Here's an account that is very
important because of several reasons. Maybe we'll point them
out along the way. Genesis 4, 1 through 8. And Adam
knew Eve, his wife. And she conceived and bear Cain
and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again
bear his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain a tiller of the ground. And in the 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? Why are you angry? Are you so
mad? And his countenance fell. And
why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted? If thou doest not well, sin lieth
at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire,
thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his
brother. And it came to pass that when
they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his
brother and slew him. Now, did you notice how many
times it referred to his brother, his brother? As close as you
could get a family way, he did act in this passage of the scripture. But I remember several years
ago preaching a little mini series of sermon on the subject of different
brothers that are found in the scripture in the Bible and the
contrast and the spiritual lessons that can be learned by studying
the brothers that are set before us in the scripture. And it is
interesting to see the difference that God put between several
sets of brothers in the scripture. And in them, we can see how election
and reprobation, both of them, do often run in one and the same
family. and how man's enemy shall be
they of his very own house, Micah 7 and verse 6, and in the New
Testament, Matthew 10 and verse 36. Grace, therefore, does not
run in the blood. Grace is not a hereditary matter,
it does not run in the blood, it is not passed down from father
or mother unto offspring. Now, I just want to mention,
a few brothers that are found in the scripture and the different
lessons that we can learn, and the different way and character
that was in these particular sets of brothers. Of course,
we have, first of all, Cain and Abel. This is the first pair
of brothers that we actually meet with in the scripture, and
much is to be learned by them. Secondly, we remember those most
famous brothers of Jacob and Esau, and how Paul uses them
in Romans chapter 9 to exhibit to us the sovereignty of God
in election and reprobation or in salvation. And that that was
predicted by God before they were ever born or ever had any
good done, any good or evil. You'll find it in Romans 9. 10
through 13, and an interesting passage in Genesis chapter 25
before they were ever born. Thirdly, there are the two brothers
unnamed in the parable that we call the prodigal son. In Luke chapter 15 and verse
11 through verse 32, it said, a certain man had two sons, unnamed,
as I said, in the parable, and the younger one we know as the
prodigal. And he became a very great sinner. But then he came to himself,
and he came home with a confession to the father. Now, he represents
the publican and the sinner and such like. And then there is
the elder brother, the self-righteous legalist, who represents the
self-righteous Pharisees, no doubt, in the New Testament.
He was a merit monger. He believed in his own good works,
that they could justify him and earn him good before the Lord. And one final one, if I might. Two brothers are mentioned in
the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verse 28 through verse 32. And this is the parable of the
man who had two sons. He said to one, go work in the
vineyard. He said, I'm not going to do
it. Later went. said to the other, go work in
the vineyard. He said, I will. And he never went. And the Lord
gives us representation out of that as well. But we are committed
today to a consideration of the brothers Cain and Abel here in
the scripture. Now, we noticed something about
them in the very beginning. They had the same parents. They had the same training in
their bringing up and in their home, and yet how different were
their characters in the end of the matter. From a book written
by Joseph Hall called simply Contemplation, and it's very
rich. as a body of divinity. This quote concerning Cain and
Abel, I lifted out of that book. Quote, look now, oh my soul,
upon those two first brethren, perhaps twins, and wonder at
their contrary disposition and estate. Unquote. How different,
how different they were. And then he added this later
on. If the privilege of nature were
worth anything, their firstborn had not been a reprobate. Unquote. Yes, Cain, like Esau,
was the firstborn of this pair of brother, but we find that
it actually counted for nothing toward saving grace in their
behalf. Now to Genesis chapter 4 we go. We go through the study of these
two brothers and it will eventually take us into the New Testament
because both of them as to their characters are written up there
in the scripture. Adam and Eve we read in verse
1 became parents. They fulfilled or began to fulfill
that commission of God to them, multiply and replenish the earth,
found in Genesis chapter one and verse 28. And we know in
Genesis 3, 16, God said to Eve, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception. And then, after a while, the
sons came of age. How old? I do not know. And in them, and between them,
and this is important, there began that warfare of grace that
God predicted unto the serpent in the third chapter of Genesis,
chapter 3. And verse 15, I will put enmity
between thy seed and her seed. Enmity between the seed of the
old serpent, which is literally the devil, and enmity between
the seed of the woman, which is ultimately the Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Now, the warfare began on this
wise, or should I say it was brought out into the open or
brought to the surface on this wise. Third verse, Genesis 4. In the process of time. Now, of course, or the course
of time. Over a course of time. Now, what is not said? Some think that this occurred
on a Sabbath day, that it might have been a Sabbath day when
they brought their sacrifices and presented them before God. But we know that they both came
at the same time. Could it have been at the end
