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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, The Way of Cain. Represents every religion in the world that tries to approach God in its own way, other than the one way through Jesus Christ. You know, there really are not thousands of religions in the world.
There are only two. But thousands of religions in the world attempt to approach God in their own way. The true religion, the true faith of Jesus Christ says there is one way to approach God. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jefferson.
If you were to ask someone if they think they're a good person, they'd probably say, well, yes. But just 'cause you try to be good doesn't mean you'll actually succeed. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers explains how God's definition of good differs from our own definition. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. 30 years. That's how long the pathway to victory has been coming to you, day after day. And you might be wondering, why should that matter to me?
Well, it means that when you turn to this broadcast, you're turning to a ministry that has proven over three decades that it will not chase the latest trend or soften the truth to fit the moment. You deserve a program you can trust. That trust is something I hold sacred. I was 40 years old when Pathway to Victory was launched, but this year I've reached my 70th birthday, and it's got me reflecting on the lessons God has taught me along the way.
So I wrote those lessons down for you in a brand new book called Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. I'd love to send you a copy as my thank you when you give a special 30th anniversary gift to Pathway to Victory.
Well, in conjunction with these two milestones, 30 years of ministry and 70 years of life, I've chosen to feature a sequence of messages from my teaching series called Not All Road. Lead to heaven. There's a profound lesson tucked away in the ninth chapter of Hebrews that I want us to embrace. Today's message is titled, Avoiding the Way of Cain. Nothing will cause a more vitriolic reaction from people than insisting.
There is only one way to escape hell and experience heaven. By the way, I'm not speaking theoretically. I'm speaking from personal experience. Not long ago, I received an email from somebody who had listened to a message in which I was claiming there is only one way to be saved. This man identified himself as a Christian and as a member of a conservative Christian denomination.
He wrote, I thought Christians were tolerant of other religions, that they believed the United States was established so that all people could worship according to their desires. Shame, shame on you for talking about things you have no knowledge of. You are a son of the devil if you are not tolerant of all religions. How's that for being tolerant? Last time we began looking at the truth that this idea of one way of salvation didn't start in the New Testament.
The genesis of this idea is, well, in the book of Genesis. It begins on the opening pages of the Old Testament. In Genesis 3, verse 7. Look what happened after Adam and Eve rebelled against God. Then the eyes of both of them were opened.
And they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Remember this, sin always produces guilt. And guilt always produces a desire for a covering. All of us innately feel guilty when we sin, and that guilt always produces a desire to cover over our guilt. And that's what Adam and Eve did.
The first thing they did was, after they were aware of their sin, they tried to sew together their own cover to hide their nakedness. But notice what happened in Genesis 3, 8 when God came looking for them in the cool of the day. It was the coolest part of the day. A wind was blowing, probably. And suddenly Adam and Eve became aware that that Yeah.
Fig covering wasn't doing the trick. They started to feel a little drafty in the garden. They were aware of how inadequate their covering was. And that is the moment that God confronted them. And when God confronted them, only then were they in a position to receive the covering he had made.
Look at verse 21. Then the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Did you know this is a record of the very first death in the Bible? Nothing had died before this time. This is the very first death, and it was the death of an animal that God killed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve.
God was teaching Adam and Eve and all of mankind the most important lesson we can ever learn. And that is, something innocent has to die for something guilty. and God must provide the sacrifice. And we see that theme over and over again throughout the Old Testament. For example, under the Mosaic law.
Remember, there were all kinds of sacrifices required. But the highest day on the Jewish calendar was what? Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. We talked about that before. Remember what happened on that day?
In the Holy of Holies, where nobody but the high priest could enter once a year, was the Ark of the Covenant. And in that ark was a copy of the Ten Commandments. And on top of that ark was a golden lid called the mercy seat. And on each end of the mercy seat, were replicas of two angels, the cherubs. The cherubim guarded the holiness of God.
And God was thought to dwell between those two cherubim. And the picture was very clear. God was looking down. On the law of the Ten Commandments that had been broken by his people. And because the people had broken the law, Judgment was necessary.
