The Way of Cain — Zac Poonen

John’s Warning About Declining Churches

I would like to turn to 1 John and Chapter 3. John wrote this episode when he was about 95 years old. He was the only apostle living at that time. All the others had been killed. And he had seen the day of Pentecost, the tremendous revival with which the Church of Jesus Christ had started.

And he saw in his time the decline of those churches. Some of the other apostles who died earlier may not have seen that. But he saw how churches that started with tremendous power, great fervency, filled with the Holy Spirit, had declined to the place where they had, as we read in Revelation 2, lost their first love.

Elders were still sitting on their thrones, having lost their love for the Lord. Elders and messengers of churches who had named that they were alive but were dead, who were lukewarm. Messengers who were in the Lord's mouth, whom the Lord said, I am ready to spit you out of my mouth.

Churches that had lost their zeal. Churches that had allowed women false prophetesses like Jezebel to rise and lead people astray. And elders sat back and did nothing. This is the condition. Now I am only telling you what you can read in Revelation 2 and 3.

You can imagine how that would have grieved John's heart. How he must have sorrowed as he saw all this. And with all this in his heart, he writes this first episode of John. That's the background to this letter.

And it's very significant to see the things he emphasizes and the things he doesn't. Because Christendom today is in a similar condition. There are great movements that were there in the 19th and 20th century, different parts of the world.

Mighty movements of God, where God raised up great men who knew Him. That was revival in many parts of the world. But you look at those movements today. And it's exactly like John saw in his time. Decline, declension, corruption.

Elders who have gone the way of Balaam after money. Who permit immoral standards in their churches. That's also the way of Balaam who led Israel astray. Through allowing them to mingle with the daughters of Moab.

And there's so much similarity in what's happening in Christian churches. The problem is not with doctrine. It's with life. It's evangelical churches, charismatic churches that have gone the way of the world.

And the power is gone. John, bearing all this in his heart, writes a lot in this chapter, in this episode about loving one another. And in 1 John chapter 3, I want to read from verse 10. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious.

He divides people into children of God and children of the devil. There's two categories. And he says, the way to find out the difference is anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God. Nor the one who does not love his brother.

It's a categorical distinction. One who does not love his brother is not of God. He can have 10 ,000 reasons why he doesn't love his brother, but he's not of God. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning.

The Way of Cain and the Test of Brotherly Love

That we should love one another. And not be as Cain who was of the evil one and slew his brother Abel. When Jesus spoke about the righteous, he started with Abel. He said, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah who was slain between the court and the temple.

So there was a righteous Abel and here was Cain of the evil one who slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. Now, I want you to read that carefully.

It does not say that after he slew him, his deeds were evil. Before he slew him, why did he slay Abel? Because Cain's deeds were evil even before he slew Abel. That's why he slew him. And his brother's deeds were righteous.

We have often heard that the reason why God accepted Abel was because he offered blood. And Cain didn't offer blood. But it's more than that. See what it says here. His deeds were evil. His brother's deeds were righteous.

And he says, don't marvel brethren if the world hates you. He's talking about Cain hating Abel. Don't marvel if the world hates you. That's the mark of the sons of Cain. And all who follow what Jude calls in his epistle the way of Cain.

They hate. But we know we have passed out of death into life. Not because we got baptized. Not because we partake of the bread and the wine. But because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

He's still thinking of Cain here. Everyone. And it doesn't matter which church they belong to. Who hates his brother is a murderer. Everyone. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The way of Cain is the way of hatred. But in contrast to that. He says, we know, verse 16, love by this. That instead of slaying your brother. You slay yourself. You lay down your life. We know love by this that he laid down his life for us.

We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. You see, in both cases there is a death. Cain kills his brother. That's the way of evil. In this the children of the devil are manifest. That they slay their brothers and sisters.

Today we don't use a rock like Cain. Cain went out and took a rock and smashed Abel's head in. Today we are gentler. We use our tongue. To slay our brothers and sisters. But it's just as bad. When you slay your brothers and sisters.

With your tongue. Tear them down. Speak evil of them. Make them look bad and small and evil. In the eyes of others. You are slaying them. In this the children of the devil are obvious. Because that's what the devil does.

The Bible says in Revelation 12 verse 9 and 10. That the devil accuses the brothers day and night. And just like God looks for co-workers in his work. The devil looks for co-workers all over the world.

