From Clochr Valley in County Tyrone we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us as Gospel Minister the Reverend Peter McIntyre is here to let the Bible speak and preach Christ in all his fullness. This afternoon I want to talk to you about living without God. A great case study in this subject is Cain. In Genesis chapter 4 and the verse 16 we read, And then in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12, The Apostle Paul gives us a New Testament application, shows us how the catastrophe which happened to Cain is being lived out in the lives of many, even to this day. He describes a people in Ephesians 2 verse 12, having no hope and without God in the world. Cain holds a most remarkable position in the history of the human race. He was not the first man to live, but he was the first person to be born. His person is remarkable spiritually as well as physically. Cain did not commit the first sin but he was the first person to commit the crime of murder. As a consequence of that he was the first person to be cut off from God. because of his sin. Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and the consequences of their sin was lived out in their sons. Abel was slain by his brother and what tragedy that brought to that family. And so Cain would suffer. He became a traveller, abandoned by God and abandoned by man as well, living without God. And living without God is to live without hope. And the Apostle Paul says, even to this day, there are people They're without God and they're without hope. You see, to be without God is to be without hope. So do you know the Lord today? Is the Lord in your life? Are you born again of the Spirit of God? When Paul was writing to the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter two, he was writing to a people who now had God. They were quickened, they were made alive. Once they were without hope, but now they had hope. Once they were without peace, and now they had peace. They were a people who knew God, but once they were without hope. And there are many in this world who are without hope today. Are you one of them? Oh, to live without hope. Hope is one of the greatest words in the English language. Hope is such a comforting thing, but to be bereft of that. is to be abandoned. And this was the sad and tragic position that Cian found himself to be in. Living without God. First of all, let's think about the desperation of living without God. Desperate people are unhappy. They are discontented. They are helpless. Desperation can be written across the face of an individual. Desperation can be seen in the eye. Desperation can be heard in the way that person talks. To be desperate is to be in a dire situation. Cain was a desperate man. We are told in the book of Genesis chapter 4 that the Lord spoke to Cain and he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.' And Cain said, My punishment is greater then I can bear. Everyone that findeth me will slay me. God put a mark upon Cain to protect him so that people would not slay him. God believes in order. We aren't to take the law into our own hands. Even Cain was to experience that protection. but that doesn't mean that he didn't suffer. It doesn't mean Judgment Day wasn't coming. In fact, it may have been more horrible for Cian to continue in life until the end of days, feeling the pain of the guilt that would never be removed. It perhaps would have been more peaceful for him to be taken away, but it wouldn't have been because hell was beckoning. and he went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. It was a sad place this man was in just to hear him saying, whosoever findeth me will slay me. He left home behind, Adam and Eve, he left the society that he was accustomed to, he left that behind. It was because of his sin and he went out to an insecure and an unknown future, abandoned by God. It was a desperate position he found himself to be in. He was a troubled man. The Bible says that the wicked are like the troubled sea, the sea that's heaving and frothing and foaming and casting up the filth from the seabed, always breaking up on the shore. He said the wicked are like that. There's no peace for them. If you don't know the Lord today, whatever you may claim, you're not at peace. The guilt of past sins may be upon you in one hand. The uncertainty of the future and what eternity brings may be upon you in another. And you're restless. Cain prospered. He was married. He built cities. He had a family. His family did pretty well, materially speaking, but he was not at rest. and you may have done all right, and you may have a comfortable retirement, and you may look at your life with some satisfaction, but if you don't know God, your life is a waste. It's a desperate life. the desperation of living without God. Let's also think of the damnation in living without God. Cain was facing the darkness. He was facing Judgment Day. In common with those around him, he would have lived a long time, but not one of those days was a happy day. Because ultimately the time would come when he would breathe his last and his soul would be cut off and he would meet God. And today Cain is experiencing the eternal fruit of his sin. Hell is not a pleasant word. Some people mock at the word hell. The reason why they mock at the word hell is because it's easier to mock at hell than to face up to the fact of hell. It's easier to say it's a legend than to admit it's a fact. Jesus Christ, he lived and he died. He rose again. His life is one of the great verifiable facts of Scripture. You cannot look at the Christian faith and then deny that there is a man called Jesus. And he talked about hell. He prophesied of it. He spoke of the weeping and the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. He spoke of the outer darkness. The closing chapters of the New Testament talks of eternal places, the great judgment day, the dead small and great standing before God, the judge sending the wicked away into the lake of fire. And then we have the new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, the place where no curse is, where no sorrow is, where all is beautiful forever. And what side of that divide are you going to be? Are you going to be with Christ or are you going to be with the devil and his cohorts in the darkness and the suffering of hell forever. You see, this was what Cain was facing. Through every day of his life, he was facing judgment. Through every day of your life, you're facing the judgment of God. And you need to be aware of this. There is the damnation of living without God. To live without God, is to face eternal misery, because this life is not the end. The grave is not the end. The coffin is not the end. The undertaker is not the end. The funeral is not the end. There is an afterwards that is appointed unto man once to die. After this, the judgment. And if you have not learned how to be prepared for that judgment day, then your life is a failure. Oh, living without God. But there's one final observation I want to make here, the desertion of living without God. Cain was deserted by God because Cain deserted God. He turned his back upon God. The Apostle Paul said, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? There was a way of salvation. We are told in Genesis chapter four and the verse four, In the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord, and Abel he also brought the firstlings of his flock. The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. You see, there was the process of time. There was a time and there was a place where man met with God. There was a way by which man experienced peace with God. Abel got it right. He took the firstlings of his flock He killed one of his lambs and he presented it to God and the blood was shed to make atonement for sin but Cain thought he could bring the fruit of the ground. He thought he could bring the beautiful prodges of the earth and that would never be enough for it was not God's way. And so Cain turned his back on God's way and he went his own way. The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. If you go the path of rebelling against God it's a tough way. The Bible says there's a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death. But Cain's biggest problem was not just that he turned his back on God's way. He was so angry because God had rejected him that he went out and slew his brother. Well, if only Cain had stopped and said, I'm going to do things right, there would have been repentance and there would have been salvation. But no, in the stubborn pride of his heart, He laid his hands upon Abel and so he sealed his eternal doom. You see, if you are to be prepared for eternity, you must come God's way. You must come by faith to the cross where Jesus died and where he shed that precious blood for your redemption. There's no other way of salvation. There's no other route to eternal happiness. There's no other person. and it's not a creed, and it's not a church, and it's not a religion, it's Christ, the only saviour of mankind. Without Christ, you're alone and without hope, but with Christ there is hope because he is the light of the world. And so will you come and trust Christ today, find eternal rest in him. I thank you so much for listening. you've been listening to Let the Bible Speak. If we can be of any further spiritual help, or if you would like to receive some free gospel literature, we invite you to write to us. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, 13 Willand Crescent, 5 Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75OQL. That's Let the Bible Speak, Rev. Peter McIntyre, Thirteen, Willand, Crescent, Five Mile Town, County Tyrone, BT75, OQL. You may hear Mr. McIntyre preach each Lord's Day here in Clocker Valley Free Presbyterian Church at 11.30am and 7pm. For further information you may phone us at 028 8952 1611. 028 8952 1611. We assure you of a very warm welcome at all the services and look forward to having you visit with us. Thank you for listening today. May the Lord richly bless you, and don't forget to tune in on this same station at the same time next week, when once again we turn to the scriptures and let the Bible speak.