for his son Methuselah was born in the 65th year; which, considering the age of men in the antediluvian world, must be the bloom of his father's youth. With this family he lived 300 years, governing himself, no doubt, by a resolution like that of pious Joshua, That he and his house would serve the Lord *. His care would be like that of Abraham in after-ages, To command his household after him to keep the way of the Lord. He would probably often call them together to join in sacrifice and prayer; when perhaps his children, as we read of Job's, were remembered, according to the number of them all. He could not but be solicitous to Train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that they might learn to Know the God of their fathers, and be inclined to serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind ‡. And he would be sure to enforce all his precepts by a good example. A soul so habitually near to God, and so constantly sensible of his presence, must be open to all the tenderest sentiments of humanity and benevolence. He would, of course, study to make every body about him easy and happy, and, like your venerable and beloved pastor now with God, would wear a constant smile on his countenance, which he probably saw reflected from the face of every child and servant in the family. Happy were they that resided in it, for surely they might have continued there from one century to another with growing improvement and delight. And could we have traced Enoch into public life, we should undoubtedly have found that part of his character agreeable to the rest. Like Jesus, He went about doing good §, his head still full of wise schemes, and his heart overflowing with benevolent affections; so that whatever advantages his rank and circumstances gave him, were faithfully employed for the common good. We may conclude, that such a person was Approved by men, as well as accepted of God, that When the eye saw him, it blessed him; and when the ear heard him, it gave witness to him ¶. There is great reason to believe, that his lips as well as his hands fed many; and so much the rather as he was a prophet commissioned by God to teach the people, and to bring them some extraordinary revelations from him. Thus we read in words which I hinted at above, that Enoch the seventh from Adam, prophecied, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with myriads of his saints, or holy ones, to execute judgment upon all; and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have impiously committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him*. From whence it plainly appears, that he lived in a very degenerate age, when impiety and immorality abounded, when insolent sinners, as in our days, Set their mouths against the heavens, and gave their tongues an unbridled licence of walking through the earth +. But he bore his undaunted testimonies to the truth of God in the midst of all their opposition and contempt. He resolutely Set his face like a flint, as he well knew that in such a cause he should never be ashamed §. His heart, humane and tender as it was, could not but be warmed with a generous indignation at the dishonours which were done to the divine Majesty, and Knowing the terrors of the Lord, he endeavoured to persuade men §. We would hope his endeavours were not entirely in vain, but that through the concurrence of divine grace, he was the happy instrument of stemming the torrent for a while, or at least of recovering and preserving a few, who might be the companions of his walk with God here, and are now his associates in glory. Such a governing care to approve the main series of his private, domestic, and public conduct to the Being in whose presence he always knew himself to be, must surely be comprehended in the phrase before us; and it will be pleasant to consider, 3. That the expression farther intimates his being ho noured with correspondent tokens of the divine acceptance and favour. Enoch walked with God, and Can two walk together, except they be agreed ||? It plainly implies, that he lived in a state of friendship with God; or as the apostle expresseth it, even before his translation, had a Testimony that he pleased him. Thou meetest, saith the prophet, him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, even such as remember thee in their ways ¶. Thus did Enoch remember God, and thus was he visited by him. The high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity, who dwelleth in the high and the holy place, condescended to dwell with this holy man, as he was humble, and of a contrite spirit**. Public assemblies for divine worship were, no doubt, seasons of delightful converse with God; and Enoch would, on * Jude 14, 15. || Amos üi. 3. Psal. Ixxiii. 9. Isa. 1. 7. § 2 Cor. v. 11 that account, honour and love them, whoever might forsake them, whoever might despise them. And in his house and his retirements, his journeys, and his converse with his friends, he had God still with him. He walked in the light of God's countenance, and was surely looking up often in a day, often in an hour, and saw by faith the most delightful sight on this side heaven, or even in heaven itself, the smiling face of a reconciled God and Father. He felt the gentle elapses of the Divine love shed abroad on his heart by the spirit given unto him*, which, no doubt, though under a darker dispensation, Witnessed with his spirit, that he was a child of God †, and an heir of eternal glory. As piety was the source of all his social and personal virtues, the fragrancy of it, as a sacred perfume, would mingle itself delightfully with all his social and personal enjoyments, and heighten them to a degree unknown to those who have not thus tasted the joys which a stranger intermeddleth not with. In every advantageous circumstance of life he saw and observed the hand of the divine bounty, and discerning also the interposition of the same providence in all his afflictions, for afflictions he undoubtedly had, he not only submitted to them in humble silence, but cordially acquiesced in them all, as the means which infinite wisdom and goodness had chosen to carry on his own kind designs, for his final everlasting happiness. And such universally are the ways, and such the supports and pleasures of those that walk with God. Happy the men that are in such a case; yea happy the men whose God is the Lord; happy they by whom he is thus constantly owned and regarded, honoured and enjoyed. I persuade myself, that after such a description, I need not insist largely on the dignity, the security and the delights of such a life, especially as it is to be the business of my second general head. Secondly, To consider the happy close of this pious course. He was not, for God took him. For the farther illustration of which, you will observe,That he was early and suddenly removed from our world. That he was taken to dwell with God.