The City of Man vs. The City of God: Why Self-Reliance Leads to Ruin

• Secularism and Society [00:42:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns against the nation running toward a secularized society that operates apart from biblical principles.
• Cain's City Building [00:41:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > Analysis of Cain's attempt to build a city and organize society without repentance or relationship to God.
• Canaanite Culture Characteristics [00:46:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identification of five pillars of a culture built apart from God: religious emphasis (without God), outward beauty, commerce, music, and industry.
• Religious Emphasis Without God [00:51:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The argument that one can have religion (names, devotion) but still be fundamentally separated from God, which is the core error of Cain's culture.
• Cultural Emphases (Music, Industry, Beauty, Commerce) [00:49:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the cultural elements of Cain's city (music, industry, beauty, commerce) and argues that while these things are not inherently wrong, they become destructive when practiced 'without God' or as a 'cult' that replaces divine authority.
• Universal Religion and Worship [00:51:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that 'everybody is religious' and that humanity is 'incurably religious,' meaning everyone worships something; he identifies atheism as a lie where the individual worships themselves, and states that any religion apart from Jesus Christ leads to hell.
• Lamech as the Epitome of a Godless Culture [00:58:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Lamech is presented as the seventh in Cain's line and the 'perfect picture' of what a culture without God produces, characterized by three specific disasters: family turmoil (bigamy), violence (glorying in murder), and arrogance (defiance of God).
• Divine Intervention and the Line of Seth [01:04:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the 'gap' where Cain's line drops off from scripture, leading to judgment (the Flood), and contrasts this with the birth of Seth, whose name means 'appointed' or 'substitute,' illustrating that redemption is God-provided, not human-acquired.
• Divine Provision vs. Human Effort [01:10:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Eve's initial belief that she acquired a man by her own effort with the realization that God must appoint the deliverer, emphasizing that humans cannot fix everything on their own.
• Substitutionary Atonement [01:10:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the Hebrew term for 'appointed' as 'substitute,' linking Seth to Jesus Christ, who became sin for us and took our place on the cross.
• Human Frailty and Dependence on God [01:11:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the name 'Enosh' meaning frailty, illustrating that humanity's awareness of its own weakness leads to the necessity of relying on God.
• The Origin of the Church [01:12:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies the first church as a small, uncultured group of people who realized their need for God and gathered to call on His name, contrasting this with man-made culture.
• National Heritage and Faith [01:15:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a letter written for a congressional time capsule, connecting the founding principles of America (rights from God, liberty protected by Constitution) to the biblical warning against operating without God.
• Cultural Drift and Spiritual Awakening [01:27:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns that cultures drift away from God just as Cain's city did, urging the congregation to recognize this drift and return to the Lord and the church community.
• Spiritual Renewal and Self-Reflection [01:28:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor encourages listeners to seek a fresh start and acknowledge what God has revealed about themselves, their families, and their country.
• Church Community and Belonging [01:28:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers need a church body for prayer support, encouragement, and teaching to resist cultural pressures.
• Spiritual Safety and Direction [01:29:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes the importance of knowing one's past, present, and future direction, asserting that staying in the Word and the body keeps one safe from being swept away by culture.

• Sermon Illustration [00:44:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references modern cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, and New York as examples of places that 'don't have time for god' and operate apart from biblical truth.
• Sermon Illustration [00:45:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor mentions the founding of Trinity Christian Academy as a response to Supreme Court decisions that pushed God out of public schools, highlighting the negative impact over the last generation and a half.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the etymology of names in Genesis 4 (Enoch/Devotion, Ada/Ornament, Zillah/Shady, Naamah/Lovely) to illustrate the cultural emphasis on beauty and religion in Cain's city.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the historical/biblical example of Lamech, the first bigamist in the Bible, who took two wives (Adah and Zillah) and sang a song boasting of killing a man for wounding him, to illustrate the progression of violence and arrogance in a culture that has removed God.
• Sermon Illustration [01:04:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of the 'gap' between Genesis 4:24 and 4:25, where Cain's line 'drops off' the page into silence, to illustrate the finality of living without God, followed by the 'shrieks' of the Flood judgment and the 'washing of water' against Noah's ark.
• Sermon Illustration [01:08:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Eve's initial statement upon bearing Cain ('I have acquired a man from the Lord') with her later statement upon bearing Seth ('God has appointed another seed'), illustrating the theological shift from human effort to divine provision/substitution.
• Sermon Illustration [01:15:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts writing a letter for a semi-quincentennial congressional time capsule to be opened in 2276, expressing hope that America's founding principles of liberty and faith in God would remain intact for future generations.
• Sermon Illustration [01:22:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the historical progression from Cain to Lamech (the seventh generation) as a picture of a man-made culture that becomes a disaster when it operates without God's wisdom and power.
• Sermon Illustration [01:29:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a 'tide' representing culture that tries to lead believers away, contrasting it with the church which pulls believers back in and keeps them safer.

• Pastoral Charge [00:52:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify and examine the specific object of one's worship.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Open Bibles and follow the scripture reading.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > Circle the name 'Seth' in their Bibles to note its meaning.
• Pastoral Charge [01:12:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > Write down the meaning of the name 'Enosh' (frailty).
