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00:05 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 aberdeen.io 00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Shawn Brummund: Hello and welcome to another edition of 00:37 the "Sabbath School Study Hour," right here in the Granite Bay 00:41 Hilltop Seventh Day Adventist Church in the greater 00:44 metro area of Sacramento, California. 00:47 It is always good to be able to come together to worship God, to 00:50 be able to open His Bible and continue to study and grow in 00:53 the knowledge of His truth, and of His Son Jesus Christ. 00:58 It is always nice to have our church family with 01:00 us here this morning, as well, as we gather 01:02 together here locally in our new facility. 01:05 We're just so thankful to be able to come together and 01:07 continue to study and to be able to meet each other, greet each 01:11 other, encourage each other, pray with each other 01:13 as we continue to worship the Lord. 01:16 We're continue to study through one of my favorite books. 01:19 It is a foundational book of truth that everyone should read 01:22 from cover to cover, and that is the book of Genesis. 01:25 We have a study guide that is been made available to you to 01:29 take advantage and give you further understanding 01:32 of what Genesis is trying to tell us. 01:34 And so, if you haven't got a copy of the quarterly yet this 01:37 quarter, make sure that you get a copy of the Genesis quarterly. 01:41 You can get that at your local Seventh Day Adventist Church. 01:45 And today we're going to be looking at lesson 01:47 number three, which is Cain And His Legacy. 01:51 We're going to be studying in depth in the 4th chapter of 01:54 Genesis, not one of my favorite chapters, but one that we do 01:57 need to be aware of and understand some of the origins 02:01 of the problems that we have in a broken world today. 02:03 So, please stay tuned as we continue to study 02:06 and grow in the knowledge of Genesis. 02:09 If you'd like to continue to study on another front, we have 02:12 a free gift offer that is made available for you today. 02:16 This is one of my favorite little booklets. 02:18 It's entitled, "Is It Easier To Be Saved Or To Be Lost?" 02:22 Is it easier to be saved or to be lost? 02:25 Important question. What does the Bible answer? 02:27 This booklet will give you that answer in depth. 02:29 So, go ahead and dial 1-866-788-3966 02:34 and ask for free offer 124. 02:38 Now, that's available in North America and the various US 02:41 territories in different parts of the world. 02:44 So, if you live in those areas, please take advantage 02:46 of that offer and dial 1-866-788-3966. 02:50 Now, if you have a phone, a tablet and such, and you'd like 02:53 to receive a free digital copy of that, you can go 02:56 ahead and dial to the number 40544. 03:01 And in the text message itself, you want to put the code SH039. 03:08 And you can download that in the United States. 03:11 And again, if you're not in the United States, you'd like a 03:14 digital copy and you have access to the internet, go ahead and 03:18 make sure that you look up the website that's on the screen. 03:20 It's study.aftv.org/SH039. 03:30 And so, for those of you who are listening to this on a radio 03:33 program, you can go ahead and get that free download as well. 03:37 Well, we don't have anybody to lead us 03:40 in song and worship here today. 03:42 And so, our teacher today is going to be Pastor Alden Ho. 03:46 And before we invite him out, we want to 03:48 invite the Lord to be with us as we pray. 03:51 Father in heaven, we want to thank You for 03:53 the opportunity to be able to worship You. 03:56 We thank You for this special day that You have set aside that 03:59 we might be able to worship You together as a church family, to 04:03 put the other things that keep us busy throughout the week 04:06 aside, and to be able to just stop and focus 04:08 on You and focus on our church family. 04:11 God, we thank You for the opportunity 04:13 to be able to study Your Bible. 04:14 We thank You for the promise that you give us the Holy Spirit 04:17 to further understand Your Bible. 04:19 And God, we want to pray that You'll be 04:20 with our teacher today. 04:22 Please bless him, bless his heart, his mind, give him 04:24 clarity and be with us and teach us, Lord. 04:27 In Jesus's name we pray these things, amen. 04:31 Alden Ho: It's good to see you all here and those of you 04:33 joining online and around the world. 04:36 I want to tell you a story that happened in 04:39 1929 on January 1 at the Rose Bowl. 04:44 It was a guy named Roy Riegels. 04:46 He was playing in a football game for UCLA, and he was--he 04:53 was actually for UCLA, or Georgia Tech, sorry. 04:56 And he was playing against UCLA. 04:58 The problem was when they kicked the ball-- 05:01 I'm not a big football watcher. 05:03 I'd rather play than watch. 05:05 When the ball was kicked, somehow 05:07 there was this fumble that went on. 05:09 And in the scurry and the tussle of the whole thing, Roy managed 05:12 to pick up the ball, and he started running. 05:16 And he started running with all his might. 05:19 The problem was, he ran the wrong way. 05:23 He ended up in his own touchdown zone at the end. 05:28 And consequently, they lost the game as a result. 05:32 The reason I tell you this story is many times for us, we think 05:36 that we're going the right way, and we're so convicted of it. 05:40 But the problem is, that's not the right way. 05:45 Solomon writes here in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12, 05:49 he says, "There is a way that seems right to a man." 05:52 You know the end of this. But what happens? 05:55 But in its end, it's the way of what? 05:58 It's the way of death. 06:00 This week's lesson that we have on the legacy of Cain is a 06:05 legacy of disobedience that Cain left for all the world to see. 06:09 And really consequently as a result of this legacy, the world 06:15 is reeling as a result of all this. 06:18 The expulsion from Eden, the results of that single sin, 06:21 continue to fester, continue to grow, and it passed on from 06:25 succeeding generations all the way through time 06:29 to the point that we are at right now. 06:32 We find that the beginning of this chapter begins 06:34 with the birth of Cain, and it ends with the 06:37 birth of Seth as the lesson points out. 06:40 While the birth of Cain leads to failure and has a limited 06:44 horizon made of human achievement 06:47 and violence, it leads to the flood ultimately. 