If you would open your Bibles
with me, the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12. Many of you
may know already, but since we last met, we've got a new baby. Sailor Simpson arrived, and we're
all so excited. Maybe not as excited as Aaron
and Michelle, but we're pretty excited, aren't we? Thankful
for, pray God's blessings upon her. I made a little bit of an
unexpected trip to Danville, Kentucky last night to preach.
exceptional services, and they send their love and greeting
to y'all. Hebrews chapter 12, we'll begin
reading in verse 14. Follow peace with all men and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently,
lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness
springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. lest
there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one
morsel of meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. For you're not come unto the mount that might be
touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and
darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice
of words, Which voice they that heard entreated that the word
should not be spoken to them anymore, for they cannot endure
that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. Aren't you thankful you don't
come to that mountain, the mountain of the law that just brings terror
and fear. But verse 22, you're coming to
Mount Zion. and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God, the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. We'll end our reading
there. All right, Sean. If you would turn to song number
205, Once For All. Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. Cursed by the law
and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all, O sinner, receive
it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. Now are we free, there's no condemnation. Jesus provides the perfect salvation. Come unto me, O hear His sweet
call. Come and He saves us once for
all. Once for all, O sinner, receive
it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once
for all. Children of God, O glorious calling,
surely His grace will keep us from falling. Passing from death
to life at His call, blessed salvation once for all. Once for all. Okay, if you would now turn to
song number 219 Grace tis a charming sound Grace tis a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound,
and all the earth shall hear. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. T'was grace that wrote my name
in life's eternal book. T'was grace that gave me to the
Lamb who all my sorrows took. Saved by grace alone, this is
all my plea. Jesus died for sinful man, and
Jesus died for me. It was great, taught my wandering
feet To tread the heavenly road And new supplies each hour I
meet While pressing on to God Saved by grace alone This is
all my plea Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. Grace taught my soul to pray,
and made mine eyes o'erflow. T'was grace which kept me to
this day, and will not let me go. Saved by grace alone, this
is all my plea. Jesus died for sinful men, and
Jesus died for me. O let thy grace inspire my soul
with strength divine. May all my vows to thee aspire,
and all my days be thine. Save thy grace alone, this is
all my prayer. ? Jesus died for a simple man
? And Jesus died for me Let's open our Bibles now to
Genesis chapter four. Genesis, the fourth chapter. We'll pick up reading in verse
16. And Cain went out from the presence
of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bear Enoch and
he built a city and called the name of the city after the name
of his son Enoch and under Enoch was born Irad and Irad begat
Mahugiel and Mahugiel begat Methuselah and Methuselah begat Lamech.
And Lamech took unto him two wives. The name of the one was
Ada, and the name of the other, Zillah. And Ada bare Jabal. He was the father of such as
dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's
name was Jubal. And he was the father of all
such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain,
an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. And the sister
of Tubalcain was Nema. And Lamech said unto his wives,
Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto
my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man
to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
truly, Lamech, seventy and sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again,
and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For God, said
she, hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain
slew. And to Seth, to him also, there
was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began men
to call upon the name of the Lord. Thank God for his word. Let's bow together. Our Father, we bow before you
this evening. We come seeking a blessing from
thy word. We pray that you would bless
us from the storehouses of thy grace and send your spirit upon
us, and as we open, Read and study your word, Father, that
you'd give us the spirit of understanding, that you would open up your word
to our understanding that we might behold the Lord Jesus Christ
and believe him, rest in him, cling to him, to seek him to
be our all and in all, and in seeking, finding, finding him
truly to be all we need, to be our all and in all. Father, bless
us. No man can preach or hear or
