Giving with Purpose: Insight from Cain and Abel

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Welcome to Victorious Faith. I’m Cherry Campbell. This week we are going to continue our study in the lesson Kingdom of God Partnership. So join me now for the continuation of this lesson, Kingdom of God Partnership. In Genesis chapter 4, end of verse 2, end of verse 3. Now Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. Now there are a lot of Christians who think The reason God rejected Cain’s offering was because it was not blood, that it was grain. That is not true because in Leviticus, I believe it’s chapter 27. It says a tithe of all the grain belongs to the Lord. So God called for the tithe of the grain to be given to him. And so it’s just the tithe of whatever it is that you do for a living. And Abel kept flocks. Cain worked the soil. They were both supposed to give from what they produced. Then the key is in verse three. And in English, it’s the first five words. It says in the course of time. But actually in the Hebrew, and if you do study and have some study references, it’s It says literally the literal Hebrew says at the end of days, at the end, keyword right there, end at the end of days and days would be season, the growing and the harvesting season. At the end of that season, Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. Now, if you’ve ever had a garden and you planted a garden, when do you get the best produce from your garden? At the beginning of the harvest or the end of the harvest? The first of the harvest or the last of the harvest? It’s the first of the harvest, which is the best. I mean, just think of the tomatoes. The first tomatoes of the harvest are the best. The biggest, the juiciest, the most flavorful. The last tomatoes of the harvest, the last to come on the vine, they are the worst. That’s what Cain gave. At the end, the key word is end. It’s in the Hebrew there, literal translation, end. At the end of days or at the end of the season, Cain brought some. So what did he do? He ate or kept for himself and his family the best, the first. And he enjoyed the harvest of his grains and his produce all the way through the harvesting season until the end of the season. And there was a little bit left and he gave some of that to God. That was an insult to God giving the last, which is also the worst, the last and the worst. That was Cain’s offering. And you go on and keep reading and you see the contrast in what Abel did. Verse four, but Abel brought fat portions. Now throughout the Bible, you’ll see that God took the fat of the offerings. The people cherished and, and rejoiced over the fat offerings. Of the animals, they’re the most flavorful part. That was considered the best. The fat of the animal is considered the best. And so Abel brought fat portions. In other words, he brought the best, not the lean part, but the fat part, the flavorful part, the part that makes a fragrant aroma, like when you fry bacon. So the fat was considered the best part to offer. And it says from some of the firstborn of his flock. So what did he give from the first? The first born of his flock. So Abel took the first of his flock and gave the fat. The first and the best. Contrasted with Cain, who at the end of the harvest season gave some. He gave the last and the worst to God. And you go on reading in verse four, the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering verse five, but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. Why? Well, of course it was really an insult. What Cain brought the last and the worst here, God, you can have this part. It’s not very good. I don’t want it. I’m not going to eat it. My family won’t eat it. So I’ll give it to you. That is an insult to God. Saying I’m not going to eat it. I don’t want it. My family doesn’t want it. I can’t give it away. So I’ll give it to you. Whereas Abel brought the best and the first. That is the true revelation about why God rejected Cain’s offering. And why God accepted and had favor on and showed favor upon Abel’s offering. because of the quality of what they gave. Abel gave the first and the best. Cain gave the last and the worst. And therefore, God did not look with favor on Cain’s offering. But do you realize many Christians today are Many Christians don’t even give to God at all or very little. And when they do, they’re giving the last. They’re leftovers. They pay their own bills first. They pay their mortgage. They pay their credit cards. They take care of all their needs. Go buy a new dress or a new suit and go to a movie and a ball game. And then when there’s some left, they’ll give that in the offering. They are giving, many Christians today are giving Cain offerings. Does God look with favor and pleasure on those? No. So if you’re the kind of person who is giving your leftovers to God after you’ve taken care of everything you need and want, God is not looking with favor on your offering either. That is a wake up call. Check the quality of your offering. It’s not the