WEBVTT 00:01.516 --> 00:04.876 Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church sermon podcast. 00:04.876 --> 00:08.316 We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you, 00:08.316 --> 00:12.476 builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God. 00:12.476 --> 00:15.516 Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible 00:15.516 --> 00:18.236 and learn how you can apply it straight to your life. 00:18.236 --> 00:20.756 So welcome and enjoy the message. 00:21.479 --> 00:26.479 If you have your Bible, please open it with me to Genesis chapter 4 00:26.479 --> 00:30.479 in a message I'm calling True Worship. 00:30.479 --> 00:35.479 Now I thought about calling the message today, The Original Adams Family. 00:35.479 --> 00:40.479 You'll get that here in just a moment as we continue reading our passage, 00:40.479 --> 00:44.479 but I thought I need a little more serious title than that. 00:44.479 --> 00:49.759 Now I think it's going to be really helpful for you to keep a copy of God's Word open to you. 00:49.762 --> 00:54.362 So you can read along as we go through this passage very quickly. 00:54.802 --> 01:00.302 We have a lot of verses to cover, if I can say that. 01:00.902 --> 01:02.602 So stay with me, all right? 01:03.002 --> 01:11.442 Now, Jesus said in the Gospel of John, chapter 4, he said that true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth. 01:12.205 --> 01:16.425 See, from the very beginning, God's always been seeking true worshipers. 01:16.805 --> 01:24.185 Now, if there is such a thing as true worshipers, that also means there's such a thing as false worshipers. 01:24.185 --> 01:31.185 And in Genesis chapter 4, we're going to see that the main character, a man by the name of Cain, was a false worshiper. 01:31.763 --> 01:34.003 So here's what we're going to do today. 01:34.103 --> 01:41.663 We're going to learn what a true worshiper is by looking at what Cain lacked in his worship. 01:42.243 --> 01:46.123 Now, for the past couple of months, we've been studying the book of Genesis together. 01:46.123 --> 01:54.463 And so far, we've learned that God created a very good and perfect, beautiful world that was without pain and sickness and death. 01:55.118 --> 02:04.018 But He also created mankind with a choice of whether we would live in loving obedience to Him or whether we would choose our own path. 02:04.018 --> 02:12.438 Well, we read last couple of weeks in chapter 3 of Genesis that Adam and Eve, they chose their own path of sin and rebellion. 02:13.078 --> 02:20.438 And their sin actually resulted in brokenness for them, for their family, and for all of creation. 02:21.241 --> 02:25.881 Now, when we come to chapter 4, we see that the first family, 02:25.921 --> 02:29.941 mom and dad and two brothers, they also experienced the 02:29.981 --> 02:33.521 devastating consequences of Adam and Eve's sin. 02:33.561 --> 02:37.481 We see that those consequences became generational. 02:37.521 --> 02:40.101 Let's begin in verse number 1. 02:40.121 --> 02:43.961 It says, Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and 02:44.001 --> 02:49.541 bore Cain, and said, she did, I have acquired a man from the 02:49.561 --> 02:50.581 Lord. 02:50.587 --> 02:54.127 So Eve gets pregnant, and that must have been a surprise, right? 02:54.167 --> 02:56.287 I mean, no one had ever been pregnant before. 02:56.467 --> 02:59.047 So Eve's body is beginning to change. 02:59.067 --> 03:00.147 It's beginning to grow. 03:00.327 --> 03:02.787 I'm sure they're wondering what in the world is happening. 03:03.507 --> 03:10.627 Well, eventually, Eve went into labor, and she has a little boy by the name of Cain. 03:10.627 --> 03:12.967 And she says, I've acquired... 03:13.368 --> 03:16.308 a man or a boy from the Lord. 03:16.348 --> 03:18.588 Now, I love that because Eve understood 03:18.588 --> 03:21.748 that just as God had made Adam from the dust of the ground, 03:22.128 --> 03:25.508 just as God had made her from the rib of Adam, 03:25.628 --> 03:28.588 he also made little Cain from the two of them. 03:29.328 --> 03:32.468 You see, anytime you have a child, it's from the Lord. 03:32.468 --> 03:33.414 Amen. 03:33.415 --> 03:34.214 Anytime. 03:34.215 --> 03:38.215 That's why every single human life is sacred 03:38.215 --> 03:41.855 because God makes each and every person in his image 03:41.855 --> 03:45.655 and he knits them together in their mother's womb. 03:46.415 --> 03:48.703 Verse number two. 03:48.704 --> 03:52.244 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. 03:52.244 --> 03:54.384 Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, 03:54.384 --> 03:57.304 but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 03:57.304 --> 03:59.104 So Eve gives birth again, 03:59.104 --> 04:02.104 and Cain gets a little brother by the name of Abel. 04:02.104 --> 04:04.104 Now as these two boys grew up, 04:04.104 --> 04:06.044 they eventually went their separate ways 04:06.044 --> 04:07.244 in terms of occupation. 04:07.244 --> 04:11.064 Cain became a farmer working the ground for produce. 04:11.064 --> 04:14.384 Abel became a shepherd keeping sheep. 04:14.384 --> 04:17.464 Both very respectable professions. 04:17.464 --> 04:18.484 Verse number three. 04:19.366 --> 04:24.106 And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 04:24.786 --> 04:28.786 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. 04:29.246 --> 04:34.246 And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. 04:34.726 --> 04:37.846 And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 04:37.846 --> 04:38.586 Now, 04:38.587 --> 04:43.207 Now, this is the first time anyone brings an offering 04:43.207 --> 04:45.347 to the Lord that's recorded in the Bible. 04:45.347 --> 04:48.867 And we see that Cain's offering is rejected by God 04:48.867 --> 04:51.887 while Abel's offering is accepted. 04:51.887 --> 04:54.407 Now, at first glance, both of these offerings 04:54.407 --> 04:55.487 seem legitimate. 04:55.487 --> 04:56.867 They seem to make a lot of sense. 04:56.867 --> 05:01.087 I mean, Cain's a farmer, so he brings forth some produce. 