06:51 The birth of Seth, however, is the opposite of that. 06:55 It brings repair to the preceding failure and restores 06:59 God's plan of salvation, leading to the survival of 07:03 mankind and history to their salvation. 07:08 When we get to Sunday's lesson, we find that 07:12 this particular lesson is about Cain and Abel. 07:14 These are the first real children that 07:17 we find in the Bible, Cain and Abel. 07:20 Cain was the first one born. 07:21 In "Desire of Ages," page 31, it says, 07:24 "The Savior's coming was foretold at Eden. 07:28 When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, 07:30 they looked for its speedy fulfillment. 07:33 They joyfully welcomed their firstborn son, 07:35 hoping that it might be the deliverer." 07:39 You can imagine the guilt that was on Eve. 07:43 When she took that fruit, she ventured away from Adam, and 07:48 then she came back with that fruit and she gave it to Adam. 07:51 Adam really had no choice in the matter, did he? 07:55 Or could he? He did have a choice. 07:58 You know, but I'm sure he's thinking, 07:59 "But, but what about Eve?" 08:02 You know, I know this is not part of the lesson, 08:04 but I've always wondered, what about Eve? 08:05 And as I've studied some more about this, God could have 08:09 produced another Eve for him, but he ate it. 08:14 And as a result of this, the guilt 08:17 continued to fester within them. 08:20 And when the promise was given that there would 08:21 be a promised Son, the Son of God would come, 08:25 Eve kept thinking it could be hers. 08:28 It's hers, it's her firstborn. 08:31 Well, God works in His own timing. 08:33 He doesn't work in our own timing. 08:35 Isaiah 55:89 says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts. 08:40 My ways are not your way. 08:41 So as the heavens are higher than the earth, 08:43 so are My thoughts higher than your 08:45 thoughts and My ways than your ways." 08:48 The lesson points out that she believed wholeheartedly 08:51 that God Himself would come down and be the 08:54 very one that she would give birth to. 08:58 And that's why her response in chapter 4, verse 1 she says, 09:01 "I have given birth to a male child, the Lord." 09:07 Was she right? Not quite. 09:10 She was not so right on that. 09:13 Dr. Jacques Doukhan, who wrote this particular lesson for us on 09:17 Genesis, he comments here and he says, "While Eve's excited 09:21 comments on Cain's birth, she says nothing about Abel's birth, 09:26 at least nothing that's recorded in the text." 09:29 In contrast to Cain's birth, you see the 09:31 narrator simply reports that she bore again. 09:36 There was no excitement anymore. 09:37 There was no thinking, "Well, this is the promised Son." 09:42 No, it was just a son. 09:46 In the timeline, it shows it's about three years' difference 09:49 between Cain and then three years later, it was Abel. 09:52 The lesson points out that though we didn't want to read 09:56 any more of these short texts than there is, perhaps the idea 10:00 is that Adam and Eve's hope rested, they believed 10:04 only in Cain because they believed he and not his 10:08 brother was the promised Messiah. 10:13 Now, that's an interesting thought because when you think 10:15 of these two that went on, I mean, they grew up together, 10:21 they played together, they did all the same things together. 10:24 But somewhere along the line, there was a division. 10:26 There was a separation, not only in thoughts, ideals, but as 10:31 we'll see in a moment, also in practice. 10:35 In Monday's lesson, the title being, 10:38 "The Two Offerings," this is a very interesting one to look at. 10:42 We find here that Abel had the spirit of loyalty to God. 10:47 He saw justice, he saw mercy, he saw the Creator's 10:50 dealings with the fallen race, and gratefully, 10:54 he accepted the hope of redemption. 10:57 On the other hand though, you had Cain. 11:00 Cain cherished feelings of rebellion and murmured against 11:03 God because of the curse pronounced upon the earth and 11:06 upon the human race for Adam's sin. 11:11 I look out at many of you, and I know 11:12 that many of you here have children. 11:15 And if you've ever had children that were born close together, 11:18 you're kind of sometimes comparing the two. 11:21 "Well, this one does this, and this one does that." 11:23 Well, we have ironically today, although we are three weeks 11:27 ahead of the lesson, today's March 26. 11:30 Today happens to be our twin girls' 11:32 birthday, and they're 23 today. 11:34 So, happy birthday, wherever you are, 11:36 although you'll be hearing this three weeks later. 11:40 I can tell you this, even though they look almost identical, they 11:44 were very much different, very different in the way they were. 11:49 One of them, we called public 11:51 relations department of the family. 11:53 She would be out there talking to everybody that there was. 11:56 The other one was the research 11:57 and development department of the family. 12:00 She would find out where all the things were. 12:02 She picked up a paperclip one day and stuck it in this hole 12:05 that was in the wall and yelled out very loudly that it bit her. 12:12 Ironically, they kind of change as they grow up, don't they? 12:18 And so it was also with Cain and Abel. 12:22 You see, they came to the altar. 12:25 They both gathered rocks, and they both stacked 12:28 up the rocks to build an altar. 12:30 And each of them brought the stones that they had gathered. 12:34 From afar, you looked at the altar itself, 12:37 and there was no difference, they looked exactly the same. 12:39 You probably couldn't tell the difference 12:41 between Cain's altar and Abel's alter. 12:45 But then they went back and then they got their offering, and 12:49 they placed their offerings on their altars. 12:52 And right there, you will see a marked difference between the 12:56 two of them because you will find here that Abel presented a 13:00 sacrifice from the flock in accordance with God's direction. 