Genesis chapter 4 is where we'll
be tonight. Genesis chapter 4. The name of the message is, Which
Way? Which Way? Genesis chapter 4, starting in
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 bears brother Abel. And Abel
was a keeper of sheep. Let's remember that. But Cain
was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time, it
came to pass that Cain bought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord. So a lot of commentators think
that he bought vegetables or fruit of some kind from the earth. And Abel, he also bought the
firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord
had respect unto April 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 cane rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him. He
killed his brother. I have two brothers. I can't imagine being so mad
that I kill one of them. I just can't. I can't imagine
that. That's God's restraining grace, I guess, but I just, my
own brother? But this is what happens, Scripture
says. He's so mad, so angry, so full of wrath, that he slayed
his own brother. And the Lord said unto Cain,
Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I
my brother's keeper? And you could almost hear it
with veminence, he's probably saying this. 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. Now the world that we live in
currently, in the world for thousands of years, is a very, very religious
world. A very religious world. In every country, and in every
culture, and among people all over the world, without exception,
there is some form of religion. Even atheism becomes a religion
in itself because they're worshiping themselves, basically. And really, from what I've heard,
when atheists die, They have a terrible, from what I've read,
they have a terrible feeling of dread. And you know that all religions
can be summed up into two groups. Two groups. The way of Cain, or the way of Abel. They can
be brought down to two. Works, the way of natural man or religion that makes you, makes
the basis of your salvation based upon something you do or something
you say, some religious performance of some kind, or grace, where
salvation is found in Christ alone. We don't believe salvation is
in any other than Christ and Him alone. And it's through faith
alone, where granted faith to believe. And it's all through the free
grace of God in Christ alone. So in other words, salvation
is of the Lord. So you can break down every religion
into either works or grace. Works or grace. And with Cain and Abel, we have
these two ways on full display. One pictures the sacrifice of
Christ, and the other pictures man trying to approach God based
upon his works, based upon the fruit of his labors. Cain represents the way that
seems right unto man, but not before God. But not before God. Proverbs
14.12 says this, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man.
There's a way. There's a way that seemeth right.
Brother John and I were talking about that before. When we were
raised, we were raised to think, well, if you're good, you go
to heaven. And if you're bad, you go to hell. Well, what's
the measuring stick? I was thinking about that. They
never told us the measuring stick of that. They said, well, if
you're good, so what does good constitute? Well, whatever the person's thinking,
right? So they become an authority, a final authority unto themselves.
And that's where I was at. That's what I believe. Before I was saved, and even
before when I was a supposed good Catholic. And then when
I got into Arminianism, the same, it was basically, it was the
same thing. I had to swap one works-based religion for another
works-based religion. But there's a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but scripture says in Proverbs, but the end
thereof are the ways of death. So there's a way on the man that
appears like, wow, they're in heaven, but they're in hell. And that's where works-based
religion leads a person straight to hell. And most folks think that they'll
go to heaven based upon their own supposed good works. Like
I said, you can, There's a doctrine out there, justification by death.
The person dies and everybody says, well, they're in heaven
now, even though they never wanted to hear the gospel, they never
loved Christ, but all of a sudden they're magically in heaven.
No, they're not. No, they're not. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So the way of Cain is the way of the flesh. It's works. And he bought the fruit of his
labors, right? You know he knew what the proper
sacrifice was. You know that they were taught. These young men were taught the
proper sacrifice, but he brings the fruit of his own labors. In the way of Cain, It's all
works. It's based upon what you do. It's a way of self-righteousness.
The Pharisees were that way. Religionists are that way. We
were talking about Seventh Day Adventists. It's all works. It's
all works. You can, remember, bring it all
in. Grace or works, they're all the
same. Those works-based religions are
all the same. They have different taperings and different things,
different leaders. They're all the same, beloved.
They're all the same. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And think
of this, the way of self-righteousness is the way of self-glory, too.
