All right, if you will open with
me to 1 John chapter 3. As we're working through 1 John,
we come to three verses here, and I'm going to have a dual
text tonight. We're going to look at this very
briefly, expand it greatly where it's mentioned in the Scriptures
first. And then we'll come back very
briefly then and look at it. This is our text for the week,
but it's really going to be our text this evening. We're going
to look at it. We're going to see a picture of Cain and Abel
this evening. And that's an easy picture to
understand, for us to get a hold of. And I think most people have
heard of Cain and Abel, but most people don't know that story
and what it means, what it declares. There's a theme to my message
tonight. I was asked earlier what I was
going to try to get at preaching, and I hope I can tell you to come to God and cross alone and
live. Nothing new. I hope we can see
that. I hope he'll show us that clearly
tonight, plainly and simply. The title of my message tonight
is Actions of Our Love. Now, in some translations, some
Bibles, some prints, they have some words written over the paragraphs,
over the text, to show us what the next paragraph or two, the
next section is talking about. And in mine it says, love in
action. Some man added that, and I don't
know if he knew what he was talking about, but he hit the nail on
the head. We're going to see what our love that we have in
our heart, we act on it, and what that looks like when it's
acted upon. We'll look there in 1 John chapter 3 and verse
11. 1 John 3.11, For this is the message that
ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
How are we supposed to love one another? Verse 12, Not as Cain,
who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore
slew he him? Why did he kill him? Because
his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hate you." Now we remember that
John's topic here in this part of this epistle from chapter
2 verse 18 through chapter 3 is he's showing us the difference
between a child of God and a child of the devil. If you don't know
whose child you are, that should bring us to pay attention. Make
us tune in a little bit, shouldn't it? That's the only two types
of people in the one race that's on this earth. A lot of wars over there right
now it looks like. There's one race on this earth and it's a
race of Adam. And out of that there's two kinds
of people. That's it. There's those that are the children
of the devil and those that are children of God. That's it. The first Adam, second Adam. Now, out of these, out of those
two people, there are those that are for themselves and against
Christ, anti-Christ, or those that are for Christ and against
themselves. That's only two religions in
the world. There's works and grace. You take any denomination
you can think of and you boil it down. Did God do it all or
does man have to do something? That's what it boils down to.
There in verse 10, 1 John 3.10 says, In this the children of
God are manifest, and the children of the devil. There's those two
types of people, believers and non-believers. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. Whosoever doeth righteousness
is born of God. We've read that in chapter 2,
didn't we? That is the Son of God. Whosoever believes Christ.
Whosoever does not believe Christ is not God. Now look down at
verse 12. Not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore he slew him? Because
his own works were evil, and his brother's works righteous. Righteous. Cain murdered Abel
because he hated Christ, and Abel loved Christ and was one
with Him. He couldn't stand it. Cain did
not kill Abel and then become a murderer. He murdered Abel
because he was a murderer in his heart first. He hated Abel. To hate is to murder. Our Master
told us in Matthew 5 that whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause is in danger of the judgment. To hate in the heart is to murder.
That's to kill. Now in verse 15 there, 1 John
3, 15, Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him." Now let's turn just a few pages over to Jude.
How is it that men and women are murderers before they commit
murder? Why does being a murderer in
the heart make them a murderer on the outside in action? Look
there in Jude verse 9. Yet Michael, the archangel, when
contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses.
Durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord
rebuke thee." That's a good way to contend. You want to argue
about something? That's a good way to argue. Wait
on the Lord to rebuke your enemies. We don't want to do that. Attack,
wait on your Lord to rebuke your enemies. Verse 10, But these
speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they
know naturally, what comes to this old sinful mind, what's
natural to us, as brute beasts, as animals, as wild, unbridled
animals, and those things they corrupt themselves, we corrupt
ourselves by ourselves, by our old nature. Verse 11, Woe unto
them For they have gone the way of Cain, and ran greedily after
the heir of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying
of Korah." They went the way of pride, a haughty tongue, divisiveness. That's the way they went. That's
what was in their heart, like a wild beast. Now, we're going
to be turning to Genesis, but on the way there, let's stop
in Proverbs. Let's look at Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs chapter 6. This reward that Jude was talking
about, that they have, those that went the way of Cain, they
get their reward. They get what they want. Proverbs
6 verse 16. Yeah, verse 16. These six things
doth the Lord hate, yea, seven, are an abomination to Him. First
up, first thing, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that
shed innocent blood, and heart that diviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness
that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. That's what we call, it's bookended.
