1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,760 Type in your devices the book of Genesis chapter 4, and this 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:07,720 morning we're going to be in verses one to seven. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,440 Genesis 4, verses one to seven. Let's read the text to open us 4 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,600 in a word of prayer and then we will jump into the sermon this 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:21,320 morning, Genesis 4 beginning in verse one. 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:28,080 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,880 saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,160 And again she bore his brother Abel. 9 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,600 Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a worker of the 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,440 ground. In the course of time Cain 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,080 brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, And 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,160 Abel also brought of the first born of his flock and of their 13 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:56,600 fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel 14 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,640 and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:08,560 regard. So Cain was very angry, and his 16 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,120 face fell. The Lord said to Cain, Why are 17 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,480 you angry and why has your face fallen? 18 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,240 If you do well, will you not be accepted? 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:28,920 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. 20 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:36,760 It's desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 21 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:52,980 Let's pray, Father, I pray this morning you would help us to see 22 00:01:52,980 --> 00:02:00,260 the that sin lies close at hand, that our flesh is always with 23 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:06,520 us, the our enemy is always knocking on the door. 24 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,240 The world surrounds us and we must be vigilant. 25 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,120 We must never coast in this spiritual life. 26 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,920 Help us to see that this morning, Lord, and the story of 27 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,000 Cain and Abel. I also pray, Lord, that you 28 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:30,160 would cultivate in us a heart of joyful worship, Lord, a heart 29 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:36,160 that that longs and yearns to, to bring our first and our best 30 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,960 to you. God, I pray this in Jesus name, 31 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:46,800 Amen. Our oldest son Abraham got his 32 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:53,640 driver's license this week. I am. 33 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:54,440 Yeah. Yeah. 34 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,280 I feel like on the road. Be careful now. 35 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:03,240 He's he's a good driver. I'm so grateful that I won't 36 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,400 have to be a chauffeur anymore and he can drive himself. 37 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,280 He can drive his brothers to basketball practice and to the 38 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,200 store or wherever else they want to go. 39 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,160 But I told my son, driving is serious business. 40 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:23,920 It is. The greatest odds of you getting 41 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:30,800 injured or even dying is with driving, and the reason is 42 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:36,120 because an accident is always crouching at your door. 43 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:46,760 All it takes is 1 bad decision, one wrong turn, 1 lazy moment, 44 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,920 one text message, and it can forever change your life. 45 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,000 There is never a moment where you don't have to be vigilant 46 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:07,320 when you are driving because an accident is always crouching at 47 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,440 your door. And the same is true in the 48 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,840 spiritual life. There is never a moment that we 49 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:23,280 do not have to be vigilant with our flesh because sin is always 50 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:28,560 crouching at our door. It's always there. 51 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,280 That's what the sermon is about this morning. 52 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,320 Let me give the context, a short context, and then I'll give 53 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,920 expedition of the text and then I'll give us application. 54 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,680 Here's the context. Adam and Eve have disobeyed God. 55 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,040 They have eaten the forbidden fruit that God told them not to 56 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,920 eat, and as a result, they have been banished from the garden by 57 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,880 God. Sin has entered the world that 58 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,520 God has made, and along with it a curse. 59 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,040 And this morning we're going to see that it doesn't take very 60 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,520 long for the effects of sin to have a devastating consequences 61 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,000 upon this world and upon their family. 62 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,520 So let's start with the next listen of the text and then I'll 63 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,600 give you application. Let's begin in verse one. 64 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,120 Now Adam knew Eve his wife. She conceived and bore Cain 65 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,480 saying I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. 66 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,800 The text begins this morning with this statement. 67 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,000 Adam knew Eve his wife. Now this is a euphemism. 68 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,080 It means Adam had sexual relations with his wife. 69 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,480 If you remember, God had given them a command. 70 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,200 God told them be fruitful and multiply. 71 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,720 Now they are obeying this command. 72 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,720 They are being fruitful and multiplying. 73 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:49,520 Eve conceived and she bore a son named Cain. 74 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,520 Pause for just a moment to highlight the miracle of 75 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,280 conception. We take this for granted, but 76 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:02,040 this is truly a miracle. For all the scientific atheist 77 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,320 out there. Conception is a miracle. 78 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,360 It is brought about by the living God. 79 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,400 Eve said when she conceived I have gotten a man with the help 80 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,120 of the Lord. Now why does she say that? 81 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,680 The Hebrew verb forgotten sounds like the name Cain. 82 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,720 In Hebrew, the root means to acquire or to possess. 