Temple Baptist Church - 6-8-2016
Jude 14-16
Introduction:
A. In our verses for tonight, we find the antiquity of the problem at hand. This study will take several weeks so don’t faint when you see the length of it.
1. Satan has been active since Genesis 3 in trying to negate the authority and truthfulness of the Word of God. God said, “Thou shalt surely die,” while Satan said, “Thou shalt NOT surely died.” What difference does it make if one little word is changed, added, or deleted? No big deal says the liberal Bible Corrector. What difference does it make if a verse is missing?
Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (This verse is missing from the modern perversions of the Bible. So, Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch without a confession of faith in Christ. Churches have been doing this for many years as they baptize lost people into their churches.)
Don’t tell me that word changes or deletions and verse changes or deletions are of little or no consequence because they change and pervert the Word of God!
2. It makes all of the difference in the world! The person of Christ is attacked because He said that we need “every word” that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. the salvation of Christ is attacked when words are left out or changed; when entire verses are left out. Jesus said that not one “jot” or one “tittle” would pass away until all was finished. Either Jesus did not tell the truth (that is called lying) or He just did not know what would transpire in the future and that makes Him not God. I believe God! I believe the Bible!
3. It makes all of the difference in the world! If the Bible is in error, then its authority is flawed and the man who is smart enough to correct the error becomes the authority. Hello? Does this not sound like the false teachers, liberal pastors and preachers, hypocritical schools and universities of our day? Bible correctors are on every side and the faith once delivered is consistently attacked while men of God are afraid to contend for it.
4. You may ask, “Why do you keep ‘going off’ on this subject.’” Your asking this question fuels me to continue to reinforce the subject because it is not important to you and it needs to be in order for you to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered.
B. Let us look at the time frame in which Enoch gave this prophecy. Jude’s mention of Enoch’s prophecy tells us that the both the Old and New Testament prophets were aware of that Enoch said.
1. Genesis 5:18-27 The Old Testament says nothing about what Enoch may or may not have said or preached but the New Testament gives the prophetic message that he preached very clearly.
a) Enoch was the seventh from Adam. This was the age of the Patriarchs where the eldest son remained as the patriarch and spiritual leader of the family as long as he lived. There were many thousands of children being born but, in the Messianic Line, Enoch was the seventh.
b) The number seven is a number of completion. Enoch prophesied the end of all flesh (except for those who got on the ark) and the end of the Church Age and the Second Coming of our Lord along with the impending judgment that would follow.
2. The ultimate judgement of God upon ungodly men is given in type in Genesis 6 and finds its fulfillment in Revelation 19-20.
a) Enoch was 65 years when his son, Methuselah, was born and Enoch walked with God for the next 300 years and God took him to heaven without dying. Enoch is a beautiful type of the church and the believer who will be raptured out in the end time without dying.
b) Noah is a type safety through obedience and also a type of the Nation of Israel going through the Tribulation Period in the safety of God: the ark. The ark has been wrongly preached for many years as a type of salvation but it is safety through obedience. Man has never been saved by what he accomplished but by the grace of God. Man is saved by what Christ or the Messiah would, in their case one day do or, in our case, what He has already done. Salvation is found in the finished work of Christ, the gospel, and not in human merit.
3. Enoch walked on earth a total of 365 years: 65 years until the birth of his son, Methuselah, and then he walked with God another 300 years until God took him.
a) At age 65, Enoch had a son whom he named Methuselah. Methuselah is noted for two things: his longevity (969 years) and the meaning of his name.
b) Methuselah was noted for his longevity.
1) His longevity shows the longsuffering of God in His will for the lost to come to Christ. Methuselah was the oldest recorded man who ever lived. The reason that I say “oldest recorded” is that we do not know for sure that some of the people who were not patriarchs may have lived nor how long some of the women may have lived. 969 years shows the longsuffering and mercy of God to sinful man.
2) The last 120 years of the 969 years that Methuselah lived, Noah preached as he built the ark. One again, the longsuffering and mercy of God. God even left the door to the ark open for seven days before shutting it and bringing the waters upon the earth.
c) Methuselah was noted for the meaning of his name.
1) The name Methuselah means “when he is dead it shall be sent” or “when he is gone it shall come.” I have personally check the numbers and Methuselah died the year of the flood. He was not one of the ungodly so died prior to the flood, not in the flood. You find some variations of the words but Enoch named his son Methuselah to prophesy the year of the judgement of God.
2) This means that 1,000 years before the flood came, Enoch prophesied the year that the flood would come. It is interesting that Enoch lived close enough to the flood to see the wickedness that preceded it. He prophesied the impending judgment of God upon the world.
d) Methuselah lived to be 969 years old. Enoch lived until Methuselah was 300 years old, so Enoch died 669 years before the flood. What transpired in Genesis 6 was a repetition of what took place in the Garden of Ede was already in full swing over 969 years before the flood.
