September 10, 2025 • 17 mins
Have you ever wondered if your religious routine is just that—a routine? Dr. Robert Jackson opens his heart in this powerful episode, revealing his own journey from perfect church attendance to perfect stranger with God.
Drawing from Genesis 4:23-26, Dr. Papa contrasts two spiritual paths: "the way of Cain" marked by pride, self-justification, and moral decline, and the lineage of Seth who "began to call upon the name of the Lord." With scholarly insight, he examines Lamech's boastful ballad—the first recorded song in history—which exemplifies the increasing wickedness that eventually led to the flood.
The most compelling moment comes when Dr. Jackson vulnerably shares his spiritual awakening at age 19. Despite years of religious activities, his first attempt at personal devotion lasted only seven minutes, revealing an uncomfortable truth: "I didn't even know how to talk to God." This confession speaks to anyone who's felt the hollow echo of religious motions without relationship. His persistence transformed a seven-minute awkward encounter into what has now become 45 years of rich communion with God.
Dr. Jackson draws a striking parallel between ancient moral decline and our current cultural climate: "A virtuous people need very little government; an immoral people need lots of laws." Rather than increased external controls, he suggests America needs spiritual revival—internal transformation that produces external change.
Are you giving lip service to faith or genuinely calling on the Lord? Join us for this transformative episode that might just be the seven-minute wake-up call your spiritual life needs. Subscribe to More Than Medicine for more wisdom where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture.
https://www.jacksonfamilyministry.com
https://bobslone.com/home/podcast-production/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Jackson (00:03):
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is
more than enough for the illsthat plague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.
Papa, can you tell me a story?
Do you really want me to tellyou a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
(00:24):
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let's look into the written
Word, which reveals to us theliving Word, which is our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Today our lesson is in Genesis4, verses 23 to 26.
(00:46):
Our lesson title is the Way ofCain, which comes from a
scripture verse in Jude, chapter11, which refers to men who are
foolish and wicked, like themen who came after Cain.
So let's look at our scriptureverse, genesis 4, verses 23 to
(01:12):
26.
Lamech said to his wives, pluralAda and Zillah Listen to my
voice.
You, wives of Lamech, give heedto my speech, for I have killed
a man for wounding me and a boyfor striking me.
If Cain is avenged sevenfold,then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.
(01:38):
Adam had relations with hiswife again and she gave birth to
a son and named him Seth.
For she said, god has appointedme another offspring in place
of Abel, for Cain killed him ToSeth.
To him also, a son was born andhe called his name Enosh.
(01:58):
Then men began to call upon thename of the Lord.
May the Lord add his blessingto the reading of his word.
Lamech was a direct descendantof Cain.
He represented the spirit ofhis age.
Lamech's character is revealedin this fragment of his song
(02:22):
that is preserved.
It's a very boastful, pridefulballad.
In fact it's the first recordedballad in history.
It is sung to his two wives,ada and Zilla, and boasting of
his prowess in battle and hispromise to visit mortal
(02:47):
retribution on anyone who daresto oppose him.
He probably felt safe in suchboasting, since he had the
advantage of the metal tools,the metal weapons devised by his
very clever son, tubal-cain.
(03:07):
It's interesting that the songis directed to his wives only.
Perhaps he wasn't so loud andboisterous toward Well, who
knows?
As all murderers do, lamechjustified his actions by saying
(03:30):
that his victim, a mere boy, hadwounded him.
Was it a physical wound or justwords?
We don't know, but he feltjustified in killing the boy for
his wounding.
Then, in his ballad, heblasphemes God In punishing his
(03:54):
seventh well, in the punishmentof his seventh great-grandfather
for the very same crime.
God had issued a warningagainst killing Cain, stating
the sevenfold punishment wouldfall on anyone harming Cain.
So Lamech boasts, if Godpromised a sevenfold vengeance
(04:29):
on anyone harming Cain, so wesee how boastful and dramatic
Lamech was in this ballad, thissong that he gave to his two
wives.
