WHEN THE FIRST CITY WAS BUILT.

Genesis 4 and 5.

SOMETIME ago in an eloquent and interesting address on the Bible, the speaker said: " Young man, cling to your Bible; our civilization is built upon it, and it has a sure foundation;" which remark reminds me of General U. S. Grant who, speaking of his experience at West Point, said that he graduated very near the head of his class, if it were turned around.

The remark, in other words, would be a great truth, if it were only true; but as a matter of fact it is not true. Our civilization is not based upon the Bible and hence has not a sure foundation, but a very shaky one. John Lothrop Motley, referring to the breakdown of the House of Hapsburg, says that there are no real catastrophes in history. " Sap-sap-sap,-gnaw-gnaw-gnaw,-nibble-nibble-nibble, a million mildews, and rats and mice, do their work for ages, and at last a huge fabric goes down in a smash, and the foolish chroniclers of the day wonder why it tumbles. The wonder was that the hollow thing stood so long."

Some day this civilization of ours will go down in a mighty smash. " The stone cut out from the mountain without hands " will strike the image upon its feet, and the whole of it will disappear like chaff upon the summer threshing floor.

WHEN AUSTRIA DISAPPEARED.

Motley did not mean that Austria had disappeared, but only the traditional German Empire or confederation with a Hapsburg word to it, the Austria prestige, the great imperial, military, dictatorial power. And so the nations will not altogether disappear nor the people that compose them in the day of which I speak, but everything in or among them that represents our present governments and forms of authority.

In a word, our civilization shall give place at length to the kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up and which shall never be destroyed. It will be a catastrophe when it comes, and yet, as in the case of the House of Hapsburg, it will only be the culmination of the sins of all the former centuries which have gone before, and very particularly those of that century itself.

The elements that will bring this to pass are already working within the bounds of Christendom under the name of that civilization of which we boast, and it is the province of this lecture to point out some of them.

The particular theme is, " When the First City was Built." We shall divide it into three parts, and consider:

1. The Sacrifice of Abel.

2. The Posterity of Cain.

3. The Translation of Enoch.

All of which bear the closest relation to one another.

I.

Let us read the story of Abel, chapter 4, verses 1 to 8:

"And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door."

When, in the first verse, it is written that Eve bare Cain and said: " I have gotten a man " or " I have gotten the man from the Lord," there are those who believe she was referring to the Deliverer spoken of in the preceding chapter, the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent's head. But if she believed Cain were he, she was soon undeceived, as we may gather from the name of her second son, Abel, which means " that which passeth away as a breath."

In process of time these two sons came to present their offerings unto the Lord, when Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, and Abel of the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof; and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering He had not respect.

Just how He showed His respect to the one and His disrespect to the other is not stated, but perhaps, as on later occasions, fire may have come out from before the Lord and consumed the one in token of its acceptance, leaving the other untouched.

WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?

But a far more important question is, Why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's rejected? The importance of this question cannot be overemphasized, because it has the most vital bearing upon the race in all the generations since.

In answer, we cannot suppose that Abel's sacrifice had a higher market value that that of Cain, for it is almost inconceivable that market values should have been considered then. Moreover, it is written in the New Testament that "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." (2 Corinthians 8: 12).

Neither can we suppose that Abel's offering was accepted because he was a better man than Cain, for God is no respecter of persons when it is a question of two men who are alike sinners. This was true of Abel and Cain, who were both sons of sinful parents, both born outside of Eden, and hence both children of wrath, even as others. Abel's character was no better intrinsically than Cain's, and the ground of his acceptance could not have been found in himself.

Indeed, we only discover the answer to this question in the New Testament, where we read in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, that " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."

By faith in what, or in whom? Manifestly faith in some preceding promise of God, or some preceding revelation wherein He showed how a guilty sinner might approach a holy God.

And if we are asked what that promise was, we find it in the third chapter, in the reference to that Deliverer, the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent's head. And if we ask what the revelation was, we find it in connection with the coats of skins which God made for Adam and Eve, and where doubtless, He laid down the principle that it was possible for guilty man to put the life of another between himself and God; and where He showed him that he could not approach God except through the shedding of blood.

Abel believed God's promise, and came to God in God's appointed way; he surrendered his will to the divine will, and hence was accepted.

THE FIRST RATIONALIST.

Cain, on the other hand, was the first rationalist in sacred history. He was a moral man as well as Abel, and a religious man, or he would not have presented an offering to God at all. But, nevertheless, he was a self-willed man, who chose to follow the light of reason rather than revelation.