You got them bookends on your shelf, one on each side that
holds it together. What holds that together? What God hates.
Pride and sowing discord. That'll happen. Everything in
between is what they use to sow the discord that are proud. Alright,
now Genesis 4. What was this nature of Cain
and the nature of Abel? What was their love and action?
The action of their love. What did they act on? So far
we've seen Cain was a murderer. He was prideful. Gains saying,
and all those things were natural to him. So it naturally come
to him. Look here in Genesis 4 verse
1, 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 tiller of the ground." Why did Cain have to
till ground? Why didn't it say he was a farmer?
He's the one that tilled the ground. Why did he have to do
that? Why didn't he just go out and throw some seed down? Broad
cast seed and walk away and then wonderful fruit come up. Why
didn't that happen? He had to break the ground. Let's
look back just a little bit there in Genesis 3, 17. And unto Adam the Lord said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, thou hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return
unto the ground. Now being a farmer, Cain had
to till the ground because it was cursed. And as we'll see,
it's going to get more cursed. But what he began with was cursed.
It was hard. There was thorns and weeds all
in it. It came up. He had to labor.
So Genesis 4 verse 3. And in process of time it came
to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord." Cain brought his fruit. The fruit he planted. The fruit that he went out and
watered every morning. What he picked the weeds out
around, all those thorns and thistles. So they didn't choke
out his fruit. The fruit that he spent a lot
of time taking all the little bugs off of it. Make sure nothing
ate it. I spent a lot of time in the
morning taking bugs off and pulling weeds. Hard work. I can safely
say that I would venture to bet those were some beautiful vegetables.
I bet that was some appealing fruit. Tasty fruit, wasn't it? It looked good. Tasted good.
People bring their own fruit in religion. What can I grow? What can I do? Did I do enough? Did I shine it up? After I picked
it, did I grow it? But Cain brought something from
the ground. It came from the ground, the
ground that God had cursed. That's where it started. That
was the source of his offering. It was the product of something
that was already cursed. All of our works are cursed from
the ground up, literally. Everything we try to do, in our
hand, what we try to bring to God, it's cursed. It began cursed
because we were born into sin just as that ground was cursed.
Born as a shepherd, Abel brought what was provided by God. It says there in verse 4, And
Abel, he also brought of the firstling of his flock and of
the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering. Do they ever have to plant those
sheep? That's a silly question. People need to be aware of these
things. He didn't have to go out and pour water on top of
them. He didn't save the seeds from last year's crop, make sure
they were safe over winter, and then break the ground, till it
up, and put a sheep seed into the ground, and then watch it
grow and take care of it. He didn't have to do that, did
he? What did he do? He witnessed them. He beheld what the Lord
made. That's all he did. Just sat there
with them. Be near. Be close to it. Stay
with them sheep. He watched what the Lord created
and what the Lord provided. The offering that Abel brought
was not from the sweat of his brow. Not from that cursed ground. He did not labor for it. It was
not his work. And the Lord respected it. The
Lord honored it. He was pleased with it. Why did
God respect Abel's offering? He was pleased with Abel in Christ. That was the first reason. He
was pleased with Abel in Christ, whom the Father is pleased in.
He said, this is my son whom I am pleased, hear ye him. That's
the only way he's pleased, in Christ. Now look at verse 4 again. And Abel, he also brought the
firstling of his flock, and the fat thereof. And the Lord had
respect unto Abel, and to his offering. He had respect to his
offering because he had respect for Abel. Abel was Christ. Abel
was a blood-bought child of God. He was chosen of God before Adam
was even made. Abel had an understanding of
that elective grace of God. He had an understanding of those
things. He knew that a substitute was
supposed to come and crush the head of the serpent. He knew
there was one sent. That seed of woman was coming.