What does the devil do day and night? It says there in Revelation 12. He accuses the brethren day and night. And I want to tell you. That the devil can't tell lies to God. He does not tell God false things about the brethren.

Because he knows that God knows everything. He tells the truth. And he is looking for co-workers across the world. The devil. Who will speak the truth. With the spirit of accusation. An accuser need not tell false stories.

The devil tells no false stories to God. He tells the absolute truth. But he is the accuser of the brethren. And you can speak the absolute truth. And be an accuser of the brethren. Curing how the children of the devil made obvious.

That's the way of King. And no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. No murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Whatever you may say. Whatever doctrine you believe.

Whichever way you were baptized in. Whether you speak in tongues or not. Whether you break bread or not. However long your skirts are. No murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Do you slay your brother?

Or your sister? When Ham went and told Shem and Japheth. That their father was drunk. And lying naked. He spoke the absolute truth. He never added one word. He said dad is lying naked. After having got drunk.

God not only cursed him. He cursed his children. And that curse remains. For what? For speaking the truth. From Noah in Genesis 9. From that time. All the way to Revelation 12. We read. Accusers speak the truth.

So, we don't escape. By saying. I only spoke the truth. It's exactly what Ham said. It's exactly what the devil says to God. I'm only speaking the truth. Jesus also does something day and night. It says in Hebrews 7 .25.

He ever liveth. To make intercession for them. Here's a brother. Or a sister. Who's got a fault. Maybe he's drunk. Maybe he's naked. Stupid thing to do. He's a brother. Maybe it's not so bad. We don't wait for something to do.

We don't wait for a brother to get that far. To be drunk and naked. We start judging and accusing long before Ham did. We wait for a small fault. Drunk. Oh, drunkenness and nakedness would be extreme.

Long before a brother has got that far. There's a fault in a brother or a sister. Something that irritates us. Jesus sees it. Satan sees it. Satan is quick to accuse. Jesus is quick to intercede. Both.

Satan and Jesus. Are looking for co-workers. You can have your choice. You see that weakness too. And in that moment you decide. There's a fork in the road there. As soon as you see a weakness in a brother or sister.

There lies before you a fork in the road. The way Jesus is gone and the way Satan is gone. The way of intercession and the way of accusation. And every one of us. We don't usually stand there. Some people think they're spiritual just because they stand there.

They don't go take either road. But Jesus has taken one road. And Satan has taken another. And when we accuse, we take one fork in the road. And you know who you're in fellowship with. And when we intercede, we take the other fork in the road.

Herein are the children of God and the children of the devil made obvious. There's no hiding it. It says herein are the children of God and the children of the devil made obvious. Why did Cain slay his brother?

Cain’s Religious Offering and the Danger of Wrong Motives

Let's turn back to Genesis in chapter 4. Genesis 4. It says here that Cain brought an offering to the Lord. Verse 4. Verse 3. Genesis 4. 3. Verse 4. Abel also brought an offering to the Lord. Cain was not an atheist.

Cain was a deeply religious man. The children of the devil are not all atheists. 99 of them are deeply religious people. The way of Cain is not the way of atheism. It's the way of religion. It's also the way of sacrifice and offering to God.

Cain offered. He brought a sacrifice. Abel also brought an offering. And notice. We've always, as I told you, thought that the Lord accepted Abel's offering. But read carefully. It says in verse 4, the last part, The Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering.

It was Abel he regarded and therefore he accepted his offering. Don't read the other way around. That the Lord had regard for his offering, therefore he accepted Abel. That's often how we have heard it.

There are many wrong doctrines we get when we read scripture wrongly. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. But for Cain and his offering he had no regard. Who was the one he, what did he disregard in Cain?

We have always been told, the Lord disregarded his offering, therefore he disregarded Cain. But no. It was Cain he disregarded. And therefore he disregarded his offering. We think, if I bring the blood, I'm okay.

No. If, when you come to the altar with the blood offering, with the blood of Jesus, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, your offering will not be accepted. Leave your offering there, it says.

Go and settle things with your brother. That's what Jesus said, Matthew 5. Then come and offer what you have. Lot of believers are living in this deception. If I bring the blood, I'm okay. You're not.

