Sermon Central
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The Sinking Soul
Contributed by Damien Saylor on Jan 4, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: God gives us moments where we must choose to follow Him. Let’s compare them to the moment our hearts sink, & the answer is demanded, fight or flight.
Sermon - The Sinking Soul
- I sat back & reflected on what generally happens before a great revival takes place.
- Usually tragedy, or an unforeseen event takes place first. Then people recognize
God, & return.
- It very much mirrors the feeling you get, right before the emotion of fight or flight,
when it feels like your heart just sank deep into your belly.
- It’s in that moment you realize I need to do something, also known as fight or
flight.
- I know those moments are orchestrated by God, because they demand an answer.
- Let me begin with my example in Genesis 4:3-8.
- While you turn there. Think of the times you watch the news, read the paper, or
cruise the headlines on the internet.
- You come across an article that you are totally against.
Q- What stirs you, or motivates you to be against what you see, or read?
Q- What Do you do after you’re motivated against it?
- Now the example.
- Mankind had fallen, sin entered the world.
- God’s plan during this time was for man to choose to do good, & approach God By
blood sacrifices.
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.
- Abel gave his sacrifice of a lamb, & God respected it.
- Then Cain gave his sacrifice of the fruit of the ground & God didn’t respect it.
* There’s your headline: God didn’t like your sacrifice!
- Now notice what happens after Cain receives the headline, or bad news.
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.
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.
Q- What was going through Cain’s mind when he chose to kill his brother?
Prayer
- It’s very clear that the impact of God not accepting your sacrifice, however
meaningful it was to Cain, was devastating to him.
- He knew that he had to do something, but listening to God wasn’t what he was
ready to do.
- After The Sacrifices God told Cain to do good. To do bad meant you were
following your master, Satan.
- God was reminding Cain that he belongs to Him. So, do good.
- The emotion of sinking though overcomes a lot of people.
> Even Noah had to overcome thoughts of sinking. There was one animal he really
could have killed because of them. It was the woodpecker!
- Emotions get the better of us, & it’s not until we begin to seek The Lord that we turn
from our wrong.
- Ezra, the scribe who led the Israelites back to Jerusalem, & from their Babylonian
captivity wrote,
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
- Ezra was close to God, & he knew God would be with them, if they would seek Him.
- The Word translated face means presence.
- If we seek His presence.
- Notice what happens, turn from thy wicked ways.
- That’s Repentance! The result of seeking God.
- You can try to clean yourself up all you want, but you’ll never be clean until you let
Jesus wash you.
- Just like Cain’s fruit of the field. He could bring the whole crop, but it wasn’t
enough, because he wasn’t seeking God.
- For the Israelites, If they really wanted to seek God, it was going to take faith &
work.
- They had to faithfully believe that God would get them there, & keep them
there.
- They had to keep from returning to the sin that sent them into captivity in the
first place.
- Jesus said in Luke 11:23-28
23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