He presented to the Lord of the fruit of the ground, a thank-offering for the abundant harvest but nothing more. Such an offering was good as far as it went, but it is to be remembered, that no man's offering can be accepted until the man himself is accepted. God help us to apprehend that clearly! And the only ground upon which any sinner can be accepted is that of the finished work of Jesus Christ, revealed in prophecy and symbol in the garden of Eden.

In the light of that circumstance and explanation, observe the gracious condescension of God in expostulating with Cain, and saying, " Why is thy countenance fallen? if thou daest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door."

That last phrase is worthy of consideration. It seems to suggest that sin, like a beast of prey, is couchant at Cain's door ready to spring upon him and devour him if he be not on his guard.

But there is another way of looking at it. The Hebrew word for " sin " is the same as that for " sin-offering," and it might read thus: " If thou doest not well, the sin-offering lieth at the door;" in other words, " Thou hast the same opportunity to approach me as Abel had; the lamb is nigh thee; put thy hand upon its head as thy substitute; present the atoning sacrifice as he did; yield up that life in the place of thine, as I have revealed to thee, and thou shalt be accepted as thy brother was."

RELIGION NOT ENOUGH.

God in the same way is expostulating with men and women here. You may be moral and righteous as the world regards you; you may be religious as Cain was; perhaps you are members of some church, and yet, for all that, you have never come to God in God's way; you have never presented the Lamb " that taketh away the sin of the world."

God is pleading with you and saying what He said to Cain: " If thou doest not well, the sin-offering lieth at the door." Take the Lord Jesus Christ now. Let those familiar words of Charlotte Elliott come up into thy heart, that God may hear them:

"Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come."

Will you stand with believing Abel or with unbelieving Cain?

II.

But let us pass to the second division of our subject, '

THE POSTERITY OF CAIN,

which bears the closest relation to the sacrifice of Abel. Verses 16 to 24:

"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 bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael began Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah 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: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah 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."

When it is said that " Cain went out from the presence of the Lord," what does it mean? Scarcely that he went out from the garden of Eden, for his parents had already been excluded thence before his birth.

But we recall that when God drove out the man from the garden, He placed " at the east of the garden cherubim and a flaming sword," " to keep the way of the tree of life." Some would translate "a flaming sword " by " shekinah," which gives the thought of that visible cloud of glory which, later on, always symbolizes the divine presence; and it may be that after our first parents were driven out of the garden, God manifested Himself to them thus in the shekinah, where they worshipped and communed with Him.

IN THE LAND OF NOD.

If such be true, then that is what is meant when we read that " Cain went out from the presence of the LORD " He went out from the shekinah glory. Now he has become a wanderer, for that is the meaning of the word " Nod " the land of wandering.

What a type of the sinner, always and everywhere! He is a wanderer in the land of wandering. You will recall in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, that "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance against them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," " they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power" Suffer the repetition of the thought that throughout eternity the conscious retribution of the wicked is not annihilation, but separation from the presence of the Lord, from communion and fellowship with Him, and those who know and love Him.

When, in the next verse of our lesson we read that " Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch, and he builded a city and called it after the name of his son," there are two or three things that call for explanation.

Where did Cain get his wife? How many ask that question! Some people refuse to believe anything in the Bible unless you can answer that to their satisfaction. And yet it is a simple answer. Remember that a long period of time must have elapsed between the birth of Cain and the death of Abel, and that many sons and daughters may have been born to Adam and Eve of whom there is no record here.

WHOM DID CAIN MARRY?

The Bible is not a history of the world, nor of the human race, but simply the history of the redemption of the race. That is the single thread running all through the Bible, and God only takes a stitch with it here and there in the fabric of the world's history just to keep it before us. He alludes only to certain men and women, and to certain events in the history of the world which are necessary to illustrate and set before us what He is doing with reference to the redemption of the race. Hence Cain and Abel are mentioned, but the other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are not named.

Cain, of course, married one of his own sisters, which was not a sin in itself. On the contrary, the human race could not otherwise have been propagated; but by and by, God, in express commandment, declared such unions to be sinful, and woe be to them now who enter into them. (Leviticus 18:9).

When it is said that the name of Cain's son was Enoch, let us not confound him with another person of the name whom we shall consider later on; and when it is said that he " builded a city," let us not conceive of a city like Chicago, with its streets and market-places and its great and magnificent architecture. Perhaps the city at first was only a stockade, a protected place for the habitation of his family; and yet, considering the centuries he may have lived, the city before his decease may have grown to a prodigious size.

That in which we are particularly interested, however, is the story of Lamech, because the Holy Spirit is interested in it, and sets it before us in detail. He does so that we may discover the nature and extent of the civilization of that early time and the end to which it came.

