What Will This Cost Me?

What Will This Cost Me?
ABM Convention Message 2/2016

 

We live in a world where our economics seemingly mean a lot to us. What we are paid and what we are required to pay for the things we need and want seem to be at the forefront of our minds almost daily. When we are in need of fuel, we consider the price per gallon. When we need to buy groceries, we consider the prices by pound or ounce. For everything we purchase, there is a price that must be paid and we weight that cost with how much we truly value the item in question. If we consider that item to be worth the cost and it is very important that we buy it, the cost can be high and we will still buy it. If the item is something we can do without or don’t truly want, we simply will not pay more than a certain amount. Its value to us does not measure to the cost.

 

This is the start of the ABM Convention. I have been a part of ABM Crusades, Worskshops and Revivals in the past and the whole purpose is to get us—The Church of God motivated to keep our membership. We do not need to lose even one more person. Do you agree? Of course you agree or you wouldn’t have allowed me to come be a part of this ABM Convention.

 

To begin this ABM convention, it is important that we first understand the value of what we are working for in the ABM Department of God’s church. That is what this message is about tonight. It may seem almost cliché to say we value human life, but the truth is that in this world of violent crime, abortion, murder and more, we are constantly seeing all how cheap people really do value human life and the human soul. There seems to be no regard for anyone, but ourselves and sometimes we don’t even treat ourselves as we should. The world is a constant news flash of how little we view human life.

 

While we, in The Church of God do not commit murder, abortion or any of these atrocities that demonstrate how lowly we consider other human beings to be, there is another sign that reflects just how little we value the human soul. I would like to talk about this a bit tonight and how much it will cost us to change how we view the value of souls.

 

We see from Genesis chapter 4, the building of anger and jealousy. We see the fellowship of God with man and man with brother fall apart. We witness the way God tried to counsel Cain about his anger before Cain ultimately valued his brother’s life less than he valued nurturing his own anger. Then we see the way God values life.

Brothers and Sisters, the way we value human souls and how God values them are completely different. That should not be. We should see the human being as HE sees them. If we don’t, we will NOT have a mission spirit that is on fire with the WHOLE gospel and we will not have spiritually healthy churches either. We will lose more than we gain and that is not what God planned. There will not be an inflow just to replace the outflow of lost ones. No. We will have an inflow and there will be healthy saints here to fellowship and work alongside of one another to finish and perfect the great plan of God.

 Let’s look at this chapter with some detail.

Ge 4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

In this passage, we see the family unit began by God grow by the birth of Cain. This child was a blessing as any child would be to his mother and father. They would nurture him and love him as he grew. I am sure that although the law wasn’t given yet, Adam’s cool of the day conversations with God and the story of their failure to God, became regular dinner conversation at Adam’s house.

  2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

We see in this verse that Eve gave birth again. She had another son and the first Cain now was the first child born in the whole world and he was the first to ever be a brother. Can you imagine the relationship these two enjoyed? The earth was still relatively new so every where these brothers explored as children was likely a great adventure for them together. They were learning together, eating together, sleeping together, exploring together, and growing together. They were surely closer than most since there were no other children, friends, relatives or people to take their attention or affection from one another. I can imagine that bond was rather close.

 As they grew, their talents and chores led them to have different jobs. One was a keeper of sheep, in other words, he fed them and looked after their needs. The other was a gardener. He toiled in the dirt to grow things. 

 3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

This verse starts by saying in the process of time, in other words, after a while or when time had passed. This is important and if you look at verse 4, there is no such clause. There is a reason for the measurement of time being put on verse 3. The reason is that Cain’s offering came after a period of time. In today’s terms, we would say for instance that he “waited” to pay his tithe. Do you see the spiritual significance here? This was one of the reasons I believe his offering was not accepted by God. He put off doing what he should. He made God a second priority rather than first. He didn’t do what Abel did in verse 4…

 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:

Because Abel made his offering a priority and gave it to God first, before himself or others, he was honored and respected by God. God was pleased with his offering.