If your brother has something against you because you're not right with him, because you've used your tongue to slay him, go and settle that. Then come with your offering. The Lord has regard to you, then your offering.

And if your heart is not right, he will not accept your offering. It's clear. And we read here that the Lord said to Cain in verse 6. So Cain, verse 5, the last part, became very angry and his countenance fell.

It's a mark of those who are not right, one mark of those who are not right with God. There's no cheerfulness in their countenance. Their countenance has fallen. The psalmist said, the Lord is my glory and the lifter of my head.

When your countenance has fallen, something is wrong. The very first words that God ever asked a human being outside the garden of Eden. First words that God ever asked a human being outside the garden of Eden were, Why is your face falling?

Why are you angry? Don't forget that. Why is there that cloud over your face? You just came from the meeting. You just came after offering something to God. You came from a prayer meeting. You're a deeply religious person.

You came from the revival meeting. Why is your face falling? Cain came from a meeting. He had gone and offered something to God. Should your face be falling after you've gone to a meeting? After you read the Bible and you met with God?

Why is your face falling? Vicious and weary of people who cannot look me straight in the face. I give you a simple bit of advice. When a person can't look you straight in the face. Eye to eye. When he cannot make eye contact with you.

Something is wrong. That's what the Lord was saying. Why can't you make eye contact with me, Cain? What's wrong? Why is your face falling? Why is it long? It's the first question God asked man. You're angry.

You're angry with something. And the Lord said to him. If you intend well in your heart. I'm paraphrasing those words. Won't you, won't your countenance be lifted up? Surely you'll be accepted. I have no partiality, Cain.

All are the same to me. If your heart is right. And you intend well. Towards your brother. If you do well. If your intention. The intention of your heart. Towards your brother or sister is good. Your countenance will be lifted up.

Sure. When your countenance is falling. It means something is wrong. It's not the way the other person treated you. It's your attitude towards that other person. Maybe your husband. Maybe your wife. Maybe your parents.

Maybe your brother. Maybe an elder brother. Maybe anyone. But there is something wrong. But if you don't intend well in your heart. Then God says to Cain. Sin is crouching at the door of your heart. Don't think sin is far away.

Jesus said pray. Our father who art in heaven. Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. That means oh God. Please keep temptation far away from me. Don't lead me that way. Deliver me from evil.

But if you don't intend well. Sin is not far away. Your sin is crouching at the door. Like a lion or a tiger waiting outside your door. Waiting for a slight opening of the door. And he's got his foot in.

He's gonna come right in. But. And his desire. It's desire is for you. Sin's desire is to eat you up like any tiger or lion. And here's the first place in the Bible. In the very first message. That God ever gave to man.

Outside the garden of Eden. The very first message. That God ever gave to man outside the garden of Eden. He says to them. He says to him. You must have victory over sin. This is not in Romans 6 .14. This is Genesis 4 .7.

You must master it. You must master that sin that's crouching at your door. The message of victory over sin is there in Genesis 4 .7. Not an afterthought with God. It's the very first thing that God ever proclaimed to man.

Christ’s Righteousness Rather Than Human Fig Leaves

Inside the garden of Eden. God killed that animal. Shed its blood. A picture of Jesus shedding his blood on Calvary. Took the skin of that animal. Threw away the fig leaves of Adam and Eve. Symbolizing religion and human righteousness.

Throw it away. It will wither up in no time. And God told Adam. You can't keep fig leaves on you forever. Human righteousness will wither away. Let me give you something that will last forever. The righteousness of Christ.

That's how he was clothed. That's the first thing. To shed blood. Get rid of the fig leaves of your own righteousness. Filthy rags. Fig leaves that dry up. That's why Jesus cursed the fig tree. When he saw the leaves on it.

It's all human righteousness. Cursed it. It was cursed from the day of Adam. And God cursed those fig leaves. And put the skin of the animal on Adam and Eve. And sent them out. And then the next message was.

OK. The first message is you need the blood shed. And you need the righteousness of Christ. The next one is. You must have victory over sin. It's all there. Way back in Genesis 3 and 4. You must master it.

This wrong attitude towards your brother. You must overcome it. And I believe the Lord is saying that. To many of us this evening. Do you intend well? Is your attitude right? Sin is crouching at your door.

