This is the Truth Network.
Some people believe that we don't have to keep the moral law of God because God's grace covers our sins.
Well, that's called antinomianism. And my friend Enoch was not an antinomianist. 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 broadcast, my friend. Today, we're going to continue discussing Enoch as a type of the Christian who is ready for the lecture of the church. But before we do that, I just want to remind you of our upcoming Revelation Conference, the Triad Revelation Conference, will be held at the First Baptist Church in Kernersville, North Carolina, which is just off of I-40, centrally located between High Point, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. And it will be September 14th through 28th.
Monday and Thursday for two weeks, and then a Monday following. We're doing this to avoid nights, which are typically used for church activities and also for athletic activities. And we think this will be a fine schedule. But come join us. We're going to go in depth in the book of Revelation.
And I mean, there are some rich treasures that are in the book of Revelation. It's not just predicted prophecy, but rich spiritual lessons that we can apply right now in our lives, particularly coming from Revelation chapter 2 and 3.
So I would encourage you to come, go to greghennettministries.org today. Click on the tab that refers to the Triad Revelation Conference. You don't want to miss it. And If you can't be there in person because you're far away from the Triad, North Carolina, you can take the class, every one of them, by live streaming.
So there is a place where you can click there and Register as someone to take the class live stream. You will really be blessed, that I am sure.
Now, today we're going back to our talk about Enoch and what an outstanding example he was. and he is to us to day. The Bible says in Genesis 5, 22 and 24, that Enoch walked with God. This is the core of what we're studying here. We're talking about the spiritual implications of what it means to walk with God.
To walk with God represents character. John the Baptist looked on Jesus as he walked and said, Behold, the Lamb of God. There was something about Jesus' walk his life walk, The way he carried and conducted himself that that tipped off John, who was a deeply spiritual man, of course. Jesus called the greatest prophet. and he said there Is the Lamb of God.
You know, friend, I want. You to know today that the Lord wants us to walk so closely with Him that that lamb life is becoming more evident every day. And people can look at us and say, Hey, The Lamb of God is living in that man. That woman. that young person.
The teenager, Christ's life is available to us all and fully activated as we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and then stay refilled with the Spirit as we're instructed to in Ephesians chapter 5.
Now, getting back to Enoch. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. And the Bible says he walked with God. I see in him the perfection of God's purpose. Finally, God found a man.
Who got it? He understood that he wanted him to walk with him in intimate fellowship.
So I know God's heart was absolutely delighted when Enoch walked with God. And my friend, we're talking about this.
So that you and I can walk closer and closer with God. And God may delight more. over our lives, and then the river of life may flow through us to the saving, blessing, and discipling of people all around us.
Now, in our last lesson, we talked about Enoch. Walking with God meant that he submitted to the control of God And he contemplated God.
Now, today we're going to see that walking with God implies uprightness. You know, when we walk we have an upright posture.
So, by walking with God, the Bible is telling us that Enoch maintained uprightness. as he walked with God. A very simple truth. Nothing complex here. You say, well, you're interpreting the Bible figuratively.
Yes, I am. And I believe this is a correct interpretation of the way to look at this situation.
Now, figuratively, this implies that Enoch was a man of integrity. If he was upright, Then he was a man of moral integrity. And in the introduction, I mentioned antinomianism because antinominianism, because some people believe that we don't have to keep the law of God because of the grace of God. And I'm speaking now of the moral law, not of the six hundred and in odd um Commandments that the Jews have applied to the Torah in Christ Day. We're not talking about that.
We're talking about keeping the Ten Commandments, living by the moral law of God. And many Christians say, well, we don't have to do that. We're loose from that because grace takes care of our sins. That's absolutely an unbiblical attitude, because Christ was a man of absolute uprightness in his moral life. though Hollywood has tried to depict him otherwise in the last century.
And so was Enoch. He walked with God so he had an upright posture. He was a moral man. Figuratively, this means he was ethical, legal, and moral. Ethically Enoch was honest and of good conduct.
in his business or his work. You know, we don't know what he did. But whatever he did, he followed the ethics of his field of work. The world was. tremendously more simple in those days, we understand that.
But Enoch would have had an occupation and he would have been ethical in his conduct there.
Now again, back to this definition of integrity, it means moral uprightness and wholeness of character. means having a character or building a character that's without habitual sins or flaws. Friends, think about your character today. How are you living? Is your integrity complete and intact, or is there a hole in your spiritual armor?
