Cain and Abel. This is one of the stories that
every child knows, but pretty much it's been through the Bible
class. They know the story of Cain and
Abel. These two young men, and they
were just that, they were men, they were not boys, and they
were ahead of households. They were ahead of their own
household. These two men, they represent the only two religions
that there is in this world. The one, Cain, represents the
religion of works, and Abel is a religion that's all of grace.
All of grace, and it's all of Christ. And neither the two shall
mix. And we see this in them, and
what happens. Cain couldn't put up with his
brother Abel, and God allowed him. He allowed Cain to kill
his brother Abel. We might have this story, this
truth, as an example here in the Word of God, that the only
true religion there is, is that which is of grace, all of grace. Now, usually when we think of
Cain and Abel, We think of them as being the first two children
because of the way it reads, but we really don't know that
so. In the Word of God, it's usually
just the men are mentioned when they're born. Usually the women
aren't mentioned, so we don't know. We don't know exactly what
order they fell in, but these are the two that are picked out.
One writer wrote that between Abel and Seth, I don't know how
he could come up with this, but there was about 32,000 descendants
between Abel and Seth. Can you imagine? 32,000, and
of course the earth was populated, you know, from Adam and Eve and
what came of that. But these two boys, as I said,
represent the religion that's of God and really the religion
that's of the devil. It works. Now God chose these
two sons of Adam to preach to us the gospel of redemption by
blood, not of turnips, not of the fruit of the ground, not
of works, but by blood. Salvation comes through the blood
of the Lamb. The putting away of sin comes
through the blood of the Lamb. It comes no other way. Sin cannot
be put away by anything else. but by the blood of the Lamb
of God. That's the only way it can be
put away. Any other way to come to God, any other way, is deadly. It's deadly. And it is to meet
with sure rejection. When Cain brought the fruit of
the ground, he brought, I have no doubt, he brought the best
fruit. And I mean, it was probably some really good fruit. He was
a tiller of the ground. Because after this, God cursed.
He cursed and He said, when you till the ground, from now on
it will not yield any more increase to you. But before that time,
I imagine that was some of the best fruit anyone could raise
or anyone could eat. And He looks at this and He says,
look what I have done. Look what I have done. This is some good stuff here.
He ignored the teaching of his father, Adam. You know that Adam
taught his family about redemption. I'm convinced of that. When God
slayed an animal and covered Adam and Eve with the coats of
the skin, God shed the first blood. And God, no doubt, revealed
to Adam how he saved sinners. And he taught that to his family. One believed and one believed
not. And that's of God. That's all of grace. Now, it says that Cain was a
farmer, a tiller of the ground. That's a good vocation. I thank
God for the farmers we have. The food we eat, men work hard
to produce. This food, you know, I've worked
on a farm growing up, and I mean we worked on it, and that's a
job. That's hard work. But to use
that to come before God or anything else we do to find acceptance,
that's not good. That's not good. I came here
with a tiller of the ground, and he thought he could bring
this fruit before God, then God would accept it. And he was rejected. He was rejected,
and he got angry. He was angry, not with himself. He didn't say, what was I thinking?
Why did I do this? If God rejects me, if God has
no regard to me, the problem's not with God. The problem is
not with God, the problem is with me. But when God rejected
him, he got angry. And he was angry, listen, he
was angry with God. Can you imagine that? Me, for
me, for you, to be angry with Almighty God? Cain was angry with God. Now look in verses, 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 respected
the Abel as his offering." He had regard to Abel's offering. And the reason he had regard
to Abel's offering is because of the one it pointed to, the
one it spoke of. And God gave this. He commanded
this, this offering, this sacrifice, this way of worship. God commanded
it. It's of God. What Cain did was
not of God, and God did not tell him to bring the fruit of the
ground, but he did Abel. He told Adam, and Adam taught
Abel, and Abel understood it. Abel believed God, and he brings
this blood offering, and that's why God accepted it. There was
no blood in Cain's offering, no blood at all. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission, there is no forgiveness,
there is no acceptance with God. Without the shedding of blood.
