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Living Hope Fellowship Church...Sermons From the Pastor

GOD'S RESPECT
by Pastor Kevin Badgley

Jesus made the supreme sacrifice at Calvary, and God honors all who accept that sacrifice for atonement. God takes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who stood in the gap for us, as an atonement, as a retribution, and as a defense for our lost condition. He wants us to look to His Son. He will accept us if we accept His Son.

Praise the Lord! If we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and we are trying to live our lives as He instructs us in His Word, then God has respect for the offering that Jesus made. We can walk in the presence of the Lord.

After getting saved, some people may see things that don't add up. There is much confusion in the ranks of the church world and in the hearts of the people. You will see people who have a great diversity of lifestyles, yet they all claim Jesus. There is a great jealousy in the "church world" among themselves. If one church rises, then others get upset and jealous. They don't understand why someone else is blessed in their ways, and they just can't seem to get through. They don't understand why God would bless and touch some and not others. They don't understand why God would answer someone else's prayers, and not their own.

Many have turned away from the Lord, thinking that He is a respecter of persons. There is great disappointment, jealousy, and anger in some who claim to be God's people. The Bible says that God is NOT a respecter of persons. These who turn away from God will go to hell if they do not repent. Romans 2:11 says plainly, "For there is no respect of persons with God." Colossians 3:25 says, "But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons."

Since God instructs us that He is no respecter of persons, why is it that some seem to have a touch from the Lord, but others are cold, and there is nothing going on with them? Why can one pray, and God will bless them, and touch them in their finances, and in their body, and in their heart, or whatever their need is, and that another can't get the victory? Some don't seem to get their petitions met, and their prayers answered. What is wrong? God doesn't respect one person any more than another, because God is no respecter of persons. Something else is wrong.

A good example of this is found in the book of Genesis. It is one of the first examples, among many others found in the Bible. In Genesis 4:4-7 we read, "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: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 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."

Abel was younger than Cain, and we see that God had respect for Abel, but not Cain. This was the reason that Cain killed Abel. It was because God was blessing Abel and was honoring his words, and Cain wasn't getting a thing. However, rather than talk with Abel, and find out why he was being so blessed, he got angry. He talked with him a little bit in the field, but before it was over with, Abel preached him a sermon he didn't want to hear, and Cain rose up and killed his brother. Abel had the goods, and Cain didn't, and Cain knew it. He couldn't stand it, so he killed him. This is a horrible thing. You may think that it doesn't happen today, but it happens every day even to this very hour, in one form or another.

People get angry because somebody is getting blessed, and they are not. They don't understand why, and they think that it is God's fault. Whatever is happening in your life, or not happening in your life, is not God's fault. God has no faults or flaws, and He doesn't make mistakes. God's Word doesn't make mistakes. It is just as applicable today as it was when it was first written. The fault cannot lie with God.

We know Satan is a liar, and you can blame it all day on him, but some things he doesn't do! Sooner or later, you are going to have to blame it on yourself! It is something that YOU are doing or you are not doing that is not letting you get through to God.

Eve listened to the serpent, but Adam listened to Eve. This is a solid example to show you cannot blame everything you do on the devil. Some of you are listening to liars. Some of you are listening to those who are deceived of the devil himself. Some of you are listening to your own flesh, your own carnal ways. Romans 8:7 says, ". . . the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Let's look again at Genesis, Chapter 4. The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering. God did not respect Cain nor his offering, and Cain was upset. The Lord asked Cain why his countenance was fallen. God is asking the church today what they are so upset about, and why they are so distressed.

If you are serving the Lord, why haven't you got the victory? Look again at Verse 7. It says, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. . . ." If you are doing right, won't you be accepted as right? If there is something in there that you are not doing right, it is as sin lying at the door of your faith. It is keeping you out of the blessings of God.

God is no respecter of persons, but God is a God of sacrifice, and He IS a respecter of sacrifices. God respects the greatest sacrifice, which was the blood atonement, the shedding of the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, upon a cruel cross of Calvary. By it you can call upon the name of Jesus and be saved.

