1 00:00:01,029 --> 00:00:06,990 Today, about the most important subject in all 2 00:00:06,990 --> 00:00:14,540 the world, God, and when one is speaking 3 00:00:14,540 --> 00:00:17,620 about revival, if they're not speaking about God, 4 00:00:17,740 --> 00:00:19,300 they're speaking foolishly. 5 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:29,070 Tonight, I sense the urgency of speaking about 6 00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:32,810 the favorite theme of Americans. 7 00:00:35,970 --> 00:00:39,830 Virtually everybody appears to be in favor of 8 00:00:39,830 --> 00:00:43,930 it, but I'll take a rather unpopular position 9 00:00:43,930 --> 00:00:45,910 tonight and speak against it. 10 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:53,000 And do you know what theme I shall 11 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:53,640 address? 12 00:00:57,110 --> 00:00:58,630 The issue of sin. 13 00:01:03,220 --> 00:01:10,890 There is a great cause for the need 14 00:01:10,890 --> 00:01:13,790 of revival which is so profoundly great in 15 00:01:13,790 --> 00:01:16,050 our society, sin. 16 00:01:17,250 --> 00:01:20,030 And there is a great barrier, it appears, 17 00:01:20,150 --> 00:01:27,290 almost insurmountable to revival, and that again is 18 00:01:27,290 --> 00:01:27,650 sin. 19 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:32,180 Tonight I want to deal with a problem. 20 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,080 Lord willing, tomorrow night I'd like to deal 21 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,900 with a lovely solution. 22 00:01:37,900 --> 00:01:41,100 And for the few of you who take 23 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:45,040 notes and like to prepare yourselves for meetings 24 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,920 in advance, I'll suggest to you now the 25 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,980 scriptures I intend to employ tomorrow evening, though 26 00:01:54,580 --> 00:01:58,400 everything one ever projects to do is subject 27 00:01:58,400 --> 00:01:59,300 to change. 28 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:03,840 But Lord willing, tomorrow night I'd like to 29 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,039 deal with three passages, all interrelated. 30 00:02:08,020 --> 00:02:11,720 Genesis chapter 17, verses 1 and 2. 31 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,460 I'm mentioning these so that, as I said, 32 00:02:14,540 --> 00:02:17,080 those who wish to prepare can read them 33 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:17,780 in advance. 34 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,480 I repeat, Genesis 17, verses 1 and 2. 35 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:29,540 First Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. 36 00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:37,240 And Ephesians chapter 1, the entire chapter, but 37 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,720 give particular focus in your preparation upon verse 38 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:42,600 4. 39 00:02:46,860 --> 00:02:49,620 And Lord willing, we shall take those up 40 00:02:49,620 --> 00:02:55,080 tomorrow night, but tonight we're going to read 41 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:00,660 together a passage of unusual consequence out of 42 00:03:00,660 --> 00:03:01,800 the book of Genesis. 43 00:03:02,820 --> 00:03:05,540 And I invite you to be turning there 44 00:03:05,540 --> 00:03:07,400 with me now. 45 00:03:08,820 --> 00:03:15,990 The early part of Genesis, indeed, chapter 4, 46 00:03:16,930 --> 00:03:19,030 and beginning at verse 1. 47 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:30,100 Listen now as we heed the word of 48 00:03:30,100 --> 00:03:30,760 the Lord. 49 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,140 Genesis 4, verse 1. 50 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,400 Now the man had relations with his wife 51 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:45,340 Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to 52 00:03:45,340 --> 00:03:46,020 Cain. 53 00:03:46,740 --> 00:03:50,580 And she said, I have gotten a man 54 00:03:50,580 --> 00:03:54,320 -child with the help of the Lord. 55 00:03:55,690 --> 00:03:59,890 And again she gave birth to his brother 56 00:03:59,890 --> 00:04:00,770 Abel. 57 00:04:01,810 --> 00:04:05,790 And Abel was the keeper of flocks, but 58 00:04:05,790 --> 00:04:08,510 Cain was the tiller of the ground. 59 00:04:09,970 --> 00:04:12,170 So it came about in the course of 60 00:04:12,170 --> 00:04:15,930 time that Cain brought an offering to the 61 00:04:15,930 --> 00:04:18,209 Lord of the fruit of the ground. 62 00:04:18,209 --> 00:04:27,300 And Abel, on his part, also brought 63 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:31,880 of the firstlings of his flock and of 64 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:33,820 their fat portions. 65 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:40,720 And the Lord had regard for Abel and 66 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:46,260 for his offering, but for Cain and his 67 00:04:46,260 --> 00:04:50,640 offering he had no regard. 68 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:58,020 So Cain became very angry and his countenance 69 00:04:58,020 --> 00:04:59,300 fallen. 70 00:05:02,820 --> 00:05:05,040 Then the Lord said to Cain, why are 71 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:05,960 you angry? 72 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,280 And why has your countenance fallen? 73 00:05:11,820 --> 00:05:16,240 If you do well, will not your countenance 74 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:17,840 be lifted up? 75 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:25,840 And if you do not do well, sin 76 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:33,580 is crouching at the door, and its desire 77 00:05:33,580 --> 00:05:36,300 is for you. 78 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,700 But you must master it. 79 00:05:48,220 --> 00:05:50,460 And Cain told Abel his brother. 80 00:05:51,620 --> 00:05:53,960 And it came about when they were in 81 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,420 the field that Cain rose up against Abel, 82 00:05:58,500 --> 00:06:01,200 his brother, and killed him. 83 00:06:02,620 --> 00:06:05,980 Then the Lord said to Cain, where is 84 00:06:05,980 --> 00:06:07,320 Abel, your brother? 85 00:06:08,020 --> 00:06:12,340 And he said, I do not know. 86 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,620 Am I my brother's keeper? 87 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,340 And he said, what have you done? 88 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,760 The voice of your brother's blood is crying 89 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,660 to me from the ground. 90 00:06:29,810 --> 00:06:33,410 And now you are cursed from the ground, 91 00:06:33,590 --> 00:06:38,610 which has opened its mouth to receive your 92 00:06:38,610 --> 00:06:41,590 brother's blood from your hand. 93 00:06:43,570 --> 00:06:46,790 When you cultivate the ground, it shall no 94 00:06:46,790 --> 00:06:50,330 longer yield its strength to you. 95 00:06:51,350 --> 00:06:55,630 You shall be a vagrant and a wanderer 96 00:06:55,630 --> 00:06:56,850 on earth. 97 00:06:59,380 --> 00:07:02,840 And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment 98 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:04,800 is too great to bear. 99 00:07:06,820 --> 00:07:10,200 Behold, thou hast driven me from the face 100 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:15,040 of the ground, and from thy face I 101 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,200 shall be hidden, and I shall be a 102 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,740 vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. 103 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,200 And it will come about that whoever finds 104 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:25,380 me will kill me. 105 00:07:29,250 --> 00:07:34,330 So the Lord said, therefore, whoever kills Cain, 106 00:07:35,190 --> 00:07:39,530 vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. 107 00:07:40,890 --> 00:07:44,430 And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, 108 00:07:46,030 --> 00:07:51,690 lest anyone finding him should slay him. 109 00:07:53,070 --> 00:07:55,810 Then Cain went out from the presence of 110 00:07:55,810 --> 00:07:58,470 the Lord and settled in the land of 111 00:07:58,470 --> 00:08:01,030 Nod, east of Eden. 112 00:08:02,110 --> 00:08:06,610 And Cain had relations with his wife, and 113 00:08:06,610 --> 00:08:09,490 she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. 114 00:08:10,470 --> 00:08:14,630 And he built a city, and he called 115 00:08:14,630 --> 00:08:20,510 the name of the city Enoch, after the 116 00:08:20,510 --> 00:08:23,770 name of his son. 117 00:08:24,970 --> 00:08:28,130 Have you ever pondered these words? 