Turn with me, if you would, to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis 4. Last Sunday, we looked at Genesis 1, 2, and 3. We just did a summary of creation and Adam and Eve and the fall into sin and what exactly the sin was that caused them to fall. And the whole story was summed up in two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the issue at the heart of it all was works or grace. That is the issue. I believe the longer I go, the more I realize that really is the issue. That was the issue, that still is the issue, and until God folds this world up, that will always be the issue. It will always be the issue. The story of Adam and Eve, the story of those two trees, the story of God's commandment to them regarding those two trees. That's a story concerning works and grace, law and grace. What saves sinners from their sins? Is it man's works or is it God's grace? Well, today I feel led to look at the second story in the scripture, second story given. And it's concerning Adam and Eve's two sons, Cain and Abel. And what we're about to find out here is this is a story concerning the issue of works and grace. This is a story concerning what exactly saves sinners from their sin. Is it their own works or is it God's grace? So let's begin reading here in verse one, Genesis four, beginning in verse one. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a teller of the ground. And in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? 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, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? And he said, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tellest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and 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, and it 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. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bear Enoch. And he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch." That's the story of Cain. Now, I have known for quite a while now that this was a story of law and grace, but something really jumped out at me in studying this this time. I have something here that's very interesting. I believe you may find this to be very interesting, but it's also critically important for us to understand. I don't believe I've ever approached this story with such critical importance or critical information, a feeling of that in my heart.

So give me just a minute here to set everything up and I want to give you some details about what we read. And then maybe we'll really see something here. We have two boys, Cain and Abel. We have two sacrifice offerings, the blood of a lamb and the first fruit of a garden. One of those sacrifice offerings was accepted. One was not.

Now, Cain was born first, so let's see some details about him, and then we'll see some details about Abel. And I just want to continue setting this up by saying that, let me just kind of like get candid with you for a minute. All of my life, and I called my dad about this, and I said, you know, what about you? He said, yeah, me too. All right, now all of my life, I have always pictured Cain as being a rough, short-fused, hot-headed, ready to fight anybody at the drop of a hat. You better watch it now. You better not make him mad. He'll murder you. That's how I just, I've always had him pictured, just a hothead, short fuse. I've always pictured a guy with a scowl on his face. His countenance fell. Just constantly causing trouble and uproar with everybody around him. Constantly getting kicked out of bars and things like that. That's just what I thought it came.

But let's look deeply at some of the wording right here, okay? Verse one says, and Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain. His name means possessor, possession. It means to get, to acquire, to buy, to purchase, to obtain, to get, to acquire, to obtain. That's what his name means. Verse two, and she again bear his brother Abel, and we'll get to Abel in just a minute. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. The word tiller means worker, laborer, one who served a worshiper. That's what it means. A laborer, one who served, a worshiper of the ground, the earth, what is earthy.

Verse three, and in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering Unto the Lord brought up the fruit of the ground means when you look look the Translation of the definition of it means he produced fruit the concordance says a producer of fruit The definition went on to say worthy of reward Fruitful a bearer of fruit to show fruitfulness of the ground, of that which is earthy.

Verse 4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Now, what does that mean? The Lord had respect to him and to his offering. Hold your place right here and turn over to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 4 it says, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. What it means is God accepted his offering for sin. And God acknowledged that by that offering, Abel was justified and righteous. Okay. God testified of it. Now go with me back to Genesis four. Verse 4, Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. That means the Lord did not accept it. He did not acknowledge Cain as being justified and righteous. And let me just interject a little side note. Everybody thinks that Cain's great sin was murdering his brother. God rejected him before he ever murdered his brother. That was just the aftermath. Cain's great sin is he brought the wrong sacrifice.

Alright, verse 5, But unto Cain, and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? What he's saying right here is, clearly you haven't done well. Clearly you have not done what is good. Why are you mad, Cain? You have not done what's right in my eyes. You have not offered what I said would be accepted.

