Faith and Unbelief (LIVE)

A fallen face tells a story long before the words show up. We open Genesis 4 and sit with Cain and Abel, two brothers bringing offerings and two hearts approaching God in very different ways. When God receives Abel and rejects Cain, the question under everything isn’t about technique or ritual—it’s about faith, motive, and whether we trust the God who sees.

We walk slowly through God’s response to Cain’s hot anger: a personal question, a promise of acceptance, and a sober warning that sin crouches at the door. This is the God of Scripture—alive, near, and relentlessly engaged—who confronts us without crushing us and calls us to be lifted instead of swallowed by resentment. The story darkens with Abel’s murder, but even there we find a surprising thread of mercy. God names the crime, announces consequences, and still marks Cain to restrain vengeance. Justice and compassion meet, hinting at a deeper resolution that the Bible later makes plain.

From there we explore the “way of Cain”: leaving God’s presence, building a city, advancing art and technology, and trying to drown the cry of blood with noise and achievement. Yet the ground still speaks, and the New Testament reveals that another blood speaks louder—the blood of Jesus, which does not accuse the repentant but covers them. We connect the ancient scene to everyday choices: religious performance versus real trust, anger versus honesty, self-made meaning versus a reconciled life with God. The invitation is direct and simple: stop running, look up, and let faith rise into confession. The living God still lifts fallen faces.

If this conversation stirred you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more Bible-centered episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. Then tell us: where are you placing your faith today?

Chapters

• 0:58 Welcome And Global Greetings
• 1:55 Theme: God Is Alive And Active
• 3:45 Enter Genesis 4: The First Birth
• 6:10 Offerings And The Question Of Faith
• 10:05 God Confronts Cain’s Anger
• 13:35 Life And Death Set Before Cain
• 19:09 The Murder And God’s Search
• 22:25 Judgment, Mercy, And The Mark
• 26:35 The Way Of Cain And A City Built
• 31:35 The Blood That Still Speaks
• 36:05 God’s Persistent Call To Return
• 40:30 Invitation, Salvation Appeal, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:33

