All right, let's open our Bibles
to Genesis chapter four. Genesis chapter four. Last Sunday morning I had this
passage read as our scripture reading concerning Cain and Abel. as Cain and Abel was discussed
and written about in 1 John chapter 3. We'll be going back there
in just a moment. But this morning I want to preach to you on this
subject, the testimony of Abel. The testimony of Abel. And let's
begin reading. Let's read Genesis chapter 4
and verse 1. Now this is after the fall of
man. That was recorded in Genesis chapter 3. And this is after
God had established in promise and in picture and type the way
of salvation by grace through the blood of the promised Messiah,
the woman's seed, in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, who
is none other than Christ. And it says in verse one of Genesis
chapter four, and Cain knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and
bare Cain, And you'll see in your concordance there that Cain
means gotten or acquired. What Adam and Eve was testifying
of there is that this is a boy from the Lord, a baby from the
Lord. And some suggest that Eve was even thinking that Cain would
be the Messiah that was promised in Genesis 3.15. That may be
so, I don't know that for sure. But either way, she had testified
that this was a gift from God. And it said, I have gotten a
man from the Lord. Verse 2 says, And she again bare
his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of the sheep,
or a feeder of the sheep. He was a shepherd. But Cain was
a tiller of the ground. He was a farmer. And in process
of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the Lord. Now you're familiar with
this story. I know you are. But I want you to notice some
things here. In the process of time, that
is a way in the Hebrew of saying in God's appointed time. That's
what that really means. And here's what Cain did. He
brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. Now
this offering indicates that he's seeking to be accepted of
God. So in bringing this offering,
he's hoping that God will accept him, not just the offering now. This is not paganism. You know,
paganism, they'll teach bringing sacrifices and offerings, hoping
that their supposed deity will accept them. In this realm, in
the Hebrew realm, in the beginning here, they're wanting to be,
I want God to accept me, my person, who I am. That's what's going
on here. And he brought this offering.
to be accepted. He's seeking acceptance with
God. He's seeking blessing from God. He's seeking to be justified. In other words, whatever problems
I have in sin, this will exonerate me now. This will take care of
that problem. And he's seeking blessing from
God, communion from God on this offering. And then it says in
verse 4, now this is my text right here, this verse 4. And
Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock. Now
it means Abel also came to the Lord with an offering, but now
his offering was different. He brought of the firstlings
of his flock. He brought a lamb. That's what
that means. A lamb of the first year. And
of the fat thereof. That means it was a lamb slain. That's the only way you're going
to bring the lamb and the fat. has to slay it, bloodshed, all
right? And it says, and the Lord had
respect unto Abel and to his offering. Abel's person and Abel's
offering together. Verse five, but unto Cain and
to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, he was
very angry. And his countenance fell, he
sulked. You could tell it in his face
that he was angry. You know, some people, they can
hide it, but Cain couldn't hide it. Verse 6, And the Lord said
unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? Why are you angry? And why is
your countenance fallen? Why is your face so telling of
this anger? Verse 7, If thou doest well,
shalt thou not be accepted? Shalt thou not, you might have
in your concordance there, have the excellency. What that means
is held up in esteem before God. And it has to do with being justified,
has to do with being accepted, has to do with being blessed
of God. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. Now there's a picture here in
the original language that indicates that sin is right outside the
door just ready to pounce like a lion ready to devour its prey. That's the picture. And unto
thee shall be his desire. He wants you. It's like a lion
that's got you in his sights. You're his prey. thou shalt rule
over him now that what that means again is is you've got him to
deal with that's what he's saying there you shall you've got a
mastering if you don't do well then sin is right outside your
door ready to crouch on you ready to pounce on you ready to devour
you and your job is to mastering all right It's kind of like in
the same vein that the Lord told the rich young man, well, if
you want to be saved by your works, keep the law. You've got
it to deal with. The young fellow said, well,
I've done that. And Christ certainly showed him
that he didn't. He's a sinner. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. So he says, in verse eight,
it says, 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. Now, there's the first murder.
