True and False Worship. Genesis 4:1-5. [Sermon].

What makes worship truly acceptable to God? Is sincerity enough—or does God require us to worship Him according to His truth?

In Genesis 4:1–5, Cain and Abel both bring offerings to the Lord, yet God accepts Abel’s offering and rejects Cain’s. Why? Their story gives us one of Scripture’s earliest and most important lessons about true and false worship.

In this sermon, we examine the similarities and differences between Cain and Abel’s worship and consider why both the worshiper and the offering matter to God. We also look at Hebrews 11, 1 John 3, and Jude for further insight into Cain’s heart and Abel’s faith.

The sermon then turns to John 4, where Jesus gives the definitive description of true worship: God’s people must worship Him “in spirit and truth.” True worship requires both a sincere heart and worship according to God’s Word. This biblical principle is foundational to the Reformed understanding of worship and what is often called the regulative principle of worship.

Along the way, we consider the Golden Calf, Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal, and C. S. Lewis’s depiction of worship in The Last Battle.

What happens when we have spirit without truth? Truth without spirit? Neither? And what does it look like to worship the true God with a true heart?

Join us as we explore Genesis 4 and discover what the Bible teaches about Cain and Abel, true worship, false worship, sincerity, Scripture, and worship in spirit and truth.

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