05:01.081 --> 05:03.701 Abel's a shepherd, so he brings a lamb. 05:04.261 --> 05:08.181 And yet Abel's offering is accepted while Cain's is not. 05:08.281 --> 05:10.080 And the question is why? 05:10.081 --> 05:16.181 Many have suggested that God rejected Cain's offering because it wasn't a blood sacrifice. 05:16.901 --> 05:19.841 However, the word sacrifice isn't used in the text. 05:19.841 --> 05:25.921 Instead, it's a more general term for offering or gift that's used. 05:26.005 --> 05:34.565 Now, we also know that the Israelites were later commanded in the Mosaic law to bring both a animal offering and a grain offering. 05:34.785 --> 05:37.345 Both were received by the Lord. 05:37.405 --> 05:43.065 So personally, I don't think the contents of the offering is why God rejected Cain's and accepted Abel's. 05:43.065 --> 05:46.865 I think the reason goes much deeper than the offering. 05:47.116 --> 05:51.016 It goes to the heart of the person who is giving the offering. 05:51.016 --> 05:54.516 You see, God sees the heart. 05:54.516 --> 06:02.516 And the prideful heart of Cain tainted and ruined the offering that he was bringing before the Lord. 06:02.516 --> 06:07.276 Now, how do we know that? Well, I think there's an indicator in the text that we'll get to here in just a moment. 06:07.276 --> 06:13.016 But the main way we know that is because God later tells us that in Hebrews chapter 11. 06:13.019 --> 06:14.679 Verse number four, it says, 06:14.979 --> 06:17.499 by faith Abel offered to God 06:17.499 --> 06:19.519 a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. 06:20.259 --> 06:24.239 Abel's offering was by faith, Cain's was not. 06:24.339 --> 06:25.758 Here's our principle. 06:25.759 --> 06:30.179 True worshipers always worship God from a heart of faith. 06:31.179 --> 06:32.879 You see, God created us. 06:33.674 --> 06:34.573 to be worshipers. 06:34.574 --> 06:36.134 We were created for him, to worship him. 06:36.174 --> 06:37.634 And the best way that we worship God 06:37.634 --> 06:40.054 is when we're in relationship with him. 06:40.474 --> 06:43.214 But because of our sin, we lost the capacity 06:43.214 --> 06:45.994 to have a meaningful relationship with God 06:45.994 --> 06:47.983 outside of Jesus. 06:47.984 --> 06:54.944 Now, why in the world do people, Cain and Abel and others throughout history, why bring an offering to the Lord? 06:55.024 --> 07:00.584 Well, it's in order to worship him because an offering is never the actual point. 07:01.244 --> 07:04.104 Now, because God doesn't really need our offering, does he? 07:04.104 --> 07:10.744 Now, God desires our offering because it's a tangible way for us to express our worship of him. 07:10.884 --> 07:15.204 But the main thing God desires is not an offering, it's worship. 07:15.693 --> 07:19.513 and worship, while it has its outward expressions 07:19.513 --> 07:21.333 like we see in the text, 07:21.333 --> 07:24.813 it primarily is inward and it's spiritual. 07:25.278 --> 07:31.118 So why did God accept Cain's offering and reject, accept Abel's offering and reject Cain's? 07:31.178 --> 07:32.657 It's very simple. 07:32.658 --> 07:35.758 Abel gave his offering by faith and Cain did not. 07:36.298 --> 07:40.398 Now we're going to see from the next verses that Cain actually has this conversation with God. 07:40.518 --> 07:45.738 So how in the world can a person who has a conversation with Almighty God not have saving faith? 07:46.058 --> 07:51.618 Well, it's because although Cain knew of God, he didn't love God. 07:52.008 --> 07:53.928 See, the Bible says in the book of James 07:53.928 --> 07:58.788 that even the demons believe, and yet they tremble. 07:58.788 --> 08:02.328 You see, saving faith is always a worshiping faith. 08:02.328 --> 08:03.828 It's a belief that trusts. 08:03.828 --> 08:05.188 It's a belief that yields. 08:05.188 --> 08:07.368 It's a belief that loves. 08:07.368 --> 08:11.028 The Bible says that, man, we look on the outward appearance, 08:11.028 --> 08:14.368 but God, the Lord, He looks on the heart. 08:14.368 --> 08:17.928 And when God looked on the heart of Cain, 08:17.928 --> 08:20.488 He didn't see faith in worship and love. 08:20.488 --> 08:25.808 All he saw was selfishness and pride and arrogance. 08:25.808 --> 08:29.408 Let me ask, what about you? 08:29.408 --> 08:33.168 When God looks on your heart, what does he see? 08:33.166 --> 08:35.146 You peel out all the outward layers. 08:35.146 --> 08:37.546 What does he see inside of you? 08:37.546 --> 08:40.846 What does God see when you give your offerings to him? 08:40.846 --> 08:42.586 Assuming you give offerings to the Lord, 08:42.586 --> 08:45.586 do you give them for religious purposes like Cain did? 08:45.586 --> 08:47.746 Or do you give them for relationship purposes 08:47.746 --> 08:49.066 like Abel did? 08:49.066 --> 08:52.606 God says, I want you to give to me out of a faith relationship, 08:52.606 --> 08:55.966 out of a love relationship, out of an obedience relationship 08:55.966 --> 08:56.874 to me. 08:56.875 --> 09:01.215 Now, you'll notice in verse three and four that Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground, 09:01.215 --> 09:05.635 but Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. 09:06.655 --> 09:08.455 Now, that's significant. 09:09.175 --> 09:12.475 But Mosaic law had not yet been given at this point. 09:12.535 --> 09:16.675 So we're not sure if Cain and Abel knew exactly what God's expectations were. 09:16.935 --> 09:22.555 But later, we know that God would command the Israelites to give their first fruits. 09:23.234 --> 09:26.934 Meaning you don't give leftovers, you don't give excess, 09:26.934 --> 09:30.514 you give the first, you give the very best to the Lord. 09:30.514 --> 09:32.394 Now, whether that was clear at this point 09:32.394 --> 09:34.054 to Cain and Abel or not, we don't know. 09:34.054 --> 09:36.254 I think maybe Adam and Eve may have shared 09:36.254 --> 09:38.694 about giving offerings to the Lord with their kids. 09:38.694 --> 09:40.934 We don't know, but we do know 09:40.936 --> 09:47.316 that Abel gave in this way, out of a heart that was simply overflowing with love and 09:47.316 --> 09:48.616 gratitude towards the Lord. 09:48.616 --> 09:56.236 He gave the firstborn of his flock, and then it says, and of their fat, which means he 09:56.236 --> 09:59.356 gave the very best that he had. 09:59.556 --> 10:01.135 Here's our principle. 