The Bible mentions no organizedgovernment.
From the fall until after theflood, there were no rules or
(05:01):
regulations to restrain thesinful tendencies of mankind.
No doubt Adam instructed hischildren about the curse, how it
came about, god's promise of afuture Redeemer and how to
approach God with a bloodsacrifice that symbolized the
future once and for all, perfectsacrifice.
(05:23):
Nevertheless, the moral fabricof the pre-flood culture
continued to decline, asindicated by Genesis, chapter 6,
verses 5 through 6.
Let me read what happened overtime.
The Bible says Then the Lordsaw the wickedness of man, that
(05:48):
the wickedness of man was greaton the earth and that every
intent of the thoughts of hisheart was only evil.
Continually the Lord was sorrythat he had made man on the
earth and he was grieved in hisheart because of the constant
wickedness of men.
(06:08):
God was grieved that he hadeven made them, and that was the
continual decline.
From the time that Adam and Evewere expelled from the garden
until the time of Noah, therewas a constant moral decline.
It has been said that a virtuouspeople need very little
(06:30):
government.
They need very little in theway of external constraints upon
their behavior, because theirinternal virtue acts as a guard
against immoral conduct.
However, on the other hand, animmoral or non-virtuous people
(06:53):
need lots of laws, need lots ofpolicing, lots of external
constraints like what we seehappening in our national
capital city right now with thefederalization of Washington DC
to impose proper conduct on avery immoral people.
(07:18):
What the large cities inAmerica need is not the National
Guard to impose externalconstraints.
They need a national spiritualrevival to create Holy Spirit
mediated internal transformationthat results in outward moral
(07:43):
conduct.
As we will see, most peoplebefore the flood chose the way
of Cain, as is mentioned in Jude, verse 11, which described the
way of Cain, whereby men wholacked moral character and
lacked wisdom continued todeteriorate in their moral
(08:07):
behavior.
But there's always a righteousremnant.
Notice in verse 26, to Seth wasborn a son named Enosh, and the
Bible says then men began tocall upon the name of the Lord.
The word Lord there meansJehovah Men began to call upon
(08:30):
the name of Jehovah.
What exactly does it mean thatthey called upon the name of
Jehovah.
Possibly, probably, publicworship of God is initiated
through the lineage of Seth,perhaps replacing individual
(08:52):
private meetings, like what Cainand Abel did.
Some theologians speculate thatGod's imminence, god's
immediate presence, became moreand more distant the farther
they got from the Garden of Eden, and so men began to converse
with God through prayer.
(09:14):
The building of altars andoffering sacrifices, as Noah did
after leaving the ark, may havebeen a part of their worship,
and calling upon the name of theLord upon the name of Jehovah.
Calling upon the name of theLord upon the name of Jehovah.
Before Calvary, men offered ablood sacrifice in faith,
(09:36):
looking forward to and trustingin the sufficiency of the future
Lamb of God.
After Calvary, we look back tothe cross by faith and trust in
the sufficiency of the past Lambof God to pay our redemption
(09:57):
price.
Regardless of whether menlooked forward to or men looked
back to the cross, we all putour trust in the Lamb of God.
Just as they called on the nameof the Lord by faith, men today
need only call on the name ofthe Lord Jesus in order to be
(10:20):
saved.
Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever.
He is the Lord of all the ages,the King of all the nations,
the Lord Almighty.
He is Jehovah, the same Lordthat they called upon before the
(10:42):
flood.
He is the same Jesus that mencall upon today.
Now let me ask you a verypersonal question when did you
begin to call upon the name ofthe Lord?
Well, I remember exactly when Ibegan to call upon the name of
the Lord.
Now, I grew up going to aBaptist church in a rural small
(11:03):
town in South Carolina.
In fact, I attended a Baptistchurch in my mother's womb.
I had perfect attendance pinsin Sunday school.