of the year? Could it have been at the end
of a harvest or the time of harvest? But it seems clear that Cain
saw God's manifestation toward his and Abel's offering. and what time it was, how can
we be sure? Matthew Henry wrote, probably
at some set time, end of quote. So two things make us wonder
about this event. Number one, of course, is the
time. And number two is the place where
this might have occurred on the earth. Why there? Why did both
brothers come to the same place and why? The tabernacle or the
temple was not yet fashion. It did not yet exist, couldn't
be there. Jerusalem was not yet the major
city, mother city of Judaism and of worship. And religion
was not as organized as it became in the latter time. So the same
two questions, therefore, are before us again. about the time
and about the place. Now the time we may not be able
to settle, except to be content with Matthew, Henry, it must
have been at some set time. But looky here. In the process
of time, Cain brought and Abel brought. I'm emphasizing the
word brought. In the process of time, it came
to pass Cain brought an offering and Abel brought an offering. And this word brought suggests,
does it not, an appointed place for them to make their offering. Cain brought Abel brought, didn't
go out in the backyard or outside the door. Cain brought and Abel
brought to a specific place. And Calvin is one that contends
by this, proved that they had been accustomed to the worship
of God by means of sacrifice, his word. And this would imply
that it was by some means of revelation. some means and some
degree of revelation that they brought their sacrifices, one
and the other, or from some kind of instruction about making sacrifices
unto God. Now, if you would pardon A short
digression here, but we can see that some might argue back from
these points that the Gentile, the heathen, the pagans also
offered sacrifices to their heathen deity. They were busy offering
sacrifices as well. And they did so without any spiritual
revelation. And they did so at set time. But the heathen did indeed sacrifice
only under the influence of natural revelation or superstition and
idolatry. while the sacrifices of Cain
and Abel were both later approved and used under the sacrificial
system in Judaism, especially animal sacrifices and the shedding
of blood. Also remember something. It is
said in Hebrews 11 and verse 4 that by faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. This is important,
that Abel acted in faith. Abel acted out of faith. He, by faith, fetched a beast
from his herd or from his flock, and he shed its blood, and he
brought that sacrifice before God. Now, is this what made it
more excellent than the fruit of the ground that was brought
by Cain? Because he offered in faith. And I think we can prove that
Cain did not. Here's something interesting. As you study early in Genesis,
It is interesting to me that there is no record of Adam ever
making or offering a sacrifice unto God. I think that is very
interesting. But remember two things in the
Genesis 4 text. Number one, In some way, God
made known his pleasure and acceptance of Abel and his offering and
the rejection of Cain and his offering. And that's seen in
Cain's reaction when God made that manifestation. Genesis 4
and 5, Cain was very raw. He was angry. He was highly incensed. at what had occurred. In other
words, he burned with rage. I think we might say that that
word would mean he was hot with anger when he saw the action
of God toward he and his brother. And that anger flamed out in
him and his countenance fell And in some way, you could see
the result of it in him. Then secondly, we notice that
God in some way spoke to Cain. He spoke unto Cain concerning
him and his sacrifice. Now, let's go to the place again,
and let's just flip back into chapter 3. There's something
I want to read in the very end of the chapter. The third chapter
has a record of the fall, of God's calling them to account
who were guilty, and the expulsion of them from the garden. Now,
let's look at Genesis 3 and verse 23 and 24 as I read. Therefore, the Lord God sent
him, that is, Adam, forth from the Garden of Eden to till the
ground from whence he was taken. That's number one. Number two,
verse 24, so he drove out the man and he placed at the east
of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned
every way to keep the tree of life. Now, let those two thoughts
dwell within us, for they are pungent unto our study today. Two things God did. Number one,
he drove him out. He put Adam away, out of the
garden. And, of course, Eve was put out
with him. Out of his former paradise, lost
the garden that had been so gracious and wonderful, cut off from any
access now to the tree of life. Impossible to return and to partake
of it or eat of it or the fruit of that tree. John Gill is very
strong. He said the language that is
used here is the same language put away as when a man divorced
his wife under the mosaic economy. Put her away, put her away and
that for good. Now the second thing, oh by the
way, It said first he sent him out and then it said he drove
him out. He sent him out, he drove him
out. He commanded him to go and then
with some impulsive force drove him out of the garden. But then
look at verse 24, chapter 3. He placed at the east side of
the garden, cherubims, and a flaming sword, an emblem of death and
of judgment, A frightful sight it must have been to any of them
to look on it from the outside, yet it was full, full of glory. A terrible thing for fallen persons
to behold and to draw near to that very awesome sight or to
seek to pass by it or to go through. and go again into the garden. It was on one hand a very glorious
thing. On the other hand, it was a standing
memorial and sentence against Adam and his sin. And in the
end of verse 24, see the stated purpose of this display. Quote, to keep the way of the
tree of life, unquote. that tree in Genesis chapter
2 and verse 9, the tree of life which is in the midst of the
garden. That sends us back then to chapter
3 and verse 22. And the Lord God said, Behold,