Verse eight, look at verse eight. And Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. And because of that, the Lord said, you're cursed. You're cursed. You're going to be cursed the rest of your life. You're going to be cursed because of this. All the rest of your days, you're going to be cursed.

Look at verse 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod. The name Nod means wandering. Vagrancy, vagrant, it means without a permanent place for rest. It means homeless is what it means, but without a permanent place for rest.

Verse 17, and he had a house, he had a whole city, but he was without a place of permanent rest. Verse 17 says, and Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bear Enoch and he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. The name Enoch means dedicated, trained up. Trained up.

Now are you reading between the lines with me at all on this? This was really interesting to me. Based on what is said right here, I don't believe that Cain in his human character, I don't believe he was a dirty, rotten scoundrel at all. I don't believe he was. I believe he was a fine, upstanding, religious man. His name means to get, to obtain, And that's the language of religion. Fine, upstanding religious men are the ones who go around telling everybody I got saved. To get, well, I got it. Buddy, I obtained it. I bought it because I earned it. The fact that he was a tiller means he was devout. That's what it means. He was devout. He was a laborer in the field. One who served, he was a worshiper. Doesn't that sound like what men and women are trying to do in religion? They're trying to labor in the field. Serve, worshiper. And he didn't just serve, it says he produced fruit. He was a producer of fruit, in his eyes, worthy of reward. That's a big thing in religion today. We're about to see that it's false religion, but that's what man is naturally holding to before God. You got to show your fruit. Can't tell you how many times I've heard that. You got to show your fruit. If you want to please God. Now, if you want to be accepted, you've got to be a bearer of fruitfulness and not the fruitfulness of God's handiwork, the fruitfulness of your own. This is what man's religion says.

You know, we just last week saw that man was made from the earth. From dust we came and to dust we're going to return. We are the earth, earthy. And in man's own self-righteous religion, he wants to see his fruitfulness come out of his earth. He wants to see fruit of the flesh, the results of the devout, dedicated, laboring works of his own flesh. And when that is a man's religion and a man's hope before God, that man will never find rest. He'll never find rest. He cannot find rest. He cannot stop and sit and rest. He doesn't even want to find rest. Because if he found rest, he would lose his hope in his works. Therefore, all that a man in false religion knows to do is just keep working. All he knows to do, just keep working, keep laboring, thinking he is obtaining in doing it. And he will teach his children to do the same thing. Cain named his son Enoch, dedicated, trained up. Now you want to go to heaven now, don't you? Train up a child. You'll train him up in the same false religion. as all of his fathers. That's what false religion does. It does not heed the word of the Lord. God told them. God told them. God showed Adam and Eve. But false religion does not heed the word of the Lord. It does not bow to and look to and rest in God's provision. It wants to bow to, look to, and rest in its own provision. And there is no rest in man's own provision. There's just none because there's no remedy in man's own provision. Look with me at verse 13. And Cain said unto the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear. And that may be true. Maybe it was, but that's not actually what Cain said. That's not what was originally. If you have a center margin in your Bible, you'll see that what was originally written was, mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. My sin is more than can be forgiven. Do you know that's why man in his false religion keeps working? It's because his iniquity is always greater than his own remedy that he's trying to provide. I'm telling you, that makes a lot of sense right there. I wish somebody in religion, false religion would hear that. Man's iniquity is always greater than his own remedy he's trying to provide. He has to keep working because in his eyes, his sin is not pardoned yet. It is not finished. And that's what every man and woman will say who is not looking to Christ. That was his problem. He wasn't looking to Christ the whole time. A man or a woman not looking to Christ will say, I've got to keep working. I've got to keep trying. I've got to keep earning. And to that, God will say, I do not accept your works. I do not accept it. You haven't done well. You're weighed in the balance and found lacking, not justified, not righteous. Why? Because you brought the wrong offering for sin. God does not accept man's fine, upstanding, moral, self-righteous religion as a sacrifice offering for sin. He never has. He never will. He never will. Hold your place and turn over to Jude, just before Revelation, the book of Jude. Verse 11. Woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. That was the problem. He tried to earn his own reward by the works of his own hands. And God will not reward the works of man's hands. God only rewards one thing. He only rewards one thing. Go back to Genesis 4. And let's see, this one thing in Abel's offering, and this will not take as long as Cain, all right? We're not halfway done, we're way past that. Genesis four, verse two. And she again bare his brother Abel. Just listen, you about ready to get blessed? Listen to what the name Abel means, okay? It means vapor. Vanity, emptiness, unsatisfactory, altogether vain and empty. That's what Abel means. Who are you? Are you Cain or are you Abel? Which one are you? That's who Abel was and that was the only way that Abel could come to this sacrifice because that's who he was.