But listen to this. According to Leviticus 16, once a year the high priest would first of all kill a bull. As a sacrifice for his own sins. The high priest was a sinner who needed forgiveness himself. And only after he had offered this bull as a sacrifice for his own sins did he then take a goat.
and killed the goat. Take its blood. Enter into the Holy of Holies. And he took that blood and he placed it on the top of that altar. Ark, the mercy seat.
He covered The mercy seat. That word cover means he atoned the mercy seat. And the picture was when God now looked down on the law that had been broken, he no longer saw the broken law, he saw the blood that covered the transgressions of the people. And that was the lesson God was teaching.
Something innocent had to die for that which was guilty. One more example: the Old Testament. Genesis 22. Remember, God said to Abraham, I want you to take your son, the son whom you love, your son Isaac. And I want you to take him to Mount Moriah.
and offered him as a sacrifice. Abraham didn't understand that. But he knew God had spoken, and he obeyed God. He took Isaac with him, who was probably about 19 years old when this happened. And they got on top of Mount Moriah.
And he uh Put Isaac, who willingly submitted himself to be offered as an offering, on the altar. As Abraham raised his knife, remember at the very last moment. God shouted out, Abraham! Abraham! Stop.
Stop, for now I know that you love me. And remember, Abraham looked over and he saw a ram caught in the thicket. God said, This is the sacrifice. And he offered that ram that God had provided. as an atonement for sin.
It is no accident, ladies and gentlemen, that in that very same mountain range. Called Mariah, literally, God will provide. In that very same mountain region, two thousand years later. Another sacrifice was offered. on that old rugged cross.
the Lord Jesus Christ himself hung. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. God was teaching all of us the lesson: someone innocent must die for those of us who are guilty, and God is the one who provides the sacrifice. We read from Hebrews chapter 9 a few moments ago about the difference between the earthly high priest who atoned for his own sins and then entered a man-made holy of holies.
To offer a continual sacrifice that had to be offered year after year after year. But listen to what Jesus, our true high priest, did for us. But when the Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and the more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation and not through the blood of goats and calves, but he entered through his own blood. He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Isn't that great?
Christ paid the price. He is the one who has offered the sacrifice for our sins. The need for sacrifice. And that leads to one final truth we find throughout the Old Testament, and that is the exclusivity of the sacrifice. As you read through the Old Testament, one thing you'll find over and over again is the specificity of which God gave his instructions.
For example, when God spoke to Noah and said, Now you need to build an ark. Did God say to Noah, now just use your creativity? Build the boat any way you want to. If you want two decks, fine. Three decks, fine.
Three, one, whatever you want to do, build the ark however you feel like. Did he do that? No. Or when God gave the Israelites instructions about The offerings, you find those in Leviticus 16 through 27. Did God say, just offer anything you want to offer to me?
I'm really not interested in details. All I care about is the condition of your heart and your attitude. Is that what he said? No, he gave very specific directions. You see, the truth was, if you're going to approach God, listen to this, you have to approach God on his terms.
and not your terms. That is the message you find over and over again. in the Old Testament. And perhaps the best illustration of the exclusivity of how we approach God. Is found in the story of Cain and Abel.
Turn over one chapter to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter four. Remember, Cain and Abel were the children of Adam and Eve.
Well, look what happened. Verse 3.
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. And Abel, on his part, also brought of the firstlings of the flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard. That means he accepted Abel and his offering. But for Cain and his offering, God had no regard.
So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. And because God rejected Cain's offering, Cain became angry. That led to the first murder in human history, Genesis 4:8. But you know, the story raises the interesting question: why is it that God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's offering? I've heard people say, well, you know, it was because of their attitude.
Abel had a good attitude, he was a cheerful giver and. And uh Cain was a grumpy giver and We know the Lord loves a cheerful giver.
