Well, we're continuing our study this morning in the book of Genesis, and we still are in chapter 4. We'll conclude chapter 4 today. If you were here last week, you know that we really made it through verse 10, and we looked at the murder of Cain killing Abel, murdering Abel, and that interaction there of how the Lord spoke to Cain and what it exposed about Cain. So I'll back up and read that, set the context, and then we'll focus on the rest of the chapter. It's a challenging chapter because there's so much here covering such a span of time. And we'll look at that somewhat, but a helpful chapter to get the big picture of what's going on and how we can apply this to today. There's so much here. So let's give our attention this morning to the word of the Lord, Genesis chapter 4. Now Adam knew Eva's wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel your brother? He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Then the Lord said to him, Not so. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. Enoch was born Erad. And Erad fathered Mahujael. And Mahujael fathered Methushael. And Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. Adah bore Yebel. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Eubel. He was the father of all who play the lyre and the pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain. He was the forger of all instruments, of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Nama. Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I've killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. To Seth also was born, a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. It has always been fascinating to me that the New Testament divides the history of mankind into two kind of distinct worlds. Peter does this in 2 Peter. And what do I mean by that? Well, Peter compares the world in which we now live with this entire world that existed until the time of the flood. He makes a great contrast. And so he says that the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. And he uses that, he uses the events of the time before the flood to compare what is now happening in the world and with what is going to happen to this world. He says that likewise, there is going to be reserved for this world, there is reserved a final judgment. And there is reserved a destruction that is going to take place, not by a flood of waters, but with fire. The crucial difference being that. two existences if you will that distinction this morning is very helpful for understanding what's going on in genesis chapter 4 because it's used everywhere in the new testament 4 5 and 6 it's used in the new testament as something to help us understand what things are going to be like before christ comes again on the clouds of heaven in the final judgment and that's what christ said you remember he said if you want to understand this you go back to the days of noah as in the days of noah so it will be at the coming of the son of man if you want to understand this he said look at the days of noah you can understand it that way they were eating and drinking they were marrying and giving in marriage all until the day they went into the ark and it was over and the rain began to fall and it fell and it consumed them by chapter six of genesis god's ready to put an end to it that say anything to you we haven't been studying genesis that long by chapter six of genesis he's ready to put an end to this and flood the earth and that's crucial this morning because what we have in chapter four is a very condensed history of the world that then was a very condensed history it would be like having one chapter to preach from the cross until the final judgment if you looked at the evening liturgy for tonight you'll notice the sermon text said matthew and i hope none of you are scared i'm not going to preached the whole book of Matthew. That would be like this. This is a whole history of that world and it's showing us what developed in that world. It's there for us to understand our world and our time. It's showing us how sin developed and what ultimately happened to that world so that we would look at that and say, wow, this has already happened. Nothing's new under the sun. We understand what's going on in this world we know where this is all going we can understand this and see this play out in history and that's why God did this for us that's why God gave this to us and if we don't understand this if we don't study these things you can really make two very crucial errors can't you very serious errors you can either become so one with the world's agenda confusing christ's agenda with the kingdoms of this world's agenda that ultimately what happens is we end up falling right on into the world i mean that's what somebody once said one time that sometimes the church tries to be so much like the world it falls in and that's one error or if we don't understand this we can so shelter ourselves from this world separating out we forget we forget what our purpose is here and genesis 4 helps us think through this this morning it's wonderful because in the midst of such struggle the lord puts a giant spotlight on this community that is gathered together and what are they doing they're worshiping They're worshiping. And the Lord wants us to look at that. The Lord wants us to see in the midst of the world's turbulence and what's happening in this world and where things are going, a worshiping community living by faith in His promise. And when the community is doing that, good things are to follow. So let's look at this this morning, the development of what we had set out for us in Genesis chapter 3, that remember there are two seeds developing now side by side in the earth. And Genesis, if you could draw two lines, Genesis is contrasting these, and you're seeing this play out all the way through. Ishmael, and you know this. Remember Isaac, and you have Jacob and Esau. You've got these seeds going right through in Genesis, helping us to see that that first promise made, first gospel promise, had promised to separate out a people but there would be still the seed of the serpent and the conflict would be immense. Well last week we we jumped into Genesis 4 and we observed here the first scene and what was the first scene? What was it over? What happened in the first scene? Worship. And isn't it something? Again and I had somebody come up to me last week and said