• Pastoral Charge [01:26:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invites non-believers to repent, place faith in Jesus, and surrender their lives to Him as Savior.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invites believers who have drifted to come to the altar for a fresh start and recommitment.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Urges believers without a church home to join a local church body for support, teaching, and fellowship to resist cultural drift.
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > Trust God and ask for a fresh start
• Pastoral Charge [01:28:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Unite with the local church family if led by God

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:15:13] We're working some stuff out. No, you don't have a misprint in your bulletin. Just two different arrangements of the same text. So let's stand together and sing for the beauty of the earth, the hymn version.

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:15:28] Faith family, how are you doing today? Good morning. Some of us are a little bit eager to get started today, as I was popping up here, but it's good to see you. This is the day that the Lord has made and we've gathered together to rejoice and be glad in it.
[00:18:47] thankful you've decided to join us here today. I know the youth are excited to be back in town, had a great week at camp, heard a lot of great stories already. So praise the Lord for that.
[00:18:56] If you're joining with us, allow me to give you a warm welcome. My name is Robert and I serve here as the associate pastor. And if you are joining with us today, we'd love for you just to slip up
[00:19:05] your hand just high enough for the deacons to see it. We should have some gift bags for you as they're walking down the aisles. They'll get that to you. And in that gift bag, you'll see a
[00:19:13] little visitor card if you'd be so kind as to fill it out and drop it in the offering plate at that time we'd love to connect with you and get to know you a little bit better if you're joining us
[00:19:23] online welcome into the sanctuary here at 221 urban road in mooresville north carolina we'd love for you to worship with us to sing when we sing to pray when we pray to read the word
[00:19:33] and just uh to experience this as as best you can from wherever you are whether you're tuning in via delayed broadcast or online and we'd love to have you in person anytime well church let's uh let's ask the lord to bless our time together let's go to let's corporately
[00:19:49] go together in prayer at this time holy heavenly father god we are so incredibly thankful for your goodness for your mercy and for your grace father it's new every morning and lord we truly do we
[00:20:06] want to acknowledge you today adore you as king of kings and lord of lords as everlasting father as a prince of peace as the wonderful counselor the great physician the master rabbi the shepherd of our soul and father we are careful at the onset of the service today to confess our sin lord we
[00:20:28] we all have one thing in common that's each and every single one of us have sinned and fallen short of your glory. God, we've missed the mark. We've gone astray. You saw fit, Lord, to lay upon
[00:20:43] your son the iniquity of us all. God, we're so thankful for the cross. We're thankful that it covers us. We're thankful for the gift of righteousness, Lord, that's given to us freely by grace through faith and is given so that no one could boast. This is a work that you have done
[00:21:03] in our place. So Father, we call out this morning for a deeper, more full, true relationship with you. And Father, maybe that's going to be made possible today by repentance, by unconfessed sin in our life. Father, we're thankful for your precious promise. If we confess our sins, Lord,
[00:21:25] you are just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, to cast our sins as far as the east is from the west as jesus reminds us on the cross from one scarred hand
[00:21:40] outstretched to the other so father empower us this morning through your holy spirit to worship you in spirit and in truth god you are spirit and your word is truth you've given your word to
[00:21:56] sanctify us lord to wash us to renew us to restore us to mold us and make us into the image and the likeness of your son so that we could reflect christ brighter and truer and clearer in our
[00:22:09] community and beyond thank you father for this opportunity thank you for the right and the privilege to be called children of god sons and daughters of the one true king help us not to take this for granted help us to call out to you with confidence this morning help us to respond
[00:22:26] to you in the appropriate way which is to worship you lord to adore you father bless this time together today lead us guide us direct us and protect us into and through this hour we ask this
[00:22:40] in your name and all god's people said amen let's take a few minutes to greet one another and welcome into the sanctuary and children if you want to head on out to miss terry line she'll be there
[00:22:50] to greet you as well.
[00:22:51] Thank you.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:22:52] As it should be, blessed be our name.
[00:29:05] Too sad, is a strong in mind, is a shelter long, let the nations sing it louder, is a shelter...
[00:29:55] We give back to God

[00:31:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:02] a portion of what He has blessed us with.
[00:31:05] If you're watching online, you can contribute it with us at trinitybaptist.com.
[00:31:10] Let's pray.
[00:31:12] Father, Your grace and Your mercy has guided us and filled us this whole week.
[00:31:18] Your love for us has been shown in the faces around us.
[00:31:21] the revealing of your word, and just your presence.
[00:31:25] We've gathered in your home today, Father, to sit at your feet, to worship and praise you, to give back to you the tithes and the offerings which you so richly deserve.
[00:31:34] We ask that you accept them from our grateful hearts, that you multiply them to your kingdom and to your glory.
[00:31:41] And Father, this morning, speak to our hearts and our minds.
[00:31:44] Fill us with your word that we may not sin against you and that we may be faithful in all that we do.
[00:31:49] We ask these things in Jesus' name.
[00:31:51] Amen.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:32:47] We shall rise, glory, glory, hallelujah, when the dead shall rise, meet him in the skies, we that live shall see the sign.
