Not Like Cain (1 John 3:11-18)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:04.400 If you able to remain standing, please do as we turn our attention to 2 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:10.830 first John, chapter three, first John Three, verses eleven through eighteen. 3 00:00:12.710 --> 00:00:17.109 This is God's word for this is the message that you have heard from the 4 00:00:17.149 --> 00:00:22.820 beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Kine, 5 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:27.539 who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did 6 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:31.660 he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 7 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:36.929 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know 8 00:00:37.210 --> 00:00:41.649 that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. 9 00:00:42.609 --> 00:00:48.329 Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a 10 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:52.840 murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 11 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:58.920 By this, we know love, that he laid down his life for us, 12 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:03.159 and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if 13 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.109 anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his 14 00:01:07.230 --> 00:01:11.629 heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little Children, 15 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:18.549 let us not love in word or talk, but indeed and in truth. 16 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:42.090 Amen, please be seated. Last week, we focused on the foundational truth 17 00:01:42.489 --> 00:01:48.400 of love when we read that this message that you have heard from the beginning, 18 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:52.239 that we should love one another. We spent time reflecting on this fact 19 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:59.319 that we have heard it from the beginning, that love is so fundamental to 20 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:05.469 everything. It's fundamental to human life, our relationships with one another, the 21 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:13.669 very prospering of the human race. We also considered how sin destroys these foundations, 22 00:02:14.430 --> 00:02:20.139 how lack of love pulls us apart, pulls societies apart, creates all 23 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:27.419 kinds of damage and catastrophe. And we also considered how this fundamental requirement to 24 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:31.490 love that we all know and have known since the beginning, we know in 25 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:37.650 a new way, in a new beginning with Christ, when we come to 26 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:40.969 know the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to understand love in a new way. 27 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:46.120 We come to understand how it is at the core of being who we 28 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:52.120 are, because it's at the core of who he is. We're being made 29 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:58.120 into his image. To Re emphasize that point, remember what John Writes here 30 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.069 a little later, towards the end of what I read by this. We 31 00:03:01.229 --> 00:03:06.310 know love, that he laid his life down for us, and that has 32 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:13.419 implications. We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. This foundational 33 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:17.219 part of love. Is One of the ways in which John is underscoring all 34 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:23.699 the importance that we ought to love, that it's foundational. Today we focus 35 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:30.569 on another reason that he gives. It's a reason by showing the opposite. 36 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:36.250 It's a way to understand the the the opposite things, so that you can 37 00:03:37.330 --> 00:03:38.969 you can know what it is we're looking at when we look at love. 38 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:47.280 The opposite of love is, to use an old word, loathe some the 39 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:55.030 opposite of love is a loathsome thing. When you loathe something, you see 40 00:03:55.349 --> 00:04:02.189 that it you abhore it, you find it disgusting. I like to use 41 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:09.550 the analogy of finding some rotten food in your fridge. You open it up, 42 00:04:09.710 --> 00:04:14.740 hoping to make yourself some lunch and you pull the lid off and there's 43 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:18.699 this thing, you know, full of fungus and bad smell and it is 44 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:25.850 loathsome to you. You never sort of caudle it right or say oh well, 45 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:29.490 this is really nice, let's keep it for a while longer. No, 46 00:04:29.689 --> 00:04:32.009 you you do everything you can to get it away as quickly as you 47 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:35.089 can and, at least for me, I tend to make a lot of 48 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:39.319 noise about it and throw it in the trash can try and get it out 49 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:44.120 of the house. It's like that. With the opposite of love, or 50 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:49.879 at least it should be. To hate is not a minor thing. We 51 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:58.670 should loathe hatred, we should despise it, abhor it, find it disgusting. 