And you must master it. It's a voice of love. Pleading with you. Why should God plead with man? He could have said. Well. I came. He's got enough. Understanding that he shouldn't. Have such an attitude towards brother.

But he pleads. Just like the father of the elder son. Of the prodigal son. Went outside and pleaded with his elder brother. Elder son. Why do you have such an attitude towards your younger brother? Why do you have such an attitude?

Why are you jealous that. We are honored your younger brother. And he's sitting in the right hand. Come in. But he wouldn't come in. Same story with Cain and Abel. God went out and pleaded with him. And what's the very next thing that Cain does?

He doesn't listen to the voice of God. He has no fear of God. He went and told Abel. Spoke to him. Called him. Out for a walk. And innocent Abel went out with him. And Cain smashed his head in and killed him.

And the Lord said to Cain. Where is Abel your brother? And he said. I don't know. You know when your conscience is hardened. You can tell lies even to God. It's a terrible thing. After God has spoken to you.

And you don't listen. He pleads with you. You don't listen. Your conscience becomes so hard. You can not only tell lies to man. You can tell lies to God. He said. I don't know. My, my brother's keeper.

God said. What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed. From the ground. Which has opened its mouth to receive you. When Adam and Eve sinned.

God never cursed them. Read Genesis 3. He never cursed them. He cursed the ground. Not Adam and Eve. But this is the first time he cursed a man. When this man had a wrong attitude to a brother. Please remember this.

My brothers and sisters. The first time God ever cursed a man. Was when he had a wrong attitude to his brother. And slew him. Have you slain your brother? Or your sister? Do you fear God? In this. In this it is obvious.

The Curse of Cain and a Fruitless Life

The children of God and children of the devil. And he said to him. What is the mark. Of the curse of God? When you cultivate the ground. Verse 12. It shall not yield its strength to you. You shall be a vagrant.

And a wanderer on the earth. You will preach. There will be no blessing. There will be no fruit. You will go somewhere. And you will try to build a church. And you will preach. What you heard in all those tapes.

And what you read in all those books. But it will not produce fruit. You will cultivate the ground. And you will work hard. There will be no church. You will be alone. You will be a vagrant. And a wanderer.

You will gather people. And they will go away one by one. You will be alone. And you will go from one church to another. You will be a wanderer. A vagrant. A beggar. You will try this church. There will be something wrong there.

You will go to the other one. There will be something wrong there. And you will be a wanderer all your life. I have seen so many people like this. In this. It is obvious. The children of God. And the children of the devil.

Something is wrong in their heart towards somebody. God has spoken to them. But they will not break. They have no lack of knowledge. Their doctrines are all correct. Something is wrong in their heart.

And when they work. They cultivate the ground. It does not yield anything. Are you like that? Fruitless. Jesus said, I have chosen you and ordained you. John 15. That you should go forth. And go and bring forth fruits.

John 15 .9. I think it is. Herein is my father glorified. That you bear much fruit. It is impossible. For a branch. To remain in the vine. And be fruitless. Impossible. Not Jesus the vine. Some other false vine.

Maybe. But if you are in Jesus, grafted into Jesus. It is impossible. If the sap. From the vine. The Holy Spirit is flowing into the branches. It is impossible. To be fruitless. To be without fruit. You have to be fruitful.

And if you are a wanderer. Wanderer does not necessarily mean. Just being alone. I have seen numerous people. Who have come to our conferences. In India. And think that the secret is. This doctrine that we preach.

And so they get our books. And our tapes. And they sing the songs that we sing. And they think the secret is in the pattern of our meetings. And they go and try to duplicate. That pattern where they are.

And it is death. It is not there. The secret is not there. The secret is. Into falling into the ground. And dying to your self-life. Being cut off from that old vine. And being grafted into the new. And letting the sap.

The fullness of the Holy Spirit. Come forth. Bring forth fruit. It is not in a doctrine. It is not in a pattern. It is in a life. In the life of Jesus. Cain said. My punishment is too great to bear. Now it has driven me from the face of the ground.

And I shall be a vagrant and wanderer. And the Lord. I am amazed at the Lord's tremendous compassion. Even to Cain. He says. No I won't allow anybody to kill you. The Lord appointed a sign for Cain. Verse 15.

Lest anyone finding him should slay him. He could have repented. He could have said. Oh God be merciful to me. But he didn't. He went out from the presence of the Lord. One of the first things he did.

