Cain and Abel: The Option of Repentance (not in series)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This morning, I’d like to cover one of the very first recorded events in human history. But to do that, I’d like to give some context.
Creation
Creation
The context goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 1, where we find God creating the earth.
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Throughout the rest of Genesis 1, we find God creating everything in the universe, but the account specifically references the earth. We find that God, a being that exists in 3 persons, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit, creates everything with each person of the Godhead taking an active part in Creation.
The main actor that we see in Genesis one is God the Father as He speaks things into existence.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And so forth, you have everything being made by God speaking it into existence.
But there is another actor present in the story of Creation, and that is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. As God is speaking all this into existence, the Holy Spirit is present and active in Creation as well, moving upon the face of Creation.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
After the initial creation of earth, before God caused the earth to gather into dry land and the oceans to be separated, the Spirit of God was moving and active across the face of creation. Theories abound as to what He was actively doing, but the Bible does not say.
But we do find, later on in the book of John, that there was yet another actor in these events of Creation. And that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
16 For by him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
So, Jesus, the Son of God, is not only present in creation, but as God speaks, the Spirit moves, and Jesus is the one that is actually forming the things being spoken into existence. Not only that, but the following verse says that by Him, Jesus, all things consist or subsist or are held together. Meaning - Jesus still holds and active part in Creation today.
It Was Good
It Was Good
The other thing that you will notice throughout Genesis 1 is that every time that God creates something, He declares that it is good. Meaning - As God created everything new, everything was perfect, everything was good. And then, He comes to the creation of mankind. For five days, God creates almost everything — the light, heavenly bodies (stars, planets and such), land masses, trees, grass and other plants, birds, sea creatures — and after everything, the Bible says that God saw that it was good.
Then, day six arrives, and on day six, God begins His work by creating land animals. But that is not the only thing He creates that day. There still remains on more thing to be created — the crowning jewel of Creation — mankind.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image [notice that God is talking to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, ergo the phrase ‘Let us...”], after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [this is a very special verse that we cannot skip over, especially with what we are going to be studying today. Each person is created in the image of God. No other part of creation is created in the image of God, but humans are.]
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
So God gives dominion over creation to mankind, and it is man’s responsibility to steward or take care of that creation in a good, responsible manner.
And remember, up until and including this point, everything was good, everything was perfect.
In Genesis chapter 2, God places mankind in a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. There, God places every kind of good tree and plant to eat from, and tells them to take care of the Garden. God also gives them a negative command. He tells them that in this Garden, He has placed a tree — the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They are not to eat of this tree. They are to depend on God for everything, including knowledge. That is who they are to be paying attention to. So Adam and Eve, the first man an woman, are living in the Garden with these two commands.
Everything is good, until one day, another character arrives. He arrives in the form of a serpent, a snake. Sometime before, between the time of Creation and this point, this Angel, formally known as Lucifer, had tried to elevate himself to the status and authority of God Himself. Lucifer’s pride was the very first sin, and it ultimately spread to many other angelic beings that rebelled against God as well. They were kicked out of heaven and condemned. Lucifer became known as Satan, a word that means adversary or enemy. He is both the enemy of God and the enemy of all that God has created.
So Satan shows up in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and begins a conversation with Eve. Remember, Satan is an adversary, an opponent of God. Here he is now with the two most special creations that God has made, and he has one goal — to make them rebel against God so that they too can be spoiled and condemned.
We don’t have the time to read the whole account, but I encourage you to read Genesis chapter 3, that tells of the temptation of mankind and their fall into sin.
The Fall
The Fall
This part of history is known as The Fall. It is when everything good suddenly was no longer good because it was tainted by sin. Adam and Eve are deceived and convinced to disobey God and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sin enters into their lives and they now loose a relationship and a fellowship with God. Adam and Eve had been made into the image of God — three in one similarly to how God is a triune being. Mankind possesses a body and a soul and a spirit, but that day, the spirit of man, that which allows man to have a relationship and fellowship with God, died. They have never had a bad thought before now. They have never felt shame. They had never been in a hostile environment. And because of this, they had no need for clothing, but now, shame and guilt and a flood of sinful thoughts rushed into their minds, and Adam and Eve fashioned clothes out of fig leaves and hid from God. When God came for His regular walk with them, He called out to Adam, not because He didn’t know where Adam was hiding. But because He wanted to see if Adam would ‘fess up to his sin.
