Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.
Now, here's today's podcast, From 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. 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. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.
Comparing ourselves to other people might make us think that we're good, but comparing ourselves to a holy God, well, that quickly shows us just how far we fall short. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains why none of us can measure up to the glory of God as he continues our series, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. I'm glad you joined us for today's edition of Pathway to Victory. As David mentioned, we're conducting a series called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, sharing an exclusive Jesus in an inclusive world. If you want to provoke the ire of our pluralistic culture today, just start claiming that there's only one path to heaven.
We're going to explore this non-negotiable issue today. And to help you navigate this topic on your own, I've written a brand new devotional book that reinforces the principles taught in this teaching series. My devotional is titled Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 Daily Readings About Our Only Hope for Eternal Life. This is a reference tool that's easily tucked into your Bible or into a copy of my new devotional. In this brochure, I've taken 16 of the world's major religions and compared them to the teachings of biblical Christianity. We've sent out thousands and thousands of copies of this resource already. Both my new devotional, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, and this helpful brochure, Christianity, Cults, and Religions, are yours when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory.
Now, let's get started with today's study. We're in Hebrews chapter 9, and I titled today's message, Avoiding the Way of Cain. My simple definition of tolerance is respecting other people's right to be wrong. That's what tolerance is, respecting other people's right to be wrong. You know, many people embrace the idea of pluralism.
All ideas are equally valid. Nobody can claim to have the truth. That's pluralism, but that is not what tolerance is. Tolerance is saying there is an absolute truth.
You don't have to accept it or not. I respect your right to be wrong, but all truths are not equally valid, and not all roads lead to heaven. That certainly was the teaching of Jesus himself. In Matthew 7, he said, Enter by the what?
The narrow gate, for broad is the way that leads to destruction. And that is the basis for our series, Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, sharing an exclusive Jesus in an inclusive world. 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. And specifically last time, we looked at five themes in the Old Testament that point to the exclusivity of salvation.
Let me review them for you briefly. First of all, we talked about the oneness of God. That is the most basic truth found in the Old Testament, the oneness of God. Remember Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. There are not many gods. There is one God. And who is the real God?
He is the one who identified himself to Moses, saying, I am who I am, not I am whoever you think I am. That's the oneness of God. The second theme we looked at last time was the holiness of God. You remember that word holy means literally to cut or to separate. When we say God is holy, we are saying God is separate.
He is a cut above everything and everyone in heaven and in earth. And of course, the holiness of God means that he is distinct from us. And he has a separation from sin. God has a zero tolerance level for sin. He is separate from evil. Of course, the fact that God is holy separate from sin presents a problem for us because of a third truth you find in the Old Testament and that is the sinfulness of man. There is a moral gulf because of God's holiness between a holy God and a sinful man.
It is a gulf that began in the Garden of Eden and continues today. You say, what's the big deal? One little mistake, one little bite of the forbidden fruit. What's the big deal?
Here's the big deal. Paul explained it in Romans 5-12 what that one act of disobedience means to you and to me today. Romans 5-12 says, therefore, just as through one man, sin entered the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned at the moment of their disobedience. Sin spread like a virus through the entire human race and with that sin came death, spiritual separation from God. G.K. Chesterton once said, the only part of theology that can actually be proved is original sin because we prove it every day of our life, don't we? Every day, every hour of every day, we prove that we have inherited the sin virus. You might say, well, okay, I'm not perfect.
I make a few mistakes, but I'm not that bad. Here's the problem with coming to that conclusion. You and I aren't qualified to diagnose our spiritual condition. We think there's this great difference between human beings and the world. No, the difference between humans and the world, the most holy unbeliever you can think of and the worst sinner, the difference between people is about this much compared to the distance between all of us and a holy God. And that leads to another truth that we see throughout the Old Testament, the fourth truth, and that is the need for a sacrifice. Because of our sinfulness and the holiness of God, we need a sacrifice for our sin. And we see that for the first time 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. That word cover means he atoned. In Leviticus 1711, he says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make an atonement for your souls. 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.
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, whatever you want to do, build an ark however you feel like. Did he do that?
No. He gave him literally a blueprint of how he wanted that ark built. We might need to go back and read that if it keeps raining like it does over the next few days, build our own ark. But he was very specific in his instructions. Or think about when God gave Moses instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and later Solomon for the construction of the temple. Did he say just build whatever you want?
No. Every detail was given by God down to the garments that the priest would wear who represented God. You can read it in Exodus 25 through 30.
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 four.
Genesis chapter four. Remember, Cain and Abel were the children of Adam and Eve. By the way, have you ever wondered, well, where did Cain get his wife if Adam and Eve had two children, Cain and Abel? How did those two produce the entire world?
Well, there's a very simple answer to that. Genesis 5, 4 said Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel. They had sons and daughters.
Many of them are listed there. And obviously, they intermarried with one another in order to populate the earth. But the sons we know about are Cain and Abel.
And look what happened. Verse three, 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. It also led to the first lie, a lie to God when God confronted Cain in verse nine. But you know, the story raises the interesting question, why is it that God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's offering?
You know, I've heard pastors who didn't have a clue what they were talking about try to answer that question. 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 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. 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. You know, we preachers are trying to coax more money out of the people. Say, well, it was the amount.
It was the amount. I mean, Abel, he gave a really sacrificial gift, but Cain, oh, he just gave out of his surplus. 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 Cain 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, no, 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. 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, 1985, when another airliner, Delta Flight 191, was making its final approach onto Runway 17L 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 jetliner? 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 were invisible but very real forces at work.
A marker burst, vortexes, wind shear. Those invisible forces grabbed hold of that jetliner and threw it to the ground, killing 137 people. Now listen to me. Just as there are natural laws that govern 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. So, when Christians declare that Jesus is the only way to heaven, we're typecast as narrow religious zealots.
How, then, can Christians demonstrate that the Gospel is an expression of God's compassion and love? That's the topic I explore in my new devotional book called Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. In our daily readings, this new devotional is designed to equip you with clear and credible answers to tough questions. Nothing is more important than understanding the narrow gate through which Jesus said we must enter.
Remember, Jesus said no one comes to the Father but through me. When you give a generous gift, a pathway to victory, be sure to request your copy of the Not All Roads Lead to Heaven daily devotional. To conclude today, let me invite you to elevate your relationship with pathway to victory by becoming a Pathway Partner. In this vital role, your monthly support provides the needed capacity to expand our influence for the Gospel all across America and around 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. David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you give a generous gift, a pathway to victory, be sure to request your copy of the brand new devotional Not All Roads Lead to Heaven, 100 daily readings about our only hope for eternal life. You'll also receive the brochure called Christianity, Cults, and Religions.
Call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you the CD and DVD teaching set for the series Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. You'll get that along with a 10-week Bible study guide.
Plus, you'll also receive a copy of the original best-selling book Not All Roads Lead to Heaven. To request the complete package of resources, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like. Here's that address. P.O. 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 about how to get into heaven. But what did Jesus Himself actually say?
Dr. Jeffress answers that question in a message called The Intolerant Christ. That's Friday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Imagine waking up to the sight of Alaska's majestic coastline or spotting wildlife from the deck of a luxurious cruise ship. Experience these unforgettable moments on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska with Dr. Robert Jeffress.
Relax with us in Alaska and I guarantee you'll come home spiritually and physically refreshed. To book your spot on the 2024 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, go to ptv.org. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. 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 follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