Welcome tonight. Welcome to um those who are visiting for the first time right here tonight in the house. It's a blessing to have you with us this evening. We're glad for you. And a blessing to have um you as well on the other side of the camera. Uh whether you're watching on video or whether you're uh listening, um I call it radio. Folks today call it audio only. Uh but amen and hallelujah. We're glad to have you. Um it's a blessing whether, you know, again, whether you've been with us for almost 20 years or no, not that long, uh, since 2019. Um, but uh whether you've been with us that long or whether you're also a first-time viewer, first-time listener, we're blessed to have you. Uh thank you for helping us uh now 82 nations um around the world here. Thank you for your part in that. Thank you for sharing these. Um again, if you're on social media, like us and subscribe us. Uh that does help tremendously. But um blessing to have you all with us tonight as we come into Genesis chapter four with me this evening. And I want to keep the focus tonight on the fact that God is alive. The fact that God is alive, and God is alive, and he doesn't just sit there. God is alive and he's not way out there somewhere. God is alive and he interacts, and he speaks, and he has a will, and he has a desire, and he has he is the truth, and he is holy, and he is love, and he is justice, and he is judgment, they're the habitation of his throne. See, God, he doesn't just sort of sit there, but he interacts with folks, and he's interacting with folks right this very second, and because he's active in his creation, he's active in people, whether you're in Christ, born again, washed in the blood, saved and glory-bound, or whether you're outside of Christ, you're lost and dying, and yet in your sin. Well, hallelujah, God's got a word for you tonight. And no matter who you happen to be, no matter where you happen to be, no matter what nation you're in, no matter what language you're speaking, no matter what language you may be translating this into, uh, that's that God, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he's interacting with folks tonight. And we're gonna see that through quite an interesting account in Genesis chapter 4. And we'll start right in verse 1. And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived. And bear came and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Now, this has never happened before. If you stop and think about that, this is the first time anyone was born. Anyone was born. See, Adam was formed. The Lord took the dust of the ground and he formed the man, he formed Adam, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul. And then one day, glory to God, um, he put Adam into a deep sleep, and he took part of Adam. He took his rib, and from the rib he made the woman. And this is the first time anyone had ever, it's the first time a woman ever conceived. And this is the first time a birth ever happened. And this man Cain was born outside of Eden. This man Cain was born after Adam his father fell. And there was a fundamental change in Adam. And out of that, this conception happened, and this man was born. This is the first man born, and he's born separated from God. He's born separate from God. See, you know, I I believe, I just personal belief that right when Adam opened his eyes, he saw the glory of God. He saw the Lord and said, first, first thing he saw was the living God. No, from that moment on they walked together and they talked together. And we have this glorious account in Genesis. And they walked and they talked, and there were there was perfect intimacy, there was perfect fellowship, there was no hindrance, and and there was just glory, and there was just peace, and there was just life. Cain is the first guy born, where God is like this separate entity. He doesn't know God. He's born separate, and life went on. Again she again bare his brother, Abel. There's a second man. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of ground. And in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord, and Abel, he also brought of the first slings of his flock and of the fat thereof. We have interaction. We have interaction between this family, um, Adam and Eve, even though they've kind of faded into the background in this account, they're there. God is still there. Hallelujah. Fallen world, fallen man, fallen people. God knows what's going on, and he's still there. Pay attention to that. He's still there. He knows your heart. My friend, you know, there's this time of offering going on, and Cain brings his offering, and Abel brings his offering, and the Lord knows the hearts. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. So the fundamental difference between these two men, it's not their natures. They're both fallen. Abel was just as fallen as Cain. Abel had what we know now is a fallen flesh. What we know now is is a heart that's naturally bent towards sin, got no other option but to sin. Abel had his own sin. Cain had his own sin. Abel had his own accountability, Cain had his own accountability. Abel had his own relationship with the Lord, Cain had his own relationship, and this is very active. Fundamental difference between the two. You walk over to the book of Hebrews, you'll see that it's faith. By faith. And that's the difference between the two. You see, God's looking at the hearts, God's looking at who these people are. God's looking at, are these two men coming to me as I am? Are these two men putting their faith in me? Do these two men love me? I love them, do they love me? I'm speaking to them, how are they speaking to me? I'm working among them, how are they working in response? You see, faith produces things. You see, it's faith. Abel's faith caused him to make the offering that he made in the manner that he made it. It's I don't believe it's the offering itself, it's the motive behind the offering. Because my friend, um Hebrews also tell us that without faith it's impossible to please God. Book of Romans gives a more positive example. If it's not of, you know, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So my friend, you can do a whole lot of things. Uh you can attend church, you can memorize the Bible. Uh you can go out and you can even witness to people. Um, you can you can invite people to church, you can compel people to church, he can do a lot of work for the church, you can do a