118 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:43,820 Sin is crouching at the door, and its 119 00:08:43,820 --> 00:08:52,650 desire is for you, but you must master 120 00:08:52,650 --> 00:08:53,130 it. 121 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,840 It's very easy for any and all of 122 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,860 us to become extremely careless in our attitude 123 00:09:02,860 --> 00:09:03,800 towards sin. 124 00:09:06,220 --> 00:09:08,620 In fact, it would be correct for me 125 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:10,600 to say that we live at a time 126 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:16,740 when there is a colossal carelessness in connection 127 00:09:16,740 --> 00:09:21,340 with sin, and relatively few care. 128 00:09:24,700 --> 00:09:26,960 One doesn't hear much of the words that 129 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:31,840 I'm about to utilize, but they're the kinds 130 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:36,280 of words that were frequently voiced from the 131 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:41,880 pulpits of the land in earlier generations, but 132 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:43,220 not much any longer. 133 00:09:43,540 --> 00:09:45,320 But let me give you a series of 134 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,600 what might be called theological terms, and yet 135 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,080 they are much more than theological terms. 136 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,900 They represent vital biblical issues. 137 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:58,920 Let me give you these terms. 138 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:02,720 The universality of sin. 139 00:10:03,460 --> 00:10:05,400 Where are you going to find anybody that 140 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:06,720 is not contaminated? 141 00:10:09,330 --> 00:10:13,410 Who is there even among us that knows 142 00:10:13,410 --> 00:10:14,930 nothing of sin? 143 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:20,770 Total depravity. 144 00:10:21,910 --> 00:10:24,390 It isn't merely that we have a problem. 145 00:10:26,710 --> 00:10:34,490 We are absolutely and totally unable to do 146 00:10:34,490 --> 00:10:38,530 anything in and of ourselves that is acceptable 147 00:10:38,670 --> 00:10:42,990 to the Lord God, omnipotent, who reigneth. 148 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,280 The imputation of sin. 149 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,640 Children don't learn to sin. 150 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:02,480 Sin was imputed to them. 151 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:08,980 Through their father, and his father, and his 152 00:11:08,980 --> 00:11:13,100 father's father's, all the way back to Adam. 153 00:11:14,620 --> 00:11:19,460 Not one has ever been born free of 154 00:11:19,460 --> 00:11:29,390 this imputed sin, original sin. 155 00:11:30,670 --> 00:11:33,570 I never spent a lot of time as 156 00:11:33,570 --> 00:11:39,010 a pastor, but I did have one season 157 00:11:39,010 --> 00:11:45,000 when I was pastor of a church that 158 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,760 had a big sign out front that said, 159 00:11:48,740 --> 00:11:52,720 and by the way it said erroneously, it 160 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:58,040 said, Central California's Largest Church. 161 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,940 There were 5,000 families connected with the 162 00:12:02,940 --> 00:12:04,380 church, so it wasn't small. 163 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,100 And we had a lot of deaths in 164 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:13,560 a church that size. 165 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,260 I never counted, but I suppose the funerals 166 00:12:17,260 --> 00:12:23,620 averaged between 20 and 25 a week, and 167 00:12:23,620 --> 00:12:27,600 many of them were infants and young children. 168 00:12:28,580 --> 00:12:31,380 And all the parents, no matter what their 169 00:12:31,380 --> 00:12:35,440 state in terms of God was concerned, wanted 170 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,400 me to say something sweet and comforting about 171 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,200 their innocent babe received into the arms of 172 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:43,600 Jesus. 173 00:12:47,350 --> 00:12:52,630 And they objected strenuously to the whole idea 174 00:12:52,630 --> 00:12:54,390 of original sin. 175 00:12:55,510 --> 00:12:56,290 Nonsense. 176 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,860 Infants are born sweet and lovely, clean and 177 00:13:02,860 --> 00:13:06,460 pure, holy in the eyes of God, and 178 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:09,840 even more than acceptable in his sight. 179 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,280 But that's not in keeping with scripture. 180 00:13:17,660 --> 00:13:21,620 Every infant, no matter how sweet and lovely, 181 00:13:23,180 --> 00:13:26,860 is in the grip of original sin. 182 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:36,760 Or this expression, sin as a reigning principle. 183 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:42,440 It isn't merely that we are occasionally subjected 184 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,000 to severe temptations and fall. 185 00:13:47,940 --> 00:13:53,720 Sin is a reigning principle, and until the 186 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:59,260 reign of sin is broken, it indeed reigns 187 00:13:59,260 --> 00:14:00,040 over us. 188 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,700 Sin is crouching at the door, and its 189 00:14:04,700 --> 00:14:07,620 desire is toward you. 190 00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:13,600 If you do not master it through the 191 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:19,420 power of Jesus Christ, it will master you. 192 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:23,380 The reigning principle of sin. 193 00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:31,060 Or this expression, rarely used in our day, 194 00:14:33,310 --> 00:14:33,610 the 195 00:14:36,460 --> 00:14:46,680 propensity 196 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,240 to sin. 197 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:50,260 You know that word, propensity? 198 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:55,080 Some of us use the term tendency, but 199 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,620 sin is not merely a tendency. 200 00:14:58,210 --> 00:15:05,140 We have a propensity to sin and irresistible 201 00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:05,860 urge. 202 00:15:06,380 --> 00:15:10,000 Not an individual here has the strength in 203 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,780 and of themselves to resist this propensity to 204 00:15:14,780 --> 00:15:15,240 evil. 205 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,640 You spend much time thinking about these words 206 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:29,080 and expressions describing the problem of sin. 207 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,000 You need also to remember this expression, sin 208 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,200 as an acquired habit. 209 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:41,620 Now, that's not to say that the only 210 00:15:41,620 --> 00:15:44,420 sins are the sins that are acquired as 211 00:15:44,420 --> 00:15:44,860 a habit. 212 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,020 That's to say, with all the other evil 213 00:15:48,020 --> 00:15:52,360 that naturally accumulates in your life, you can 214 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:57,340 and probably will even stoop so low as 215 00:15:57,340 --> 00:16:01,440 to cultivate a certain sin and let it 216 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,620 become as a habit in your life. 217 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,760 For instance, in our day, shocking to know 218 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,680 how many ministers have cultivated the habit of 219 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,820 looking at pornography and are now in the 220 00:16:17,820 --> 00:16:20,760 grip of pornography, and they don't know how 221 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:21,640 to break it. 222 00:16:22,660 --> 00:16:26,080 An acquired habit, as is tobacco and alcohol 223 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:27,180 and so on. 224 00:16:27,180 --> 00:16:30,780 Many, many sins that one would not naturally 225 00:16:30,780 --> 00:16:38,560 fall into that they have indeed acquired, and 226 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,860 these sins have gripped them as an acquired 227 00:16:41,860 --> 00:16:42,840 habit. 