[00:33:07] Quickly we shall change to the glory range, over there shall be no night.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:33:17] We shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:33:24] In the resurrection morning we shall rise We shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise Glory, glory, hallelujah, we shall rise, we shall rise If we will be freely willed and glad When He comes again, peace and joy shall reign
[00:33:58] With the Savior we shall be We shall rock, we shall rock, we shall rock The resurrection morning we shall rock We shall rock, we shall rock, we shall rock

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:34:33] We shall rock

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:34:35] Well, amen. Men of purpose, give them another hand this morning.
[00:35:03] All right. Thank you so much. I got a feeling those boys are going to rise as best I could tell this morning. Well, good morning church. It's great to see you here in the house of the Lord. And it's great to be able to just lift our voices and praise and thanksgiving
[00:35:28] and celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let me just take a moment at the outset to again, thank you for your faithfulness and your prayers as you've continued to just walk with us.
[00:35:40] through this journey that we're on and things are progressing. We hope we'll know more on Tuesday of this week. That's our prayer at this point as I've tried to communicate with you all and share
[00:35:52] through our Friday update. This is a time where go back to the surgeon on Tuesday as our first follow-up and if all things are happening the way they should be happening and everything is good
[00:36:05] and I've somewhat behaved and listened, then they will take this big old cast off and we'll replace it with a boot.
[00:36:14] And that'll be a bit of a game changer, at least when it comes to getting in and out of the shower and having to put this big old bag on.
[00:36:20] So that's probably too much information.
[00:36:23] But anyway, that's going to be a game changer hopefully come Tuesday.
[00:36:27] It'll still be non-weight bearing, so I still am going to have to deal with either a scooter or this for at least two more weeks until we'll be able to start physical therapy and start putting some
[00:36:39] weight on this right ankle that they've repaired. But again, your prayers have meant so much and I'm so thankful for just the way you have encouraged us. Many of you have sent cards and texts and
[00:36:51] emails and again, I'm very thankful for each one. Turn in your Bibles, if you will, this morning to the book of Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4, if you were here with us last week, you know that
[00:37:02] this was where we found ourselves in reading the last part of the fourth chapter of Genesis and we pick up there again this morning because we just got really through the first point of three things
[00:37:16] that I wanted you to really focus on and see and you'll recall here in the fourth chapter I'll tell you what let's do let's just read together picking up again at verse 17 to the end of the chapter so
[00:37:28] we can make sure we have context of everything stand if you will in honor of the reading of the word of God, if you are able. And verse 17, And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore
[00:37:44] Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.
[00:37:51] To Enoch was born Idrod, and Idrod begot Mehuel, and Mehuel begot Methuselah, and Methuselah begot Lamech. Then Lamech took for himself two wives. The name of one was Ada. The name of the second was Zillah. And Ada bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
[00:38:16] His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the
[00:38:33] sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. Then Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice.
[00:38:43] Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I've killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.
[00:38:58] Verse 25 says, And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth. For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. And as for Seth, to him also a
[00:39:16] son was born and he named him enosh then men began to call on the name of the lord would you pray with me father i do pray in these moments that we have together that you would just speak to
[00:39:33] our hearts and our minds that we would hear your voices and your voice and lord that our hearts would be in tune with what you would say to us.
[00:39:44] Lord, you know the point of need of each individual under the sound of my voice.
[00:39:49] You know what's going on in their life.
[00:39:52] You know what's going on in their family.
[00:39:54] You know what's going on in their work.
[00:39:56] You know what's going on in their community.
[00:39:59] And Father, with all of the things that we're encountering each and every day that we live, we so desperately recognize our need for you and our understanding of dependence upon you Lord it's my prayer this morning
[00:40:17] that you would just guide everything that we say and everything that we do and Father that your word would reign supreme and I just pray personally that you let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart
[00:40:31] be pleasing in your sight in Jesus name I pray amen you may be seated as you'll remember last week when we started in this fourth chapter or working our way through the middle of the fourth chapter to the end and started this message
[00:40:48] i told you that one of the things that we quickly understand is that we find here in cain this man that has been told by god that he will be a vagabond that he will be restless
[00:41:04] for the rest of his life and we find a man who is unwilling to repent before God we find a man that sets out on a journey that somehow some way he's going to do things his own way and as I told
[00:41:21] you what we really see here is Cain setting out to build this city and in building the city he wanted to organize themselves with some kind of order, which by the way is not a bad thing
[00:41:35] whatsoever. We never condemn with the idea of a society organizing itself into some kind of order.