For years I went to Bibleschool and I sang in the choir,
but looking back on it, Irealized that I only gave lip
service to calling on the nameof the Lord.
(11:24):
I was there, but my heart wasstill far away from the Lord.
I was going through the motionsmany of those years in my young
life, until I was 19 years oldand attending college, and I was
affiliated with a group ofcollege students who sincerely
(11:45):
called upon the name of the Lord.
They were serious about theirrelationship with the Lord and I
watched them and I realizedthat I was not like them.
They called upon the name ofthe Lord, they worshiped God,
they served God.
They talked about Jesus outsideof church, which was something
(12:07):
that I would never do up to thatpoint in time in my life and I
realized that I needed to belike them.
And they talked about a thingthat they called a daily quiet
time, which was a phrase I'dnever heard in my whole life.
And they held each otheraccountable and they would ask
one another, how's your quiettime?
And there was this one oldercollege student, a female, who
(12:31):
would look at me and say, robJackson, how's your quiet time?
And I had no idea what she wastalking about and I would just
mumble and say things that werealtogether untrue and say, fine,
fine.
Well, finally, they had a classone day on how to have a daily
quiet time and I went to theclass eager to find out what in
the world they were talkingabout.
(12:54):
And this young college student,a couple of years older than me,
talked about how to have adaily quiet time and I was
intrigued.
And they talked about themechanics of a personal devotion
and how to study the Word, howto pray, how to spend time with
Jesus and personally seek Hisface, and I realized that I had
(13:16):
just been going through themotions all my life and that my
heart was not fully seeking theLord.
And that very night I made acommitment that I would seek God
with all of my heart and Igrabbed a Bible and a pen and a
notebook the very next day and Iwent to the college chapel
which was close to my dorm roomand I made a commitment to go
(13:39):
there for 30 minutes and I reada couple of chapters in my Bible
and I made a few little notesand I prayed everything that I
could think of to pray.
And I looked at my watch andI'd only been there seven
minutes and I realized with asinking heart that I really
didn't know the Lord After allthose years in church.
(14:00):
I didn't even know how to talkto God and it was so
discouraging and I decided well,I'll just do it all over again.
So I read a couple morechapters and I looked at a
memory verse and then I prayedall over again and I guess I
just got more efficient becauseit only took me five minutes the
second time and I realized,Robert Jackson, you don't know
(14:25):
God, you don't really know howto seek the Lord.
But I was persistent and Ididn't give up and by the end of
a six-month period of time, Iwas spending 30 minutes
regularly seeking the Lord andcalling upon the name of the
Lord.
I learned how to pray.
I didn't learn how of the Lord.
I learned how to pray.
I didn't learn how to just pray.
I learned how to worship Godand how to be thankful, how to
(14:48):
confess my sins and how tomemorize Scripture and how to
meditate on Scripture.
And that was 45 years ago,brothers and sisters, and now I
spend much more time than thatevery day seeking the Lord and
calling upon the name of theLord, praying for lost family
and friends and praying formissionaries and studying the
(15:11):
Bible, so that I can presentthese podcasts for you and for
my Sunday school class and forthe guys in the New Creation
Bible study that just havegotten out of prison and for the
real devotions with Dr Papathat I have with my
grandchildren.
And you see, I love studyingGod's Word, I love talking to
(15:34):
the Lord and being in Hispresence and sometimes just
sitting on my back porch justmeditating on God's Word.
So here's the question when didyou start calling upon the name
of the Lord?
Is it just lip service for you?
Is your heart far away and it'sjust going through the motions,
or are you sincerely callingupon the name of the Lord?
(15:59):
That's a challenge, that's aserious question, and I hope
that God is speaking to youtoday, calling your name and
calling you into a deeperrelationship with Him.
Well, you're listening toDevotions with Dr Papa.
I hope you enjoy what you hear.
I hope it's a benefit to you.
(16:20):
And.
I want you to know that yourdoctor loves you.
I'll be back again next week.