understand except by spirit enable us. Father, I pray you enable
us tonight to have a special hour of worship where the name
of Christ our Savior would be exalted. The hearts of your people
would be comforted and drawn once again to behold our Lord
Jesus Christ in awe and wonder and thanksgiving. Father, how
we thank you that you seem fit to preserve a place in our community
where the gospel is preached, where your children can meet
together in love and peace and unity with one accord to worship
Christ our Savior. Father, I pray your continued
blessing be upon us that you would continue to bless your
word, that you continue to lead and guide and that you'd never
leave us to ourselves, our own devices, our own ways, but keep
us looking to and depending upon Christ our Savior. Father, we
thank you for the many blessings of this life, how you've blessed
us, how we thank you for our new baby. Thank you for Sailor. Father, pray that you would bless
her with every blessing, that you'd be with her mama and her
daddy, give them wisdom in raising her. Father, cause us to be faithful
to her, to preach Christ to her. Father, we beg that you'd be
merciful. Father, for the many, many who are sick, Father, how
we pray that you'd heal and touch their bodies. Those who are recovering
and going through different, just such difficult times, we
pray for Barb and her recovery. We pray for Charlie as he prepares
for this surgery. So many others, Father, who need
you especially. How thankful we are, thou art
the great physician, and there are no hard cases with thee,
that you'd heal your people. Father, we pray for our world
that you would in some way relieve this awful pandemic that we're
under and that you relieve the suffering of people and enable
us to return to more normal lives. All these things we ask for the
glory of Christ our Savior. It's in his sake and in his name
we pray. Amen. All right, Genesis chapter four. Earlier this week I told Janet
the title of my message, she kind of raised her eyebrows at
me, but the title of the message is A Tale of Two Cities. Now
last week we looked at the difference between grace and works, and
a picture of the story we're all familiar with, the two of
Adam's sons, Cain and Abel. Well tonight I want us to look
at this tale of two cities, two very different cities. And I
want us to see in those two cities the difference between seeking
a refuge and what our works can build and having Christ as our
refuge. One city is what man builds.
The other city is Christ our refuge. And I want to tell that
tale by looking at the difference between two more of Adam's sons.
This time it'll be Cain and Seth. Cain, after the Lord pronounced
his judgment on him, went out into the world and he went out
into the world to get everything that he could get. from the world.
As Cain went out, what he was depending upon was whatever it
was that he could get from the world to be his riches and his
defense, his hiding place. Seth was born to Adam and Eve,
and he grew up, and it says in his lifetime, I think it's interesting
that this happened, it's stated, right after he had a son. Jonathan
and I were traveling to Danville yesterday, and we're driving
back home talking, I don't know about women, but I'm telling
you, it's good for a young man to have a child. I mean, nothing
matures you faster than having a child, having that responsibility.
It almost appears that after Seth had this responsibility
of this new child, that's when men began to seek the Lord and
call upon the name of the Lord. It could be that that drove that
home, the importance of this to Seth, to call upon the name
of the Lord. And Seth and those people, maybe
he was leading them or that was around him at that time calling
upon the name of the Lord. They're not like Cain depending
on what they can get from the world. No, they're calling on
the name of the Lord. They're depending upon the Lord. So I want us to see three contrasts
in these two cities. Number one is this. The city
of our works is never complete, but the city of God is already
complete. Look at verse 16, Genesis four. And Cain went out from
the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the
east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife and she
conceived and bear eating. And he built it a city and called
the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. Now Cain
left the presence of God and he went out into the land of
Nod and that the word Nod there means wandering. Cain went out
there. He's wandering. I just get the picture. of Cain
wandering around this land. He's wandering through the land,
he's lost, he doesn't know where he should go, what exactly he
should do. And here's the problem. It happened right from the get-go. Cain went out from the presence
of the Lord. The Lord pronounced this judgment
upon Cain and Cain wandered away from the Lord. He didn't go to
the Lord, he wandered. Every time a human being wanders,
by our own internal GPS, I can tell you we're gonna go the wrong
way. Not ever gonna, this flesh never naturally goes toward the
Lord. We always wander away from the
Lord. And that was his mistake. Cain
went out from the presence of the Lord willingly. He didn't
stay in the Lord's presence and beg God for mercy. He went out
from the presence of the Lord. Cain reminds me of Judas here.
