This is the Truth Network. Down the ages, great men and women of God learned to endure. They didn't give up quickly.
Well, so did Enoch. What about you and I?
Well, 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, my friend.
Today we're continuing our talk about Enoch, this amazing character in the beginning of time, who is a life lesson to us here in the end of this age. But before we do that, I want to share something with you again and remind you of the Triad Revelation Conference. This will be five nights in September, beginning on the 14th and ending on the 28th. Mondays and Thursdays. and from 7 p.m.
to 9.15 p.m. we will be having classes two per night. discussing the book of dep Revelation in depth. We will offer a 758-page verse-by-verse commentary.
Now, listen, friends, and especially you pastors and teachers, this commentary has not only the grammatical and historical interpretation of every text, but spiritual applications or pastoral applications of every text. In the book of Revelation. Everything that has a spiritual application is opened to the reader. That will be our textbook. There will be a 200-page study guide.
It's going to be an awesome time. We're going to get deep into Revelation and see the amazing wonders of this book. Seeing Jesus as you have never seen Him before.
So go to Greghennett Ministries.org. And click on that tab that says the Triad Revelation Conference. Sign up today. Hey, seats are limited.
So be sure that you get your seat at this conference. And if you can't come physically, we will live stream the conference also. We have a tab for that. you can sign up and register as a live stream student.
Now back to Enoch. Enoch walked with God, we're told in Genesis 5:22 through 24. But let's go back a little bit here and see.
something about his life. We're reading Genesis 5:21 through 23, and Enoch lived 60 and 5 years. and begot Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years. and begat sons and daughters.
In all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years.
Now these verses are telling us That Enoch lived 365 years, and he began to walk with God when he was 65, that is, after the birth of his son. Methuselah. And of course Rhena Methuselah was the longest living human.
So This tells us that Enoch walked with God for 300 years. Pause and think about that. Three hundred years this man walked with God, and I will add, in a vile, corrupt, fallen, wicked culture. Think about the pressure that would have been upon him. It would have been enormous.
You talk about an oddball. You talk about a speckled bird. Enoch was it. But the man endured He persisted. This text I just read Reveals.
That During this three hundred years, as he walked with God. He must have faced lots of opposition, implies this. because the we know the generation was so wicked. and yet he persisted. He did not give up.
You know Enoch was a retiree. He began walking with God when he was a senior citizen. Friend, maybe you are a senior citizen right now, and you're thinking, you know, well, my life is over. Can I share something with you? I'm seventy one years old.
You know, the Lord is so good to me. I don't feel 71. I feel about 40.
Now, I'm not 40. I realize that when I do certain things physically that I used to do when I was 40, and I can't do them now. But I feel like that because the Lord rejuvenates my spirit every day. I believe that Enoch, When he began to walk with God, he found a supernatural regeneration in that. sweet fellowship that he had with the Spirit of God.
So he began to walk with God as a senior citizen. You may be thinking, I'm old, my life is over. No, friend, if you have not walked closely with God, your life hasn't even begun. Let me encourage you and give you some facts about senior citizens. Enachir, began his walk at sixty five.
We know that Moses began his work, his famous work, in leading the children of Israel out of. bondage in Egypt, and then through the wilderness for forty years. He began that work at eighty. eighty. George Muller, Was about 72 years old when he began to travel the world as a missionary.
He spoke to over a million people. During that time. And then, when you traveled the world, then you went by a sailing or steamship. You didn't fly around the world like we do today. George Mueller, who was famous for maintaining orphanages in Bristol, England, in the 1800s.
He was a man of great faith, very renowned, very beloved because he was such a philanthropist. He supported schools, he supported Bible printing and distribution operations. He supported over one hundred and eighty Listen to that. A hundred and eighty Missionaries. all by faith and prayer.
But then when he was about seventy two years a uh years of age, approximately, he began to travel. and to share the gospel with peoples of other nations.
So you may be older. But let me tell you something. Walk with God. Practice the Enoch Life or discussing in these broadcasts and podcasts. And you, my friend, haven't even begun to live.
So think about that. Don't look at your body. Don't look at that body in the mirror. Think about that ageless eternal spirit that you are and possess And their soul that is timeless. Ageless.