the man is become as one of us to know good and evil. Now, therefore,
lest he put forth his hand, take also of the tree of life and
eat forever. So tie the two statements together. Verse 22. lest he eat of the
tree of life and live forever. And verse 24, to keep the way
of the tree of life that Adam has no access to it. Now with all that said, several
commentators have convinced me that this was the place where
the early sacrifices were made. Before that flaming cherubim
and soared there at the gate of the garden. I'll give you
some examples. You be the judge. Robert Canlish,
on his book in Genesis, said, it is most probable that the
stated place of worship under this new order of things was
the immediate neighborhood of the garden, unquote. John Gill
said, quote, it is highly probable that it was at the east of the
entrance of the Garden of Eden, where the Shekinah glory and
majesty appeared in some reasonable manner." Now, of course, Calvin
observed, the first purpose of the cherubim and the flaming
sword was to bar man access to the tree of life. now that sin
had entered and human nature had corrupted. Now a proper sacrifice
must be made before there can be any reconciliation or approach
unto God. Anyway, here's the quote from
Calvin, that quote, as soon as the happy fertility and pleasant
of the place the garden was destroyed, the terror of the sword became
superfluous." Unquote. And the word disappeared, went
away, whatever. And we don't read of it again
in the scripture. We don't read of it or meet with
it anymore. But be that what it will, let's
consider the two brothers, their offering and the reaction of
God and the spiritual state of these two men found in scripture. We notice that the two brought
offerings according to their vocation. They brought offerings
that corresponded with their vocation. See them. Number one,
Cain was a tiller of the ground. He was a farmer. He tilled and
he raised. And he brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the Lord. Some plant, some fruit,
some grain, whatever. Secondly, Abel was a keeper of
sheep. Abel was a shepherd. the herdsman, and he brought
of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof." That suggests
to us the very best, the choice of his flock that he could find. Thirdly, in verse 4 and 5, The
Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and
his offering he had not respect. Now we're going to have to unravel
here. What made the difference between the reaction of God to
these two men? We see something. That is that
they are indefinitely linked to their offering. They and their
offering are linked together. We read Cain and his offering. We read Abel and his offering. So was the cause of the difference
because of their offering that they brought Cain something that
grew in the ground and Abel something that later greatly represented
a sacrifice for sin? And do we notice that in each
case Cain and Abel and their relation unto their offering
that they The men are mentioned first. Cain and his offering,
Abel and his offering. Now Cain is what he offered.
Abel is what he offered and reflects what each one of them believed
about their God and themselves and their relationship unto him. But before we get ahead of ourselves,
let us turn back and look closer at verse 4, the last part, and
verse 5, the first part. And the Lord had respect under
Abel and to his offering. But under Cain and his offering,
he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth. And
so we read on. Now, Malachi. Chapter 3, Romans
chapter 9, there was another set of brothers which God put
a great difference between them, Jacob and Esau. Jacob I loved,
but Esau have I hated. That's very clear. Jacob I loved,
Esau on the other hand have I hated. And there are three texts here,
Malachi 3, 1 and 2, Romans 9 and 13, And that passage again in Genesis
chapter 25, verse 22 and 23, where they struggle together
while yet in the womb of their mother. Now, I repeat, there
was some manifestation of the distinction that God made between
them. There was some visible outward
manifestation of it. And we can offer two scriptures
to confirm it, I believe. Romans, or rather Genesis 4,
Cain's reaction, and Hebrews 11 and 4, that Abel obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. Now we ask, how did God testify? Did God speak with an oral voice
out loud as he had done in other places upon the earth? Did he
speak with an oral voice? Did the Spirit of God descend
down? upon Abel, and perhaps not upon
Cain, in the form of a dove, as it did upon our blessed Lord. Now, methinks, and I'll share
this with you, the most probable cause might be that fire came
down from heaven from God and licked up the sacrifice of Abel. Now, why would I say that? Well,
we have three accounts of such thing occurring in the scripture. There are three instances, I
think maybe four, when this occurred as God licked up their offerings
by fire. Here they are. Leviticus 9 and
verse 24. Judges chapter 6 verse 21 1st
Kings chapter 18 and verse 38 when the prophet, you know made
the sign who is the true and the living God but fire came
down and devoured or licked up their Sacrificing and then you
have it again in 2nd Chronicles 7 and verse 1 and this is significant
when and where it occurred and at the temple, at the dedication
of the temple, when Solomon dedicated that temple. Let's spend a minute
on Leviticus chapter 9 and verse 24. This is significant because
it tells us of the beginning of Aaron's ministry. Now you
see what I'm saying? It happened the first time that
Aaron made a sacrifice in his capacity as the great or the
high priest of Israel. Chapter 29 verse 24, how God
manifest his approval of the sacrifices, fire consumed them
in the sight of the people as a witness that it was of God
and that it was pleasing unto God. The emphasis is there. Aaron's first sacrifice. fire which came out from before
the Lord. See the effect there upon the
people. Was this fiery consumption ever
repeated when Aaron made another sacrifice? Don't read of it. Then let's go back to the question.