Now, not to get technical here, I'm talking about the first murder
of a man, a human being to a human being. But that was, and what
was it over? Well, we'll see that in just
a moment. Well, verse nine, the Lord said unto Cain, where is
Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I
my brother's keeper? Now, usually when you read the
story of Cain and Abel, that's where people focus on. Am I my
brother's keeper? And that's important. That's
an issue. of loving the brethren, it's
an issue of having compassion, all of that, that's needed, that's
necessary. And then he says in verse 10,
and he said, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground. And he says, And now art thou
cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive
thy brother's blood from thy hand. And when thou tillest the
ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength,
her power, her fruit. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth. Now that's what we read last
week. That's the issue. Now I want
you to turn to the book of Hebrews. Turn to the book of Hebrews,
chapter 11. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Testimony of Abel. And the reason I titled the message
that way is from Hebrews 11 here in verse 4. It says in Hebrews
11 in verse 4, it says, By faith, by faith Abel... Now, what is it by faith? That
means he believed what God said. Now understand that. I try to
emphasize this on the television messages, that when it talks
about living by faith, all of that, by faith, it's not just
saying believe. Cain believed something, didn't
he? I mean, do you think if Cain
knew that God was not going to accept his offering, do you think
he would have brought it? Well, no. He believed that God
would accept him and justify him and save him and forgive
him and bless him based upon the fruit of the ground. He believed
that. What's wrong with Cain? He believed
a lie. So, it's not believing. Believing's
not the issue. You believe all kinds of things.
I believe all kinds of things. Some of them true, some of them
aren't. especially when it comes about ourselves. I believe I'm
a nice guy, you know. There are people who tell you
I've got horns, you know. But, you know, what's true? We'll get to know them and you
might find out. But here's the thing, you know, the old poet
said, know thyself. But we believe all kinds of things.
Cain had a belief system. He had a religion where he would
have never brought an offering to God. And Cain was doing the best he
could do. He brought the fruit of the ground. He was a farmer.
And then Abel believed something. So when it says, by faith Abel
did this, in Hebrews 11, it says Abel did it believing what God
commanded, what God said, what did God command and say, all
right? It says, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain. Now it doesn't say here that
Abel brought a better attitude than Cain, even though Abel did
have a better attitude than Cain. Cain's attitude was an attitude
of pride and self-righteousness. Abel's attitude was an attitude
of humility and submission. But that's not what it says here.
It says he brought a more excellent sacrifice. What is the issue
between Cain and Abel? It's the sacrifice. It's the
offering. And it says, by which? By this
more excellent sacrifice, Abel obtained witness. This was a
testimony. This was an evidence. This was
a proof. This said something about Abel.
That's what that's telling us. Abel obtained witness that he,
Abel, his person, Was what? Was righteous. What is it to
be righteous? It's to be justified before God. Accepted with God. Forgiven of
all our sins. Our sins washed away. What washes them away? What can
wash away my sins? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus
what can make me whole again? Nothing, but the blood of Jesus
Now was it different for Abel than it is for me and you know
same gospel Abel obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying
of his gifts what God gave him and What did he give him? I'm gonna show you that in just
a moment. He gave him the gift of righteousness. He gave him
the gift of forgiveness. He gave him the gift of salvation. And by it, all right, by this
more excellent sacrifice, by it, Abel being dead, now Abel's
dead, but he yet speaketh. Abel's preaching to me and you
today. That's what he's saying. Abel's preaching. I suppose if
we'd have put an ad in the paper that this Sunday morning Abel's
going to be preaching, one of two things would have happened.
They thought we've gone crazy or we'd have to put chairs in
the aisle. Well, Abel is speaking according
to the Word of God, isn't he? And what's he speaking of? He's
speaking of a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. And then turn to 1 John chapter
3 now. Turn over there. Now, I preached on this before.
You've heard messages on it before, so I'm not telling most of you
anything new. That's not what I'm here to do
anyway. But I want you to see this in particular context here
and what all it involves. This is the story of Genesis.
Abel yet speaketh." This is the testimony of Abel. Now we read
last week in this, it says in verse 10 of 1 John 3, in this
the children of God are manifest. Am I a child of God? Are you
a child of God? Well now some people will tell
you everybody's a child of God. Well, not according to this book
now. Look here, in this the children of God are manifest and the children
of the devil. There are children of God and
then there are children of the devil. Let me make a distinction
here for you right now that I think will help you in your studies
of the scripture and in dealing with people. There is a sense
in which we can say we're all children of God by creation.
Paul dealt with that in Acts 17 when he was on Mars Hill. talking about the Greek poets
and how they all recognize that everybody is born physically,
created by God, and that is a sin. But you see, man fell in Adam,
fell under the curse and the condemnation of works, religion,
and salvation. And ever since then, man by nature
has been a child of the devil. And the only way we can be children
of God is by God's grace in Christ. Chosen of God, justified in Christ,
adopted by God, redeemed by the blood, and regenerated, born
again by the Holy Spirit. That's why, look here in verse
1 of 1 John 3, remember he says, Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. To be called a child of God,
a son of God, is a product of the sovereign grace of God. It's not by natural birth. That's
why Christ told Nicodemus, you must be born again or you cannot
see or enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who are born again, according
to John chapter one, verses 12 and 13, they're not born by blood,
that is natural birth, nor by the will of man, nor by the will
of men. It's not by the will, listen,
you're not born again because you make a decision for Christ. Every child of God does make
a decision for Christ, but they're made willing in the day of God's
power. And look up at chapter 2 and
verse 29 of 1 John 2. If you know that he is righteous,
if you know that God is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth
righteousness is born of him. What is it to do righteousness?