FEMININE CHARMS.

In Lamech's story the first thing we learn is that he took unto himself two wives, in other words, he was the first polygamist in sacred history. We learn next that the name of one of these wives was " Adah " and the other " Zillah." It is significant that the Holy Spirit pauses to give the names of these women. With the exception of Eve, no other names of women are given, if I remember correctly, for two thousand years, until we reach the period of Abraham and Sarah.

Why does the Holy Spirit give us these names? Can it be because of their meaning? Adah means " ornament;" Zillah, " shade;" and Naamah, " lovely," as though the physical beauty and sensual attractions of women were coming to be prominent as not before.

In the next verse our attention is called to the development of wealth and commerce. Jabal was the first nomad of whom we read, " the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle," a man of possessions, and trade and commerce. His brother's name was " Jubal," and he was the founder of what we call the arts, and the introducer of the means for pleasure and amusement, the dance and the song, in the civilization of that day, " the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ," or the harp and the pipe. Another brother's name was Tubal-cain," the " instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," or the founder of what we call the mechanical sciences, " the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron," the Revised Version reads.

WHAT CIVILIZATION IS.

We thus see the elements of civilization set before us, wealth, commerce, the arts, the sciences, the pleasures and the amusements of society, the comforts and the conveniences of life. In other words, the Holy Spirit emphasizes that the posterity of Cain did everything they could to make themselves as happy and content as possible in the life of sin, without seeking to be delivered from it.

And this conviction is forced upon us with greater power still when we read in the following verse that Lamech has practically thrown off the authority and worship of God altogether, and become a kind of anarchist and atheist, saying to his wives,

"Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech,

Hearken unto my speech;

For I have slain a man for wounding me,

And a young man for bruising me."

Singularly enough, this speech is in the poetic form, and may have become a classic as it was handed down by tradition to later generations. The lawlessness of the man is seen in that he is taking the law into his own hands, just as men and women are doing today in our advanced civilization, taking away life when they desire to, and being defended in the act by lawyers, and exonerated from the crime by juries.

Lamech is not only an anarchist, however, but an atheist, a worshipper of the god of forces, for in the next verse he exclaims: " If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." God had set a mark upon Cain, and said that should he be slain vengeance would be taken upon the perpetrator of the deed sevenfold, but Lamech boastingly declares: " See how much greater I am than God! What is His power compared to my sword? Would He avenge Cain sevenfold? I have power in myself to be avenged seventy times sevenfold."

This is one side of civilization the wealth, the commerce, the arts, the sciences, the pleasures, the amusements, the comforts, the conveniences; and on the other side sin, polygamy, sensuality, anarchy and atheism! Is it not the same today? And is such a civilization based on the Bible, and has it a sure foundation?

This is the end of Lamech, and the posterity of Cain so far as the Bible record goes. It began in one murderer, and it ended in another.

III.

But now God shows us another picture in connection with the

TRANSLATION OF ENOCH

and the posterity of Seth, verses 25 and 26:

"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 the name of the LORD/'

The Holy Spirit here shows us the difference between the Sethites and Cainites in three ways:

1. Their mode of living.

2. Their spirit of worship.

3. The character of their posterity.

(1) As to their mode of living, there is no mention of the building of cities, and nothing is said about wealth and commerce; nor the arts and sciences; nor pleasures and amusements; nor the comforts and conveniences of life. And correspondingly, nothing is said about polygamy or sensuality, or anarchy, or atheism.

I do not affirm that the Sethites did not live in cities; nor that they had no wealth, nor that they did not engage in commerce. Neither do I affirm that they knew nothing about the arts and sciences, and had no pleasures and amusements, or comforts and conveniences.

Most particularly do I not say that they were not sinners, or knew nothing about the iniquities referred to in the line of Cain. I am only trying to remember that the omissions of the Holy Spirit in the Bible are sometimes as significant as the things recorded. When He has omitted all reference to these things in the line of Seth, and laid emphasis upon them in the line of Cain, it seems to me that He would have us do the same, and to understand that the Sethites were differentiated in these ways from the Cainites. In other words, the former were a meek, humble, separated people, and while using the world they were not abusing it.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAMES OF DEITY.

(2) As to their spirit of worship, it is written that " then men began to call upon the name of the LORD." The word " LORD " is printed in the text in capital letters, and wherever it is so found in the Old Testament, it indicates that the original word is " Jehovah." This is the name of the Deity that brings Him near to His people, while " God " is the name which conceives of Him rather as far off. In other words, when we speak of " God " we think of the Creator, but when by contrast we speak of "Jehovah "we think of the Redeemer.