[00:41:44] But the real tragedy that we began to see last week in this fourth chapter was a warning and should be a warning and is a picture, I should say, to each one of us of what happens when a
[00:41:58] society tries to order itself apart from the living God. When you try to organize and plan and do everything you're doing to somehow function without a relationship to God in their lives, it's a recipe for disaster. And frankly, there's a word that you know, and you're familiar with it,
[00:42:25] and it's the word secularism and in all truth for the last couple of generations we've watched our own nation in our own culture run headlong toward a totally secularized society and we have to be
[00:42:45] wise to that we have to be aware of that as i told you last week god has blessed this nation and he blessed this nation because of the foundation because again when our the pilgrims
[00:42:58] came to this nation it cannot be denied that while they came seeking soil for their plows what they really came seeking was the worship of god for their souls and that was the founding of
[00:43:10] this nation and so our nation was built on a belief in god our nation has recognized you cannot have a society as God intends it to be if you're going to try and ignore him and push him out and
[00:43:29] yet we talked about last week think of the cities that we've seen I told you last week the definition of the word city itself we find here in scripture means to raise an alarm and that the city actually
[00:43:44] is coming to mean a place of refuge in a time of alarm. It's people grouping themselves together for more or less just extra protection. Cain's afraid somebody's going to do to him what he did to Abel. And so they're organizing, trying to come up with this material protection
[00:44:09] with each other and so what do we have we said look at the cities in our own nation today look at the things that we've seen whether it's seattle whether it's minneapolis whether it's new york city which seems to be front and center all the time where we've allowed these cities
[00:44:34] that don't have time for god these cities that are built to operate apart from the truth of the principles of this word we talked about our christian school last week as we closed and the importance of of the investment that trinity baptist church is making in beginning
[00:45:00] trinity christian academy because we've recognized that when you try to say to a generation over and over again of young people that they don't need to learn about the lord and they don't need to
[00:45:12] learn about the biblical principles that are foundational and they don't need to know what it is to be able to even have somebody pray with you and pray for you there in that school. And you
[00:45:22] go back at the Supreme Court decisions we talked about that basically said, we're going to push God out of schools. And where has that gotten us over the last generation and a half? And so
[00:45:41] what you really have here, and I want to move quickly to kind of the second point I want you to see this morning, the second point from last week, which will be the first point I want you
[00:45:52] to see today, is not only did it all start with this desire for immortality that Cain seemed to have, and you see all the things listed on the screen of what we talked about, but as I closed
[00:46:04] last week, I told you what really stands out in this passage is this declaration of independence that they sort of want to make for themselves. And if you'll go back and look, you find from
[00:46:16] verse 18 go back to verse 18 for a minute from the 18th verse all the way down to the 24th verse what you find is a description of the culture being built apart from God and it's also a warning
[00:46:34] to us of what's at stake in our own culture and let me just list for you in this description if you're taking notes this morning I want you to jot down a couple of things with me as you look
[00:46:46] at these notes. First of all, when they're building this culture, they started with this religious emphasis. Now that's important that you note that. There was a religious emphasis.
[00:46:58] You say, what do you mean a religious emphasis? Well, if you look at the names, you see there was religion present. You see the name Enoch. Enoch's name means devotion. And if you go and you look
[00:47:12] at the original languages, and you go and even look in the King James, you find so many of these names have the word L, the letters L attached to them. And the reason for that is they're traced
[00:47:26] back to Elohim, Elohim, that name for God. And so there was obviously this religious emphasis that would be a part of that community. But not only that, but there was a major emphasis in this culture they were building on beauty. You say, what do you mean? Well, look at verse 19,
[00:47:47] if you will. In verse 19, it mentions the two wives of Laman. The name Ada literally means ornament. Ada means ornament. The word zillah means shady. And then if you go down to verse 22,
[00:48:08] you notice that there's a sister named Nema, and that name means lovely. So my point is, there's a strong emphasis that you pick up on even the names that are listed for us here in Genesis in this culture that they're building. There was a strong emphasis toward
[00:48:29] outward beauty. But there was a third thing that was really important to them, and that was a commerce emphasis. You say, what do you mean a commerce emphasis? Well, look at verse 20 there in chapter four, Ada bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have
[00:48:52] livestock. You see that the word livestock there literally means to acquire that word.
[00:49:00] livestock means to acquire, or it could mean possession. And it's really a picture of cornering the market on something, cornering the market in commerce. So look at that now. We've got a culture that has a religious emphasis. We're building a city with a beauty, outward beauty emphasis.
[00:49:21] We're building our city with a commerce emphasis. And then, then, Brother Grant, there's a music emphasis. Look at verse 21. It says right there in verse 21, his brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and the flute. So we see a stringed instrument and we
[00:49:47] see a wind instrument. You know, people get the idea that when you talk about things all the way back in Genesis that these folks were so primitive, so far removed from us? But the truth
[00:50:03] is, no, they were extremely cultured. They had music that must have thrilled and fascinated the ears of the listeners, a music emphasis. But they also had in this city an emphasis on industry. An industry emphasis. You say, Mark, what do you mean? Look at verse 22. It says,
[00:50:31] and as for Zillah, she bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. So they had a great interest in the industrial way of when you think about the the metals, bronze, iron. You say, Mark, what's your point? My point is look at that list for a
[00:50:55] minute. This is how a Canaanite culture developed. There's nothing wrong. In fact, you probably look at that list and go, well, that's probably what I'd do if I was building a city. I wouldn't want
[00:51:10] to have all of those parts in there. But do you see what's wrong here? Because no matter how normal that list looks. They've got religion, but it's a religion without God. Can I let you in on
[00:51:34] something that maybe nobody ever told you? Everybody is religious. Did you know that?
[00:51:43] Everybody's religious. You say, Mark, I don't know that I buy that. No, no, no, no. Everybody is religious. You may be sitting here this morning. You say, well, Mark, I don't know that I would call myself religious. I'm not Baptist or I'm not Methodist or I'm not Presbyterian or
[00:51:57] in fact, Mark, I really don't have any particular brand of religion. Let me correct you if I may.