13:05 And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. 13:11 How do we know that? 13:12 Because the Bible tells us that fire flashed 13:15 from heaven and consumed the sacrifice. 13:18 If you remember the story of Elijah and the scene 13:21 that took place at Mount Carmel, you had all 13:24 these 850 false prophets that were there. 13:28 They danced around for the whole day. 13:29 They had their bull there. 13:31 They had it all set up on the altar. 13:33 They were waiting for it to catch on fire, 13:37 but it would never catch on fire. 13:39 But then when Elijah took his sacrifice and he placed it 13:42 there, all of a sudden, it caught on fire. 13:47 Not only did it just catch on fire like that, but that was 13:49 after all these buckets of water on everything. 13:55 The fire was so strong that it even consumed and licked up the 13:58 water and consumed all the rocks too. 14:00 And here we have the very same thing with Abel's offering. 14:04 Fire flashed from heaven, consumed the sacrifice. 14:09 Then it says that Cain, Cain placed his fruits 14:14 upon the altar, and he waited, expecting that at 14:17 any moment, it would, boof, burst into flames. 14:22 But is that what happened? Not by any means. 14:25 We're told here that the disregard for the Lord's direct 14:29 and explicit command presented only the offering of fruit. 14:34 There was no token from heaven that 14:36 showed it was accepted, nothing at all. 14:40 Now, why would He do that? 14:43 Why would Cain just have his own thoughts, his own ideals when 14:48 it came to what God's explicit directions were? 14:53 In 1937, some of you may remember the name 14:57 of this famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. 15:01 He built a house for an industrialist 15:03 named Hibbard Johnson. 15:05 It was a rainy day, and Johnson was 15:07 entertaining some very distinguished guests. 15:09 And the dinner was all out, but then all of a sudden, 15:13 the roof began to start leaking. 15:16 The water seeped through, and it actually 15:19 started dripping right above Hibbard's head. 15:27 Hibbard was kind of wiping his head back and forth, 15:30 kept looking up at these drips coming down. 15:32 He was, nonetheless, irate. 15:37 He picked up the phone, and he called 15:38 Wright, who was in Phoenix, Arizona. 15:41 He said, "Frank, I got a problem here. 15:44 The house you built is beautiful by all means. 15:47 We are enjoying it very much. 15:49 But as I've told you before, the roof leaks. 15:52 And right now I'm with some friends and some very 15:54 distinguished guests, and it's leaking right on my head." 16:00 Frank Lloyd Wright replied, he heard all the guests 16:04 behind him and he said to him, "Well, Hibb, 16:08 why don't you just move your chair?" 16:12 You see, some of us are just so stubborn. 16:16 We're so set in our ways. 16:18 We have this mindset that this is what it is, 16:20 and this is what it's got to be. 16:22 But here's the problem that we face today. 16:26 In the religious world, if you have your ideals, you got to 16:31 make sure that those ideals match up with God's ideals. 16:35 Because if they don't match up with 16:36 God's ideals, then you know what? 16:38 You have a problem. 16:41 God doesn't have a problem because God gave the command. 16:44 And it's up to you if you're going to follow God's command, 16:47 or you're not going to follow God's command. 16:49 And this is the problem that we have in the world today. 16:55 According to "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 71, we find that 16:59 Abel, he pleaded with his brother to approach 17:03 God in the divinely prescribed way. 17:07 But the entreaties only made Cain 17:10 more determined to follow his own will. 17:14 As the eldest, he felt like, "Who 17:17 is my brother to admonish me? 17:19 He's younger than me." So, he despised his counsel. 17:22 The problem is, Cain had a problem. 17:27 He was stubborn, he was disobedient. 17:30 He wanted to do it exactly the way he wanted it. 17:35 Do you remember this name, Frank--Frank Sinatra? 17:38 1969, he came out with a song, very famous song. 17:43 What's it called? "My Way." 17:47 And that's exactly what Cain did, Cain did it his way. 17:52 You know, I pulled one of the lines of the songs, of this 17:55 particular song, and I found it interesting. 17:57 And it says here, "And to think I did all that. 18:01 And may I say not in a shy way? 18:04 No, no, no, not me. I did it my way." 18:09 But, you know, let's look at it from Cain's standpoint. 18:12 "I did it my way. I placed the fruit on the altar. 18:15 I did it my way." And God says, "Yup, you did. 18:19 Have it your way." 18:21 Now, we're pulling in a Burger King commercial right now. 18:23 "Have it your way, the way you want it. 18:25 You want to do that? You do it that way. 18:27 But you know what? I'm not approving of that. 18:29 I'm not sending fire of that. See you later". 18:32 Let's go on with Abel. 18:35 And this is exactly what Cain did, he failed to understand. 18:39 You see, here's in a very core sense the difference 18:44 between Abel's sacrifice and the difference 18:47 between Cain's sacrifice. 18:49 Without the shedding of blood, there 18:51 is how much remission of sin? 18:55 Zero, there's no remission of sin at all. 18:58 So, what bloodshed is there? 19:01 Have you ever seen an apple bleed? 19:04 Maybe a beet might bleed, but certainly not a mango. 19:09 None of these things are going to bleed. 19:10 So, we find that there is--this is to show their faith in the 19:14 blood of Christ, as promised in the Atonement, 19:17 by offering the first, first things of their 19:19 fruit, of their flock in sacrifice. 19:22 Besides this, the firstfruits of the earth were to be presented 19:26 before God, not as a sacrifice, but as a 19:29 love offering instead, a thank offering. 19:32 So, we find here Cain obeyed. He built the altar. 19:37 Cain obeyed in bringing a sacrifice, 19:41 but he only rendered partial obedience. 19:45 The essential part, the recognition 19:47 of the need of a redeemer was left out. 19:53 Could this be the problem that we have in the world today? 