C. We looked at all of this to show how old that Jude’s prophecy actually was. Jude was not only telling of what was happening in his day but also setting forth the problems that we would face in the end time by interjecting Enoch’s prophecy along with the problems that he faced. The problem of apostasy is age old and someone earnestly contended for the faith once delivered so that you and I have the Word of God today!
D. There are a several interesting things found in these verses:
1. The problem found in the Book of Jude was not only found in his day but was also prevalent in Enoch’s day prophetic of our day.
2. That Enoch, along with others in his day, knew a lot more about Bible Theology and Prophetical Eschatology than most men give him credit for.
3. The problems that we now face as Bible believers in our day is an age old problem that found its beginnings in Genesis when Satan questioned the Word of God by asking, “Yea, hath God said?”
E. I want to take a Biblical look at Enoch’s day, Jude’s day, and our day in the light of the Scriptures. This will take more than one service.
Part 2 Begin Here
1. Enoch’s day. Genesis 6:1-9
a. Most casual Bible scholars too often separate Genesis chapter 6 from its context.
1) One of the problems causing a lack of understanding of the Bible is a lack of Bible study that needed to rightly divide the word of truth. I am not going to spend a lot of time on what has commonly been referred to as the “Angel Theory,” but do feel the need to touch upon it. Preachers have no business teaching theory as fact from the pulpits!
a) Too many preachers use the notes and commentaries of other men instead to doing the work themselves. Men who teach the Angel Theory have made no effort to do a personal, verse by verse study of what God said concerning the sons of God in Genesis 6 within its context.
1a) The Angel Theory has the same problems as “science falsely so called. As false science must violate or set aside natural laws of physics such as e=mc2 and natural law, matter can neither be created nor destroyed, etc., the Angel Theory violates the laws of First Mention, Last Mention, Context, as well as the continuity of the Scriptures.
2b) In the first chapters of the Bible, there is no mention of angels; angels have no reproductive powers; if giants were the result of angel cohabitation with women, the seed would have to be angelic, not of men (giants were mentioned before the sin in Genesis 6, not after the sin took place;
3b) The Last Mention and the First Mention of any subject in the Bible are consistent with each other. The Bible has continuity throughout. The Last Mention of the “sons of God” is found in 1 John 3:1 and has nothing to do with angels. We are the “sons of God.”
4b) The Angel Theory removes Genesis, chapter 6, from its context and makes that chapter a “stand alone” portion of Scripture. Genesis, chapter 6, begins with the word “And” which ties it to the preceding chapters. I will deal with this in a minute.
5b) The Angel Theory is just that, theory! It cannot be proved and takes a lot of imagination and speculation. God did not tell us to imagine nor did He tell us to speculate. We are to preach Truth which never violates Biblical principles.
b) Enoch’s Prophecy, found in the Book of Jude, prophesied two events: 1) the impending judgement of God upon ungodly men of his time, both through his preaching and also the naming of his son, Methuselah 2) also the Seconding Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the final judgment upon ungodly men.
c) Who the sons of God were is made perfectly clear within its context in the Bible. The word “man” is mentioned 8x in Genesis 6-8 which deals with the sin that brought about the Judgment of God. God destroyed mankind because of the wickedness of man, not of angels (angels are not mentioned once in the context). The context of Genesis 6 includes Genesis 3-5!
2) In Genesis 3, we find the attack upon God’s commandment, the fall of man, the setting forth of the sacrificial system of atonement of the Old Testament, the promise of the Seed of the Woman (Jesus Christ), the results of the fall found in the judgment of the serpent, Eve, and Adam, and the expulsion of man from the Garden.
3) In Genesis 4, the chapter begins with the word “And” which shows the continuity of chapters 3-4. In chapter 4, we find the birth of two sons; the apostasy of the elder brother; the indictment of God upon Cain’s offering; the death of righteous Abel; and the beginning of the ungodly line of Cain. It is rebellion and the genealogy of ungodly Cain.
4) In Genesis 4:25, we find the word “And” which introduces chapter 5. Chapter 4, verse 25, begins the setting forth of the godly line of Seth. We need to understand that chapter divisions were not found in the original manuscripts but were later supplied by the translators to help us find things more quickly. Genesis 4:25 is the beginning of the godly line of Seth and is detailed in chapter 5.
5) The first word in Genesis 6 is “And” which shows the continuation of the context and involves genealogy also. Who were the “sons of God?” The godly line of Seth who held the Word of God in unrighteousness! “The faith once delivered” was the commandments of God that were unchanging.
b. Ungodly end! I want to begin with the end result of Enoch’s day because the Book of Jude does so. The Book of Jude begins with the few “common salvation” who are in a battle for the truth of God’s Word while the masses reject it.
