IDEA: God delights in men or women who trust Him completely.

TEXT: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:5-6).

"Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he had Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:21-24).

PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that it is our trust and not our works that honors God.

Do you like to visit cemeteries? Why? Why not?

When I read the 5th chapter of Genesis, I feel as though I were walking through a graveyard.

I. Think about strolling through a cemetery. Listen to the conversation.

PERSON ONE: "Look over here, William A Talbot, born January 14, 1802; died October 5th, 1884"

PERSON TWO: "Look at these stones. Lisa Humpharies, born March 2, 1857; died March 9, 1857. Joshua Humpharies, Born September 14, 1855; died March 7, 1857. Mary Humpharies, born November 10, 1849; died March 4, 1857."

PERSON THREE: "Tombstones just give the bare facts, but you wonder what happened in March 1857, don't you?"

PERSON ONE: "Reality is found in a cemetery, isn't it? People came to this graveyard a century and a half ago wild with grief; eyes red with tears, and they went home wondering whether they could ever live again."

PERSON THREE: "Yet, those people, too, ended up here too."

PERSON TWO: "Sooner or later everybody does."

NARRATOR: "In Genesis chapter 5 we see a group of tombstones that look pretty much the same."

PERSON TWO: "Look at this one, Adam lived 930 years and he died. He was the first man who ever lived, wasn't he?"

PERSON THREE: "I wonder who attended his funeral?"

PERSON ONE: "I guess his wife Eve did."

PERSON THREE: "I wonder if she said to herself 'I wish I had never given him that fruit to eat, this wouldn't have happened.' "?

PERSON TWO: "Look, it says Seth lived 807 years and he died."

PERSON ONE: "Enosh lived 905 years and he died."

PERSON TWO: "Kenan lived 910 years, and he died."

PERSON THREE: "Mahalaleel lived 895 years, and he died."

PERSON TWO: "Jared lived 962 years and he died."

PERSON ONE: "Look here is a man who must have set the record for a long life. Methuselah lived 969 years, and he died."

PERSON THREE: "This reminds me of an old Quaker burial ground. Every grave is the same."

PERSON TWO: "Well, this is no different from any burial ground. It doesn't matter how long they lived. They died."

PERSON ONE: "Hey look! Over there in the center . . . a monument. It's not a tombstone."

PERSON THREE: "What's it say?"

PERSON ONE: "It says, 'Enoch. All the days of Enoch were 365 years. He walked with God then he was no more. God took him.'"

PERSON THREE: "He breaks the pattern, doesn't he? It raises a lot of questions, doesn't it?"

II. The brief mention of Enoch within Genesis 5 tells us several things:

Chapter 5 covers over 1,500 years of history. It is a commonplace story--birth and burial, living and dying. Nothing very special about that.

We are tempted to skip it. Dwight Eisenhower said that his family had to read the Bible through completely every couple of years. He got permission to skip the genealogies.

Why is this list of names in Genesis chapter 5 included?

It shows that just about everyone who has ever lived died. So what?

God had said to Eve in chapter 3, "In the day that you eat of this fruit you shall surely die." Satan scoffed at that and said, "You shall not surely die." Have you ever wondered about that? Eve didn't drop dead.

This chapter shows that Satan's lie "You shall not surely die" was indeed a lie. This chapter demonstrates that all who live die.

Only once does the historian have to change the template. Instead of telling another brief story of a man who lived and died, he had to say of Enoch, "He was not for God took him."

We are forced to ask, "Why the exception?" Why did God make this exception?