228 00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:45,900 And then I'll just mention one more term, 229 00:16:46,340 --> 00:16:48,660 one I should suppose that few of you 230 00:16:48,660 --> 00:16:54,010 ever heard, aggravated sin. 231 00:16:54,450 --> 00:16:55,510 Do you know that term? 232 00:16:56,670 --> 00:16:58,350 Aggravated sin. 233 00:16:58,910 --> 00:16:59,930 Do you know what I mean? 234 00:17:01,410 --> 00:17:05,270 You say, what is an aggravated sin? 235 00:17:06,849 --> 00:17:12,150 Sin that is made the worse by some 236 00:17:12,150 --> 00:17:13,530 circumstance. 237 00:17:17,050 --> 00:17:19,890 Mr. Sapien reports to me that he has 238 00:17:19,890 --> 00:17:24,270 circulated many copies of a message delivered in 239 00:17:24,270 --> 00:17:26,410 another church in this area a year or 240 00:17:26,410 --> 00:17:31,130 so ago that was entitled, Breaking Faith with 241 00:17:31,130 --> 00:17:31,590 God. 242 00:17:32,790 --> 00:17:35,510 A message on the great sin of Moses' 243 00:17:35,810 --> 00:17:38,850 life at the end, when he and his 244 00:17:38,850 --> 00:17:43,550 brother Aaron, having emerged from an astonishing session 245 00:17:43,550 --> 00:17:47,350 in which God revealed his glory to them, 246 00:17:47,810 --> 00:17:51,070 then proceeded to commit the sin of sins, 247 00:17:51,390 --> 00:17:54,230 as far as their lives were concerned, in 248 00:17:54,230 --> 00:17:55,990 breaking faith with God. 249 00:17:56,730 --> 00:17:59,810 That was an aggravated sin, a sin made 250 00:17:59,810 --> 00:18:02,170 much worse by the fact that they had 251 00:18:02,170 --> 00:18:05,870 just emerged from the glory of God's presence 252 00:18:05,870 --> 00:18:07,670 and plunged into the sin. 253 00:18:07,670 --> 00:18:10,850 In the book of James we read about 254 00:18:10,850 --> 00:18:13,710 another of these aggravated sins. 255 00:18:14,030 --> 00:18:17,990 To him that knoweth to do good and 256 00:18:17,990 --> 00:18:22,230 doeth it not, to him it is sin, 257 00:18:22,330 --> 00:18:25,910 indeed more than mere sin, an aggravated sin, 258 00:18:25,970 --> 00:18:29,070 a sin made the worse by the knowledge 259 00:18:29,070 --> 00:18:32,610 of the great evil, by the knowledge of 260 00:18:32,610 --> 00:18:37,210 the fact that God himself has forbidden it. 261 00:18:37,670 --> 00:18:40,510 But now let's turn over a leaf and 262 00:18:40,510 --> 00:18:44,630 go from the use of theological terms to 263 00:18:44,630 --> 00:18:45,550 the New Testament. 264 00:18:46,050 --> 00:18:48,170 A few of you may know the great 265 00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:52,710 book by R.C. Trench entitled Synonyms of 266 00:18:52,710 --> 00:18:57,630 the New Testament, and that dear man listed 267 00:18:57,630 --> 00:19:03,710 eight different terms in the New Testament, all 268 00:19:03,710 --> 00:19:05,950 of which deal with the subject of sin. 269 00:19:05,950 --> 00:19:09,970 Let me quickly and yet carefully mention these 270 00:19:09,970 --> 00:19:10,510 eight. 271 00:19:10,650 --> 00:19:17,460 Sin is a missing of the mark, a 272 00:19:17,460 --> 00:19:18,720 faulty aim. 273 00:19:20,860 --> 00:19:22,620 For every one of us here, without any 274 00:19:22,620 --> 00:19:25,360 exception, God has placed a target in front 275 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,180 of us, and our lives are to hit 276 00:19:27,180 --> 00:19:29,360 that target bullseye. 277 00:19:32,980 --> 00:19:35,420 And whenever we miss the target that God 278 00:19:35,420 --> 00:19:39,140 has set in front of us, it's sin. 279 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,460 Whether you shoot wide at the target or 280 00:19:42,460 --> 00:19:45,620 the arrow of your life falls short of 281 00:19:45,620 --> 00:19:50,540 the target, the missing of the mark is 282 00:19:50,540 --> 00:19:50,940 sin. 283 00:19:52,580 --> 00:19:56,720 Another synonym of the New Testament, when interpreted 284 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,980 into English, means an over-transgression or an 285 00:20:00,980 --> 00:20:02,960 over-passing of the line. 286 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,980 Indeed, God has laid out a line, and 287 00:20:06,980 --> 00:20:11,820 he has said, Thus far and no farther. 288 00:20:12,340 --> 00:20:15,800 You dare not cross this line. 289 00:20:16,220 --> 00:20:18,920 You must not cross this line. 290 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,680 You cannot cross this line with impunity. 291 00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:27,300 And if you overshoot the line, if you 292 00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:31,780 pass over the line, you have indeed committed 293 00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:32,860 sin. 294 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:38,940 A third synonym comes right down to disobedience 295 00:20:38,940 --> 00:20:40,240 of a voice. 296 00:20:42,570 --> 00:20:44,610 God has spoken. 297 00:20:46,290 --> 00:20:51,150 He has told us what he requires of 298 00:20:51,150 --> 00:20:51,590 us. 299 00:20:53,630 --> 00:20:56,510 And any acts of disobedience to the voice 300 00:20:56,510 --> 00:20:59,910 of God, and in particular to the voice 301 00:20:59,910 --> 00:21:02,850 of God, as it echoes through the pages 302 00:21:02,850 --> 00:21:08,270 of Holy Scripture, is indeed a most grievous 303 00:21:08,270 --> 00:21:09,330 sin. 304 00:21:09,710 --> 00:21:11,690 Disobedience to a voice. 305 00:21:11,750 --> 00:21:16,330 Now, that can include failure to listen when 306 00:21:16,330 --> 00:21:24,550 God speaks, and that can include refusal to 307 00:21:24,550 --> 00:21:24,990 hear. 308 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,420 But any time you are disobedient to the 309 00:21:31,420 --> 00:21:35,260 voice of God, you have indeed committed a 310 00:21:35,260 --> 00:21:38,520 sin of vast consequence. 311 00:21:39,340 --> 00:21:41,560 And may I insert here that no sin 312 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:46,440 is of minor consequence, because all sin is 313 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,240 against God. 314 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,380 You may think concerning a particular sin, well, 315 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,280 it's really not all that bad. 316 00:21:55,220 --> 00:21:57,220 Nobody is being hurt by it. 317 00:21:57,420 --> 00:22:00,720 This is part of the so-called new 318 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,400 morality. 319 00:22:03,020 --> 00:22:06,580 You determine the severity of a sin by 320 00:22:06,580 --> 00:22:09,220 asking the question, is anybody hurt? 321 00:22:09,460 --> 00:22:13,440 Here are two consenting adults, and they agree 322 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,180 to fornicate together, and they have a lovely 323 00:22:16,180 --> 00:22:17,860 time doing so. 324 00:22:18,740 --> 00:22:21,720 So it's not really sin, because both parties 325 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:22,820 enjoyed it. 326 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,280 On the other hand, rape, now that is 327 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,560 another issue, because that involves force and somebody 328 00:22:31,380 --> 00:22:33,940 doing something against their own will. 329 00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:38,420 So that's not so nice, but consenting sex, 330 00:22:38,500 --> 00:22:40,200 that's all right. 331 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:43,740 That's the new morality. 332 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:49,700 But the old morality makes it crystal clear 333 00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:54,260 that any disobedience to the voice of God 334 00:22:54,260 --> 00:22:55,100 is sin. 335 00:22:56,120 --> 00:23:05,660 Or consider this fourth expression, failure to stand 336 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,860 when one should. 337 00:23:11,860 --> 00:23:14,900 I've been in many a situation where a 338 00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:19,380 grievous wrong was being committed, and I've talked 339 00:23:19,380 --> 00:23:21,220 with those around me, and we've all agreed, 340 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:22,880 oh yes, it's wrong. 341 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,800 Well, then let's take a stand against it. 342 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,980 And they say, go ahead, Mr. Roberts, you're 343 00:23:28,980 --> 00:23:30,620 used to doing things like this. 344 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:32,260 You'll be the spokesman. 345 00:23:37,780 --> 00:23:39,920 And then I look back for my supporters, 346 00:23:40,140 --> 00:23:42,480 and lo, I stand alone. 347 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,460 They've retired into the woodwork. 348 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:53,080 Sin is a failure to stand upright, a 349 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,000 falling when we should have stood firm. 350 00:23:58,140 --> 00:24:00,700 Now, I haven't time to develop this, but 351 00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,440 one of the most stirring accounts of a 352 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,840 human life in scripture is the account of 353 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:11,820 that young boy, Joash, who became king and 354 00:24:11,820 --> 00:24:16,060 leaned upon the high priest for years. 