God called, “Adam, where are you?” And Adam responded, “I am hiding because I am naked.” And God said, who showed you you were naked?” And Adam confessed, “Well, we ate of the tree you told us not to, and our eyes were opened.”
As a result, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, they received the consequences of their actions, but the whole earth received consequences, because everywhere where sin enters, it gets spoiled too.
Adam’s work before had been pleasurable, but now, it would be a difficult thing to take care of a garden and provide for his family. Eve would conceive and give birth to children, not in relative comfort, but pain would accompany the birthing experience, and the whole earth would now be riddled with noxious weeds and thorny plants that had not existed before.
The greatest consequence of all, however, is that Adam and Eve had lost their fellowship with God. They would regularly walk the Garden of Eden with Him, and now, they were separated from God, because that is what sin does — it separates us from God.
But this sin would not affect only them, but their descendants as well. Romans 5:12
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
So Adam and Eve had to watch their descendants grow up with the problem of sin. But as God sent Adam and Eve away from the Garden of Eden, He left them with a promise — that one day, a woman would have a child that would crush the head of the serpent, Satan. That day, God made coverings out of animal skins to cover Adam and Eve. For this, He sacrificed an innocent animal, and this would be a prophecy of the One who would one day come and die to cover the cost of sin.
The Cost of Sin
The Cost of Sin
The Bible tells us that sin has a cost. There is a payment which must be made by everyone who has sinned. And by the verse in Romans that we read just a while ago, we know that sin has passed onto everyone. So we all owe this price. Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death…
This death is not just a physical death, but it is also a spiritual death — a separation of God for all eternity. The Bible tells us this in the book of Revelation that there will be a time when those that are not saved from their sin will be cast into a lake of fire, and this is the second, or spiritual, death.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
This covers a gamut of sins, obviously not all sins, but you will notice that there are behaviors here that are obviously sinful — murder and sorcery — behaviors that depending on culture may be acceptable or not — like adultery and what the Bible calls whoremongering which can include prostitution all the way down to just sleeping around with other people that are not your spouse. But notice that the last thing on this list is something that not one single person is free from — lying. This tells us that sin, regardless of how common or culturally acceptable or objectively egregious, all sin has this consequence of those that are guilty of it must pay by spending eternity in the lake of fire.
The Way of Salvation
The Way of Salvation
However, because God loves His crowning Creation so much, He has made a way to be saved from sin, to be forgiven from sin. That way is through repentance. The dictionary defines the word repentance as “penitence, regret, or remorse for sin or wrongdoing.” When we read in the Bible the word repentance, we need to understand the following — that the Bible in its original form was not written in English. Those that translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek languages have to use the best words they can to convey the original meaning.
And when we come across the word repent, especially in the New Testament, it is actually translated from a word that means “to change one’s mind.” Now, the context of repentance is always in the topic of sin when this word is used, and so, feeling remorse or regret would fit with this translation as well. But basic thing about repentance that the Bible teaches for the forgiveness of sin is this attitude of changing your mind.
We will come back to this definition later, but I think that it is one that is illustrated well in the events that are found in Genesis chapter 4, where we find a man that refuses to repent — to change his mind about a situation, to turn back — despite the many opportunities given to him.
Cain and Abel: The Option of Repentance
Cain and Abel: The Option of Repentance
We have covered Genesis chapters 1-3 at this point, and now, we will get into Genesis 4. The events covered today may be fairly familiar to you as we study Adam and Eve’s first two sons, Cain and Abel.
We have seen God's wonderful power in and through creation. We have seen how sin came in and corrupted that creation, and this morning, I want us to see how badly God desires for us to repent, to change our mind about sin, about life, and about our need for Him so that we can once again have that fellowship with Him that He created us for.
We begin with Genesis 4 1-2
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Let's notice some things about Cain and Abel. First thing we see is that Cain is the older brother. Not only that, Cain is a tiller of the ground; he is a farmer. Of Abel, we see that he is the younger brother, but he is a shepherd.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
The Offering
The Offering
The brothers each offer a gift to the Lord, and offering.