52 00:04:59.870 --> 00:05:03.310 Simply, put in another way and on the back of a story, 53 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:11.699 we should not be like Kane. That's how John Puts It. He says 54 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.220 you ought to love one another. You ought to love one another. We 55 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:21.970 should not be like Kane. Now John is doing what he does here, 56 00:05:23.329 --> 00:05:27.290 has done several times in this letter, and that he's assuming a certain amount 57 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:31.490 of knowledge on our part, on the part of his breeders. Now, 58 00:05:32.329 --> 00:05:35.879 if you don't know anything about Kane, you can learn some things from him 59 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:43.079 here. There's something that went wrong between him and a brother. His works 60 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:46.079 were evil, his brothers were righteous, he was of the devil. This 61 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.709 is a bad guy. In other words, we can get that, but 62 00:05:49.750 --> 00:05:54.870 I think it would be helpful to go back to genesis chapter four and here 63 00:05:55.230 --> 00:06:00.790 and remember who can is. So I'm going to do that now and read 64 00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:05.779 to you, read to you from that chapter. Why should we not be 65 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:15.740 like Caine? Came Story, the story of Cain and his brother Abel comes 66 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:21.370 to us. After the fall of mankind into sin, into death, that 67 00:06:21.370 --> 00:06:27.329 abiding in death that John Talks about. It happened after the Fall Adam and 68 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:35.000 eve, the very first humans of the world. They fell and now out 69 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:41.040 of the garden life continues on by the grace of God. We should add 70 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:48.069 what happened. Here's what happened. Now Adam knew his eve, his wife, 71 00:06:48.149 --> 00:06:53.829 and she conceived and bore Kine, saying I have gotten a man with 72 00:06:53.990 --> 00:06:58.269 the help of the Lord. Let me pause just for a moment there and 73 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:01.100 say this is a significant thing that she says this. This isn't a way 74 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:06.379 a kind of confession of faith. The God of the God who made her 75 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:13.019 and her husband, the God who they sinned against, promised them death if 76 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:20.089 they disobeyed. But now they are living and they are producing offspring. That's 77 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:25.689 also significant, because God has promised that through her offspring, things would be 78 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:30.360 set right, the serpent that deceived them would be crushed. And so here 79 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:35.480 we have our first glimmer of hope. I Have Begot, I have gotten 80 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:41.160 a man with the help of the Lord. And again she bore his brother 81 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:46.069 Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Caine, a worker of 82 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:49.949 the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an 83 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:56.389 offering of the fruit of the ground. An Abel also brought of the first 84 00:07:56.470 --> 00:08:01.300 born of his fraught flock and their fat portions, and the Lord had regard 85 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:05.779 for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no 86 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:11.899 regard. So caine was very angry and he fell on his face. The 87 00:08:11.060 --> 00:08:15.769 Lord said to Caine, why are you angry? Why is your face fallen? 88 00:08:16.569 --> 00:08:18.810 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you 89 00:08:18.889 --> 00:08:24.410 do not do well, sin his crouching at the door. Its desire is 90 00:08:24.529 --> 00:08:28.560 for you, but you must rule over it. Caine spoke to Abel, 91 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.159 his brother, and when they were in the field, Caine rose up against 92 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:39.519 his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Caine, where 93 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:45.070 is Abel, your brother? He said, I do not know. Am 94 00:08:45.149 --> 00:08:50.149 I my brother's keeper? The Lord said, what have you done? The 95 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:56.059 Voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground, and now 96 00:08:56.179 --> 00:09:00.259 you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your 97 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:03.899 brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no 98 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:09.419 longer yield to you as strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer 99 00:09:09.620 --> 00:09:13.009 on the earth. Caine said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than 100 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:16.809 I can bear. Behold, you have driven me to day, away from 101 00:09:16.809 --> 00:09:20.129 the ground and from your face. I shall be hidden, I shall be 102 00:09:20.210 --> 00:09:24.159 a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill 103 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:30.039 me. Then the Lord said to him, not so. If any one 104 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:33.679 kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put 105 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:39.149 a mark on Caine lest any who found him should attack him. Then Caine 106 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:43.230 went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, 107 00:09:43.950 --> 00:09:50.789 east of Eden. So this is the story of two brothers, Caine 108 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:56.620 