355 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,980 And when the high priest died, his leaning 356 00:24:20,980 --> 00:24:23,820 post was gone, and he fell flat. 357 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:25,740 You'll find it in 2 Chronicles. 358 00:24:25,740 --> 00:24:28,400 If you'll contemplate it, it will be helpful 359 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:28,980 to you. 360 00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:31,560 We have many leaners in the church that 361 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,100 never did learn to stand alone. 362 00:24:34,580 --> 00:24:38,120 Their strength is always found in somebody else 363 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:39,540 upon whom they lean. 364 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,800 But sin is always present when one who 365 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,900 is ordered by God to stand, fall. 366 00:24:54,360 --> 00:25:00,830 A fifth synonym, ignorance of what one should 367 00:25:00,830 --> 00:25:01,930 have known. 368 00:25:02,050 --> 00:25:05,090 Now, we all know the expression and may 369 00:25:05,090 --> 00:25:07,490 even have been tempted to use it when 370 00:25:07,490 --> 00:25:11,450 a police officer's siren sounds behind us and 371 00:25:11,450 --> 00:25:12,490 he pulls us over. 372 00:25:12,790 --> 00:25:15,790 Oh, officer, I'm so sorry, I didn't know 373 00:25:15,790 --> 00:25:18,590 this was a 35-mile-an-hour limit. 374 00:25:20,590 --> 00:25:24,990 Ignorance is no excuse of the law. 375 00:25:25,230 --> 00:25:28,290 That goes vastly beyond civil matters. 376 00:25:29,510 --> 00:25:33,250 Surely, above all else, that pertains to the 377 00:25:33,250 --> 00:25:35,130 law of God. 378 00:25:36,410 --> 00:25:41,790 A sixth synonym deals with the diminishing of 379 00:25:41,790 --> 00:25:45,430 that which should have been rendered in full 380 00:25:45,430 --> 00:25:46,410 measure. 381 00:25:47,670 --> 00:25:51,270 You know perfectly well what you should do, 382 00:25:51,430 --> 00:25:54,330 but you say to yourself, I'm not prepared 383 00:25:54,330 --> 00:25:57,270 to do it in total, but I will 384 00:25:57,270 --> 00:25:59,210 do it in a reduced measure. 385 00:26:00,110 --> 00:26:02,870 The Lord lays it upon your heart to 386 00:26:02,870 --> 00:26:06,130 give a certain sum in support of a 387 00:26:06,130 --> 00:26:11,030 very needy cause, and he's asking you for, 388 00:26:11,470 --> 00:26:15,190 say, a hundred dollars, and you think, well, 389 00:26:15,490 --> 00:26:17,950 that's an awful lot of money right now 390 00:26:17,950 --> 00:26:20,570 when there are so many demands upon my 391 00:26:20,570 --> 00:26:21,770 thin means. 392 00:26:22,150 --> 00:26:23,450 I'll give fifty. 393 00:26:25,810 --> 00:26:28,810 Well, that's a poor illustration, but all of 394 00:26:28,810 --> 00:26:32,370 us are tempted to render in part what 395 00:26:32,370 --> 00:26:34,330 God orders in full. 396 00:26:34,790 --> 00:26:38,890 And any time we do that, we sin 397 00:26:38,890 --> 00:26:42,870 against the God who made us and who 398 00:26:42,870 --> 00:26:46,710 has every right to demand from us total 399 00:26:46,710 --> 00:26:48,010 obedience. 400 00:26:48,950 --> 00:26:54,330 The seventh word that is utilized, usually translated 401 00:26:54,330 --> 00:27:01,510 iniquity or lawlessness, means simply the non-observance 402 00:27:01,510 --> 00:27:02,490 of law. 403 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,350 And we would have to admit, if we 404 00:27:05,350 --> 00:27:07,610 were to speak honestly to our own hearts, 405 00:27:07,750 --> 00:27:11,170 that there have been more than one occasion 406 00:27:11,170 --> 00:27:15,730 when we knew perfectly well what the law 407 00:27:15,730 --> 00:27:19,470 of God required of us, and we simply 408 00:27:19,470 --> 00:27:22,910 said, I will not obey. 409 00:27:24,150 --> 00:27:29,970 And the final term, discord in the harmonies 410 00:27:29,970 --> 00:27:30,870 of nature. 411 00:27:32,370 --> 00:27:35,010 Someone may say, now he's about to go 412 00:27:35,010 --> 00:27:37,690 from preaching to meddling, because I say to 413 00:27:37,690 --> 00:27:40,810 you that part of the discord in the 414 00:27:40,810 --> 00:27:44,310 harmony of nature is the role of men, 415 00:27:44,610 --> 00:27:47,730 women, and children under God's order. 416 00:27:52,790 --> 00:27:55,130 A pastor said to me this week, I've 417 00:27:55,130 --> 00:27:59,690 discovered that every serious disruption that we have 418 00:27:59,690 --> 00:28:03,610 in our church has been caused by some 419 00:28:03,610 --> 00:28:08,650 woman who would not accept her God-ordained 420 00:28:08,650 --> 00:28:09,570 role. 421 00:28:10,490 --> 00:28:14,370 I hope he's wrong, but what more outstanding 422 00:28:14,370 --> 00:28:17,810 discord in the harmony of God's nature do 423 00:28:17,810 --> 00:28:20,790 we see today than women who will not 424 00:28:20,790 --> 00:28:24,110 accept their God-appointed role? 425 00:28:24,290 --> 00:28:28,150 Everybody who's using their head knows that God 426 00:28:28,150 --> 00:28:29,990 ordered things simply. 427 00:28:30,430 --> 00:28:34,850 He himself at the top, man underneath him, 428 00:28:35,150 --> 00:28:39,710 women underneath man, and children underneath the whole 429 00:28:39,710 --> 00:28:40,310 pile. 430 00:28:41,050 --> 00:28:43,990 Is it any wonder that children are acting 431 00:28:43,990 --> 00:28:48,170 so wildly and committing such grievous evils? 432 00:28:48,530 --> 00:28:51,490 How can you expect children to stay in 433 00:28:51,490 --> 00:28:53,930 line when mothers are out of line? 434 00:28:56,250 --> 00:28:58,350 And of course, many a mother can honestly 435 00:28:58,350 --> 00:29:02,370 say, well, there was a problem that preceded 436 00:29:02,370 --> 00:29:03,310 my disorder. 437 00:29:04,450 --> 00:29:08,050 My husband has never put himself under God's 438 00:29:08,050 --> 00:29:08,670 authority. 439 00:29:08,670 --> 00:29:10,950 It's very hard going for me to put 440 00:29:10,950 --> 00:29:13,490 myself under the authority of a man who 441 00:29:13,490 --> 00:29:15,890 will not put himself under the authority of 442 00:29:15,890 --> 00:29:16,470 God. 443 00:29:17,050 --> 00:29:20,970 Disorders in the harmony of God's nature, that's 444 00:29:20,970 --> 00:29:21,510 sin. 445 00:29:22,990 --> 00:29:25,770 But now we have read the most significant 446 00:29:25,770 --> 00:29:28,470 passage, and let's come to it. 447 00:29:32,390 --> 00:29:36,890 I hope you realize that sin is never 448 00:29:36,890 --> 00:29:41,490 willing to be merely your companion. 449 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:50,260 Sin is determined to be your Lord and 450 00:29:50,260 --> 00:29:51,780 your Master. 451 00:29:54,110 --> 00:29:56,830 Some folk act as if they could safely 452 00:29:56,830 --> 00:30:00,350 give way at least a little to sin, 453 00:30:00,770 --> 00:30:04,010 and it wouldn't be all that disruptive or 454 00:30:04,010 --> 00:30:04,730 dangerous. 455 00:30:06,740 --> 00:30:12,580 Sin is never content to take a subordinate 456 00:30:12,580 --> 00:30:13,940 position. 457 00:30:13,940 --> 00:30:19,540 Sin always demands top billing. 458 00:30:24,220 --> 00:30:29,590 Sin strives not for occasional conquest. 459 00:30:31,300 --> 00:30:35,070 Sin strives for perpetual control. 460 00:30:38,500 --> 00:30:40,880 Sin is a tyrant. 461 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:50,300 You either master it, or it masters 462 00:30:50,300 --> 00:30:51,220 you. 463 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,480 And you understand, I hope, that when I 464 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:01,080 say you either master it, I don't mean 465 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,920 you and you alone. 466 00:31:06,750 --> 00:31:10,950 I mean the blessed Son of God who 467 00:31:10,950 --> 00:31:17,730 died and was buried and rose again for 468 00:31:17,730 --> 00:31:19,650 your sanctification. 469 00:31:24,290 --> 00:31:27,110 Now, dear friends, let me insert this obvious 470 00:31:27,110 --> 00:31:27,810 fact. 471 00:31:28,650 --> 00:31:32,530 We desperately need revival, and yet we see 472 00:31:32,530 --> 00:31:36,190 no signs of genuine revival at this time. 473 00:31:38,910 --> 00:31:44,770 Sin has provoked the immense need of revival, 474 00:31:45,770 --> 00:31:50,310 and sin still stands as the barrier to 475 00:31:50,310 --> 00:31:50,890 revival. 476 00:31:54,100 --> 00:31:58,040 One would like to think that a godly 477 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,780 people, a careful and a prayerful, a thinking 478 00:32:00,780 --> 00:32:05,520 people, would quickly recognize what sin has done 479 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,540 by way of destruction in the work of 480 00:32:08,540 --> 00:32:12,480 God, and understand their role in this destruction 481 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:17,620 by their participation in sin, and immediately humble 482 00:32:17,620 --> 00:32:21,940 themselves and pray and seek God's face and 483 00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:23,160 turn from their wicked ways. 484 00:32:23,260 --> 00:32:25,640 But I don't know anywhere in America where 485 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:30,320 there's any real evidence of people doing this 486 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,600 on any large scale at all. 487 00:32:37,780 --> 00:32:40,340 You know something of the passage that we 488 00:32:40,340 --> 00:32:41,120 have read? 489 00:32:43,220 --> 00:32:44,740 Let's look at it. 490 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,600 We don't have a lot of time. 491 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,340 You folk are used to listening a lot 492 00:32:49,340 --> 00:32:52,760 less than I'm used to preaching. 