Is there a place where? sin and self is asserting itself in your life. And You cannot be said to be a person of integrity. Think about it now. We can do something about it now.
When we pass, or Jesus appears, we'll go immediately to the judgment seat, and it will be too late then to do something about it, but it's not too late now.
Now, by walking uprightly, Enoch was also legal. He was just and fair and honest in all his legal endeavors. You know, we see in the book of Ruth. Boaz going through the legal procedures at the gate of the city. To purchase or buy the rights to have a leveret marriage with A wreath.
But he had to go through the legalities of it.
Some people think that as Christians, you know, we'll have to we'll have to honor the law. That's just totally false. Peter told us to keep every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. And Paul said in Romans 13 to be subject to the Lord. To all authorities.
So we should be legal in our conduct. If you're cheating on your taxes, my friend, that's sin. You need to repent and get that thing straight. I'm going to throw this in too. On the highways every day, People are going so fast, I almost have to put a sign on the back of my car saying, HALT, SLOW Preacher Ahead.
I don't know if that would make any difference. But people are buzzing by m I'm driving the speed limit, and they're buzzing by me at twenty and twenty five, thirty miles per hour more than what I'm driving.
So we live in a very illegal age. We're very selective in law what laws we want to keep. and what laws we doing to keep. Friend, if you're a Christian, you should be submissive toward all the laws and ordinances, even though you may not like them, they may be restrictive. It's good to do so because Christ would have us do that as examples to the lost.
so they can see what kind of integrity a Christian should have. and see that in you and in me.
Now by walking uprightly this means that Enoch was moral. That is, he was pure and righteous, always doing what was right in God's sight. He didn't say, What is my culture doing? He said, What is right in God's sight?
Now, let me read you what his culture was doing and what God thought about that. This is Genesis 6:5. It is the same culture. in which Enoch's great grandson Noah later lived. We may safely and correctly assume that the culture did not improve.
between Genesis five and six, which of course is all one writing in the original manuscript, but it would have continued into Noah's day.
So the culture of Noah was also the culture of his great grandfather. Enoch. Listen to what Genesis 6, verse 5 says. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And this is a powerful statement of the fullness of sin in a generation.
It is a tragic. It is a catastrophic or or a tragic and catastrophic situation. God actually was contemplating destroying all men, but instead he chose to save Noah and his family and begin again.
So we see that in Genesis 9. It is a restart. It is a beginning again. The book of Genesis means beginning. And here we see a regenesis.
or regeneration, of the world culture because it was so corrupt. And friends, I want to tell you, think about this for a moment. This man, Enoch, was walking with God in moral integrity and uprightness in a culture that spat in the face of the very thought of morality.
Now I want to make something clear. Morality will not save you and it will not save me. If it would have saved anybody, it would have saved the man that Jesus gave a very. Fundamental very full.
soteriological Lecture two Now soteriology is the study of salvation doctrine. and in John three we see Jesus The upstart rabbi from, of all places, Nazareth in Galilee, talking to one of the most learned and respected rabbis in the Jewish faith. of the first century. Nicodemus. And what did he say to him?
He said, You, sir, must be born again. Morality won't get you into heaven. And I'm assuming, of course, that Nicodemus was a moral man, I believe he was. He recognized that Christ was whom he claimed to be. He said, We recognize that you are a teacher from God, for no man can do the things which you do except God be with him.
John chapter 3.
So Morality won't do it. Yet, as Christians, once we have been saved by the grace of God, we should aspire to be moral in everything we do, ethical, legal, and moral. Upright, as Enoch was, walking uprightly with God. He did this in a corrupt culture. in the beginning of time.
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, PO Box 788 High Point, North Carolina, 27260.
Or by calling 336-882-1645.
Now, again, Dr. Hinnant. Here we are, my friends, as you listen to my voice in the end of time. The end of the church age is about to culminate. The end of God's dealings with Israel.
is about to happen before our eyes. and the end of God's dealings with Christ-rejecting nations. All of this is coming to a great conflict. culmination point. which we call The rapture of the church.
the seven year tribulation period, The Return of Christ to inaugurate his kingdom. This is coming, so we should walk in uprightness. today. in a fallen world Think about that. Uprightness.
in a fallen whirl. You know, I hear so many Christians And sometimes pastors and teachers. speak in such a way that God's people would take away from their messages this thought, oh, well, I just can't walk with God. I've got to zen. Sin is inevitable.