It's to do what Abel did. So look back over here, 1 John
3 and verse 10. He says, and this is manifest
the children of God. They're manifest. Abel obtained
witness. that he was righteous, that he
was a child of God. To be righteous is to be a child
of God, my friend. And the children of the devil.
Now that children of the devil, those are those, in John's text
here and in the context, are those who follow Antichrist.
What he said over in 1 John chapter 2. You remember I've been talking
quite a bit about that. Christ and Antichrist. And people
have a lot of different ideas about both, about who Christ
is and what he did and why he did it and where he is now. And
that's why we must get into the scriptures to understand these
things. And people have a lot of ideas
about Antichrist. Is he a particular individual?
Is he a succession of individuals? Is he a spirit? Here's what I
want you to see today about Cain and Abel. Now listen to what
he's saying here. Look back at 1 John 3.10. He
says, In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this
is the message that you heard when? When was this message?
From the beginning. This message was the first message
these believers had heard, and it goes all the way back to the
beginning. We take it back to Genesis chapter 4. He says that
we should love one another not as Cain who was of that wicked
one. Cain was a child of the devil
and slew his brother. Now why did Cain slay Abel? Wherefore
slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous.
What was Cain's works? What does Genesis 4 tell us?
What does Hebrews 11, 4 tell us? Cain's works was to bring
the fruit of the cursed ground. His best efforts. What was Abel's
works? A more excellent sacrifice. He
brought the blood of a lamb. Now, what do you suppose is Abel's
testimony? What do you suppose is his message
to all of us? generations past and generations
now, generations future. What is his message? Well, number
one, Abel's message is this, we all fell in Adam under the
curse of sin and death. All of us, Cain, Abel, all of
us. Turn to Romans chapter five with
me. Look at verse 12. Now, you know,
in Genesis chapter three, it tells us about the fall of man.
What happened? Well, man, Adam, did not believe
God. He believed Satan. He took sides
with Satan against God. Satan told Eve, he said, in the
day that you eat thereof you shall not surely die. God had
already said in Genesis 2, you shall surely die. If you eat
of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That represented
God's sovereign judgment of sin and righteousness, of right and
wrong. God's sovereignty. Man here in his original state
of human righteousness, which was changeable, and he took sides
with Satan and his wife against God. That's what he did. What
happened there? Now, what are the implications?
Well, look at Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. It says, wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Now, if you were to take that
in the original language, it would read this way. Not that
for all have sinned, it's all sinned, period. When? When Adam fell. You say, well,
how can that be? How can it be said that I sinned
when Adam fell? Because Adam was the representative
of the whole human race. You say, well, I don't like that.
Well, then you can forget salvation. Let me show you why. Let's read
on. Look at verse 17 of Romans 5. It says, for if
by one man's offense, death reigned by one, not just potential here
now. He says, much more they which
received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness.
That's the gift that Abel had. That's the gift that every child
of God has, the gift of righteousness. And how do we have it? It says
the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, not by
one, not by two. In other words, it's not, it's
not like that old country song. You say me and Jesus got a good
thing going. No, it's just one. He's got a good thing going and
I want to be part of it. It's by Christ. Righteousness
reigns by Christ, not by me and Christ, but by Christ alone. You see what I'm saying? And
that's the problem with religion today that comes in the name
of Christianity. It's a total cooperative effort. It's not just Christ is all and
in all, it's Christ in me. You see the difference? You say,
well, where do I come into the picture? If you're saved, you're
the product. You're the fruit. You're the trophy of grace. That's
the difference. But see, man won't have that,
see, because that doesn't give him a part. He's got, give me
something to do. You know who else said that?
Cain did. Give me something. All right,
it's all of grace, but you've got to be baptized. Or you've
got to join a church. You've got to do this. Listen.
Baptism is necessary, but not in order to gain or maintain
righteousness and salvation. Baptism is not my righteousness
before God. Christ is. His death on the cross. His blood. Church membership
is not my righteousness before God. Christ is. You see the difference? Do you deny that, disagree with
it? Well, that puts you in the same category as Cain. And that's why Cain hated Abel.