493 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,880 Most of the places I go, I make 494 00:32:57,880 --> 00:32:59,540 it clear that they can give me no 495 00:32:59,540 --> 00:33:00,700 time restraints. 496 00:33:01,180 --> 00:33:04,360 But I've come here without that understanding. 497 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,260 And I'm not going to presume upon the 498 00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:14,440 kindness of your invitation by complicating the affairs 499 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,500 of the life of this church and of 500 00:33:16,500 --> 00:33:20,140 you, dear people, by taking extra long tonight. 501 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,820 You'd like to hear a long sermon. 502 00:33:23,260 --> 00:33:25,840 Reuben's been pushing some of them on tapes. 503 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:31,600 But I want you to look at this 504 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:32,920 passage with me. 505 00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:37,830 You understand, don't you, that Cain was the 506 00:33:37,830 --> 00:33:41,870 firstborn son of the first created man, and 507 00:33:41,870 --> 00:33:42,270 woman. 508 00:33:43,590 --> 00:33:45,790 You know as well that Cain was the 509 00:33:45,790 --> 00:33:50,210 son of fallen sinners. 510 00:33:53,220 --> 00:33:57,040 But these fallen sinners nonetheless believed in God. 511 00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:00,180 Did you notice these words in verse 1 512 00:34:00,180 --> 00:34:06,500 of Genesis 4, Eve speaking, I have gotten 513 00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:10,659 a man-child with the help of God. 514 00:34:11,460 --> 00:34:12,840 That's worth remembering. 515 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:17,600 No matter how far Eve had fallen and 516 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:22,480 how distant was her relationship now after the 517 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,560 garden with the Lord God Almighty, she still 518 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,139 retained in her knowledge the remembrance of the 519 00:34:30,139 --> 00:34:32,960 fact that the son who was given to 520 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,980 her was with the aid, with the help 521 00:34:36,980 --> 00:34:39,159 of the Holy One. 522 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,659 Isn't it sad when you realize that millions 523 00:34:44,659 --> 00:34:48,360 in America today can bear children and not 524 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,360 even recognize this primitive truth? 525 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,240 But that child came to them with the 526 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,280 intervention of the Almighty. 527 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,100 We, at least for the most part, are 528 00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:11,220 keenly aware that Cain was a farmer, a 529 00:35:11,220 --> 00:35:14,280 killer of the ground, and we know that 530 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,720 his brother Abel was a shepherd. 531 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,740 We also know that both these brothers had 532 00:35:21,740 --> 00:35:27,900 sufficient interest in the things of God to 533 00:35:27,900 --> 00:35:32,180 offer in the course of time, a sacrifice. 534 00:35:32,740 --> 00:35:38,280 We know that Cain's sacrifice, his offering, consisted 535 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,380 of the fruit of the ground. 536 00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:44,040 We know that the sacrifice made by Abel 537 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:49,400 consisted of the firstlings of the flock and 538 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,200 of the fat portion. 539 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:59,100 We know that the Lord had regard both 540 00:35:59,100 --> 00:36:04,300 for Abel and for Abel's offering. 541 00:36:04,820 --> 00:36:11,640 And we know as well that God had 542 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:18,560 no regard for Cain or for his offering. 543 00:36:19,660 --> 00:36:24,980 And we know that Cain became angry, and 544 00:36:24,980 --> 00:36:27,520 he expressed that anger. 545 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,620 And this is recorded in verse 6, and 546 00:36:30,620 --> 00:36:32,260 it's worth looking at again. 547 00:36:32,260 --> 00:36:36,500 Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are 548 00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:38,640 you angry? 549 00:36:39,220 --> 00:36:43,380 And why has your countenance fallen? 550 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,160 Many people have said to me, or I 551 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,360 have said to many people, What are you 552 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:52,160 angry about? 553 00:36:53,460 --> 00:36:55,040 And they say, I'm not angry. 554 00:36:57,060 --> 00:36:59,220 What are you angry about? 555 00:37:02,170 --> 00:37:04,410 Well, what makes you think I'm angry? 556 00:37:05,270 --> 00:37:07,590 Your fallen countenance. 557 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:16,120 Here, God observes the fallen countenance of Cain. 558 00:37:17,460 --> 00:37:20,160 What are you angry about? 559 00:37:27,660 --> 00:37:32,400 Now, dear friends, there are some complications in 560 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,280 this passage, and it is not the easiest 561 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:39,240 passage in holy scripture to interpret, right? 562 00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:43,800 There are some important parallel passages that have 563 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:45,880 to be brought into line with this. 564 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,260 For instance, Hebrews 11, verse 4. 565 00:37:50,740 --> 00:37:56,460 By faith, Abel offered unto God a better 566 00:37:56,460 --> 00:38:04,640 sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the 567 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:10,200 testimony that he was righteous, God testifying of 568 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,080 his gifts. 569 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:19,060 And through faith, he, though dead, yet speaks. 570 00:38:21,030 --> 00:38:22,910 And we know they were both brothers. 571 00:38:23,950 --> 00:38:26,410 We know they both had the same parents. 572 00:38:26,590 --> 00:38:28,430 We know they both came from the same 573 00:38:28,430 --> 00:38:28,890 home. 574 00:38:29,430 --> 00:38:31,750 We know they were both prompted to worship 575 00:38:31,750 --> 00:38:35,010 God at the same time, and apparently in 576 00:38:35,010 --> 00:38:35,990 the same place. 577 00:38:36,150 --> 00:38:38,890 We know that they both arranged an offering 578 00:38:38,890 --> 00:38:42,130 which was suitable to their occupations. 579 00:38:42,130 --> 00:38:45,790 Yet one was acceptable to God, and the 580 00:38:45,790 --> 00:38:48,090 other was rejected. 581 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:54,460 What is the real issue here? 582 00:38:55,140 --> 00:38:58,480 It is the issue that one was of 583 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,600 the fruit of the ground, and the other 584 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,520 was of the firstling of the flock. 585 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:09,960 Well, some preachers have certainly made that the 586 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:10,420 issue. 587 00:39:11,340 --> 00:39:15,500 It was the issue that one was bloody, 588 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:17,500 and the other was bloodless. 589 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,540 Now, in the passage out of Hebrews that 590 00:39:26,540 --> 00:39:31,840 I just cited, the statement was made that 591 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:37,340 the sacrifice of Abel was better than the 592 00:39:37,340 --> 00:39:38,820 sacrifice of Cain. 593 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:41,560 Now, what does that mean? 594 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:42,900 Better? 