Coming To God On His Terms

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Coming To God On His Terms</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id366.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dealing With The Problem In Paradise"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id368.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living For God In A MixedUp World"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Coming To God on His Terms," Genesis 4:1-16</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, March 30, 2003am</B></div> <bR> <div>      Getting in to an event or a party requires a ticket or an invitation. "The Masters [golf tournament] is by far, the most coveted ticket in all of golf. Because the demand is so high, Masters tickets can often be hard to find. Did you know that the Masters only issues series badges to those on a patron list? Due to high demand the list was closed in 1972 and no new applications have been accepted since" (mastersgolfbadges.com). Golf Digest reported that some people walk up to the gate that week, asking to buy a ticket! God has a right to require proper entrance into a relationship with him. But there is no waiting list - you can get right in!</div> <div>      Mankind now has a major problem as a result of sin: separation from God. People will now be divided into those who are accepted by God and those who are rejected. The good news is that it is possible to know you are accepted by God into a relationship with him. You do not have to wonder if you are accepted by God, if you will be accepted into heaven.</div> <div>      The choice is available to us to have a relationship with God, but it must be on God's terms. We have to come to God on his terms, not ours.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. God gives a choice for us to be accepted on his terms or not (</B><A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Gen+4:1-16" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U><B>Genesis 4:1-16</B></U></A><B>).</B></div> <div> Vss. 1-5, One offering is accepted, the other is rejected. The basis for God accepting Abel's and not Cain's had everything to do with their heart. Abel offered the best he had because he sought to truly worship God. Cain offered that which was convenient, because he just wanted to perform a religious obligation. A man went into a fried chicken place to get a couple diners to go for he and his date. After getting to the park where they planned to eat, they realized that instead of getting chicken, they got a bag full of cash - over $800. So they went back to the restaurant to return the money, when they easily could have taken off with it. The manager was so overwhelmed by the man's integrity that he suggested they call the media to run a story on the man and his honesty. The man told the manager that that was not a good idea - because he and the woman were carrying on an affair. (Charles Swindoll, <I>Growing Deep in the  Christian Life</I>, pp. 159-60). That describes Cain. In giving an offering, he looked good on the surface, as though he were doing the right thing, but his heart was far from God.</div> <div> Vss. 6-7, God's discusses the issue with Cain; he gives Cain an opportunity to respond. God was making it possible to come to him on his terms. (Note that Eve was tempted and deceived into sin by Satan. For Cain, even God could not talk him out of sin.)</div> <div> Vss. 8, Cain murdered his brother despite God's warning. Sin is a slippery slope (from eating forbidden fruit to murdering a family member).</div> <div> Vss. 9-10, God sought confession (contrast Cain's response to Adam and Eve's response).</div> <div> Vss. 11-12, God cursed Cain to a life wandering (separation from God and Cain's family)</div> <div> Vss. 13-14, Cain protested his punishment (and feared being killed).</div> <div> Vs. 15, God graciously promised to protect Cain.</div> <div> Vs. 16, Cain began to experience the curse, living in the land of wandering (Nod). </div> <div>      What was in Cain's heart was revealed in his actions. The story of Cain's actions reveals his lack of true belief in God (!). God gave him several opportunities to respond and express faith and belief, and Cain refused. Certainly Cain did not doubt the existence of God, but he did not believe in God with a personal faith.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. If you accept God's mercy by faith, he accepts you.</B></div> <div>      It is a matter of the heart, which will be revealed by how you relate to God and others. It was too late to rely on good works in order to be accepted by God. Adam lived in the ideal environment and he blew it and needed God's mercy, both for salvation and for living life as a follower of God. The problem  wasn't that Cain sinned, it was that when God confronted him about it, he chose to have a hard heart toward God and to continue in a pattern of sin. God offers his mercy to sinful people, and when they receive it by faith, they are accepted by him. Jesus died in the place of sinful people, but only those who trust in him receive the benefits of eternal life.</div> <div>      Once someone trusts in him, their faith is revealed by:</div> <div> A. Offering your best in sacrificial worship. This includes time, money, gifts, praise. Stewardship of possessions is a matter of worship. God knows is he possesses your whole heart or not.</div> <div> B. Being sensitive to God's warnings about sin. Legalism often looks for loopholes (e.g., divorce), forgetting that God gives us his laws to protect us from harm.</div> <div> C. Confessing your sins and accepting responsibility for them.</div> <div> D. Staying connected to God and his people. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Yes! But sin brings separation.</div> <bR> <div>      What do your actions reveal about what is your heart in relationship to God? Are you a true believer, or merely religious, or do you have a hard heart toward God? Coming to God on his terms requires entering into a relationship with him by faith. </div> <div>      "In April 1988 the evening news reported on a photographer who was a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with numerous other skydivers and filmed the group as they fell and opened their parachutes. On the film shown on the telecast, as the final skydiver opened his chute, the picture went berserk. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without his parachute. It wasn't until he reached for the absent ripcord that he realized he was free falling without a parachute. Until that point, the jump probably seemed exciting and fun. But tragically, he had acted with thoughtless haste and deadly foolishness. Nothing could save him, for his faith was in a parachute never buckled on." (<I>When God Was Taken Captive</I>, W. Aldrich, p. 91). If you do not have Christ in your life as your Savior and Lord, you are unprepared for the leap into eternity. Get prepared today.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2003, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>