I can't get over that the first murder occasioned in the Bible was occasioned by worship. How many worship wars have we been through? How many fights over worship? That's the excuse people don't even want to come to church, right? You're tired of it. And you can go back and you can say, well, I've got news for you. This happened right outside of the garden of eden the first event with cain and abel and there was actually the ground soaked with somebody's brother's blood sad and so here we are cain has murdered abel and the issue had been how could man come back into the presence of god warfare is ignited between human beings based on the fact of how they stand in relation to this God. And we looked at last week, there's only one way. We say this, Jesus said, there's only one way. There's always been throughout history, only one way to come back. And that's why the scriptures over and over tell us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can't come any other way. God won't receive it. And so when we respond in faith, the desire of the heart believing God's gospel promise is then to obey God in what he's commanded in worship. And that's played out here where Abel had come, believing the promise and worshiping with a sincere heart full of gratitude for the grace he was given. And God takes his favor upon his people and remember how blessed we are every Sunday. I mean, this is why all the prophets and all the pastors have understood throughout history, a great moment in worship is when the pastor is sent by the Lord, blesses, gives God's blessing to the people and says, the Lord bless you. And what does it say in that? The Lord make his face to shine upon you. And you get to go out of here and you get to go home and you have the blessing of knowing God's smiling face is on you. And the pastor should communicate that, by the way. The pastor should communicate that. Then you had Cain. God's smiling face was not upon Cain. And so notice that separation develops. And welcome to the warfare here. We left off last time. God opened this door, if you will. He opened the door to take us behind the scenes. And he began to show us the differences between the two seeds. And how they interact with him. And how they relate to him. And God's giving us a real understanding of that this morning. Remember last time, God comes to Cain. And what's the first issue he raised with Cain? Why are you angry? Why are you angry? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? A way has been made known to you, Cain. A way to come. Not your way. And then he says, Cain, what you don't understand through all of this is when you harden your heart and you refuse to come, there's something happening on the inside. And this struck us last week because we wondered what side of the door is the beast on? There's a beast crouching at your door and it just doesn't stay in that crouching position. It's going to leap. It's going to jump. It's going to take hold of you. And God was telling Cain, you should master that and we know throughout history that no man can tame not only the tongue but the heart the heart is an unruly evil and jesus talked about what proceeds out of the heart defiles a man and so we looked at this last time and god was essentially calling cain and i've i've been moved by that studying this that God to Cain came to him and gave him the way come well Cain couldn't master that beast could he and it leaped right on out and it's killed his brother and in premeditated murder he soaked the ground of the earth with his brother's blood and so now we see how serious God took this, that God now curses a human. In verse 10, God said, the voice of your brother's blood. Notice this in verse 10 this morning of Genesis 4. What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yields you its strength, you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. That is a curse that the Lord leveled upon him. What was this? What did God do to Cain? God leveled a consequence, didn't he? To teach us, sitting here in 2013, about how serious he takes sin. Cain would now be driven from the cultivated portion of the land and here he was driven now being a farmer he can't cultivate it so now he is driven out there's no ground before him if you will the ground drank his brother's blood so the ground would no longer produce for him and god hits god hits right where the sin is and then god said you will be compelled to stray about in the earth now that second part of the curse there i'm not sure we've really grasped what god said was since you've refused me and since you have murdered your brother there is now and and and this is all here we see play out with Cain that he had rejected the Lord and we'll see this in his answer now he was barred from the presence of God notice this the curse is that you are now cursed to the outside now what this suggests is is that there was a place where where they were coming back to meet with God and we looked at this last time somewhat where sinners would come and this is what the jewish rabbis believed that there was a place of worship a time for worship that there was a place of return and the sad consequence now is that when people refuse to come to the lord and they harden their hearts is that they are barred now think about this we know this what is the fruit of this what is the where is the last place somebody living in sin today wants to be here they want nothing to do with this they stay a mile away from this they think it's crazy what we're doing right now they want to have nothing to do with our our worship and that is a particular consequence of sin isn't it why well jesus told us that people don't come to the light people don't come to worship and remember it all starts with worship after the fall they don't come to the light. They don't come to worship because they love the darkness. That's a curse. They stay in the darkness. They remain in the darkness. They choose the darkness. They don't want to come to the light lest their deeds should be what? Exposed. And that's what we see developed. The scriptures open up the heart of Cain for us to show us this. Cain hears this and what's the first thing he cries out it's too much i can't bear that now you might stop and say well is that remorse look at verse 14 you have driven me away from the ground and from your face i shall be hidden i shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me