A. Cain's offering- Fruit of the ground
B. Abel's offering- A sheep (presumably a lamb) of the firstlings of his flock.
As we study these offerings, I want us to see two problems.
v.5
Cain's offering [Heb- donation, voluntary sacrifice (usually bloodless), gift, present, sacrifice] is often cited as the main issue or as a sin sin because God had made a blood sacrifice to cover Adam and Eve. If this were a sacrifice for sin, it would have to be a sacrifice involving blood (an animal must die), however, the Bible does not specify that this was a sin offering/sacrifice. It only says that this was an offering.
Throughout the Bible one can see acceptable offerings of fruits and grains and herbs to the Lord. Leviticus 2:1, 4, 14, 15. So I am very hesitant to say that there was something wrong in what Cain offered.
We find the error of Cain to be a problem of the heart. (Cain's sin, as all sin is, was a problem of the heart.)
Let’s look at Hebrews 11:4 .
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Abel came in faith, Cain did not. Abel was righteous (in right standing with God) before the offering was made, Cain was not.
Over and over we find that faith is what justifies a man, what makes him righteous. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and deemed “more excellent” because of his faith, not because of the item sacrificed.
Abel obtained a witness that he was righteous, that he was living right and that he was loving God, and his life showed it. Cain’s, on the other hand, did not have a witness of a life lived for God.
We cannot live like the devil and expect that offering the Lord part of our time on Sunday and our tithe in the offering will make Him pleased with us. And how do I know that this is how Cain lived? 1 John 3:12 tells us that Cain was "of the wicked one." 1 John 3:12
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
Cain’s works were evil, not just his offering, but his regular life was evil. He was ‘of the wicked one.” He had no interest in living for God. Yet, he is sad, his “countenance had fallen,” because God had not accepted his offering.
As we continue, we see Cain’s first opportunity to repent and make things right.
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
The phrase "doest well" in the Hebrew is one word. This one word heavily implies doing, not just doing the right thing, but doing the right thing joyfully, cheerfully, sweetly, merrily, and with gladness.
When we read "do" in this English passage, our thoughts go to actions, and we are prone to reading this verse as "If you do what is right, you will be accepted; if you do what is wrong, you are sinning." But what the Bible is saying here is that if your heart is right, you'll be accepted. If your heart is wrong, "sin is at the door," meaning, your upcoming actions are going to be sinful.
People with a heart problem do not give to the Lord or serve the Lord with joy.
Cain’s main problem is the problem of Pride. As we go through this, I want us to remember that God often speaks to the heart of people, not always to their outward actions or spoken words.
And through God’s response to Cain’s fallen countenance, we see that Cain had become jealous of his brother and worried that that Abel may take his place (Cain was the firstborn) because Cain's offering was not accepted, but Abel's was.
But in v.7, God clearly tells Cain that even in all this, Cain would still maintain the "older brother" status. This jealousy is born of pride. The fear that Cain has of being replaced is born from pride. Cain prizes his position more than he does his brother. In fact, he prizes his position more than he does a relationship with God. And yet, God is still talking to him, reassuring him.
The First Opportunity to Repent
The First Opportunity to Repent
But there is something in this interaction between Cain and God that I want to point out. God gives Cain the answer to the issue. He tells Cain why the offering was unacceptable. I want you to stop here and forget everything that you have hear of this rather well known story.
Put yourself in Cain's shoes. You have just offered an unacceptable sacrifice, and your younger brother, in your eyes, has "shown you up." You get angry and a bit afraid that he is going to take your place in the family hierarchy. However, God comes to you and talks to you. He tells you where you went wrong and how to make it right. What would you do? I’d like to think that I would get my attitude right and give another offering.
Look at what Cain does, however.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
The Murder and a Second Opportunity to Repent
The Murder and a Second Opportunity to Repent
When confronted with his sin and given the opportunity to confess and repent, Cain holds onto pride and does not do so. And his pride and jealousy lead to anger and bitterness in his heart.
So God confronts Cain about his sin.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
v. 9. The question "Where is Abel?" is a throwback to when God says to Adam, "Where are you" back in the garden of Eden. When Adam hears the question, he promptly responds truthfully and humbly. But when Cain hears the question, he deflects. The question is meant to give Cain a chance to confess and repent like his father had years before. Cain, however, plays dumb.
