This is the Truth Network. Do you really want to excel in your walk with Jesus Christ in this world? Think about that, my friend. We're going to study a man who definitely excelled in his walk with God in the beginning of time.
So stay with us, listen, and learn. You're listening to Until He Comes, a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hinnant, author of The Second Coming of Christ, His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation. And now, author and teacher Greg Hinnant. Welcome to the program.
Today we're going to continue our discussion of the Old Testament character Enoch and learn many things that apply to our lives. that he exemplified.
Now before we do that though, I want to remind you of the Triad Revelation Conference. We're holding an in-depth study of the book of Revelation over five nights. 10 different sessions. And in this study, We will go deep and we will learn the purpose of the book, the theme of the book, which is, of course, Christ in glory. We will learn the things to come.
We will learn what Jesus is saying to the church, right now and to you and to me. As revealed in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, we will see a glimpse of the judgment seat of Christ. And learn how to Jesus will. reckon with us about our lives, what kind of lives we've lived in Christ. We will learn about the millennium.
We will learn about the eternal world. We will learn about the tribulation period in depth. Everything that is revealed, we will discuss with clarity and insight. We will not discuss things that are not revealed, except to occasionally say maybe possibly this and that could be. But we will not emphasize that because this course will not be.
Given to merely satisfy intellectual curiosity about prophecy, but rather revealing the things that are shown us by God so that they will motivate us to a close walk with God and to finish our work. in the kingdom field right now as earnest disciples of Christ.
Now the cost is only forty five dollars. That will include a seven hundred fifty eight page A textbook. which it goes into depth on every verse in the book of Revelation and gives a pastoral application or a spiritual living application to every text. It's uh just simply loaded with uh valuable spiritual truths and references to the Old Testament in the hundreds. And then there will be 180 page plus study guide, which will go into detail on every point mentioned during the ten lectures spread out over five nights.
This schedule also allows you to reflect upon what we're learning and come back with questions in the next class. Uh this will really Put together This in time view for you. With much greater clarity, I believe, than you've had before. We're especially. seeking pastors.
and anyone who's in the capacity of a teacher. to be sure to come to this conference. What you will learn here will be life changing. Inspirational. And highly informational.
We guarantee that. And if you're interested and you're not sure you want to come, but you want to know about the course materials, ask us. Contact GregCathMinistries.org, and we will send you a copy of the textbook and the study guide, either hard copy or by PDF, depending upon whether or not you're local or whether or not you're far away. This class may be taken by Zoom, people all over the world, so tell all of your friends about it. This will be a blessing to you for years to come.
So, if you have information about that, visit our site and you can get everything that you need to know there. If you are in financial hardship, And you're not going to be able to pay that $45 registration fee. We do have a scholarship fund. You can click the appropriate box. To apply for that.
And I'm sure you will find that scholarship readily given. If you want to contribute to the scholarship fund, then there's another place where you can contribute to that fund as well. If you want to be a recruiter for this, if you're excited about this and want to help us spread the word and bring pastors, teachers, and every interested Christian, every Christian Bible student, then contact our ministry and we have a means for you to become a recruiter and help us in this spreading the word about this conference.
So, today we want to go further with Enoch, and we're going to discuss the fact that in walking with God, Genesis five, twenty two and twenty four. That before Enoch was Taken In verse 24. He learned to walk with God with constancy, that is, steadily. and habitually The Young's Literal Translation of um Genesis 5. 22 and 24 says Enoch walked habitually with God.
The message paraphrased says Enoch walked steadily with God.
So In doing so, he had to form lasting habits To walk with God. And it's the same with us. If you're going to walk with the Lord, you've got to have the right habits, and only you can form those habits.
Someone can tell you what they are, but they can't form them for you.
Now, that may seem kind of dull. You may say, Well, I don't like habits. That kind of puts me in a box. It cramps my style.
Well, you know, you're going to have to do this if you want to grow. To get saved, you don't have to form spiritual habits. Just being honest with you, To be sane, You come to the Lord and confess you are a sinner. and you're ready to stop sinning? as you understand it, and you wholly turn to Christ, ask His mercy.
Through the cross and ask him to come into your heart. and become your Savior and Lord. and you surrender your life to him. You believe that he died for your sin and rose three days later for your justification. That's how.
we become saved entirely. by the grace of God. No habits involved.
Now, but if you're going to grow in Christ. You've got to learn how to walk with him and for that. You've got to form the right habits.