You know, in the end, Judas felt so guilty, he'd betrayed innocent
blood, he felt so sorry for it, he just felt horrible about it. One thing he never did was beg
for mercy. Cain didn't either. Judas felt so guilty, it made
him leave the presence of God, go out and commit suicide, and
went straight to hell, having never begged for mercy. Cain
did the same thing, going out from the presence of God, having
never begged for mercy. Cain wasn't like David. Remember
David? Boy, he sinned several times. I mean, things that caused such
damage to his family, to his country. But the difference between
Cain and David was this. David begged for mercy. In Psalm
51, David cried out, cast me not away from thy presence. Don't
make me leave thy presence. Don't take your, don't take your
Holy Spirit from me. Lord, keep me in thy presence.
But Cain, He willingly left the presence of God, having never
one time begged for mercy. Cain was wandering through the
land of Nod and he was lost. He didn't know where to go, what
to do, how to, how to start. And I can tell you why he was
wandering. He didn't have Christ, the good shepherd to lead him.
And the scary thing is Cain wanted to go out from the presence of
Lord and go his own way. And the Lord let him, the Lord
let him go his own way. Now in contrast, God's people
are not wandering around lost. They're not wandering around
lost because they're being led. They're being led by Christ,
the great shepherd of the sheep, and he leads them every step
of the way. He never leaves them alone. The
good shepherd goes out, our Lord said, before the sheep and leads
them out. Every step they take, he took
first. And when Christ leads, I tell
you where he always leads, to himself. He leads his people
to himself. He leads his sheep to the green
pastures of his word where they can feed and be taught and grow.
He leads them to the still waters of his word that they can drink
the waters of life. He leads his sheep to rest in
Christ. Now Cain was never resting. He
was constantly wandering, constantly lost, but God's people aren't
wandering around lost. They're being led by the shepherd,
and they know where they're going. God's people know where they're
going. They're not citizens of this place. They're just going
through it. We're not looking to stay here. We're going through
it. We're going to a better city. Look over Hebrews chapter 11. Believers are just like our father
Abraham. Abraham descended from Seth.
And this is what we learn from Abraham. This is the second city.
in our story. The first city is the city of
Enoch that Cain built. Here's the second city, it's
the city of God. Hebrews 11 verse eight. By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob. There's with him with the same
promise for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. Abraham wasn't looking for a
city or looking for a refuge built on him, on his ability,
on his works. He was looking for a city that
God built whose foundation is Christ himself. Look at verse
13. These all died in faith. not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
and were persuaded of them and embrace them and confess that
they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for they to say
such things to clear plainly that they seek a country. And
truly, if they'd been mindful of that country for whence they
came out, they might've had opportunity to have returned. But now they
desire a better country that is in heavenly wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them a city. And that's the city of God. That's
the city that every believer is going to. We're not lost. We're not wandering around. We
know exactly where we're going. We're going to that city that
God hath prepared for his people, that God has built, that God
is the foundation of it. And that city that God's prepared
for his people is already complete. The city's finished. And there's
plenty of room for all of God's elect to have a place where they'll
be safe for eternity. The city's finished. Cain never
finished building the city. The word builded there, where
he builded a city, should have been translated building. The
word is building. He was constantly building. He
never finished. He never finished. And that's
who those who tried to build a city, to build a refuge of
their own works, they never finish it. The wall is never complete. It's, it's, it never circles
them. It's never high enough. It's
never thick enough. It's never strong enough. It's, it's, they
never finish it to where it's complete or where it will protect
them. They know they need a righteousness
and they try to build it, but they never do finish it. They
try to build forgiveness by sending less, but they never have it. They're just constantly trying
to send less, but they never have it. They're constantly going
about to establish their own righteousness. And when the apostle
uses that illustration, what he's meaning is constantly trying
to prop up a dead man. You got a dead corpse and you're
constantly trying to prop it up and make it stand on its own
two feet. And it never works. You never can make him stand.