What made the difference then between these two brothers Cain
and Abel. Why did God put such a difference
between them and their sacrifice and what they did? And I doubt
most would probably say it was because of the offering that
they brought, because of what Cain brought, and because of
what Abel brought. Well, then let's back up a notch,
if we might. Why did Cain bring of the fruit
of the ground and why did Abel commit, quote, animal abuse and
slay a poor innocent beast and put his blood there before the
God? Will you say it was determined
by their particular vocation? Is not farming an honorable vocation
throughout the scripture and throughout history? had free
access to their offerings. Cain had plenty and Abel had
plenty. Most sound expositors, however,
agree the difference was in their characters. which was reflected
by the offerings that they brought unto the Lord. Hebrews 11 and
4 again says, Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. And one reason was, Abel offered
in faith. By faith, Abel offered unto God. Matthew 23, 35. Luke 11 and verse
51. Abel is called a righteous man. The Lord referred to him as righteous. Luke 11, 51. Matthew 23, 35.
Righteous Abel is the way he is mentioned. And in 1 John chapter
3 and verse 12, we have to look at this. His works are called
righteous. That what Abel did was righteous. Hebrews 12 and 24. Only Jesus' blood speaks better
things than that of Abel. You remember Abel's blood when
he was dead cried out to God from the ground for vengeance.
And there are a few of those in the scripture as well. Calvin
wrote, God is said to respect the person to whom he gives grace
and favor. And in the case of both Cain
and Abel, God reacted to their respective offerings based upon
the person of the offerer. Abel was not justified as a result
of bringing that sacrifice there. He was already so, a righteous
man, when he offered. He was a worshipper of the true
and the living God. By his faith, he offered his
sacrifice, Hebrews 11 and verse 4. Now, note, if you adhere to
the context in Hebrews chapter 11, we've all read it so many
times again and again, it's been given the nickname, the faith
chapter, Hebrews chapter 11. is a description of faith. It is known as the faith chapter,
and yet the emphasis is not upon justifying faith in Hebrews 11,
but the acts of faith, how the people of God acted by faith
and how faith wonderfully wrought in them. It is the use and the
exercise of faith in the living God, enduring trials, meeting
temptation, receiving blessing, serving God, every spiritual
life and such like is by faith lived unto God. Now with that
established, we see in that fourth verse, by faith Abel offered
unto God his sacrifice for he was a righteous man. By faith, Abel offered a sacrifice. On the other hand, let's see
how Cain The other brother, the elder, is portrayed in the New
Testament scripture. He, too, is mentioned there in
the New Testament. And in Jude, he is numbered among
the apostates. In the book of Jude, verse 11,
he is numbered with the apostate. His name is called three times
in the New Testament, Hebrews 11, 4, 1 John 3 and 12, and Jude
verse 11, mentions Cain by name. Now remember. He was not only
the firstborn of Adam and Eve, he was the firstborn of the human
family and was named Cain. And something interesting, in
Genesis 4 and verse 1, when Cain was born, Eve, I guess Eve, or
his parents, named him Cain, as we have it in English, C-A-I-N. And the margin of Genesis 4 said
that that name means gotten or acquired. For you see there,
Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Now there's some
expositors who think that Eve thought that she had birthed
the promised redeemer, the bruiser of the serpent's head. If so,
she was very sadly mistaken, for her firstborn was a reprobate,
for who can tell what a child will turn out to be. Who can
tell, regardless of the home that it's born in, what a child
will turn out to be? The first of the race was a reprobate,
became an apostate, a hater of his brother on account of religion,
and then murdered that very same brother. This you have in Genesis
chapter 4 and verse 8. The first of many murders, Abel
not only murdered but a martyr. They walked in the field. Cain
rose up against Abel and he slew him. There's a great discussion
about how he got him out in the field. I won't go into that this
morning. But he rose up against Abel,
his brother. He slew him and he killed him.