595 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:47,720 Well, let me suggest what a variety of 596 00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:49,980 the translations say. 597 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:56,000 The old Reims translation, the sacrifice of Abel 598 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:57,200 was fuller. 599 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:03,260 The Weymouth translation, the sacrifice of Abel was 600 00:40:03,260 --> 00:40:04,560 more acceptable. 601 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:10,960 The Goodspeed translation, the sacrifice of Abel was 602 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:11,660 greater. 603 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:17,280 The Berkeley translation, the sacrifice of Abel was 604 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:17,790 superior. 605 00:40:19,140 --> 00:40:23,600 The Moffat translation, the sacrifice of Abel was 606 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:24,110 richer. 607 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:26,480 Get those words. 608 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:31,520 Fuller, more acceptable, greater, superior, richer. 609 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:41,510 Is it important that in 610 00:40:41,510 --> 00:40:49,370 Genesis 4, 3, it says one was fruit, 611 00:40:49,710 --> 00:40:53,390 using the word in the singular form? 612 00:40:54,250 --> 00:41:00,050 And the other, verse 4, firstlings is a 613 00:41:00,050 --> 00:41:01,010 plural word. 614 00:41:01,190 --> 00:41:04,770 Is that what is implied by fuller, greater, 615 00:41:05,070 --> 00:41:06,430 superior, richer? 616 00:41:11,340 --> 00:41:14,470 Can we say concerning Cain's offering that it 617 00:41:14,470 --> 00:41:21,420 was mean, that it was stingy, and concerning 618 00:41:21,420 --> 00:41:27,020 Abel's offering that it was large, sacrificial, costly, 619 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:28,060 generous? 620 00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,680 Well, we can say something else with far 621 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:34,800 greater certainty. 622 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:44,540 Abel offered in faith, and that is not 623 00:41:44,540 --> 00:41:45,740 said about Cain. 624 00:41:47,020 --> 00:41:52,720 Abel's sacrifice, we have read, bore testimony that 625 00:41:52,720 --> 00:42:01,380 he was righteous, whereas Cain's offering testified of 626 00:42:01,380 --> 00:42:05,060 his lack of acceptance with God. 627 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,180 Notice these words from 1 John 3, verses 628 00:42:09,180 --> 00:42:10,300 10 to 12. 629 00:42:10,860 --> 00:42:13,560 By this the children of God and the 630 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:16,440 children of the devil are obvious. 631 00:42:16,980 --> 00:42:20,580 Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not 632 00:42:20,580 --> 00:42:23,900 of God, nor the one who does not 633 00:42:23,900 --> 00:42:25,540 love his brother. 634 00:42:26,380 --> 00:42:28,520 For this is the message which you have 635 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,160 heard from the beginning, that we should love 636 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:37,300 one another, not as Cain, who was of 637 00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:38,960 the evil one. 638 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,820 And slew his brother. 639 00:42:44,140 --> 00:42:46,820 And for what reason did he slay him? 640 00:42:47,860 --> 00:42:53,900 Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's 641 00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:54,740 righteous. 642 00:42:58,330 --> 00:43:02,690 From these words we can safely deduce that 643 00:43:02,690 --> 00:43:06,450 Cain was a child of the devil, because 644 00:43:06,450 --> 00:43:08,570 he did not love his brother. 645 00:43:09,530 --> 00:43:13,570 Cain was not of God, because he did 646 00:43:13,570 --> 00:43:16,030 not practice righteousness. 647 00:43:17,090 --> 00:43:24,880 Cain slew his own brother, because his deeds 648 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:30,000 were evil, and his brother's deeds were righteous. 649 00:43:34,620 --> 00:43:36,980 Now think for a moment of these general 650 00:43:36,980 --> 00:43:41,840 principles that scriptures teach on the theme I'm 651 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:43,460 drawing your attention to. 652 00:43:43,460 --> 00:43:45,880 1 Samuel 15, 22. 653 00:43:46,100 --> 00:43:50,640 Has the Lord as much delight in burnt 654 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:57,020 offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice 655 00:43:57,020 --> 00:43:58,280 of the Lord? 656 00:43:59,300 --> 00:44:07,020 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and 657 00:44:07,020 --> 00:44:15,470 to hearken is better than the fat of 658 00:44:15,470 --> 00:44:15,850 wrath. 659 00:44:17,290 --> 00:44:20,870 Or these words in 1 Samuel 16, 7. 660 00:44:20,990 --> 00:44:23,990 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not 661 00:44:23,990 --> 00:44:27,590 look at his appearance or at the height 662 00:44:27,590 --> 00:44:33,990 of his stature, referring to Saul, because I 663 00:44:33,990 --> 00:44:36,290 have rejected him. 664 00:44:36,690 --> 00:44:42,710 For God sees not as man sees, for 665 00:44:42,710 --> 00:44:46,790 man looks at the outward appearance, but the 666 00:44:46,790 --> 00:44:49,130 Lord looks at the heart. 667 00:44:50,110 --> 00:44:53,450 And these summary words in James 3, 16. 668 00:44:54,190 --> 00:44:57,810 For where is jealousy and selfishness? 669 00:44:58,330 --> 00:45:02,830 Where they exist, where ambition exists, there is 670 00:45:02,830 --> 00:45:06,650 disorder and every evil thing. 671 00:45:06,730 --> 00:45:14,300 Now, dear friends, the portion of this message 672 00:45:14,300 --> 00:45:18,640 that has gripped my heart and which I 673 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:22,200 hope and pray will truly lay hold of 674 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:28,360 your heart before you leave tonight is found 675 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:31,720 in the words that I have twice cited 676 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:32,800 already. 677 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:43,750 Sin is crouching at the door, and if 678 00:45:43,750 --> 00:45:51,260 its desire is for you, then you must 679 00:45:51,260 --> 00:45:53,740 master it. 680 00:45:54,200 --> 00:46:00,310 Notice now in verse 7 that the words 681 00:46:00,310 --> 00:46:03,890 I've just cited are preceded by these words. 682 00:46:04,610 --> 00:46:11,210 If you do well, will not your countenance 683 00:46:11,210 --> 00:46:13,910 be lifted up? 684 00:46:18,450 --> 00:46:23,010 If you're innocent, if you're sinless, if you, 685 00:46:23,430 --> 00:46:29,610 like Abel, present a right sacrifice in a 686 00:46:29,610 --> 00:46:34,670 right spirit, if you will retrace your steps 687 00:46:34,670 --> 00:46:39,890 and amend your offering and your intent, your 688 00:46:39,890 --> 00:46:42,790 countenance will be lifted up. 689 00:46:44,550 --> 00:46:46,050 Would it be out of the way if 690 00:46:46,050 --> 00:46:49,250 I were to pause and ask the state 691 00:46:49,250 --> 00:46:50,830 of your countenance now? 692 00:46:52,310 --> 00:46:53,410 Answer out loud. 693 00:46:55,490 --> 00:46:58,350 Do you have a countenance that is lifted 694 00:46:58,350 --> 00:47:02,710 up, or do you have a countenance that 695 00:47:02,710 --> 00:47:04,170 has fallen? 696 00:47:09,870 --> 00:47:13,510 What really is meant when it speaks about 697 00:47:13,510 --> 00:47:17,630 your countenance being lifted up? 698 00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:24,660 Well, it's obvious, isn't it, why should I 699 00:47:24,660 --> 00:47:28,440 take time to explain what is so perfectly 700 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:29,020 obvious? 701 00:47:32,870 --> 00:47:35,600 When a man's ways please the Lord, even 702 00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:37,640 his countenance is lifted up. 703 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:40,240 I didn't find that in scripture. 704 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:42,660 I just put a couple of thoughts together, 705 00:47:44,870 --> 00:47:46,470 but it's true, isn't it? 706 00:47:48,110 --> 00:47:52,030 And what drags the countenance down with great 707 00:47:52,030 --> 00:47:52,750 rapidity? 708 00:47:53,390 --> 00:47:57,670 The inner secret knowledge that a believer has 709 00:47:57,670 --> 00:47:59,690 that he has sinned again. 710 00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:07,380 Everywhere I go, I am encountering believers whose 711 00:48:07,380 --> 00:48:09,680 countenance are cast down. 712 00:48:11,100 --> 00:48:14,780 I am listening to preachers whose messages are 713 00:48:14,780 --> 00:48:16,780 without authority. 