83 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:32,760 Notice Eve acknowledges that this child has been produced 84 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:38,000 with the help of the Lord. Now many couples know this, that 85 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,760 it's not just science. Like you're right, you can put 86 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,120 one and one together and it doesn't equal 3 automatically. 87 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,760 God has to do this. God has to breathe life. 88 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:00,960 Death has now entered the world, but so has new life. 89 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:07,000 Notice the the sharp contrast here chapter 3. 90 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,640 Death has entered this world and then in chapter 4 right after 91 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,640 it, new life has entered the world. 92 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,360 Look at verse 2 again. She bore his brother Abel. 93 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,520 Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain a worker of the 94 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,160 ground. Not only was God gracious enough 95 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:30,200 to give her one son, God gave her a second son, Abel. 96 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,680 Abel's name means breath or vapor. 97 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,280 How tragically ironic because his life will seem like a breath 98 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,480 or a vapor. So Adam and Eve now have two 99 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:44,680 sons. They have Cain, and they have 100 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,920 Abel. In spite of Adam and Eve's sin, 101 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,880 God has graciously blessed them with these two boys. 102 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,480 Now the story. Fast forward some 12 to 18 103 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,480 years. We don't know how old they are, 104 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,480 but they're old enough to have professions. 105 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,080 Abel was a keeper of the sheep, so he's a shepherd. 106 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,280 He is the first in a long line of shepherds. 107 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,440 Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, they're all shepherds and Abel 108 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,640 is the first shepherd. Cain is a worker of the ground, 109 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,120 so he's a farmer. Cain follows in his father's 110 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,080 footsteps. His father was a farmer. 111 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,400 Interesting that his profession is specifically tied to the 112 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,720 curse. Look at verse 3. 113 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,640 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering 114 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:38,640 of the fruit of the ground. The narrator says in the course 115 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,520 of time, or this could be translated at the designated 116 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,400 time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering. 117 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,360 He brought him fruit of the ground. 118 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,440 This is the first offering mentioned in the Bible. 119 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,440 This is quite interesting because as far as we know, no 120 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,400 command has been given by the Lord that we know of there. 121 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:01,880 God did not tell them bring offerings to me. 122 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,040 Now maybe he did, but it's not recorded. 123 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,400 Now this seems like a good thing doesn't it? 124 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:11,000 Cain bringing an offering to the Lord, that's a good thing. 125 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,000 But like so many things in this life, looks can be deceiving. 126 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,960 Look at verse 4. And Abel also brought of the 127 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,920 first born of his flock and of their fat portions. 128 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,280 And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. 129 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,800 So Abel also brings an offering, Cain brings an offering, Abel 130 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,080 brings an offering. Abel brought of the first born 131 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,560 of his flock, and of their fat portions. 132 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,440 Now these offerings seem to make sense, don't they? 133 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,800 Cain is a farmer, so naturally he would bring fruit of the 134 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,280 ground. Abel is a shepherd, so he would 135 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:52,400 naturally bring some of his animals. 136 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:59,680 But look at what the text says. The text says the Lord had 137 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:03,800 regard for Abel and his offering. 138 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:08,400 What does that mean? The Hebrew word for regard 139 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,480 literally means to gaze at. It can also mean to look on with 140 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,760 favor. It means that God, you know, 141 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,840 it's kind of the idea of like you can just look at something 142 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,880 and then you can also gaze at it and look upon it with delight. 143 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,520 The text says that when God saw Abel's offering, he looked upon 144 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:34,840 it with delight, with favor. He was pleased with Abel and his 145 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,000 offering. There's 5A. 146 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:45,480 But for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. 147 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,920 God looked with favor upon Abel and his offering. 148 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,760 But for Cain and his offering, the Lord had no regard. 149 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:01,000 Notice not just some regard, not just a little bit of regard, no 150 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:06,720 regard. 0 regard. Meaning the Lord did not look 151 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,800 with favor upon Cain's offering. He was displeased with Cain's 152 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:14,800 offering. Now here's the $1,000,000 153 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:16,960 question. Why? 154 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,720 Why did God look with favor upon Abel's offering but not with 155 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,560 Cain's? Why? 156 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:27,280 We all want to know that question. 157 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:33,040 Hebrews 11/4 tells us by faith, Abel offered to God a more 158 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:39,000 acceptable sacrifice than Cain. OK, but why was it more 159 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,880 acceptable? Why? 160 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,520 Here's an interesting note by the NET Bible. 