1) In order to understand our text and the interjection of Enoch’s preaching thousands of hears beforehand, we will need to go back to Genesis once more. In order to fully understand Enoch’s Preaching or Prophecy, it is necessary that we compare several portions of Scripture within our context.
Genesis 3:8-9 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (9) And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (In the First Mention of communing with God, we find that God communicated with Adam and Eve by His Voice: the Word of God walked with them and express Himself with the Word of God! It was not a physical presence but rather a communication by Voice.)
Genesis 5:21-23 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (22) And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (How did Enoch walk with God? The same way that Adam and Eve walked with God: Enoch both heard God and spoke to God. The Word of God walked with Enoch and Enoch walked with the Word of God. Hearing and heeding!)
Genesis 6:8-9, 13 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (9) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God ... (13) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (How did Noah walk with God? The Word of God walked with him and he walked with the Word of God! This is the way that all men walk with God. Within the Scriptures, we find the Truth of God. Man has always walked with the Voice of God or the “faith once delivered” in our day, which is our Bible.)
a) Enoch preached what God told him to preach the same as Adam preached to his family (both Cain and Abel knew what sacrifice to bring because of their upbringing). Because these children were born to the right family did not save them. It was their personal faith in the coming Woman’s Seed that secured their eternal life with God. Enoch preached faithfully almost 1000 years before the flood because someone had faithfully preached to him. God has always had contenders of the faith.
b) Enoch prophesied the impending judgment of God upon mankind in the naming of his son, Methuselah. Methuselah means “when he is gone it shall come.” You may read a little variation in the wording but the prophecy is that when this man dies, the judgment of God will come. I personally checked the genealogy and found that Methuselah died the year of the flood.
3) Genesis 6 begins with the sons of God openly flaunting their passions before both God and man while Enoch and Noah, those contending for the faith once delivered, mocked, rejected, and persecuted. Thank God for the Enoch’s who stand for the faith once delivered and the Noah’s who have brought the Word of God forward in all of its purity!
a) They were wicked in Noah’s day. They were so wicked that God destroyed every living thing except for what got on the ark. Genesis 6:5-7 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. (6) And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (7) And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
b) They were wicked in Jude’s day. This is the context in which Enoch’s Prophecy was written. Romans 1:28-32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (29) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (30) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (32) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
c) They are wicked in our day. Today, we find the culmination of 6,000 years of departure from the Truth. As it was in Noah’s day, as it was in Lot’s day, combined with the apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2) and apathy (Revelation 3) of these last times. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (4) Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (5) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
4) Can you imagine the mockery? A man building an ark of that magnitude when there had never been a cloud in the sky (God watered the earth with the morning mist), much less rain. For 120 years, Noah preached exactly what Enoch preached and, yet, not one person outside of Noah’s family got on the ark.
5) If Noah had quit, things would no doubt have been a lot different in our day! Noah would not have been “upright in his generations” because no one else was! Noah had Enoch’s prophecy in his heart because he had been taught by those who kept the prophecy alive in all of its purity. They had no written Word of God as far as we know but, through the 969 years plus following Enoch’s prophecy, men had kept it from “faith to faith.”
6) Thank God for contenders! They can get mad at us if they choose; they can malign us if they want; they can reject what we teach if they do not desire it; but they cannot change us!! We are not ashamed of our King James Bible, which is the Word of God for the English speaking people. We are not ashamed to reject the liberal teachings of those who oppose the inerrancy and infallibility of God’s Word. They have not rejected us. They have rejected God! They do not oppose us, they oppose the Bible!
1 Peter 1:23-25 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (24) For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (The Bible declares itself incorruptible, alive, and abiding for ever. That is where we stand while all others stand against it. They, without putting the words to it, call God and the Bible a liar!)
c. Ungodly men! God calls them this! Men who knew what God said and rejected it. Cain certainly knew which was shown by the question asked by God: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” Not “here is how to do well,” but “If thou doest well” which shows that Cain knew right from wrong.
d. Ungodly deeds! The Messianic line knew the Word of God and, therefore, right and wrong but made a choice to reject God’s way of salvation and godly living. These sons of God knew better but chose not to do right. Genesis 6 is the culmination of their rebellion that began over 1000 years before the flood. Noah knew to do right and so did they.
e. Ungodly progression! “murmurers” They murmured to themselves first. “complainers” They made their complaint known openly. “walking after their own lusts” They openly walked in their sins. “hard speeches … spoken against him” They spoke evil of Enoch when he preached to them the truth of God’s Word. Their hidden sins became open rebellion against God’s Word and God’s man.