Cain's offering was a bloodless sacrifice. Cain came as his own
priest. He came as his own mediator.
He came as his own intercessor. He came as his own representative.
Here's the trouble with all this. He came on his own. He came by
his own way. He came in a way that was not
given of God, and God rejected it. He did not take his place
before God as a sinner. He was still the rebel that he'd
always been. Still rebelling against God.
Still a rebel. He thought that what he did, he thought that what he brought
was good enough. Well, you know, he thought a
lot of it, but you know what, it's not what I think of it. What think ye of Christ? That's what the Lord said to
the Son. What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? What do you
think of Him? It's not what do you think of
all this fruit and all these things that you've done. What
do you think of God's Son? What do you think of Him? Oh, Cain thought he had raised
a good crop. And God ought to be impressed
with it. God's standards, or I should
say God's standard, not standard, but God's standard, is far above
ours. Far above ours. On the other
hand, Abel's sacrifice was accepted, which means also this, he was
accepted. If his sacrifice was accepted,
if God regarded his sacrifice, Abel is accepted. See, this is
why Cain was so upset. For God to reject what he brought
means that he rejected Cain. And for him to regard and accept
what Abel brought means that he accepted and had regard to
Abel. But here's why. Here's the difference.
Abel brought what God required. He brought what God required.
He brought blood. He brought a sacrifice. He brought
a lamb. He brought the innocent dying
for the guilty. Abel took his place before God
as a sinner in need of mercy, and the only way that could happen
is through the blood and through the sacrifice of another. Able,
able, believe God. Look over in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Look in verse 4. By faith. Cain did not do what
he did by faith. Cain did not believe God. Or
he would have never brought what he brought. You know, what he did proved that
he did not believe God. What Abel did proved that he
believed God. By faith. Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts,
and by it he being dead yet speaketh." We're speaking about it this
morning. We're speaking about his sacrifice
this morning, and how it points to Christ, and how God accepted
him in Christ. You see, by faith, looking beyond
that sacrifice that he offered, that lamb, that animal, he looked
beyond that to the Lamb of God. And he knew, he understood, he
believed that the only way to come to God, the only way to
approach God is through the sacrifice of a lamb, the blood. He believed the gospel. That's what he did. able to believe
the gospel. And by faith, by faith he brought
it. And by offering this blood sacrifice,
he took his place before God as a setter in need of mercy. He knew. He knew. that he needed the blood. He
knew that nothing that he had ever done, could do, or ever
would do, would be sufficient to make him accepted of God.
He knew it was in the blood, it was in the sacrifice, it was
in the lamb, that God gave. God gave this. It's like God
gave Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. There is no other name given
under heaven whereby we must be saved. He's not given any
other name. He's not given any other way.
Christ is not one of the ways. He is the way. He is the only
way. He said, no man comes unto the
Father but by me. Cain tried to come to God another
way, and God rejected him. God rejected him. And then it says in verse 6,
well let's go back to verse 5, but unto Cain and to his offering
he had not respect or regard, and Cain was angry. That word
wrath is angry, very angry, and his countenance fell, which means
he was depressed. He became very angry and very
depressed, but his anger was at God. It was directed toward
God. God directed it toward himself
for being so stupid, but instead he directed it toward God. Isn't
that, that's religion without Christ. angry with God. Cain says was
angry. False religion will make you
angry. It will. It will make you angry. Because
Christ, who is our peace, is missing. He's missing. I remember years ago, right before
About a year, maybe so, a year or two before I heard the gospel,
I remember telling a person where I was going, there's something
missing. I remember telling this person
this distinctly. There's something missing and
I can't put my finger on it. When I heard the gospel, I found
out what was missing. Christ was missing. The lamb
was missing. The blood was missing. And I heard the gospel, that
cleared up. I knew it. I know what's missing. Christ. A Christless religion is a peaceless
religion. There is no peace where there
is no reconciliation with God. And the only way there can be
reconciliation with God is through the blood of the Lamb. It's not
me straightening up. It's not my repentance. It's
not my repentance. It's not my faith. Reconciliation
with God is in Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. He did the reconciling. Now,
he says, be ye reconciled. In other words, lay down your
shotgun. Cain, it says, was angry. He's
angry because God had no regard for what he did. For what he
did. And the Lord said unto Cain,
why are you so angry? Why are your counsels hollow?
