Author: Pastor David Page 1 of 36

In the story of Cain and Abel, we see the first occurrence of the animosity, hatred, even pinnacling in murder of the wicked against the righteous. Abel’s great offense of Cain that led to his murder was simply righteous works that made Cain hate him. The wicked apart from the grace of God coming in their hearts in regeneration have a desire to attack and destroy the righteous, and we are thankful for the Lord’s restraining hand in protecting us from the wicked.

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We see the early church fervently followed the commission of Jesus to be the house, the dwelling place of prayer. We see personal prayers all throughout the book of Acts, but we also see consistent prayer meetings as the church body. During times of waiting, uncertainty, fear, and persecution, the church turned to the Lord in prayer and the Lord answered in miraculous ways, through an earthquake, and even through the apostles being released from prison.

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In the midst of the darkness of the fall, God gives us the first glimpse of the light of the glorious gospel – that the seed of a the woman would crush the head of the serpent. We are thankful that the testimony of the whole Bible is that the Lamb would crush the head of the devil, culminating in the book of Revelation when the devil, the beast, the false prophet, and all the enemies of Christ finally have their heads fully crushed in the lake of fire for all eternity.

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We consider the steadfast commitment of the church and the kingdom in prayer. We all need greater intensity, fervor, zeal, and passion in prayer. We consider the example of Epaphras – very likely the pastor at Colossae who is commended for laboring fervently in prayer for the church. We need to labor fervently for others in the kingdom as God as well. Let us get down on our knees and labor fervently for others and in the kingdom of God!

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We consider together the steadfast commitment of the early, original church and the kingdom in the breaking of bread – not just in the observance of communion, but in the consistent fellowship of inviting other brothers and sisters into their home to partake of supper and food. We need to pursue these “feasts of charity” in the kingdom as well, consistently fellowshipping together over supper, just like Jesus did.

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After the beauty of creation, we immediately see the attacks of that old serpent, the devil, in tempting Eve to sin. Satan sets his consistent pattern of deception in the garden of Eden to try to cast doubt for God’s people to doubt the authenticity and trustworthiness of God’s word. We need to reject these attacks of Satan and wholly trust the word of God.

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I read recently that: “We pay too much attention to the footstool, and not enough attention to the throne.” That is so, so true. We pay so much attention to this problems of this world, the footstool, and don’t look up to God’s throne as we ought. Let us lift our gaze from the turmoil of the footstool, and set our spiritual gaze upon the throne of the King of kings and Lord of lords!

Preached at Five Mile PBC (Akron, AL) on 2/8/2026.

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