now we've studied the scriptures long enough to know the kind of response the lord wants when nathan came to david and exposed his sin what did david say i've sinned against the lord is there a way back lord will you receive a sinner notice cain no grief over his sin cain is in a mess and now he's saying life just got really hard for me i can't bear that kind of hard life the lord is showing us something so important here isn't he cain fears that he is now going out alone and now he has no protection and now he has his greatest fear is a society now that is going to be completely lawless and completely aggressive against him and repay him for what he's done. What a strange twist, huh? Kills his brother, and now the psychology of the whole thing is, now he's scared somebody's going to be relentless and do it to him. Welcome to the way of the sinner. Cain is now faced with the prospect of living in a God-forsaken, as he sees it, world Fallen into anarchal terror. Think about it. Why is God showing us this this morning? Well, he's showing us the fundamental difference in how the two seeds relate to him. All the time, the Lord is calling people, don't go in the way of rebellion. I mean, this is essentially what we do as pastors, right? There are people here today who are contemplating going in a path of rebellion. We do this. And you come before the Lord and in worship, and the Lord sends a servant, and the servant says, don't do it. Don't go that way. And why? What begins to happen? Well, the Lord says, I desire mercy. I desire mercy, so come to me. I'll help you. I'll strengthen you. I'll give you grace. I'll keep you from that. God said it to Cain. Come in the right way. You'll be accepted. You'll be graciously received coming in faith. And what happens to Cain? Here's the path. Here's the path of departure right on out the door. Anger builds in the heart. And the heart gets harder and harder and harder to the point that it can no longer control what there is stored up on the inside and it's got to burst out at some point. And lo and behold, he then murders his brother. So he's hardened his heart. He's gone down that path. And what now has he experienced in going down that path? He's heading out the door and he's now alone in the earth. And he's separated. And he's wandering. Isn't that just the case of millions of people right now? Wanderers. And what are they all living right now in this country especially? Fear. Holding so desperately to their lives. fear. I'm going to forget we worked with a man and pleaded with him, don't go in the way you're going. And he wouldn't listen. And he went to the other side of the country. And that man was alone and isolated and miserable. Cain fears his own murder. And you know, all of this is telling us this morning. You know what God wants us all to understand from this this morning? The way of the sinner is hard. Oh, it's hard. This is what you want to tell people following the path. Listen, we've had thousands of years of people who say, don't do it. You've seen parables of prodigals that tried it. Don't go. Stay here. And still they run. And so the text now develops this for us and it shows us the fate of Cain, the development of his race on the earth, if you will, his seed. And what is remarkable here in a surprising twist to this story is that God responds to Cain's cry, doesn't he? He does something shocking. I mean, talk about the goodness of the Lord. In answer to the fear of complete anarchy, God says, I will not let it be it's not going to happen i won't allow it verse 15 whoever kills cain vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold and then the lord puts a mark on cain lest anyone finding him should kill him whatever that mark was i think it was an oath that the whole world would understand that there is a system of justice and that justice would continue to the ends of the earth and that it wouldn't just be lawless aggression in the earth and right then and there god establishes something god god helps us to see what what's happened in the earth how it all went in the earth and so we have the first government or the first system of justice the early seeds of that being established here and that's where it goes from here in verse 16 we read that cain went out from the presence of the lord and he dwelt in the land of nod east of eden and cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. It's a fascinating phrase in verse 16. He went out from the presence of the Lord. I believe what the text is telling us is that Cain has been separated out not to the Lord but from the Lord it's a crucial distinction this morning the Lord just told us that whatever is going to happen with Cain whatever he is going to go build whatever he is going to go do is common it is not a saving work that Cain is going to go do in the earth he's going to build a certain kind of city and he's doing this away from the presence of the lord and so the text is showing us a brand new development uh in in the history of the world that now in the sense that god showing us how the justice system will be they're going to build they're going to settle but the project ultimately and this is so important this morning it will never have roots the project will never have roots it will only be a temporary project that stands preserved by his oath that he can pull at any time and bring an end and so we see that we see that develop here that what we have is really uh the state and the city a government system and god would establish this government for the benefit of mankind it's not it's not an evil thing god would would set this apart and use this but that's not the purpose of genesis 4 at all that's not the purpose of genesis 4 what genesis 4 wants you to see is a contrast in the development of the two seeds in the earth so that we understand that the really big picture this morning of all that is happening and why god allowed a common city why god allowed cities like las vegas why god allowed a sodom and Gomorrah. Why God allowed these cities to go on unfolding in the earth and he's going to show us the difference between these two cities. He's contrasting these two cities. When we look at Genesis 4, what we see is the city going in the path of rebellion. It's developing into a system of rebellion. Look at verse 18. What you have in verse 18 is a snapshot of Cain's dynasty running its course. So