161 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:52,160 Here are two types of worshippers. 1 Cain merely 162 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:58,520 discharges a duty at the proper time, while the other, Abel goes 163 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:06,480 out of his way to please God with the 1st and the best it 164 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,160 appears, and I I think this is That's a good theory. 165 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:16,880 It appears to me that Cain made his offering out of duty, out of 166 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:21,120 obligation. It was nothing more than a check 167 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:26,840 box for him, in fact. And here's what where I get that 168 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,480 from. The lack of description of 169 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:35,480 Cain's offering may imply that he didn't bring his first 170 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,600 fruits. He gave to God his leftovers. 171 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:45,320 But for Abel there's a description given. 172 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,680 For Abel he brought of the first born of his flock. 173 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,560 He brought their fat portions to the Lord. 174 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,200 Abel gave his first and his best. 175 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:00,760 And God saw not just their offerings, he saw their hearts 176 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,680 and giving it. Look at 5B. 177 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:11,480 So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 178 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,400 Now we're not told how Cain and Abel discerned the Lord's 179 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:18,400 pleasure. Text doesn't tell us. 180 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,920 How did they know that God was pleased with one and not the 181 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:22,160 other? Text doesn't tell us. 182 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,480 But somehow they knew. Somehow they knew. 183 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:30,480 And as a result of Cain's, as a result of God's displeasure, 184 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:37,520 look at how Cain responds. Cain was very angry. 185 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:44,360 Not just angry. He was very angry. 186 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,120 Literally. Very hot. 187 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,640 You wonder. Angry with who? 188 00:13:53,280 --> 00:14:00,440 Who's he angry with himself? Is he angry with himself? 189 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:01,840 Oh, man, I should have done better. 190 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:03,120 I should have brought something better. 191 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:12,800 Is he angry with his brother? Look at him pretentious. 192 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:22,120 Or is he angry with God? Who is Cain angry with? 193 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:32,800 I think he's angry with God. The fact that Cain got angry 194 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:37,240 tells us the spiritual condition of his heart. 195 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,400 You see, Cain could have responded and brokenness and 196 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,240 contrition. He could have been broken and 197 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,960 contrite that what he brought that the Lord did not was not 198 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,120 pleased with it, and he is broken over God's displeasure. 199 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,920 But that's not his response. Instead he responds in anger and 200 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:58,360 that was the result of his anger. 201 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:02,560 His face fell, meaning his entire countenance dropped. 202 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,120 Again, consider the tragic irony of this. 203 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,880 The entire point of an offering is for us to have God lift our 204 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,400 faces. That's why we bring it. 205 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:20,080 We come to God humble and contrite and and we know that we 206 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,880 are a Sinner in his presence. But when we come into God's 207 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:27,840 presence, he lifts our face. That's the whole point of an 208 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,200 offering. And yet Cain's offering caused 209 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:39,400 his face to fall. Look at verse 6. 210 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:47,160 The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry and why has your face 211 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,320 fallen? God sees Cain's anger. 212 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,000 The Lord sees our hearts. He knows our emotions. 213 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,280 He knows our thoughts. He sees Cain's anger. 214 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,520 And just as God confronted Cain's parents in the garden, 215 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:08,320 God confronts their son, and he does so with the same method, a 216 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:13,640 question. He asked Cain a question Why are 217 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:18,960 you angry and why has your face fallen now? 218 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:24,920 What does God's question imply? It implies that Cain is not 219 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:31,000 justified in his anger. He is not justified in having a 220 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:36,000 downcast face. You see, the trap of anger is 221 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,200 that we always feel justified in our anger. 222 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:44,000 Isn't that true? Isn't that why we get angry? 223 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,440 Because we feel justified in our anger. 224 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,880 But God confronts the justification of Cain's anger. 225 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:58,040 Look at verse 7A. If you do well, will you not be 226 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,440 accepted? Now, what's interesting is that 227 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,440 God is not simply condemning Cain. 228 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,599 Let's be very clear on this. This is not a condemnation by 229 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:08,760 God. He's not condemning Cain for his 230 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:10,400 anger. He's not condemning him for his 231 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,040 downcast spirit. In fact, God actually gives him 232 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,880 a way to deal with it. He gives him a way to deal with 233 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,240 his anger and to deal with his downcast spirit. 