True Faith Is Putting God First by Zac Poonen

I want to share something from Genesis 4 we've often looked at this the first incident recorded in the Bible outside the Garden of Eden after man was put out it's a very instructive passage of Scripture and it's very significant because we read here of the first man who was cursed by God you know it's a pretty serious thing to be cursed by God just like it's a very wonderful thing to be blessed by God some people are not blessed and not cursed but at the extremes you have those who are blessed and those who are cursed small number the great multitude are in between but it's very significant that Adam was not cursed I hope you note that if you don't know that you turn to Genesis 3 when the Lord spoke to Adam he said in verse 17 the middle the ground is cursed earth was cursed and you see the result of that curse everywhere on the earth but Adam was not cursed but when it came to King the Lord said in Genesis 4:11 you are cursed that's the first human being that God ever cursed and if you read the prophets in the Old Testament there were different people who were cursed by God and Galatians 1 it says if anyone preaches another gospel let him be a curse and there is speaking about legalism hmm that those who preach a legalistic gospel among those who call themselves Christians are a curse it is critics they may call themselves Christians where their legalists I don't think many Christians have understood how serious legalism is Jesus condemned the Pharisees more than he condemned the adulteress yet I don't know if there are many Christians today who would condemn the Pharisees more than the adulteress my guess is 99.9% of believers would condemn a condemned adulteress is more than Pharisees because they don't have a clue how serious legalism is legalism began with Cain Cain was not an atheist who said I don't care for God we don't read about atheists being cursed but we read of legalists being cursed I never read of Jesus cursing an atheist the guy is ignorant he's blind his death we don't curse blind and deaf people but legalists are those who claim to know who claim to be better than others because they know so much you know who are in greatest danger of legalism in this country the Christians who have understood the truth of God the most and many of them could be sitting right here so let's look at Genesis 4 it speaks here about the time when cain verse 3 in the course of time Cain brought an offering to the lord of the fruit of the ground and Abel who was his younger brother on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions and the Lord had regard Abel and for his offering for Canaan is offering yet no regard notice it is not that the Lord accepted the offering first now that's what many Christians have taught 95% of believers teach this because they don't read the Bible carefully they teach that God accepted able because of his offering he offered blood he didn't offer blood that's what I've heard all my life that's what I've heard in every evangelical Christian book but what does the Bible say what does your Bible say the Bible says that the Lord accepted Cain therefore he accepted his offering it's not the other way around Christians have a tendency to turn upside down what the Bible says and it doesn't say King God rejected Cain's offering he rejected Cain and therefore he rejected his offering it's very important to note notice that and I want to tell you don't believe that everything that you read in Christian books go and check it in the Bible I have found a thousand and one things wrong in Christian books which are not in the Bible I found a thousand and one things wrong in Christian songs which are not in the Bible here is one example of that Christians say the Lord had regard for Abel's offering and therefore he accepted Abel and do you know what that type of do you know what that type of teaching produces it produces people who think that if they offer the blood of Christ were accepted it doesn't matter how we live it's not true it's a heart that God sees then he accepts our offering that's very important and you know in the New Testament in Hebrews 11 it says it's by faith that Abel let me show you that worse than we've come back here in Hebrews chapter 11 it says by faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain so what was it nowhere in the bible does it say God accepted Abel's offering because he brought blood I'll tell you what he brought he brought faith it doesn't matter how many times you caught the blood of Christ if you don't have faith he's not gonna accept you without faith verse 6 it is impossible to please God and now we want to understand what faith really means by looking at the first example of faith in Hebrews 11 which is Abel I hope you know that the first example of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 in the Old Testament is Abel the first person about whom it's written in the history of the human race who had faith is Abel we can learn something from him about true faith because it's that faith that made his sacrifice better so now he turned back keeping that in mind and getting rid of all these wrong concepts that we have heard and read for so many years from people who don't study their Bibles carefully hmm turn back to Genesis 4 do you notice a difference between the two offerings that Cain and Abel brought and there you will see what faith