He's dead. They try to act good enough so
God will accept them, but they never arrive. They can never
finish it. No matter what they do, no matter how much they work,
they cannot finish that work of righteousness. They can't
finish the work of redemption because their works aren't good
enough. But God's people have a city and their works don't
enter into this thing. We have a refuge that's already
completed and God completed it. The foundation of this city is
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the foundation of it. He's
the walls of it. He's the streets of it. He's
the light of it. He's the glory of it. He's the temple of it.
It's all Christ. The believer city was, if you
want to use the word completed or perfected, when the savior
cried from the cross, it is finished. The refuge was complete. So the
believer's not wandering around trying to build a city or build
a righteousness that God will accept. You know, we're not trying
to establish that, trying to build it. We already have it.
We already have it. Christ has already given it to
us. We're not wandering around at all. The believer dwells safely
in Christ, held safe in his mercy and his power. All right, number
two, the city of man's works has a foundation. It's founded
on man's pride. The city of God we just read
is founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Cain was so full
of pride. He named this city that he built
after his son. And I know a lot of people do
things like that and really there's nothing wrong with it. It's fine. But this was done for spiritual
reasons. Cain was trying to build something
that would last, almost like so that he would last. It was
just based on his pride so he would be remembered and he would
last. Cain knew he needed a city, but he wasn't looking for a city
that had foundations, whose builder or maker is God. Cain was building
a city who's founded on his own pride. It's all about what he
can produce. That's why he named it after
his son. He produced his son. He's shown us this in picture.
This is his hope. What I can produce. Look what
I've produced in my son, in this city. It's based on his name
and his works. Now, while all this was going
on, his parents, Adam and Eve, you know, they were looking for
a son too. They were looking for a son too, but it wasn't
their son. Thankfully, God had taught them to look to Christ,
to look for Christ, not look for what they can produce, but
look for Christ. I can show you that in verse
25. And Adam knew his wife again,
and she bare a son and called his name Seth. For God said she
hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. Now notice here, Eve doesn't
say God gave me another son. She said, God gave me another
seed, a seed. Adam and Eve were looking for
that seed. They're still looking for that
seed of woman, that seed, which is Christ. They're looking for
the same seed that Abraham was looking for. Christ. Abraham
knew that seed wasn't Isaac. It was Christ. That's what he
was looking for. Adam and Eve were looking for the same thing,
for the same person. They're looking for that seed,
which is Christ. And just like when our babies
are born, all the parents, they were so happy. When Seth was
born, I just don't know if Adam and Eve for sure knew how blessed
they were. Of all the children that they
had, boy, this son, God's gonna do something special with this
boy, with Seth. The Messiah, that promised seed,
seed of woman God promised him, that seed that they're looking
for is gonna come through Seth. The Savior's coming through him.
That's who they're looking for. And that son, When he arrives,
the son of God who's come in the flesh, he'll finish the work. He'll finish the work. He'll
save his people. He'll make his people secure in him. This son,
the seed, when he comes, he'll give his people everything the
unbeliever's looking for. Everything they're trying and
failing to establish, he's gonna give it to them all freely. Now,
Cain didn't have any of that, because he wasn't looking for
a seed. He was looking for what he could produce. He could look
for what he could produce through his sons and through his grandsons.
He was looking to the arm of the flesh, not looking for that
seed. And Cain's other sons and grandsons
were just like him. Look here at verse 20. And Ada bared Jabil. He was the
father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. Apparently
this is the first cattle baron the Lord gave him special understanding
and in herding sheep and cattle and things and and You know,
that's a very good skill. He could teach that skill to
other people and you know, how Great is it? It's the one thing
I'm very very thankful for people know how to raise cattle so I
have steak and hamburger I mean, I just think it's what a great
skill to have But what we're given here in this grandson is
a picture of false religion The problem is Jabal and those men
like him, they're going to be their own shepherd. I need a
lamb. All right, I'll provide a lamb
for myself. I'll do it my own self. I know all there is to
know about sheep and cattle. I'll do it myself, thank you.