234 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:24,839 God says if you do well. Do you notice that implies that 235 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:31,840 Cain didn't do well? The problem was not that God was 236 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,840 biased towards Abel. A lot of people read this and 237 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:35,600 think oh God's just biased towards Abel. 238 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,640 Problem is not that God is biased towards Abel. 239 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,480 The problem is that Cain didn't do well. 240 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:48,440 God says to him, if you do well, will you not be accepted 241 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,960 literally in the Hebrew? Will there not be a lifting up 242 00:17:53,640 --> 00:18:00,040 presumably of the face? God is telling Cain, Cain, if 243 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:07,640 you bring me your first and your best, I will have regard for it. 244 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:14,480 I will have favor upon you. God is not a father who is 245 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:23,160 impossible to please. Look at verse 7B and if you do 246 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,040 not do well, sin is crouching at the door. 247 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,840 If you don't do well Cain, sin is crouching at the door. 248 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,200 What does that mean? God uses a form of what's known 249 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,040 as zoomorphism. It's where you attribute animal 250 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,160 like qualities to something. Sin here is portrayed as a wild 251 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,080 beast crouching and ready to pounce. 252 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,280 Sin here is portrayed as like the lion that hides in the tall 253 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:56,040 Savannah grass that is just hiding there and waiting to 254 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:01,680 pounce on its prey. God is basically telling Cain if 255 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:08,640 you don't have a right heart cane, you make yourself a 256 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:13,360 sitting duck and sin is ready to pounce on you. 257 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:22,920 Look at 7C. Its desire is for you, but you 258 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:29,240 must rule over it. God says that sins desire is for 259 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:30,280 you. What does this mean? 260 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:34,360 Other translations here have it desires to have you or it 261 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:39,280 desires to dominate you. Here God personifies sin as this 262 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,520 entity that desires to have Cain, to dominate him, to 263 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:49,280 control him, but God says you must rule over it. 264 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,360 I don't know if you noticed that the same words are used in 265 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:58,320 Genesis 316 where God says to the woman, your desire shall be 266 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,200 for your husband and he shall rule over you. 267 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:04,640 Meaning that part of the curse is that there would now be a 268 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,680 power struggle in marriage. Who's going to rule over who the 269 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,040 woman wants to rule over the man. 270 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:12,360 The man wants to rule over the woman that there's going to be a 271 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,680 power struggle that goes on in marriage and in the same way God 272 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:22,480 is saying there is now a power struggle in your heart came send 273 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:28,440 desires to rule over you. You must rule over it. 274 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,360 We'll stop there with the exposition application of the 275 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:40,960 text. I have 8 truths. 8 truths #1 God 276 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:48,280 does not give up on or forsake His people, He continues to 277 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,360 bless them in spite of their sin. 278 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,520 God does not give up on or forsake His people. 279 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:03,000 He continues to bless them in spite of their sin. 280 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:08,480 Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. They deliberately did the one 281 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,280 thing that God told them not to do, and as a result, God's 282 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,800 perfect world has now been infected with sin and is now 283 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,720 under a curse. As devastating as this 284 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,920 consequence was, God has not given up on them. 285 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:28,040 God has not forsaken them. In fact, God even blesses them 286 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,480 in spite of their sin. He gives them not only one son, 287 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,840 but He gives them two sons. This is what our God does. 288 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,640 When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and when he 289 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:46,320 murdered Uriah, David suffered devastating consequences for his 290 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,640 sin. But God did not give up on him. 291 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,520 He did not forsake David. In fact, God allowed him to 292 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,120 continue serving as king for the next 15 to 20 years. 293 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,160 And it was through Bathsheba that Solomon, the next king, 294 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:03,000 would come. When Peter denied Christ three 295 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,640 times, Peter had to suffer the piercing eyes of disappointment 296 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,440 from his Savior. But Jesus did not give up on 297 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:18,520 Peter, nor did he forsake him. Jesus reinstated Peter and 298 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,840 allowed him to be an apostle of the early church. 299 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:28,600 Cain and Abel is a tragic story, but it's also a story of God's 300 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,600 mercy and grace upon Adam and Eve. 301 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:37,600 God has not given up on them. He did not banish them from the 302 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:39,600 garden and say go live your life. 303 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:45,400 Don't talk to me anymore. Brother and sister. 304 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:52,800 God will never give up on you. He will never forsake you. 305 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:01,360 There will be consequences to our sin, but God continues to 306 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:07,880 bless us in spite of our sin. This is who our God is. 307 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:19,760 It's in His very nature #2 since the beginning of time, man has 308 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,640 been making offerings to the Lord. 309 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,360 We were made for worship. Since the beginning of time, man 310 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:29,000 has been making offerings to the Lord. 311 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,040 We were made for worship. I find it fascinating that the 312 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,880 text tells us that Cain presented an offering to the 313 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,080 Lord. There is no instruction given. 314 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,280 There is no command. There's no back story, there's 315 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,000 no context. It just says in the course of 316 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,520 time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord. 317 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:51,320 How did he know to do this? Did his parents make offerings? 