19:58 The problem in the sense that God says of all the Ten 20:02 Commandments, eight of them say "thou shalt," 20:07 one says "honor, the other says "remember"? 20:13 Could it be that the same problem exists in the world 20:16 today that they want to have it their way, that they want to 20:19 worship their way, on their day, in their style? 20:27 So, in a sense, when you think about it, can God 20:30 be there when they worship in that way? 20:35 You know, as Seventh Day Adventists, 20:37 I want to caution you, just because you come here 20:41 on the Sabbath, you may have the day correct, 20:47 but remember, some churches may not 20:49 have the way in worship correct. 20:52 We may not have the way in keeping the Sabbath correct. 20:56 And in so doing, we fall into the same 20:58 trap that Cain has fallen into himself. 21:02 Dr. Doukhan says the following, "Take note here that Cain's 21:07 offer was to God," quote, "to God." 21:11 Where Abel's offering was just, he just offers. 21:16 There's no mention of God. 21:18 There's a difference between the two. 21:21 This brings us to Tuesday's lesson, The Crime. 21:25 Doukhan once again, Dr. Doukhan says, "It is significant that 21:29 Cain's crime immediately follows this shift in the dialogue from 21:33 a failed vertical to the horizon." 21:36 What does that mean, failed vertical? 21:38 You see, there's a compliance. This came down from the top. 21:41 This is what God wants of you. 21:43 So, this is how it's supposed to be. 21:45 But instead of accepting that and following that, now he 21:48 shifts it from a vertical to a horizontal. 21:52 He starts looking at Abel, and he starts blaming, pointing 21:56 blame, finding fault with Abel in that sense. 22:01 And it finds here, the mechanism for the 22:03 first religious crime is suggested here. 22:07 The crimes of the zealous ones are not 22:10 committed because they feel they are right. 22:13 They're crimes of fanaticism, of religious intolerance, and they 22:18 convey from the failure to respond to God's Word. 22:23 When faith is replaced by human work 22:25 and control, crime will follow. 22:28 And that's exactly what happened. 22:30 Cain killed his brother. 22:33 Cain killed his brother, not because Cain felt he was right 22:39 or that he felt that his brother was wrong. 22:41 On the contrary, Cain killed his brother because Cain 22:45 was evil, and his brother was righteous. 22:52 From "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 72, we're told that Cain 22:55 and Abel represent two classes that exist in the world today, 23:00 two classes that exist in the close of time. 23:02 One class avails themselves to the appointed sacrifice for sin, 23:07 the other ventures to depend upon their own merits. 23:10 Theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue 23:13 of divine meditation, or divine mediation. 23:18 And thus, it is not able to bring man into favor with God. 23:22 It is only through the merits of Jesus 23:25 that our transgressions can be pardoned. 23:28 We find that those who feel no need of the blood of Christ will 23:33 feel that without divine grace, they can make 23:36 their own work secure and their approval of God 23:40 and make the same mistake as did Cain. 23:44 If they do not accept the cleansing blood, they are under 23:48 condemnation if there is no other provision 23:51 thereby made that can release them from sin. 23:56 You see, many of us, that type of thing is only a form of 24:01 godliness denying the power there is. 24:04 So, it is unsafe for us to linger in our thoughts. 24:10 How do you think Cain had the idea to bring fruit? 24:15 Do you think he was just there tending to his vegetables one 24:18 day and his fruit and he decided, "Hmm, let me just bring 24:22 a few of the things that I just plucked off the tree"? 24:26 Do you think that's how it happened? 24:27 Or do you think it was maybe the voice, the impression of Satan, 24:32 that was speaking to him that said, "Hey Cain, 24:35 don't follow what Abel's doing. 24:38 You don't have to bring the lamb. 24:41 You don't have to do that. It's not about that. 24:45 You don't have to kill a good animal. 24:47 Why not just bring the best fruit that you have, the ones 24:50 without blemish, the one without spot or anything like that? 24:53 Just bring one of those and put them up there because God 24:56 doesn't care 'cause you could worship God, 25:01 you know, on Monday, on Tuesday, on 25:04 Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, on Sunday. 25:08 It doesn't--it doesn't matter what day you worship, 25:11 just so long as you worship God." 25:14 Heard that before? 25:18 So, we find all this happens. 25:25 It's not safe for us in these days. 25:28 It's a very dangerous thing. 25:31 Maybe you've heard this before, that when you go into a very bad 25:36 place, your guardian angel can't follow you. 25:40 He stays outside. Have you heard that one before? 25:45 You see, there's truth to that. 25:48 When we venture onto Satan's playground, we have no assurance 25:52 of God's protection, no assurance at all. 25:55 And this was what happened to Cain as a result of this. 25:58 We find that from "Thoughts From The Mount of Blessings," page 26:02 118 it says, "The only safeguard against evil is the indwelling 26:05 of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness." 26:10 Notice, through faith in His righteousness, 26:12 not through faith in your own righteousness. 26:15 "It is because of selfishness that exists in our 26:18 heart, that temptation has power over us. 26:22 But when we behold the great love of God, selfishness appears 26:26 to us as its hideous and repulsive character, and we 26:29 desire to have it expelled from the soul. 26:33 As the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, 26:36 our hearts are softened and subdued. 26:39 The temptation loses its power, and the grace 26:42 of Christ transforms the character." 26:45 But in Cain's case, that's not the situation, which brings us 26:53 to Wednesday, The Punishment of Cain. 26:57 There's an echo that's heard from chapter 3 in Genesis 27:02 and that echo is when God says, "Where are you?" 27:08 God asked Adam, "Where are you?" Where was Adam? 27:13 He was hiding out somewhere in the Garden. 