Until then, may the Lord blessyou real good.
Thank you for listening to thisedition of More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry or to
schedule a speaking engagement,go to their Facebook page,
instagram or webpage atjacksonfamilyministrycom.
(16:43):
Also, don't forget to check outDr Jackson's books that are
available on Amazon.
The Family Doctor Speaks theTruth About Life in his first
book, and the Family DoctorSpeaks the Truth About Seed
Planting Equipping Believers forEvangelism is his second.
This podcast is produced by BobSlone Audio Productions.
Seed planting equippingbelievers for evangelism is his
(17:03):
second.
This podcast is produced by BobSlone Audio Productions.
Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is
more than enough for the illsthat plague our culture and our
country.
Hosted by author and physician,Dr Robert Jackson.
Papa, can you tell me a story?
Do you really want me to tellyou a story?
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
(00:24):
you a story.
Well, you go, get your brotherand your sisters and I will tell
you a story.
Welcome to Devotions with DrPapa.
Gather around, grab your Biblesand let's look into the written
Word, which reveals to us theliving Word, which is our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Today our lesson is in Genesis4, verses 23 to 26.
(00:46):
Our lesson title is the Way ofCain, which comes from a
scripture verse in Jude, chapter11, which refers to men who are
foolish and wicked, like themen who came after Cain.
So let's look at our scriptureverse, genesis 4, verses 23 to
(01:12):
26.
Lamech said to his wives, pluralAda and Zillah Listen to my
voice.
You, wives of Lamech, give heedto my speech, for I have killed
a man for wounding me and a boyfor striking me.
If Cain is avenged sevenfold,then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.
(01:38):
Adam had relations with hiswife again and she gave birth to
a son and named him Seth.
For she said, god has appointedme another offspring in place
of Abel, for Cain killed him ToSeth.
To him also, a son was born andhe called his name Enosh.
(01:58):
Then men began to call upon thename of the Lord.
May the Lord add his blessingto the reading of his word.
Lamech was a direct descendantof Cain.
He represented the spirit ofhis age.
Lamech's character is revealedin this fragment of his song
(02:22):
that is preserved.
It's a very boastful, pridefulballad.
In fact it's the first recordedballad in history.
It is sung to his two wives,ada and Zilla, and boasting of
his prowess in battle and hispromise to visit mortal
(02:47):
retribution on anyone who daresto oppose him.
He probably felt safe in suchboasting, since he had the
advantage of the metal tools,the metal weapons devised by his
very clever son, tubal-cain.
(03:07):
It's interesting that the songis directed to his wives only.
Perhaps he wasn't so loud andboisterous toward Well, who
knows?
As all murderers do, lamechjustified his actions by saying
(03:30):
that his victim, a mere boy, hadwounded him.
Was it a physical wound or justwords?
We don't know, but he feltjustified in killing the boy for
his wounding.
Then, in his ballad, heblasphemes God In punishing his
(03:54):
seventh well, in the punishmentof his seventh great-grandfather
for the very same crime.
God had issued a warningagainst killing Cain, stating
the sevenfold punishment wouldfall on anyone harming Cain.
So Lamech boasts, if Godpromised a sevenfold vengeance
(04:29):
on anyone harming Cain, so wesee how boastful and dramatic
Lamech was in this ballad, thissong that he gave to his two
wives.
The Bible mentions no organizedgovernment.
From the fall until after theflood, there were no rules or
(05:01):
regulations to restrain thesinful tendencies of mankind.
No doubt Adam instructed hischildren about the curse, how it
came about, god's promise of afuture Redeemer and how to
approach God with a bloodsacrifice that symbolized the
future once and for all, perfectsacrifice.
(05:23):
Nevertheless, the moral fabricof the pre-flood culture
continued to decline, asindicated by Genesis, chapter 6,
verses 5 through 6.
Let me read what happened overtime.
The Bible says Then the Lordsaw the wickedness of man, that
(05:48):
the wickedness of man was greaton the earth and that every
intent of the thoughts of hisheart was only evil.