Verse two, and she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep. The word keeper means abider. It says feeder in the margin, but they ate grass, so all he had to do was sit there. David had time to play his harp. He was just one who dwelled with. That's it. Cain's over there working and working and working. Abel was just sitting there, just one who dwelled with. The sheep. He abode with,

verse four, and Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock. You know, if the flock was made up of sheep family members, brother and sister sheep, he would have been the oldest. He would have been the elder. Firstborn. Firstborn among many brethren. Abel brought his offering to God for sin in a lamb. A lamb, a first born lamb. And that was not something Abel had made. Abel didn't go and gather up some wool and some bone and some, he didn't make it. That was something God made. It wasn't Abel's fruit. That was God's fruit. The fruit of the womb is the Lord's. He does that. He's the giver of life, all life. And therefore all of it is his, it all belongs to him. Abel just offered to God what was already his. Abel just offered to God the works of God's own hands.

Verse four, and Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. He said, you're justified. You're accepted. You are made righteous in the blood of this lamb. And that's why Cain became so wroth, so angry with God and with Abel. It's because God justified Abel merely by the blood of the lamb.

1 John 3 verse 12, Cain slew his brother Abel because Cain's own works were evil and his brother's were righteous. Cain said, what works? He doesn't even have any. I'm the one who's produced all the good works. I'm the one who you see all of this fruit in. You can't even see any fruit in that vain, empty, unsatisfactory sinner right there. And you're telling me that he's justified in the blood of that lamb and I'm not justified in all of these self-righteous works that I think I've done. You're telling me that everything I've done accounts for nothing

That's right, you haven't done well. Now listen, you tell a fine, upstanding man that his works are worthless, and watch the wrath come out in him. I mean a kind, humble, you watch the wrath come out in him. You tell a man that in his man-centered religion, and this is all it amounts to, I know this sounds silly, but this is all it amounts to. You tell a man that his zucchini and his squash is not going to do one thing to redeem his soul. It's going to take the blood of God's lamb alone. God only accepts the blood of his lamb without the fruit of man's labor. You tell religious man that and watch the wrath come out of him.

And this is what he'll say, and I don't mean to be hard in this, it's so sad, but this is what he'll say. I hate that God. I hate the worshiper of that God, and it's all because I hate that lamb. I hate the lamb that has stolen all the glory away from me. Jesus Christ is the lamb of God. And the blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that God will accept. God gave Abel faith to believe that, and God will give all of his people faith to believe that, all of them. And in the blood of Jesus Christ, just like righteous Abel, as the scripture says, all of God's people will be saved. Look into that blood, trusting in that blood, hoping in that blood, all of God's people will find rest, just like Abel.

You know, we say rest in peace, don't we? Look, I'm closing, verse nine, I'm really closing, verse nine.

And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? The Lord knew where Abel was, he was right there with him in glory, to be absent from the body, present with the Lord. He knew where he was, he was right there, he was resting in glory.

And Cain said, am I thy brother's keeper? No, the Lord said I am. I am. I keep all my people. They are kept right there in that blood that was shed. The blood of Jesus Christ the lamb. Rest in that. Rest in that.

Let go of works. You encouraging me to be a sinner? No. Let go of works. and rest in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Amen.