10:01.136 --> 10:06.056 True worshipers give God their very best. 10:07.042 --> 10:14.522 I remember the story of when my dad first became the pastor of First Baptist Oil Dail that later became Valley Baptist Church. 10:14.522 --> 10:20.382 And soon after he got there, he started kind of cleaning house, all the junk that had been collected over the years. 10:20.382 --> 10:29.042 And so in the youth room, there were all of these old, mangled, just poorly kept couches for the students to sit on. 10:29.042 --> 10:31.922 And so he started getting rid of the couches, throwing them out. 10:31.915 --> 10:33.715 And someone said, you can't do that. 10:34.155 --> 10:35.375 We gave those couches. 10:35.435 --> 10:36.575 You can't just get rid of them. 10:36.615 --> 10:38.475 He said, you gave these couches to the church? 10:38.495 --> 10:40.014 And they said, yes. 10:40.015 --> 10:41.715 They used to be in our living room. 10:41.755 --> 10:44.395 But when we bought new ones, we gave the old ones to the church. 10:45.331 --> 10:49.931 And dad said, why did you give the old ones to the church? 10:49.931 --> 10:52.331 Why not give the new one to the church 10:52.331 --> 10:54.111 and keep the old one for you? 10:54.111 --> 10:54.950 Dad was bold. 10:54.951 --> 10:56.391 If you knew, you're my dad, 10:56.391 --> 10:58.531 you knew he was just ready to give it to you 10:58.531 --> 11:00.591 no matter what you needed. 11:00.591 --> 11:02.171 He was gonna speak the truth. 11:02.171 --> 11:03.831 He had a good point, didn't he? 11:04.248 --> 11:07.848 So many people, they want to give leftovers to the church. 11:07.848 --> 11:09.548 Hey, we don't need this anymore. 11:09.548 --> 11:10.527 It's of no value. 11:10.528 --> 11:11.948 Maybe the church can use it. 11:11.948 --> 11:13.708 And let's just give our leftovers. 11:13.708 --> 11:17.048 Now, it may not be that you're giving leftover couches 11:17.048 --> 11:18.068 to the Lord. 11:18.068 --> 11:20.988 It may be that you're giving leftover time, 11:21.848 --> 11:24.088 not prioritizing time to the Lord, 11:24.088 --> 11:25.588 or you're giving leftover energy. 11:25.588 --> 11:26.868 You're giving leftover money. 11:26.868 --> 11:29.208 You're giving leftover this and that. 11:29.208 --> 11:33.308 No, God deserves our very best in worship. 11:33.863 --> 11:36.623 King David was looking to acquire some land 11:36.623 --> 11:40.283 for his son Solomon to later build the temple upon, 11:40.383 --> 11:42.523 and he identified a perfect piece of land 11:42.523 --> 11:44.183 that a man named Ornan owned. 11:44.903 --> 11:47.583 And so he goes to Ornan, and he asked to buy it from him. 11:47.823 --> 11:49.763 And Ornan said, take it for free. 11:49.903 --> 11:50.762 You can have it. 11:50.763 --> 11:54.443 In fact, you can even have the oxen for burnt offering. 11:54.443 --> 11:58.863 And David replies in 1 Chronicles 21, verse 24, 11:59.203 --> 12:01.323 then King David said to Ornan, 12:01.319 --> 12:04.919 No, but I will surely buy it for the full price. 12:04.919 --> 12:12.019 For I will not take what is yours for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing. 12:12.919 --> 12:16.459 See, King David understood what Abel did thousands of years before. 12:16.599 --> 12:21.539 Something all of us must understand that God deserves our very best in worship. 12:21.939 --> 12:23.879 That which costs us something. 12:25.079 --> 12:27.508 Verse number six. 12:27.509 --> 12:30.429 So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? 12:30.989 --> 12:32.389 And why is your countenance falling? 12:32.609 --> 12:35.029 If you do well, will you not be accepted? 12:35.509 --> 12:40.149 And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and it's desirous for you. 12:40.589 --> 12:42.869 You should rule over it. 12:43.372 --> 12:45.832 God's saying, Cain, don't get so angry. 12:45.832 --> 12:48.172 Your offering, it was not pleasing to me. 12:48.172 --> 12:49.472 It was not appropriate. 12:49.472 --> 12:50.992 But you can change course. 12:50.992 --> 12:52.132 You can make things right. 12:52.132 --> 12:54.712 In other words, not all is lost at this point. 12:54.712 --> 12:57.372 You still have some very important decisions to make. 12:57.372 --> 13:00.592 You're going to stand some other forks in the road of life. 13:00.584 --> 13:05.244 But I want you to know, sin lies at the door. 13:05.244 --> 13:09.764 Now, that could be translated, sin lies crouching at the door. 13:09.764 --> 13:13.184 It's a word that was used for a lion that's crouching, 13:13.184 --> 13:15.524 and it's about to pounce. 13:15.524 --> 13:18.204 God is sort of personifying sin here, 13:18.204 --> 13:20.964 perhaps indicating that Satan was the one behind the 13:20.964 --> 13:23.024 temptation of Cain. 13:23.024 --> 13:26.684 And we know the devil crouches like a lion, doesn't he? 13:26.684 --> 13:29.784 Seeking whom he may devour. 13:29.778 --> 13:36.458 So God says to Cain, he said, sin's desire is for you, but you need to rule over it. 13:36.458 --> 13:39.698 In other words, you need to choose right instead of wrong. 13:39.978 --> 13:42.798 You are responsible still for your behavior. 13:43.938 --> 13:45.458 God is providing here. 13:46.298 --> 13:50.838 some correction to Cain's angry heart. 13:50.838 --> 13:52.398 But as we'll see in a moment, 13:52.398 --> 13:55.478 Cain does not receive the correction. 13:55.478 --> 13:56.898 Here's a principle. 13:56.898 --> 14:02.118 True worshipers, they receive correction from the Lord. 14:03.224 --> 14:06.284 Now, folks, we need a lot of correcting, don't we? 14:06.924 --> 14:09.004 I don't know about you, but I need a lot of correcting for the Lord. 14:09.164 --> 14:12.144 Even if you've been a Christian for years, for decades, 14:12.144 --> 14:15.384 I'm telling you, you need correction from the Lord. 14:15.464 --> 14:18.184 At times, we let sin creep into our heart. 14:18.364 --> 14:20.444 At times, we let our motives get distorted. 14:20.704 --> 14:24.704 At times, we start pursuing things more passionately than we do the Lord. 14:25.004 --> 14:26.184 And sin creeps into our heart. 