27:15 I mean, look, this is a very rhetorical question that God 27:18 asked because He knows the answer to that. 27:20 Can--you know, don't ever try to play hide 27:22 and go seek with God, it's a lose-lose situation. 27:27 So, when He says, "Where are you?" 27:28 He already knows. 27:30 He's saying that for your own benefit, for you to be able to 27:33 think and to say, "Why am I hiding?" 27:39 We find here that this punishment comes on. 27:44 And the lesson says that Cain will not acknowledge his sins. 27:49 He denies it, something that Adam didn't do, even 27:53 though he tried to put blame elsewhere. 27:56 "This woman you created, she's the one that did it to me. 27:59 She's the one that made me eat it." 28:01 Cain, in contrast, he openly defies God. 28:05 He doesn't waste any time confronting Cain on this crime. 28:10 Instead of acknowledging his sin, Cain continues to complain 28:14 of God's injustice and to cherish jealousy. 28:19 Because of all this, the truth was being agitated in him. 28:24 Every time Abel spoke truth, how do you think Cain felt? 28:28 He just got more and more tighter, more and more wound up. 28:34 But yet, Cain, Cain trying to be the good guy, the good brother, 28:39 the righteous one, it says here, "In meekness, yet fearlessly and 28:43 firmly, Abel defended the justice and goodness of God." 28:48 He pointed out Cain's error and tried to convince 28:52 him, "Look, brother, you're wrong. 28:56 You can't do it this way." 28:59 Does that help at all when somebody is really angry? 29:04 That's like, okay, you got a little bit of a 29:06 fire going, and you just take a little bit 29:09 of gasoline and throw it on the fire. 29:12 You know what happens when you do that? 29:15 I found out once the hard way. 29:19 I raked my leaves, made a nice row of them, 29:22 and I put some gasoline in there. 29:24 And I made a little trail. 29:28 My neighbor told me, "In the future, use diesel. 29:32 It goes a lot slower." 29:33 Because the moment you light--I don't care 29:35 how long that trail is, it just poof. 29:37 It looked like a scene from a Hollywood movie out there. 29:43 Cain was angry. He was so indignant. 29:50 He found Abel, and we're told that in the 29:54 fury of his passion, he slew his brother. 29:59 It's one thing to say he killed Abel. 30:03 It makes it so distant. 30:06 But here he slew his brother, his own flesh and blood. 30:14 Abel's life of obedience and unswerving 30:17 faith was to Cain a perpetual reproof. 30:22 He hated that. 30:24 That's much like how it is today and even 30:28 more so when we get to the future. 30:30 Because we're told, "The brighter the heavenly light that 30:33 is reflected from the character of God's faithful servants, the 30:37 more clearly the sin of the ungodly is revealed. 30:41 And the more determined will be their efforts 30:44 to destroy those who disturb their peace." 30:47 Pouring the gas on the fire. 30:52 Whenever a person turns their back and renounces 30:55 the life of sin they have lived, Satan is furious. 31:02 He is very, very angry. 31:10 Do you remember the name Roger Morneau? 31:16 You know, there's a reason why Satan is angry because once you 31:21 go from Satan's side to God's side, all of a sudden, you know 31:27 what the plans were, and you're able to use those and turn them 31:32 around to be able to win those same ones to Christ now. 31:38 Hence, we're told that in the circle that is 31:41 around Jesus in heaven, the closest ring around 31:46 Him are those who once served Satan. 31:50 That's the closest ring. 31:52 There's different circles around Christ. 31:55 That's the closest one because they once served Satan, and this 32:02 is what happens when Satan finds out that one of you has turned 32:07 their backs on Him, you've surrendered your 32:10 life, you've given it wholly to Christ. 32:13 Now he's indignant, he's furious. 32:16 He tries to turn up the heat more. 32:19 But you know what? 32:20 If you're convicted, if you're consecrated, 32:23 there's no turning back. 32:24 You're never going to go back and serve Satan ever again. 32:32 One of my favorite quotes that we find in the Spirit of 32:34 Prophecy, it's found in Review and Herald December 16, 1890. 32:41 It says, "If you indulge stubbornness of heart, and 32:44 through pride and self righteousness, 32:45 you do not confess your faults, you will be 32:48 left subject to Satan's temptations. 32:51 If when the Lord reveals your error, you do not confess, 32:55 His providence will bring you over the ground 32:57 again and again," just like he did with Cain. 33:01 "You will continue to lack wisdom, and you 33:05 will make mistakes of a similar character. 33:08 You will call sin righteousness and righteousness sin." 33:12 And guess what? 33:13 The multitude of deceptions that prevail in the last days 33:16 will encircle you, and you will change leaders 33:19 and not know you have done so. 33:22 This is exactly what happened in Cain's situation. 33:26 Cain built the altar. He grabbed the same stones. 33:30 He set it up, looked exactly the same. 33:32 However, he had changed leaders and in changing leaders, he 33:38 changed his ideals of what he thought would be a sac--correct 33:42 sacrifice because he did it his way. 33:48 We find that God's sacri--God's sacred--He spared, sorry. 33:55 God spared Cain's life. 33:57 In doing so, He created a perpetual lesson about the great 34:02 controversy with Cain and his lineage to show that, look, 34:09 there's a reason why the sinner cannot live on forever. 34:15 The sinner cannot live on to carry 34:17 out their rebellion against God. 34:19 There's got to come an end to all this, and you know what? 34:25 God watched all this that was going on and in His mercy, 34:29 He provided Cain, the first murderer, 34:32 some kind of protection that was going on. 34:35 But what this protection was, we don't exactly know. 34:39 We're not told about it in the Bible, 34:41 Spirit of Prophecy, Josephus. 34:43 None of them say exactly what the protection was, 34:46 but we know this, nobody could harm Cain. 34:52 Why would they want to harm Cain anyways? 34:55 Probably because he was the first murderer. 34:58 Think about this, everybody on the earth at this time 35:02 were all descendants of Adam and Eve. 35:05 They married their brothers and sisters. 