That is the person who you really are.
So Senior citizens rise up, begin to walk, and Enoch walk. And if you're younger, bear with me as I go through this senior citizen talk. Again, I remember one day I was Student in high school was saved, 17-year-old person. heard the gospel. radically saved.
Fell away for about a year and a half I was a Carnal Christian. Mocking living in sin. And God awakened me with a message about the second coming, ironically. Through a minister from Texas, my life was turned around. I was in college at the time at App State.
A freshman. And I remember then those days like it was yesterday. Your life will go very quickly if you are a young man or woman.
So begin to live the eternal Enoch walk now where you are in time. Don't fret yourself about success in this world, per se. Occupy your mind in your life with pleasing God and doing what He sets before you. as unto Christ.
So Enoch learned to endure. His life walk endured unchanged, we may assume, as many generations came and went. You know, every generation brings a new fad with it, a new idea, some new rage, and most of the time it's absolutely worthless when compared to eternal values. I think Everyone would honestly admit that. Yet many Christians get caught up with the latest rage or the latest fad.
Friends, forget the things that are floating around through this This God-forsaken world. And I mean by that, the world that has forsaken him. is for a second back him. But he's here intently trying to save those who have forsaken him. And as he does so, you and I can have a key role in this part.
Are you enduring? In your God walk, unchanged, as new generations bring new sins. Before you and me. Newfallies New heresies. New madness.
Think about it for a minute. How foolish it is. How foolish it is. That People should think that they're biological. Sexuality is not their real sexuality, not their real gender.
Well, it's madness. It's been qual it's been uh um identified as gender dysphoria. It it was a form of mental illness until recently. And uh that is, that's the way our country has looked at it.
So, people are in bad shape, friend. They're in real bad shape. This generation is falling apart right in front of our eyes. Because it rejects Jesus. It will not let him be the Lord of the of the whole um of the whole nine yards, if you will, of our nation, of our culture.
Oh yes, there's Christians all over the country. Oh yes, there's no question about that. But still, this is not a nation. that is led by Christian values.
So We need to look to the Lord as Enoch did in this godless society in which we live, where fads are coming and going, heresies are coming and going. The latest heresy is the hypergrace heresy, which tells Christians that Christ's blood is forgiven the sins of the past, present, and future.
So you don't even have to confess your sins when they come up. Don't worry about sin. Just go on and live any way you want to. You're saved. That, my friend, is heresy.
Damnable heresy, I might add.
Some people may wind up in hell. because of that very doctrine. And then there are other follies that are going on in our nation, and we just need to just turn away from them and turn to Christ. And keep walking the walk, walking the enup walk, keep enduring, keep putting one foot in front of the other. And he did so for three Hundred Years oh, my goodness That's endurance What does it mean to endure?
To endure means to reach the end of your patience or your strength. And then Instead of quitting, Regroup Restore your strength and return to waiting upon God and to the duty He has given you. Think about that. This is endurance. You're at the end of your strength.
You have no more strength left. You are expended and exhausted. You're done. And yet you turn to God and say, Lord. I have no strength left.
Give me your strength. You know, Isaiah 40, 31 is a famous text. We know it well. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall men up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary. and they shall walk. and not faint. What does that mean? By waiting upon the Lord, by going to the Lord and waiting in His presence.
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. In the Hebrew, the word renew means exchange their strength.
So as we wait upon God, there's a divine Encounter There's a divine infusion of life into us. And suddenly, Our weakness is gone and his strength has taken its place.
So we actually exchange our strength for His. Ours?
Well, it runs out. His, it never runs out. This month, for a gift of any amount, receive Dr. Hinnan'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. Friends, when you learn this secret of waiting upon the Lord and getting your strength and life renewed and also getting daily marching orders from Him as you're studying the Word and asking Him to speak to you through the Scriptures, While you're doing this, You're just growing, my leaps and bounds And you're learning to endure in your test. This is so important in these last days. Christ is looking for enduring faith.
Let me read you an example of that in Luke 18, where Jesus is talking to us. Listen to what he's got to say here. Amazing Parable of a Widow. Luke eighteen, verse one. He spoke a parable unto this end, that men ought always to pray and not faint.