I'd like to tell you what they do, eh? I know, because I used
to... I was there. Praise God, He delivered me out
of that stuff. He didn't leave me where I was. He had mercy. And the way of Cain says this
too. Do the best you can and God will
be satisfied. But it's the way to hell. Cain approached God. He approached God. Look at verse
2 and 3. And she again bare his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of
time it came to pass that Cain bought of the fruit of the ground,
an offering unto the Lord. No blood. No blood. We know that all through the
Old Testament, there's blood sacrifices, right? And they point
to Christ. Well, he bought an offering with
no blood. The fruit of his own hands. The fruit of his own works. Did God accept it? Nope. And this is what it means when
people try to justify themselves and try to, in a works-based
religion, you say, hey, I'm saved this way. Nope. No. God will not accept anything
but Christ. Nothing but Christ. And we know
from scripture that a proper sacrifice is a lamb without spot
or blemish, right? And Cain brings an improper sacrifice. And as I said, this pictures
man bringing his own works before God to be accepted of God. And beloved, God will have none
of it. None of it. None of it at all. It's recorded
In Jude, woe unto them that have gone the way of Cain. Woe unto
you if you're trying to work your way to heaven. Woe unto them who try to approach
God based upon their own works or their own supposed self-righteousness. And how many, how many in this
world, how many have built this refuge of lies? Because that's
what it is. They build themselves a nice
little refuge, and it's lies. Well, gospel preaching's here
to tear down those refuge lies, because there's no refuge in
your own works. We must flee to Christ. We must. He is the only refuge. He is
the only refuge from God's wrath and justice. He is the only one
who God will accept. Let's look at Genesis 4.4. And
Abel, he also bought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat
thereof. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel, and to his offerings. because it pointed right to Christ,
beloved. It pointed right to Christ. All able represents the way that
God has established throughout Scriptures to show mercy to undeserving
sinners. And it's only through the blood
of Christ. It's the way of free grace. Turn,
if you would, to Romans 3. Oh, it's the way of free grace.
Free grace and mercy from God. Oh, we're justified freely. Without any of our works, Romans
3, verses 24-26, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus Christ, shed His blood
for His people. And they are only justified before
God by His shed blood. And that sacrifice of Abel was
pointing right to Christ. Pointing right to Him, beloved.
Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith
in His blood. To declare His righteousness,
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. To declare at this time His righteousness
that He might be just. Oh, a just God. And the justifier,
he's the justifier of his people. Of him which believeth in Jesus,
do you believe? Only those who believe in Christ
are justified. See, this is why we say, it's
not your works, it's not your works, it's not your works, it's
what he's done. And keep that in mind in 2 Corinthians
5, 20 and 21, it says, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did besiege you by us, we pray you in Christ's
deed, be you reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Christ took upon our sin, It
was imputed to him and his righteousness is imputed to us. We're made
righteous. And Abel's way pictures the effectual
substitution by blood offer and beloved. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission for sin. So you see why God didn't accept
Cain's sacrifice. It was a bloodless sacrifice. in able sacrifice pictures the
Lord Jesus Christ dying the sinner's substitute on Calvary's cross
in the room and place of his people. And he did that. Having obtained eternal redemption
for us. See, all through the Old Testament,
all those sacrifices pointed to Christ. They pointed to Christ. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 4. Abel's way is the way of faith
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. Hebrews
chapter 11, verse 4. And remember our text in Genesis,
that Abel offered the sacrifice, right? Look at Hebrews 11, verse 4.
By faith, Abel offered the sacrifice by faith. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Why? Because it pictured
Christ. It pointed right to the Lord
Jesus Christ. By which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And by it, he being
dead, yet speaketh. So we see clearly that Abel and
his offering is a picture of the only way to salvation. And
that's through Christ and Him alone. Neither is there salvation
in any other. There is no other name. There
is no other one. Can't find salvation in ourselves.
Can't find salvation in someone else. only in Christ, only in
Him. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none under the name, under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4.12, whereby
we must be saved. The Lord called Abel a righteous
man. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 23, verse 35. The Lord called
Abel a righteous man. Matthew 23, verse 35. That upon you may come all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous
Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barchesus, whom ye slew
between the temple and the altar. Righteous Abel. He's made righteous the same
way we who believe are made righteous. Through the righteousness of
Christ. Because remember it said by faith he offered the sacrifice?
He looked to Christ, beloved. He saw Christ in that sacrifice.