Well, that's true. The Lord loves a cheerful giver, but He'll accept it from a grump as well. Remember that. Don't use the fact that you have a bad attitude for not giving to God. You know, we're to be obedient to God.
Is that the reason that God had regard for one offering? Was it. attitude. Other people say, well, no, it was the amount given. I mean, Abel, he gave...
A really sacrificial gift, but Cain, oh, he just gave out of his surplus, and that's why God accepted one or the other.
Now, those are all great theories. The problem is they're wrong. The truth is, the Bible tells us exactly why God accepted Abel's offer and rejected. Cain's offering. Hebrews 11:4 says, By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he had obtained the testimony that he was righteous.
God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, Though he is dead, he still speaks.
Now we just saw how specific God was in the instructions He gave. I believe God gave some very specific instructions to Cain and Abel about the gift they were to give. Where do you find those instructions? They're probably in that white space between Genesis 4:2 and 4, 3 in your Bible. I'm kidding, there is no record of those instructions.
You know, by the way, a lot of people are confused about this. Remember this: everything in the Bible is true. But not everything in the Bible is complete. All the information God gives is true, but He doesn't always give us all the information. For example, Jesus said many more things and did many more things, John said, than those that are recorded in the Gospel.
It's the same thing with Cain and Abel. God said a lot of things to them that aren't recorded in the Bible. And I think among those things that were said were the instructions for the offering. I think, given the seriousness of Cain's sin, there's no doubt. That God required An animal sacrifice to remind Cain and Abel and all humanity of their need for God's forgiveness.
How did they treat those instructions?
Well, Abel obeyed it. He brought an animal and he slew it on the altar and offered it to God. But when it came to Cain, He didn't bring a bloody animal. Instead, he brought an offering of grain and fruit and offered it to God. Perhaps Tain said to himself, A bloody animal, that is disgusting.
I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to offer an offering to God that I think He'll be pretty happy with. And so I can just see Cain arranging that display of... grain and fruit in an aesthetically pleasing way. And saying, you know, I'm getting to exercise my creativity here.
I'm one with God. I'm sure God is going to be pleased by the kind of offering I'm giving. Him? Shows him I'm really not that bad at all. But the reason God demanded an offering.
A sin offering. Was not to show how good we were, but how evil we are. And nothing conveys our desperate need other than something having to die. for our guilt. Cain didn't understand that.
Or he chose not to accept it.
So he tried to come to God on his own terms. Rather than God's terms. You say to Pastor, you're being a little too creative here. There's nothing about that in the scripture, is there? Oh, yes, there is.
In the New Testament book of Jude. It only has one chapter, so it's Jude verse 11. Listen about. what the writer says about Cain. Woe to them!
for they have gone the way of Cain. And for pay, they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and have perished in the rebellion of Korah. What does he mean, the way of Cain? Listen to this. The way of Cain.
Represents every religion in the world that tries to approach God in its own way, other than the one way through Jesus Christ. Cain was the beginning of thousands and thousands of false religions that still exist in the world today. You know, there really are not thousands of religions in the world, there are only two. But thousands of religions in the world attempt to approach God in their own way. The true religion, the true faith of Jesus Christ, says there's one way to approach God.
Beware of those who follow after the way of Cain. What is the way of Cain? I want you to jot down on your notes six characteristics of the way of Cain. I'm not going to explain them, just jot them down. The way of Cain refers to any individual who attempts to approach God on his or her own terms rather than God's terms.
Second. The way of Cain describes any religious system that attempts to earn God's favor by works and rituals rather than reliance on God's grace. Number three. The way of Cain is any religious system that appeals to our pride rather than our desperate condition before God. Number four.
The way of Cain emphasizes humanity's goodness rather than humanity's sinfulness. Anytime you hear a Pastor, priest, religious leader, talking about how wonderful man is and how we are all one with God, you know he's a purveyor of the way of Cain. Number five. The way of Cain says there are many paths that lead to God rather than one path. Number six, the way of Cain leads to eternal death.
rather than eternal life. Proverbs 14, verse 12 says, There is a way that seems right to a man. But its end is the way of death. You know, we naturally, ladies and gentlemen, rebel against this idea of exclusivity. that there's only one way to approach God.