That's why the first murder was over. How is a sinner saved? How is a sinner justified before
God? Accepted and blessed and forgiven
and declared not guilty. Cain said, I've got my way and
it's as good as yours, Abel. And God said, oh no. I can't
be just to justify a sinner like that. Mercy cannot come to you
without justice. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no forgiveness, no remission of sin and no righteousness.
Sin demands death. That's what he said. Look at
verse 18 of Romans 5. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Now, who
are the all men there? That's all whom Adam represented
in the garden. Under the covenant of works.
Adam fell, I fell. The proof of that is when I'm
born, Ephesians chapter two and verse one says, we're born what?
Dead in trespasses and sin. That's spiritual death. See? He said, now in that case, even
so by the righteousness of one. Now you see that? Not the righteousness
of two. The righteousness of one. What
is that righteousness? It's the righteousness of God.
It's revealed in the gospel. It's the entire merit of the
obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness
of one. The free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life. Now who are the all men here?
My friend, that's not all without exception. How do you know that?
Well, it says the free gift came upon all men unto justification
of life. Whoever this free gift come upon,
they're justified before God, like Abel, and they have spiritual
life, eternal life. Children of the devil don't have
that. They're like Cain. Who are the all men here? All
whom Christ represented on the cross in his obedience unto death. Look at verse 19. For as by one
man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Now listen to it
now. For as by one man's disobedience,
one man's disobedience, not by two men's disobedience. That's
representation, it's substitution. By one man's disobedience, many,
how many? However many Adam represented
in the garden. That's how many. And they were
made sinners. And he says, so by the obedience
of one. Now again, the obedience of how
many? One. Who's that? Jesus Christ. Shall
many be made righteous? How many? However many Christ
represented on the cross. Look at verse 20. Well, if you
can't be saved by your works, why did God give the law? Well,
here's the reason. Verse 20, look at it. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense, sin, might abound. It's a measurement
by which men can know their sinfulness and depravity and the impossibility
of being saved by their works. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. Now that's what we need. That's
what Abel recognized. I need grace, real grace. Cain didn't recognize that. How
do you know? Cain brought the fruit of the
cursed ground, the labor of his hands, to be accepted. How do
you know Abel needed grace? Abel brought the blood of a lamb,
saying, I'm a sinner, I deserve death, I've earned death, Lord
be merciful to me, the sinner. That's what Abel was saying,
that's his testimony. So he says in verse 21 of Romans
5, that is, sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness. Grace is not going to reign over
you or me without righteousness. Where am I going to get it? Not
by the works of my hands. By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified righteous in God's sight. Where am I going to get
it? Grace reign through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, he
is it. That's Abel's testimony. Cain
didn't believe it. Cain might have said, I'm not
perfect, I'm a sinner, but I'm not totally dead and cursed.
And he brought the fruit of the cursed ground, the works of his
hand. Here's the second thing that
Abel would tell us. My friends, sin is a reality that leaves
us with no hope in ourselves. We see the reality of sin here
in Abel. We think we know it, but we don't
until God, the Holy Spirit, reveals it to us and shows us that not
only are we sinners who've just made a few mistakes, but that
we're nothing but sin without Christ. John chapter 16 and verse
9 speaks of it. The Holy Spirit will convince
us of sin because we believe not on Him. See, this is what
people don't understand. They have a view of sin. And
mainly it's what the natural man can see, the sins of immorality,
the sins of rebellion against society and against nature, all
of those things. And those things are sin and
those things deserve death. But my friend, you have not begun
to see the reality of sin and depravity until you see it in
the light of the glory of God in Christ. Let me show you what
I mean. Turn to Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter 3. Here's
Saul of Tarsus, like Cain, doing his dead level best to keep the
law. A man who prayed, like the Pharisee,
I fast twice in the week, I pray, I give tithes of all that I have,
religious, moral, seeking to establish a righteousness of
his own. And he says in verse 7, look
at Philippians 3, 7. He says, but what things were
gained to me, those things that I thought recommended me unto
God, that gained salvation for me, that gained forgiveness and
righteousness, my pedigree, I was a child of Abraham, my religion,
my morality, Those things that I thought were gain, look here.