[00:52:03] You're wrong. You do. You do. You know how I know that? Because I know that humanity is incurably religious. What do I mean? Every man worships something. Every woman worships something. You have to figure out what it is that you're worshiping because I promise you
[00:52:43] the one who declares that he's an atheist and I don't have any religion, he's the biggest liar because he worships himself more than any other.
[00:53:01] And by the way, they've got religion, but any religion apart from Jesus Christ will lead a person straight to hell.
[00:53:19] And that's just the bottom line.
[00:53:22] That's just the truth and fact.
[00:53:26] Look, they've got a beauty emphasis.
[00:53:29] Now listen, there's nothing wrong with seeking beauty on the outside.
[00:53:33] There's nothing wrong with wanting things to be beautiful.
[00:53:36] but if you stop and you look at how our culture has become almost a beauty cult and that's what I picture has happened here in the city Cain's trying to build that there's so much emphasis
[00:53:48] on beauty that it somehow has become cultish and cult-like that all of the emphasis is on how we're going to be able to beautify ourselves on the outside and if you look at television for any
[00:54:04] period of time and the number of commercials that are focused on outside beauty you get the point listen they've got commerce well that's a good thing but their problem is it's commerce without god it's commerce in and of itself for itself commerce with no guiding light commerce with
[00:54:35] no God to direct. It's commerce with no morals to give you some kind of foundation.
[00:54:46] It's been said before that capitalism, in fact, some of our founders pointed this out, that capitalism would only function and only succeed when there is a moral and biblical foundation in the hearts of those who are exercising it. Otherwise, raw capitalism will
[00:55:09] lead to raw greed if there's not something in the foundation of a person's heart. That's what they're building here. And then a music emphasis. Listen, we all love music. We've enjoyed some of the great music here this morning but the problem is in cane city's building it's music without god
[00:55:39] and unless you figured it out yet and some of you that live through the the 60s and the 70s and all of that music can lift the soul as high or drag the soul as low as anything else on this
[00:55:58] earth. Music can do it. Few things are more intoxicating and few things are more speaking to the psyche and the heart of the human experience than music. And this is a culture.
[00:56:19] And Cain's building this city. You see, here in this city, we see that music is to somehow drug the mind and drug the soul to eliminate the thoughts of god that anyone would would want to
[00:56:36] have and by the way that kind of music can absolutely grip and pollute the mind of an individual and can drive them away from the living god music serious business it's big business in our country but it's serious to the spiritual heart and mind they've got industry in this city
[00:57:06] well of course everybody wants industry but it's industry without God it's industry driven by power who do I have to step over to get to the next rung on the ladder who do I have to push down
[00:57:23] in order for me to be elevated who is it that I have to kind of knock out of the way it's that dog-eat-dog mentality driven by the domination of others that's industry without God and yet when
[00:57:39] you look at this passage and you see what kind of culture it produces all you really need to do is look at the actual disasters that jump off the page how do we do that look at verse 19
[00:57:58] look at Lamech because Lamech's my role model that 19th verse is very very important you know you won't want to circle Lamech's name there and I'll tell you why because Lamech is the seventh in the line of Cain okay he's the seventh in the line of Cain you say what's the significance of
[00:58:23] that mark. He is the perfect picture. He is the epitome of what a culture without God ultimately produces. So if you want to know what this city he was building, ultimately, here's the model for what's produced. And it's Lamech. And look at verse 19, if you will. You go back and see.
[00:58:54] then Lamech took for himself two wives the name of one was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah now stop right there for a second there's disaster number one when you look at the perfect
[00:59:15] example of what's produced in this culture it was family turmoil period family turmoil was the result. What did he do? He took two wives. God said back in Genesis 2 that his plan for marriage was one man and one woman. But Lamech tramples on God's marriage requirement and he
[00:59:47] becomes the first bigamist in the entire Bible. Lamech's the first bigamist. He takes two wives, Adah and Zillah the second thing that that you can see right there about Lamech that we're meeting here in verse 19 is not only family turmoil that was a result but also the violence oh my goodness
[01:00:13] the violence that was the result of him down in verse 23 you see that that Lamech said to his wives. Ada and Zillah, hear my voice. Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I've killed a man
[01:00:33] for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. And if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold. What do you see there? By the way, this is the first song in the Bible. First song in the Bible. And Lamech is singing this song to his wives. And if you just
[01:01:02] want to paraphrase what verse 23 says, is Lamech is saying, if Cain can get by with murder, so can I. And listen, anybody who dares to cross me, I'll kill them. I will kill them. God may be protecting
[01:01:27] Cain. Lamech says, I can take care of myself. I don't need God to protect me. I'll take care of myself. Do you see the violence that's produced right here? See, Cain begins with murder and then
[01:01:54] by the time you get to the seventh in his line, they're now glorying in murder. They're glorying in violence. They take glory in it. There's a third thing that you see about Lamech here.
[01:02:14] I want you to jot down is his arrogance. The arrogance is almost palpable. I mean, do you see the arrogance? I mean, here he is strutting in front of his two wives, so filled with arrogance, so full of himself, so defiant of the living God.