318 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:53,960 Did God tell them to make offerings? 319 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,760 We we don't know. What's equally fascinating is 320 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,960 that after the fall, the story just jumps forward some 12 to 18 321 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,680 years. We don't learn anything more 322 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,440 about Adam and Eve. You realize that the Bible just 323 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:09,480 kind of silent what happened to Adam and Eve? 324 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,560 I think it'd be a fascinating fictional movie of what happened 325 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,240 to them after the fall. What was life like? 326 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,600 But God saw fit to have the story jump forward to the 327 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,560 children's lives where the very first thing they do that's 328 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:27,800 recorded here is they make offerings to the Lord. 329 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,680 Trust family. This is a reminder that we were 330 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:38,040 made for worship. Today we no longer bring to the 331 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,240 Lord the fruit of the ground. We no longer bring our flocks. 332 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:53,640 Today our offering is us, our lives, your whole life, the 333 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:55,560 Apostle Paul writes. I appeal to you, therefore, 334 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,440 brothers, by the mercies of the God, to present your bodies as a 335 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:06,400 living sacrifice, which is your spiritual worship, what you 336 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:11,400 created to do. Why are you here? 337 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:18,880 Why do you exist? What's your purpose for waking 338 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:27,920 up tomorrow? Worship, worship. 339 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:35,160 You are here to present your bodies as living sacrifices. 340 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:47,280 Give them unto the Lord #3 God sees the difference between 341 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,040 obligatory worship and joyful worship. 342 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:59,200 God sees the difference between obligatory worship and joyful 343 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,400 worship. Church family, let me ask you a 344 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,920 question. How much of your Christian life 345 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:16,240 is done out of obligation? How much of your Christian life 346 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:23,240 is done out of obligation? How much of reading the Bible is 347 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:27,120 done out of obligation or prayer? 348 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,720 How much is going to church done out of obligation? 349 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,760 How many Sunday mornings in a year do you come out of 350 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,360 obligation? Or what about giving to the 351 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:49,200 church or serving in church? What about sharing the gospel or 352 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:54,760 helping a neighbor? How much is your worship of God 353 00:26:54,920 --> 00:27:03,120 performed out of obligation? It's an important question. 354 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,000 We get the impression that at least part of the reason that 355 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,560 Cain's offering was rejected is because it was given out of 356 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,840 obligation, whereas Abel's offering was given out of joy. 357 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,040 Now, God is not fooled by Cain's offering. 358 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,880 It's not as though God sees this fruit of the ground and God 359 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,560 thinks, wow, I am well pleased with your offering, Cain, thank 360 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,240 you. Wow, tomatoes. 361 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,720 I thought you would bring mangoes, but you brought 362 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:46,560 tomatoes. The reason is because God 363 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,520 doesn't look at the offering, He looks at the offerer. 364 00:27:54,840 --> 00:28:02,760 God sees the difference between obligatory worship and joyful 365 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,680 worship. Now the age-old question this 366 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,760 is, this is the every single time this point comes up, this 367 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,360 question gets asked. What do you do if your worship 368 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:17,680 is not joyful? What do you do if I actually, if 369 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,760 I do, you say, OK, pastor, you got me. 370 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:21,200 You got me. I'm here out of obligation. 371 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,400 I'm here because my spouse made me. 372 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:23,960 I'm here because I didn't want to. 373 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:25,920 You know, somebody asked me, hey, why haven't you been to 374 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,080 church lately? You got me. 375 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,680 I mean, I I give my money because I I don't want to feel 376 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,160 guilty about not giving my money. 377 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,400 You got me. What do you do if your worship 378 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:45,560 is not joyful? Yes, obligation can be a bridge 379 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,160 to getting the joy. Yes, that's true. 380 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:56,920 But be careful here, friends. Some people get on this bridge 381 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:05,600 and they build a home on it. They get accustomed to 382 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,280 worshipping God out of obligation. 383 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:17,320 You can do this for years. Asians have been doing it for 384 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:26,440 3000 years. You can do this for years. 385 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:35,720 It's very easy to just stay there friends. 386 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:40,840 God doesn't need or want our obligatory worship. 387 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:47,160 He desires worship that is joyfully given out of the 388 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:58,890 abundance of our heart. For God is not pleased with 389 00:29:58,890 --> 00:30:04,490 merely our giving. He pleased when we give up first 390 00:30:05,250 --> 00:30:10,490 and our best. God is not pleased with merely 391 00:30:10,490 --> 00:30:13,010 our giving. He is pleased when we give our 392 00:30:13,010 --> 00:30:17,240 first and when we give our best. When I taught on stewardship a 393 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,320 few years back, I made the point that when you are writing your 394 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,880 budget, this may not be literal, but like metaphorically speaking 395 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:28,760 or literally speaking, the first line item on your budget should 396 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:34,560 be giving to the Lord. Before I pay my mortgage, before 397 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:39,000 I put money in my 4 O 1K, before I invest in the stock market, 398 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,880 before I play buy a new video game, before I buy plane 399 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:49,280 tickets, before I pay my utility bills, I give my first fruits 400 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,120 unto the Lord. This is not only true for my 401 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,000 finances, it's also true for my time. 402 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,320 We are a busy people, including myself. 