Continually the Lord was sorrythat he had made man on the
earth and he was grieved in hisheart because of the constant
wickedness of men.
(06:08):
God was grieved that he hadeven made them, and that was the
continual decline.
From the time that Adam and Evewere expelled from the garden
until the time of Noah, therewas a constant moral decline.
It has been said that a virtuouspeople need very little
(06:30):
government.
They need very little in theway of external constraints upon
their behavior, because theirinternal virtue acts as a guard
against immoral conduct.
However, on the other hand, animmoral or non-virtuous people
(06:53):
need lots of laws, need lots ofpolicing, lots of external
constraints like what we seehappening in our national
capital city right now with thefederalization of Washington DC
to impose proper conduct on avery immoral people.
(07:18):
What the large cities inAmerica need is not the National
Guard to impose externalconstraints.
They need a national spiritualrevival to create Holy Spirit
mediated internal transformationthat results in outward moral
(07:43):
conduct.
As we will see, most peoplebefore the flood chose the way
of Cain, as is mentioned in Jude, verse 11, which described the
way of Cain, whereby men wholacked moral character and
lacked wisdom continued todeteriorate in their moral
(08:07):
behavior.
But there's always a righteousremnant.
Notice in verse 26, to Seth wasborn a son named Enosh, and the
Bible says then men began tocall upon the name of the Lord.
The word Lord there meansJehovah Men began to call upon
(08:30):
the name of Jehovah.
What exactly does it mean thatthey called upon the name of
Jehovah.
Possibly, probably, publicworship of God is initiated
through the lineage of Seth,perhaps replacing individual
(08:52):
private meetings, like what Cainand Abel did.
Some theologians speculate thatGod's imminence, god's
immediate presence, became moreand more distant the farther
they got from the Garden of Eden, and so men began to converse
with God through prayer.
(09:14):
The building of altars andoffering sacrifices, as Noah did
after leaving the ark, may havebeen a part of their worship,
and calling upon the name of theLord upon the name of Jehovah.
Calling upon the name of theLord upon the name of Jehovah.
Before Calvary, men offered ablood sacrifice in faith,
(09:36):
looking forward to and trustingin the sufficiency of the future
Lamb of God.
After Calvary, we look back tothe cross by faith and trust in
the sufficiency of the past Lambof God to pay our redemption
(09:57):
price.
Regardless of whether menlooked forward to or men looked
back to the cross, we all putour trust in the Lamb of God.
Just as they called on the nameof the Lord by faith, men today
need only call on the name ofthe Lord Jesus in order to be
(10:20):
saved.
Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever.
He is the Lord of all the ages,the King of all the nations,
the Lord Almighty.
He is Jehovah, the same Lordthat they called upon before the
(10:42):
flood.
He is the same Jesus that mencall upon today.
Now let me ask you a verypersonal question when did you
begin to call upon the name ofthe Lord?
Well, I remember exactly when Ibegan to call upon the name of
the Lord.
Now, I grew up going to aBaptist church in a rural small
(11:03):
town in South Carolina.
In fact, I attended a Baptistchurch in my mother's womb.
I had perfect attendance pinsin Sunday school.
For years I went to Bibleschool and I sang in the choir,
but looking back on it, Irealized that I only gave lip
service to calling on the nameof the Lord.
(11:24):
I was there, but my heart wasstill far away from the Lord.
I was going through the motionsmany of those years in my young
life, until I was 19 years oldand attending college, and I was
affiliated with a group ofcollege students who sincerely
(11:45):
called upon the name of the Lord.
They were serious about theirrelationship with the Lord and I
watched them and I realizedthat I was not like them.
They called upon the name ofthe Lord, they worshiped God,
they served God.
They talked about Jesus outsideof church, which was something
(12:07):
that I would never do up to thatpoint in time in my life and I
realized that I needed to belike them.