When he went out from the presence of the Lord. Was to build a city. Verse 17. The origin of city life. You know where it is? It's in Cain. Verse 17. And he named it after his son. At the name of my son.

Be honored. He couldn't care less. For the name of the Lord. City life. And he. Produced people. Who were interested. Verse 21. In music. Jubal. Jubal was the father of those who played the lyre. And the pipe.

And they sat in the night in those cities. And played music. The origins of rock music. It's right there. Verse 21. Lot of things happen. When you go away from the presence of the Lord. Lots of things happen.

You don't know. You don't have any sense of direction. You're a vagrant. You're a wanderer. And you think, what's wrong with city life? You say, what's wrong with music? Yeah, yeah. You lose all sense of God.

Jealousy, the Fire of God, and Recognizing His Witness

When. You're not in the presence of the Lord. Where did it all start? See this is. What we've looked at is the end of it all. But where did it all start? Let's. You know, nip it in the bud. Have you got something of that?

In us. It started with. The fact that the fire of God. Fell upon Abel's offering. And no fire fell. On Cain's offering. And to. I mean, if Abel was older than him. He could have borne it. But Abel was younger.

How can God. Anoint somebody. Younger than me. How can God. Put a fire. In someone younger than me. It bothered him. Bothered him. And he was determined. To find some fault with Abel. Does that sound familiar?

God's blessing. On somebody's ministry. And you can't bear it. And you're determined. To find something or the other. Wrong with him. No, it can't be. And yet it is obvious. That the fire of God. Is there upon him.

If you are humble. You say, well Lord. Maybe I don't see any good in him. But you must be seeing a lot of good in him. Because you have regard for him. And his offering. That would have been the right approach.

I have told the different brothers. Who work with me. My co-workers. Brothers who have accepted. The doctrine we preach. The doctrine of victory. The doctrine of building the body of Jesus Christ. Of coming out of Babylon.

And being. Building Jerusalem. And. Who have understood all this. I say well. You have understood all this. But I want to still sit back and watch. Whether the fire of God. Falls on your sacrifice or not.

Because if the fire of God. Doesn't fall brother. I am sorry I can't support you. I am always. I am not going to jump one step ahead of God. I want to. Go behind God. If God supports you. And. It manifests.

God bears witness. To your life. To your family life. To your ministry. Even if I don't like your face. I am going to support you 100%. But if God doesn't. Bear witness to you. Or to your family life.

Or to your ministry. Even if you are my thickest friend. I am sorry. I cannot support you. I go behind God. I don't jump ahead of him. I don't care if your doctrines are right. I don't care if you are following the same pattern.

Singing the same songs. Doing the same thing. And you say you are one of our churches. No use. If the fire is not there. You are not one of our churches. Sorry. And you can't be so close a friend of mine.

That you will get me to support you. Without the fire of God on your life. Impossible. I say I will recognize what God recognizes. And I will not recognize what God does not recognize. I have no friend after the flesh.

I look. Where does God bear witness to a man. And to tell you honestly. Doctrine is in a sense secondary to me. I don't care whether he believes in the baptism in the spirit or not. Whether he preaches it like me or not.

Whether he speaks in tongues or not. Whether he has the gift of healing or not. Whether he is this denomination or that denomination. I say some of these things I have discovered through the years. Are matters of how we understand it.

We can have problems in how we explain things. If the fire is there. God is there. I don't care what doctrine he is talking about. If the fire is not there. God is not there. Whatever noise he may be making.

Or whatever he claims to have. And if he is a vagrant and a wanderer. God obviously has left us. You see you can be a vagrant and a wanderer even sitting in a large church like this. You know that? See I am not a vagrant and a wanderer.

I sit here. In a church with so many people. What do you mean by being a vagrant and a wanderer sitting in a church like this. When you don't have fellowship. You can have 1 ,000 people sitting in a movie theater.

It's a big crowd isn't it? Person sitting here doesn't know the person sitting next to him. He doesn't know the person sitting next to him. There is no fellowship there. But there are 1 ,000 people. And 1 ,000 people can sit in a church.

They can all be lonely. Can't a husband and wife live under the same roof and be lonely. With no fellowship. Sure. Parents and children sitting living under the same roof. Lonely. Husbands and wives glorying that we haven't divorced one another.