[01:02:34] what do you have in verse 19 through 23 tell you what you got you got a man-made culture that's what you got and i fear that what we are finding in our 2026 america is we are finding a
[01:03:09] culture that is running headlong into this kind of picture. We left God out of our marriages and our families and we traded it for family turmoil. We've left God out and we've now got violence
[01:03:37] at a rate more than perhaps we've ever seen in our nation's history. We've left God out and we've got now a sense of arrogance that seems to rule we we've no time for god we've got no
[01:04:01] interest in the things of god because we've declared we don't need him we we got this declaration of independence but there's a third and final thing i want you to see i want you to notice where there's a divine intervention that happens in the midst of this
[01:04:31] culture and i want you to make sure your bibles are open and you're following along with me because when you get to verse 24 and before you get to verse 25 in my bible i've got a three
[01:04:47] little letter word that i've written and you know what it is it's called gap there's a gap between verse 24 and before you get to 25 and the reason i have a gap there is because the line of
[01:05:04] Cain, boom, it just drops off. The line of Cain just drops right out of scripture. It's here one moment and it's gone the next. You read no more about Cain's line in the rest of scripture.
[01:05:25] He just drops off the page. Isn't that interesting? I mean, while they were tremendous in their culture while they were tremendous in their progress while they were tremendous in in achievement just all of a sudden they just drop off and they're gone here's a take-home statement
[01:05:52] for you today if you live without god you die without god mark it down you live without god you die without god that's reality that's real life that's truth and so between verse 24 and
[01:06:17] verse 25 the countdown is on seven six five four three two one zero silence and with this total silence, the floods of judgment begin to pour down. You hear the shrieks of these people being flooded to their doom. And then again, silence. And all you really hear, if you listen
[01:07:06] carefully, all you really hear is the washing of water up against an old wooden ark. Can you hear it can you hear the waves lapping up against that ark because the bible says the wicked
[01:07:32] shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget god look back at verse 25 and 26 a minute abel's been murdered his line has ended cain has rebelled against god his line has been dropped
[01:08:00] from the picture. But oh, listen, you can't destroy the plan of God. Can I get an amen?
[01:08:10] You can't thwart the purposes of God. Amen? So Adam and Eve conceive again, and she bore a son.
[01:08:24] And if you look at verse 25, it says, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth for God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed by the way
[01:08:44] that name Seth if you circle it make sure you saw it there in the very verse it says it means appointed now again look at that statement Eve made there compared to what she said back in verse
[01:08:57] one of the same chapter. Go back to verse one of chapter four. It says, and Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Notice that I have
[01:09:14] acquired a man from the Lord. But now when she talks about it down here in verse 25, she says, for God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed. Earlier Eve said I've
[01:09:34] acquired this man from the Lord and now she says in verse 25 God has appointed. You know what that tells us? Eve came to understand something very important. Eve came to understand that the deliverer will not come through any effort of her own, but that God himself had to provide
[01:10:06] the deliverer. For those of you out there that think you can fix everything, get over yourself.
[01:10:17] Eve had to. Eve thought she had achieved something. She had acquired something when she bore Cain, only God, but God, unless God intervenes and brings the deliverer, there's nothing Eve, you're going to be able to do about it. And by the way, that, that term
[01:10:52] appointed, you might want to circle it and put in your margin can also be translated substitute.
[01:10:59] I like that substitute because you see the only hope of man's redemption is a God provided substitute amen and that day of all days when Jesus came and died on the cross the Bible says Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us he was my substitute he was your substitute
[01:11:29] you. He was taking my place on a cross that was meant for me. He took your place on a cross that was built for you. God provided Seth, which means appointed. By the way, you read in the Bible,
[01:11:53] Seth had a boy. They named him Enosh. Enosh means frailty. Make sure you jot that down.
[01:12:02] frailty is what enosh means because in enosh we have the picture that man has now come to the awareness of just how frail he really is and how needful for god humanity has to be
[01:12:27] but here's my favorite part of the whole chapter it's that very last line in verse 26 after seth had come he had a son they realized their frailty they realized god had to be the deliverer
[01:12:44] underline that last sentence of that last verse then men began to call on the name of the lord at the end of verse 26 a little church forms hello this is your first church plant
[01:13:06] a little group of people they're not known for their achievement they're not known this little group of people not considered cultured wealthy elite powerful in their time but it was just a little group of people who were now smart enough wise enough and discerning enough
[01:13:40] to realize how frail they were and how much they needed god and what they do they organize themselves they gather together to pray they gather together to talk about the lord they gather together to come to know god better and wouldn't you know it that it was in this line
[01:14:06] It was through this seed that God sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and to die for the sins of humanity.
[01:14:30] A man-made culture had all the trimmings with it and all the disasters it produced.
[01:14:43] And then you had God sending the deliverer.
[01:14:50] I had to go through an exercise this week where I was asked to write a letter for the semi-quincentennial celebration for a congressional time capsule that they put together.
[01:15:13] And I was asked as a member of Congress to write a letter that would go in this congressional time capsule as our nation marks this 250th anniversary.
[01:15:26] And it is a letter to Americans who will carry our nation into 2276, 250 years from now, if the Lord has tarried.
[01:15:42] And I thought about it, and I thought about the draft, and I'm just going to share a little part with you today.