and Abel. It's the story of two ways of living in the presence of 109 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:03.419 God. It's a story of responding to God when two ways of responding to 110 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:09.649 God when he calls us to account for our sins. It's the story of 111 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:16.649 what happens when sin enters into the world and infects a family, infects of 112 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:22.360 the even the whole human race. But let's start with just one thing, 113 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:30.720 the offering. Why did God Not Take Cane's offering? I think this is 114 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:35.350 important because we don't always trust the Bible like we ought to. God is 115 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:39.549 very clear here that Caine is in the wrong. He says, if you 116 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:43.590 do well, will you not be accepted? So, even if we don't 117 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:48.830 understand exactly what's going on with the offerings, we ought to believe the word 118 00:10:48.909 --> 00:10:52.460 of the Lord. If the Lord says one thing, is it acceptable, 119 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:56.620 in another is not. That should be good enough for us. But the 120 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:03.379 Lord does give us a reason to understand what's going on here, why he 121 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:07.009 accepts cane's offering and and not ables. What is it that came did wrong 122 00:11:07.129 --> 00:11:13.250 in the first place? In other words, what Cain did wrong is he 123 00:11:13.610 --> 00:11:22.519 did not bring forth his best the chapters, these chapters in genesis are very, 124 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.240 very carefully constructed. The details really matter, and it's significant when it 125 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:33.230 says very plainly that came brought the fruit of the ground, some of the 126 00:11:33.350 --> 00:11:37.429 fruit of the ground, it seems rather innocuous until you contrast it with what 127 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:43.669 Abel brings the firstborn of his flock, with the fat portions. especially as 128 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:48.740 we go to understand later in scripture how God takes sacrifices and these kinds of 129 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:54.860 things, it's clear that what's happening here is cane brings something and Abel brings 130 00:11:54.899 --> 00:12:00.899 the best. Well, we see here, then, is God is not 131 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:07.409 being capricious. He's not simply mad at cane for some random reason. It's 132 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.009 also not true that God prefers shepherds to gardeners. He made a garden, 133 00:12:11.049 --> 00:12:15.409 after all, the garden of Eden. He told Adam and Eve to tend 134 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:22.279 that garden. Bruce Walkey and Old Testament commentator writes it this way. Cane 135 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:28.720 sin is tokenism. He looks religious, but in his heart he's not totally 136 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:35.470 dependent on God. Childlike or grateful, able takes the very first thing that 137 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:39.470 happens, the very first product of his work as a shepherd, and he 138 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:45.299 gives it away to the Lord. He sacrifices it's to the Lord. It's 139 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.500 a it's a it's a it's a moment of trust, it's an expression of 140 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:54.580 faith that God has given him this life and God will preserve him his life, 141 00:12:54.019 --> 00:13:00.090 in his work and his business and in his own soul. Cane, 142 00:13:00.169 --> 00:13:07.330 however, is cane sin is Walki says, is is tokenism. Well, 143 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:11.610 this is the beginning of things, this is how it all starts, right. 144 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:16.200 How does cane respond to this. Well, his face falls. He 145 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.840 has that not the angry, shake your fist in the sky look, but 146 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:26.919 the despondent, fine then kind of look. Then he decides to go to 147 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:33.710 his brothers talk to him about this. Then he decides to kill his brother, 148 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:43.059 to shed the blood of his very own flesh. That's a terrible thing. 149 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:50.899 To murder anyone is terrible thing, but to murder your own brother, 150 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:58.649 it's hard to imagine. What have you done, the Lord says, the 151 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:05.529 Voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Where is 152 00:14:05.610 --> 00:14:09.850 your brother? He says to Kane, how do I know my my brother's 153 00:14:09.850 --> 00:14:18.000 keeper? Does Kane sound repentant? Does Kane sound guilty, ashamed, embarrassed? 154 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:28.629 Cane is defiant. Kane is angry. Kane is full of hatred for 155 00:14:28.870 --> 00:14:35.470 his brother, in for the Lord. And what did his brother to nothing. 