The Curse and a Third Opportunity
The Curse and a Third Opportunity
Upon refusing to confess and repent, God reveals to Cain that He knows what Cain has done and that there is a punishment for him. But please notice, as God pronounces a curse upon Cain, that there is grace and mercy intertwined.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
What is Cain's occupation? He is a farmer, a fruit and herb cultivator. God cursed Cain "from the earth." Cain would no longer be a successful tiller of the ground. What he loved the most, what he was the most good at, God had stripped away because of sin and unrepentance. Cain would be a fugitive and a vagabond, a wanderer. It is awfully hard for a wander to plant and reap crops. Even with this, Cain does not repent. He complains. Genesis 4:13-14
13 And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
And though the complaint might seem legitimate, I want to point out that it is not, because God was actually showing mercy by cursing Cain, and after this complaint, God is going to show one more mercy.
God’s Mercies and a Fourth Opportunity to Repent
God’s Mercies and a Fourth Opportunity to Repent
God had the absolute right to end Cain's life right then and there, but He did not. The
Instead of looking at God's mercy and seeing it as an opportunity to do right, what Cain does is complain, v. 13-14. He is rightfully afraid for his life, but instead of trying to make things right with the Giver of Life, he complains. Notice what he says in verse 13, "My punishment is more than I can bear." Cain's identity was that of a farmer, but now Cain cannot farm, and if he ever tries to, God has made it to where the earth will fight against his efforts. He follows this with, "You have driven me out from the face of the earth." V.14
The rightful punishment for Cain was death, but instead, God brings Cain to an identity crisis in hopes that Cain will return back to Him. God takes the one thing Cain holds in first place — his ability to farm — so that Cain will finally see God for who He is — supreme, Lord, sovereign.
Cain then utters some words that make us a bit hopeful for his relationship with God: Genesis 4:14
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid.
This is the greatest of the punishments, being hid from the face of God, a break in the fellowship with God, but this is the only time that Cain makes this kind of statement. To Cain, this is not the greatest punishment. Cain, as a farmer, as a person who has always lived in community with others is now driven from the presence of all others, condemned to live as a wanderer (which makes it impossible for him and his family to put down or to cultivate any kind of plant because of their need to be rooted in the ground). And though he is brought to a point where all he can do to better his situation is to look for God, he looks within instead and finds helplessness. We see in his statements and in his actions that Cain prized his vocation more than a relationship with God.
And even so, we see even more goodness of the Lord. Genesis 4:15
15 And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
God set a mark on Cain. This mark was not a punishment, this mark was not a representation of the curse, and this mark was not something bad.
I will make a side note here. What exactly the mark of Cain was is not known. There has been a lot of speculation. But one of the most damaging of those speculations is that the mark of Cain was darker skin. During the slave trade days, this was a particularly popular opinion that in the eyes of many "religious" people helped justify the enslavement of other races. This idea, besides making no logical sense (because, as we see in chapter 6, everyone except for Noah's family dies in the worldwide flood. Cain's genetic line ended there.), but besides making no logical sense, it shows that those that were using this idea as a way to enslave those that were of a different color did not understand the purpose for the mark in the first place.
This mark was a mark of God's protection, not a punishment. Cain did not deserve to be protected like this; Cain deserved death! But here God is, protecting him from vengeance and promising to avenge Cain's murder sevenfold if anyone were to take his life.
Cain should have woken up and seen the goodness and mercy of the Lord right here! Again, Cain could have repented, but that is not what happens. Genesis 4:16
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
He leaves the presence of the Lord. Nowhere do we see in the Scriptures that Cain ever repented. In fact, as we read earlier, Cain is described in the New Testament as being "of that wicked one,” of the devil.
As far as we know, Cain never enjoyed the forgiveness of sins, and because of that, he will spend an eternity in a lake of fire, separated from the very God who loved him enough to give him opportunity after opportunity to repent, to change his mind. To realize that he was not the center of the universe, that God is. To realize that fulfillment could not come from anywhere but from God. To realize that no amount of work could give him satisfaction, no matter how good of a farmer he was. To realize that his sin could only ever be forgiven by God, and for that forgiveness to come, Cain would have to humble himself and repent.
Our Option of Repentance
Our Option of Repentance
Just like Cain, we are sinners. And just like Cain, if we try to offer up the very best of our work to please God, we will fall miserably short of it.