In the Old Testament we are told that a lamb without spot or blemish is the only kind that God will take for a sacrifice or offering, because it would look like you are half-hearted if you don't give Him your best. An offering or sacrifice that is always convenient for you, or is the cheapest for you, or the easiest, is not your best. God wants your best.

Malachi 1:14 says, "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen."

If you are not giving your best, then sin lieth at the door of your heart, and your
faith will not come forth as pure gold. God doesn't miss a thing, and He sees that. If you are not getting the victory, then there is something there that is not right. The devil has got a hold of you with something. Maybe somebody has deceived you, and you are believing that lie, and it is keeping you from your deliverance, or healing, or your blessing that God has sent by Jesus Christ!

The Bible says that God had respect unto Abel's offering, and not to Cain's. I believe that Abel tried to tell him what it was when they went out in the field and talked together, but Cain wouldn't hear it. He didn't want it to be that way. There are many preachers today who will tell you that it is not that way, simply because they don't want it to be that way.
Some don't want to hear the Word of the Lord in truth, because when you hear the truth, you have to either obey it or disobey it. Some only obey it in part, with an outward appearance and profession of the truth, but . . . talk is cheap. However, when you are obeying what God's Word says, then that sacrifice, that offering, and that holiness which God has implanted in you is coming forth, and God will have respect to your life, and your prayers will be answered. Hallelujah!

Hebrews 11:4 says, "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." His sacrifice was obviously more excellent.

This is why "cults" don't work. This is why anything that would "add to" the gospel of Christ won't work. Praying to some other person who is supposed to be a saint, or worshiping images or idols on top of trying to worship the Lord, is not an acceptable sacrifice. These things are not the way of the Lord, nor is it in God's will.

Jesus says in John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." You come to Jesus without any other help, organization, or any other element to help you along the way. Jesus is the way. You are to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

Cain killed Abel, and the truth still came out. It is written in the Word of God. Cain would like to erase that, and so would Satan. Some "religious" men and women would try to erase the truth, but it is written in the Word of God for us to read for all eternity. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

What Abel did was righteous. Cain was unrighteous and jealous, though he was a religious man. Many people are like Cain. It didn't say that he was a sinner, in so many words. He went to church, he prayed, and he offered sacrifice. He sought after God, but he didn't do it the way that God told him; he did it his way. When Abel got blessed, Cain got jealous, and got mad, and came against him. This is just like we see happening in the church world today.

Look at Hebrews 11:4 again. The Bible says that when Abel offered that more excellent sacrifice, he got a witness from God that he was righteous. What is that witness? Jesus said in Mark 16:17, "And these signs shall follow them that believe;" Jesus told us signs would follow the believer, according to Mark 16:17-20. If those signs are not following them that say they believe, they don't believe. Why? It is because they aren't offering the more excellent sacrifice.

Today, men tell you that you don't have to sacrifice to live for Christ. In other words, you don't have to give up anything to live for Jesus. That is a lie straight out of the pits of hell! Huge organizations are based on this doctrine, but it is a doctrine of devils, because God didn't say that.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

Few find it, but it is not because it is unattainable. It is not because a special person is the only kind that goes in. It is not because God is a respecter of persons. It is because there are few who want to give a more excellent sacrifice! They will give one, but it won't be like what Abel gave. They want to give the Cain sacrifice. They want to do it their way, and they expect God to honor it, but He won't.

God is not taking a head count on who is right or wrong. God is right, and if the whole world comes against Him, they are still wrong and going to hell. God's Word is still true. By his sacrifice, Abel obtained witness that he was righteous, and God testified of his gifts.

The Word is still true, and it is applicable from Genesis to Revelation. It cannot fail. Even though he was dead, Abel preached the gospel. It says in Genesis 4:10 that, ". . . the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

Jesus laid His life down; nobody killed Him. He shed His blood for us and the voice of Jesus' blood cries to us by the Spirit of God, from the ground. He rose again on the third day, but He left His blood for an atonement for our souls.

It tells us in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jesus says you can obtain a more excellent ministry and the victory in your life that you need. You can receive the joy of the Lord, which is your strength in His salvation.

Give a more excellent sacrifice. Give your best and your all to God, and then you will see God respect and honor what you ask for!

livinghope@hughes.net

Phone# 618-634-2541