Genesis chapter 4. Two weeks ago, we looked at the fall of Adam and Eve and
the consequences of that fall. And it did not take long before
they started to show up in their own house. We saw last week, or a couple
weeks ago, where Adam chose the creature over the Creator. I tend to believe that Eve, talking
to that serpent, took of that fruit and ate of it, and then
took it to Adam. And Adam saw that he had lost
her, and then he took of it. creature over the Creator. And I've heard men and well said,
and they compared this to Christ dying for the church. I was talking to Todd today,
and I said, you know, I believe that Adam Saul, Eve had taken
this and that he lost her and he loved her and he chose the
creature over the creator. And I said, that makes for a
good chick flick, but I said, it does not excuse rebellion.
We have to be careful that we do not glorify rebellion. Adam
rebelled against God. And the more I thought about
this, after I preached it a couple of weeks ago, the more I thought
about it, I thought Adam really loved himself. He really loved
himself. And the very root, the more I
looked at this, and I went back and did some more reading, and
the more I looked at this and pondered it and meditated on
it, I believe the very root of this was free will. Adam's will
over God's will. That's the very root of this
whole thing. Adam wanted his will. Adam desired
his will. I'll be like God. I'll be like
God. You know, I thought about that.
That's what Satan told Eve. You'll be like God. You'll be like God, is what he's
saying. And I thought about that. I thought, well, they worship
God. They admire and love God. What's
wrong with wanting to be like God? Is there anything wrong
with wanting to be like Him? What did David say? David said,
when I awake, I'll be satisfied. When? When I awake with His likeness. Well, it's one thing to want
to be like God, but it's another thing to want to be God. That's
where the problem comes in. Satan didn't want to be like
God. And Adam, Adam looked at that and he, I have the will
to choose. I have the will to do these things
as God has. I'll be, I'll be God. I'll be God. And he failed. He failed. And when he fell, the whole human
race fell in him. The whole human race fell in
Adam. All that we see today, all that we see, all that goes
on within ourselves is sinful. We got from Adam. We got from
this thought that happened here in the garden. It passed upon
the whole human race. Sin entered this world not by
Satan. Scripture says sin entered by
one man, Adam. over in Romans 5.12, it entered
by Adam. And Adam's sin was imputed and
a sinful nature imparted to every one of Adam's seed. Every one of them. And then Adam and Eve were driven
out of the garden. It says that God drove them out
of the garden. And God placed cherubims and
a flaming sword over in verse 24 of chapter 3, which turned
every way to keep the way of the tree of life. Adam was not
allowed right from the start. He was not allowed to try and
save himself. He was not allowed to make amends
for his sins. We cannot undo what we do. Not
possible. We cannot undo our sinful actions.
We cannot merit salvation in any way, shape, or form. The
cherubim and the flaming sword turn every way to keep, it says,
to keep the way of the tree of life, to keep it. There's no
other way, absolutely no other way to be saved except by the
seed of that woman that he promised. He promised that the seed of
the woman would bruise Satan's head. And there's no other way,
no other way. be saved except by that seed.
And God put a cherubim and a flaming sword to protect the way of the
tree of life. Our Lord said this in John 14,
I am the way. I'm the way. I'm the truth and
I'm the life. And no man, he says, cometh unto
the Father. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. No other way. No other way. Jesus Christ is the seed of the
woman who was to come and bruise Satan's head and destroy his
power and redeem his people. He's the way. He's the way. No other way. Now, Satan has
power over all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, and he
had power over every one of us at one time, every one of us
who believed the gospel. At one time, he had power. It
says over in Ephesians 2, 1-3 that we were children of wrath
by nature. We were just like everyone else.
Think of it. The worst person you know, you
have the same nature. You were born, I was born with
the exact same nature to do what? The worst thing that's ever been
done. Same nature. Same nature. We were children
of disobedience. We were under the influence of
the spirit of darkness at birth. At birth. Right from the start.