I'll provide for myself. And verse 21, and his brother's
name was Jubal. He was the father of all such
as handled the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare tubal
cane. an instructor of every artificer and brass and iron.
And the sister of Tubalcain was Nema. Now again, it's very good
that the Lord gave these men these skills that they could
teach others. But the problem with these skills
is they're pictures of false religion. This one grandson could
make music like nobody had ever made music before. Maybe the
Lord just gave it to him to understand, I'll make these instruments and
play this music. The other one understood how
to, whatever you do, smelt and melt and brass and iron and put
it all together, you know, to make tools. He could do that
like nobody had ever done it before. And you know what I'm
just confident of? One of the things he made was
an idol. He fashioned him an idol. Probably
sold them to folks, you know. Somebody came to him and said,
I want my god to look like this. He said, I can do that. I'll
make you one of those. And he got to work with his brass and iron,
and he made him one. And these two brothers give us
such a picture of most of the basis of false religion. Most
of the basis in false religion is found in these two things.
Music that appeals to the emotions, just an excess amount of music
that appeals to the emotions. You know, they have a 40 minute
song service and five minutes of preaching, you know. It's
music to get people fired up, you know, appeal to their emotions.
and an idol to give them something to look at so they can worship. They got to be able to see it
with fleshly eyes in order to worship. And that's what these
two men could produce. Now, you know, the Lord gave
these men skill. Like I said, apparently nobody
ever had this skill before. And you think of how much better
the world was. Now tools could be made out of
brass and iron, make farming so much more productive, make
everything so much easier to do. Now people can play beautiful
music, make life more enjoyable. And I know some people misused
it. People misused it to, you know, make idols and things.
I sure am glad some of them are gonna make a plow, aren't you?
You know, grow some corn and things and good things to eat.
People use music wrong in false religion, I know that. But God's
people have used it in true worship for thousands of years, haven't
they? Don't we enjoy that? You know, often, The Lord enables
men to do great things. I mean, man, even in his fallen
state, is brilliant, didn't he? The things that men can do. I
know God gives them those things to make great discoveries and
do these things. And the reason God does it is
not for that person's sake, whoever it is that made the discovery,
made this advancement in science or medicine or something. God
does that to help his people. I know people will misuse it
in false religion, but aren't you glad God gave us music? that
we can use in worship, that we can enjoy? Yeah. Enoch's sons and grandsons were
just like him. And buddy, they were dedicated
to it. The first city that Cain built,
that he was building, named Enoch. And the name means dedicated. Cain was so dedicated. His sons
and his grandsons were so dedicated to their pride, to the works
that they could do to their own selves They were so dedicated
to that, they never would submit themselves to the righteousness
of God. They were so dedicated, they
became stubborn and never submitted themselves and never begged for
mercy. You know, God's people are dedicated
too. They're dedicated to seeking
Christ. Now, aren't you thankful for
all the blessings that God gives? God's people are thankful. for
those blessings that God gives. But you know what they're seeking?
There's a difference being thankful for the blessings and what is
it that you're seeking? We're seeking Christ. We're seeking
forgiveness in Him. We're seeking to be found in
Him. Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. That's what
we're seeking. That's what we need. That's what
we desire. So the believer does what happens
here in Seth's lifetime, begins to call on the name of the Lord. Now I thought about that, this
phrase, call on the name of the Lord. How do we do that? How is it that you and I today
call on the name of the Lord? It's not just saying his name
out loud. It's more than that. We call
on the name of the Lord through a blood sacrifice. And I can
make good on that. If you look in Genesis chapter
12, This is the very next place that I could find where somebody
called on the name of the Lord. And the man calling on the name
of the Lord here is Abraham. And Abraham's going to give us
a very clear idea how it is that somebody calls on the name of
the Lord. Look at Genesis 12, verse seven. And Lord appeared unto Abram
and said unto thy seed, why give this land? And there, and there
builded he an altar under the Lord who appeared unto him. And
he moved from thence unto a mountain in the east of Bethel and pitched
his tent, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east. And
there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name
of the Lord. Now, Abraham only called on the
name of the Lord after he built an altar. And what do you do
with an altar? You offer a blood sacrifice.
