Family Tree (part 2)

Family Tree (part 2)

<< Genesis 5 >> King James Version 1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: 7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters: 8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died. 9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan: 10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters: 11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died. 12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel: 13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters: 14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died. 15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died. 18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 25And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: 26And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: 27And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. 28And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: 31And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Sermon

A lot of people will just skip over long genealogies like we have in this chapter today, but what they don’t realise is that there is a lot to learn from these genealogies, as we will find out in our study today!

It really does make a difference who our parents are. You should be extremely thankful if you are brought up by spiritual parents.

Our genealogy in our last session was that of Cain’s and most of the names mentioned were of wicked people who knew not our Lord. But today we learn about the good guys, those who followed the Lord and had done so for many generations.

What I really love is when I hear about 4^th 5^th or 6^th generation Christians, they have been taught about the Bible from their youth and thus are very knowledgeable. I myself am a second generation Christian and am exceedingly grateful that The Lord has placed me in such a privileged position.

So let’s start!

1This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

This is the family tree of Adam.

Adam was created in the image of God, and as we have previously discussed, because we are made in the image of God we should try and look after our bodies, or that would be like spoiling a painting of God.

2Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Male and Female! God gave us the ability to reproduce, and so we have the following Family tree.

3And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Seth was Adam and Eve’s 3^rd son after Cain and Abel (who Cain murdered).

Adam had his son Seth when he was 130 years old. And Seth was born 130 years after the creation.

4And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

So Adam lived a total of 930 years, which is a very very long time! To give you a little idea of how long Adam lived: 930 years ago would be the year 1081, not long after the Batttle of Hastings in 1066 if you know anything about English history, and long before the Europeans discovered America!

So as you can imagine, Adam saw a lot of things happen during his lifetime.

But you may ask why we don’t live that long anymore? Well it seems that after the flood God reduced the age of everyone’s death.

But as a Christian there comes a time in your life where you begin to rather die than live, as you become aware that after death you will go to Heaven where you will be forever with Jesus. Then you wish that God will take your life away that you may spend eternity with Jesus. So you see we really shouldn’t envy Adam and his long life!

5And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

This is the first recorded natural death. There are two other recorded deaths: The death of the animal from which God used the skins to cloth Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and then there was the unnatural murder of Abel.

So Adam must have wondered whether if he looked after himself well that maybe he could live forever. But that’s not possible; death is the curse that Adam inherited the day that he sinned in the Garden of Eden.

6And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

Enos was the Grandson of Adam, and during his life, the population of the world would be getting near 1000 people. This must have been quite strange for Adam as he would likely often see someone who he didn’t know and yet they must have been one of his decendants.

7And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

So he too lived a very long time, a total of 912 years.

8And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

Seth too died! I think we are starting to see a bit of a trend here. As we go down through this chapter we will continually hear the words “and he died”. My hope is that it will cause you to realise that you too will die one day, and I really hope that you are ready!

9And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

Now the populations starting to increase again... at this time the population of the world is about the size of a small city or a bit town.

10And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

Enos was 905 when he died. I wonder what they decided to do with all that time they had? Do you reckon they twiddled their thumbs all day long? I reckon that they spent their time just like we do now, and felt guilty when they wasted time and felt that they got too old too fast as we do today.

My advice to you is that you don’t know how long you have to live, certainly not as long as these people did, so treasure every moment you have. Every second is precious!

11And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

Enos might have thought that he could live forever, but even he had to die sometime. Death is certain, so there should be no reason to not be prepared for it!

12And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

Now the population’s of the world is probably nearing about 500,000 people.

I kind of wonder, Cainan had a son at the age of 70, so he must have married not too long before that, so he must have been quite old, don’t you think?

13And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

910 years old! You will only live a fraction of that time! Use your time wisely!

14And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

He died too! Are you getting scared?

You should be, you only ever get one shot at life, make it count!

15And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters: 17And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

The population of the world has gone up to about 15 million now, and everyone is dying, including Mahalaleel.

You know someone might say of me someday, Michael Buckingham lived 25 years and had a son: and after he had his son Michael lived another 40 years and had other sons and daughters: and all the days of Michael were 65 years: and.... HE DIED!

The same could be said of you!

Death is now upon the road!

Be ready!

18And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

Now the population’s about 300 Million, the population of The United States; and you know what? Everyone eventually dies!

You could imagine, everyone by this time are starting to become afraid of death and are trying all kinds of experiments to see if they can discover the key to immortality. But obviously no-one found it or they would be alive this very day.

Death is the one event no-one can stop!

I will have to finish there, but in our next session we will read about someone who didn’t die, but he still had to pass from this world to the next, so don’t start thinking there’s hope that you could live forever!

It is important that you realise your doom, accept it, and prepare yourself to one day stand before the judgement seat of God!

I pray that it will be well for you on that day!

May the Lord add His blessing and pardon anything I have said amiss!

Amen

The Scary Sermon

The Scary Sermon

Are you scared today? What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of the future? Are you afraid of a person? Are you afraid of dying?

Whatever you are afraid of today, I intend to help you to understand your fear and how to overcome it. Chances are I won’t address your particular need as you would like, but the principles that I will bring before you should be easily moulded so as you can apply it to your own case.

I’m going to tell you a story, but I need you to try and be scared for me, you might need a little bit of imagination as my story telling skill might not be too good!

The story starts with a boy of 12 whose name was Jim. Jim was a pleasant young lad, but one day his mother became very ill, the doctor came and saw her, and he explained to Jim and his father that in all probability Jim’s mother will die. Sad right?

Well, the day came for Jim’s mother to be taken from this life, and she died. Then it dawned on Jim that maybe one day he would die too. The thought really scared him!