And they talked about a thingthat they called a daily quiet
time, which was a phrase I'dnever heard in my whole life.
And they held each otheraccountable and they would ask
one another, how's your quiettime?
And there was this one oldercollege student, a female, who
(12:31):
would look at me and say, robJackson, how's your quiet time?
And I had no idea what she wastalking about and I would just
mumble and say things that werealtogether untrue and say, fine,
fine.
Well, finally, they had a classone day on how to have a daily
quiet time and I went to theclass eager to find out what in
the world they were talkingabout.
(12:54):
And this young college student,a couple of years older than me,
talked about how to have adaily quiet time and I was
intrigued.
And they talked about themechanics of a personal devotion
and how to study the Word, howto pray, how to spend time with
Jesus and personally seek Hisface, and I realized that I had
(13:16):
just been going through themotions all my life and that my
heart was not fully seeking theLord.
And that very night I made acommitment that I would seek God
with all of my heart and Igrabbed a Bible and a pen and a
notebook the very next day and Iwent to the college chapel
which was close to my dorm roomand I made a commitment to go
(13:39):
there for 30 minutes and I reada couple of chapters in my Bible
and I made a few little notesand I prayed everything that I
could think of to pray.
And I looked at my watch andI'd only been there seven
minutes and I realized with asinking heart that I really
didn't know the Lord After allthose years in church.
(14:00):
I didn't even know how to talkto God and it was so
discouraging and I decided well,I'll just do it all over again.
So I read a couple morechapters and I looked at a
memory verse and then I prayedall over again and I guess I
just got more efficient becauseit only took me five minutes the
second time and I realized,Robert Jackson, you don't know
(14:25):
God, you don't really know howto seek the Lord.
But I was persistent and Ididn't give up and by the end of
a six-month period of time, Iwas spending 30 minutes
regularly seeking the Lord andcalling upon the name of the
Lord.
I learned how to pray.
I didn't learn how of the Lord.
I learned how to pray.
I didn't learn how to just pray.
I learned how to worship Godand how to be thankful, how to
(14:48):
confess my sins and how tomemorize Scripture and how to
meditate on Scripture.
And that was 45 years ago,brothers and sisters, and now I
spend much more time than thatevery day seeking the Lord and
calling upon the name of theLord, praying for lost family
and friends and praying formissionaries and studying the
(15:11):
Bible, so that I can presentthese podcasts for you and for
my Sunday school class and forthe guys in the New Creation
Bible study that just havegotten out of prison and for the
real devotions with Dr Papathat I have with my
grandchildren.
And you see, I love studyingGod's Word, I love talking to
(15:34):
the Lord and being in Hispresence and sometimes just
sitting on my back porch justmeditating on God's Word.
So here's the question when didyou start calling upon the name
of the Lord?
Is it just lip service for you?
Is your heart far away and it'sjust going through the motions,
or are you sincerely callingupon the name of the Lord?
(15:59):
That's a challenge, that's aserious question, and I hope
that God is speaking to youtoday, calling your name and
calling you into a deeperrelationship with Him.
Well, you're listening toDevotions with Dr Papa.
I hope you enjoy what you hear.
I hope it's a benefit to you.
(16:20):
And.
I want you to know that yourdoctor loves you.
I'll be back again next week.
Until then, may the Lord blessyou real good.
Thank you for listening to thisedition of More Than Medicine.
For more information about theJackson Family Ministry or to
schedule a speaking engagement,go to their Facebook page,
instagram or webpage atjacksonfamilyministrycom.
(16:43):
Also, don't forget to check outDr Jackson's books that are
available on Amazon.
The Family Doctor Speaks theTruth About Life in his first
book, and the Family DoctorSpeaks the Truth About Seed
Planting Equipping Believers forEvangelism is his second.
This podcast is produced by BobSlone Audio Productions.
Seed planting equippingbelievers for evangelism is his
(17:03):
second.
This podcast is produced by BobSlone Audio Productions.
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