  5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Cain somehow knew God was displeased with his offering. God likely told him so. But he also knew God was pleased and respected his brother’s offering. Now, Cain was upset. Jealousy. Brothers and Sisters, jealousy was Satan’s motivation in the garden. He was and is jealous of our God. He wants to be God. It is no wonder that even today jealousy is the fuel that feeds the angry fires between brothers—even within the body of Christ. That should not be.

 6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

In His great mercy though, the Lord sees Cain’s unhappiness. He asks him why he is upset? Why is he looking so down?

 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.

God then tells Cain that if he will do well---not done well—he is not referring to him getting a second chance to give in the offering now, he is talking about going forward and how Cain will handle his feelings and emotions. Will Cain do well with it and therefore make future offerings acceptable and be pleasing to the Lord in the way he handles this situation or will he not do well?

 God told Cain that if he did not do well, sin was waiting at his door and would consume him to the point of ruling him. Cain’s part of that conversation is not recorded in the Word. We don’t know if he agreed to make things right with Abel or what his plans were, but the silence speaks volumes all these thousands of years later, doesn’t it?

 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.

Cain did go to speak with Abel, but the conversation was not good and we have no idea what Abel may have said in his defense or even if Cain brought up the whole incident. All we know is that Cain killed his brother. He committed murder. This wasn’t just any murder, but the murder of his own brother.

 9  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Just as the Lord went to speak to Cain earlier about his countenance, he now went to address Abel’s absence. I can imagine that other than when they worked, these brothers were inseparable. They likely did a lot together. So, God looked down and saw Cain without his brother. He asked him where he was, not because the Lord didn’t know, but because he wanted to make Cain understand how He feels about life and its value. He continued…

 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Able’s blood cried to the Lord from the ground. Think of how that sounds. Can you imagine the way Cain felt that the moment God said those words? The Lord tells Cain…

  11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Now, we already know sin cursed the earth and the ground. Adam’s labor to grow things hit him hard after the fall, but for Cain, it meant even harder labors. He would not be able to be fruitful as he had been in his work before. He would from this time on labor VERY hard and have little to show for it. Not only that, but he would forever be a fugitive from other people and would have to wander from place to place and try to outrun his action of murder.

 13  And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Cain instantly pled for the mercy of God. He knew this would make his life hard. He would be on his own now without the support of his murdered brother and his parents and would forever be the outlaw.

 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

This is where God demonstrates to Cain just how He valued life. While Cain knew that people would learn of this act and then attempt to render justice by killing him…

 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

God showed his value of even the murderer’s life by saying that any person who killed Cain would receive vengeance from God, Himself 7 times over. He put a mark on Cain that would be obvious to the would be “justice” seeker would recognize and be warned of the penalty of killing this murderous man. Maybe he deserved death for the murder of his brother, but God saw it differently.

 Here is my question to you today, Are you your brother’s keeper? Do you truly take his spiritual health seriously on a daily basis? What do you do to help keep your brother spiritually strong and alive? When someone is “kept” that means they are provided for and cared for by another. That means there is another person who accepts the responsibility for them. Do we do that for our brothers and sisters in the Lord? Do we keep them? Do we consider their needs and move to provide a remedy for it? Do we rejoice with them in their moments of triumph and weep with them as we help teach them in their moments of failure? That is what being our brother’s keeper means. It means WE are paying a price for them and value their life enough to pay whatever is needed to keep their souls.

How about the Good Samaritan of Luke 10?

  Lu 10:34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

This was care from a stranger to another stranger and in fact, from strangers whose people were enemies! How much more we should care for our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord!

 We see in this passage that the Samaritan did some very specific things:

 1. He went to him. Going to our Brother in his time of need makes us vulnerable. We are more likely to feel responsibility when we go directly to them. We will feel like we should be moved to action and that action may require something of us. We have to ask ourselves, “What is this going to cost me?” Then, we have to be willing to pay that cost for his soul.

 2. He bound up his wounds. Now the binding of a wound does NOT cure the problem. Bounding up is more or less like adding a band aid. It stops the bleeding and covers the wound so nothing more than get in. When we go to our brother or sister in the Lord who is wounded, it is not our job to side with them. It is not our job to further infect the wound by talking or elaborating on the problem or issue that wounded them. That is dangerous. We often have a tendency to think that to love them or help them; we must entertain or talk about the person who wounded them. That is deadly. It will not help. No. We should instead, turn them to the Lord and help them find some comfort and peace even before the actual problem is addressed. Calm and diffuse the situation, not further irritate it.