156 00:14:37.549 --> 00:14:41.779 His brother did not sin against him. All his brother did was worship 157 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:48.059 the God who made them both. What did God do? God did nothing 158 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:54.850 wrong to cane. God gave Caine Life, as his own mother testified with 159 00:14:54.970 --> 00:15:01.929 her very own words, recorded here in scripture. God gave Caine Life. 160 00:15:01.009 --> 00:15:07.399 God gave him the fruit of the ground, ground that was cursed after the 161 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:11.960 sin of his father. God prospered Cain. God gave him a brother and 162 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.200 others as well. Does he depend on the Lord? Does he give thanks 163 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.950 to the Lord? He hates the Lord, he hates his brother. He's 164 00:15:26.029 --> 00:15:31.909 full of anger and rage and evil and he wants what he wants when he 165 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:37.340 wants it. And when the Lord punishes him instead of again repenting, what 166 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:41.419 does he say? Says this is too much, you're being unfair. And 167 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:48.259 what does God do? He gives him yet more grace and promises to protect 168 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:56.009 him while he wanders on the earth, a complete protection and justice that he 169 00:15:56.649 --> 00:16:03.399 that he will experience as he lives his life. God's persevering power will continue 170 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:11.679 to be over kine even after he leaves the presence of the Lord, after 171 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:18.629 he leaves this family of God. So this is the tragic story of Kine 172 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:23.149 and it's why John can say in his letter so briefly, don't be like 173 00:16:23.309 --> 00:16:32.789 Kane. You ought to love one another. Be Not like Kane. How 174 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:37.580 does John Interpret these things for us? One thing he says is that Kane 175 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.779 was of the evil one, and we see that very clearly from these events 176 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:48.769 in Genesis. Cane's works followed Satan's works. Kane, it was like Satan, 177 00:16:48.850 --> 00:16:55.090 a liar, a murderer, a breaker of families, a disruptor of 178 00:16:55.210 --> 00:17:00.840 worship. Cane's works followed Satan's, and that's why John says it in this 179 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.920 way. He says be not like Kane, who was of the evil one 180 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:12.599 and murdered his brother. In this we see that his actions were not just 181 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:19.029 outward ones. The actions that came took these, this murder, in other 182 00:17:19.109 --> 00:17:25.430 words, corresponded to an inward reality, something that was going on deep, 183 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:32.140 deep, deep inside Kane's heart. Kane's actions were no accident. They expressed 184 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:36.619 this inwardness, and this is John's point, his main point. We should 185 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:41.619 not be like Cain, because Cane's works were bad, yes, but we 186 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:47.250 should also not be like kine, because Kane was bad. He was of 187 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:53.130 the evil one. He did evil deeds because his nature was evil. He 188 00:17:53.289 --> 00:17:59.359 did what he did because, as John says, he abided in death. 189 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:07.519 That's where he lived, that's where he dwelt. Death infused everything that he 190 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:15.390 was doing and it resulted in the death of his brother and in the death 191 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:21.789 of himself. So when we hear the story of Kine and we feel repugnance 192 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:26.740 about it, when we loathe these actions, when we imagine the blood of 193 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:37.180 Abel splattering on Kane as he's being murdered and we despise it and we feel 194 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:41.380 for able, who only was doing the right thing, who is the first 195 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:47.650 martyr for the Lord, when we think about the injustice of murder, when 196 00:18:47.650 --> 00:18:51.490 we think about all of these things in our hatred of it, this is 197 00:18:51.609 --> 00:18:57.440 how we ought to feel about our own sins, our own hatred, our 198 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:06.000 own fleshly desires, our own pride and tokenism and false worship. We ought 199 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.480 to feel the same way about our own hatred that we do when we see 200 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:15.230 kings. Why? Because it's connected to the same source evil, death, 201 00:19:15.430 --> 00:19:23.269 punishment, the works of the flesh. But we also ought to realize what 202 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:29.980 John is saying about those who are no longer under the dominion of Satan but 203 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:37.299 have been rescued by God into another kingdom. What John is describing here is 204 00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:41.210 a change that happens here in this text and throughout the letter. He's been 205 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:48.450 talking about how we know and understand what a Christian is. A Christian is 206 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:52.200 not like Caine, who has been all who is of the evil one who 207 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:57.359 does evil things, who's filled with hatred and rage and anger. Why? 208 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:07.230 Because a Christian has been born of the Holy Spirit is of someone else. 209 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:12.630 A Christian is one who is of Christ. He has been rescued by Christ 210 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:22.859 out of this cane like world and came like flesh too, becomes Christ like. 211 00:20:26.380 --> 00:20:30.740 What John is saying is that the reason the world hates us is the 212 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:36.730 same reason that Cain hated Abel. It's the same reason the world hated Christ. 