There in verse 1, Eve said, I've gotten a man from the Lord. We've looked at this before.
She was looking for that seed to come. The Lord said, I'm going
to send somebody. I'm going to send my Son in human
flesh and He's going to save His people. The first child she
had was a son. She said, I got Him! The Lord
was true to His Word. It wasn't Him. She was mistaken,
but that's who she was looking for. But Abel, how did he know to
bring a lamb? How did either of them know to
bring an offering to God? Let's look there in chapter 3, verse 7. Here's how people try
to approach God. Adam and Eve were naked. They
were convicted and they tried to cover themselves. Genesis
3, 7. And the eyes of them both were
opened and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons. Adam and Eve made garments
of fig leaves. It was plants from that same
cursed ground, wasn't it? Come from that ground that the
Lord cursed. That's how we are not pleasing to the Lord when
we come from those. It does no good for our souls
or our consciences. It doesn't soothe us. Look there
in verse 8. And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees of the garden. That apron that they made didn't
work. It didn't work. They made it.
It didn't work. Those garments that man makes does not hide
the shame. The works of our hands doesn't
soothe the soul, it doesn't comfort us, it doesn't cover our sins,
and it does not keep us from being afraid. There's always
fear. Not fear as in honoring, but fear as in just being afraid,
being scared. Look at verse 7 again. And the
eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and they made themselves
aprons. What are we going to do? We're
still afraid. We're still not soothed whenever
we try to do something. We're in a mess of trouble, ain't
we? But God... But God, He made sheepskins from
Him that He provided. He made it, He provided it. Look
there at verse 21, Genesis 3.21. Here's where Adam learned this,
and this is how he taught his boys. about the sacrifice. Genesis 3.21, Unto Adam also
and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothe
them. The Lord God provided the covering. He made coats of skin and He
clothed them. He robed them in the body of
the lamb. You get that? The flesh of the lamb. He cured
it. He did whatever He had to do.
He made garments out of it. He put that on His people. The
children of God do not make their own offering. God makes a satisfactory
covering for His people. We were made righteous in Christ. We are robed in His garments.
His garments for righteousness. And it's not just suggested that
we put on that robe. It's not just made available
for us to choose. It's not just offered to us.
He clothes us. He puts it on. There's more spiritual good news
to that. What God does cannot be undone. What He clothes cannot be unclothed. What He puts on can't be taken
off. Abel was provided an offering. He was given a lamb from the
Lord that the Lord created. He was clothed in the garments
of righteousness of Christ our Savior. He was made one with
Christ and the Lord was pleased with it. He respected it. Now
back to chapter 4 verse 5. Cain came to the Lord the way
that Adam and Eve tried to with those aprons. by the works of
his hands. And what was the result of it?
Look there in Genesis 4-5. But unto Cain and to his offering
the Lord had not respect. And Cain was very wroth and his
countenance failed. We are one with our offering,
whoever you are. Do you see that? The children
of God are made one with Christ and we lift Christ up as that
acceptable offering. And it says there in our text
that Abel and his offering. Cain and his offering. They're counted together. They
go hand in hand. What a person brings to God for
salvation, they are one with. They identify with it. They defend
it. They rejoice in it. All men and women will either
approach the holy God in their own works that they are one with. It's theirs. They trust in it. But it's from a cursed place.
And there will be no respect given. There will be no pleasing
of the Father. Or, they approach God with the blood of Christ.
That Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. They are one with
Christ. He's theirs. They trust Christ for all things.