The only way any of us can call on the name of the Lord is through
a blood sacrifice. the substitute who died in our
place as the sacrifice for our sin. And that's what every believer
does. We call on the name of the Lord
through the sacrifice of Christ. We call on God and say, God,
forgive me for Christ's sake. Based on the merits of Christ,
not me. Based on the merits of his blood,
not my works. Based on the merits of his obedience,
not mine. Based on the merits of who he
is, not me. That's calling. on the name of
the Lord. We call on the name of the Lord
through a sacrifice, and what that means is we're calling on
God to be who he is. Lord, be merciful to me in justice. God can never be merciful until
justice is satisfied. Calling on the Lord is saying,
Lord, be merciful to me in justice, because Christ died for me, because
of the death of the substitute. Forgive my sins. That's mercy. God's gonna forgive my sin, that's
mercy, isn't it? But it's also justice. Forgive my sin because
the blood of your son paid for my sin. Because his blood cleansed
me from my sin. Now look in Exodus chapter 33.
Here's another thing about calling on the name of the Lord. When
we call on the name of the Lord, his name means who he is. And
who God is is not who we imagine him to be, God is who he says
he is. And here's who God says he is.
And if we're going to call on the name of the Lord, we're going
to call on God. This is who we must call on. Exodus 33 verse
18. And he, Moses said, I beseech
thee, show me thy glory. And he, God said, I will make
all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. And here's the name of the Lord.
I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy. God is gracious, God is merciful,
but it's always done in a sovereign fashion. So to call on the name
of the Lord is to cry out, Lord, be merciful to me. I know you'll
be gracious to whom you will be gracious. I know that you'll
show mercy on whom you will show mercy, and that's only right.
Mercy is yours to give. Grace is yours to give. I've
sinned against you. Only you can forgive me. It's
up to you. It's completely up. I can't do
anything to make you do it. I can't do anything to get you
to do it. I don't deserve it in the least, but Lord, I'm begging
for mercy. And Lord, you're right if you
pass me by. But I'm begging you to be merciful.
That's who God is. That's calling on the name of
the Lord. Calling on him in sovereign mercy. Now you see the contrast
here? Cain wanted a name for himself. That's why he wanted this city
to be remembered. He wanted a name for himself. Believers don't
want a name for themselves. They're not looking for a name
to establish a name, a reputation, a fame for themselves. They want
the name of Christ, the name of Christ. They want God to remember
them in Christ for Christ's sake. In Seth's lifetime, men began
to call on the name of the Lord or to call themselves by the
name of the Lord. They first did that in Seth's
lifetime. And it seems like from the way
it stayed here, Seth kind of led them into that. Well, that's
what believers have been wanting ever since, to be called by the
name of the Lord. Do you realize what a blessing
it is to be called a Christian? And I'm not talking about what
the world attaches to that term. To be called by the name of Christ,
a Christian. This is the name where with she
shall be called, Jehovah Sidken, the Lord, our righteousness.
Now that's a blessing not to be called by my worthless name.
Certainly not to be called by Adam's worthless name anymore.
I saw what he's done to him. It don't be called by his name
anymore, but to be called by the name of Christ. And if the
father calls me by the name of his beloved son, he calls me
by the name of Christ. I can tell you this, I'm accepted
and loved of God. That's why we call on the name
of the Lord, begging him, let me be called by your name. All
right, here's the third thing. The city of man's works is founded
on man's strength. The city of God is founded on
Christ. Verse 23. And Lamech said unto
his wives, Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech,
hearken unto my speech, for I've slain a man to my wounding and
a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
truly Lamech, 70 and sevenfold. Now, Lamech here killed two men.