He murdered him. He shed his blood. He caused
Abel's death. and possibly buried him there
as if to hide his crime and cover his evil deed. Now, 1 John chapter
3 and verse 12. See the cause of the first murder. Cain slew his brother. He committed
fratricide, an unnatural sin. Why did he kill his brother? Because Cain was an evil man. He was wicked. His works were
evil. while Abel was a righteous man. Cain is described according to
his spiritual state, of the devil. He was of the devil, of that
wicked one. Even as the Lord said to some
in John 8, And verse 44, you are of your father, the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. He, the devil, was a
murderer and a liar from the beginning. He is the father of
lies. Cain, therefore, was instigated
by the devil. Samuel Isles Pierce. said in 1 John commentary, nothing
worse could be said of him, unquote. Also, 1 John 3 and 12 tells us
why Cain both hated and killed his brother Abel, and that was
that his works were evil and Abel's were righteous. Because
Cain's works were evil and Abel's were righteous, and he hated
that righteousness manifested. Now, going to Jude and verse
11, which speaks of the sin and the judgment of apostates. This is a book about apostasy. Woe to them that go the way of
Cain. Verse 11, Jude. Woe unto them
that go the way of Cain. The first apostate that departed
from the truth and from the presence of the Lord. And notice the word
way. When you see the word way in
the scripture, this way, that way, In scripture, it often means
or is a metaphor for one's conduct, for one's behavior, for one's
manner of life, for one's habits and practices that they do. Cain's
way was to offer in faithless hypocrisy before God. Cain's way was a hatred of true
righteousness as witnessed by God and against him. Cain's way
was to murder his brother for righteousness. Cain's way was
to go from the presence of the Lord and into hopeless, endless
despair and would say, my sin is greater than can be forgiven. Now the way of Cain and these
combined thoughts are from Thomas Manton, and William Jenkin in
their Jude commentary. Every age has its Cain. His club is yet stained with
the martyr blood as apostates, heretics, libertines, hypocrites
do often turn into persecutors. Cain, he went from formality
in God's worship, to hatred for his brother, went from hatred
to dissimulation, from that to murder, from there to complete
apostasy and despair because of his action. There's greater
enmity today against Christianity than there's ever been at any
time in our country. And such enmity is only aimed
at biblical Christianity not liberal apostate Christianity,
but against biblical Christianity and these apostates. in Christendom are useful idiots
now to the political left to carry out their godless agenda. Keynes will always hate Abel. Keynes will always persecute
Abel. They hate righteousness. When Keynes saw that God favored
Abel and He took up a weapon against his brother and he slew
him. Remember when Joseph's brethren
saw that their father favored Joseph, they hated him. and they
plotted his murder and to tell their father that an evil beast
had devoured him in the wilderness. The Cain's and the Abel's are
like Jacob and Esau struggling against one another, even yet
in the womb. Their chief animosity is against
God and against Christ, but they heap their wrath upon the people
of God, as Cain did upon Abel. There's a short record in Genesis
chapter 4, verse 8. Cain talked with his brother
in the field. He rose up and slew him. And
some wrote this. This deed belongs to those crimes
that cry out unto heaven. I told you there were some. For
example, Sodom, Genesis 18 and 20, 19 and 13. The cry of Sodom is heard in
heaven. Exodus 3 and 9, the cry of Israel
in their misery ascends up to heaven and God will avenge that. There's times like Aaron's first
sacrifice. And this first one at the garden,
when being the first, it therefore has the great testimony of God
on it and to it that the people might believe. God looks on the
heart. God looks on the inward. Is our
heart right with God? Because these two men are types
of two sorts, a person who profess Christianity and profess to worship
God. Number one, we have the formalist
and the hypocrite, and number two, the justified righteous
one, having been regenerated, born again, the first spewed
out, the second blessed by God because of his standing and position
with him. Thus, much there is to learn
in these two brothers that we have considered this morning.