Because Christ was already made a curse for us. And if we approach
God in the blood of His Lamb, we will be respected, honored,
loved, accepted, pleasing in His eyes because of our sacrifice
that He provided in His eyes, what He gave us. But Cain was
prideful. He was angry at his brother and
at the Lord. He wasn't angry at himself. Cain
didn't get mad and say, oh, I should have done better. What can I
do different next time? Lord, forgive me. I'm sorry. He goes wroth, depressed. He's mad at the Lord, mad at
his brother. But in his pride, which the Lord hates, we just
saw that, Cain is about to be as divisive as you can be. He's about to separate from his
brother all the way. Let's look at verse 6. And the
Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance
fallen? Why are you depressed? You've
heard from your father about how he was clothed. How God slew
a lamb and put those garments on your dad, Adam. You were told
the truth and you were taught well. Adam taught them boys well. Adam taught these boys just as
Abraham taught Isaac. We remember Isaac, he wasn't
a little baby. He was about 13 or so, teenager, 14 years old.
He was big enough and he was taught well enough that whenever
him and his father were on the way up that mountain, He said,
Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's the land? That's
what he asked. He knew what was going on, didn't
he? He was taught well. That's what
John's telling us there in chapter 2 of 1 John. There are some folks
that are taught well. They're taught well. They sit
underneath the sound of the gospel. They're instructed in truth,
but they go out from us. They turn another way. They depart
from the truth. That's what Cain did here. He
was taught correctly. Adam taught him right, told him
the truth, but decided to approach God another way. As Paul told
Galatians, there's not another. There's one way to come to Him.
There's some argument that this was their first sacrifice. Some
people get stumbled up on, well, this is the first one, and they
didn't do a good job. They didn't know what they was doing. We're
not told either way. It would appear that this was
down the roadways. They've done several. But we
know Cain and Abel were not little boys. They weren't young men
on their first sacrifice. Cain had his own farm. He had
at least a whole season of growing in, and Abel had his own ranch.
It says he had a herd. They don't come about. It takes
a while for those to reproduce. And they were the ones bringing
the offering. And we remember that the head
of the household is the one that provides the offering. They bring
the offering on behalf of the household. Adam didn't provide
this offering for them. They did it. One came symbolizing
his house of his father and his lineage and man's works. The other came symbolizing his
house, his father, his lineage, in Christ, the grace given by
that blood of Christ. That's what they represented.
Now, knowing this instruction, knowing Cain was taught well,
the Lord asked him a rhetorical question here in verse 7. Genesis
4, 7. If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted? He said, you know this. That
doest well is doing truth and doing righteousness. We've been
studying there in 1 John. Believing on Christ, loving the
brethren. If thou doest well, shalt not thou be accepted? And
if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. If you don't do
righteousness, you don't believe on Christ alone, sin is going
to reign over you forever to a damning end. And it says there,
and unto thee shall his desire and thou shalt rule over him. Ethiopian translation there says,
unto thee shall be its desire. That sin is lying at the door
of your heart, that is in your heart. Its desire is going to
be your desire. It's going to take you over.
And as the firstborn, Cain and Abel, as the older brother, you
are going to rule over your brother. What he's saying is, the Lord's
telling Cain, you're going to pounce on every advantage you
have to rule over Abel and to put him down. That's our sin
nature. It's to conquer, not to submit. It's to rule, not to follow. It's to teach, not be instructed,
not be taught, not to listen. So Cain decides, Lord just squared
him away, as we used to say. The Lord straightened him out.
Cain says, I'll handle this. I'm going to sort this out myself.
Look here in verse 8. And Cain talked with Abel, his
brother. He just received instruction
from God Almighty. What is he going to sort out?
Other than being reminded of what was to take place in these
offerings and why, which the Lord just gave him, there is
no reason for Cain to address Abel. Just like we read there
in Jude, Michael did not get into it with the devils that
were trying to take Moses' body. He waited on the Lord to rebuke
them. That's what we should do. Wait on the Lord to do the chastening.