Sounds like an old man and a young man. Jewish legend, maybe I shouldn't
even say this because it's not in the word, but Jewish legend
says that the old man that he killed was his grandfather, great-grandfather
Cain. Jewish legend says that's who
he killed. Almost seems like he had to kill somebody's own
family, didn't he? Seems like. And it seems like
that one of them hurt Lamech in some way. And he killed him
for it. Now, the meaning of the original
words here, it doesn't mean Lamech's life was threatened. It doesn't
mean he was seriously injured in any way. Maybe they hurt him
in a business deal. Maybe they hurt his feelings.
They insulted him or something like that. And Lamech overreacted,
and he killed him for it. Brutally killed him for it. And
he goes home and tells his wives what he's done. He said, I've
killed these two men, an old man and a young man. He said, but
don't you worry. Don't you worry. Don't worry
about anybody in that family trying to get justice on me.
Don't you worry about somebody in society saying, you know,
we've got to do something. Justice has got to be satisfied
for him killing these two men. Don't you worry about them coming
here. I'm not afraid, and don't you be afraid. That's what he's
telling them. He said, if anybody comes after
me, I'll kill them just like I did them other two. That's
what he's saying. He's relying on his own strength.
I reckon that's good in a cowboy movie, you know. in real life,
that's not so good. But you know, again, all this
is given to us as a picture. This is Cain's descendants. This
is what Cain can produce. It's a picture of false religion.
Man in false religion relies on his own strength. They say,
I'm not afraid. I don't think it's as much of
a thing anymore, but years ago it used to be a thing people
would wear on their t-shirt. No fear, no fear. I'm not afraid
of anything. I'm not afraid. Men in false
religion keep trying to tell themselves, I'm not afraid. Because
they're trying to, by their own strength, protect themselves
and build up a refuge against God's wrath. And what they're
going to find is their strength's not good enough. They can't build
a refuge strong enough to save them from God. Man far too often
thinks God's like us. We lower God down to us and down
to our standard, our power that He can only do things like what
we can do. Brother, we're not trying to be saved from men.
We're talking about being saved here. We need to be saved from
God. We need to be saved from the Almighty. And man's works
aren't going to get it done. Look at Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah
chapter 28. This is why I said we need to
be saved from God. God's coming. Look what he says
here, verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place, and your covenant with hell shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by
it. Now it's interesting he talks here about a refuge of lies.
That's what man's works is. Righteousness by man's works.
Redemption by man's works. Salvation by man's works. It's
a lie. It's a lie. They can't do it.
It's a refuge of lies. But now believers, they're like
Seth. They call on the name of the
Lord. They're depending on the strength
of Christ. On the sufficiency of Christ.
And that city, that refuge, remember, it's already finished, it's completed.
Those people hiding in Christ will be safe. Look at verse 16.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in sign for
a foundation, a stone, a dried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. Remember, the city hath foundations
which are of God. He that believeth, he who's hiding
in him shall not make haste. That believer hiding in Christ
is safe. He's safe from God's justice.
You know why? Because justice is not trying
to get him. Christ has already put away their
sin by his sacrifice for them. His blood's already satisfied
God's justice. So the believer hiding in Christ
is safe. Under the blood of Jesus, safe
while the ages roll. Safe though the world may crumble.
Safe though the stars grow dim. Under the blood of Jesus, I'm
secure in Him. Hiding in Christ, we're secure.
Now, I can't quit before I point this out about old Laman. He
does what most people in false religion do. He makes excuses
for his sin. He takes his sin and he wraps
it in religion, trying to say God says this is okay. Laman
killed these two men. He comes home, tells his wife.
You notice what he said? He said, Cain killed his brother,
didn't he? And God protected him. See how
man's logic twists and comes up with something that's not
true. You see, God protected him, so it must be okay. I'm so great,
God's gonna protect me 11 times more than he did Cain, because
I'm so great. Basically saying, God says, it's
okay that I sin like that. He's gonna protect me. Now all
that is is making an excuse for sin and taking, just doing whatever
it is that I want to do and wrapping it in religion so nobody can
say anything wrong with it. I'm wrapping it in religion so
you gotta say it's okay. God says it's okay, you gotta
say it's okay. That's calling evil good and
good evil. God said that'll bring his judgment.