The Bible tells us this clearly. Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Not only do we fall short of God’s glorious perfection, but as we saw a while ago, our sin deserves death and hell. Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death…
There is no amount of good works that we can do to be saved or to earn forgiveness from God. Titus 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
We see in this verse that we can only be saved by God’s mercy. Mercy is God’s undeserved forgiveness for our sin. We do not deserve it, and yet God offers it. He offers it through His Son, Jesus.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God the Father sent His Son Jesus to come to this earth. And guess what, Just like God told Eve, this baby would be born of the seed of the woman, Jesus was born of a virgin young lady named Mary.
He lived a perfect life. He did not sin, because He is God. But he willingly died on a cross for you and for me. He willingly shed His blood to pay for our sins. He needed to do that because God demands blood and death to pay for sins. But the thing is this: If I die for my sins, my blood is insufficient to pay for my sins because it it imperfect. It is tainted with sin, so therefore I would spend eternity separated from God, perishing in a lake of fire. And if you attempted to pay for your own sins, the result would be the same.
However, Jesus never sinned. So He never needed to die. But because He willingly did die, His perfect blood is enough to wash away our sins.
But for us to have that, we must change our minds about sin, about Jesus, and about salvation. We must repent and agree with what the Bible says about all this.
Look at what the rest of Romans 6:23 says.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eternal life is a gift. That means that you cannot earn it or buy it. There is no amount of work that you must do for it, it is a gift. It is a gift that we do not deserve. But that gift comes in only one wrapping - Jesus Christ.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grace is an undeserved favor from God. Because of our sin, we DO NOT deserve forgiveness nor do we deserve heaven. We DO deserve the lake of fire, but God offers us the gift of Salvation. However, as we read before, it is only through Jesus that we can get saved.
Jesus said it best to His disciples in John 14:6
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
There is no other way to heaven. Only Jesus.
Obviously, the gift is not physical. It is a spiritual gift. Forgiveness and salvation from sin must be received spiritually. But how?
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
It is through faith, as we read earlier. We must believe that Jesus is the Lord, that He is God. That He did indeed die for our sins, but not only that, to prove that He was who He said He was, He rose from the dead three days after He died.
We must believe that. But it isn’t simply believing that makes us forgiven. It is when, in that belief of who Jesus is and what we deserve because of our sin, we ask Jesus to forgive us and to save us that He comes to dwell in our hearts, cleansing us from all sin, and making us God’s children.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
How do we receive Him? By believing in Him and asking Him in, by asking for His forgiveness, by asking Him to save us.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Invitation
Invitation
Today, you have the option of repentance. But what you do with this opportunity is up to you. You could react to it like Cain did. You could pout and complain that it is not fair that we should deserve a lake of fire because of sin, when in reality, you are receiving mercy by simply hearing this message of God’s willingness to forgive you.
You could be stubborn and prideful and walk away from here, never changing, never changing your mind about Jesus despite what God’s own word says.
Or, you could accept Him as your savior today. You could put all your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins, and ask Him to save you. And when you do, you will be a recipient of the promise in Romans 10:13 “13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Satan will tell you the lie that you have gone to far, that you cannot be forgiven. But as long as you are drawing breath, you have the option of repentance.
I will ask you to all bow your heads and close your eyes.
Is there anyone here that would say, “Mike, I am not saved. I need that forgiveness of sins, and I would like to talk to someone about it.”
For those that are saved, we know that we still struggle with sin. But we also must confess and repent. We must turn to God and away from sin and live righteously in Jesus Christ.
We need to understand that we also always have the option of repentance. We will sin because we are imperfect. The best time to confess and repent of sin is immediately after the sin has been committed. The longer we wait to do so, the harder it gets.
Satan will tell you, "Well, you've already messed up this much, what's a little more?" Pride will tell you that you won't get caught or you don't need to repent or you can get right with God later. Is there sin in your life?
How many would say, “Mike, there is sin that is unconfessed in my life. God has confronted it in me through His word, though a faithful brother or sister in Christ, or through a sermon or devotional, but I have become defensive. I have not confessed it, but I need to do that now.” Is there anyone like that? — “there are sins I need to confess.” —
Listen, if you don’t confess them to the Lord and allow Him to make your heart right, then, like Cain, sin is at your door. Don’t leave here the same as you came in.
I am going to pray, and as I do, would you get right with the Lord today.