Thus when the men of Seth began to call upon the Name of Jehovah, evidently, like Abel, they were looking towards the Deliverer promised in the third of Genesis, " the seed of the woman " who should bruise the serpent's head. They were basing their confidence for salvation and fellowship with God upon the vicarious atonement set before them symbolically in the coats of skins.

(3) As to their posterity, we might discover many things were we to consider all the verses of the following chapter, but for the sake of brevity let us focus our attention, as the Holy Spirit does, upon a single individual. That individual is Enoch, the seventh from Adam in line of Seth, as Lamech was the seventh in the line of Cain.

Is it not remarkable that these two men should be brought before us in this sharp contrast? Lamech representing the civilization of the world, its accomplishments and results, and Enoch representing the life of faith in the same way. Let us read the record of Enoch in verses 21 to 24 of chapter 5:

"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

"And Enoch walked with God." " Can two walk together except they be agreed? " See what this means as to communion and fellowship with God. A little girl once said: " Enoch walked with God, and one day he walked so far that he forgot ever to come back again."

"He was not, for God took him." We learn from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews this means that he was translated, having never seen death. What a reward for faith, and holiness, and separation! And it is a reward by no means limited to Enoch. It is written in the New Testament, that, " It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment/' and as I have reminded you before, this has sometimes been rendered as though it were, " It is appointed unto all men once to die, and after this the judgment."

But such is not the case. There is one generation of men living on this earth in the flesh who shall never see death, namely, those who, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and looking for His coming, shall be alive and remaining here on the earth when He comes, who shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air, and so to be forever with Him. ( 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18). What God did in the case of one man, He is able to do in the case of many. And for all we know, my brethren, it may be God's pleasure at any time to send His chariots to carry us who are waiting for Him to meet Him in the air.

Again let us ask ourselves the question as to which of these two classes we belong? Are we in the line of Cain or Seth?

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE CHURCH IS CAUGHT UP?

Remember that when Enoch was translated he left the wicked world behind him as it was. It continued in its polygamy and sensuality, in the accumulation of its wealth, the extension of its commerce, the enjoyment of its art and science, its pleasures and amusements, its comforts and conveniences; and also in its iniquity and wickedness until at last God was obliged, consistently with His righteousness and truth, to sweep them all away with the exception of eight souls.

When the Church shall be translated to meet the Lord in the air, it will leave the wicked world behind it. Christendom will be on the earth when the Church is translated, for there is a distinction between Christendom and the true Church of Christ, which is His body. Our civilization will be progressing then just as it is now. There will be still the accumulation of wealth, the extension of commerce, the enjoyment of art and science, the pleasures and amusements, and the comforts and conveniences of the time. And side by side with all these things will be the polygamy, (and worse than that, for men have now found through the divorce court an easier and cheaper way to gratify their lust), and anarchy, and atheism, and all the rest, until God shall give the nations to His Son for His inheritance. Who shall " break them with a rod of iron," and " dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

That is what our civilization is coming to, and the kind of foundation upon which it rests. In the face of such a fact, where do we stand?

WHERE CHRISTIANS STAND.

If we are men and women of God, if we are in the line of Seth rather than Cain, then three things are true of us, according to this record.

In the first place, like the Sethites as represented by Enoch, we are witnessing and waiting for the coming of our Lord from heaven (Jude 14). And secondly, we are witnessing and waiting for Him because we are separated from the world unto God, using it as not abusing it; having come to apprehend, that if we " love the world, the love of the Father is not in us, and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof." (1 John 2:15-17).

But thirdly, if we are separated from the world in this sense, then it means that we have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and have confessed Him with our mouth before men as our Lord.

Have we done this? It is an easy thing and a simple thing to do, and it may be done now. You may take your place with the people of God tonight as you sit in this edifice, and be counted with them forever.

"THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD.

"Every American, and many who are not Americans, know the story of Concord bridge and the patriotic memories that gather round April 19, 1775:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

     Their flag to April breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood

     And fired the shot heard round the world."

There was a moment when those farmers were British subjects, owning their allegiance to King George; but there was another moment when they had turned their backs upon that allegiance, and had become American citizens.

That was the moment when, in obedience to the command of John Buttrick, they fired " the shot heard round the world " upon the redcoats at the other end.

In a moment, by hearing and heeding the divine command thou canst be "turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." In the moment thou dost believe on the Lord Jesus Christ thou canst be translated from the powers of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God's love.

Will you change your allegiance today? God help you to do it, for His name's sake!