403 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,280 We have so much to get done everyday, don't we? 404 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:13,040 Emails, text, work, meetings, projects, deadlines, errands, 405 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:19,760 exams, studying, chores. We are so busy that we must ask 406 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:29,680 the question, does God get my very best or does he get my 407 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:37,680 leftovers? When you wake up on Sunday 408 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:46,440 morning, does God get your very best mind, or does he get a 409 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,760 tired mind because you stayed up late Saturday night? 410 00:31:59,420 --> 00:32:03,400 When you meet with the Lord on Monday morning, or Monday during 411 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:07,680 lunch, or Monday when you get off of work, does God get your 412 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:13,080 very best mind or does He consistently get a distracted 413 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:18,720 mind who is thinking about all they need to get done? 414 00:32:24,070 --> 00:32:26,950 Some people think that the reason Cain's offering was 415 00:32:26,950 --> 00:32:30,430 rejected is because he brought fruit instead of an animal. 416 00:32:31,470 --> 00:32:32,750 I don't think that's true at all. 417 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,120 I do not think that's true at all. 418 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,480 Fruit offerings were perfectly acceptable. 419 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,760 The Lord in the law. I think there are many reasons 420 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,360 why I don't think that's true, but there's one that's clearly 421 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,200 seen in the text, and I think it's this. 422 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,560 Notice Cain's offering is given no description. 423 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,080 It just says Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of 424 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,440 the ground, period. But Abel's offering is given a 425 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,880 description. Abel also brought of the first 426 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,920 born of his flock, and of their fat portions. 427 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:14,760 What this tells us is that God is not pleased with merely our 428 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:20,400 giving. He is pleased when we give our 429 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:27,880 first and our best. Trisha, may I want to exhort 430 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,040 you. Give to the Lord your first 431 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:38,240 fruits. Give to the Lord your very best 432 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:46,360 of your finances, your time, your mind, your emotions, your 433 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:48,400 body. You're serving. 434 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:58,120 Give him your first and your best five. 435 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:05,240 Don't give the devil a foothold for anger, especially anger at 436 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:10,000 God. Don't give the devil a foothold 437 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,400 for anger, especially anger at God. 438 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,440 As I mentioned in the exposition, we are not told how 439 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,159 Cain knew that the Lord had no regard for his offering. 440 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,800 Somehow he knew. How would we expect Cain to 441 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,679 respond to this? I'd expect him to be broken, to 442 00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:37,000 be contrite, to be repentant. But instead he is angry. 443 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,239 And as I asked before, angry at who? 444 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,800 Who is he angry at? I don't think he's angry at 445 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,639 himself, angry at at himself. I mean, that could be wrong, but 446 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,760 it's definitely far more righteous right to to be angry 447 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,960 at, at your mistake and your your shortcomings. 448 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,160 But I don't think he's angry at himself and I don't think it's 449 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:00,080 his brother. Next week it's going to it's 450 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,960 going to look like it was his brother with what Cain is going 451 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,920 to do. But I don't think that's true. 452 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:11,760 I think Abel's just a scapegoat. He can't kill God. 453 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:23,120 I think he is angry with God. God rejected his offering and he 454 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:26,400 is angry with God for rejecting his offering. 455 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:33,400 Just accepted God. I brought you fruit. 456 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,800 I wrote my tithe. I showed up at 9:00. 457 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:53,840 I'm here in this enough. What more do you want from me? 458 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,040 You want me to serve in children's ministry? 459 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:58,320 All right. I'll serve in children's 460 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:08,910 ministry. He's angry with God. 461 00:36:12,550 --> 00:36:17,960 In the same way that the devil got a foothold into Eve's heart 462 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:22,280 and planted a seed of discontentment, the devil got a 463 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:27,120 foothold and Cain's heart and planted a seed of anger. 464 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:34,920 Brothers and sisters, don't give the devil a foothold in your 465 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:40,240 heart, Paul writes. Do not let the sun go down on 466 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:44,320 your anger and give no opportunity for the devil. 467 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,640 This is especially true with anger with God. 468 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:53,920 Christians get angry with God all the time. 469 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:57,520 And here's the here's here's the ironic part. 470 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,800 We often don't recognize it. We don't label it. 471 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:05,120 We may not admit it. I have asked the church body 472 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,560 over the past 15 years, are you angry with God? 473 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:14,560 I'm not angry with God. As Shakespeare said, know 474 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:22,280 thyself. You are angry with God, you just 475 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:28,160 don't realize it. Christians get angry with God 476 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:33,200 all the time. Cain didn't deal with his anger, 477 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,880 and next week we're going to see that it had devastating 478 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:43,680 consequences, and the same is true for you and me. 479 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:50,200 If we don't deal with our anger, especially when it's anger at 480 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:53,240 God, it will have devastating consequences. 