in verse 18, to Enoch was born Erad, and Erad was born, begot Mahujael. Mahujael begot Methusel. Methusel begot Laman. Seven generations are outlined, if you will, from Adam. And by the time these seven generations, remember there's a contrast of these two seeds, these generations are complete, what do you get to in chapter 6 and 7? Judgment. So God's showing us development throughout history. He's snapshotting the world for us. And there's so much to open up here this morning. Take Lamech. His name means strong one, powerful one. The seventh from Adam. Who's the seventh from Adam on the side of the seat of the woman? It's Enoch, who walked with God and was not, for he was taken. His seat ends in life. This seat ends in death. And so the Lord is showing us this play out here in verse 19. Then Lamech took for himself two wives. The name of one was Adan and the name of the other was Zillah. He took two wives and you say, whoa, wait a minute. Two wives. That's not what God designed. God had clearly said from the beginning, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And the two shall become one flesh. and here for the first time what are you seeing develop in this city sexual perversion christ would later call people back to the original design and some of you have said well what about polygamy and these sort of things that was never something god originally ordained from the beginning it was never so and when a society begins to crumble sexual immorality begins to take root i think all this is accented on the stress for beauty here what's interesting is the name of the wise adah means beauty and zillah means shaded a luxurious covering of hair namah means loveliness it was a cult of beauty they were obsessed with the external sexual immorality and obsession with the outward beauty and notice how these corruptions are are being shown to you here. The second one moves right into cultural corruption. Adah bore Yabel, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. He was the father of housing and production. By the time I'd read to you Isaiah 5, which shows what happens with all this. His brother's name was Eubel. He was the father of those who play the harp and flute. You have the development of music, and you see the arts develop here. And you have Tubal Cain, who's the instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. He's the father of technology. These things aren't evil. But what is the system that animates this stuff throughout history? It's the world system. Take music, just as an example. Remember Dylan's song, The Times They Are A-Changin? Listen to the words of that. Come, gather round people wherever you roam. and admit that the waters around you have grown and accept it, that soon you'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth saving, then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone for the times there are changing. Now listen to this. Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize when you can't understand what you can't understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly changing, aging. Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand. For the times, they're changing. He's right. There is a whole spirit of Antichrist that propels the societies and the cultures of this world. And what the passage is showing us this morning is how amazing these advancements are. I mean, think about the amazing advancements of where we are today. Look at all that we've done. Look at all that we've accomplished. The Lord will deal with this in the Tower of Babel. Look at all that we've accomplished. What is withheld from us? The Lord is showing us the spirit behind this. That often God's restraining things. But in a given society, there is something being worked out. and when god lifts up his hand of restraint it goes somewhere and all of that is leading to a cycle of iniquity running its course in a society when you have an end result of genesis 7 what happens in the next chapters he says man's heart is only evil continually i'm done i'm going to flood this i'm going to start over in verse 23 you see this develop in full look at look at verse 23 then lamex said to his wives adan zillah hear my voice wives of you remember his name means powerful wives of the powerful one hear my speech i've killed a man for wounding me even a young man for hurting me if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold then Lamech 77 fold stands up gives a throne declaration a guy bruised me I'm going to take it upon myself to end his life I've done it and I'm perfectly capable of doing that if anyone touches me they will be avenged 77-fold, going back to Cain. Cain was avenged seven. I can take care of myself. Anyone touches me, 77-fold. He just took control of the city of man, and justice is gone. This is your Hitler. This is an antichrist figure, if you will. Notice bruise is meant here, and killing is meant here he's offering himself as the one no restraint now what this means this morning is that in the the city that's developing in the earth it's a downward spiral it's not getting better lord's showing us that and when you have sexual morality out of control when you got every cultural advancement being used against god music and everything used to shoot out the lip at him when man has completely used it to rebel in this kind of way and then asserts himself over the lawgiver. Notice this. He asserted himself over the lawgiver and then redefined the law, saying good is evil and evil is good. What have you run coursed in a society? What has just happened? The whole cycle has run complete. And that's why God says, I'm sorry that I created man. That city's coming down. And we're going to see that as we go through Genesis with Sodom and Gomorrah, where God intrudes into history and puts an end to it because it got so bad. And I think we need to see that. I think this is immensely helpful for us. I appreciate having a government, And I'm honoring of the Lord's command to respect those in authority because no authority that is given is not from Him. But I also understand where this is all going. And when I see these things happen in our own society today, when they're redefining morality and legislating it in the courts, and we see all this stuff happening, it is, don't miss what it is. It's the kingdoms of this world against the Lord and against His anointed. that's the behind the