714 00:48:21,370 --> 00:48:24,450 If my own heart does not condemn me, 715 00:48:24,730 --> 00:48:27,610 we read in 1 John, then I know, 716 00:48:28,290 --> 00:48:32,450 I have confidence that what I ask of 717 00:48:32,450 --> 00:48:34,630 God, he does. 718 00:48:35,850 --> 00:48:38,810 Men enter the pulpit and they say, Oh 719 00:48:38,810 --> 00:48:41,090 God, bless what I'm about to do. 720 00:48:41,350 --> 00:48:44,970 And their conscience rises up and says, You 721 00:48:44,970 --> 00:48:49,390 miserable hypocrite, why should God bless your preaching? 722 00:48:50,370 --> 00:48:52,990 They're defeated before they open their mouth. 723 00:48:53,970 --> 00:48:58,010 Another man enters the pulpit saying, Oh God, 724 00:48:58,690 --> 00:49:01,410 quicken this word and make it lively in 725 00:49:01,410 --> 00:49:04,490 the hearts of all auditors and let it 726 00:49:04,490 --> 00:49:06,170 be a transforming word. 727 00:49:06,550 --> 00:49:09,810 And their own conscience says, Well, of course, 728 00:49:09,970 --> 00:49:11,970 God will quicken this word. 729 00:49:12,350 --> 00:49:14,970 You have been walking in the spirit and 730 00:49:14,970 --> 00:49:16,290 in the beauty of holiness. 731 00:49:19,150 --> 00:49:23,850 Is your countenance lifted up in the service 732 00:49:23,850 --> 00:49:26,630 of the Lord and in the love of 733 00:49:26,630 --> 00:49:32,370 Christ, or is your countenance downcast because there 734 00:49:32,370 --> 00:49:37,450 is some sin that has been lurking at 735 00:49:37,450 --> 00:49:39,970 the door of your heart? 736 00:49:42,620 --> 00:49:47,460 Sin is crouching at the door. 737 00:49:47,720 --> 00:49:52,480 Have you ever weighed seriously before the Almighty 738 00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,540 those enormous words? 739 00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:07,790 Sin is crouching at the door and its 740 00:50:07,790 --> 00:50:12,710 desire is toward you. 741 00:50:14,230 --> 00:50:18,090 Oh, if somehow we could come to understand 742 00:50:18,090 --> 00:50:23,270 that much worse than a giant lion, sin 743 00:50:23,270 --> 00:50:25,930 crouches at our door. 744 00:50:30,770 --> 00:50:34,950 And every time we give in to it, 745 00:50:35,290 --> 00:50:38,190 we've fed that lion of desire. 746 00:50:39,150 --> 00:50:44,050 And we've encouraged that lion of desire to 747 00:50:44,050 --> 00:50:48,750 expect far better meals in days to come. 748 00:50:52,350 --> 00:50:54,890 There seem to be so many Christians that 749 00:50:54,890 --> 00:50:58,030 think that if they can resist the devil 750 00:50:58,030 --> 00:51:02,150 and please the Lord in certain sweeping areas 751 00:51:02,150 --> 00:51:05,210 of their life, all is well. 752 00:51:07,580 --> 00:51:08,600 But that isn't true. 753 00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:15,900 The devil awaits even the tiniest opportunity. 754 00:51:16,540 --> 00:51:21,900 He crouches perpetually at the door, awaiting even 755 00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:26,360 the slightest breakdown in your walk with God. 756 00:51:29,340 --> 00:51:31,700 And as I have been saying throughout this 757 00:51:31,700 --> 00:51:36,040 week, the nature of sin is that it 758 00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:38,680 is like a gigantic magnet. 759 00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:41,100 I used at some point this week a 760 00:51:41,100 --> 00:51:45,500 rather almost silly illustration, and yet profoundly important. 761 00:51:45,940 --> 00:51:48,140 I asked people if they had ever ridden 762 00:51:48,140 --> 00:51:50,540 on a subway in a major city, say 763 00:51:50,540 --> 00:51:52,940 like New York, and you get on the 764 00:51:52,940 --> 00:51:56,200 subway and you're on one of these long 765 00:51:56,200 --> 00:52:00,220 cars where there are seats along the outside 766 00:52:00,220 --> 00:52:03,720 and straps above that people are hanging on 767 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:07,860 to, and you find a seat and you 768 00:52:07,860 --> 00:52:10,920 get yourself comfortable, and you're aware of the 769 00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:13,120 fact there's about three quarters of an inch 770 00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:15,800 space next to you on your left, and 771 00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:17,660 a quarter of an inch on the right, 772 00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:20,600 and then the car stops at the next 773 00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,720 station, and through the door comes one of 774 00:52:23,720 --> 00:52:26,660 these great big fat aggressive New York women, 775 00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:34,420 and she spots that three-quarter inch space 776 00:52:34,420 --> 00:52:36,760 between you and the next one on the 777 00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:41,260 left, and she takes her great bulk, and 778 00:52:41,260 --> 00:52:44,940 she sits down in that tiny crack, and 779 00:52:44,940 --> 00:52:47,920 with a motion or two, she's got all 780 00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:49,460 the room she desires. 781 00:52:52,740 --> 00:52:55,640 And at the next stop, coming from the 782 00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:58,640 other end of the car, is another one 783 00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,860 of these bulks, and she's spotted the quarter 784 00:53:02,860 --> 00:53:05,720 of an inch on your right, and she 785 00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:07,200 makes her seat there. 786 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:14,200 Sin, when once accommodated, is like those beefy 787 00:53:14,200 --> 00:53:15,640 New York women. 788 00:53:20,930 --> 00:53:25,450 You dare not give even a crevice for 789 00:53:25,450 --> 00:53:28,550 sin to settle in your life. 790 00:53:28,750 --> 00:53:32,450 It is like the lion crouching at the 791 00:53:32,450 --> 00:53:36,290 door, and its desire is toward you. 792 00:53:37,950 --> 00:53:41,390 What I hope is clearly understood, this nation 793 00:53:41,390 --> 00:53:45,330 is in a most precarious condition because the 794 00:53:45,330 --> 00:53:49,230 churches of America have grown very careless in 795 00:53:49,230 --> 00:53:52,750 dealing with sin, and we are faced not 796 00:53:52,750 --> 00:53:55,750 merely with the personal sins of millions of 797 00:53:55,750 --> 00:53:58,630 people who talk about being born again, we 798 00:53:58,630 --> 00:54:03,190 are faced with the terrible gross corporate sins 799 00:54:03,190 --> 00:54:06,550 of tens of thousands of churches that do 800 00:54:06,550 --> 00:54:10,190 not walk in the beauty of holiness, and 801 00:54:10,190 --> 00:54:12,990 who have never, ever dealt with their corporate 802 00:54:12,990 --> 00:54:13,610 sins. 803 00:54:17,740 --> 00:54:21,520 Some of you may have good memories, and 804 00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:23,240 you may be able to roll back your 805 00:54:23,240 --> 00:54:25,500 memory with me to a number of years 806 00:54:25,500 --> 00:54:32,320 ago when evangelicals became very arrogant, and they 807 00:54:32,320 --> 00:54:36,520 themselves declared a certain year as the year 808 00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:37,960 of the evangelical. 809 00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:39,440 Do any of you remember that? 810 00:54:42,340 --> 00:54:45,300 I was at one of the great interdenominational 811 00:54:45,300 --> 00:54:48,300 conventions at that time, and one of the 812 00:54:48,300 --> 00:54:52,080 most prominent preachers in America stood and declared 813 00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:56,420 with victorious sounds in his voice, America is 814 00:54:56,420 --> 00:54:58,800 in the midst of the greatest revival she 815 00:54:58,800 --> 00:54:59,700 has ever known. 816 00:55:00,940 --> 00:55:03,040 I thought, strange, I never noticed. 817 00:55:06,090 --> 00:55:09,710 Been deeply, vitally interested in this matter of 818 00:55:09,710 --> 00:55:12,410 revival for decade after decade. 819 00:55:12,650 --> 00:55:15,490 I would have liked to think when revival 820 00:55:15,490 --> 00:55:18,250 gripped the nation, I would have observed it. 821 00:55:19,790 --> 00:55:22,450 But no, I hear the announcement from a 822 00:55:22,450 --> 00:55:23,610 great platform. 823 00:55:26,860 --> 00:55:28,920 But as I say, that was the year 824 00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:29,820 of the evangelical. 825 00:55:30,140 --> 00:55:33,400 That was the year when the miserable, lowly 826 00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:37,600 world acknowledged that we were a great force, 827 00:55:38,280 --> 00:55:42,060 that we mattered, that our opinions had to 828 00:55:42,060 --> 00:55:45,140 be weighed, that they couldn't just shun us, 829 00:55:45,180 --> 00:55:48,040 that they couldn't push us aside and regard 830 00:55:48,040 --> 00:55:48,980 us as nothing. 831 00:55:49,340 --> 00:55:51,080 We had arrived. 832 00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:53,260 Well, we had arrived. 833 00:55:53,760 --> 00:55:57,800 We had arrived at the peak of arrogancy 834 00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:06,010 that had never happened before in this nation. 835 00:56:07,130 --> 00:56:10,630 And we have never known a time since 836 00:56:10,630 --> 00:56:14,970 then where we have repented of this most 837 00:56:14,970 --> 00:56:17,670 grievous sin of pride. 