35:08 It was okay back then, not okay today for very good reasons too. 35:15 But we find that as a result of this, you're talking 35:18 about this could have been their--well, it is, 35:21 it was their brother probably, right? 35:25 I mean, we don't know how many children 35:27 Adam and Eve had all together. 35:29 We only know of three that were given, Cain, Abel, and who else? 35:34 Seth, that's right, so we find that the year after 35:40 Abel was killed, Seth came on the scene. 35:45 We find that also that this evil continued and continued and 35:49 continued for 15 centuries, 15 centuries all through time. 35:55 And then it came down to a time where 35:57 God says, "Enough, I'm done with this, this is wrong." 36:04 This--you can't even see good anymore because the only good 36:09 thing that was left there, well, we'll get to that 36:14 in just a moment, in Friday's lesson. 36:17 But let's talk a little bit about Thursday's lesson, 36:20 The Wickedness of Man. 36:23 Get this scene. Lamech comes on the scene now. 36:28 He is the great, great, great grandson of Cain, 36:33 but there's a difference between Cain and Lamech. 36:36 You think Cain was bad? Come on. 36:41 Cain, Cain was quiet about his crime of killing his brother. 36:47 He didn't really go out there and say much, could be why God 36:50 protected him because he was fairly quiet about this. 36:53 But not so about Lamech. 36:58 Lamech was totally the opposite of Cain. 37:02 Cain was quiet, Lamech here-- look in your Bibles. 37:05 Just look, if you have it handy, look 37:07 at Genesis chapter 4:23 and 24. 37:12 He goes so far as to write a poem, 37:14 and he kicks it into a song. 37:17 I don't know if what type of song it was, definitely not a 37:20 country western song, but I can tell you this. 37:24 Listen to the words, it says, "Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; 37:29 wives of Lamech, listen to my speech." 37:31 I mean, look, he's naming himself in there. 37:33 He's bragging about this. 37:34 He says, "For I have killed a man for wounding 37:38 me, even a young man for hurting me. 37:41 If Cain shall have avenged sevenfold, 37:46 then Lamech seventy sevenfold." 37:50 Wow. This guy arrogant or what? 37:55 Is it all about him? 37:57 It kind of like the world just revolves around Lamech. 38:01 He's the first polygamist in the Bible. 38:05 I mean, where does he get the idea? 38:07 Once again, it had to have been inspired by Satan. 38:10 But where does he get the idea, 38:12 "Look, I'll just get another wife"? 38:14 As if one's not enough, hmm. 38:20 Dr. Jacques Doukhan writes here and he says, "There is also 38:25 contrast between the crime of Cain and the crime of Lamech. 38:30 Unlike Cain, Lamech took murder one step further. 38:35 Lamech presented his killing as a positive and valuable act." 38:41 And literally, he's boasting about it. 38:44 Can you imagine that? "Hey, guys, check this out. 38:47 I killed this dude. Isn't that cool?" 38:51 What is wrong with him? 38:53 "While Cain chose to remain silent, 38:56 Lamech, in contrast, he writes a song. 38:59 Whereas Cain asked God for mercy, Lamech ignores God and 39:04 instead subjects his wife to a litany of his prowess and his 39:08 homicidal feat as feat worthy of approbation. 39:13 The same paradigm shift observed in Cain's crime 39:17 also can be traced here in the failure of that 39:21 vertical relationship between God and human. 39:26 It yields to a violence turning against the human other." 39:31 In fact it says here, Dr. Doukhan continues writing and he 39:35 says, "Lamech moves to the opposite of forgiveness. 39:39 He speaks of revenge, alluding to 39:42 the additional crimes in the future." 39:46 Wow. This guy is messed up. 39:52 "Even his revenge was given considerable intensification. 39:55 While Cain is avenged only seven times, Lamech requires an 40:00 increase to seventy times seven." 40:04 That's very interesting, isn't it? 40:05 That later on we find in Matthew when they asked Jesus, 40:11 "How many times should I forgive them?" 40:14 Jesus plays on those same words. How many times? 40:18 Seventy times seven, that's how many times. 40:22 And then we come to the birth of Seth, 40:25 and what do we know of Seth? 40:27 Dr. Doukhan, who writes again, he says, "The repetition of the 40:32 first phrase that introduced the birth of the firstborn Cain 40:36 suggested a return to the beginning. 40:40 In addition, the repetition of the word 'again' 40:44 attached to the birth of Seth echoes again 40:47 the associated with the birth of Abel." 40:51 Remember, for Cain it was she gave birth to a son 40:56 that she was hoping would be the Messiah. 40:59 And then she bore again, that was Abel. 41:03 Now she bore again to Seth. 41:07 Seth, interestingly enough, the name 41:12 Seth means to put in place of. 41:16 Abel's gone so now Seth takes 41:19 his place as one of the righteous. 41:22 And if you follow the lineage down, 41:24 it's very interesting to look at the lineage. 41:27 You follow, and it goes on with Cain, then you look at Abel. 41:31 Abel's is gone. 41:33 And from the timeline, I find it kind of interesting that this 41:36 whole thing that happened with Cain killing Abel, Abel was 41:41 about 75 years old, 75, 78 years old, when this happened. 41:46 Seems old for us but for them, I mean that that's nothing when 41:51 they're living to 900 years of age. 41:54 Seventy is like an--I don't know how you count it. 41:57 Do you reverse dog age back or something like that? 42:00 But that would be like seven or eight years for us. 42:06 So, Seth takes on the righteous line, 42:10 and he carries that on through the future. 42:15 Seth is the one that follows the closest by following the example 42:24 also of Christ, the same that Abel did before he was cut off. 42:31 So, Seth picks it up and continues on that way. 42:35 This brings us to Friday. 42:38 The further thoughts of this little boy 42:42 that comes on, his name is Enoch. 42:45 What do we know about Enoch? It said that he walked with God. 42:51 How many years did he walk with God, do you remember? 42:55 Three hundred years. That's a little bit of time. 42:59 We can't really fathom that, can we? 43:03 We can't fathom living 300 years, 43:05 let alone living for all eternity. 