Now here's the reality of sin. Here's what Abel saw. Here's
what Abel would tell you. But what things were gain to
me? Those I counted loss for Christ. I used to think those
things meant something as far as my Righteousness before God,
my acceptance with God. But now when I see Christ and
what he accomplished on Calvary's cross in his obedience unto death,
I'm not even on the scale there. I count them loss for Christ. Verse eight, yea, doubtless and
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Paul wrote in Romans 10 in verse
four, for Christ is the end, the fulfillment of the law, for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. Shouldn't we, as believers, try
to be the best that we can be? The answer to that question is
a resounding yes. But my friend, the best that
we can be, if it's offered unto God as the ground of our acceptance
and our justification, it's an abomination to God. Why? Because
it doesn't glorify God, it exalts you. It denies Christ. What are you going to present
to God for your acceptance? For your blessedness? Abel says
one thing. The blood of the Lamb of God. That's his testimony. Here's
the third thing. Abel would testify. Sin cannot
be put away by our efforts. Look back over at Genesis chapter
4 now. I want to show you something
here. And I'll hurry. Look at Genesis chapter 4. You notice there, when Cain realized
that his offering was not accepted with God, he became angry. Verse 6. He became angry, and
the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? Why are you angry?
Why is your countenance foul? If you do well, Cain, shall you
not be accepted? Now here's what we've got to
determine from God's Word. Now, you hear what I'm saying?
We gotta know something here from God's Word. I don't need
to know what you think about it, and you don't need to know
what I think about it. We need to know what God says about this.
What is it to do well in God's eyes? He says, if you do well,
won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin
is lying in wait for you like a lion crouch ready to pounce
on you. It's out to get you. And you've
got to master it. You've got to deal with it now.
You have to deal with it. What is it to do well? Well,
in the context of Genesis 4, I can tell you exactly what it
is to do well. It's to bring the blood of the Lamb. Well, was Abel a good husband?
I hope he was. Was he a good father? You know,
these boys weren't teenagers when this happened. They were
probably in their 30s or 40s. Was he a good father? I hope
he was. He should have been. Is that doing well? In a sense,
but not bringing it as an offering to God. Was Abel a good keeper of the
sheep? I hope he was. The indication is that he was.
But he didn't say, Lord, accept me on the basis that I'm a good
keeper of the sheep. What did he say? I'm a sinner.
I deserve death. I've earned death. The wages
of sin is death. And my only hope of salvation
is the blood of the Lamb, the Messiah that you've promised
to send, Lord, Christ. His righteous, I have no righteousness
of my own Lord, I need His and His alone. And that's what he's saying.
But now Cain rejected that message of grace. He rejected the promised
Messiah and he said, I've got a way that's just as good or
better than Abel's. I can bring the efforts that
I put into this crop and I'll bring him the best that I have
to offer. He didn't do well. Because my friend, that's sin
in God's sight. Do you know Luke chapter 16 and verse 15 makes
this statement? That which is highly esteemed
among men is a what? An abomination before God. I
guarantee you the world would look at Cain and say, boy, that
Cain, you know, he may not know as much as Abel did, but he's
doing the best he can. He's okay. Abel, don't be mean
to Cain. Don't tell him that he's lost. See what I'm saying? The book of James tells us that when any man is drawn away
of his own lust, tempted with sin in that way, he's drawn away
of himself. That's what's natural to us.
That's what's natural to us. And he makes this statement,
he says, and sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. You see,
if I don't have a Savior, a mediator, if I don't have the blood of
the Lamb, if I don't have the righteousness of Christ, sin
is going to finish me. That's what the Lord is telling
Cain here. If you reject God's way of grace
and salvation by grace, for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. If you reject the way of grace,
then sin is like a lion ready to devour you, and you have to
master it, and you can't do it. You cannot put away sin by anything
you do or anything you're enabled to do. There's only one way to
put away sin. Paul wrote it this way, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ came to put away sin, and there's no other way to put
away sin. And then Abel would testify this, we have no hope
of being justified before God by our works. That's what Abel
was saying. We see the reality of righteousness
here. What does God require? God requires perfect satisfaction
to His law and justice. You don't have it. I don't have
it. We can't earn it. We can't work it. Where do we
find it? In one place, the blood of the
Lamb. God told the Israelites before
He brought them out of Egypt, when I see the what? The blood. I'll pass over you. That's the
same as righteousness, you see. His righteousness charged and
imputed us. And then lastly, we see the issue
of love and hate. Now, we could talk a lot about
love and we could talk a lot about hate, but here's the foundation
of it. Why did Cain hate Abel? Why did Cain kill Abel? Well,
1 John 3 told us, because he, Abel, had a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. Cain hated Abel because He was
not accepted based on his works and his efforts. And that destroyed
his pride. It destroyed his hope. It exposed
his false refuge. Boy, you want to get people mad
at you? Expose their false refuges. Whatever they're hoping in, other
than Christ. Tell them it's an abomination
before God. Oh, I know I was saved because
I had a dream, or I was baptized, or whatever. That's an abomination
before God. You want to get folks mad and
angry? Tell them that. What can wash away my sins? Nothing. You really mean that?
Nothing? I mean nothing but the blood
of Jesus. All right.