838 00:56:19,070 --> 00:56:21,370 Sin was crouching at the door. 839 00:56:22,510 --> 00:56:26,830 Its desire was toward us, and the door 840 00:56:26,830 --> 00:56:30,350 was opened to the lion of sin, and 841 00:56:30,350 --> 00:56:33,870 he was invited to have a small place. 842 00:56:35,210 --> 00:56:38,370 But he's never content, as I've said, with 843 00:56:38,370 --> 00:56:39,550 a small place. 844 00:56:40,430 --> 00:56:42,810 He never has been, he never will be. 845 00:56:43,730 --> 00:56:51,190 Sin desires to have mastery over you, over 846 00:56:51,190 --> 00:56:55,490 us, over the nation of churches. 847 00:56:56,670 --> 00:57:02,390 And we either conquer it, it is placed 848 00:57:02,390 --> 00:57:06,250 under our feet just as we are under 849 00:57:06,250 --> 00:57:11,050 Christ's feet, or it has mastery. 850 00:57:14,810 --> 00:57:18,030 Do you have mastery over sin through Christ? 851 00:57:20,070 --> 00:57:23,430 I'm not talking about some great, gross, notorious 852 00:57:23,430 --> 00:57:24,050 sin. 853 00:57:24,150 --> 00:57:28,110 I'm talking about sin, the source that I 854 00:57:28,110 --> 00:57:31,530 began with when I used those various theological 855 00:57:31,530 --> 00:57:36,130 terms, exactly what I described when I gave 856 00:57:36,130 --> 00:57:38,910 you the eight synonyms of sin in the 857 00:57:38,910 --> 00:57:39,610 New Testament. 858 00:57:39,610 --> 00:57:44,550 Have you got mastery over sin, or does 859 00:57:44,550 --> 00:57:49,070 sin crouch perpetually at your door with its 860 00:57:49,070 --> 00:57:50,850 desire toward you? 861 00:57:54,870 --> 00:57:57,110 It would be lovely, wouldn't it, if we 862 00:57:57,110 --> 00:58:01,810 could end this account of Cain by saying, 863 00:58:02,010 --> 00:58:06,350 Cain saw the significance of the word of 864 00:58:06,350 --> 00:58:12,050 God, and Cain gained ascendancy over the evil 865 00:58:12,050 --> 00:58:14,510 desire that crouched at his door. 866 00:58:15,890 --> 00:58:21,550 But instead, God rendered to him, because of 867 00:58:21,550 --> 00:58:26,130 his refusal to repent, a rather mild judgment. 868 00:58:27,810 --> 00:58:34,430 And Cain assailed God, insisting that his punishment 869 00:58:34,430 --> 00:58:36,930 was too great to bear. 870 00:58:40,820 --> 00:58:41,740 But let's end. 871 00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:44,500 Let's ask again. 872 00:58:48,130 --> 00:58:53,540 Have you got mastery over sin, or in 873 00:58:53,540 --> 00:58:58,900 time, will it gain mastery over you? 874 00:59:40,100 --> 00:59:43,340 We began this evening, and I mentioned a 875 00:59:43,340 --> 00:59:50,020 defining moment where things penetrate our hearts and 876 00:59:50,020 --> 00:59:52,380 cause us to change our way of thinking. 877 00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:57,960 Brother Roberts mentioned that tomorrow evening he'll bring 878 00:59:57,960 --> 01:00:02,720 a continuation of the other side of this 879 01:00:02,720 --> 01:00:03,680 message to us. 880 01:00:04,540 --> 01:00:06,240 How many of you want to see our 881 01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:07,200 country change? 882 01:00:08,460 --> 01:00:09,840 I think we all do. 883 01:00:09,940 --> 01:00:12,080 I think there's a chord in us that 884 01:00:12,080 --> 01:00:16,220 says, Lord, we really want what you want. 885 01:00:16,980 --> 01:00:19,420 We want to thank you, Pastor Chuck and 886 01:00:19,420 --> 01:00:22,620 Pastor Gary and all you folks here at 887 01:00:22,620 --> 01:00:26,760 Calvary Chapel for allowing us to come as 888 01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:29,300 we are going to different places in the 889 01:00:29,300 --> 01:00:33,560 Pacific Northwest, and to be able to allow 890 01:00:33,560 --> 01:00:38,220 Brother Roberts to minister the word of the 891 01:00:38,220 --> 01:00:39,320 Lord to our spirits. 892 01:00:39,460 --> 01:00:41,780 Could we stand as we close this evening? 893 01:00:41,900 --> 01:00:43,640 I want to just mention to you again 894 01:00:43,640 --> 01:00:46,860 that we will have this tape available in 895 01:00:46,860 --> 01:00:49,440 about 15 minutes, and then of course we'll 896 01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:52,340 have many of them available for you tomorrow. 897 01:00:53,740 --> 01:00:56,120 Please stop by the tables and let the 898 01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:58,120 fellows serve you with any of the materials 899 01:00:58,120 --> 01:01:00,900 that Brother Roberts has published and put out. 900 01:01:01,680 --> 01:01:03,620 But could you grab the hand of the 901 01:01:03,620 --> 01:01:05,480 person next to you as we just conclude 902 01:01:05,480 --> 01:01:06,340 in a word of prayer? 903 01:01:08,980 --> 01:01:11,400 The way that I'd like to leave this, 904 01:01:11,440 --> 01:01:15,040 if I could, is that the people that 905 01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:17,640 made the most impact in my life was 906 01:01:17,640 --> 01:01:19,900 my principal, because he's the one that gave 907 01:01:19,900 --> 01:01:20,520 me swats. 908 01:01:23,180 --> 01:01:25,460 My probation and parole officer, because he's the 909 01:01:25,460 --> 01:01:26,800 one that had the key that could let 910 01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:28,260 me out or keep me in. 911 01:01:29,760 --> 01:01:31,660 The judge, because he's the one that could 912 01:01:31,660 --> 01:01:33,180 send me up or set me free. 913 01:01:35,220 --> 01:01:38,880 And the word of God, that could bring 914 01:01:38,880 --> 01:01:41,660 me freedom or cause me terror. 915 01:01:43,860 --> 01:01:46,540 And when I am challenged like this, I 916 01:01:46,540 --> 01:01:50,160 like to say to myself, Reuben, why don't 917 01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:51,340 you think about this? 918 01:01:52,620 --> 01:01:54,980 Why don't you take some time and just 919 01:01:54,980 --> 01:01:58,640 let your heart really mull this over and 920 01:01:58,640 --> 01:01:59,640 chew on this? 921 01:01:59,980 --> 01:02:01,600 Do you have that sense with me this 922 01:02:01,600 --> 01:02:05,340 evening, that God brings words to us that 923 01:02:05,340 --> 01:02:09,540 you can't in no possible way just process 924 01:02:09,540 --> 01:02:12,780 everything in a moment's time, because we just 925 01:02:12,780 --> 01:02:15,820 had some of eternity dropped into our souls? 926 01:02:17,640 --> 01:02:18,880 So I'm going to ask you as the 927 01:02:18,880 --> 01:02:20,880 Lord leads you between now and tomorrow night, 928 01:02:21,640 --> 01:02:23,460 may you find a quiet place in a 929 01:02:23,460 --> 01:02:26,400 quiet time and just say, God of heaven, 930 01:02:27,480 --> 01:02:31,360 may you help me to digest these eternal 931 01:02:31,360 --> 01:02:34,480 words that I have heard so that I 932 01:02:34,480 --> 01:02:37,880 can bring eternal glory in a temporal world 933 01:02:37,880 --> 01:02:38,500 to you. 934 01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:40,320 Again, thank you. 935 01:02:40,380 --> 01:02:42,280 Let's just close in prayer and then you're 936 01:02:42,280 --> 01:02:42,720 dismissed. 937 01:02:43,180 --> 01:02:45,120 And thank you so much for your graciousness 938 01:02:45,120 --> 01:02:46,700 and allowing us to be here. 939 01:02:47,040 --> 01:02:47,520 Let's pray. 940 01:02:47,640 --> 01:02:50,780 Father, you are wonderful. 941 01:02:52,160 --> 01:02:55,000 I'm reminded why I need you as my 942 01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:57,420 Father, because I need to be corrected. 943 01:02:59,300 --> 01:03:02,540 And I'm reminded again that I need you 944 01:03:02,540 --> 01:03:04,120 as my Father because I need to be 945 01:03:04,120 --> 01:03:04,440 loved. 946 01:03:05,740 --> 01:03:07,520 And so, Father, we thank you this evening 947 01:03:07,520 --> 01:03:11,380 for this house of worship and these spiritual 948 01:03:11,380 --> 01:03:14,120 parents and these children of the Most High 949 01:03:14,120 --> 01:03:17,960 God and this place that desires to lift 950 01:03:17,960 --> 01:03:20,140 you up that the whole earth might see 951 01:03:20,140 --> 01:03:20,360 you. 952 01:03:20,780 --> 01:03:23,920 Lord, may you take us under the shelter 953 01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:26,820 of your wings and may you cause us 954 01:03:26,820 --> 01:03:31,060 to hear the concern and the desire towards 955 01:03:31,060 --> 01:03:31,960 us that you have. 956 01:03:32,280 --> 01:03:33,080 Bless this house. 957 01:03:33,260 --> 01:03:33,940 Bless these people. 958 01:03:34,240 --> 01:03:36,580 Bless the word of God to our spirits, 959 01:03:36,780 --> 01:03:37,980 our souls and our bodies. 960 01:03:38,500 --> 01:03:41,560 And may we come back tomorrow evening excited, 961 01:03:44,160 --> 01:03:47,380 anticipating again that more of eternity will be 962 01:03:47,380 --> 01:03:48,640 dropped into our souls. 963 01:03:49,740 --> 01:03:50,580 We thank you, Lord. 964 01:03:50,660 --> 01:03:52,400 We ask these things in Jesus' name and 965 01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:55,260 all of God's people said, could you give 966 01:03:55,260 --> 01:03:56,780 the Lord a hand clap as you're dismissed 967 01:03:56,780 --> 01:03:57,140 tonight? 968 01:03:57,420 --> 01:03:57,860 Thank you.