43:08 But I like the way a little boy describes it. 43:11 He says one day, Enoch went for a walk, 43:15 and he went for a walk with God, and God walked with him. 43:20 And then Enoch said, "I need to go home. 43:23 It's getting late." 43:24 And God said, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." 43:27 And Enoch came home. 43:29 And the next day, Enoch went for another 43:31 walk, and he walked with God again. 43:34 And then at the end of the day as the sun was setting, he says, 43:37 "God, I need to get back home because it's getting late." 43:40 And this happened day after day, 365 days a year for 300 years. 43:49 Finally, Enoch went for the walk, and he was so focused, he 43:55 was so enthralled with talking to God in his relationship that 44:00 he totally forgot the fact that not only is the sun getting low 44:04 in the sky, but now the sun set and it's getting dark. 44:08 But they have been walking and walking and walking. 44:11 And the little boy says, as he tells the story, 44:15 Enoch says, "Lord, I need to get back home. 44:20 It's very late now." 44:22 And God turned and He looked at Enoch and He says, "My son, you 44:26 have walked with me these 300 years so faithfully. 44:31 You are so far from your home, but you are so close to my home. 44:37 Come home with me." 44:39 And the Bible says, "He was no more." 44:44 I don't know about you, but I feel emotional about that 44:48 because here is the possibility for us today. 44:53 Do you realize that? 44:55 We are living on the very precipice of Jesus's coming, and 44:59 we could hear those same words, "You are so far from your home, 45:04 but you're so close to my home, just come home with me." 45:09 Because that day is not afar off. 45:12 What do you say? 45:16 But not everybody that says, "Lord, Lord," 45:20 will enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 45:24 Just because you're here today and you got 45:26 the day right doesn't mean that you're there. 45:29 It means that you still got a ways to go. 45:33 There's righteous living. 45:34 So, how do you live righteously amidst all the chaos, 45:39 all the evil that's in the world today? 45:42 You know, there's a time period that I hate going 45:44 into stores, and that is around Halloween. 45:48 I just hate going in there, looking at all these 45:51 demonic things staring at me, it's just ugly. 45:56 But then again, you think, how bad--I mean, have you ever 46:01 thought, how bad must have been the world before the flood? 46:06 How bad was it in the antediluvian 46:09 days for all this to happen? 46:12 And how did Enoch live amidst that time period? 46:16 I mean, if you could have his game plan of how Enoch lived, 46:25 that would be the path that would be able to needle the way 46:29 through that you could thread that way through the chaos 46:32 of today and make it out alive, and we're told that path. 46:39 We're told in "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 85 it says here, 46:45 "Distressed by the increasing wickedness of the ungodly and 46:49 fearing that their infidelity might lessen his reverence for 46:53 God, Enoch, he avoided constant association with them." 46:59 It doesn't mean that he said he never 47:01 talked to them or anything like that. 47:02 No, he talked with them, but he 47:04 avoided constant association with them. 47:08 He spent much time in solitude. Why? 47:11 Because in solitude, that is where you come to God in prayer. 47:14 That's where you pray for protection. 47:16 That's where you pray to keep your mind stayed on Christ. 47:20 That's where you pray to have the indwelling 47:22 of the Holy Spirit within your heart. 47:23 You can't do it when you're out in the world. 47:29 It takes a deep commitment to dig deep foundations. 47:33 So, he spent much time in prayer, 47:35 giving himself to meditation and prayer. 47:38 Thus, he waited before the Lord. For what reason? 47:45 Because there's one thing to study, there's one thing to 47:48 pray, and there's another thing to just be quiet and listen. 47:53 What are you listening for? 47:55 You're listening for the counsel. 47:58 You're listening for the prompting 48:00 of the still, small voice. 48:01 You're listening for the Holy Spirit 48:03 to give you the directive for the day. 48:05 And it says here, "He waited before the Lord, seeking a 48:09 clearer knowledge of His will, that he might perform it." 48:14 Now get this, this last sentence says it all. 48:17 "To him, prayer was as the breath of the soul." 48:23 He lived on earth. 48:25 He lived amidst the sinfulness of the antediluvians, 48:30 all the carnality, all that stuff. 48:32 He lived during that time period but it says here, 48:36 "He lived in the very atmosphere of heaven." 48:42 He lived in this bubble, not a bubble that says, 48:46 "I don't know that you're there. 48:47 I'm just trying to avoid you." No, he was a constant witness. 48:51 He was a constant prick to their sinfulness, 48:54 but he lived in the atmosphere of God. 48:58 He lived in the presence of God. 49:00 Do you remember years ago there was 49:02 that WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? 49:06 Forget that. I got a better one for you. 49:10 Practice the presence of God. Practice the presence of God. 49:16 God is with you wherever you are. 49:18 He is here. When you eat, He's next to you. 49:21 What you see, He's next to you. 49:23 When you drive, He's next to you. 49:25 He is always there with you, whether you like it or not. 49:32 Will you acknowledge that and keep walking in His ways? 49:36 Let's pray. 49:39 Our Father in heaven, we come to You 49:40 and we thank You for the many blessings. 49:42 We thank You for the lessons that we learned from Cain. 49:45 We ask and pray that Your Holy Spirit would guard our hearts 49:48 and minds that we would not fall into those 49:50 same temptations and those same snares. 49:53 Be with us through this Sabbath day that we may not enjoy the 49:57 message, but that we may be reproved, 50:00 edified, corrected, and blessed by it. 50:04 In Jesus's name, amen. 50:09 male announcer: Don't forget to request 50:11 today's life-changing free resource. 