14:26.264 --> 14:27.644 It creeps into our life. 14:27.744 --> 14:29.346 And when it does, 14:29.347 --> 14:34.247 If you're a believer, if you're a child of God, the Holy Spirit will start to convict you. 14:35.219 --> 14:38.699 And when he does, when he does, you got to respond. 14:38.959 --> 14:40.619 He uses his word to convict us. 14:40.859 --> 14:43.119 Maybe he'll use a friend to bring conviction. 14:43.119 --> 14:47.699 Maybe it's the still, small voice of the Lord upon your heart saying, 14:47.879 --> 14:52.979 something's not right, reminding you, you need to come back to me. 14:53.219 --> 14:57.699 Whenever that happens, you be sure to receive the Lord's correction in your life. 14:58.119 --> 15:00.959 Because if you don't course correct at that moment, 15:00.953 --> 15:07.353 Sin can take you down a path you never even dreamed was possible in your life. 15:08.665 --> 15:12.285 My dad used to say, sin will always take you further than you want to go, 15:12.825 --> 15:14.925 and it will keep you longer than you wanted to stay, 15:15.005 --> 15:18.965 and it will always cost you more than you wanted to pay. 15:19.225 --> 15:23.085 So as soon as God begins to convict and correct something, 15:23.325 --> 15:25.165 even when it's very small within your life, 15:25.425 --> 15:28.465 receive his correction as an act of worship, 15:28.465 --> 15:33.685 because it can get a whole lot worse in a hurry, just like it did for Cain. 15:34.245 --> 15:37.985 And we see how it got worse. His sin grew in verse number 8. 15:39.057 --> 15:41.917 It says, now Cain talked with Abel, his brother. 15:41.977 --> 15:43.297 He's setting this whole thing up. 15:43.557 --> 15:50.917 And it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. 15:52.277 --> 15:57.257 This is now, went from anger to premeditated murder. 15:57.257 --> 15:58.378 Right? 15:58.379 --> 16:03.339 The sin of Adam and Eve had grown more evil within their son. 16:03.339 --> 16:07.579 And their oldest son killed their youngest son. 16:07.699 --> 16:12.379 In a moment, Adam and Eve lost both of their boys. 16:13.399 --> 16:20.799 Now I want you to notice that when God corrected Cain and he rejected his offering, Cain never asked why. 16:21.683 --> 16:24.303 I mean, I would hope that I would have asked the Lord, 16:24.303 --> 16:27.023 why, why is my offering not pleasing? 16:27.023 --> 16:28.663 Cain didn't do any soul searching, 16:28.663 --> 16:29.663 figure out what's wrong, 16:29.663 --> 16:32.203 how could I possibly offer an offering 16:32.203 --> 16:33.343 that's pleasing to you? 16:33.343 --> 16:36.603 No, he was focused on himself. 16:36.603 --> 16:39.023 All Cain could think about was Cain 16:39.023 --> 16:42.123 and his jealous pride that was growing for his brother, 16:42.123 --> 16:46.983 which drove him to eventually murder his little brother. 16:46.983 --> 16:48.183 Here's our principle. 16:48.515 --> 16:52.355 True worshipers are focused on pleasing God, 16:53.355 --> 16:55.095 not themselves. 16:55.095 --> 16:57.015 Cain was only focused on self. 16:58.515 --> 16:59.515 How often? 17:00.749 --> 17:03.049 Are we focused on self? 17:03.049 --> 17:05.589 When we come to worship, we're not focused on pleasing God, 17:05.589 --> 17:07.489 we're focused on pleasing ourselves. 17:07.489 --> 17:09.649 When we come to church, when we come to worship the Lord, 17:09.649 --> 17:12.029 how often do we come with a consumer mindset? 17:12.029 --> 17:13.329 What am I gonna get today? 17:14.569 --> 17:17.169 What am I gonna get from worship? 17:17.169 --> 17:18.709 Or we have the thought, you know, 17:18.709 --> 17:22.329 worship wasn't really my style today, or it was my style. 17:22.332 --> 17:28.892 Or we think the songs that we sang, they weren't my type of songs, or they were my type of songs, 17:29.012 --> 17:32.912 or it wasn't my favorite kind of worship, or it was my favorite kind of worship. 17:33.072 --> 17:34.972 Either way, what do those sentences have in common? 17:35.332 --> 17:37.282 The word my. 17:37.283 --> 17:38.502 My worship. 17:38.503 --> 17:40.283 Listen, worship is not mine. 17:40.523 --> 17:41.723 It's God's. 17:41.923 --> 17:43.383 We give it to him. 17:43.943 --> 17:49.783 Now, there's some amazing blessings that we get and that we receive as we worship the Lord. 17:50.023 --> 17:52.423 But worshiping God is not about getting. 17:52.923 --> 17:54.043 It's about giving. 17:54.800 --> 17:57.600 By definition, offering is a gift. 17:57.980 --> 18:00.900 We give an offering of praise to the Lord. 18:01.140 --> 18:02.640 He's the one that receives it. 18:03.120 --> 18:07.280 So whenever you come to worship, do not focus on what you're going to get out of it. 18:07.520 --> 18:08.800 Focus on what you're going to give. 18:08.800 --> 18:15.420 And when giving becomes your focus, you will receive more than you ever could imagine possible. 18:16.240 --> 18:19.079 Verse number nine. 18:19.080 --> 18:20.960 Then the Lord said to Cain, 18:21.344 --> 18:23.884 Where is Abel your brother? 18:23.884 --> 18:25.144 He said, I do not know. 18:25.144 --> 18:27.464 Am I my brother's keeper? 18:27.464 --> 18:29.564 So God approaches Cain in the same way 18:29.564 --> 18:32.384 that he approached Adam with a question. 18:32.384 --> 18:35.404 Now, God never asks a question that he doesn't already 18:35.404 --> 18:36.323 know the answer to. 18:36.324 --> 18:37.664 I hope you know that. 18:37.664 --> 18:38.864 And so why is he asking? 18:38.864 --> 18:43.344 He's asking in order to give Cain an opportunity to confess 18:43.332 --> 18:46.372 to come clean and say, I did it, to come clean. 18:47.352 --> 18:49.072 But Cain doesn't do that. 18:49.152 --> 18:50.212 Instead, he lies about it. 18:50.252 --> 18:51.612 He says, I don't know where he is, 18:52.032 --> 18:54.752 even though he knew exactly where he left his dead body. 18:55.292 --> 18:56.871 Here's our principle. 18:56.872 --> 19:02.092 True worshipers, they own their sin and they turn from it. 19:02.975 --> 19:06.255 Cain's not owning his sin here. He's lying about it. And then he says, 19:06.255 --> 19:07.715 am I my brother's keeper? 19:08.395 --> 19:12.395 What an audacious thing to say to the living God. 19:12.735 --> 19:15.815 And the answer to this question is yes. The Bible answers very clearly. 19:16.135 --> 19:19.855 We are our brother's keeper. Cain's ugly heart. 