Sin's got to happen, so I shouldn't be so concerned about it. Friend, sin will destroy you. Walk in the fear of God, the awe of God. Do not accept the satanic lie that has been filtered through the church. flowing through the church rather like a river, that we just can't live godly lives.
We can. Why else would Christ have imparted to us His nature? Why else would He have given us the Holy Spirit? Why else would He have given us the New Testament? and the entire Bible.
God's very inspired Word, which He breathed into existence, and why We have given us ministers, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers who are gifted of God, trained of God, Specially anointed of God to help us walk uprightly with Him. My friend, you can walk uprightly, don't accept the lie. that you cannot. I must say, though, that we must keep our eyes where they should be, we must keep our feet where they should be. Study Psalm 1.
Bible man, as I call him. And learn. That he lived in the law of God, meditated in the law of God day and night, and he did not go in the way of sinners.
So we have a duty to Christ to walk uprightly. It's not going to save you. Your morality won't save you. But it will give a witness of Jesus as to who he is to this world who does not know him and is in desperate need and does not know that the darkness is approaching. The darkness of seven years Of Satan ruling on this earth increasingly until the last three and a half years, he has complete control over the earth by the permission of God to test the righteous.
and to cause those who do not know God to have a final opportunity to receive Jesus. That darkness is coming. We need to be beacons of Christlike morality. The morality that comes from union with Him. It's His morality, it's not ours.
And let's live like that. And let's also Let others see that so they may come to the light. You know, we cannot walk closely with an upright God. if we practice anything, That is not upright. That's simple enough, isn't it?
If we say we know him, says John, but we walk in darkness, 1 John 1, 5 through 10, he says we lie and do not the truth. He says we are not telling the truth and we're not doing the truth. If we want to walk closely with an upright God as Enoch did, we too must be upright. in every way. Are you walking uprightly right now, my friend?
And I'm going to add this. We must also approve Of what is upright, what is ethical, legal, and moral. We must never. Disapprove of that, and we must never approve of what is unethical, illegal. and immoral.
What am I saying here?
Well, sometimes our children or our friends. or our fellow church members turn aside. to ungodly behaviour. Biblically invalid relationships. They're living with someone, cohabiting.
Dave taking another brother or sister's wife or husband. And They are living in a state of sin. You cannot approve of that, my friend. and retain your moral integrity. We need Christians.
Who will, with a Christ-like compassion and understanding, stand firm. and not agree with, consent to, or approve of, immorality in the church. Why? Because we're showing those who turn to sin that if you continue this way, you will be excluded from the community of the redeemed. Yes.
This is an important issue.
So Enoch walked with God in morality and we should. also.
Now Enoch walking with God implies also that he made steady forward movement. Walking requires forward movement. That's a simple statement, not much to that. The Bible says that any that walked with God. Not that he stood with God?
In other words, for instance, Aaron and her stood by Moses and held up his hands, so he could hold the rond of God's authority up. and Israel could win the victory? The Bible doesn't say that Enoch stood with God. It doesn't say that he sat. With God, Jesus' disciples came unto him in the house at Capernaum, and they sat down.
and they learned. Mary sat at his feet in her home in Bethany and took in the word of God. from the living word of God. Oh my goodness, I would like to set in on that Bible study.
So, the Bible doesn't say that he stood with God or sat with God, but that he walked with God.
So, he was making forward movement all the time. I love this. Because I see in this statement that Enoch was not content to stand still. in his spiritual life. Are you am I?
He never thought that he had enough. Of God, or you knew enough. about God. and that he didn't need to grow and to know more about God. In other words, he was blessedly, spiritually discontent.
And I mean by that. always hungry, always thirsty for more of God. We used to sing a little song, in a bubble study, home fellowship. And it went like this. More love, more power, more of you in my life and that was the gist of this song, More of You, Jesus, more of your love, more of your power.
more of you. in my life Do we want that, or are we content? I've been saved I've asked the Lord to save my soul. I'm going to heaven.
Well thank God. But is that the way you want to spend your life? Jesus did not save you to stagnate. He did not save you. He did not show grace on you as you were.