[01:15:47] Because when I thought about this passage, and I thought about a man-made culture, and I thought about a nation that was founded on the principles that we all know and understand and believe that were so crucial. And let me just share a few excerpts. It says to the Americans who
[01:16:07] will carry our nation into 2276. This letter is being placed in the semi-quincentennial congressional time capsule as our nation marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of independence. When this letter is opened, 250 years will have passed since it was placed in this
[01:16:31] capsule, and 500 years will have passed since the founding of the United States of America.
[01:16:40] It is a small message from our time to yours, written with gratitude for the country we inherited and hope for the country you will carry forward. The world you know may look very different from the one we know today. You may travel in ways we cannot imagine, speak to one
[01:17:00] another across distances in ways we have never seen, and rely on inventions that are not yet even a dream to us. But I pray that the truths that made America worth founding are still the
[01:17:15] truths that make her worth preserving that our rights come from god not from government that liberty is protected by the constitution that faith and family strengthen a free people and that self-government depends on citizens willing to cherish and yes defend it in 2026
[01:17:40] America is still wrestling with the great questions that have shaped every generation before us we're building what comes next raising our families worshiping freely debating the course of our country and striving to live up to the promise of our founding the challenges before us
[01:18:00] look different than they did in 1776 but our responsibility today remains the same we must preserve the blessings of liberty and pass them on to those who come after us before i ever came to congress god called me to be a pastor that calling still shapes me every day
[01:18:23] my faith is not something i leave at the church door or outside the capitol it keeps me grounded humble and accountable in a place like washington dc where it is easy to lose sight of the people
[01:18:38] you came to serve. North Carolina's eighth district is made up of small towns, family farms, churches, schools, and growing communities filled with people who work hard without asking for much in return. It's a place where fields are planted before sunrise, church pews still filled on Sunday
[01:18:58] morning, high school ball games still bringing towns together, and neighbors show up when someone is in need. This is the America I know best, and that is the America I sure hope still lives in your time. I go on to describe a couple of things that I'm including in there concerning
[01:19:20] some things that I have from one of the challenge coins from our office and one of the bill signings from the president, but I conclude with this. As I write this letter, I'm in my first term in
[01:19:32] Congress and have the honor of sitting on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and the House Committee on Agriculture. Through those communities, I work to make sure the decisions made in Washington reflect the needs of the farms, classrooms,
[01:19:48] workplaces, and families back home. There is so much about your world that I cannot picture, but I know this much is true. Every generation is given a country to love, a freedom to guard, and a future to build. My prayer is that America is still free, that your communities are strong,
[01:20:19] that your families still gather around tables, that your children are still learning the story of our founding, that citizens still cherish our constitution, and that neighbors still help neighbors. And oh yes, that the people's house still belongs to the people. If this letter
[01:20:45] reaches you, know that we wrote with confidence in America's future. We didn't know your names, your faces, or the world you would inherit, but we prayed that the America we loved would still be yours to cherish.
[01:21:02] May you receive this letter not as a record of one Congress or one moment, but as a reminder of what makes this nation worth preserving, a nation under God, a Constitution that protects our freedoms,
[01:21:16] and a people that are capable of governing themselves under the hand of Almighty God.
[01:21:23] May God bless you, may God bless North Carolina, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
[01:21:31] with hope for the future congressman mark harris i share that i share that with you today in closing of this passage because i wanted to remind you this message is a warning genesis chapter four
[01:21:59] is a warning of trying to build a life trying to build a family trying to build a city trying to build a church, trying to build a community, trying to do anything without the knowledge and wisdom
[01:22:13] and power of. And what we see in Lamech, the perfect picture in the seventh generation, the seventh in the line of Cain, is a disaster. You and I inherited a nation far different.
[01:22:42] and I say far different because most of you in this room inherited a nation that valued and understood the principles of this book we can't lose that but I can't make that decision for us
[01:23:17] I can't make that decision for anybody else all I can do is share the facts and the facts pretty well speak for themselves 250 years ago was very different 250 years from now will be
[01:23:46] very different but it will be see we will see the same true Jehovah God of heaven that is on the throne then as he is today and was 250 years ago at the founding of the nation
[01:24:10] can I just ask you What's God saying to you this morning?
[01:24:19] He speaks to each one of us individually through the power of His Spirit with a still small voice of the Holy Spirit.
[01:24:31] He convicts us.
[01:24:34] He comforts us.
[01:24:36] He encourages us.
[01:24:38] He rebukes us if necessary.
[01:24:41] But He brings us as individuals of where He wants us to be.
[01:24:50] Would you just bow your heads right where you are, please?
[01:24:52] Every head bowed.
[01:24:53] every eye closed across this sanctuary.
[01:25:00] And I want you just to stop for a moment where you are sitting.
[01:25:06] And I want you to just, again, listen for what the Lord may be saying to you.
[01:25:20] I can tell you this, if you're here without Jesus as your Savior, that's where it's got to begin.
[01:25:28] You can have some good religion, but good religion that doesn't have Jesus Christ at the center of your heart, that good religion will send you straight to hell it all comes down to that personal relationship
[01:25:51] with the one who bore all of our sin on calvary's cross who loved us so much that he would do that so that's my first invitation this morning if you don't know christ as your savior let it begin there let it begin right where you are today saying lord
[01:26:13] I turn from my sin I repent I want to place my faith in you and you alone I want to surrender to you as Lord of my life come into my heart Lord Jesus and save me
[01:26:28] just now would you?
