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2 Man 9 s Second Chance or The Age of Freedom Wednesday Night Bible Lecture by Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D., of Christ Church, London Reported for The Golden Age by M. I. H.—Copyright Applied for. v I ■ Un H HHH i Hl ' » a MLJiLI 1 \ Sfjy, ' CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON. k B , , . ■ 4 Scripture. —Genesis IV and V. ~[ HE first view we had of man, lie >i Jk was in the Garden of Eden with JI everything that God could do to j&g make him happy. He was himself Or perfect; he also had a perfect place ® of abode, a perfect environment, a W perfect Instructor and Guide, for \ God was his Instructor and Guide ; - and he had a perfectly free and unbiased will. But he failed, and his failure was complete, so complete that God drove him out of the Garden of Eden, and made him make his living by the sweat of his face. But I want you to observe with reference to this act of God, that it was an act of two fold mercy. First, imperfect man, as Adam was, after his fall, could not live in a perfect environment. You could not have imagined a more bitter experience for Adam, after he had fallen, than to have lived in the Garden of Eden. Think of it! Adam in the Garden of Eden, a place of perfection, and he a fallen man, it would have been hell to Adam. And then, in the next place, it was an act of mercy because imperfect man could not re main in idleness. "Work to imperfect man is his only solace. And now that he is fallen, and is imperfect, it is an act of mercy really, that he has to work. Idleness verily is the devil’s workshop, it is his playhouse. The only hope some of us have, as we are, is that we have to work. But, leaving the account of man’s first fail ure, we come to the study of Cain and Abel, where we are confronted with a second failure. Under this heading, we come first to the birth ol Cain. His name meant il acquisition.” Eve said when he was born, “I have gotten a man with the Lord.” You will observe in the Au thorized Version that the rendering is “with the help of the Lord;” that is an addition. It should remain as the original. Notice here, that Eve uses the word “Jehovah,” which means “the God of Covenant.” There is no doubt but that she had in mind the faint proph ecy made in the Garden of Eden concerning the deliverer, and she had hope that Cain was this deliverer. Alas, how bitterly she was disappointed! Following this we read of the Birth of Abel. His name meant “a breath.” As they grew to manhood they adopted dif ferent pursuits of life. Cain became a tiller of the ground. Abel, a keeper of sheep. Here we find the natures of the two brothers assert ing themselves. Animal flesh was not permit ted as food at the time. And we can there fore conclude that sheep were kept for sacri ficial purposes, and for the manufacturing of garments. The devotional nature of Abel, therefore, to some extent is seen in his selec tion of the vocation of sheep raising. The Golden Age for February 20, 1913. Cain’s Wife. Now, a word as to their wives. The question is often asked, “Where did Cain get his wife?” Some ask because they want really to know, others, because they want to disprove the Bible contention that the human race is descended from a single pair. In attempting to answer this question, there are some things we must admit. First, we do not know at what period of life Cain married. Secondly, it is not stated who his wife was. But we do know from the Scriptural records and statements in various places, that there was sufficient population on the earth at the time Cain married to have fur nished him with more than abundant oppor tunity for selecting a wife. We must remember that Adam lived 930 years, which was about the average life of man in the early days of history. Adam saw his children’s children to the eighth generation. He actually lived for fifty-six years as a con temporary of Lamech. There is no mention of the names of the daughters of Adam, but it is stated he begat sons and daughters. How many we are not told. We may be sure of a large number of sons and daughters, for God commanded him to be fruitful and multiply; and we must remember that since there had to be an original pair, that the first marriages were between brothers and sisters, which was not forbidden until long after this. Abraham married his sister. Mulhall’s Dictionary of Statistics, gives the present average age of man as under 30 years, and the average number of children per fam ily all over the world as four. But from the Bible records, we find that the average age of man, including Enoch, who was translated at the age of 365, was 900 years in those early days. The average number of children on the same basis, would work out at 120 per family. But in order to be very generous with our figures, let us allow 48 children per family instead of 130. Then we will allow that one fourth of the population did not marry (al though everyone whose name is given did mar ry, and had children); and allow also for pre mature disease to take away another quarter