Why are you so depressed? If you do well... I think here's just a glaring example
of the mercy of God. He didn't just cut him off right
there. When Cain brought that offering that was so offensive
now, that was so offensive to God, it was like in your face. You know, I'm going to bring
this. This is so good that you ought to accept it. And God so
plainly and clearly made it evident it's only through the blood,
it's only through the lamb, it's only through the sacrifice that
men are accepted. And he brings this offering And
right into the face of God. And you would think that God
would just cut him off. But you know what he said? He
said, if you do well, if you do right, believe. Offer the sacrifice,
the blood. If you do well, shalt thou not
be accepted? This is the mercy, long-suffering
of God. Long-suffering of God. He said,
if thou doest well, shall you not be accepted? And look over
in your margin, it's in my margin, it says, have the excellency?
Say, you not have the excellency of God's favor? He said, sin's lying at your
door. Well, here's the crossroads. You didn't see him lying at your
door. I'll tell you what, he didn't do well, did he? Abel believed God, but Abel believed
God by the grace of God. God is sovereign and we aren't
responsible. I'm not going to try to harmonize
that. It's so. God is sovereign. And we are responsible. And he says to him, you do what
I said, shall you not be accepted? Well, he did not do what God
said. And Cain, he talked with Abel,
his brother. And I know what that conversation
was about. It was over, it's over, it's
over at this, have God's safe center. That's how God has, how
can a man be just with God? How can a sinful man be just
with God? And Abel's, and I have no doubt,
Abel's telling him the truth. Abel is telling his brother Cain
the gospel. As they stand out there, he's
telling him with, and he's telling it to him in love. Paul says,
speak the truth in love. He has the best interest of his
brother at heart, but he's not going to compromise with his
brother, Cain, to get along. I don't care if we are in the
same family, we're going to have to separate if it's over the
gospel. Paul said this in Romans, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might
be saved. He said, I would even wish myself
a curse from Christ if it would save them. Abel was standing there talking
to his brother about this, and Cain is getting angrier and angrier. Have you ever spoke to someone
about the Gospel and they get angry? God choosing a multitude
of sinners. Christ dying to save these sinners
whom God chose. The way of redemption, particular
redemption. And someone getting angry, I've talked to a few people
over the years, and I've watched their blood veins swell up in
their neck, they get so angry. And they would kill me like Cain
killed Abel if they could get away with it. 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 over the gospel. Here's the first martyr, right
here. He slew him. And the Lord said
to Cain, and he knew the answer. God never asks us for information. When he asks, he's bringing it
out of us. There's a revelation going to be made here. Where's
Abel, your brother? He said, I don't know. Am I my
brother's keeper? I don't care about Abel. What
do I got to do with Abel? He knew what he did. God knew
what he did. And he said, his voice, the voice
of thy brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Now art thou cursed from the
earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's
blood from thy hand. When thou till'st the ground,
it's not going to bring any food, it's not going to yield unto
thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, My
punishment is greater than I can bear. I have to say that outside of Christ, that punishment
is greater than we can bear. It is greater than we can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out
this day, and here's the end result. This is the end result
of a works religion. This is the end result to all
those outside of Christ. All those who believe not on
Christ, all those who love not Christ, thou hast driven me out
this day from the face of the earth. You've driven me out. There are many in that day that
will say, Lord, Lord, we've preached in thy name, we've done many
mighty works in thy name, we've cast out devils in thy name,
and he's going to say, depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew you. You've driven me out from the
face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be healed. I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond
in the earth, and they shall come to pass that everyone that
finds me will slay me." Well, there's only two. There are only two religions,
ones of God and ones of the devil. The oneness of God is all of
grace. It's all of God. Salvation is the work of God
from beginning to end. The oneness of the devil is all
of works and will end in rejection. End in rejection. Depart from
me. I never knew you. But if you've ever said that to any
sinner, that has ever come to Christ. Never will.