[01:26:32] would you invite him to do that?
[01:26:37] you may be here and you're already a believer but it could be that you've drifted away from the Lord it could be that you're not walking with him as close as you have It could be that you've gotten caught in the current, the wake and the current of a sea, of a tide.
[01:26:57] And you're being drawn away from the Lord rather than being drawn to Him.
[01:27:03] And this morning is a wake-up call.
[01:27:06] Because a culture is just that.
[01:27:08] It is a culture which is a collective, just like a city, where culturally it begins to drift.
[01:27:16] Those that organized suddenly are organizing without God.
[01:27:20] Those that are operating are suddenly operating without God.
[01:27:25] And we do realize that the very things about the city that Cain built are the very things that men have been thinking of, men have been putting their efforts toward, and that they've been toiling in all the way from Cain's day to our day in 2026.
[01:27:41] It's all the same effort.
[01:27:44] it's either going to be done with him or it's going to lead to the disasters of operating without him. And if the Lord would grip your heart today with what you, where you maybe have been and shows you where you are today, boy, my invitation to you is come get
[01:28:06] on this altar. Just come join on this altar and get before the Lord and say, Lord, I just want to, I want a fresh start. God, you've opened my eyes with some things this morning.
[01:28:17] You've shown me some things about myself. You've shown me some things about my family. You've shown me some things about my country lord Bring me where you need me to be this morning He'll do it
[01:28:29] If you'll trust him and ask him And then if god's leading you to unite with this church family, listen, if you don't have a church home, you need a church home You need a body of believers
[01:28:43] where you have prayer support where you encourage one another where you hear the teaching of god's word week in and week out where you fellowship together where you support one another because that helps stem the tide of a culture that would lead you out and away as a church is always pulling
[01:29:04] you back in and bringing you back closer and the closer you stay in the body and stay in the word the safer you're going to be not to get swept up in that tide think about where you've been
[01:29:25] think about where you are and god help us to have the wisdom to think about where we're going and where we're headed and that that direction needs to be fixed or corrected and how we can
[01:29:47] be a part of seeing that happen father i just ask you to guide this invitation now as brother grant comes to lead the song as brother robert comes to receive those who will respond may this be your time in your leadership for it's in jesus name i pray
[01:30:09] amen would you stand to your feet right where you are please but the grant's going to come as we begin to sing brother robert's here at the front

[01:30:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:30:19] what a wonderful word and a wonderful day of worship thank you for worshiping with us here

[01:32:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:32:11] today. A couple of quick announcements before we're dismissed, one of which is we are just over 50 percent through raising funds for the $50,000 match for TCA. What a wonderful opportunity that is. Amen. There's no greater cause than to reach the next generation for the cause of Christ. So
[01:32:34] thank you for helping make that missional endeavor a reality. Also, near and dear, even more closer, Today we have a Vacation Bible School luncheon.
[01:32:43] We have enough food to feed 60 hungry Baptists.
[01:32:47] We strategically said 60 because that's how many signed up to serve in Vacation Bible School.
[01:32:52] So this is the volunteer luncheon.
[01:32:54] This isn't get free food.
[01:32:56] This is for those who are coming to serve a thank you for serving.
[01:33:00] VBS, you know, Vacation Bible School, that's the acronym, but it's not possible without the volunteer base.
[01:33:05] That should be the first B&B.
[01:33:07] So thank you for making that possible.
[01:33:10] I want to give a couple of quick announcements about that.
[01:33:12] Those of you who are attending that luncheon out the door, hang a left to the fellowship hall.
[01:33:16] We have plates already set up.
[01:33:18] Just go get your plate.
[01:33:19] Go to the buffet line.
[01:33:20] I know this is going to be very, very hard, but you're going to have to practice some spiritual disciplines, one of which is self-control.
[01:33:27] Please only get two chicken tenders.
[01:33:29] We just have enough for that many people.
[01:33:32] Each get two, 60 individuals.
[01:33:34] And we've got drinks and food.
[01:33:36] let's see we got mac and cheese mashed potatoes cornbread and it's all catered in and i'm sure by now you're wishing you signed up to volunteer at vbs and if that's the case come on there's
[01:33:47] room for more we have we just sign up and jump on in the water's fine all right here's our benediction psalm 71 14 but i will hope continually and i will praise you yet more and more my mouth
[01:34:00] will tell of your righteous acts of the deeds of salvation all the day for their number is past my knowledge with the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come I will remind them of your
[01:34:13] righteousness yours alone oh God from my youth you have taught me and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, oh God, don't forsake me until I proclaim your
[01:34:32] might to another generation, your power to all of those to come. Let's pray. Father God, may that Bible verse be a reality here at Trinity Baptist Church. Bless us, Father. Keep us. May your face
[01:34:49] shine upon us and be with us wherever we go and whatever we do establish the work of our hands father holy spirit work within us to will and to work for your good pleasure help us father to be
[01:35:00] a congregation that proclaims your might your glorious deeds your salvation your righteousness and yours alone to another generation to those to come we ask this in christ's name amen