50:13 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 50:15 you can download a digital copy straight 50:17 to your computer or mobile device. 50:19 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 50:22 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit 50:26 the web address shown on your screen. 50:29 And be sure to select the digital 50:30 download option on the request page. 50:32 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 50:36 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want and most 50:39 important, to share it with others. 50:47 announcer: Amazing Facts Changed Lives. 50:56 male: My greatest wish is that my children 51:00 will see me the way I see my own father. 51:06 He's a very devoted man, and that kind of framed 51:10 my childhood going forward from there where 51:14 I was always involved in church work. 51:17 And I had a very rich experience with the Lord 51:20 at a young age all the way up through college. 51:25 Then after I got married, I got in a company called Comcast. 51:30 And I spent the past roughly eight and a 51:33 half years, nine years at Comcast. 51:37 And I was actually watching television with my son, 51:41 and a Comcast commercial came on the air. 51:45 And he said, "Oh, Daddy, that's Comcast. 51:48 That's where you work, Daddy." 51:51 And most fathers would be proud of something like that, but it 51:55 really struck me that, you know, my son's getting older, and he 51:59 does not see me as a servant of the Lord. 52:02 He sees me as a servant of my company. 52:05 And I knew that I would have to make some changes because I 52:11 wanted him to know me as a--as a man of God. 52:15 I never thought I would be a preacher or anything 52:17 like that, but I knew that there was room in the 52:21 work for me and for my, for my talents. 52:26 And I wanted my son to see me operating in the work. 52:33 That's when I knew that my time there was coming to an end. 52:37 I was sitting in my office one day, 52:39 and I was kneeling in prayer. 52:41 I said, "God, you know, show me what you want me to do because, 52:46 you know, this seems like a big move here. 52:49 And everyone's thinking I'm crazy, and I don't know exactly 52:57 how, you know, things are gonna go. 53:01 If they don't go well-- you know, crazy 53:04 thought when you are thinking about God. 53:07 And I lifted my head up in prayer, and there's like a flock 53:14 of, I don't know, maybe 300 birds that were just flying. 53:20 And they were swooping down over the water, and they would fly 53:23 back up, and then they would chase each other around. 53:27 And, you know, I was just looking at the pattern of the 53:29 giant flock, and the promise of the Lord came to me where He 53:34 says that, you know, He takes care of the sparrows, and you 53:40 don't see them worrying about how they are going 53:43 to be taken care of from day to day. 53:45 They don't wring their hands wondering, you know, 53:49 will there be any worms to eat tomorrow? 53:52 And that promise really stood out to me. 53:56 And He said, "How much more do I love you? 53:59 You know, I'm not going to send you on a mission to do My work 54:04 and leave you high and dry because you claim to be My 54:07 child, you claim to be My son, and everyone knows that." 54:13 That assurance allows me to know that whatever happens here, 54:18 whatever happens after here, we're sons of God, and there are 54:24 certain things that we shouldn't worry about. 54:27 From the day we arrived at AFCOE, it's been 54:32 obvious that God has blessed the Amazing Facts Ministry, 54:36 the AFCOE program. 54:38 And I will be using my AFCOE experience no matter where I go 54:44 to reach people because the personal touch of face-to-face 54:50 evangelism, speaking and sharing the Word of God out of your own 54:54 mouth, there's no replacement for that. 54:57 And Amazing Facts has been very instrumental in helping 55:00 me find the area of the work of God and 55:07 showing me how large and how broad it is. 55:11 It's been a tremendous blessing to be in a place where we're 55:15 around people seeking to do God's will 55:19 and listening for His voice in their life. 55:21 And that's very, very important today. 55:33 Raul: I was born in a small Christian family, grew up in 55:36 Puerto Rico, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 55:39 My dad was a pastor of our churches there. 55:42 After I graduated from high school, I was so excited. 55:46 You know, I just wanted to leave the house 55:47 and see the world, if you will. 55:50 Came up to the states, went to school in Texas, 55:53 and went to a Christian college there. 55:56 I rebelled against the Christian concept that I became an 56:01 agnostic 16, 17 years after I have left the church. 56:06 I had three roommates, and we were living the life, 56:09 you know, back then, you know, doing deals with drugs 56:12 and selling drugs and all that kind of stuff. 56:16 The police came over, and they raided the apartment. 56:20 They took my three friends to jail. 56:24 When I found out, it shook me. I should have been there too. 56:33 I reached out to God and I said, "Lord, if you exist, get me out 56:38 of this situation, and I'll go back to your ways." 56:43 Right around that time, I met this awesome, young lady. 56:48 She was a Christian. 56:49 After dating for about a year and a half, someone came to our 56:53 church to give a series of prophecy seminars. 56:58 I decided to re-baptize, make it a fact that I was coming back to 57:02 church, that I was giving my life back to God. 57:06 Amazing Facts became an important part of my life. 57:09 Sermons, Sabbath school lessons, DVDs, videos, magazines, and 57:15 especially after looking and watching Pastor Doug Batchelor, 57:20 listening to his experience, has really made a 57:23 difference in my life to the point where I 57:26 am right now a totally different individual. 57:31 It's something that I am so grateful to have experienced. 57:36 I would recommend anyone that wants to give God 57:40 a chance in their life, you'll never be sorry that you did. 57:45 He loves you. He understands you. 57:49 He wants you to be happy. 57:51 My name is Raul, and thank you for changing my life. 57:55 ♪♪♪ 58:05 ♪♪♪ 58:15 ♪♪♪ 58:25 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2022-04-11