481 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,600 Don't give the devil a foothold for anger in your life, 482 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,560 especially angry at anger at God. 483 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:10,040 Number six, we are not Cain when our hearts are right before the 484 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:16,680 Lord, His favour rest upon us. Brother and sister, we are not 485 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:21,800 came when our hearts are right before the Lord, His favour rest 486 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,040 upon us. I think sometimes we can feel 487 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,760 like everything we do is not good enough. 488 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:28,960 You ever feel that way? I do. 489 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,040 We feel our weaknesses, we feel our mistakes, we feel our 490 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:35,920 shortcomings, we feel our failures. 491 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:40,160 And so when we think of God, we might imagine him as this 492 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:46,200 disappointed father. You know, it's it's like I tell 493 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,560 my boys to sweep the floor. They sweep the floor, they come 494 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:53,280 to me, Dad, I finish and I go in there and I'm like, what'd you 495 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,840 do? Feel like you did much. 496 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,080 We some imagine God that way, right? 497 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:05,120 No matter what we do, God is just this disappointed father. 498 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:07,960 Nothing we do is ever good enough for him. 499 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:12,280 We bring our offerings to the Lord. 500 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:18,400 Lord, here's my fruit. And, and, and and we think God 501 00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:22,720 has no regard for it. Brothers and sisters, we are not 502 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:29,120 king. We are not Cain when our hearts 503 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:34,240 are right before the Lord, His favor rest upon us. 504 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:40,440 God said to Cain, If you do well, will you not be accepted? 505 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:44,120 Will there not be a lifting up of your face? 506 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,760 Sometimes we can come into church and we have such a fallen 507 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,840 face. We walk around just with a 508 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:52,920 downcast face. Maybe because of our guilt, 509 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,520 maybe because of our shame, maybe because we're busy, maybe 510 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:57,400 because we're tired, maybe because we're there out of 511 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,240 obligation. Whatever the reason is, we come 512 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:03,640 into church, we just have a downcast face, just like Keynes. 513 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:08,000 But when we come into the presence of our Father, he lifts 514 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:15,160 our face. God wants to lift your face. 515 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:21,000 And when you bring your offering to the Lord, he said, he does 516 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:26,480 not say to you, nice try. He says to us, the Lord bless 517 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,640 you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine 518 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,360 upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance 519 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:40,880 upon you and give you peace. God is not a father who is 520 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:47,600 impossible to please. He is well pleased when his 521 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:54,880 children make joyful offerings. This is so important because if 522 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,920 you think, let me, let me be really clear on this. 523 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,760 Let me go back to my example. I gave it with my kids. 524 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,360 If, if, whether you sweep the floor good or bad, you're still 525 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:06,800 disappointed. You know what you'll think. 526 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:12,480 What's the point of trying then? If you think that God is 527 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,560 disappointed with your best efforts, then what's the point 528 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:20,120 of giving my best? I'll just do the bare minimum 529 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:22,960 because he's going to be disappointed either way. 530 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:28,680 That's not true. That's not true. 531 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:37,360 He is well pleased, well pleased when you bring joyful offerings 532 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:40,760 to Him. His favor rest upon you. 533 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:50,320 Seven, There is never a moment where sin is not ready to pounce 534 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:55,280 on us and make us a prisoner. There's never a moment where sin 535 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,200 is not ready to pounce on us and make us a prisoner. 536 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,600 There are two types of people who live as though there is 537 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,840 always a lion in the streets. There are two types of people. 538 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:12,320 The 1st is a sluggard. Proverbs 2213 The sluggard says 539 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,360 there's a lion outside. I shall be killed in the 540 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,320 streets. Proverbs 2613 The sluggard says 541 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,760 there's a lion in the road. There's a lion in the streets. 542 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:24,120 Now what? What's the connection there? 543 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:26,800 The sluggard is inside. He's sitting on his bed. 544 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:29,560 His friend calls him up and tells him, hey, let's go do 545 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:31,840 something or hey, can you help me move or hey. 546 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,840 And he says, there's a lion in the streets. 547 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:40,200 I can't come outside for the slugger. 548 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:41,880 There's always a lion in the streets. 