But lonely. They are vagrants and wanderers. And you can sit in the best church in the world and be a vagrant and a wanderer. God doesn't bear witness to your life. And very often because you have something in your heart against your brother.

Jealousy. You cannot bear to see God bearing witness to someone. The first sin described in detail outside the Garden of Eden. Jealousy. Which leads Cain to kill Abel. And John speaks about it. When he sees the condition of all those churches in his time.

What does he write to them? He writes to them about Cain. When Jude writes. What does he write? He writes about the way of Cain. Must be important. Cain is mentioned in the beginning of the Bible. Cain is mentioned at the end of the Bible.

Learn something from that. What is the way of Cain? It's the way of jealousy. Which leads to loneliness. Which leads to wandering. No fellowship. He could not bear that God could bless someone. He could not humble himself and say, Lord I accept that God that you have borne witness to him.

I probably have a wrong attitude towards him. But you obviously have a different opinion. I want to ask you my brothers and sisters. Do you think it's likely that God's got a different opinion about that brother whom you don't like too much?

Is it possible that God's got a different opinion about that sister whom you can't get along with? God seems to be able to get along with that person fine. But you don't seem to be able to. Jealousy gets in so easily.

There's so much of jealousy in Christian work. And when there's jealousy in your heart, one thing it clearly proves is you haven't seen the body of Jesus Christ. In this body there is no jealousy. The left hand is never jealous that all the checks are signed by the right hand.

$500, $700. I never get a chance. It's always him. Always him. He's getting the honor. He's getting the honor. And one day if the right hand gets hurt would the left hand rejoice in that? Ah! Now is my chance to sign the checks.

The bank won't accept it. They can't recognize the signature. Humble yourself. There's no jealousy in the body. The left hand rejoices when the right hand signs the check and takes $700, the left hand says that's mine too.

It's not the right hand if that soul is saved. So what if that brother saved him? That's praise God. It's for the body of Jesus Christ. Can you see that? When you see God blessing another brother's ministry somewhere and the church is established through his ministry can you rejoice and say praise God!

That's for my Lord. I'm excited. I have nothing to do with it. But praise God one part of me went there and established the church. Can you rejoice? Ask yourself honestly whether you can rejoice when God doesn't use you at all but uses somebody else.

The foot rejoices with every part of the body. Think of those little toes. I never get a chance to be seen. I'm always closed up in socks and shoes and nobody ever sees me. I wish I could move up a little in the body.

Get a little promotion and come up to be in the hands at least or somewhere in the face. Never. It says if God keeps me covered with shoes and socks and shoes for the rest of my life I'm quite happy. I rejoice with other members of the body.

So jealousy comes where people haven't seen that it is God who has placed them in the body in a particular place. It says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. This is what they haven't seen.

1 Corinthians 12 .18. But now God has placed the members each one of them in the body just as He desires. He chose the place for me in the body and He chose the place for you. And if you have a quarrel your quarrel is against God.

Don't say that brother is not giving me an opportunity to minister. That's a lot of garbage. How can that brother hinder you from fulfilling your ministry in the body if God Almighty has decided to give you a particular task.

Nobody can do it. I remember in my younger days I used to be in an assembly where I was just 23 and the elders were jealous of my ministry. They wouldn't let me speak in the church meetings. So I used to speak on the street.

Nobody could stop me there. That's where I learned to preach in all the streets. Every street corner I'd stand and preach the gospel. The elders were not interested in coming there. But when I came to the church the Lord said humble yourself.

Submit to these elders. Love them. Keep a good relationship with them. And I did that. Even today when I see those brothers I have a good relationship with them. After nearly 40 years. God broke me in those years.

Crushed me. People have made me sit at the back of the assembly because they were jealous. Okay. Maybe it's not your time for me. I think of Jesus sitting in the synagogues in Nazareth. Listening to all those boring sermons of the Pharisees.

Humility, Submission, and Spiritual Authority

Year after year. He knew the scriptures at the age of 12. Can you imagine Jesus sitting there listening to all this trash they were preaching from the pulpit. And he kept quiet. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 years 26 years, 27.

Quiet. Can you imagine the number of boring sermons Jesus heard. His parents took him to the synagogue regularly. 52 Saturdays into 30 years. How much is that? That many boring sermons he heard. And he sat.