That is, keep praying, continue to pray in the face of No or little evidence. that your prayer has been heard. To persist in this and not to faint, faint meaning give up your faith. And hope. and stop praying.
So here's the parable. There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, and the Greek implies she kept coming unto him. It was a continuous action. Avenge me of my adversaries.
What does this tell us?
Well, she had an adversary. The adversary had apparently wronged her. and she was seeking that wrong to be redr redressed.
So avenge me, she said. I'm sure she didn't come with vengeance in her heart, but she wanted the unfairness corrected. Made right. And he would not for a while.
So, this unjust judge, I mean, he was some guy. He didn't care about anybody or anything. God, people, he didn't care. He just wanted to suit himself, and so he did. And he would not for a while.
He wouldn't respond. But afterward He said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow, this widow, Troubles me. And one version of Babius Philip says, She will be the death of me. Because she troubles me, I will Avenge her. That is, I will do what I should have done the first time she asked for it.
I will give her justice. I will help her. I will deliver her. from her adversary.
Now, of course, in Jesus' day, widows and the poor and children. were the most vulnerable people for social predators.
So this is the setting here. And the LORD said, Hear what the unjust judge Said.
So we should pause and think about what did this unjust judge do?
Well, because the woman kept coming. Every day she kept coming. bring her petition to the authority. Help me. Help me from and deliver me.
Listen to what the unjust said. Ah will Avenger. He didn't say I wouldn't or not or list. Get the woman out of court or block, close the door, send her to another city. No, he said, I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do what she asked me to do. I'm going to honor her petition. Wow.
So, Jesus is saying, listen to that. and shall not. God Avenge his own elect. I would add to that, God who is compassionate. God who is in covenant relationship with you, Because we're applying this to you.
And to me? God, who has never ever failed to help his people eventually. when they kept crying to him, God who is perfectly just and fair, and would never ever acquit the guilty. Shall not God Avenge his own elect those whom he has chosen. He's chosen you in Christ before the world was, and you mean he's not going to help you?
Those who cry day and night unto him. That refers to their persisting prayers, their importunity in prayer, their relentless. coming to God about the issue. And I will add, in faith and in confidence, knowing that he hears them. They're fighting a spiritual battle.
They're fighting against the rulers of the darkness of this world by prayer, by praise, by thanksgiving. By seeking the face of God. by asking for his intervention. And then he adds Though he bears along with them. And I think this is perfectly phrased in this authorized version.
The Lord does bear with us. As he requires us to endure. That is, he's saying, My friend, I want you to endure. But he doesn't leave us alone, he comes and bears up the burden. with us.
Now listen to what he says. I tell you that is I want to tell you something, or I've got something to say to you, or here's something that you can jot down in your notebook. I tell you that he will avenge them. And then he answers this word speedily. That's strange.
How can the Lord bear long With those who have been wrong. And then at the same time, deliver them speedily.
Well, I think speedily takes on the meaning of suddenly. that is when God's appointed time for judgment to deliver his own comes. he acts swiftly. It seems as if it will never act and then all of a sudden Bam. is done.
Just like that. He comes.
So Jesus is promising us, I tell you. I tell you, I promise you. He will avenge them, and he'll do it speedily. Here assurance is given that for the elect when we need help. When we're being wronged.
And I think this is more than a matter of someone offended me, and so, Lord, get them back. No, that's not the. That's not the kind of prayer this is. This is not about imprecation, praying down curses upon people. No, no, not at all, not at all.
Because God is transforming us as we go through our trials. We're becoming more Christ-like. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. They've done this or said this, that and the other about me.
They don't know what they're doing. and one of your children, I'm doing your will. Forgive them. For what they've said or done. This is the way we should pray.
And as we do, we know God's going to hear us and bring a situation to a just resolution. And give us closure on the situation. That's what this is about: closure. not vengeance. But I must mention this always.
The psalm says, Touch not mine anointed, do my prophets no harm. It is a serious matter when people reach out in harm Men and women love God, particularly those who are dispensing the word of God. They're not special, but they're putting out the word. And when others reach out and harm them and do not repent, my friend, they're in grave danger.
So we should pray for the repentance of those who are constantly trying to hinder our work or harm us in some way. And then he adds this Nevertheless, This is versate. Nevertheless, or even so, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? What's this about? Suddenly, Jesus is taking an eschatological turn.