549 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:48,600 That's the first type. The second type is the vigilant 550 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:53,280 Christian. The vigilant Christian, God 551 00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:57,960 tells Cain if you do well, if you don't do well, sin is 552 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,280 crouching at your door. Its desire is for you. 553 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:08,240 God here personifies sin as this wild beast that crouches at the 554 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:12,040 door of our hearts. It desires to have us. 555 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,000 It desires to devour us, it desires to imprison us. 556 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:22,560 And this is true 24/7, 24/7 Peter tells us. 557 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:27,120 Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, 558 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:31,560 prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 559 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:37,960 Now Christ has come into this lion's den, and he has freed us 560 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:42,600 from the clutch of its fangs, and it's his claws. 561 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,280 But this lion always wants us back. 562 00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:51,840 Always. He lies crouching at the door of 563 00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:56,720 our hearts at all times, and he is simply waiting to pounce. 564 00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:02,960 Sin and the devil and our flesh, they have no other objective in 565 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:06,120 this world but to destroy us, to devour us. 566 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,840 There is never a moment that we can live as though there is not 567 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:17,480 a lion in the streets. And friends, here's the thing. 568 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:25,560 If you hang out near that door long enough, it's only a matter 569 00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:27,280 of time before sin bounces on you. 570 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:34,240 Just as a man cannot carry fire next to his chest and not be 571 00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:40,040 burned, nor can a man make camp next to this door and not be 572 00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:46,080 pounced on. We see next, we're going to see 573 00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:48,880 next week that Cain did that very thing. 574 00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:54,240 He stayed there. God gave him an opportunity to 575 00:44:54,240 --> 00:45:00,960 leave this door and Cain said no thank you, I'll stay right here. 576 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:08,080 So what are we to do #8 Last point. 577 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:15,120 God doesn't tell Cain to manage his sin, but to master it. 578 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:21,360 God doesn't tell Cain to manage his sin, but to master it. 579 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,920 Sin is crouching at the door of Cain's heart. 580 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,120 Its desire is to have him and enslave him. 581 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:32,840 And God doesn't tell Cain, Cain, negotiate with your sin. 582 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:37,280 He doesn't tell him to minimize your sin, doesn't tell him to 583 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:42,360 manage his sin. God says, Cain, you must master 584 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:45,280 it. You must rule over it. 585 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,120 The pronoun here is actually emphatic. 586 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:49,840 In the Hebrew. You don't have to include the 587 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:51,840 pronoun, but if you do, it's called emphatic. 588 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:56,760 The way we would translate that as is this you, you must rule 589 00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,840 over it. It's an emphatic pronoun. 590 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,200 What this means is that God's telling Cain, Cain, I will 591 00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:09,840 supply you the power of a king, but you must do the ruling. 592 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:16,760 God is saying I won't rule over your sin for you. 593 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:20,400 I will give you the power to do it, but you must rule over it. 594 00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:27,560 You must do it. We often, sometimes the reason 595 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:30,040 we continue to sin is we want God to do it for us. 596 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:35,080 God, just do this for me. Kill the sin of my life and God 597 00:46:35,080 --> 00:46:37,960 may graciously do that, but that is the exception. 598 00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:43,400 The norm is that God says I will give you the power to do it, but 599 00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:51,040 you have to do it. Now here's what's interesting 600 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,640 about God's statement to Cain. Cain's fate is not sealed. 601 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:00,440 We get into like election and stuff and you know, people 602 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,920 think, well it's fate was sealed, right? 603 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:04,840 Like Abel was elect and Cain wasn't. 604 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:08,800 So Cain was always going to be doomed, right? 605 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:17,120 No, he has a choice. He has a choice. 606 00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:21,880 The fact that God tells him to rule over it means he has a 607 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:25,760 choice. Sin is crouching at his door. 608 00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,280 It is ready to pounce on Cain and make him a prisoner. 609 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:32,880 But the fact that God tells him, Cain, you must rule over this. 610 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:37,320 God's not like you. You must rule over this, but 611 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:46,480 he's not going to be able to. He can choose this. 612 00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:49,200 He can choose to rule over his sin. 613 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:53,840 Brothers and sisters. I don't care how far down the 614 00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:57,480 temptation spiral you have gone. Sometimes, you know, there's 615 00:47:57,640 --> 00:47:59,560 temptations kind of a spiral. You start up top and it's kind 616 00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:01,240 of weak, and then it gets stronger and stronger and 617 00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:04,800 stronger, and then eventually you're like, you're going to 618 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:08,440 give in. I don't care how far down that 619 00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:11,160 spiral you've gone. You always have a choice. 620 00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:16,360 You don't have to do this. You don't have to say this. 621 00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:23,480 The choice to make is not to negotiate with our sin, not to 622 00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:30,200 minimize it, not to manage it. It is to master it, to rule over 623 00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:37,240 it, to take the grace that God supplies which comes in the form 624 00:48:37,240 --> 00:48:42,680 of a cross, to walk up to the door of your heart and to wedge 625 00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:50,160 it against that door, and to say to sin on the other side of that 626 00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:53,640 door. You may not come in. 627 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:56,960 There is already a king living in this house. 628 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:05,880 I know your desire is to have me, but his desire is for me 629 00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:10,520 too. He bought me. 630 00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:19,440 He owns me. There is no room in this inn. 631 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:29,760 Rule over your sin. Let's pray.