And I think one reason we naturally reject this is not only because of pride. But it's our feeling that somehow spiritual matters are less exacting. Than that which we can see with our own eyes. There's something about the invisible world of spirituality that is less exacting than the laws that govern the world that we can see around us. But if you ever make that conclusion, You're in real danger.
Because there are laws that govern the invisible world, just like there are laws that govern the visible world. I was thinking about that truth yesterday afternoon. As our airplane was making its approach through the rain and the thunderstorms into DFW Airport. I thought about the date of August the 2nd. Yeah.
When another airliner Delta Flight 191. Was making its final approach onto runway 17 left at DFW Airport. As the captain looked at the end of the runway, he saw a little thunderstorm cloud at the end of the runway. At first, he thought, well, I'll go around that and approach from the other direction. And then he thought to himself, why should I do that?
I have hundreds of thousands of pounds of aircraft underneath me, three powerful Rolls-Royce engines. 43,000 hours of experience between me and my co-pilots. What can a little wind and rain do to this mighty jet liner? And so he made the decision. to approach that runway going through that thunderstorm cloud.
What the captain didn't realize was that within that cloud, or invisible but very real forces at work. Microburst, vortexes, wind shear. Those invisible forces grabbed hold of that jetliner and threw it to the ground, killing 137 people. No lesson to me. Just as there are natural laws.
that governing that doomed jetliner as it made its approach on the runway. natural but invisible laws.
So there are spiritual laws. that are invisible but very real. That govern our approach to God. We can try to ignore them. We can try to say, well, I'll approach God in my way.
But the result will be spiritual disaster. The theme of the Old Testament and the New Testament is simple. There are not many ways to God. There is one way to approach God. It is through the one who said, I am the way.
The truth and the life. No man comes to the Father. except through me.
Well, nothing has changed from the beginning of time. Just as Cain wanted to please God on his own terms, people are doing the very same thing today. They want to believe that any noble attempt at goodness qualifies as a legitimate effort to satisfy our holy God. As we close today, I want to invite you into my new book, Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. Let me give you just a taste.
The very first lesson is this: keep the main thing, the main thing. Look, it's all too easy to get distracted these days, but I can tell you, the main thing isn't complicated at all. It's all about the gospel. Everything else in this life is secondary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the kind of honest lesson you'll find inside my book, Seven Lessons from My 70 Years.
It's yours when you support Pathway to Victory with a special 30th anniversary gift. And then, in addition to receiving this one-of-a-kind book, let me invite you to celebrate our 30th anniversary at Pathway to Victory by becoming a Pathway Partner. In this vital role, your monthly support provides the needed capacity to expand our influence all across America and the world. The only thing holding us back from reaching more people is the financial capacity to do so. You can become a Pathway Partner right now by following the simple instructions at ptv.org.
Thank you so much for linking arms with me as we step into the next 30 years of ministry together. Here's David with all the details. Today, when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, You're invited to request Dr. Jeffers' brand new book, 7 Lessons from My 70 Years. Call 866-999-2965, visit ptv.org, or text ptv to 78800.
And in celebration of 30 years of ministry, we've gathered Dr. Jeffers' most requested messages from the past three decades into a complete teaching series called Truth You Can Trust. And we'll send it to you on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc. And that's as a thank you for your especially generous gift of $75 or more. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org.
You could write to PO Box 223-609-Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins.
Many people have their own opinions as to how to get into heaven. But what did Jesus himself actually say? Dr. Jeffers answers that question in a message called The Intolerant Christ. That's Thursday on Pathway to Victory.
Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. What if your next vacation changed the way you read your Bible forever? Join me for nine nights sailing the Mediterranean with every detail taken care of. When you stand where Paul stood, your Bible comes alive in ways it never has before.
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Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/slash donate, or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go: don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. You've heard me and Dr.
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