213 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:42.970 Because we are righteous in the world. Is Not because we no longer 214 00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:48.089 abide in death, but we abide in life now. Is that because we 215 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:52.400 all cleaned up our acts and put together a to due list and went out 216 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:59.119 and didn't murder people? No, because you and I both know that the 217 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:04.750 that fleshliness is still in us. That heart, that unloving heart, is 218 00:21:06.109 --> 00:21:14.990 still there and it comes out in physical actions, even hitting, fighting, 219 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:23.740 pushing, biting, even murdering. These things are evil. We should not 220 00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:30.500 be like king, not just because they are evil, but because we have 221 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:40.450 been made new creatures in Christ. There's this weird disconnection that exists in the 222 00:21:40.569 --> 00:21:44.970 life of the Christian and people see it. We don't like it, but 223 00:21:45.089 --> 00:21:49.519 it's true. On the white hand, where people that have been reborn, 224 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:55.720 made new, filled with love, and this is our heart. And then, 225 00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:02.670 on the other hand, we do unloving things, hateful things, evil 226 00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:10.990 things. John is inspiring us in a way. He's saying, when you 227 00:22:11.269 --> 00:22:17.259 think about who you are, remember how you ought to act, act this 228 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:22.900 way because of who you are. They're connected to one another. They're totally 229 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:30.769 connected to one another. There is no abiding in life outside of Christ. 230 00:22:30.329 --> 00:22:37.210 There is no living anew or loving again or finding a new way outside of 231 00:22:37.329 --> 00:22:48.039 Jesus. We love as Christians because it is the nature of Christ to love, 232 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:53.920 and we have been born again in him. We are freed from death 233 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:02.190 because Christ, by an act of love, has freed from death. We 234 00:23:02.349 --> 00:23:06.869 have become righteous because of an act of love. We have gained victory over 235 00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:11.309 sin because of an act of love. We have grace because of an act 236 00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:15.579 of love. We have freedom from sorrow because of an act of love, 237 00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:25.460 because of what Jesus Christ did in loving us, we are remade to love 238 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:33.529 others. We who are being remade, then are changed. Then we should 239 00:23:33.529 --> 00:23:37.609 not be like Kine, because we are not of Kine, we are of 240 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:44.480 Christ. Now, of course, that's the should and we know that we 241 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:49.440 don't always do it. We all sin, as I've said, even is 242 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:56.990 Christians. We find blood on our hands and we despise ourselves for the things 243 00:23:56.109 --> 00:24:06.230 we do and say and think. I don't just mean mistakes, I mean 244 00:24:06.950 --> 00:24:15.859 the works of Kine. The difference, however, between us is Christians and 245 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:22.500 kine is not necessarily this or that action, but ultimately the difference lies in 246 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:27.730 the action of God. He has put his Holy Spirit in us so that 247 00:24:27.849 --> 00:24:33.089 when he calls us to account, when he points out the blood on our 248 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:40.119 hands, the lies in our lips, the deception in our hearts, he's 249 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:42.079 put our wholy, his Holy Spirit in us so that when he calls us 250 00:24:42.119 --> 00:24:51.480 to account, we repent rather than rebel. We turned toward him instead of 251 00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:56.430 away from him and by His grace in us, we learn to love. 252 00:24:57.509 --> 00:25:03.390 This is the good news of the Gospel, that even when we sin, 253 00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:08.940 God is There Being Gracious, being merciful, just as he did for Cain. 254 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:17.180 But CAINE's life is a lesson, an example to not be like, 255 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:23.450 not just in his murderous actions, but also in the way that he responds 256 00:25:23.569 --> 00:25:29.650 to them. When God puts his Holy Spirit in US, he allows us 257 00:25:29.650 --> 00:25:36.599 to respond in a new way, so that we cannot be like king, 258 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.880 but's that we can be like Christ. So when you feel hatred in your 259 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:49.069 hearts, when you feel discouraged at the hatred in your hearts, and when 260 00:25:49.150 --> 00:25:53.150 you see this example and say I don't want to go this way, I 261 00:25:53.390 --> 00:25:57.349 want to go this way, I don't want to hate, I want to 262 00:25:57.630 --> 00:26:07.339 love and live in love, then put your faith in Christ, because he 263 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:12.940 is love, he gives us life and he prefrompt any promises to forgive us 264 00:26:14.619 --> 00:26:21.009 when we confess our sins and rest in him. Know the love of God, 265 00:26:21.130 --> 00:26:26.289 Beloved, Know The love of God in Christ. Let's pray.