For you to continue to be as you are, He wants you to change. and be becoming. A man of God, a woman of God. After the pattern of Christ's own life. This is what Paul did.
and this is what we can do.
So Enoch was not content to stand still in his spiritual life. This is the curse upon the American church, as I said. We're content Where we are, we don't want to go further. We're not hungry, we're not thirsty.
Now, I'll tell you what, friend. Just got back from two weeks in Mexico. been to Mexico twice in the last four months, and the Mexican people are hungry for God and His Word. They are no different than us. But they're hungry.
In India, I was in India a few months ago. They're hungry. for the Word of God. Going to Kenya. In November, God willing.
That is we have plans to do that. And I know the Kenyans are hungry for the Word of God because I'm in touch with them via email and also social media. All around the world, Christians are hungry for more of God. And you know, many of these people don't have a Bible. Or they only have one.
Here in America we can have 50 Bibles if we want them, different translations. Study Bibles, excellent notes. We have all these resources, and yet we're going to be content to stand still in our spiritual life. Oh, my goodness, this is the. This is the blight.
It's a malaise. It's a spiritual sickness. Friends, stir yourself. To not be content to come to Jesus as you are and stay as you are. You see, he sent the Holy Spirit.
To change us radically, fundamentally, thoroughly change us. into the image of the Son of God. Romans eight. twenty nine. I urge you to let him have his way.
Enoch kept going forward spiritually to grow closer to God, to become stronger in his faith, to experience more. Of him. to serve him more You see the more you know God, the closer you walk with Him, the more consistently you're close to him, the more he's going to give you an assignment for his kingdom. I've heard it said, and repeated it often. If you build God a house of devotion, He will build you.
a house of ministry. I believe that. I know it. I've experienced it. Enoch did not allow any adversity, trouble, or hardship.
And we know he had that. Including rejection from his peers, that surely came. He did not allow these difficulty to cause them to stop and to shut down. You know, when trouble comes into our life, it is permitted by God. We see this pattern in Job chapter 1 and 2.
Before Satan could touch the life of the righteous person who was surrounded by a hedge, and I believe that hedge was angelic protection. He could not touch him without divine permission. He had to come to the Father and say, I would like to do this, that, or the other to Job. I would like to touch everything he has, and he will curse you to your face. And God said, Okay, you can do that.
But. You can't touch his person. In chapter two he said, All right, I'd like to I'd like to get at him again. I'd to have at him again, Satan said. and I'm going to touch his body this time.
Because what will the men give? He'll give everything. for his flesh, for his health. And God said, okay. He said Proceed I'm paraphrasing now.
Have at him God is a competitor. God's looking for champions. He's not looking for wimps. And so he said, have had him. And so Satan did afflict him.
But God put the limitation again upon him. You'll not take his life. Friend, that that, instead of scaring us, should make us so thankful today. My Heavenly Father controls. What trials strike my life?
When and how severe they are. Oh, I'm so thankful. You can be thankful too for that. Right now, He's controlling that situation you're in today, He knows all about it. come to him and seek his help, and his wisdom, and his strength.
daily, and he will renew your strength, give you wisdom to know which step to take next. And he'll bring you through it victoriously. He did that for Enoch.
so Enoch was determined that nothing was going to stop his walk with God.
Now what I'm saying there was that Satan brings the trouble to shut down your spiritual life. God permits it because He's trusting you to humbly trust and obey Him in the trial Letting in the Scriptures the Word of God be your guidance. And then, and I would add particularly, in everything giving thanks. In every day, singing praises to God and carefully studying and obeying His Word every day, that's how you get through your trial. you emerge a different man or a different woman.
You're not the same one that entered that trial.
Now you're stronger, you have more discernment. Christ is closer to you. And you're ready to serve him with greater fruitfulness and effectiveness.
So, Enoch did not let anything stop his walk. Don't let anything stop yours. Walking also implies he did not go back or backslide. That should be understood. never return to the old ways.
Are you content, my friend, just to be saved today? Or do you want to go forward as Enoch did in your spiritual growth, knowing God more all the time and doing His will more efficiently and faithfully, I pray God, that you do? I believe that you do. If you're not going forward, You're already sliding back. Think about that.
So go steadily forward in your walk. Jesus said in John 8, 31 and 32, if you continue in my word, Then are you my disciples indeed? That is. is the enum component. life.
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.
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