picture scene revelation provides for us i mean we went through in this country a whole death of god movement people saying god's dead how perverse and wicked is that and we're seeing everything abandoned in terms of justice aren't we right now like one pastor said if god doesn't destroy this country he'll have to apologize to sodom and Gomorrah. All of this to say that this city ends up trying to assert itself as the true city. And that's what we need to take note here. We should never fall into the trap of thinking that a secular common city, Cain's city, is God's holy city. What a tragic mistake. And God allowed Cain to continue and a secular realm to set up, giving government to show his goodness when you can call a policeman at two in the morning because somebody's breaking in your house trying to take your life you know what you say praise you oh god when you can call a fireman because your house is burning down is evident of god's preserving justice and help in the city and he's that good but don't miss the spirit behind what goes on in this world and so I say all that this morning now I've probably said too much but I say all that this morning now to set a great contrast did you notice the contrast in verse 25 and Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and named him Seth. For God appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. And as for Seth, to him also was born a son, and he named him Enosh. And I love the end of chapter 4. That verse at the end of chapter 4 is the most special verse to me in the chapter. And men began. Notice what it says right at the beginning. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord did you see what God just did he raised up another seed and he had a son and all of this tells us that God was absolutely determined to raise up and send the promised seed to his Christ in the fullness of time and that's why he keeps the sad world going that's why he kept it going that's why after the flood he built again the seed hadn't come and god would stay this world god would stay it uh and see even through the sad developments in this world even restraining holding things back and that's what you should see god is constantly holding stuff back we have no idea what this could be like if god were not restraining right now but things are developing to a final judgment and amidst all of this you know what the lord wants you to see this morning to encourage you there's a son born whose name was seth you know what seth means it means appointed one and seth has a son named enosh that means frail one here's this weak frail people in the earth. And amidst the raging world system that is so violent to us and our children, in simplicity and trust, what is this community doing? Then men begin to call upon the name of the Lord. You know what they're doing, right? They're worshiping. And there lies the fundamental difference between the two cities. Cain went out and was done and built himself his own city by his own name. That's a rage against God. I will have my own city. And alongside of that stood another city, another people who had been delivered. And they're worshiping and they're waiting for something. And as God is fulfilling his promise, this people is set apart for his witness. That's why we're here. We're not here to enclose ourselves out of the world. We're here to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth so that from all the nations, people would come in and join the community to worship and call on the name of the Lord. That's what we're doing with Family Ties this week. It's our goal. And Abraham tells us, as we're going to see this play out that here we have no continuing what city but we seek the one to come therefore by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to god that is keep worshiping that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name we're not fugitives we're pilgrims having the promise of a city that has foundations. Cain has no promise of that. Cain is a wanderer. His city's coming down. And isn't it wonderful that on the last day, you know what you're going to see? John tells you in Revelation, and I, John, saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God as a bride adorned for her husband. And there we will have the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness shall dwell and there will be no more of all of this sadness. And I mean it. It is sad what's happening in the earth. And the glory of the presence of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us and shed his blood, he's going to be our light forever and ever and ever and we will serve him and worship him and enjoy him in perfection. Never knowing to our older saints the body breaking down again. It's brand new. Never knowing a child dying in younger years. Never knowing the sufferings of this present evil age. God has told us to keep our eyes fixed there. And maybe we need to remember that because for too long in this country we had put our trust in princes, haven't we? We put our trust in a kingdom of this world that can't deliver us. The Lord is saying to you, I'm your king. And I close with the words that we began with. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand. The difference for you will be seen in your delight and your love to gather and to worship. From there, you will see real power in there where God's gospel is announced. and you will know His peace. Let's pray together. Oh Lord our God, we thank You for Genesis chapter 4 this morning that encourages us amidst all of the hardships of what's developing in this earth that You are still saving, that You are still gathering, and that You've left us here to be Your witnesses, to be a worshiping people, to tell others what You've done for us, to announce the gospel of salvation as You are accomplishing to the ends of the earth, bringing in every last one of your elect. Not one of them will be lost. It's sad when we see what's happening in this world, Lord, and even in our own country, and we grieve. Because ultimately, as the psalmist reminds us, when men cast aside your right ways, we fill rivers with our tears. And we pray, Lord, that justice would be established and that you would be merciful until the time when the Lord Jesus Christ returns on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead in righteousness. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen.