part of really justification
before God. Not by covering yourself with
fig leaves, but God shed the blood of an animal and took the
skin of that animal and there was atonement declared. How can man be just before God? Only God can justify a man before
himself. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. And these boys were taught that. Adam taught them because they
didn't come up with sacrificing on their own. Honoring God with
a sacrifice. Well, Cain and Abel both offered
their sacrifices unto the Lord. And Abel's sacrifice was an accepted
sacrifice. Cain was a tiller of the ground,
and Abel was a shepherd. He was a keeper of sheep. And
Abel's sacrifice was accepted of God because it set forth the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb that taketh away the
sin of the world. And Cain's sacrifice, he was
a farmer. And he brought forth the fruit
of the ground and it showed nothing more than man's attempt to approach
God on man's own merit. He did not bring a sacrifice
that it was accepted. He was a farmer but that didn't
change the fact that he was to bring a lamb, he was to bring
a sacrifice, a blood offering. And the Lord accepted Abel's,
and many speculate, and I'm sure it's right, doesn't say, but
soon after we were told how the Lord accepted sacrifices with
fire from heaven. But they knew, they knew. Abel's
sacrifice was accepted and Cain's wasn't. And Cain was mad. He was depressed, and the Lord
Ask him why. Ask him why. Why are you mad?
And not out of ignorance. You know that. But he asked Cain
in order to arrest Cain to his rebellion and his disrespect
toward Christ. You think about this. Man's teaching. of free will religion. That man
has a free will. That man can approach God by
his choice and by his works and by his walking and by his baptism. That is so disrespectful to Christ. That message is disrespectful. It's declaring that Christ is
not the salvation of God, that's what it's saying. And so God
told Cain, when he asked him, he asked him in verse six, why
art thou wroth? Verse seven, if thou doest well,
shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, that is,
sin's desire. Thou shalt rule over him. He told Cain, he said, if you
would come with a willing heart, offer a sacrifice that is pleasing
to the Lord, a sacrifice that glorifies God, not man, your
sacrifice would be accepted. But if you don't, and that's
what we declare. We declare the gospel. We preach
to everybody. This is God's accepted way. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. We don't declare that Christ
died for everybody. We declare the truth. We tell
men the truth. You come to Him. You bow before
Him. You call upon the Lord. And if
you don't, if you don't, The Word declares, he that hath
the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life, and
the wrath of God abideth on him. That's the truth. He said, if
you don't, he said, sin's lying at your door, and it's going
to have its desire. But Cain refused to bow to the
Lord. Oh, the hardness of the carnal
heart. It's hard. Rebellious. And the scripture says in verse
8, Cain talked with Abel. Now Cain was mad. He was mad
because his sacrifice wasn't accepted. He was mad because Abel's was.
And he talked with him. Surely in a very subtle and deceitful
way. to defend or disguise his own
evil actions like Judas that came to the Lord with a kiss. And so Cain is wanting to talk
with Abel. So they talked. Now what do you
think was on Cain's mind? My sacrifice wasn't accepted.
His was. What do you think he wants to
talk about? And I don't doubt for one second that Abel, in
a very positive, faithful way, told him. It's like if you'd
be talking with someone and they're asking you, you know, what do
you believe? What is it about what you believe?
I wouldn't accept it. You're going to tell them. You're
going to tell them. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is by grace, through faith. It's not of myself. It's a gift
of God. And when he told him that, when
Abel told Cain that, the scripture says that Cain killed him. He killed him over what Abel
believed. The first murder that this world
ever Saul read about was over the gospel. It was over salvation
by the grace of God. It was over the sovereignty of
God. That's what it was over. And if you think that the world
doesn't hate you, I'm sure, like I said, I'm sure Cain spoke in
a very subtle way, but in his heart, I'm going to get you. And he
did just exactly what he did. By his actions, Cain said, my
work and not God's is the way to heaven. Cain by his actions
said, I don't need a priest before God. I am my own priest. And Cain said that the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ is of no worth. When he brought the
fruit of the ground, instead of a blood sacrifice, he said
the blood of Christ is not what puts away sin. His actions toward his brother
was over who gets the glory. And now we find Cain has killed
his brother. It's become very evident what
the Lord has said that the seed of Satan is going to be in war
and enmity against the seed of the woman and that the world
does truly hate God's people because they hate the God of
the Bible. And Cain thought that no one
had seen it. And now we pick up in verse nine.
And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? Now, we would all do well to
just remember a few things concerning this passage of scripture. Number
one, who we're answerable to. We are answerable before him
who knows, who knows the hearts of men. 1 Samuel 16, 7 says, for the
Lord seeth not as man seeth, For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. The Lord sees,
obviously, the actions of all men, but he knows their thoughts,
he knows the intents, he knows the desires. Psalm 11.4 says
the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in the heavens. His eyes behold. His eyelids
try the children of men. And he's fair. He knows and he's
fair. He's just. Isaiah 45, 21. There is no God else beside me,
a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. And
here's the thing, the Lord is going to deal with all sin. The wages of sin is death. Either He's going to deal with
sin in the man or the woman, or He's going to deal with it
in His Son. But He's going to deal with it. If a man is dealt with personally,
without a substitute, according to his own sins, he's gonna perish
because we're guilty. There's no doubt about that. And if by the grace of God, though,
that a man is found to be in Christ, having the Lord Jesus
Christ as his redeemer, his savior, his mediator, his priest, God
will justly and mercifully save that sinner because that sinner's
guilt was atoned for by the blood of his precious son. So my prayer
to me, for me, is Lord, teach me that. Teach me, teach me afresh. cast myself upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. I told you before, coming to
Christ is not something that happens one time. He that cometh
unto me. And here was a man that had killed
his brother, and the Lord asked him, where is he? Where is your brother? Now, Cain has been brought into
the court of Almighty God, The one, as I said, who knows and
has seen, and he's gonna deal justly. Where's your brother? And Cain lies to him. Every time
I read this, Neil, it just amazes me. He lied to him, and then
the arrogance. I read that, I read those next
words, and my brother's keeping. I'm thinking, Who are you talking to? I told you before, I bet
you'd say this too. It don't matter where you're
from. I happen to be from the South. But I guarantee you, those of
you that came up and had parents that would discipline you, if
I had said something like that to my dad or my mother, buddy,
I'm telling you. My dad slapped me in the next
week. I'm telling you. Where is your brother? I don't
know where he is. His body was in the ground and
his soul was with the Lord. And Cain said he didn't know
where he was. He was of the devil. The devil
was a murderer and a liar. And that's all of us by nature.
This is us. But for the grace of God, I mean,
we'd look at Cain and say, I can't believe he'd do that. I'll tell
you this, I believe he did it. Because I know this, but for
the grace of God, I'd do that. I would do that very thing. We
need to stop and be reminded something. Numbers 32.23 says
this, be sure your sin will find you out. And we are
so prone by our old man, that flesh, that flesh in which nothing
dwells that's good. We are so prone to just think
that it's just not that really big a deal. It's just this day,
day in, day out, you know. Not only the sins of commission,
but the sins of omission, things that I didn't do that I should
have done. Ignorance on my part, but rebellious
ignorance. Be sure your sins will find you
out. If not in this life, I promise
you the books in the day of judgment is going to be opened. And every
infraction, things that I've forgotten that I did or thought,
The Lord didn't. And they're all gonna be written
down. Galatians, I want you to look at this. Galatians chapter
six. I read this a moment ago and
put a little star beside it to make
sure don't, sometimes I got things in my note and I miss them, but
I didn't wanna miss this one. Galatians six, verse seven and
eight. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh,
what does that mean? Trusting in his flesh, looking
to his flesh, his own nature, the way he's talking to us. Looking
to his nature for salvation, looking to his nature for wisdom,
for his ability to be able to guide himself, He that soweth
to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that
soweth to the Spirit, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Spirit of God directs and teaches, shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. So I know this. Cain may lie
with his mouth, but he's, God knows. Job chapter 4. I'll read this or you can turn
if you want to. Job chapter 4 verse 8. This is concerning the wicked. It says, even as I've seen they
that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same. So what is the
scriptures teaching us? We're not going to get away with
anything. The Lord's going to deal with
our sins and put them away. Lord, put mine away. Or we're going to answer. And
we're going to be cast out from His sight. Isaiah 59, 12 and
13, For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our
sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with
us, and as for our iniquities, we know them, or that is, we
recognize them, in transgressing and lying against the Lord and
departing away from our God-speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving
and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. So the Lord confronts
Cain. And Cain, in unhumbled arrogance,
and sarcasm. He answers God with such disrespect. And the Lord asks him another
question. He said, verse 10, What have
you done? What hast thou done? The voice
of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Here,
now, in the margin, it says, my brother's bloods. And I read
what I could on that. And really, it could mean. No one really gave a real good
that I could find. But the bloods, meaning every
drop of it, or the posterity that would never be born, which
were the two reasons that I found. And to be honest with you, It
just, that's the interpretation. The bloods, it says, what have
you done? The voice of thy brother's bloods
crieth unto me from the ground. Now here, Cain exhibited the
fruit of being joined to his father, the devil. He said they
are of their father, the devil. Liars, murderers from the beginning
And the scripture says that the Lord has questioned him and then
told him, this is going to be your curse. You're going to be
cursed. He tells him in verse 11, now
art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. The earth was Cain's God. He was a farmer and he gave of
the best that he could produce, which came from himself. So really
the earth was his means to exhibit his best. This is what I've got. This is what I can do. I want
you to look what I can give to God. So the earth was really
truly the exhibition of his heart. It was his God. And now the Lord
told him, he said, you're cursed from the earth. That earth that
was his God, to magnify himself. This earth is going to show how
good I really am, how strong I really am, how wise I really
am, how productive I can really be. And the earth turned on him,
is what's being said here. He said, now art thou cursed
from the earth, and hath opened her mouth to hide thy brother's
blood from thy hand, that which Cain trusted in the earth. And your brother's blood crieth
unto me from the ground as witnesses and as a prosecutor." And what
does he cry? Vengeance. Vengeance. That's what blood cry. That's
even the cry of the martyrs in Revelation chapter 6. Revelation
6 verse 9 and 10. Revelation 6 verses 9 and 10. The scripture
says, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw unto the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God,
the martyrs. and for the testimony which they
held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord,
holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? So Cain was guilty. He had no
redeemer, no mediator, no priest for his guilt. And God is just. And will in no wise clear the
guilty. That's Romans 6, 23. The wages of sin is death. Death. Physical death, that is
coming. Spiritual death, right now. Eternal
death, promised. And here's the consequences.
Turn to Revelation chapter 20. Here's the consequences. of dying
without Christ. Revelation 20, we've read this.
This is the declaration from the Spirit of God of that which
shall happen. Now listen, here's a place right
here, I can tell you this. I'm talking about being from
the South. We're all from different places. We're not all from here. But I can tell you where we're
all gonna be one day, together. Revelation 20, verse 11. I saw a great white throne, and
Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of
life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, Death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they
were judged every man according to their works. And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Remember when those disciples
came back, those 70 disciples had gone out preaching, and they
came back rejoicing because the devils were in subjection to
them. And the Lord said, don't rejoice
because the devils. or in subjection, but you rejoice
because your names are written in heaven. If you're going to
rejoice and you're going to thank God, you thank God that he's
given you life in Christ and revealed to you that salvation
was yours by his gift to you and that he's loved you with
an everlasting love and given you a heart to believe it and
to not look to anything in you, have no confidence in your flesh,
That's a blessing to have no confidence in the flesh. To look
to Him to realize my name has been written in heaven. So the
Lord levied, He levied His judgment upon Cain. Here was Cain approached
by God in a heart so hard that he lied to God. He killed his
brother, buried him, lied to God about it. Then sarcastically
asked the Lord, am I my brother's keeper? I thought you were the
God of the earth. I thought all souls were yours. And God declared his curse, verses
11 to 15. Now at that curse from the earth,
which has opened her mouth to receive our brother's blood from
my hand, when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth
yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive, a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord,
My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast
driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy
face shall I be hid. And I shall be a fugitive and
a vagabond in the earth, shall come to pass that everyone that
findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, therefore,
whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon
Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Now, Cain was cursed. As I said before I started this,
Adam wasn't. Eve wasn't. It was mercy for
them, but not for Cain. Not for Cain. Show me your glory. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. The earth itself, because of
Adam's transgression, was cursed, but it would not give Cain its
benefits. That which was cursed would not
give Cain its strength. Job 20, speaking of the wicked. Job chapter 20 and verse 27 says
this, the heaven shall reveal concerning the wicked, the heaven
shall reveal his iniquity and the earth shall rise up against
him. Even the creation itself that
has been cursed of God because of man's rebellion will not give
it strength, the scripture says, to the wicked. This earth groans even now, Romans
8, This is what's going on. Because of man's sin, this is
an amazing passage of scripture, Romans 8, 20-22. For the creature, or the creation,
was made subject to vanity, to the effects of sin. It was made subject. The earth
right now, these storms and these earthquakes, these things are
not happening just arbitrarily because it's just nature. No. The creation was made subject
or to be in subjection to vanity, not willingly, not willingly
because of anything the earth did, but by reason of him who
has subjected the same in hope or promise. Because the creature,
the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation right now, right now, groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until... Now, what the scriptures
say, do you think that sin had only effect upon Adam and Eve
and then his posterity? No, everything was affected by
it. Everything. It's in convulsions right now
because of Adam's transgression. The earth, the creation itself,
thorns and thistles, death, things are dying. All of the catastrophic,
the wars, the hatred, everything, sin. Even now, it's grown, but
it will not yield its strength to Cain. And the scripture says
Cain Verse 12, He said, My punishment is greater than I can bear. A margin says, My iniquity is
greater than it may be forgiven. But still, it's still all about
Him. At this point, and I know why,
I understand why. It's because the heart is deceitful
above all things. It's desperately wicked. A carnal
heart is enmity against God. I know that. But it still amazes
me the hardness of all of our hearts by nature. The hardness
of it. It was still all about Cain. Listen to what he says. My punishment
is greater than I can bear. Now, at no place in here does
he cast himself upon the mercy of God. At no place does he cry
out, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Lord, forgive me. I killed my
brother. I'm sorry. Lord, have mercy on
me. I know, according to John 6.37, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And I know that
it's going to take the Spirit of God to do it. I know that.
That's not up for debate. But it just amazes me to see
the hardness of our hearts by nature. Listen, even in his griping and
his complaining, it was still all about Cain. My punishment
is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out
this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall
I be hid. I shall be a fugitive. I shall
be a vagabond in the earth. It's going to come to pass. Everyone
that finds me is going to slay me. Even in his punishment, man is
still self Centered. O, may the Lord keep us, may we
guard against setting our heart on anything but the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was cursed to perpetual disgrace among men. A degraded outcast in perpetual
exile. No remorse. No confession. Just complaint against God's
justice. Complaint against that which
is right. Complain against that which is
good. And he would not come to Christ.
Abel believed God. Abel believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ. The scriptures declared just
Abel. He was a just man. He heard the
gospel surely preached from his mom and dad. And he brought a
sacrifice out of obedience. Had God accepted him, He accepted
Abel and his sacrifice. And Cain did nothing but complain. cast out with no peace, constant
fear in his walking life, and no rest for his body or soul.
He saw every man to be his executioner. And God, in His curse upon Cain,
declared this truth. Anybody that kills Cain, I'm going to pour out sevenfold. vengeance on him. He put a mark.
I don't know what the mark was, but people knew. They knew. Almighty God, his ways are not
our ways. And instead of killing Cain right
then, he made him walk the rest of his life in God's holy and
wise decree and in to prolonging his life in suffering. Cain's religion was all about
him. He thought he could approach
God by the works of his hands. He thought he'd be accepted.
And his brother was hated because his brother believed God. And
Almighty God dealt with him. And the blood of Abel cried unto
the Lord. But here's the beautiful picture
in this all. Abel was a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One who laid down his life for
the sheep, who laid down his life in obedience. That's what
Abel did. Abel was obedient to God. The first recorded martyr. First
martyr. First martyr. Obedient. Obedience. And because of his
obedience, look at the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here
he came into this world to save his people from their sins. Now we all deserved punishment. We all deserve in ourselves to
be as Cain. That was what we deserved. That's
what we were doing. But the scripture says in Ephesians
chapter two, we all deserve it, but I love these two words right
here. Ephesians two, verse four, but God, but God, who is rich
in mercy, Now you think, we know, we know. We know what we deserve. But God who is rich in mercy,
Ephesians 2, 4, for his great love, wherewith he loved us,
even when we were dead in sins. Now listen to how much Man is
not included, his works in this. Even when we were dead in sins,
now that's where we are, hath quickened us together with Christ,
made us alive with Christ. By grace you're saved and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Now here's the thing. If left
to ourselves, I'm telling you what we would do. We'd do exactly
what Cain did. That's what we would do. But
God who would not let his people perish, but God Rich in mercy. I said a while ago, the Lord
gave Moses and us as people a promise. I will have mercy. I will have mercy. On whom I'll
have mercy. And we who deserved to die, Ephesians
2, 2 and 3, or 1 to 3, and you at the quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according
to the course of this world, just like Cain. We did the same
thing. According to the prince of the
power of the air, we did the same thing. That's what we did.
We all were like that. The spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, leave us alone, and that's what
we are, children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as others. We were all in ourselves guilty,
but the Lord did something. For us, His people, the people
that He everlastingly loved that we could not possibly do for
ourselves. We could not do this. He hath
made Him sin for us. He who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Galatians 3.13
says, Christ hath redeemed us, he's paid the price. That's what
it means, he redeemed us. Paid the price of redemption.
He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a
curse for us. I'm wrapping this up, but Isaiah
53.11, I'll tell you how. He was made a curse for us. Isaiah 53 11, I know I told you
this, it's been a few years ago, I don't know how many now, but
Isaiah 53 11 says this, concerning the crucifixion of our Lord. He, that is the Father, shall
see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. I told you a few years ago, and
I looked this up again, make sure, excuse me, make sure I
was using the right word, and I was. The word bear there is
gravid, gravid, it means pregnant. He shall bear their iniquities. When I was in false religion,
the explanation that I always heard and I always believed and
I thought was right was that it wasn't that the Lord really
made sin. It wasn't that He really made
sin, but that He just kind of bore it, He just kind of put
it on Him. It didn't really have any personal
effect, is what I'm trying to say. Personal effect to it. God judged, wasn't really judging,
you know, He was really judging just the sin. It didn't have
anything to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is so
contrary to scripture. He shall bear their iniquities. He bore them as a woman bears
a child. Now, you ladies that have had
children, was bearing that child, was it virtual? Meaning, it wasn't
really real. It was just well, almost like
pretend, but it looked real, but it wasn't really real. Now,
let me ask you this. Bearing that child for nine months,
was that virtual or was it real? The scriptures bears out, he
shall bear their iniquities. He bore those iniquities. He made them, he said, mine iniquities,
this is Psalm 40, mine iniquities have taken hold on me. more than
the hairs of my head. The blood of Abel cried unto
the Lord, but this last scripture right here, Hebrews 12, Hebrews
chapter 12, says concerning the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Hebrews 12, 22 to 24, But ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
things than that of Abel. Abel's blood cried unto the Lord
for vengeance. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
shed for his people, cries unto his father for mercy. Father, have mercy. They know not what they do. And
I'm telling you, I've said this before, I'm telling you, he was
praying for those in that crowd that were his. He said, I pray
not for the world. I'm praying for those that you've
given me. He knew who they were. Out there, a lot of them mocking
him. He would call them. All that the Father gave me,
they're going to come to me. But he's praying for them right now.
Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. I pray that
the Lord teach us all of the mercy. He's a just God and a
Savior. Bless our hearts this evening,
Father, by your Spirit, for Christ's sake and our good.