 3. He poured in the oil and the wine. Now, the oil used was likely olive oil which was used in everything from cooking to wound care. It was used to cover wounds after they were disinfected by the wine. The wine purified the wound and removed the debris and the oil put a protective covering or seal on it. If we do not use the Word and the Spirit together when giving care and keeping our people, we are in danger of not only further hurting them, but losing them completely.

 4. He set him on his own beast. Here, the Samaritan shows sacrifice by giving up his own ride for the poor soul in need. Sometimes, we are going to have to give up some of our own ideas and feelings and make sacrifices for the souls of others.

 5. He brought him to the inn. The inn represents the hospital of The Church of God. We are the soul saving and soul keeping station for a world of beaten up strangers and fallen brothers. Always pointing our hurt Brothers and Sisters back to church is VERY important. When we are gone, that place will be what keeps and returns them to health. Only relying in the Samaritan wasn’t wise. Why? Because he was on his way elsewhere. He was a minister. Oh, he may not have been a priest or Levite at the time, but he knew he was just passing through. It was important that the Samaritan take him to the place that others could offer help and security and build him up to health again. Many people like to build their own ministries and their own reputations instead of working to build the Church of God and letting her do her job.

 6.He took care of him. This indicates that the Samaritan man likely helped with his care while in the inn that night. He was probably right by his side at every whimper of pain and with every care. This is what discipleship is all about.

 7. When he left the next day, he paid the inn keeper what was needed to keep the man well. He went the distance though he would not be able to stay with him himself. He trusted the care of the stranger to the innkeeper. Church, we must learn to trust one another again. We can be very possessive of the people we win to the Lord or the brother or sister we have known a long time, but put trust in the innkeeper and the innkeepers’ workers. Jesus is still head of this Inn. He knows who to send to the sick and wounded brother’s side. Let him do His work and trust His choices. Pay the price to leave him there. How do you pay the price? WE aren’t talking about money. This price is paid in our faithfulness to church attendance, having an active prayer life, being a faithful tither, a faithful servant and one who stays in the word.

 What will it cost you to win and keep a new convert? The same thing it will cost you to keep a brother. Is that soul worth it to you?

 We always talk about winning the lost---as well we should. We have been mandated to do so and it is for certain that this sad and lost world needs what we have! But, if we gain one and lose one, we have not gained at all! We must also be willing to pay the cost for keeping those we have as we will the lost.

 What will it cost you to keep your brother? EVERYTHING. Cain could have kept Able. He would have done well to from the start, when God gave him counsel regarding his countenance to get up right then and work in his next offering to the Lord. He should have gone somewhere and really thought about the delay he had in his offering, the way he offered it and what he offered. He should have evaluated his own sacrifice and counted the cost for the next opportunity to do better for the Lord. Instead, he took what he thought was the easy route and eliminated his brother who he saw as the “competition”. That was a horrible conclusion to a life. Cain did not value his brother’s life and so he could not and would not be willing to pay the price to keep it alive and thriving.

How about you? How do you really value the soul of the people around you? What will you do to help keep them? Remember, it could be you and in fact, will likely be you, if you aren’t willing to do for another. Cain found God’s mercy when he did NOT deserve it. He took a life, but in the end didn’t want his to be taken. HE wanted someone to see value in his life and go the distance to preserve it though he had not done that for his brother.

 What about you? Come to the altar and pray tonight. Let’s really search our souls. Consider your brothers and sisters as we enter this ABM Convention where we will learn about keeping one another. See, there is a personal responsibility each of us has for our own souls and we will stand before God on our own, but we also are responsible for one another and we will give an account for each other too and how well or how poorly we have been our brother’s keeper.

When you come, ask yourself, “Is that brother or sister that hurt me really worthy of death? Do I value their soul? Do I love them enough to be their keeper and provide EVERYTHING necessary to keep them saved and in the Church of God? What can I do to do that? What will God ask of me to be my brother’s keeper? What will this cost me?”