WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:16.640 Amen, amen. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:18.879 Father, that is the cry of our heart. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:23.039 God, we are here for that very purpose, Lord, to praise you. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.879 God, because you're worthy of praise, you're worthy of worship, you're worthy of exaltation. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:34.960 And yet, God, even as I sing those words, as I declare your praise, God, I'm so aware of my own sinfulness, God. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:50.880 I'm so aware that I can stand here on a Sunday morning and declare, sing the praise of the King, of the Triune God, and yet all through the week sing the praise of other things, and have a heart that is set on the worship of other things. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:59.439 God, I'm reminded that our world is so broken by sin and that brokenness is inside of me too as I sin, Lord. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:05.200 And so, God, we come to you this morning truly as beggars who are in need of help. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:09.920 God, I pray that you would humble each of us to that position right now, Lord. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:13.519 And that God, you would speak to each of us. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.040 God, you're so willing to reveal yourself to us. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.200 You love us so much that you would do that through your word. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:21.680 And so, God, would you speak by the power of your Holy Spirit? 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:23.040 Have a word for each of us. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:24.640 God, we need you. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:27.280 And so we pray you would speak to us now, God. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:28.560 We pray this all in the name of your son. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:29.280 Amen. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:30.799 Amen. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:33.359 You guys can grab a seat. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:35.439 As you're grabbing your seat. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:42.560 If you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, you can open it up to Genesis chapter four as we continue our series through Genesis. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:46.400 As you're turning there, there's a few uh housekeeping items I just want to take care of. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.519 The first is that we have some missionaries in our presence that I just want to take a moment to welcome. 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.599 Luke and Yuko Elliott are here. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:58.079 Can we just warmly uh welcome them with us? 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:06.239 They're serving in northern Japan with OMF International right now, and and uh we're just incredibly grateful for you. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:14.159 I just met you this morning, but any time that we are in the presence of people who have so devoted their life to the cause of Christ, we just want to take a moment to especially highlight that. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:15.680 And so thank you for the work that you're doing. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:20.159 Thank you for the ways that you're hearing God's calling and allowing God to use you. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.199 And uh we want to warmly welcome you to our church. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:25.840 I also want to speak to you, church, about this Wednesday. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.360 This Wednesday, we are meeting in this building at 7 p.m. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.479 for perhaps the most important meeting that we do as a church. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.479 This is our worship and prayer night. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:41.439 And we believe as a church that what breathing is to our physical life, prayer is to our spiritual life. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:55.120 We believe that individually in our own personal walks with God, but we also believe that corporately, that if God's gonna do any significant work here, well, it requires that the people of God faithfully gather and prayer, pray. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.280 And so I want to commend that to you. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.840 I want to encourage you, maybe even as strongly as exhort you to come out and trust. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:10.960 Let's faithfully gather, trusting that God is going to answer our prayers and act according to our prayers this Wednesday here at ANOVA at 7 p.m. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:12.719 I'll see you there, okay? 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:14.719 Genesis 4. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:19.120 Wonder if any if uh this kind of moment comes up in your life often. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:33.039 It happens with me, maybe because I'm such a distracted person, but for some random reason a person comes into your mind, maybe it's a celebrity, maybe it's you're listening to the radio, you hear a one-hit wonder, or you watch a movie, and this question comes up about this person. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.520 You ask this question, where are they now? 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:41.199 And that question is always followed by a quick Google search. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:46.240 You Google search their name, and often it comes up in the suggested searches, where are they now? 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:55.199 And you look and you see the picture of what their life has become after this fame, after this money, after they were a star. 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:58.159 And often what you see is not a good picture. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:06.639 Sometimes it's life devastation, their life is just ruined, maybe by addiction or by some other sort of life-ruining thing. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:15.280 Or it's just that they kind of fell off the radar, they fell off the map, they made some pretty bad movies, they made some horrible albums, no one really cared about it anymore. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:20.480 Whatever the answer is, you get an answer to the question: where are they now? 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:29.519 Now, as we open up Genesis 4, what Genesis 4 is, is really the answer to that question when it comes to Adam and Eve. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.839 Genesis 4 answers this question. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:41.120 In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve experience this life-destroying, this world-destroying, cataclysmic event of sin in the fall. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.959 And the question that we ask after Genesis 3 is, where are they now? 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.360 And what we find in Genesis 4 is the answer. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:49.120 This is where Adam and Eve are. 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:57.040 And really, what the answer is it's an answer for us. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.360 To the question, where are we now? 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:07.360 See, Genesis 4 is really the first chapter in Scripture that tells us about this world that we live in. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.560 And it answers the question for us, where are we now? 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:18.639 What is this world like now that this bombshell of sin has gone off in the very middle of the garden? 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:25.839 I don't have to preach very long to convince you this, but in our world, there are problems. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.600 Some of the problems are sitting right beside us right now, aren't they? 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:36.879 Whether it's in the form of our spouse or maybe our kids, but we don't have to talk long about this to agree that there are problems in this world. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:51.600 This world is broken by sin, whether it's the sin of other people that causes us to suffer, we also recognize even our very own sin that we struggle with, that constantly we feel defeated by, constantly we feel discouraged by. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.839 Something is wrong. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:59.759 And in Genesis 4, what God wants to do in us this morning is show us what's wrong. 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:08.480 This is like a trip to the doctor where the doctor diagnoses the cancer that has been making you sick for months. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:20.800 This is the perspective that God wants to give you of your life and of your brokenness and of your sin and how to live in a world that it now has this permafilter over it of sinfulness and brokenness. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.240 Now, why is God doing us this for us? 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:31.199 Why is he giving us his diagnosis of our sinfulness, of the cancer that is in us and in our world that is called sin? 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:42.319 It's not because God is morbid, it's not because God loves to dwell on evil and dark things, it is because God wants to care for us this morning. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:47.279 God wants to show us in the midst of this dark, evil world. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:54.879 God wants to show us in the midst of our struggle with our own sinfulness, God wants to show us his unrelenting grace. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:58.399 Church, you need to see this in Genesis 4 that God is after you. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.399 God is after you with his grace. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.000 He will not stop pursuing his people with his grace. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:08.399 And this is what we read of in Genesis chapter 4. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:18.399 Well, I want you to see in Genesis 4 four realities of this world that we now live in, that is now filtered with this permafilter of sinfulness and brokenness. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:23.040 And the first reality that I want you to see is that the aim of my heart is worship. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.600 The aim of my heart is worship. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.120 Look at Genesis chapter 4, verses 1 and 2 with me. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.079 Look at what it says. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:37.199 It says, Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have forgotten a man. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.879 Sorry, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:43.120 And again she bore his brother Abel. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:47.439 Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:59.040 Now what we discover in Genesis chapter 4, verses 1 and 2 is that the reason for which God created humanity is still being accomplished. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:06.959 You remember in Genesis 1 and 2 that as we walk through those chapters, God was really showing us our purpose in this world, wasn't He? 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:14.319 And he said to Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 1, he said that their role in this world was to be fruitful and to multiply. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:26.000 And what you find in Genesis 4, verse 1, after the world is destroyed by sin, is that Adam and Eve are still obeying that command to be fruitful and multiply, so that now they are having children. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:39.039 And not only are they having children and obeying the command to be fruitful and multiplying, their children are also obeying God's command, a command that God gave to Adam and Eve in chapter 2, to work and keep the ground. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.039 You see what Cain and Abel do? 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.159 Verse 2, it says, Abel was a keeper of the sheep. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:49.440 Reminded that humanity was to have dominion over the animals that God had created. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:58.080 And Cain was a worker of the ground, just as Adam was to be a tiller of the ground and work and keep this world that God had created them in. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:16.559 And so what we see here is a principle that is really important for us as believers to understand is that despite the fact that the world is fallen, despite the fact that the world is broken, the people of God are still created by God and created to live for his purposes. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:28.000 See, what sin does is it kind of mars the image of God and the people of God, but it doesn't change the course and the direction that the world is set on. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:37.600 The expectation is still that the people of God that are created by God would live for him, to worship him. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.240 Ultimately that they would live as they were created to live. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:49.360 And so you'll notice in Genesis chapter 4 that it's not like the people of God need to find a new mission and start worshiping God again. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:54.960 Instead, what happens from Genesis 3 to Genesis 4 is this smooth transition of worship. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.639 And this is a really important principle for us to understand in our own life. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:05.679 This is the first thing I want you to understand in our little substructure under this first point that's gonna come up on the screen right now, I believe. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:07.440 The aim of my heart is worship. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:13.360 The first thing I want you to understand about worship is that worship doesn't start, it's just aimed. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.360 Worship doesn't isn't started, it's aimed. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:25.840 Now, often when we think about worship, we think about, okay, Sunday morning we're gonna come together on a Sunday morning and we're gonna start worshiping the Lord. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:28.720 But that's not the way that our heart works. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:35.360 Our heart is this powerful force of worship that cannot stop worshiping. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.559 It is always worshiping something. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:44.000 And what we find in the story of Cain and Abel is not that they have to find God again. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:48.559 What we find is that flawlessly from Genesis 3 to 4, they're still worshiping. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.960 The only question for us as we walk through the story is, what are they worshiping? 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.000 Not are they worshiping, but what are they worshiping? 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.080 And this is the same reality about your heart. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.399 Your heart doesn't stop and start worshiping, instead, it's always worshiping. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:05.039 The question is, what are you worshiping? 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:07.919 This is the nature of the human heart. 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.720 It is a powerful force, a powerful magnet of worship. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:18.399 The way that I like to think about it is by thinking about a popular superhero who is an X-Men named Cyclops. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:30.720 Now I know just enough about superheroes to really frustrate people who love superhero movies, which is about the amount of information I like to know, because it's fun to frustrate people who know a lot about superheroes and superhero movies. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:32.720 But this is what I know about Cyclops, okay? 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.600 Put up your hand if you know who Cyclops is. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:41.039 Even as I'm saying this, I'm thinking I might not have even have the name right, but I'm pretty sure that's the right guy, okay? 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.399 Cyclops is this X-Man, and he is it X-Man, I think. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:52.720 X-Man, and he puts on sunglasses, and when he takes the sunglasses off, if you're a kid in here, make the sound of what happens and what comes out of his eyes. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:53.519 Can you do that for me? 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.720 What happens when Cyclops takes his sunglasses off? 00:11:58.879 --> 00:11:59.600 Lasers. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.399 Lasers shoot out of his eyes. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:10.559 And he's this superhero that can use this lay these lasers of, I don't know, heat and destruction pouring out of his eyes for good. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:11.519 But there's a problem. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.720 It's actually like this has got to be one of the most inconvenient superpowers that you could possibly have. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:24.000 The problem is that whenever Cyclops doesn't wear his sunglasses, his eyes are always shooting out those laser beams. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.720 So if he takes off his sunglasses and he doesn't have his eyes closed, they just shoot everywhere. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:35.840 And it's either this powerful force of good if he can harness it, or it's this powerful force of evil if he doesn't harness it. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.480 And it's the same thing with your heart. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.480 Your heart is always worshiping something. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:48.000 The question of your heart's worship is not, will you start worshiping? 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.679 The question of your heart's worship is what are you worshiping? 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.399 What is your heart aiming at? 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:03.840 As we continue through Genesis 4, we find that for Cain and Abel, there are two different realities of worship. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:06.799 So that in Genesis 4, verse 3, we read this. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:07.919 Look at the text with me. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:13.840 In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:18.080 Now let me read that the way that maybe an Israelite would read that, okay? 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:23.360 In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the Lord, the fruit of the ground. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:25.600 It was just the fruit of the ground. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:28.159 If you could describe Cain's offering, it was like this. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:28.879 Meh. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:41.039 But notice Abel's offering and notice the difference between Cain and Abel's offering, and Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:47.360 There's a real distinction in the mind of the Israelite between Cain's offering and Abel's offering. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:53.440 Cain just offers some of the fruit of the ground, but when Abel comes to offer to the Lord to worship the Lord, what does he bring? 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:55.759 Well, Abel doesn't just bring his best. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.639 What Abel brings is the best of his best. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.240 Abel brings the first fruit of his flock. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:06.960 Abel brings the fat portion of the first fruit of his flock. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:14.879 Abel is approaching the Lord and bringing to him the best offering of worship that he can bring. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:23.919 And in the end of verse 4, it says, The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:36.159 And so the question that's begging our answer is why does the Lord have regard for Abel's offering and no regard for Cain's offering? 