That is, he's looking. To the last things, to the end of time. And he says, when the Son of Man comes.
So he's asserting that he's coming back. He didn't tell us when, but he says, whenever that is, when the Son of Man comes, and here's the question that he poses. Shall he find faith? on the earth.
Now think about that. What kind of faith?
Well, friend, the faith under consideration in this text. The faith this woman exist uh exhibited. in her situation. This enduring faith, persisting faith. That is what he's talking about.
So Jesus suddenly has changed this parable about prayer and justice, persistence in prayer and justice. He is suddenly taken an eschatological turn. And we're looking at the coming of the Lord. And he's saying, when I come back, will I find the kind of faith that this woman has? or not.
You know Jesus. commended people for faith. He said, O ye of little faith, He said, Where is your faith? You have no faith?
So we have no faith and little faith. And then he referred to their faith. Your faith has made you whole. That's normal faith, biblical faith. And then he referred to great faith.
Two people got that endorsement. One was the. Was the centurion who said, just speak the word, and that's all that's needed. And then also he said, Great faith to the woman. who poured out For Alabaster box.
On him. Great faith this woman has. Great faith. Great faith. So there's four levels of faith.
No faith, faith, and great faith and little faith. Where are you? Where am I on that scale of faith? Jesus is saying, When I come back, I'm looking for faith.
Now, friend, it's not the name it, claim it, faith. You know, we we are such an instant society we want God to jump as a bell boy, a bell hop. You know? God's here to serve me.
So the world is my oyster, and He can give me this, give me that. No, that kind of faith was wrong, unbiblical, unchrist-like. It never was of God. It was introduced in the 1970s and is caused immense harm. and destroyed the spiritual capacity of tens of thousands.
No, here in this text we're talking about an enduring faith, a faith that trusts the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, when there is no evidence of it for a long time. But you know what God has said to you, you know where He put you, you know what He told you to do, and you know you're obedient. You know what the Scriptures say in your obeying the Scriptures as best you know. You know about the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. You're following His prompts.
And your heating is checks. And you know about the call of God on your life. You're following that call. You know the gift or gifts He's given you, and you're using those gifts on a daily basis. to bless others and grow the kingdom.
then you're in the right posture where when you have a need you can come to your father, as this widow did, persistently. You say, why come persistently? If you pray one time and believe, why doesn't that do the job? Because prayer is more than petitioning. Prayer is fighting an unseen battle against the rulers of the darkness.
of this world, who hate the light. They hate the Bible, they hate those who believe the Bible, they hate those who believe God in general and believe in Him, that He exists and that He has revealed Himself in the person of His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. They hate that.
So, they want to shut down your faith, shut down your Bible study, they want to shut down your work as a minister, they want to shut out the light from your life. and the life of everyone around you. put it out. And they'll do it if you let them.
So don't let them. Endure. Endure in your walk. Enoch endured 300 years this man withstood all kinds of assaults. You're saying you're you're practicing esegesis.
No, I'm just saying that we know the culture he was in was very ungodly, and so it it's very clearly implied that he would have had to stand against that. They would have come against him. But he endured. He didn't quit. Friend, don't quit.
We need more stick toitiveness. You ever heard that term before when I was growing up? Stick to it. You need a little stick to it. This is what we need to day.
to walk unchanged as our generation brings new sins and new follies, new heresies, and madness. We need to stay sound and sober and biblical and godly and right. with our feet planted firmly on the ground, walking closely with God, As Enoch did, and enduring day after day, month after month, year after year. Friend, have you walked with God 300 years? months?
Have you what we got three hundred days? And you walk through that 300 hours? 300 seconds. in the quad. 300 years.
Let this inspire you. Let this widow and her faith, this enduring faith, this. is what Jesus is looking for when he comes back. You can have it. You're in a test today, and I encourage you.
Obey God and trust Him in that test. Humble yourself under His mighty hand. He will bring you through. He will lead you out on the other side. You will be stronger and wiser and more discerning.
It will be used by him and Glorify him in these last days of the church age before. He comes.
My friend Leah, the Enoch, walked. 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.
Mm-hmm.
