Genesis 4:10 And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. I. First, we are to MAKE A SEARCHING INQUIRY FOR THE CRIMINALS. There are many persons whose brother's blood cries to God from the ground. 1. There is the seducer; he spake with honeyed words, and talked of love, but the poison of asps was under his tongue, for lust was in his heart. 2. Then there are men who educate youth in sin, Satan's captains and marshals; strong men with corrupt hearts, who are never better pleased than when they see the buds of evil swelling and ripening into crime. Beware, ye who hunt for the precious life! 3. Ay, and I know some base men who, if they see young converts, will take a pride in putting stumbling blocks in their way. They no sooner discover that there is some little working of conscience, than they laugh, they sneer, they point the finger. 4. Then there is the infidel, the man who is not content to keep his sin in his own breast, but must needs publish his infamy; he ascends the platform and blasphemes the Almighty to his face; defies the Eternal; takes Scripture to make it the subject of unhallowed jest; and makes religion a theme for comedy. 5. And what shall I say of the unfaithful preacher — the slumbering watchman of souls; the man who swore at God's altar that he was called of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word of God; the man upon whose lips men's ears waited with attention while he stood like a priest at God's altar to teach Israel God's law; the man who performed his duties half-asleep, in a dull and careless manner, until men slept too and thought religion but a dream? What shall I say of the minister of unholy life, whose corrupt practice out of the pulpit has made the most telling things in the pulpit to be of no avail, has blunted the edge of the sword of the Spirit, and turned the back of God's army in the day of battle? 6. To come yet closer home to this present audience. How much of the blood of man will lie at the door of careless professors. You that make a profession of being Christians and yet live in sin, you are the murderers of souls by thousands. II. But to pass on; I was, in the second place, to HOLD UP THIS CRIME TO EXECRATION, the chief point being whose blood it is; it is the blood of our brethren. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." 1. Perhaps, young man, it is your natural brother's blood that cries against you. 2. It may be, however, it is the blood of your father or mother. Some of you young people have come to London, and God has met with you in this house of prayer; you still have ungodly parents in the country, have you quite forgotten them? What if your grey-headed sire should die! 3. But what shall I say to those who are not only careless of parents, but are neglecting their own children? Mother, what if the voice of your child's blood should cry to God against you! III. We are in the third place TO EXPECT THE JUDGMENT. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." It does not cry to a deaf ear, but to the ear of One who hears and feels the cry, and will certainly make bare His arm to smite the offender and to avenge the wrong. IV. I hope that these terrible things have prepared our minds to hear the better THE VOICE OF EXHORTATION. If there be the voice of blood crying against us today, and we affirm that none of us can altogether escape from it, what shall we do to be rid of the past? Can tears of repentance do it? No. Can promises of amendment make a blank page where there are so many blots and blurs? Ah, no! Nothing that we can do can put away our sin. But may not the future atone? May not future zeal wipe out past carelessness? But a sweeter and a louder cry comes up — "Mercy, mercy, mercy"; and the Father bows His head and says, "Whose blood is that?" and the voice replies, "It is the blood of Thine only-begotten, shed on Calvary for sin." The Father lays His thunders by, sheathes His sword, stretches out His hand, and crieth to you, the sons of men, "Come unto Me, and I will have mercy upon you; turn ye, turn ye; I will pour out My Spirit upon you and ye shall live." ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.WEB: Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground. |
    |