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:44.159 And that teaches us the next thing that we need to know about worship: that worship is not cheap, worship is costly. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.120 Worship is not cheap, worship is costly. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:53.679 Worship costs Abel the first fruit of his flock. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:02.960 And the reality of your human heart that is always worshiping is that you as a human being are always giving your best to something. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.240 That's the reality of our human existence, is that we always give away our best. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:22.559 And what happens for Cain is that instead of giving his best to the Lord, who is truly worthy of his best, who is truly worthy of that worship, what Cain does is he reserves it for himself, for his own purposes, for his own kingdom. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:31.600 Cain looks at all the things that the Lord has given him, all the fruit of the ground, the job that the Lord has given him, and he decides, this is mine. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:34.720 God, you can have a little bit of it, but I'm not giving you the best. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:37.120 I'm reserving it for myself for some other purpose. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:51.200 Whereas Abel looks at the Lord and he understands the Lord's worth, he understands how worthy of exaltation the Lord is, and what Abel does is he brings his best, the first fruit of the flock, and the fat of their portion. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.559 This is a reminder to us that worship is costly. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:02.720 And this is a reminder that it's so countercultural to our North American Christianity. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:08.559 See, what we want to kind of do for Christianity is try to make the church as easy as possible. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:12.559 There are churches that when you drive in, people will wash your car. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.080 Some of you guys are like, that's a great church. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:14.480 Where is that? 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.240 I want to go to that church. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.159 They try to make church as convenient as possible. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:33.759 Now, listen, I don't want to make church inconvenient, but the reality is that if we really understand this message, what we understand is that Jesus calls his followers to give up everything in order to follow him. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:40.080 That the call that Jesus gave to his followers was more inconvenient to most people than convenient. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:50.000 More people heard what Jesus was saying and said, that's too costly for me, than heard what he was saying and said, That's a convenient call for me to obey. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.480 This is the reality of our worship. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:55.360 Our worship is costly. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.679 Now, this is my fear. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:06.160 My fear is that some of us have tried to boil down the Christian faith to kind of like this just Sunday morning experience. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.680 And like Cain, we're here to give God something. 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.079 God, you can have my Sunday morning. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:18.079 But when it comes to the rest of the week, we're unwilling to give it to God. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.519 And what's happening in our heart when we live like that? 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:26.240 Well, what's happening is we're not giving we we don't give God the worth that is due to him. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.839 We don't believe that God is worth our best. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.920 We don't believe that God is worth our entire week. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.079 And so we're willing to give him something, but we're not willing to offer him our best. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.519 And it's a reminder to us that something's getting our best. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.319 Something's getting our best. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:55.359 Whether it's work, whether it's family, whether it's our money, something is getting our time, something is getting our talents, something is getting our treasures. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:06.240 And the question for us as we think about the aim of our hearts is this, is it God that is getting the first fruits of our time, talent, and treasures? 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.839 The last thing in this first point that we learn about worship is that worship is chosen and not forced. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:23.119 And so you'll notice after God after God points out to Cain and Abel his regard for their offering. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.200 Look what happens in verse 5. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.640 So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.200 The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.960 And why is your face fallen? 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:35.279 And listen to these words, church. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:41.200 This this chapter is just dripping with the grace of God, the unrelenting grace of God pursuing sinners. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.680 He says, If you do well, will you not be accepted? 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:54.799 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.599 In a few short verses, those of you who are familiar with the story of Cain and Abel know exactly what's going to happen. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:05.039 Cain's gonna find his brother in the field and murder him. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:16.880 But it's significant for us to understand that before that moment, God stands in front of Cain and graciously intervenes and tells Cain, Cain, you have a choice here. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.599 This is the forgiveness that God offers his children. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:28.000 It's a choice to either pursue the path of blessing or to pursue the path of disobedience. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:31.519 And again, we've seen it time and time throughout Genesis. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:36.720 God offers his people through his forgiveness the opportunity to live well. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.240 You see it there in verse 7. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.640 If you do well, will you not be accepted? 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:44.880 See, so many of us have this idea of God that he's kind of like one and done. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:57.440 You know, we're trying to live for God and everything's going well, but then all of a sudden something happens, and either we sin against God or we we forget to do something that we said that we would do, or we don't read the Bible, and suddenly we start heaping all this shame upon us. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:02.240 Like God is not a God who is so quickly and ready and willing to forgive us. 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:13.759 God stands in front of Cain after his poor offering, after his heart has worshipped other things, and he calls him to repentance. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:15.440 If you do well, you'll be accepted. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:16.799 But God doesn't stop there. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:21.519 God also warns us of our foolishness, the foolishness of choosing the other path. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:31.839 And so God stands in front of Cain, just like he stands lovingly in front of us in light of our sin, and he says to Cain, if you do not do well, sin is crouching at its door. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.000 Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:42.160 God is giving Cain a choice. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.000 And we're going to discover that Cain really has no excuse. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:51.039 He was given every exit to the course that he was on. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:53.279 The same reality is true for us. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.720 Our sinfulness and our obedience is a choice for us. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:08.480 And so often what happens in our lives is when we're convicted of maybe something that we've done wrong, or we're convicted of our brokenness, we we play the blame game. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:09.759 Well, it's just I had to do it. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:10.880 It's the circumstance I'm in. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:16.319 It's because I'm so under so much pressure at work, it's because of my spouse or my family, or it's because I'm just so tired. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.559 And we start playing the blame game. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:26.079 In reality, you need to know about your gracious God is that in the moment of sin, he always stands before you and offers you a path out. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:34.480 He offers you both the forgiveness you need to continue to walk in him, and he offers you both the path out of your sin and temptation that you need. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:37.519 This is the grace of God. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:41.680 That he calls us to choose the right path. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:49.440 We discover in Genesis 4 that the aim of my heart is worship, but the next thing we discover is that what I worship, I pursue. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:51.839 What I worship, I'll pursue. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:58.960 And so we discover that Abel this is the second point here, it's gonna come up on the screen what I worship, I'll pursue. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.759 We discover that Abel. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.240 Abel is brought out to the field by his brother. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:05.359 Look what it says in verse 8. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:12.000 Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:22.960 In verses 1 to 7, Cain is giving the Lord nothing. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:26.319 It's giving his worship to other things. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:34.400 And now we discover that the pursuit that Cain was on in verses 1 to 7 is a pursuit that he follows through on in verse 8. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.039 Notice this about his pursuit. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.480 Notice where he takes Abel. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:42.079 It says in verse 8 that Cain spoke to Abel, his brother. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:46.400 And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:49.279 Cain brings Abel out to the field. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:53.920 The field is the place of isolation. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:59.839 The field is the place where if Abel were to scream for help, no one would be able to hear him. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:06.799 But more than that, I believe that the field is the place where Cain thinks that he's outside of the presence of God. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:11.119 And we get that from the following conversation that Cain's about to have with the Lord. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:16.000 Cain believes that by taking Abel to the field, that God's not going to see his sin. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.839 And this is the reality of the sinful world that we live in. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.839 As we pursue sin, do you know what sin loves more than anything? 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:26.160 Sin loves isolation. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:34.480 Satan wants nothing more than for you to believe that what you do is not known by anybody. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:42.880 And the reality may be true that no one on earth knows it, but the reality is also true that everything is known by God. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:45.279 God knows all things. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.279 And he's in all places. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.160 There's no place that you can run to hide from him. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.240 There is no thought that is hidden from him. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:54.559 God knows all these things. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:04.480 I often think how embarrassing it would be if perhaps on the screen, maybe right now, it started to play all the evil things that you had ever done that nobody knows about. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:10.400 How frantically you'd be running to the back, unplugging every chord so that that video stops playing. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:17.279 Well, what about if over the speaker then every thought that you'd ever had started playing? 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:29.200 All the evil thoughts that you had about the people that you work with, all the thoughts that you thought about and immediately rebuked, but couldn't believe that you would think something so evil. 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:32.960 And God knows all these things. 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:40.000 And what our sin loves us to believe is that we live in isolation from the presence of God. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:42.720 And so this is something that you need to know. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:52.400 One of the best things that you can do as you pursue Christ-likeness, one of the best things you can do is walk in vulnerable community with other believers. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.119 Sin loves darkness. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:03.680 Satan loves to drive you to a place where you think that no one could ever love you for the things that you've done. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:08.480 Satan loves to drive you to a place where you're struggling with sin alone. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.440 Where you think no one's as evil as me. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:14.319 No one would ever do the things that I've done. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:22.240 And one of the greatest things you can do to have strength in the battle against sin is to confess your sin to a brother or sister in Christ. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:23.920 You know what happens when you do that? 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.000 Immediately, like that, you are given strength in the battle. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:33.039 And immediately like that, you're given a teammate in the battle, a partner to walk alongside you. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:35.119 Instead, Cain does what we so often do. 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:44.559 He brings Abel out to the wilderness where nobody's able to stop him, where he thinks he's outside of the presence of the Lord, and it's there that he commits this sin and killing his brother. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.960 Notice what happens after that. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:52.880 It says in verse 9, then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:56.799 He said, I don't know, am I my brother's keeper? 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:01.359 This is typical brother's in brotherly interaction, isn't it? 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:02.720 I don't care about my brother. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.039 In verse 10, he's the Lord said, What have you done? 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:14.640 The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground, and now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:18.799 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:22.640 You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.559 Now Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:32.160 Behold, you've driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:38.160 I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:46.319 I want you to notice something about the way that Cain responds to the Lord's accusation of his sin. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.880 First, I want you to understand that Cain tries to avoid the responsibility. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:56.240 So that the Lord says to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:59.519 Again, church, see the grace of God here. 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.400 This is exactly what God did with Adam and Eve, isn't it? 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:05.279 Remember when Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis chapter 3? 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.279 What did God do when he walked into the garden? 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.160 This God who knows all things, who knows exactly what happened in the garden. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:13.839 What does he say to Adam and Eve? 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:16.799 Adam, Eve, where are you? 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.200 Where are you? 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:23.759 God knows exactly what happened to Adam and Eve. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:32.720 God knows exactly what Cain did, and yet he walks into the presence of Cain and he says these words, filled with grace, filled with forgiveness. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.839 Where is Abel your brother? 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:42.000 Cain's response is both a lie and a misunderstanding of his responsibility. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.240 The first thing he says is, I don't know. 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:45.680 I don't know. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:47.920 And we know that not to be true. 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:51.200 Cain was just with Abel in the field and just murdered him. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:53.440 He knows exactly where his brother is. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:56.400 The second thing he says is that I'm not my brother's keeper. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.160 Or am I my brother's keeper? 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:02.799 And that question is ironic because really the answer is yes, you are your brother's keeper. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:08.319 The intention as in your created intention was that you would care for your brother, that you would look out for your brother. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:09.920 This is what family is supposed to be. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.839 We know that instinctively, don't we? 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:14.160 Families are supposed to look out for each other. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.200 This is why some of the most immense pain we feel in the world is when families don't look out for us. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:24.400 Cain says, My my brother's keeper. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.440 Tries to avoid the responsibility of worship. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:35.920 Notice as the Lord condemns him because of his sin and curses him because of his sin. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:38.319 Notice why Cain is afraid. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.839 He says, Behold, you've driven me away from the ground and from your face. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:42.880 I shall be hidden. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:48.319 I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:55.039 The thing that is driving Cain's pursuit right now is a desire to care for his own flesh. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:58.319 I want you to notice the step here. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.359 First, Cain worships the wrong thing, then he pursues the wrong thing. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:11.359 First, Cain worships the wrong thing, and then he's unable to turn in repentance from the wrong thing. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.160 Sin is this slippery staircase that we walk down. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:20.319 It begins with what we believe and it leads to what we pursue. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:36.240 And because in verses 1 to 7, Cain is unwilling to believe that God is worthy of the best of his offering, it leads to a point where Cain is unwilling to repent of his sin instead of being broken over the fact that he sinned against God, he's broken over the fact that his sin is going to cost him something. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.880 And this teaches us something about the reality of true repentance. 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:47.039 True repentance is not just you being sad that someone's found out your sin. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:54.160 True repentance is when your heart is broken because your sin is against God. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:00.319 This is what David comes to understand in his sin with Bathsheba, isn't it? 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:04.160 David had killed Uriah, he had sinned against Bathsheba. 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:08.480 It was a horrible, horrific sin, and yet in Psalm 51, what does David say? 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:12.240 It's against you and you only that I have sinned the Lord. 00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:17.119 And the piercing point of his sin is that he has sinned against God. 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:20.799 Cain finds no true repentance. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.720 And my question for you this morning is this have you found true repentance? 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:29.920 So many of us call ourselves followers of Christ. 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:37.359 So many of us call ourselves a Christian, and yet we'd never experienced this true repentance. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:40.160 Can I ask you this question? 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:43.440 Have you ever been driven to your knees? 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.799 Have you ever cried tears over your sin? 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:56.400 Because an understanding that you have a you've come to an understanding of how greatly your sin has brought pain to God. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:10.000 How it was your sin that caused Jesus to climb onto the cross, though not having ever sinned in his life, to face the most brutal death, to pay for your sin. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:14.400 Cain note shows no brokenness over sin. 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:23.680 Because his worship is his heart isn't worshiping God, and so his pursuit isn't of repentance, his pursuit is of his own safety, is of his own well-being. 00:31:26.559 --> 00:31:29.519 And yet, again, look at verse 15. 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:44.720 And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who found him should attack him. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:46.319 You see this, church? 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:58.160 Cain is not responding well, and yet the Lord is still so gracious, just like he was so willing to cover Adam and Eve in cloths that would protect them. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:01.839 So he's so willing to put a mark on Cain. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:06.559 We don't know what this mark is, but what we do know is that it would protect Cain. 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:13.359 Just reminds us, there is no sinner who is too far gone for God to forgive. 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:20.960 God is so eager in this moment, in this moment, if you feel the weight of your sin, the Holy Spirit's pressing in on you. 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:29.920 Your understanding of the way that you have wronged and sinned against God, God is so willing to turn to you and forgive you of your sin. 00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:33.599 Cain then pays the consequence in verse 16. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:39.200 It says, Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:43.440 This is the reality of what we pursue. 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:48.000 What we pursue either leads us to the presence of God or it leads us away from the presence of God. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.680 But I want you to notice something that it's Cain who goes away from the presence of the Lord. 00:32:51.759 --> 00:33:00.640 And we've talked about this and we talk about this time and time again as it comes to God dealing with his sinful people, that your sin does not cause God to depart from you. 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:02.880 It's so important that you see that. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:07.359 It's Cain's sin that causes him to depart from the presence of the Lord. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:10.240 God doesn't depart from you. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:14.880 The promise to you is that God will draw near to you when you draw nearer to him. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:22.319 This again is the grace and forgiveness that God offers to his children, that he draws nearer to those who draw near to him. 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:27.119 And what we constantly do is live in a way that we drive ourselves away from the presence of God. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:29.119 We say, God, I don't want you. 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:32.799 I don't want you in our life, in my life. 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:36.720 Cain is driven away from the presence of the Lord. 00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:38.559 It's significant that he's driven east of Eden. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:43.680 You remember that as Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, the cherubim was placed on the east side. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.880 And there Adam and Eve dwelt just outside the garden. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:53.119 And now as Cain increasingly disobeys the Lord, he's driven further east, further from the presence of the Lord. 00:33:53.279 --> 00:34:05.359 And what we have in Genesis, especially in Genesis 1 to 11, is kind of like this geography that tells us a lot about the human heart, that as we pursue sin, we get further and further from the Lord. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:08.239 This is what we'll have in Genesis 1 to 11. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:22.559 The people of God increasingly sinning, increasingly getting driven farther and farther east until Genesis 11 at the Tower of Babel, where the people are spread all over the earth, completely away from the presence of the Lord. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:28.559 Church, you need to see this that God is always present. 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:35.760 Despite our desire to leave his presence, he's always present, waiting for us to repent, waiting for us to turn to him. 00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:38.639