Now, habits are formed by determined starts. You won't just fall into a habit. It will just fall into your lie. You have to say, you know, I need to form this habit or that one or the other. and then you need to get about it.
Now inevitably Sometimes it's Satan, and sometimes it's just our own laziness or our own inability to focus. The habit will be broken. What do you do? Give up and quit? No, you restart that habit.
So habits are formed by determined starts, and as many restarts as are necessary That new pattern of action is your life. there is no doubt that in learning to walk with God Enoch formed great habits. And we are to follow his example in that regard. You know, today, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you must discipline yourself. What is a disciple?
Well, a disciple means in the Greek it's mathetis, which means. That's the word that's used every time in the New Testament. When you see the word disciple or disciples, is one or another form of methetis. It means a pupil, a learner, a student, but it means much more. Because in the ancient world, if a Jewish, a young Jewish man wanted to be a disciple of a rabbi, it meant he would leave his home and go live with the rabbi.
he would imbibe his teaching day by day, as the rabbi sat, often backed up to a column in the temple courts if he was in Judea. And the student Say, for instance, a young Saul of Tarsus would sit at his feet and learn from him orally. and take in all his wisdom. Why? Because he wanted to live like that like that master, like that great teacher.
That rabbi, and then he wanted to. spread his message to bring him honor.
Now in the Greek world the same thing happened between a young Greek man and a rhetorician or a philosopher or mathematician, The young man would Leave home. Join this young man's band of followers, this teacher's band of followers, take in all his teaching. live accordingly. prove it out in his own life, tell everybody he knows, and then hope to glorify or honor that Greek philosopher.
Now as disciples of Christ We've got to form habits. We've got to learn the spiritual disciplines of the Christ-like life. or the Enoch walk, if you want to call it that. What are they?
Well, for instance, the habit of devotion. learning to spend the first time. In every day, the first few moments, the first few hours, depending upon your schedule. Certainly the first few. Certainly the first hour.
Spending this time with the Lord. privately alone. In His word, worshiping Him and praying, drawing near to Him, This is the habit of devotion. Then there's the habit of Bible study. This discipline is most important.
Don't just leave all the study to your pastor. You two are called to study to show yourself approved unto God.
So that you can be a workman who rightly divides the word of God. And you need not to be ashamed of your biblical knowledge. Second Timothy two. fifteen. Then there is the spiritual discipline of prayer.
Learning to talk to God, get along with Him and talk to God. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 5, we're told that Jesus, in verse 16, often withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed. Why? Because he knew he had to draw life from his Father through prayer. and communicate with him.
So he spent time in prayer. It was a spiritual discipline we see in the life of the man, the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth. The Christ. The same is to be done in our life. That's the discipline.
of prayer. Then there's the discipline of intercession, taking time to pray for other people. Having times of prayer and having prayer all the time. When you have a need come up, pray then. Don't wait, don't just put it on a list, pray immediately about the person.
who has a need in their life. This helps reduce selfishness. In a heart and a prayer life. There are many other disciplines, such as giving. learning to gear freely.
of your resources that God gave you. It usually is money, but it may be time, effort, help, strength, wisdom, whatever it may be that someone needs and they ask you for it or you see the need, then give freely to them. and that enables you to become more Christlike, because it is more blessed to give than receive, so said our Lord. The more you become a giver, the more you become like Christ. The Holy Spirit's here to change.
Greedy Getters into free loving givers. And then he assures us when we do that that Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto Jubosa. Meaning, Whatever you give, God will give it back to you plus more. Why does he do that?
Is this an investment scheme, not at all? No. No. This is the Lord is sureing us. That he will take care of his givers.
Now, these are just a few of the spiritual disciplines of the. life of a genuine disciple of Christ. And if we want to walk with God as Enoch did, we have to form these and many other disciples. By the way, If you're looking for a book which helps teach you these things. And very biblically, using biblical examples.
then I would encourage you to consider buying my book called Walking in His Ways. This month, for a gift of any amount, receive Dr. Hinnant's book, Revelation Notes: An inspirational commentary on the book of Revelation. This 758-page, in-depth commentary walks the reader through John's apocalypse verse by verse. It explains its historical context and language and identifies many inspiring principles for Christian living.
Every Bible student, pastor, and church leader will benefit greatly from its informational entries, thought-provoking footnotes, and inspirational additional gleanings and messages. Give and get your copy today. For a gift of $60 or more, we'll send you the complete four-volume Hinnant End Times Prophecy Collection: The Second Coming of Christ, The Tribulation Story, Revelation Notes, a verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation, and the Day of the Lord commentary, which interprets all Old Testament. Prophecies and foreshadowings of the end times. And if you are a Logos Bible software user, you may purchase all four of these books from the Logos Online Bookstore.