amount. It’s the quality. And you could say it like this. What it means to you is what it means to God. What it doesn’t mean to you, it doesn’t mean to God. In other words, if it’s valuable and precious to you, then it’s valuable and precious to God. If it’s of little value to you and it’s something you can, I can do without this. God is going to have the same attitude. It’s no value to him and he can do without it too. Because your heart attitude is exactly what puts the value on what you give. And we have that confirmed again in the new Testament, in the ministry of Jesus. When we read about the widow that put two mites into the temple treasury, it says Jesus was sitting there looking at the temple treasury. Now that is an eye opener right there. Stop and think Jesus, Jesus looked and watched what people were putting in to the temple treasury. God is watching you and seeing what you put in to the kingdom of God treasury, the work of God treasury. And as a matter of fact, in my teaching on the ministry of angels, um, And I have a teaching on that called releasing the angels. And we talk about ministry of angels and there are angels that do all kinds of things. But there are angels that are scribes. They record. There are angels in heaven that record in the books of life. And there’s a book for every person. The things you do is. And it includes, well, it first includes your sins. But once you repent and ask God to forgive you of your sins and be your Lord and Savior, then those sins are wiped out, erased, they’re gone. And then from then on, they record the good things you do. They record your faith. They record your obedience. They record your giving. Yes, they watch your giving. And in the book of life that has your name on it, your giving is recorded in heaven. And that is one of the things you will be rewarded for in heaven. When we go to heaven and when God passes out rewards, you will be rewarded for your faith, Your obedience, your service, your sacrifice, and your giving. You’ll be rewarded for those things. So if you give less, you’ll have less reward. But point is that God is watching and the angels are making note. They are making note. They’re writing it down, what you give. And therefore, your lack of giving shows by not being written down. And so Jesus was sitting in the temple. He was watching people give into the temple treasury. And he saw the widow woman give two mites. And then he saw many rich people come in and give great amounts. And he taught a lesson right there. He said, this widow has given more than all of these rich people. Now in the natural, you’d look at it, two mites was like two fractions of a penny. Fractions of a penny. They were not even worth a penny. Two fractions of a penny. And the others came and gave out of their wealth great amounts. In the natural, the amount would have been greater that the rich gave than the widow. But Jesus taught that she gave more. Why? Because she, out of her poverty, Jesus said, gave all she had. Gave all she had. Gave out of her poverty. Gave all she had. So in heaven’s record, she gave the greatest offering of anybody that came to the temple that day anyway. That Jesus watched. She gave more than all of them. It was recorded in heaven as she gave all. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. She gave all. And what the rich people gave… out of their riches, whatever it meant to them. If it was just a little bit of what they had, it was recorded as just a little. That’s all it was recorded as. So we see that what you’re offering means to you is what it means to God. If it’s valuable to you, it’s valuable to God. How valuable it is to you is how valuable it is to God. Cain’s offering was of no value to him. So it was of no value to God. The widows and Abel’s offerings were valuable to them and they were of great value and precious to God. And so I’d want to encourage you and challenge you. What are you giving? How much are you giving? Do you give from the top, the first, or do you give from the last, the leftovers? And God takes no pleasure in leftover offerings. He takes great pleasure and honor and favor in first offerings and precious offerings. Now, Praise the Lord. So we’re talking about who should be involved in the kingdom of God or in kingdom partnerships funding. And we already said kingdom partnership is funding the work of the kingdom of God. Funding the work of the kingdom of God. Who should be involved in kingdom partnerships? Who should be involved in funding the work of the kingdom of God? Well, Jesus said, as a review, let me say in Matthew 6, 33, it was the sermon on the mount. It was to the multitudes. This is what we would refer to today as the body of Christ today. He said to all of them, seek first his kingdom in his right ways. What you just heard was the continuation of a lesson that I taught called Kingdom of God Partnership. And we will continue this message again tomorrow. So join me again tomorrow. And remember, God loves you. You are blessed and highly favored by the Lord.