19:20.135 --> 19:22.635 It's surfacing more and more here. 19:22.875 --> 19:27.355 We're understanding more and more why God rejected his offering originally in 19:27.355 --> 19:29.113 the first place. 19:29.114 --> 19:30.694 See, one of the keys in life, 19:31.434 --> 19:36.034 one of the keys to becoming a true worshiper in spirit and in truth is 19:37.197 --> 19:42.197 is to own your sin, confess it, and turn from it. 19:42.197 --> 19:44.637 In fact, that's the starting place of worship. 19:44.637 --> 19:45.937 Because we've all sinned, the Bible says, 19:45.937 --> 19:49.717 for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 19:49.717 --> 19:51.217 We've all sinned, we've all messed up, 19:51.217 --> 19:53.737 we've all missed the mark of God of perfection, 19:53.737 --> 19:56.577 and the only way to become a true worshiper 19:56.577 --> 20:01.577 is to own it, turn from it, and turn to God in faith. 20:03.037 --> 20:05.344 Verse number 10. 20:05.345 --> 20:06.685 And he said, what have you done? 20:07.345 --> 20:10.705 The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 20:10.785 --> 20:12.385 You see, God always knows about our sin. 20:12.445 --> 20:13.965 We can't hide it from God. 20:14.045 --> 20:16.405 He knows every bit of sin you've ever done. 20:18.205 --> 20:20.485 He says, so now you're cursed from the earth, 20:20.525 --> 20:23.905 which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 20:24.325 --> 20:27.785 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. 20:27.785 --> 20:31.925 A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be upon the earth. 20:32.851 --> 20:36.691 We see here that God curses Cain. 20:36.691 --> 20:38.971 Now with Adam's sin, God didn't actually curse him. 20:38.971 --> 20:40.351 He cursed the ground. 20:40.351 --> 20:42.571 Cain's sin was much worse though. 20:42.571 --> 20:45.331 So God curses him and he says, 20:45.331 --> 20:49.531 "'Your work as a farmer is not gonna yield a crop. 20:50.551 --> 20:53.191 Instead of farming, you're gonna be a vagabond, 20:53.191 --> 20:56.991 a fugitive, a wanderer on the loose.'" 20:56.991 --> 20:59.377 Verse 13. 20:59.378 --> 21:02.758 And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. 21:03.458 --> 21:05.918 Surely you've driven me out this day from the face of the ground. 21:06.018 --> 21:07.558 I shall be hidden from your face. 21:07.758 --> 21:09.918 I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, 21:09.978 --> 21:12.898 and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me. 21:13.258 --> 21:15.318 Cain is saying this is a death sentence. 21:16.574 --> 21:21.294 Now notice here that Cain expresses regrets, 21:21.294 --> 21:22.914 but not remorse. 21:22.914 --> 21:24.814 I mean, he's discouraged, isn't he? 21:24.814 --> 21:27.934 He's sorrowful, but he isn't remorseful. 21:27.934 --> 21:31.334 And there's a difference between being sorry for our sin 21:31.334 --> 21:33.254 and being remorseful over it. 21:33.254 --> 21:36.214 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10 says, 21:36.214 --> 21:40.114 "'For godly sorrow produces repentance, 21:40.114 --> 21:42.574 leading to salvation, not to be regretted, 21:42.574 --> 21:46.014 but the sorrow of the world produces death.'" 21:46.190 --> 21:49.030 See, true worshipers aren't just sorry they got caught. 21:49.030 --> 21:52.870 They feel bad enough about their sin that they repent and turn from it. 21:53.470 --> 21:55.910 But that is not Cain. 21:56.350 --> 21:57.910 Verse number 15. 21:59.673 --> 22:05.733 And the Lord said to him, Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. 22:06.173 --> 22:10.353 And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone should find him and should kill him. 22:10.813 --> 22:16.173 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 22:16.173 --> 22:22.153 So God places a mark on Cain as a sign that no one's to touch him and no one's to kill him. 22:22.893 --> 22:24.773 Now, what exactly was this mark? 22:24.893 --> 22:31.973 Well, I read enough expert opinions on this this week to know that no one has a clue what this mark is. 22:32.073 --> 22:32.612 All right. 22:32.613 --> 22:35.453 If they say they do, I'm telling you, they're speculating. 22:36.193 --> 22:40.433 But God places a mark on him of some kind as an act of mercy. 22:40.433 --> 22:40.912 Right. 22:40.913 --> 22:47.013 I mean, later, God is going to institute the death penalty for premeditated murder. 22:47.093 --> 22:48.133 But here he's gracious. 22:48.133 --> 22:49.473 He's merciful. 22:49.825 --> 22:53.565 And Cain is allowed to just leave the presence of God, 22:53.685 --> 22:57.305 meaning he gets further away from God. 22:57.745 --> 22:59.185 Wherever you're at in your life, 22:59.465 --> 23:01.745 and even if you're sinning, you're separated from God, 23:01.805 --> 23:04.185 did you know there's a further place you can go from God? 23:04.845 --> 23:07.845 Cain leaves further from the presence of the Lord, 23:07.965 --> 23:10.505 and he goes and he dwells in the land of Nod. 23:10.705 --> 23:13.105 Now, we don't even know if Nod is an actual place 23:13.105 --> 23:16.005 because the word Nod literally means wandering. 23:16.005 --> 23:17.965 Verse 17. 23:22.124 --> 23:26.604 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. 23:27.124 --> 23:33.584 Now, this is a different Enoch that we'll find a different one in chapter 5, who walked with God. 23:34.324 --> 23:40.484 And he, that's Cain, built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 23:41.058 --> 23:43.218 So Cain has a baby with his wife. 23:43.298 --> 23:44.658 Now, where did Cain get his wife? 23:44.718 --> 23:47.738 That's the favorite question of all the skeptics out there, right? 23:48.438 --> 23:53.578 Well, we actually know from the very next chapter that Adam and Eve, they had more sons and more daughters. 23:53.578 --> 23:58.818 So I would assume that Cain married one of his sisters. 23:58.998 --> 24:06.438 Now, God later would forbid that clearly, but apparently it was acceptable in the early years. 24:06.438 --> 24:08.438 But I don't want you to focus on that rabbit trail. 