really means remember Abel was the first human being who exercised faith the first not Abraham Abel hmm Abel's name comes long before Abraham's in Hebrews 11 what was it that made his offering an offering of faith and what is it that made Cain's offering not an offering of faith how does that apply to us all of us bring some offering to God I don't mean money or anything I mean a life what is it that makes God accept one person and not accept another person it's important to understand I want God to accept me don't you want God to accept you well then we must know what is it that makes God accept a person and what is it that makes God reject a person hmm and it's not a lot of religious ritual or going to a church or a temple or a mosque no it's something much more important than that and if you have read carefully you notice the difference Cain brought an offering the world is full of people who bring an offering to God put a little bit of money in the offering box give a little bit of time to God on Sunday or Friday or Tuesday or some day and give a little money to the poor hmm this is all an offering to God King did it hmm and he was not accepted he was not an atheist he was a very religious man religious people may not be accepted by God it's very very important the first two human beings after Adam and Eve we learned something from them the first two human beings that were born into the world Cain and Abel produced two streams of humanity a few men and women of faith following Abel and a multitude following Cain but both bring offerings both are religious people but there's a world of difference between the two what did Abel bring notice the word first Abel worse for brought the first of his flock the best there is a difference between giving God and offering and giving God the best that you have there's a difference between giving your life to God when you are 70 years old with one foot in the grave and giving your life to God when you're 17 years old with your whole life ahead of you that's the difference giving the best to God and giving the dregs to God there's a lot of difference between giving the best of your time to God and giving five minutes to God and five hours to movies and television a lot of difference yeah you can say the man who gave five minutes to God gave an offering to God he read his Bible do you know what faith means why why did Abel have faith because he gave God his best many of us think we have faith today you will discover whether you have faith or not if you're honest you can ignore all that and say no no no that's not it okay don't get a surprise when you stand before God one day in the day of judgment I would rather believe what the Bible says what God's Word says so plainly right from beginning till end the true men and women of God are the ones who gave God their best not the drakes if you turn to the last book of the Old Testament the book of Malachi let me read something to you from Malachi in Malachi chapter 1 it's the last book of the Old Testament we read the lord's complaint against his people do you think the Lord could possibly have a complaint against you my brother's sister why not if he had a complaint against his people in the days of Malachi but it needed a prophet like Malachi to explain that God had a complaint against people and if you don't have a prophet to tell you what God thinks you won't know what God thinks about you Israel was blessed when they had a prophet and one mark that God had forsaken his people was that he never sent them a prophet if they had a prophet that was hope when they had no prophet there was no hope I believe it's been like that for the church in two thousand years in different parts of the world wherever there's been a prophet there's been hope for that church usually 90% of people don't respond to the message of the Prophet that's been true throughout history but there is a 10% a remnant that responds and in Malachi's time he was the last prophet to Israel before John the Baptist and he says in Malachi 1:6 a son honors his father and a servant his master and God says if I am a father do you honor me God is saying a son honors his father and if I am a father where is my honor do you give me your best a servant honors his master if I'm a master where do you honor me don't servants should not servants do their best for their master and if God is our master ESA's where is my honor and they come they say Lord what do you mean we have despised you we have of course we have honored you and the Lord says I'll tell you how you didn't honor me when you bring an offering to the Lord you know in the Old Testament they had laws saying you had to bring her animal sacrifice and things like that which is all finished in Christ but in those days it was a picture of Christ being crucified on the cross but when they had to bring an offering to God it says here you know what they would do verse 8 they would bring the blind that means they say oh I have to offer a sheep to God today let me rook rook around in my flock and see the blind one that's a bit of a nuisance to me in any case let's offer that to God or the lame and the sick now when a man is going he's not an atheist no no he brings an offering to God but the offering is not the best it's the blind the sick the lame the dregs of our flock that today the dregs of our time the dregs of our money the dregs of our energy what we do not need what we