But I can imagine how this talk went, can't you? What do you
think took place? I would say Cain came to him
and said, How come the Lord is happy with you? Why did He accept
you? I worked hard. I had a good intent. I tried hard. I sweated a lot. It's not fair. You're no better
than I am." And I would imagine Abel looked at him and said,
I'm a sinner too. You're right. I need a substitute. God chose
me, provided a substitute, this blood for me. He gave it. I trust
Him. I believe in Him. And you should
too. He preached to him. What happened when Cain took
this in his own hand yet again? First time didn't work out for
him. The Lord didn't accept it. He did exactly what the Lord
told him would happen. He was ruled by the sin that's
in himself and not the love of Christ. Now there in verse 8
again. And Cain talked with his brother Abel. And it came to
pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel
his brother and slew him. Cain was so wroth, so mad, he
was so infuriated that he killed Abel his brother. What was Abel's
action of love? What was the fruit of that love
that was in him? Coming to God with the blood
across the lung. submitting to the Father in all
things, praising Him for salvation, declaring Christ died for His
people and was accepted fully by the Father, and that He was
born of God. I know Him. I'm His son. I lean
on Him for all things. He's my Father. What was the
action of Cain's love? Pride, division, hatred, murder,
mad that all his hard work wasn't accepted, not respected, Is that
shocking that he killed his brother? Are we surprised that over the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, a man that hated it killed
a man that loved it? Does that shock us? What we just
read in 1 John 3.13 says, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world
hate you. They want to kill you and chop
your head off. Don't be surprised. Servant can't be above his master.
What happened to Cain? What happens to people that approach
God on their own terms and their own works? Look there in verse
12, Genesis 4, 12. When thou tellest the ground, it shall
not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. It was already
cursed. Now it's not going to yield its
strength. His way of living is over. He just took his livelihood
from him. A fugitive and a vagabond, shalt thou be on earth. And Cain
said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Many will cry out on that day,
Lord, this is too much. I can't take it. He'll say, depart
from me. I know you're not. Adam knew
the Lord and he preached Christ to Cain. Abel was made righteous. by the blood of Christ. He loved
the Lord. He preached Christ to him. Preached that Lamb slain. But Cain loved himself. He loved his works. He hated
the blood of the Lamb. He was not accepted and he was
cursed forever. Back in 1 John, we'll read our
starting text again. 1 John 3. Let's start at verse 10. In this, the children of God
are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness, whosoever does not believe on Christ, love
Him totally, and love His brethren, is not of God, neither hath he
that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that
you heard from the beginning. from the beginning of time, from
creation, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who
was of that wicked one and slew his brother, and wherefore slew
him? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you." We've seen there Cain and Abel. It's always
one or the other, isn't it? One of two. Cain and Abel. First
Adam, second Adam. works and grace, death and life. What should be our action of
love? We have our conversation, our
attitude, our intent, and our physical conversation when we're
talking. Should we be negative? Should we be divisive? Should
we be saddened? Wrath? Or should we love? love one another. We love the
Lord who provided all things for us. I can't remember if Clay
told that here or not, but it stuck with me. That brother that
went through all those trials, and as his physical brother reminded
him, he said, the Lord chastens his own. The next day he saw
him at work and said, what, how you doing? He said, oh, just
thinking about how much the Lord loves me today. That's it. And we'll be reminded
of those things. As Peter told us, that will stir
up our pure minds. Be reminded of Christ, won't we? We should
also be reminded to come to the Lord in Christ alone. Don't trust
yourself for justification. Don't trust yourself, the works
of your hands, those aprons of sanctification. Come only in
the blood of the Redeemer. It's finished. It's done. That's what that declares. It
sees that blood, I'll pass over you because the work's done.
There ain't nothing more to do there. No more. That man, Christ
Jesus, come to Him. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, thank You for Your Word.
Lord, remind us often these plain, simple truths that You've laid
in front of us, Lord. Don't leave us to ourselves.
Don't leave us to our works. Lord, please come to our hearts
and clothe us in the righteousness of Christ. Lord, only see Him
when you look at us. We have no comfort, no hope in
ourselves. Allow us to act on that love
that you've given us. Lord, let us be kind to all people
around us. Let us be a voice that tells
of our Redeemer. Let us smile because of the joy
you've put in our hearts. Let's be appealing to those around
us. I want to hear of you. I want to hear the source of
our joy. Lord, allow us to further your
gospel. Give us a heart to do so. Be
with our brethren everywhere, those that are sick, those that
are suffering. Comfort them, Lord. Soothe their
soul, knowing that their warfare is over. What a blessed thought. Thank you for the forgiveness
of sins, in Christ's name, Amen.