24:08.538 --> 24:10.698 I want you to come back to what it says about Cain. 24:10.878 --> 24:14.218 It says he built a city. 24:15.758 --> 24:23.818 Now, God had just told him that he was to be a nomad wandering around like a vagabond. 24:23.818 --> 24:31.278 But instead, Cain goes out and he builds himself a city, which is in direct violation to what God had told him to do. 24:31.970 --> 24:33.350 Here's our principle. 24:33.350 --> 24:36.850 True worshipers respond in love 24:36.850 --> 24:40.210 and obedience to God's mercy. 24:40.210 --> 24:43.730 God had been incredibly merciful to Cain, 24:43.730 --> 24:44.850 allowing him to live. 24:44.850 --> 24:47.230 He deserved to die, but God allows him to live. 24:47.230 --> 24:51.890 Not only that, he places a mark of protection on Cain. 24:51.890 --> 24:53.410 And how does Cain respond? 24:53.410 --> 24:56.270 He continues to disobey the Lord. 24:57.350 --> 25:01.810 Now, before we just throw stones at Cain, 25:03.104 --> 25:06.964 Please know there are a lot of people like that today 25:06.964 --> 25:09.284 who have gone the way of Cain, 25:09.284 --> 25:11.764 as Jude says in the New Testament. 25:11.764 --> 25:15.344 People who God has granted mercy and grace to, 25:15.344 --> 25:19.584 who figuratively spit in the face of the Lord. 25:20.864 --> 25:23.284 Did you know that there's also a sense 25:23.284 --> 25:25.964 in which God is merciful to everyone? 25:26.964 --> 25:29.324 Theologians call it common grace, 25:29.324 --> 25:32.344 that it rains upon the just and the unjust alike. 25:32.517 --> 25:38.157 I mean, have you ever wondered why we're not immediately condemned and struck dead the moment that we sin? 25:38.417 --> 25:40.917 Why is it that we're not immediately judged? 25:41.057 --> 25:48.797 Well, Peter tells us that God is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 25:48.797 --> 25:50.817 God is seeking us. 25:51.137 --> 25:59.337 But in spite of God's patience, in spite of his mercy and his delayed judgment, most people go the way of Cain. 26:00.698 --> 26:05.638 Now, in verse number 18, we see the genealogy of Cain. 26:05.718 --> 26:07.938 And I get the privilege of trying to read these names. 26:10.148 --> 26:12.828 It says, "'To Enoch was born Arad, 26:12.828 --> 26:15.228 and Arad begot Mahushael, 26:15.228 --> 26:17.988 and Mahushael begot Methushael, 26:17.988 --> 26:20.908 and Methushael begot Lamech. 26:20.908 --> 26:22.908 Then Lamech took for himself two wives. 26:22.908 --> 26:24.788 The name of the one was Adah, 26:24.788 --> 26:27.208 and the name of the second was Zillah. 26:27.208 --> 26:29.328 And Adah bore Jabal. 26:29.328 --> 26:31.668 He was a father of those who dwell in tents 26:31.668 --> 26:32.968 and have livestock. 26:32.968 --> 26:35.388 His brother's name was Jubal. 26:35.388 --> 26:39.188 He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 26:39.190 --> 26:42.830 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, 26:43.070 --> 26:46.590 an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. 26:47.170 --> 26:49.470 And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 26:50.230 --> 26:54.570 Then Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zillah, hear my voice, wives of Lamech. 26:55.310 --> 26:59.250 Listen to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me, 26:59.250 --> 27:01.710 even a young man for hurting me. 27:01.710 --> 27:04.910 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech 27:05.190 --> 27:07.850 seventy seven fold. 27:08.941 --> 27:10.421 Here's what we see in this passage. 27:11.361 --> 27:19.701 We see that the wickedness and the pride of Cain's descendants, his kids and his grandkids, only grew. 27:19.701 --> 27:21.022 No. 27:21.023 --> 27:25.523 And it became most pronounced in his great-great-grandson Lamech. 27:26.123 --> 27:31.503 Now, this is not to be confused with Lamech that we find in the next chapter, 27:31.683 --> 27:33.263 who is Noah's dad. 27:33.343 --> 27:34.942 That's a different guy. 27:34.943 --> 27:38.303 This Lamech was a very wicked man. 27:38.703 --> 27:40.263 In fact, he was the first guy. 27:41.172 --> 27:46.852 to practice polygamy in the Bible. He had two wives, which was clearly a violation of God's 27:46.852 --> 27:52.452 design for marriage found in Genesis chapter 2. Lamech was also a very violent man, just like his 27:52.452 --> 27:59.492 great-great-grandpa Cain. We see that he even boasts at the end of the verses that we just read, 27:59.492 --> 28:04.652 he boasted to his wives about his violence against even a young man who tried to hurt him. 28:05.371 --> 28:08.551 And he says, my vengeance is going to be greater than God's. 28:09.031 --> 28:15.251 Now, remember, God has said to anyone, anyone who kills Cain, I shall avenge it upon him sevenfold. 28:15.251 --> 28:18.131 And Lamech, he says, ah, my vengeance is greater than God's. 28:18.291 --> 28:20.371 It'll be 70-fold if you touch me. 28:20.991 --> 28:25.271 This was an arrogant, prideful, wicked human being. 28:26.853 --> 28:31.393 Now, that said, his kids and grandkids 28:31.393 --> 28:34.393 were extremely successful. 28:34.393 --> 28:36.733 One of them brought tremendous advancement 28:36.733 --> 28:37.973 in the keeping of livestock. 28:37.973 --> 28:41.133 Another was the first to make the flute and the harp, 28:41.133 --> 28:43.133 a masterful musician. 28:43.133 --> 28:45.413 Another was a craftsman of metal, 28:45.413 --> 28:48.973 bronze and iron for tools and weapons, I'm sure. 28:48.973 --> 28:52.473 And so his kids, they helped advance civilization 28:52.473 --> 28:56.613 in a tremendous way, but they did so 28:56.603 --> 28:58.603 with God outside of the equation. 28:59.243 --> 29:03.203 And that led to their city only growing more prideful 29:03.483 --> 29:09.983 and more corrupt, as we'll see in Genesis chapter six, verse 25. 29:11.743 --> 29:14.323 And Adam knew his wife again, 29:14.323 --> 29:16.523 and she bore a son and named him Seth. 29:17.163 --> 29:20.263 And she says, For God has appointed another seed for me 29:20.263 --> 29:22.583 instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. 