You may give your gift today by visiting the donation page at greghinnantministries.org or sending your checks to Greg Hinnant Ministries, P.O. Box 788, High Point, North Carolina, 27260. Or by calling 336-882-1645.
Now, again, Dr. Hinnant. You can get it all over the internet, you can get it from our Uh website. I would encourage you to get it. It's available both in print and also in e-book.
Walking in His Way sets forth 24 spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. The book has been used. All over this country and in foreign nations to teach discipleship. Many pastors have used it to teach discipleship. to their people.
Enoch was not a sporadic saint. If so, the Bible could not have stated truthfully. that he walked with God.
some other descriptive term would have been added. Enoch walked with God at times. Enoch walked with God, when it served his purpose. Enoch walked with God. Except When he fell into sin.
Yeah.
Now, Enoch walked with God habitually and steadily and constantly, just as we're saying. He formed that habit and he stuck with it.
So he was not sporadic. What is a sporadic saint?
Well, Such a Christian is one day in the Spirit and two days in the flesh. three weeks in the faith, and one week in unbelief. or five months in honesty, but one month in dishonesty. Oh, my goodness. That's a sporadic.
A saint. That's not the Enoch lifestyle, and that's not the life of a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ. And I will add something else on the definition of a disciple. A disciple really is if you want to look at this totally. An irrevocably committed Self-discipline Student follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Irrevocably committed means That they put their foot to the path of they're not going back. You know the song I have decided. Tefologies. I won't sing it to you. I won't put you through that misery.
But you've heard the song you know the words. The cross before me, the world behind me. Though none go with me, still I will follow. I have decided to follow. Jesus.
So They put their foot to the path of discipleship, but nothing and no one is going to cause them to go back. They don't want to go back to the old life. Then a disciple also is self-disciplined. While the note the similarity between the word discipline and disciple, they obviously share the same root.
So a disciple is a disciplined one, and I have defined this as a self-disciplined one because nobody can impose life discipline on another person. They may try and the other person may respond for some period of time, but as soon as they're on their own, they'll revert to what they want to do.
So, this has to come from within. I have to decide that I'm going to. um discipline my life and you have to decide that you're going to discipline yours.
So it's up to each one of us. This has nothing to do with salvation. Not at all. It's got to do with how we live. as a Christ follower after salvation.
Then The issue really that we're talking about is what I mentioned in the introduction. Anything we want to excel in, we do constantly. and habitually and not sporadically, and I will say we don't complain about it. It's not a burden to us, it's a joy to us, because we're doing it wholeheartedly and enthusiastically if That is, if. We want to excel.
We don't even think about it. We just do it. If a young man wants to excel in football, he's lifting weights, he's running, he's going through he's going to an academy which teaches him various skills in the sport that he hopes to aspire in. Why, he wants to excel, he wants to rise above the common participant. You know, one of the things that I think I know it grieves my heart.
But most importantly, the only thing that really matters, it grieves Jesus' heart that so few Christians want to excel spiritually. Why? in the world. Do we as Christians in this world and this system want to do everything? Great.
We want to excel. We want to gain the prize for being the best athlete, the best businessman. The best architect the best contractor. Whatever it may be. But when it comes to following Jesus, we just don't care.
We have no desire to excel. That, my friends, is a serious sign. of internal sickness And I think I have the name of this particular malaise I would call it Lukewarmness Lukewarmness It was the very thing that made Christ so sick. When he addressed the laudacy in church. They say, We're rich and increased with goods.
We have need of nothing, meaning we don't even need you, Jesus. Why? Because they were f focused. I would say hyper-focused. on their material assets.
They're goods, they're commodities, they're consumer goods, we would say today. And they were utterly blind to the spiritual life. had no concern about it whatsoever. They just wanted to make more money. stockmile more wealth, Enjoy more pleasures.
It was all a fleshly Experience They gave all their attention to the immediate life, This world here below, this world is perishing. And all the things thereof, as John enumerated them to us in first John two, fifteen through seventeen, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's all they cared about. But they were God's people.
Now, Jesus did not excommunicate them. They didn't lose their salvation. He turned right around after he said, and these are his very words, I wish to spew which means I want to vomit. Of course vomiting is a valid ejection of some substance from the body. Which it does not find compatible to health.