of the population—and we have one-half of the actual population married. Then we will al low that for 700 years out of their lives they had no children; that they only had children during the second and third hundred years of their lives, and then, at the average rate of only one child every four years. This basis is considerably less than half the actual average at the present time. What, under these most reasonable circum stances, would have been the population of the earth during the time of Adam? It might easily have been around twenty millions. While Cain, if he lived the average age of those early days, might have been surrounded by over 136 millions of people on the earth. Therefore, it is easy to see how, with the long life of the people, and their great physical vigor, mating and marrying as they certainly did, and each family raising sons and daugh ters, and their sons and daughters also mar rying and raising families, in this way with their long lives, and great fertility, I say, it is easy to understand how Cain could get a wife, and a good one at that! Perhaps a sister, born long after he had left his father’s house; or possibly a niece. It is also easily seen that there was sufficient population for the building of cities, and the carrying on of the lines of work that Cain and his children engaged in. Their Offerings. We come now to look at their offerings. Sac rificial offerings began very early in the his tory of man. They were expressions to show gratitude of God; they were also expressions of petition and prayer for God’s favor; and more than that, they were vows of loyalty to God; sacrifices for sin, and means of commu nication with God. Cain brought for his offering the fruit of the ground. Abel brought for his offering the first lings of his flock. It is written, ‘‘ The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain, and to his offering, He had not re spect.” - _ We naturally ask, what is the reason for this difference ? In answering it, let us notice the place given to in this statement. ‘ ‘ The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering . . . and to Cain and and his offering He had not respect.” From this we learn that the man back of the offering was to be considered, as well as the offering itself. The offering was important only as it revealed the attitude of the man. Cain believed in the existence of God. Cain, remember, was a very religious man. A much more religious man than lots of people that we know and see nowadays. He believed in the existence of God. More than that, he acknowledged Him as the Giver of all good things, and more than that, he acknowl edged his indebtedness to God, and made an offering to God. But Cain saw no need of the sacrifice to enable a sinner, man, to approach a holy God. Hence he brought the fruit of his field. He could easily have brought a lamb. Abel saw all Cain saw, and more. He be lieved in the existence of God. He acknowl edged Him as the Giver of all good things. He acknowledged his indebtedness to Him, and because of this he made an offering. But more than this, Abel saw himself a sinner, banished from a holy God, with the curse of death rest ing upon him. And he made an offering from his flock of a sacrificial character. Through the lamb slain and laid upon the altar of God, he hoped for access to God. This is what is meant in the Hebrews when it is said: “By faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” Bad Theology. I want us to stop here and observe in this, two types of present-day theology. The world is full of men who believe in God, and worship Him, but who see no need of atonement for sin. They deny inbred sin, and claim that all one has to do is to be faithful in his life and calling, and serve God the best he can, and all will be well. On the other hand, there is the Christian who realizes his fallen condition —his inherited sin —and knows that there can be no acceptable approach to a holy God, or service for Him, without atonement; and hence he falls in line with the Christian system which represents Jesus Christ, as the final sacrificial atonement for the sin of the world. He accepts this sacri fice and enters into fellowship and communion with God. The offering of Abel, therefore, had in it a twofold meaning. First, it brought him on pleading terms with God. Second, it was a type and prophecy of the final sacrifice and atonement for sin, made on Calvary. The Awful Sentence. Now the result: Cain was wrqth, and his countenance fell. Then the Lord remonstrated with him, saying: “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin croueheth at thy door; and unto thee shall be its desire; but do thou rule over it.” Here we see God’s mercy again. He would put Cain right, even then! But Cain refuses God’s mercy and slew his brother! This brings us to the trial and sentence: “And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother?” And he said: “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “The voice of thy broth er’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” (Continued on Page 14.)