can afford to do without when you give to God what you can afford to do without you don't put God first and you don't honor God and then you don't have the faith of Abel that's what made the difference and way back there in Genesis 4 you find these two streams of humanity those who bring an offering and those who give their best and so what was it that God looked at many Christians will say the blood no it was the heart of Abel Abel was a keeper of the flock naturally he got to bring flock Cain was a tiller of the ground he didn't have any flock what could he bring he had to bring that from the ground but did he bring the best of his crops now the best of his crops was reserved for his family what he could do without because he had a lot of crops might as well give something to God I want to ask all of you sitting here ask yourself whether you have that attitude and you will discover why your experience with God is so shallow why is it somebody else experiences the blessing of God upon his life and upon his family and you don't does God have partiality does he like some of his creation and not like some of his creation no it's because of laws God makes a difference among his children between those who put him first to those who don't put him first and I believe as he looks at all of us and I'll tell you there's no difference between me and you we're all creatures of God but he makes a difference among us between those who put him first and those who don't and that's something we cannot detect by looking at people's faces when we come to church we all look so holy and so pure and so wonderfully spiritual but it's in our daily life Monday Tuesday Wednesday then God sees whether we put him first or not somebody asked me once brother Zack what's the difference between your church and other churches I said I'm not here to compare our church with any other Church but in terms of our emphasis I would say for many churches Sunday and their meeting is the most important thing they must have a good meeting they must go away from the Sunday morning meeting saying we had a wonderful time of singing today we had a listen to a wonderful message it's not what you hear many Christians say I said for us the important day is Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday that's the difference how we live at home how we do our work how we behave when we travel in the bus how we behave when we driving on the roads and people in front of us violate the traffic rules that's important for me and for us Sunday it doesn't matter if the music wasn't so good it doesn't even matter if the sermon wasn't so good if it challenged us to live well on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday we're okay that's the thing now I want to ask all of you which is the important day for you you'd like to have a good Sunday meeting are you excited when you have a wonderful time of singing yeah praise God for that but I say that won't excite me if I behave badly on Monday and Tuesday not at all it won't excite me if I give God the best of my singing voice on Sunday and don't give him the best of my life and time and energy on Monday and Tuesday the rest of the days of the week that's hypocrisy it's hypocrisy to pretend to be spiritual on Sunday and to live for myself six days of the week but do you know that's what most Christians are doing you know that through the years our ministry in this church has been primarily to Christians now I'll tell you why because I believe that the name of Jesus has been tremendously dishonored in India by the way many Christians have lived I don't say they I say we I don't say they we who claim to be Christians have not lived in a way that glorifies the name of Christ it's before a lot of dishonor to the name of Christ and that's brought a lot of sorrow to my heart and it's often come to me recently that Jesus taught us to pray our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name number one Lord that your name be recognized as set apart but at the name of Jesus be recognized as hallowed set apart sacred compared to all the other names in the world and that responsibility falls on us the way we behave the way our neighbors see and hear how we behave with our wives and husbands how we bring up our children that's what you know sets apart the name of Jesus from every other name on the earth but it's not true many Christians are crooks they cheat others they live selfishly they are proud they're arrogant and so that's why many years ago the Lord told me you got to speak to the Christians in India when they change their behavior my name will be honored that's why I've spent my life concentrating on trying to improve the quality of Christianity dear brothers and sisters I learned that from here when we have Christians who would learn to put God first and not themselves first or their families first the name of Jesus will be honored in this land that is the faith of Abel he went and looked in his flock and he said I've got to give the best to God and he looked at the fat lambs and goats and said that's for God and what about the skinny ones that's for me that's faith Abel went out to his field his barns and looked around for oh I got to give some offering to God looked around for some of the things which are not so fresh and which are a bit dry and said ok looks ok gave that to God and the Lord had regard for King for Abel and therefore his offering