So Jesus is saying, I want to. Just Eject this worldliness from your life. Get rid of it. It is nauseating me. But then he turned right around and said, I counsel you to buy me gold, try to fire.
He did not give up on even the Laodiceans. And friends, he's not giving up on us today. Though we lack desire as a people in the post-World War II American church, and I say this with kindness, I too am a member of this culture. But I have to confess, we are far. from living a hot devotional life.
Am I saying that there are not millions of deeply committed Christians and thousands, tens of thousands of churches across this nation that are similar? No, I'm not I'm just saying to you, That there's a far Far too great a presence of apathy any difference. Spiritually speaking, in the nation. And you find it in this very thing we're talking about here. Christians want to excel in every other occupation, profession, endeavor, and pastime.
Except Following Christ. Friends, if we were in eternity looking back. on time. This would stand out to us like a sore thumb, which is a Southernism. If you'll pardon me.
Yeah.
colloquialism, a little Common saying. We would recognize this so easily. That in life we had failed to really give our all to seeking Christ, to following Christ. Other things commanded our attention and time. Our energy and yes, our money too.
But we weren't very interested in studying our Bible. We weren't very interested in forming these habits of the constant spiritual life. We were not interested at all, and perhaps we're ignorant of. Enoch and the life he lived, before God translated him into his presence. You see, this is why this is so important.
If you are planning to be caught up into the presence of God when the trump sounds, And Christ leaves paradise Para desos in the Greek, and comes to the edge of our atmosphere and stands in the night of the world to take home his bride. If you plan on that event, participating in it, then This is the way to do it. Set your heart to excel spiritually.
Now some may raise their hands and say, Isn't that teaching salvation by works? And I would say, No, friend, it is not. The rapture is not a covenant Benefit. the change of the body Ears. Everybody's going to get a new body if you're a born-again Christian.
But being caught up from earth to heaven without experiencing death is a tremendous privilege that has only been given to two people previously in history. Enoch? And Elijah.
So there is a qualifying for this. there's a certain kind of Christian God will take. He would take those who were living close to him. If you're close to him now, you'll be close to him then. If you are caught up with Jesus now, in your life.
You will be caught up By him. When he appears Now John also tells us that this is a purifying hope. He says, He that has this hope in himself purifies himself. Such a person Is seeking to excel in their spiritual life and their walk with God. You know, I would say there's probably something in your life right now that you want to excel in.
I don't know what it is. Maybe some avocation could be your job or profession. You're really caught up with it. It means everything to you. You think about it day and night.
You talk about it constantly, you read about it, study about it. You just can't get enough of that. item, whatever it is. You want to excel.
Now I would say, really, that's not bad or wrong or sinful in itself. We're told to do whatever we do heartily as to the Lord in Colossians chapter 3 by the Apostle Paul. In other words, a Christian should be all in. On whatever you do. But here's the problem.
Here is the real issue. If we want to excel in the worldly things but don't want to excel in our relationship to our Saviour, who has given all. He is excelled as a Saviour. He gave every drop of blood for and his body was broken for us. If we don't want to excel in our walk, I tell you again, we are sick.
spiritually And the disease is lukewarmness, for Friends, let me encourage you, I want to exhort you. I'm not in any way condemning anybody. I'm not condemning any Christian if they're ice cold. I'm saying we should be aware of this now. We should look to Enoch as an example.
We should learn to live the spiritually constant life, which will be uh a life that's built upon spiritual habits. Spiritual disciplines, we should do it now while there's time to change. Think about your walk with the Lord. Are you back and forth? On and off.
Is yours an on and off religious affair Or do you want to excel in walking with God? Do you want to stand before Christ at the beam of the judgment seat and hear these words, Well done! good and faithful servant. But let me tell you this today. There will be many Christians who will not hear those words, but instead they will hear, Oh, thou wicked and slothful servant, I gave you that talent and you did not use it.
Angels, take it from them and give it to another who will use it. That must not happen to you.
Now is the day. to seek the Lord. steadily, habitually. Because you want to excel. You want to please him.
You're not trying to earn your salvation. You want to please. your Lord. He has given everything in His love to you and you want to respond to Him. This, I would encourage you to do today.
So, we will. Come together again to learn more about the Enoch lifestyle in our next. program. If this message has blessed you, tell your friends and please consider helping us stay on the air by sending your tax-deductible donation to Greg Hennett Ministries. Also, remember, you may download the Until He Comes podcast from your preferred podcast app.
May you walk closely with Christ and trust and obey Him in your daily tests of faith and patience until He Comes. This is the Truth Network. Yeah.