29:23.907 --> 29:29.427 We close out the chapter with God reminding us of the promise that he had made in the previous chapter, 29:29.547 --> 29:34.407 chapter 3, verse 15, that there would be a coming seed born of the woman, 29:34.747 --> 29:37.527 a coming Messiah, a coming Savior, a coming King. 29:38.547 --> 29:41.467 And we find out here he would not be the descendant of Cain. 29:41.687 --> 29:43.647 He would not be the descendant of Abel. 29:44.267 --> 29:47.447 He would be the descendant of Seth. 29:47.447 --> 29:49.607 Verse 26. 29:51.127 --> 29:53.827 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born, 29:54.347 --> 29:55.867 and he named him Enosh. 29:57.027 --> 30:01.347 Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. 30:02.087 --> 30:07.087 I love how this chapter ends in the same way it began, 30:07.567 --> 30:10.247 with worship, true worship. 30:10.904 --> 30:13.444 Men and women calling on the name of the Lord. 30:13.444 --> 30:16.284 That means they were praying, they were they were proclaiming, 30:16.284 --> 30:18.404 they were calling upon the name of the Lord. 30:18.404 --> 30:19.984 Here's our last principle. 30:19.984 --> 30:24.484 True worshipers always call upon the name of the Lord. 30:24.824 --> 30:25.884 Always. 30:25.884 --> 30:28.284 In fact, did you know that's where worship begins? 30:28.624 --> 30:33.884 The Bible says, For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 30:34.867 --> 30:37.807 So maybe today as you're listening to this message, 30:37.807 --> 30:40.387 you are feeling a weight upon your life 30:40.387 --> 30:44.027 and you're thinking, I have gone the way of Cain in my life. 30:44.187 --> 30:46.067 I have not heeded the voice of God. 30:46.207 --> 30:47.527 I have not heeded the warnings. 30:47.767 --> 30:48.927 I have rebelled. 30:49.127 --> 30:51.067 I've gone the way of Cain in my life. 30:51.427 --> 30:52.807 Listen, it's not too late. 30:53.834 --> 30:56.054 It's not too late to take a different course. 30:56.214 --> 30:58.494 As long as you have air in your lungs, 30:58.554 --> 31:00.714 as long as you have a heart beating in your chest, 31:00.954 --> 31:02.834 you are still alive, I'm telling you, 31:02.854 --> 31:04.734 because God is being patient with you. 31:05.074 --> 31:09.554 There's no other reason that God has spared your life. 31:10.034 --> 31:11.974 He's been patient with you. 31:11.974 --> 31:15.694 And perhaps, perhaps. 31:17.155 --> 31:25.815 If you listen closely, you can hear the still small voice of God upon your soul saying, 31:26.335 --> 31:27.955 come home to me. 31:28.875 --> 31:35.735 You don't have to be a nomad, spiritually lost, wandering around spiritually aimlessly 31:35.735 --> 31:36.895 with no purpose. 31:36.895 --> 31:43.495 You can come home today and find forgiveness and purpose and peace and joy and life and 31:43.495 --> 31:44.675 rest in me. 31:46.805 --> 31:51.605 You hear the Spirit of God calling upon your life in that kind of way. 31:52.825 --> 31:57.745 I want you to know there's only one way that you can come home to the Father. 31:59.596 --> 32:01.836 And it's through his son, Jesus. 32:01.836 --> 32:03.976 It's through Jesus. 32:03.976 --> 32:08.976 I want us to close by reading Acts 4, verse number 12. 32:11.136 --> 32:14.496 It says, nor is there salvation in any other, 32:14.496 --> 32:18.016 for there's no other name under heaven given among men 32:18.016 --> 32:20.456 by which we must be saved. 32:23.696 --> 32:27.636 We must call upon the name of the Lord 32:28.823 --> 32:30.982 the name of Jesus. 32:30.983 --> 32:32.343 The son of Adam, 32:33.723 --> 32:36.302 the son of Seth, 32:36.303 --> 32:37.323 the son of Noah, 32:38.523 --> 32:39.723 the son of Abraham, 32:41.043 --> 32:43.303 the son of Isaac, 32:44.303 --> 32:45.743 of Jacob, Israel, 32:46.543 --> 32:47.803 the son of Judah, 32:48.863 --> 32:49.963 the son of David, 32:51.663 --> 32:54.643 his name is Jesus. 32:55.843 --> 32:58.243 Now let's bow together in an attitude of prayer, if you will. 33:00.667 --> 33:01.927 both here and at Olive Drive. 33:02.627 --> 33:04.987 This is a holy moment in the life of our church, 33:04.987 --> 33:09.267 and we're asking each and every person who is here or listening 33:09.267 --> 33:12.447 that this would be a holy moment for you personally. 33:14.967 --> 33:17.787 Anytime we hear the Word of God, 33:18.627 --> 33:24.567 we are then called to be doers of the Word of God. 33:25.321 --> 33:27.701 meaning that God's word never returns void. 33:27.801 --> 33:31.001 And if it returns void, it means that you're not listening. 33:32.081 --> 33:34.541 You're going the way of Cain in some area of your life. 33:35.181 --> 33:39.881 And so I challenge you right now for you to do business with the Lord. 33:40.421 --> 33:42.000 He's with us. 33:42.001 --> 33:43.240 He's here. 33:43.241 --> 33:44.800 He's present. 33:44.801 --> 33:46.641 And I'm praying he's touching lives. 33:47.681 --> 33:50.109 Now, it's true. 33:50.110 --> 33:53.130 that a blood sacrifice is needed to forgive sins. 33:53.230 --> 33:56.030 The Bible says, without the shedding of blood, 33:56.130 --> 33:58.290 there is no remission of sins. 34:00.150 --> 34:02.510 I don't know if that's the reason 34:02.510 --> 34:05.810 that Cain's offering was rejected. 34:05.970 --> 34:06.929 Perhaps it was. 34:06.930 --> 34:08.030 We don't know for sure. 34:08.430 --> 34:11.330 But I do know that a blood sacrifice is needed, 34:11.490 --> 34:13.610 and that's why God sent his son Jesus 34:13.610 --> 34:17.330 to die on the cross for our sins, 34:17.550 --> 34:20.030 shedding his blood for us. 34:21.987 --> 34:23.727 Earlier in our services, 34:27.227 --> 34:30.687 we remember the body and the blood of our Lord. 34:32.067 --> 34:34.507 As we took of the bread and we took of the cup, 34:34.827 --> 34:37.027 we remembered our Lord's sacrifice. 34:38.707 --> 34:41.047 But those things are just 34:41.047 --> 34:44.207 a symbol in a picture of something greater. 34:45.477 --> 34:49.057 And so if all you do is you take of the cup and you take of the bread, 34:49.157 --> 34:53.157 but you have not taken of the person of Jesus by faith 34:53.157 --> 34:57.717 and received him as your Savior and Lord by the grace of God, by faith, 34:57.997 --> 34:59.337 then none of that means anything. 35:02.997 --> 35:04.417 So I want to invite you. 35:05.491 --> 35:08.751 To place your faith in Jesus, maybe you're listening today 35:08.751 --> 35:13.791 and you've never given an offering to the Lord before. 