You can imagine the sorrow in Jim’s heart when he saw him mother placed in a coffin and put in the ground, her lifeless body never to see the light of day again! Where is she now? Jim wondered whether she was in a different world. Maybe she had gone to Heaven? Is there such a place? Or maybe when you die you just stop existing? Jim decided he was going to think that his mother was with Jesus in Heaven!

That’s great! Jim’s finally come to believe in God! Or has he?

Well, the first few nights after the burial, Jim started to have nightmares about his mother dying, he told his dad, but his dad just assured him that they will eventually go, which they did. But with the passing of the nightmares about his mother, came nightmares about his own death.

Jim had once heard a preacher mention something about a place called Hell, where there are lots of flames and bad people are tortured every day. Jim started to have nightmares about Hell now, and he wondered whether, should he die, whether he would go to Heaven or to Hell.

Jim tried to think of himself as a good person and that surely he would go to Heaven. But the nightmares kept on coming.

The nightmares had a terrible effect on Jim, he began to have lots of other little fears, he began to be afraid of spiders, and afraid of heights, and he developed claustrophobia. Jim gradually began to lose friends because they thought he was a freak, no-one wanted to know him!

Jim’s in quite a state right?

So it’s time to play doctor! So Jim’s come to my little doctor’s surgery and asked for my help. I’m going to diagnose him as having multiple fear disorders. Do you agree with my diagnosis?

If yes, then please help me now to find a cure!

If you went to any normal doctor, I’m sure they would send you to a psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist would prescribe you some kind of anti-depressants, and they’ll probably do you no ounce of good, or even worse make the nightmares go away, so that Jim can live his life again just as he wanted, fulfilling all his selfish desires.

So here’s my perfect cure for Jim’s sickness, I give him a Bible, and I instruct him to read a few chapters a day.

Do you agree with my clinical judgement? Am I right to prescribe the Bible? I’m sure most of my hearers are Christian, and so you’ll probably be pleased to hear of my answer to Jim’s condition. But let’s see what actually happened when Jim started to read his Bible!

So, Jim leaves the doctor’s surgery thinking that the doctor is a complete idiot, and that any sensible doctor would have given some sort of tablet to remove the nightmares. But Jim was quite desperate, and he really wanted to be normal again and not be afraid of dying all the time.

Well, Jim opens up his Bible randomly and his eye fall on the passage in Hebrews 2 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”

That’s last bit really describes Jim doesn’t it? That’s what he thought too. And it was quite a relief to feel that he was not the only one like this. But he thought it quite weird that someone dies and that stops people being afraid of dying... shouldn’t that make them more afraid?

Jim decided to read a bit more of the Bible, but instead of taking away his fears, it added one more fear. Jim read about a mighty God who had the power to either save you or send you to Hell, he read that everyone deserve to go to Hell. So Jim develops yet another fear, a fear of God.

That’s terrible! So my so called “cure” has only made it worse for Jim, I’ve added yet another fear to his huge list of fears.

Have any of you read proverbs?

If so, you will know that the fear of God is a good thing, as you will see with Jim.

Jim starts to have nightmares about God being angry with him and punishing him. And Jim began to be afraid to do anything that was against what God wanted him to do, so he started reading his Bible a lot, and he soon learned that God can also be merciful, and that God is loving and pardon’s sins. And soon Jim started to think of God as his Protector, and he lost all his former fears, except for his fear of God, which looks more like love than any kind of slavish fear.

So Jim finds the fear of God and now he’s not afraid of anything.

Go ahead and try it, If you are afraid, just think about God’s might, learn about Him in your Bible, and pray that God will give you this valuable fear of God!

Maybe you are afraid of someone? Do you quarrel with your boss at work? Do you have fights with your Husband? Your wife? Are you rebellious against your parents?

Fear turns to Anger, Anger turns to Hate!

If you hate someone, it probably means you were afraid of them to start with. Just think about it. Who are you angry with? Can they seriously affect your life?

I used to fight with my boss, I was afraid that they would give me bad work to do, or even fire me. It seemed that my boss had the power to make my day go well or to make my day an absolute misery. I resented that, and soon I began to be afraid, and then angry, and soon began to hate. And hating is totally wrong, both in the Bible, and anyone will say that is bad to hate people.

So if you are a Christian, and you have the fear of God, and you don’t want to do anything contrary to the will of God, you will not be afraid of man, because it doesn’t matter if you get fired, it doesn’t matter if your husband makes your life a misery, all you are concerned about is doing the will of God, and you know if God loves you, no one can touch you.

Ever wanted to be like Superman? Get the fear of God and you’ll feel utterly invincible.

The fear of God brings Joy!

Well, now here are just a few examples from the Bible of people who had fears.

David. David said in 1 Sam 17:1 “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.” He was afraid that Saul will kill him, he didn’t seem to remember that God had anointed him king of Israel, and that if God promises something He will keep his promises!

Has God given you any promises? Don’t doubt God, and don’t be afraid of man!

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Esther. Esther was asked of Mordecai to go to king Xerxes to save to Jews, but to go in to the King without him calling you was a penalty of death unless the king spare you, and you might remember Esther’s famous words “if I perish, I perish” she went in not fearing the king who could kill her, but God who could destroy her soul!

There are many more examples in Scripture, Jonah fled to Tarshish, the disciples all forsook Jesus when He was arrested, Peter denied Jesus with an oath.

But if we have the fear of God we will be able to look at death in the face and laugh saying: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are stories told of martyrs that went to their deaths singing. I pray that when the time comes that God will give each of us the strength to go equally joyful to our deaths however they occur!

Now I pray that we will be given this great gift of the Fear of God and that, we will not be afraid of man!

May God add His blessing on what has been said, and pardon anything that I have spoken amiss.

May all be done to His honour and glory!

Amen!