lot of work in the church. And my friend, God's looking at the faith. He's looking at the faith. You can go to church and yet be in sin. You can listen to a message and yet be in unbelief. You can witness, share the word of God with other people, and hallelujah, the Lord's gonna honor his word. But you do you have faith? Where is your faith? You see, hallelujah, and amen. God gave you the faith, he gave you the capacity to believe things, he gave that to you, it's in there, and you exercise the faith. You put your faith somewhere. May you put it in the Lord tonight. Hallelujah. Um, because you can put your faith in yourself, you can put your faith in some lust or another. You can put your faith, you see, Cain's doing a religious act. Most people would say that this is a religious act. You can put your faith in the religious work, and yet miss the heart of God. And my friend, is that you tonight? Are you missing the heart of God? Are you separate from God tonight? Because no amount of work will get you there. This isn't about doing a better sacrifice. This isn't about Cain going back and redoing everything and doing just doing what Abel did, no. This is fundamentally a relationship question between two living beings: the living God and this man who was made into a living soul. Right now they're separate from one another. How does God respond to that? Hallelujah. How does God respond? See, the Lord had respect to Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. He didn't see it. He didn't see Cain or his offering here. And Cain was very wroth. He had this burning anger that was inside. It was a hot anger, it was a smoldering anger, it was a burning anger, and it was inside. And then something happened to Cain. His countenance fell, and I believe this is a picture of what's going on between him and God. When Cain's head, his countenance fell, his face fell, his eyes fell, he stopped looking at God. Wow. He stopped looking at the living God. How did God respond to that? And the Lord said, the Lord said unto Cain, Cain got a direct word from God. In a direct, face-to-face personal sense. Cain got a word from God. This is how God responded. And I want you to hear the intimacy here. I want you to hear the passion. You know, Cain, why are you wrath? Why? Why is our countenance fallen? Why do you have this burning anger toward me right now? Why do you have this countenance that's, you know, um, if if the Lord were saying in here, Cain's kind of looking away, he's looking anywhere else. He's not looking at his Lord. Why? If you do well, shalt thou not be accepted? I love this. Let me tell you what that accepted means. You will be lifted up. Cain, I see your anger right now toward me. God sees your anger toward him. God sees your lust. God sees your ego. God sees your pride. God sees God sees your sin. Lost man, lost woman, lost child. God sees your sin. And he's talking to you. Not to destroy, just like Cain. God didn't come to destroy him. God said, you know, and you go back to Adam after his fall. Why? Why why why are you why why is it this doesn't have to be there? Cain, you don't have to go this way. Cain, I don't want you to go this way. Cain, I've spoken to you and to your family. You know me. If you come by faith, will you not be lifted up? Your countenance will no longer be downcast. You will no longer be downcast. You will no longer have this rod, this anger in you. Will you turn back to me, Cain? Will you believe me? Will you come to me as I am? And if you do us not well, my friend, you can go forward to Israel. This day I set life and death before you. God set life and death before Cain. Cain, if you come by faith, life. But if you do not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. God responds to you right now, my friend. I want you to know today, and God wants you to know today that right now God is looking at you. He knows who in this room is his. Who in this room is born again? Who in these nations is born again? Who is saved? Who is spirit-filled? Who is alive? Who is righteous? Who is holy? Who is a saint? Who is a king? Who is a priest? Who is a beloved adopted child? Who is a member of his bride? Who is who is this? God knows you today. God looks at you today. And I want you to know that he sees you as you are. Hallelujah and amen. He also sees who is apart from me. Who is blaspheming against me? Who is angry with me? Who is in their lust? Who is doing everything that they possibly can to ignore me? Who is doing who is that and who is this? My friend, just that one reality. That there's nowhere on earth that you can go without being seen by God. There's nothing you can do without being seen by God. My friend, God is in a way present, even with the lost. He's seen every moment of fornication. He's seen every moment of drunkenness. He's seen that. And he's still saying, I'm not willing that you should perish. He's still saying, guess what? I'm love and I love you. I'm love and I care for you. I'm love and I want you to be born again. I want you to be saved. I want you to be under the blood of Jesus. I want you to be forgiven. I want you if you come in faith, will you not be lifted up? If you come as a fornicator believing in Jesus, if you come as a as a murderer, even believing on Jesus, if you come as you are in your sin and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will you not be lifted up? Will you not be lifted up, my friend? And hallelujah, that's God's will for you tonight. Because life went on, my friend. Cain had a response to this. Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel's brother and slew him. The inward wrath that was directed at God first became directed at the man of faith. Became directed at his own brother. And Cain rose up, and that wrath came out of him. And he slew Abel. And God had a response still. My friend, you'll never find the end of God's mercy. You'll never find the end of his grace. See, God saw all this. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where's Abel, thy brother? And Cain said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? Cain is He's a hard man at this point. And he said, What hast thou done? And you go back to Adam, Adam, where are you? Adam, where art thou? God knew it all. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Blood had been shed. And blood had a voice in the ears of God. The voice of thy brother's blood, and that word blood is plural. The voice of righteous Abel. See, Jesus himself called Abel a righteous man. And Jesus himself referred to the blood of righteous Abel. The blood cries. Not only Abel's blood, but Abel's sons, Abel's daughters, Abel's grandchildren, Abel's great grandchildren. Cain, what have you done? Your brother is dead, and his entire he he won't have children. He won't have descendants. He won't have a wife. He won't have a family. He won't have that. Cain, you murdered him. My friend, that's murder in the eyes of God. It doesn't just stop at however many people you kill. It goes to the generation and the generation and the generation and the generation. It goes further than that. And so it's a sin, my friend. I mean, it's a sin. And the voice of thy brother's blood, my friend, I can't help but think, Jesus shed blood. Jesus Christ Himself, my friend, on the cross, shed blood. And my friend, at this moment in time, after this murder had been done, and God is talking to the murderer, even then, God knows about the cross. Even then, God knows what he is doing. Even then, God knows that in Cain's sense the sin is going on Jesus. God would bear it. The Son of God Himself would come, born of a virgin. The Son of God Himself would come and lay down his life. The Son of God Himself would come and shed blood and die and rise again on the third day. And hallelujah, he's alive today, my friend. Hallelujah, he's alive. And so God's talking with Cain. Oh, and he doesn't ignore the sin. He doesn't ignore the murder. He doesn't ignore the wrath and the anger. He doesn't ignore Cain's attitude. He doesn't ignore Cain's hufiness. He doesn't ignore Cain's evasiveness. He doesn't ignore the fact that Cain won't even look him in the eye and that Cain won't even own up to the murder. Oh, there's a wrath of God that's kindled here, my friend. At the same time, there's an intense mercy. An intense desire. See, God's going to curse Cain. We'll read it, we'll read it. And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened up her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When you till the ground, Cain, you're a tiller of the earth. Now, when you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength, a fugitive and a vagabond, thou shalt be in the earth. And see we have Cain saying again to the Lord, now he is now the Lord's got his attention. He didn't have his attention before, but now he does. I remind you, Cain is still alive. I remind you, God did not strike down Cain at this point. And Cain goes on and all this pity story and his fear, and my friend, it's an interesting comparison. If you read the book of Proverbs, you know, um, Proverbs will tell you that the righteous is bold as a lion. But um, if you're in sin, every little thing starts to creep you out. And he's like, You've driven me out this day from the face of the earth. From thy face shall I be hid? Oh my friend, where was his concern for the face of God ten minutes ago? Where was his concern for the face of God and the presence of God? Where was his concern when the Lord so lovingly rebuked him and yet gave him a hope at the same time? If you do well, Cain, if you believe, Cain, if you trust in me, Cain, if you love me, Cain, if you honor me, Cain, if you put your faith in me, Cain, will you not be lifted up? Where was Cain's concern for the presence of God then? But now he's concerned for the presence of God. It will come to pass that everyone who finds me shall slay me. And here's the mercy. Therefore, who the Lord said back to him, Therefore, whoever whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold, and the Lord sent a mark on Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Wow. Cain himself would never suffer the murder that he inflicted upon his brother. Cain would not suffer that. A fugitive in a vagabond, yes. No lon no longer fruitful in tilling the earth, yes. But Cain would not be murdered in the same manner that he murdered his brother. My friend, never say that God is harsh. Never say that no Lord is too heavy a burden. Never say that, my friend. That's life goes on. And so Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. And I believe he was settled in that until the day he died. Cain went away from the presence of the Lord at this point. He dwelt in the land of Nod in the east of Eden. He nod means wandering. He became a type and a form for you tonight, if you're apart from Jesus. Wandering, lost, filled with wrath, filled with pride, filled with ego, filled with your own morality, trusting in yourself, trusting in your skills. Yet, yet, bless God, my friend, do not miss this. Yet, under the mercy of God. Under the mercy of God, though you spend every breath separate. Separate. Separate. You see, what did Cain do? And I remind you, my friend, that God knew the very spot where the blood of Abel had been spilled. And the blood of Abel never stopped crying out to God. What did Cain do? He went out and he dwelt on the east of Eden, and that's another message. Hallelujah. And he knew his wife, and she conceived and buried Enoch, and he builded a city. Oh, he would be no vagabond. He would be no fugitive. See, pride Cain's pride took him. Your sin will start out small. Fornication, drunkenness, uh, your wrath. It starts on the inside. Starts out between you and God, just small. Only you and God knows about it. Oh, and time goes on, time goes on, time goes on. God comes and God says, Turn to me. God comes and says, be saved. God comes and says, I love you. God comes and says, not only do I love you, but I'm drawing you to myself and I want you to be with me where I am. And God comes and oh, he lovingly commands you. He says, Be saved, be born again, trust in me, call upon the name of Jesus, my friend, and yet you continue your distance. And you go deeper and deeper and deeper until it takes you. Just in the way it did Cain. You might say he abused the mercy of God. Might be because this is the way of Cain. Jude speaks of apostates following the way of Cain. This is the way of Cain. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Oh, Cain still believed that God existed. Yes. Cain still believed that God had spoken. Absolutely. Cain still personally experienced the mercy and the love and the and the hope that God came up and God gave him that day. Hallelujah. Life and death, he said it before him. Cain went to death. Oh, he knew what God said, and he knew what God did. And yet he went away from the presence of the Lord and put his faith in something else. He built his city. I don't believe he finished it while he was alive. But he started it and he continually built it. All the while the blood of Abel is over here. Cain is trying to move on from the murder. Cain is trying to move on from the blood of Abel, and his children are born. My friends, you don't stop. You have a family, you have people. That's interesting. This was a new beginning for Cain. I'm trying to move on from that sin. I'm trying to move on from that God. I'm trying to move on from that moment when I willingly walked away. I'm trying to move on. All the while the blood is still in the ears of God. God never moved on. Cain tried. Oh, and his children. They came up with harps. They came up with organs. They came up with metals, brass and iron. They came up with technologies, and they built their cities, and they built their lineages, and they heard Cain's stories. Oh, what stories they might have been. They heard Cain's perspectives. They heard Cain's morality. They heard Cain's values. They heard Cain's philosophy. They heard Cain and Cain and Cain. Oh, and maybe they tried to drown out the blood of Abel with their harps and with their organs. Maybe they tried to build over the blood of Abel and later city so that they would no longer have to look at it. Oh, and we can have message after message after message on this line. But my friend, for you tonight, God never has moved on from the blood of Jesus. And the blood of Jesus has never yet lost its power. The blood will never lose its power. God has not moved on. God made his son to be sin. God was there when Jesus breathed his last breath and yielded up the ghost. It was to God that he yielded himself. God yielded himself to God. Oh, in all those three days, God was there. Blessed, hallelujah, at the empty tomb, God was there. The blood. Hallelujah. What a moment in glory when the Lord presented the blood. What a moment in glory when when God rejoiced. What a moment in glory when it was it was finished on the earth and it was finished in heaven. Glory to God. God never moved on from it. Why do you? Oh, you build your city. And you try to forget the blood of Jesus. You build your city in the very shadow of the cross. Because God's looking at time, God's looking at you. God's looking at the creation. God sees the end from the beginning. God sees the cross. And he said, it was finished back then. God sees the blood. He says, it's finished now. God sees the blood and says, you're coming to me and you're standing before me one day. I see you building your city over there. I see you building your philosophy over there. I see you pursuing your lust over there. I see you doing everything you can to put distance between you and me. But my friend, it's foolish. I see you the whole time. And I send man after man to do this foolish thing called preaching. I send the witness I send the sun that I created. I send the stars that I created. I sent the creation around you to bear witness of me. That I am. I prick your conscience. My Holy Spirit draws you. I've never moved on from the blood. I've never moved on from my will that you be born again. Oh, you try to move on from me. You try to drown me out. You try to ignore me. You try to rationalize. You try to justify, you try to explain. You walk in the way of Cain. And just try not to think about me. And my friend, I can't stop thinking about you. I love you. And I want you to come home. I want you to come to me. Because my friends, you can't drown out the blood of Jesus in the eyes of God. You can't drown it out. And you can't escape the fact that God sees you and God knows you, and even this moment God judges you. Whether you be his or not, whether you be gloriously born again or not, whether you be spirit-filled or not, whether you be a sinner or saint, God judges. God sets a difference. Just like he did with these old offerings. God sets a difference between not only the offering but the men who brought them. One is in faith and one is not. Now, my friend, don't turn your head and walk away. Stop. Will you stop for a moment? Put your faith in the living God. Call upon the name of Jesus. Because, my friend, it's a fearful thing to fall into his hands. And our God is a consuming fire. And my friend, he's not willing that you should perish. Not willing that any should perish, but that you should do what Cain never did. Repent. Turn to him. This very moment. Turn to him. And let the fear of the Lord is going on in you. Let the fear of the Lord stop you in your tracks. And let your faith come up into some words. Confess the name of Jesus. Call upon the name of Jesus. Ask Him to be born again today. Hallelujah. If our musicians will come forward tonight, we'll have a time of invitation for those who are here with us this evening. And while these people play, especially if you need to be born again tonight, I very simply ask you to come forward. I would be glad to pray with you. Come forward as these people behind me sing. My friend, I hope you've heard about the justice of God, the judgment of God, and the love of God tonight. If you're in your sin, he doesn't want you to stay that way. He doesn't want to see you in hell. He made hell for the devil and he made hell for his angels. He didn't make hell for you. And my friend, the only way that you'll ever end up in hell is if you walk the way that Cain did. If you in this moment use your God-given faith to walk the other way in unbelief, you'll perish. And it won't be even God's will to cast you into hell. It'll be just... you be washed in the blood, covered in the blood, your sins forever forgotten by a holy good God. You see, God sets before you today life and death. Life. Life. Life. Let your faith come up into God. Ask him to say. Ask him to be born again. And my friend, if you do, and it's honest. God has never, ever passed anybody out. You know what he does? You're uplifted. You're uplifted, just like you want a king to be. You're uplifted. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And we want to hear about it, my friend. Thank you for being here in the house with us. Thank you for joining us. Reach out to us on TBT Ministries.com. Reach out to us by phone, by mail, by text message. Hallelujah and amen. And continue to share these. And may the Lord richly, richly bless you.

unknown: 40:47

Amen.