and the Lord did not have regard for Cain and therefore not his offering when we come to God and we offer anything whether it's a prayer for example we spent half an hour this morning and worshiping God it was an offering how many people's worship do you think God accepted this morning it's not those who sang loudly and waved their hands a lot and no no no no the Lord sees the heart man looks on the outward appearance so we see here something that we can learn first of all in our attitude towards God when God has done so much for us isn't it right that we express our gratitude to him by saying Lord I want to show you my gratitude by giving you that was part of that which you have given me there's a very lovely verse in Deuteronomy chapter 14 let me read that to you Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 23 he's speaking here about this was an Old Testament law in the New Testament this law of giving 10% of our fields what we get from our fields is not there but the principle is there you shall type tight means give 10% of your grain your wine you know they had vineyards and what they what the Lord was saying is from your wheat and your rice and your vineyards and all the oil that you produce through your nuts that you crush etc when you collect all that give 10% to God this is an Old Testament law and what is the purpose so that the Living Bible says the purpose of giving 10% is to teach you to put God first in everything that's the meaning of you may learn to fear the Lord your God always the purpose of tithing is to teach you to put God first always unfortunately today many preachers and pastors tell people give 10% give 10% give 10% of God and people give you think all those people who give 10% I put God first in their life no we've never taught in this church give 10% but we have taught the prince simple but God first that's why jesus never taught giving 10% he said you must give everything to God you know your life belongs to God your time belongs to him put him first the purpose of tithing in the Old Testament was to teach you to put God first in everything how many Christians have understood that I would say the multitudes of people who died today 99% of people haven't learned it what about us who glory in the fact that we don't type we're probably worse than those people who tithe the the when that Jesus abolished the tithe was he teaching us oh you don't have to give anything to God now you know when Jesus abolished the tight the 10% he did it to test people and I believe many of us have been tested for 20-30 years to see what is your attitude when you hear that the tithe is abolished you say ah that's great now I can spend it all on myself that was a test and you failed the test there are others who say why was the tithe abolished because Jesus wanted to establish the principle and not the ritual the principle is put God first always and those who have understood that ah tithing is abolished because the ritual is no longer important to God but the reality which is to put God first in everything in my time my energy my money everything to put God first let me show you an example in Genesis in chapter 22 Genesis 22 Genesis 22 was the place where hmm God once told Abraham I want you to take your son and sacrifice him to me on the altar does God want human sacrifice not at all you know that he never allowed Abraham to kill his son but he was testing him God sometimes tests us it says here in Genesis 22:1 God tested Abraham we can put that as the subject of that chapter not God wanted human sacrifice that's not the subject of that chapter the subject of the chapter is God tested Abraham and that is 50 years after Abraham was first tested when he was told to leave his family and relatives and his homeland to go somewhere where God called him he passed that test he passed many other tests in these 50 years now there was one more final test you know it's like the final examination before you're given that important post in a company Abraham had to go through one more test 50 years after he first passed his first test and I want to say to you even if you are born again for 50 years God will test you after 50 years and what is he gonna test you what did he test Abraham with 50 years earlier hmm and my first or is your family first and my first or is your homeland first and my first or is your home first he said Lord your first 50 years later he comes into a situation which is not true 50 years earlier 50 years earlier he didn't have any children his wife was barren now he had a son a son born when he was a hundred years old I'll tell you something if you waited to be a hundred years old before you get a son boy that son will be an idol of your heart without a doubt and Abraham's his son was his idol he literally worshipped him he loved his son more than he loved his wife he loved his son more than all his 10,000 sheep and cattle and servants and his son was his idol till he had a son God was first in everything but now he got a son and the son gradually replaced God as first in Abraham's life then he could not have faith you can't have faith when God is not first and so God wanted to make Abraham a man of faith so he said get rid of your son Abraham offer him to me there's only a test to see what'll Abraham do will Abram say Lord anything but my son I'll give you anything else then he would have failed the test but it says he took his son and