Lord's Day: April 6, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Assurance Scripture: 1 John 3:10–12, Isaiah 46:8–11, Genesis 4:4–14, Jude 1:10–13, Hebrews 11:4, Luke 11:49–50, 1 Kings 18:20–46, 2 Kings 2:11, Hebrews 12:24, 1 Timothy 2:2, Romans 12:1–3, Romans 15:4–6

I. Concluding Cain and reprobation, then God’s powerful Object Lesson of Righteousness in Abel’s brief life and death

10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 1 John 3:10–12

II. God’s Progressive Revelation of Scripture into the New Testament does not have anything good to say about Cain, while it does celebrate, honor, and praise Abel's life and death

• Be sensitive to your own sin. Repent and confess it, whenever your conscience accuses you, a friend confronts you, the Spirit convicts you

III. Cain is a clear object lesson in what we should not be and do, while Abel is an object lesson in what we should be and do

• Abel was a righteous, God-believing, God-fearing man, who walked the straight path of the Lord in a quiet, humble, unspectacular way

IV. Abel was not a radical, Lordship Salvation guy that threw himself into full-time ministry, sold everything he had, and left it all to follow after God

• Abel, his life and his death, continues to speak to us today

V. Abel’s death—his blood—signifies death, condemnation, and vengeance for sin and its consequences

• Abel was a normal, godly unspectacular shepherd, living a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity (1 Tim 2:2), and Jesus called him “righteous Abel”

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: (915) 843-8088
  email: ThornCrownCovenantBChurch@gmail.com

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com

Lord's Day: March 30, 2025 Preacher: Carlos Montijo Series: First John Topic: Of Man Scripture: 1 John 3:10–15, Psalm 1:1–6, Genesis 4:1–24, Genesis 37:3–4, Hebrews 11:4, Matthew 15:18–19, Matthew 5:21–22, John 7:7, Luke 11:46–52, Revelation 19:15, 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9, Isaiah 45:6–7

I. This is the Cain and Abel overflowing cup that runneth over from the previous Lord’s Day, and broaden our horizons to the more general theme of “Brotherly Love & Hatred”

10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. 13 Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:10–15

• The pattern, peripateo of Cain’s life, his walk, his disposition, his lifestyle of sin, beginning with his lack of faith, continued on the crooked path of a hater and murderer, and a lack of repentance
• Cain’s sin matured to the point of bringing forth death, such that the first recorded human death in the entire history of mankind is Cain’s grisly murder of his own brother

II. Cain hated and wanted to replace Abel, just as Satan and Antichrist hate and want to replace God and His Seed, just as the scribes and Pharisees hated and wanted to replace Jesus

• Just as the World (unrepentant, unregenerate society) hates us and wants to replace us like sheep to be slaughtered (Rom 8:36), those of us who trust and follow Christ

III. Even though God demonstrated kindness to Cain and, in a sense, disciplined him as a Father does, this does not mean that God loved Cain in an ultimate sense

• God had no regard, not just for Cain’s offering, but for Cain himself either (Gen 4:5)
• You cannot truly understand and appreciate the beauty of God’s love unless you also understand the holiness, righteousness, and purpose of His sovereign hatred

IV. Was Cain eventually saved?

• “Then Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16

We meet on Sundays for worship at 10:00am:

• ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church
  4712 Montana Ave
  El Paso, Texas 79903

Contact us at:

• web: ThornCrownCovenant.Church
  call/text: (915) 843-8088
  email: ThornCrownCovenantBChurch@gmail.com

Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com