreover, was a Realizing faith. It had respect to the unseen but everpresent God. "He that cometh unto God, must believe that He is." By faith Enoch beheld Him who is invisible.-In no other way, but by faith, can we know God, during our sojourn here on earth.

3. Hence, moreover, Enoch acknowledged God as a Reconciled Father. He knew God to be "a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." This thought clearly arises from the declaration, that Enoch walked "WITH" God: that is, on terms of affectionate confidence and union with the Lord.

4. The faith of Enoch was a Sanctifying principle: it led to holiness: "for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." This could not be by a dead faith. Nothing more offends God, than for men to profess that they know him, while in works they deny him. "Faith which worketh by love," is the character pleasing to God. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

5. The faith of Enoch was Practical: not theoretical. It diffused its influence, in his performance of all the relative duties of life. It is related (Gen. v. 22.), “And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." He did not therefore live a solitary life of secret piety. He entered upon the varied engagements of the domestic circle: only, with a holy mind! It is scarcely probable that he would have been so distinguished, had he not made

it his aim to bring up his children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

6. His faith was Habitual. This is apparent from the expression, He walked. His course of conduct on earth is described by a term no less emphatic than this: "Enoch WALKED with God, after he begat Methuselah, THREE HUNDRED YEARS." The constant, uniform tenor of his life, was marked by devotedness to the Lord's glory. He was led by the Spirit: he was filled with the Spirit: he walked in

the Spirit!

7. His was a faith brightly Influential in dark times; and by it he powerfully rebuked an ungodly world. This we learn from the remarkable record given concerning him, under inspiration, by the Apostle Jude: who writes-"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, 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." It is evident that impiety was rampant. Enoch therefore boldly proclaimed the coming of a Day of Judgment; in which the ungodly deeds and hard speeches of the wicked will meet a tremendous condemnation at the bar of their Almighty Judge. He announced, what sinners can least bear to be told, that there is a future judgment; that the Lord will come with ten thousand of his saints, (characters so utterly despised

here,) and will then consume all the ungodly of the earth like dross.-Enoch must have had many and bitter enemies on this account: but by faith he persevered in his testimony.

8. And the faith of this holy man was Blissful in its end. His honourable course was crowned with a quiet removal from this evil world. Something better, even than a triumphant death, was granted him: "He was not, for God took him:""He was translated that he should not see death." Whether friends or enemies sought him, he was no more to be found. Most probably, without pain or corruption, he was transported in an instant, body and soul, into the immediate presence of God: his bodily frame miraculously changed; his spirit perfected in glory.

From Enoch's character we learn the blessedness of close communion with God, and the duty of separating ourselves from a sinful world. In faith, in spirituality, and in purity he is a bright pattern for our imitation. Our way of departure, it is true, will be different from that which he enjoyed. We shall pass through the valley of the shadow of death. Yet if, like him, we walk with God now, our eternal state will hereafter be the same. We too shall rise to glory: we shall dwell with our Redeemer: we shall have done with sinners, with sin and with mortality, for ever!