But there's contrast to the believer. makes no excuse for our sin. God shows us we're guilty. There's
no hiding it. There's no sweeping it under
the rug. There's no excuse for it. When God shows us really,
truly our sin, there's no excuse for it. I can't blame it on somebody
else. I can't blame it on my circumstances. I can't blame
it on Adam. I can't blame it on anybody.
It's my fault. It's my sin. It's my fault. I'm
the one that deserves to be condemned for it. I can't do anything about
it. I can't quit sin. I can't put
my sin away. I can do nothing to protect myself
from God's judgment. God would be right to damn me
and send me to hell because my sin is against him. And that's
why I'm calling on the name of the Lord. That's why I'm begging
for mercy. Because when God finds me, I
can tell you where I want him to find me. Hiding in Christ. Hiding in Christ. That's calling
on the name of the Lord, like Seth did. And if you look at
one more scripture, Romans chapter 10, I believe this is a good
way to end this message, a good thing for us to think about as
we go home. The person, I don't care who
they are, that calls upon the name of the Lord, who he is,
as he's been pleased to reveal himself in this book, that person
that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans chapter 10 verse 11. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth in him shall not be ashamed. They're not gonna be
found guilty. They have a hiding place. He's made them not innocent
or not guilty. They're innocent. For there's
no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I like what he says there, whosoever.
He doesn't say any elect, he doesn't say any awakened sinner,
he just says whosoever. You fit under that heading? Are
you a whosoever? Whosoever calls upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And it's not because we called.
You know, people take that verse and try to make it sound like,
well, you know, God saves us because we call. That makes God
obligated to save us. You know, God's not under any
obligation. Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord should be
saved because who the Lord is. Because he's rich in mercy. He
forgives based upon the person, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That make you want to call on
his name? Does me. Does me. All right, let's bow
together. Our father. Oh, how we thank
you for our Lord Jesus Christ. for the city, which hath foundations,
whose builder and maker is God. How we thank you that salvation
has not been left up to the fickle dead will of man, but is according
to your sovereign will and purpose, which is always done. Father,
how we thank you for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, his
blood that makes it right for a holy God to be merciful to
sinful men and women such as we are. Father, how we thank
you. And Father, I beg of you that you not let us hear thy
word this evening and go home unaffected, like an anvil being
pounded with a hammer, unaffected. But Father, cause your word to
take root in our heart that we may be like these brethren of
old and call, live our lives calling on the name of the Lord. It's in his precious name that
precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of his
name, we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, Sean. If you would turn to song number
448 and stand as we sing, He Ransomed Me. so There's a sweet and blessed story
of the Christ who came from glory just to rescue me from sin and
misery. He in loving kindness sought
me and from sin and shame has brought me. Hallelujah! Jesus ransomed me. Alleluia, what a Savior, who
can take a poor lost sinner, lift him from the miry clay and
set him free. I will ever tell the story, shouting
glory, glory, glory. Alleluia, Jesus ransomed me. From the depth of sin and sadness
To the heights of joy and gladness Jesus lifted me In mercy full
and free With His precious blood He bought me When I knew Him
not He sought me And in love divine He ransomed me Hallelujah,
what a Savior, who can take a poor lost sinner, lift him from the
miry clay, and set him free. I will ever tell the story, shouting
glory, glory, glory. Hallelujah, Jesus ransomed me. By and by, with joy increasing,
And with gratitude unceasing, Lifted up to be with Christ eternally. I will at windbows there singing,
In the anthem ever ringing, To the King of love who ransomed
me. Alleluia, what a Savior who can
take a poor lost sinner, lift him from the miry clay, and set
him free! I will ever tell the story, shouting,
Glory, glory, glory! Alleluia, Jesus ransomed me!