--And that he was received to that happy state in a miraculous and unparalleled way. All these particulars evidently appear from the account which Moses gives of this important fact, as illustrated by the writers of the New Testament. * Rom, v. 5. Rom. viii. 16. Psal. cxliv. 15. 1. Enoch was early and suddenly removed from our world. He was not. i. e. He was no longer here. You may perhaps wonder that I should speak of his early remove, when you recollect that he was then 365 years old. But you will not blame the expression, when you consider the long lives of men in those antediluvian ages, to which this period bore but a small proportion. As his son Methuselah lived 969 years, so his father Jared attained to 962 years; and therefore, being 162 years old at his birth, continued in the world 435 years after Enoch had left it; whose age at the time of his translation answered to about the 31st or 32d year of life at present, which you know is just the vigour and prime of it. But he had undoubtedly lived much in a little time, and had done more for God before he had reached what was then accounted the meridian of life, than many who had out-stripped him in age by several centuries. On this a gracious God excused him from the trouble of passing through a longer pilgrimage, and of drooping under the burden of declining years. And sure so wise and good a man would have been thankful for the favour, though it had not been bestowed in so extraordinary a way; especially as this removal was not only early but sudden too. This suddenness the words do beautifully express, He was not, i. e. he disappeared at once, as riches sometimes do when they Take their wings, and fly away, as an eagle towards heaven. On which account they are called Things that are not * ; the apostle renders it He was not found † ; perhaps intimating, that some diligent search was made after him, as after Elijah, when in a very distant succeeding age he was in an extraordinary manner received into glory. Let us pause a little on this delightful thought. What a sudden transition this good man had from earth to heaven! He was not, for God took him: he probably rose in the morning in perfect health, and went forth with his usual composure and sweetness of temper to the appointed duties of the day. And while he was perhaps conversing with his pious friends, which was the case with Elijah, or while, like Christ, he was praying with and for them, or engaged in some other act of social wor ship, he was suddenly called away. No tedious illness, no sad farewel to those that were at home. This happy man was in the way of his duty one moment, and in the regions of immortality the next. He was not, for God took him; which farther implies, *Prov. xxiii. 5. + Heb. xi. 5. 2. That He was taken to dwell with God. He had walked with him in this house of his pilgrimage, yet still his faith and hope had been waiting for a more noble and more perfect state, and that hope did not make him ashamed. Having guided him by his counsels, God received him to glory. And this was to him the crown of all his honour and joy, that he was received to God. Divine grace had long since taught him to say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none on earth that I desire beside thee*: and God treated him as a friend that loved him, and was beloved by him. As if he had not been satisfied with visiting him below, he called him to dwell above. He shewed him the path of life, and conducted him to his presence, where there is fullness of joy; and to his right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore +. And that holy soul, which had been trained up for heaven by so long a course of devotion and virtue, would find itself most happily attempered and connaturalized to the world to which it was received. He changed his place indeed, but his employments and pleasures were in the main the same. He still walked with God, but with a steadier pace, more unwearied ardor, and more exquisite delight. How gladly would he have obeyed this divine call to that world, though death in its most dreadful forms had stood to meet him in his passage thither. But through the peculiar favour of God to him, we are informed, 3. That he was received to this happiness in a miraculous, and till that time an unparalleled way. For his sake God was pleased to create a new thing on the earth, and to permit a child of Adam to enter the gates of his glory, without taking the road appointed to the best of men in the course of nature, in passing through the valley of the shadow of death. I cannot say that we could with any certainty have inferred this from the words of Moses alone. He was not, for God took him. That phrase might have been interpreted of a sudden death as Rachel is said to lament, because Her children were nott. And Job expressed his apprehension of immediate death, by saying, Thou shalt seek me in the morning, and I shall not be . Now had Enoch passed out of life thus, it might have been said that God took him, as Asaph speaks of being Received into glory. And our Lord promises his apostles, who were to go the way of all flesh, that he would Come and receive them to Psal. Ixxiii. 25. † Psal. xvi. 11. Mat. ii. 18. § Job vii. 21. |
