Galatians 4:29
"At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now." (NIV)
"But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." (KJV)
"Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also." (AMPL)
God has given me a message about certain older brothers in the Bible who despised and persecuted their younger brothers.
Older means harder, stubborn, not soft, not humble, unyielding, and a persecutor of the young.
Spiritually speaking, the nature of the older brother in the spirit realm is the product of the flesh and most of the time, our heart is of the older brother's.
That’s why we do not follow our hearts, instead, we follow the conviction of the Holy Spirit
The scripture says that the heart is deceitful above all things - Jeremiah 17:9
Romans 12:3b - "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought."
Romans 12:16 - "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Be not wise in your own conceits."
Cain the Older Brother
1 John 3:12 - "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one."
Hebrews 11:4 - "By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead."
Genesis 4:5 - "But on Cain and his offering he (GOD) did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast."
How was it recognized that God was not pleased with Cain’s sacrifice but was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice?
There was a visible sign to clearly understand how one’s sacrifice was accepted and another’s was rejected.
FIRE was that sign!
God accepted Abel and his sacrifice by sending fire from heaven to consume the animals.
Leviticus 9: 24, 1 Kings 18:38 - but God rejected Cain and his sacrifice.
Cain wasn’t rejected because of his offering, rather, the offering was rejected because of Cain; because his heart was not right with God.
Some people would say that God rejected Cain’s offering because there was no shedding of blood in his sacrifice.
But the truth is that had Cain even brought animal sacrifices and shed blood, it STILL wouldn’t have been accepted by God because of the state of Cain’s heart.
1 John 3:12 - "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one."
The fact that people attend religious meetings and participate in church activities is not real proof that they are true believers.
It is possible to have a form of godliness but never experience its saving power - 2 Timothy 3:5
God made complaints against these kinds of hypocrites:
"These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" – Matthew 15:8
The most costly sacrifices apart from the submission of the heart can never make the worshiper right before God – Psalms 51:16-17
Let us examine our hearts and look at how we come to the presence of God to offer our worship.
God is not pleased with simple lip-service, He wants our hearts.