laid him on the altar took the knife and said Lord Here I am to prove to you that you're first in my life and as soon as God saw that God said put away the knife I don't want human sacrifice I was only testing you take your son back you can have him in your home from today because from today onwards I know that he's going to be second in your life something happened on the mountain that day Isaac was still alive but Isaac was second God was first see what a wonderful thing God did he said Abraham I can't bless you to your till I'm first in your life hmm and the Lord says here to Abraham in Genesis in chapter 22 verse 15 to 18 again in the Living Bible it says because you have put God first verse 12 when it says now that I know that you fear God the Living Bible puts that whole section verse 12 to 18 is because you put God first I really like that translation because you put God first verse 16 I swear says the Lord you will be greatly blessed I will multiply your children your children will be blessed and through your children verse 18 the earth will be blessed oh what a lot of things happen when you put God first in your life it's not only you that are blessed your children get blessed and through your children other people get blessed because you put God first in your life that's what he told Abraham because you put me first in your life because you put God first I will bless your children and through your children I will bless other families is there anybody here who doesn't want that that applies not only to Abraham it applies to all of God's children but the condition is you must be a man or a woman of faith and that means you put God first in every area of your life let me tell you what the Lord told Isaiah the Book of Isaiah we read in Isaiah chapter 8 that Isaiah his wife was a prophetess Isaiah 8 verse 3 I approached the prophetess and she conceived and gave birth to a son I don't know how many other children Isaiah had but I see there that he and his wife were prophets and prophetess and they had put God first in their life and they had at least one son perhaps more children turn to Isaiah 59 verse 19 hmm he's talking about a day when they will fear the name of the Lord and I told you how in Genesis 22 fearing God his paraphrased as putting God first in the Living Bible so they will put God first from the west and from the east and he will arrive like a river whip to a torrent by the wind of God that means the Holy Spirit will come like a river through them and a redeemer will come to Zion to those who turn from transgression in Jacob those who put God first and those who turn from all known sin in their life what is the promise for such people for those who put God first and those who turn from all known sin in their life and I tell you that applies to you this is my covenant my spirit which is upon you my words which I put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth God will be with us he'll be with our mouths every time you open your mouth to speak blessing of God will flow out through your mouth to people all around you and not only that it'll be in the mouth of your children and your grandchildren oh boy I'd give anything in the world to experience that I hope that's your desire - what are the petty honors and riches of this world compared to this do those who put God first and turn from sin this is the result we don't put God first the opposite happens I want you to turn back to Genesis 4 I don't know whether you know that there is no descendent of King living on the earth today there is not one descendant of Cain on the earth today they were all wiped out it's not only came that was cursed his children were cursed we read in Genesis 4 that five six generations after Cain one of his children one of his seed great great great great great grandson was a person called Juba Genesis 4:23 he was the one who invented musical instruments the lyre and the pipe that's where rock music began do you think Jubal was praising God with all that music no music is a wonderful gift of God but most musicians in the world worship themselves not God many Christian musicians when they play their instrument that applies to those who play instruments here too I don't know how it is there are more conscious of how well they play more than Jesus is here he must be worshiped a lot of Christians song leaders are more conscious of how well they sing more than Jesus is here he must be glorified it's very difficult the followers of Jubal are in the millions music made them drift away from God the world is full of Christian churches where people spend more hours in choir practice than in prayer what does it prove is it good to sing well sure but not to such a point it's like saying is it good to have good sheep you're not sure provided you give the best to God and I'm not saying we should have skinny sheep I'm not saying we should have bad music go back preaching I mean I've been preaching for 42 years and I have sought with all of my heart God is my witness to preach the best possible way and I put all my energy and mind and I said God gave me a good mind I said I'm not gonna use it for the world I'm gonna use it for God so I believe that if God's given people ability to play music or sing they must use it a hundred percent for God but not to glorify themselves like all the people in the world not to make money like a lot of Christian musicians do if we make money