He saw that blood shed for him. And we are made righteous. We
don't make ourselves righteous. We're made righteous by the sacrifice
of Christ. See, remember the ways of man
lead to death? They think that they can make
themselves righteous. And as I said, praise God for
those of us who came out of religion, who thought we could make ourselves
righteous, but found out when God revealed Himself, when Christ
revealed Himself to us, we were in a terrible fix. We couldn't
save ourselves. Oh, but God had mercy upon us,
didn't He? Oh, and we pray for our friends and family members
who are trapped in that too, don't we? Oh, that God would
give them eyes to see. Oh, that God would give them
ears to hear. Oh, cast aside your works. Now the question for you and
me is, which way are you going? Are we in the way of Cain or
are we in the way of Abel? Are we trying to justify ourselves
before God? Or has Christ justified us? I know by nature all of us are
going the way of Cain. It's how we're born. Ephesians
2, verses 1-3. I'll read them. We've went through
these many times. And you have the quickened who
are dead in trespasses and sins. That's how we enter this world.
Natural men, dead in trespasses and spiritually dead. You hath
he quickened. That's for believers. We've been
quickened by the Holy Spirit, born again of God. Where in times
past you walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience. We were no different than before
the Lord saved us. You couldn't tell we were one
of God's people. We did the same things. That's
why I always have to laugh when folks say, well, you guys believe
you're holier than thou. You really don't know me then. Because
I don't think that way at all. And I know my brothers and sisters
in Christ don't think that either. No, we know what we are. And you know what? We're learning
more and more as we grow in grace how much more of a sinner we
are. Paul said at the end of his ministry,
I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, no. We know we're just sinners
saved by the grace of God plus nothing. And we know by nature all are
going the way of Cain. And it seems rather logical and
reasonable to approach God in a natural mind, right? From a
natural mind, it seems logical and reasonable that you approach
God based upon your doing. But see, that's the natural mind.
That's not the ways of God. We must go through Christ and
Him alone. The ways of man leads to death. Our best efforts will never satisfy
God's offended justice. Turn, if you would, to Luke 16,
verse 15. And I'll read Psalms 39.5, which
says, Behold, thou hast made my days as in hand-breath, and
mine ages as nothing before thee. Barely, every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Vanity. Look at Luke 16, 15. And he said unto them, Ye are
they which justify yourselves before men. So before men, they
were justifying themselves. And that's what we did in religion,
isn't it? But God knoweth your hearts,
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God." Man wants to work his way to salvation.
Man thinks that he can work his way to salvation. It's an abomination
in the eyes of God. Because he has set forth Christ
as the only sacrifice. Do you think of that? It's like
spitting in God's eye. if you think you can work your
way to heaven. Because you can't. There's only one. There's only
one sacrifice that God will accept. Only one. And that's Christ. That's Christ. And that's evident.
Neither is there salvation in any other. Only Christ. Praise
God for those of us who believe that he's revealed himself to
us. And we say, sinner, friend, flee to Christ. There is no other
hope. There is no other hope than Christ. None. If you die in your sins, you're
facing God, a holy God, and your own self-righteousness. But we
who believe, we're going to face God clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. It's marvelous. It's undeserved, isn't it? We
don't deserve. But oh, He has mercy on sinners,
doesn't He? And we can testify that He does.
He has mercy on sinners. And God has singled out these
two brothers to teach us some things about God's way of salvation.
It shows us very plainly that God's way of salvation is the
opposite of man's thinking. As I said, and we were talking
about that, brother, the natural mind thinks, and we were there,
thinks that, well, you know, if I'm good. We're not telling
folks not to do good things, no. We're just saying you can't
justify yourself before God doing those things. If you're trying
to gain merit and favor with God by doing certain things,
you're going to perish in your sins. Because the only sacrifice God
will accept is Christ. And that's it. The way of God's salvation is
through faith alone. Looking unto Jesus. Looking unto
Him. That's all we as believers are
doing. We look unto Christ. Looking unto Him. The author,
which means the beginner, right? And the finisher. Why does man want to work his
way to heaven when scripture plainly declares that he is the
author and he is the finisher of our faith? Because natural
man is wired that way. You tell man he's got to do something,
he has to walk over crushed glass and he'll do it. You tell him
salvation is by the free grace of God in Christ and he'll run
away from it. Unless God draws him. Oh, if God draws that sinner
though, here be showing his desperate need for Christ, all thy people
shall be made willing in the day of thy power, and they will
run to Christ. And that's all. All we've done as believers is
run to the city of refuge. And that's Christ. Refuge is in Him. As I said,
folks that believe they can get to heaven, they built the refuge
of lies. If they believe they can get
to heaven by their own works. Oh, we fled to that city of refuge
which is Christ and him alone. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross. despising the shame and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God, Hebrews 12, to
what He set out to do He accomplished, beloved. And the object of God's way of
salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me, John 14, 6. He's the object. And it's by His grace alone.