35:13.911 --> 35:17.351 Listen, God desires an offering from us, 35:17.511 --> 35:19.271 but it must be by faith. 35:19.631 --> 35:22.091 Now, what kind of offering does God desire? 35:22.231 --> 35:24.230 Well, in the Bible, 35:24.231 --> 35:26.991 his people gave all kinds of different offerings. 35:27.771 --> 35:28.871 So if you're a child of God, 35:28.931 --> 35:30.451 the Holy Spirit will make clear to you 35:30.451 --> 35:32.931 what kind of offering he's calling you to give. 35:33.171 --> 35:34.431 But I want you to know that 35:35.208 --> 35:49.368 Those things are all secondary and tertiary because the greatest offering that God calls upon us to give is ourselves in faith. 35:50.547 --> 35:53.907 Romans chapter 12 says, I beg you, Paul says, 35:53.907 --> 35:55.787 by the spirit of God, I beseech you, 35:55.787 --> 35:58.547 I plead with you by the mercies of God 35:58.547 --> 36:00.287 that you present your bodies. 36:00.287 --> 36:02.327 That means you present all of who you are 36:02.327 --> 36:05.367 as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable God, 36:05.367 --> 36:07.507 which is your reasonable service. 36:07.507 --> 36:12.507 Another translation says, which is your true worship. 36:14.367 --> 36:16.087 True worship. 36:16.822 --> 36:24.962 is about giving our whole life to our Savior who bought us with his blood and loves us. 36:25.462 --> 36:26.341 We make him Lord. 36:26.342 --> 36:35.742 So I'm inviting you to call out to the name of Jesus and give your life to him as an offering to God. 36:37.088 --> 36:39.648 Just a moment, we're going to have pastors and other leaders here at the front, 36:39.848 --> 36:44.508 and both here and at Olive Drive, and we're going to ask you to just come as you are. 36:44.808 --> 36:47.108 We're going to stand after I pray, we're going to sing, 36:47.308 --> 36:51.568 and we're going to be here, ready to talk with you. 36:51.728 --> 36:54.628 If God is touching your heart about something, 36:55.583 --> 36:57.863 As we stand, I'm just going to invite you. 36:57.923 --> 37:01.363 As soon as the first word we sing out, you just start coming down this aisle. 37:02.003 --> 37:03.783 One of these aisles, one of these staircases. 37:04.263 --> 37:08.503 You take one of these leaders by the hand and you just share with them what God's doing. 37:09.503 --> 37:11.263 You just let them know, it's time. 37:11.323 --> 37:12.803 I want to give my life to Jesus. 37:13.683 --> 37:15.422 And here's the thing. 37:15.423 --> 37:17.143 You can only come as you are. 37:19.917 --> 37:21.237 You can only come as you are. 37:21.337 --> 37:22.536 Don't fake it. 37:22.537 --> 37:24.697 Don't try to make it sound better than what it is. 37:24.757 --> 37:26.897 Don't try to clean up your life and then come to Jesus. 37:27.037 --> 37:28.116 It's the opposite. 37:28.117 --> 37:32.757 I'm telling you, you come to Jesus to receive cleansing from him. 37:33.757 --> 37:35.863 He cleans up. 37:35.864 --> 37:37.364 So I want to invite you in just a moment, 37:38.084 --> 37:40.084 as soon as we stand, you just start coming forward, 37:40.184 --> 37:42.084 whether here or at Olive Drive, 37:42.644 --> 37:44.064 and these folks will know how to help you. 37:44.104 --> 37:46.344 Or maybe you say, I want to be baptized like others today, 37:46.384 --> 37:49.204 or I'd like to join this church family, 37:49.304 --> 37:50.564 become a family member. 37:50.924 --> 37:51.763 You let us know. 37:51.764 --> 37:53.404 We'd love to talk with you about that. 37:53.404 --> 37:55.084 Or maybe you just want to come to these steps 37:55.084 --> 37:57.084 and pour out your heart to the Lord. 37:57.084 --> 38:00.204 However God leads, please come as we sing. 38:00.444 --> 38:00.943 Let's pray. 38:00.944 --> 38:03.344 Father, we love you. 38:04.124 --> 38:05.324 We thank you. 38:07.437 --> 38:13.397 We are sorry for any and all moments of our lives that we have gone the way of Cain. 38:15.177 --> 38:17.457 Help us, Lord, heed your correction. 38:18.597 --> 38:24.637 Help us, Lord, not let sin grow into something uglier than what it already is. 38:24.977 --> 38:29.277 Help us respond at the first touch of your spirit. 38:32.632 --> 38:34.292 Father, I thank you for your word. 38:34.292 --> 38:38.912 I thank you, Lord, that even though I admit, Lord, when I first came to this 38:38.912 --> 38:44.352 chapter, I kind of panicked on what all I was going to say, but Lord, you are so 38:44.352 --> 38:52.992 kind, you are so gracious to show me how merciful you really are, how patient you 38:52.992 --> 38:57.672 are, even with those who of us who do evil, you are patient. 38:59.159 --> 39:04.619 Thank you, Lord, for sending your son, Jesus, to do that which we could not do. 39:05.279 --> 39:08.919 I pray, Lord, that you would touch hearts and lives right now. 39:09.379 --> 39:11.899 Do that which I'm unable to do. 39:12.139 --> 39:15.059 Would you touch them in a deep place by your spirit? 39:15.659 --> 39:16.899 We pray in Jesus' name. 39:17.439 --> 39:18.952 Amen. 39:18.953 --> 39:20.393 Thanks for listening today. 39:20.393 --> 39:22.053 We hope you enjoyed this message. 39:22.053 --> 39:24.133 And if you did, we would be so grateful 39:24.133 --> 39:25.833 if you left us a review. 39:25.833 --> 39:28.273 Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast 39:28.273 --> 39:29.573 if you would like to be notified 39:29.573 --> 39:31.453 when a new sermon is released. 39:31.453 --> 39:33.113 If you feel the Lord calling you 39:33.113 --> 39:34.733 to take the next step in faith 39:34.733 --> 39:39.053 through salvation, service, or giving, don't wait. 39:39.052 --> 39:42.152 reach out to us by texting podcast to 88988. 39:42.512 --> 39:44.772 That's podcast to 88988 39:44.772 --> 39:47.712 or connect with us on one of our social media platforms. 39:48.392 --> 39:51.492 You can also visit our website, valleybaptist.org 39:51.492 --> 39:53.472 to find even more great resources. 39:54.052 --> 39:55.832 No matter where you are in your journey, 39:56.412 --> 39:57.651 know that we love you. 39:57.652 --> 39:58.792 We're praying for you 39:58.792 --> 40:01.812 and we can't wait to see what God will do in your life.