through our preaching or our music that is a way of worshiping ourselves yeah that's why in this church those who preach don't get one rupee not me not anybody else because we seek to worship God not ourselves we're different we don't do anything for money money is the great alternative master to God I want to ask you would you do things for money that you wouldn't do for God ask yourself would you do something more wholeheartedly if you were paid for it would you serve in the church more wholeheartedly at conference time or some other time would you volunteer for some jobs in the church if you were paid for it but you don't volunteer for it because you're not paid for it when will you have faith not in a hundred years you can sit here like a religious cane for years I think we need to get a little light on ourselves God is my witness I'll never do anything for money that I wouldn't do for God freely God is first in my life I know I'm not ashamed to say it he's been first my life for many years and he'll always be even my wife knows that that she's second and that's why our relationship is so happy because she's second I don't want to be first in my wife's life we'll have a miserable marriage then because God is first and I'm second we have a happy marriage is the secret of everything teach your children to put God first not anything not their job not their money nothing don't rejoice if your children have got good jobs rejoice if they put God first in their life then everything will go well otherwise they'll go it'll go well in terms of the world they may be religious they bring an offering to God every Sunday like Cain Cain also brought an offering to God if Cain were living today he'd be here Sunday morning sure he wouldn't be like the atheists who don't pay any attention to God Cain and Abel both sit in the church Sunday morning the difference is one puts one gives his best the gives an offering do you give an offering or do you give the best that's the test when we think of how much the Lord has done for us what is it that makes people give their best it's gratitude what would you do if you went to a doctor and he diagnosed you and said your case is so bad with cancer or AIDS or wherever it is that there's no hope for you you may live 6 weeks that's it and then you go to another doctor he says I can treat you and you can be totally cured and he cures you totally that the trace of that disease is gone what would you do to that doctor I've seen people who appreciate those doctors so much they would give them gifts and every time they see them it would value them respect them how many people treat God like that how many of you feel that God has done for you more than any doctor could ever do for you cured you from a disease worse than leprosy or AIDS or cancer I'll tell you that's what made me give my life to the Lord I was so grateful more grateful than any human being can ever be to a doctor that he did so much for me and I thought if people can be so grateful to a human doctor how much great more grateful I should be to Almighty God who did so much for me do you have that sense of gratitude to God you know that's the first lesson we need to learn Abel was grateful Oh God the very fact that you allowed me to even be born on this earth and to live I'm grateful I want to I mean my flocks prospered because of you my flocks could have been sick and died how can I ever think that my cleverness made my sheep and my goat so healthy it was you god I give it to you whereas Cain felt well I worked hard and I got a good crop just like some of you say I work hard and I earn so much money uh-huh it's your hard work that made you got you a raise in your salary is it well that's what why you're like Cain how many of you when you get a raise in your salary and you get a large salary acknowledge oh god that's not me that's not my cleverness I'm a nobody I don't deserve 1/10 of what I earn it's you it's you Lord every bit of money I've ever earned in my life through the work I do I say Lord it's you it's not me I deserve to be a pauper but it's you and I'll prove that that I believe that by giving you the best do you give the best of the way of what God has blessed you with to him how do you put an offering to God you talk about faith you don't understand the first thing about faith and you probably never will because you worship yourself so much you are so clever you are so smart and that's why you earn so much you worked hard and you got some degree and you are capable and you are smart and you can speak English so well and so many things God have mercy on you you're no better than any heathen except that you name the name of Christ I want to tell you you're a follower of King who brings an offering to God don't think you'll be listed in Hebrews 11 men of faith like Abel who gave their best to God you know what happens it's not just our attitude to God when we don't put God first it affects our attitude to others Cain's attitude to Abel was one of anger why does God bless him and not me and by the way I'm not talking about money as a mark of God's blessing no spiritual blessing how can God bless him he's younger to me how can God bless somebody younger to me do you ever feel like that I'll tell you the Christian world is full of people who cannot bear to see somebody younger than them blessed by God or anointed by God she Keane offered an offering Abel offered an offering