Verses that are well used, for by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. A lot of Armenians like to quote
these verses, but you wonder do they really read it. For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. They don't see it. It's not of
yourselves. It's not of your works. It's
not of your supposed free will. Because your will is bound by
your nature. And if you have a dead nature, you'll never come
to Christ. Oh, if you've been made alive,
if you've been quickened and born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, you will flee to Christ. Run to him. Run to him. That not of yourselves, it is
a gift of God. Why? Not of works, lest any man
should boast. Because man likes to boast. And
as I said, don't think that I'm looking down on religious folks,
because I was there. I was there, and I used to boast. I don't boast in anyone but Christ
now. He's what matters. He is my life. He is my King. He's my Savior, my Redeemer.
He's my everything. Everything. So God's way of salvation
is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ in Him alone. Turn,
if you would, to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. Chapter 1. God's way of salvation is through
the shed blood of Jesus Christ in Him alone. Verse 18, for as much as you
know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold, you can't buy your way to heaven. And from vain conversations received
by tradition from your fathers, You're not saved because you
belong to a certain church, or by certain traditions, but with the precious blood of
Christ. God's precious blood is of a
lamb without blemish and without spot. Do you remember the sacrifice
that Abel offered? There it is, pointing right to
Christ, beloved. Lamb without spot or blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world. This was planned and purposed
by God. He's the author and the finisher. But was manifest in these last
times, beloved, for you. who by Him do believe in God
that raised Him up from the dead and give Him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God. That's where our faith and hope
is in. Not in our own works. Not in ourselves. But in God. In Christ. In Him alone. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 9. God's way of salvation plainly condemns the way of works. I'll read Titus 3. But after
that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, so not by
our works, not by our doing, but according to His mercy He
saved us. by the wash and the regeneration, born again, and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace,
oh, by His grace, grace, grace, marvelous grace, we should be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, not by works
of righteousness which we have done. So God's way of salvation
plainly condemns the way of works. Look at Romans chapter 9. Verse 13, as it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Folks stumble over this. I've
often said this before. Folks stumble over this and they
say, well, you're telling me that God hated Esau? The question is, how could God
love Jacob? But He did. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? See, that's what pops up. That
question still pops up today. God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
and this is God speaking, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. Now, he had mercy on the Israelites, didn't he? But not
on those Egyptians, did he? Our God doesn't change, beloved.
The same God in the Old Testament as He is in the New. He'll have mercy on whom He will.
And I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. So, look
at this in 9.16, it just destroys free will and works. So, then
it is not of him that willeth, there goes free will, nor of
him that runneth, there goes works. And here's the heart of
the whole thing, but of God that showeth mercy. Oh, God has mercy
on His people, doesn't He, in Christ? God showeth mercy. So we see that salvation is by
the pure, free, sovereign grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ,
plus absolutely nothing. Salvation is all in Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I pray God will give us grace,
much grace. to follow the example of Abel, to look to Christ, and for those of us who are saved
to continue to look to Christ. We looked at this scripture that
I'm going to read this morning, but I'll read this. Come unto
me all ye that labor. As I said this morning, religion
is works. It's hard. It's hard labor. It's hard labor. Trying to work your way to heaven.
Sister, we talked about that, where we never felt like we ever,
ever measured up. And we didn't. But there was
always something else we had to do. Always. Come unto me, all ye
that labor. Are you trying to work your way
to heaven? Cast to the side. Come unto me, all ye that labor.
in our heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Rest. Don't we want rest? Oh, God give
you a heart to rest. God give me a heart to rest.
Oh, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. The only way we'll
learn of God, learn of Christ, is if He teaches us. He reveals
himself to us. Remember Joseph and his brethren?
He didn't even know who he was. And then he revealed himself.
That's what Christ does for his people. We don't have a clue
who he is until he reveals himself to us. But when he does, oh,
oh God, be merciful to me this evening. Take my yoke upon you. The yoke
of religion, we looked at that this morning in Sunday school.
Oh, it's a heavy burden. Oh, the yoke of the law is impossible
to bear. But Christ says, take My yoke
upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.
And you shall find rest unto your souls. Eternal rest. Eternal life. Only in Christ
and Him alone. It isn't found anywhere else.
Flee to Christ. He is the sinner's only hope.