and Cain watched the fire of God fall upon Abel's offering and he's waiting for the fire to fall and is offering nothing and instead of judging himself he gets upset with Abel why should he get upset with Abel it says here when God were and just read this verse 5 for Cain and for his offering God had no regard so Cain became angry you know who he became angry with he became angry with God have you ever been angry with God because he didn't do something for you that you felt he should do and you've been jealous of somebody else who's 1:30 or H whom God blesses ha ha you can see Cain in yourself if Abel was his older brother oh that's ok he's older than me if you will examine your heart you will discover that you don't mind god blessing somebody older than you but you do mind God blessing somebody younger than you and if you have eyes to see you'll see the spirit of Cain in yourself if David was older than King Saul Saul would have been happy but David was half his age who somebody half my age killing Goliath anointed by God how can that be I must throw a spear at him and kill him the spirit of King was in King Saul years later in the Pharisees 60 year old 70 year old Pharisees with their long beards see Jesus 30 year old who what an anointing how can that be we've been in God's service for 50 years how can this young carpenter come and do this and they were jealous it says even Pilate recognized that the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus only because they were jealous of him the spirit of cain flowed all the way through King Saul Pharisees down to this generation Paul says in Philippians 1 when I'm in jail some of the other preachers are very happy because now they listen to them they didn't get a chance to speak when Paul was around see this these two streams and somebody can play musical instrument better than you somebody can speak better than you some can you can do better than you and the worst part is he's only half your age boy God tests people then to see who has the spirit of Cain you know that God tests you through a lot of blessings he gives other people you know that God tests you when he anoints other people to see what is the reaction of this guy who thinks he's very spiritual who's been sitting in CFC for 25 years you discover something in yourself and when you discover it if you admit it and started getting upset like Cain was with God and with others you can become a better person you can become like Abel if you say Lord I want you to be first in my life that's the secret brothers otherwise you'll have a problem in your relationship with God and you'll have a problem in your relationship with other human beings a man like Abel can rejoice you know like Peter one of the wonderful things I see about Peter it says in Galatians chapter 1 that Peter who was at least 1015 years older than Paul recognized the grace God had given to Paul who was 15 years as junior boy Peter looked at Paul and said boy that guy seems to be able to do things I can't do even though I walked with Jesus and he never even met Jesus but boy what an anointing upon him that's where I see Peter's greatness you read that in Galatians job chapter 2 how he recognized I mean you heard brother Ian mentioned that so many times to recognize the grace that is on other people people with a spirit of Abel can do that people in spirit of Cain can't you know why the problem doesn't lie in the horizontal level the problem lies in their vertical relationship God is not first in their life it is from this that the horizontal problems flow when our relationship with God is right our attitude to one another becomes one of love goodness and joy oh praise the Lord God is glorified I mean if you were in a football team and you've been in that team for 10 years you're the great player but you're a sort of halfback or a fullback who never scores a goal and some young fellow half your age is the center forward and he scores a goal would you rejoice or not would he say praise God that's our team that won or would he say I'd follow he joined the team just yesterday and he scored a goal been here 20 years and never scored a goal I tell you these football players have more understanding of working for the team than many who call themselves Christians the spirit of Cain is rampant Jude warns in his book to Christians he says be careful that you don't walk the way of Cain brothers and sisters let's humble ourselves say lord teach me the meaning of faith I want to put you first in my life many of my problems with my fellow believers don't relate to them it relates to the fact that I don't have a right relationship with you let's pray let's bow our heads before God dear brothers and sisters let's bow our heads and close our eyes and ask the Lord to impress upon our heart in a permanent way some of the lessons we learned this morning and the first step to that will be to acknowledge your sin that's great hope for those who turn from their transgressions the Lord says I will put my spirit upon them and my words into their mouths Heavenly Father help us to honor you by putting you first in every area of our life in Jesus name Amen

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Keywords: Zac, Poonen, Revival, Repent, God, Sermons, Jesus, SermonIndex

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Length: 57min 38sec (3458 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 26 2010