Right from the start. But bless God. I thank God. I thought of Ephesians 2, 4,
but thank God who is rich in mercy. He sent our parents out
of the garden with a promise. He sent them out with hope. They
went out of that garden with a promise. They went out of that
garden with hope. You know, Eve believed God. Because
when she had Cain, she said, I've gotten the man from the
Lord. Now, she didn't understand, no doubt, she didn't understand
the scope of what was just told her. But she believed God. Because when she got Cain, she
said, I've gotten that promised seed that's going to deliver
us from this. She said, I've gotten the seed. He sent them out with a promise
of a Messiah, of a Savior that's going to come and deliver them
from the bondage of what just happened. The bondage and the
guilt. I can't even imagine. Those who
have been born of God, you know something of guilt. You know
something of what guilt is. But can you imagine being innocent? Everything perfect? And then
one day, the next day you wake up after you've sinned against
God, after you've rebelled against God, you wake up and now there's
fighting, there's arguing. Him and Eve for the first time.
Him and Eve for the first time had a disagreement. For the first
time something dies. Can you imagine the guilt in
you? Adam knew, he knew, because of me, this has all happened. Because of me, the whole human
race is now gone. As far as the human race is outside
of Christ. Because of what I did. Because
of that sin of disobedience. Can you imagine the guilt of
that? The only thing that can quiet such a guilty conscience
is the blood of the Lamb. That's the only thing that can
quiet a guilty, accusing conscience, is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the only thing. But He sent them out with a promise.
Jesus Christ is that Savior. I thank God we know who it is.
He told them, He said, the seed of the woman. But they didn't
know who He was. They went out with a promise.
We know who He is. The Lord Jesus Christ. That one
who was despised and rejected of men. That Nazarene. He's the
seed. He's come. He's come. He's that sacrifice that God
represented to Adam when He killed the lamb. He killed that animal. I believe it was probably a lamb.
He killed that animal. She had its blood and took their
skin and made coats of skin for Adam. Made a covering for Adam
and Eve. That represented Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. We know
who it is. And God did that. He revealed
the gospel to them. He revealed the gospel of substitution
for them. Adam and Eve, they probably stood
there and witnessed the whole thing of God killing that animal
and then making them coats of skin, shedding that blood. He
had to know that ought to be me. That ought to be me. When Abraham put his son on that
altar, drew back that knife, getting ready to slay him, and
God stopped him, and over in the thicket was a ram caught
in the thicket, and he brought that ram over there, tied it
to the altar, let Isaac go, let his son go, and you know when
he stood there, and when that knife plunged into that ram,
you know he thought, that would have been me. I should be laying
there. I was the one bound to that altar.
That should be me. When the blood of that lamb started
to flow, that ought to be my blood. When He quartered it up,
that ought to be me. Been sacrificed and cut up, mutilated,
that ought to be me. God taught Adam and Eve the Gospel.
Right there in the garden. They didn't know all... I don't
think they knew We know. We have the Word of God. We have
the complete Word of God. We know who the seed is. We know
what happened to Calvin. We know this. But they knew the
Gospel. God taught them the Gospel. He
taught them the Gospel. Adam knew, listen, Adam knew
what ruined by the fall meant. He knew he wasn't crippled. He
knew he wasn't lame, or Adam knew he died. Adam knew what
ruined by the fall meant. And he knew what redeemed by
the blood meant. He knew it. He knew that for
God to have anything to do with him, God taught him this, that
there had to be a sacrifice, there had to be blood, in order
for me to have anything to do with you, or God to have anything
to do with me. He taught Adam the gospel. And
Adam passed this on to his children. Adam taught his children what
God taught him. The blood, the sacrifice, how
God is to be approached, not without blood. He taught Cain
and Abel this. And these two boys, these two
young men, They represent the only two religions that are in
the world. There's only two. Works, the religion of works
and the religion of grace. One is right and one is wrong. Now, when God taught Adam the
gospel, how to come back to himself, he made it very clear. God made
it very clear. that the works of Adam had no
part whatsoever in salvation. He made that clear to Adam and
Eve, and I'm sure they made that clear to their children. They
made it very clear that works would not be involved, our works
would not be involved in being restored, in being saved. He made that very clear. And as I said, Adam taught his
children this. They knew the way to God. They
learn the gospel from their parents. Teach your children. Teach your
children how we are to come before God. Teach your children how
God is to be worshipped. Teach them how holy God is. And
that without the shedding of the blood, there's no remission
of sins. There's no forgiveness of sins. And they taught this. And one believed and acted accordingly,
and one believed not. and acted accordingly. One brought
the blood and the sacrifice that was taught by his parents,
which was taught by God, and the other one brought the works
of his own hands, the fruit of the cursed ground. What an insult. What an insult to God. that you
would take that which is cursed and then offer it to Him in worship.
That's what happened. But to show that salvation here
is all of grace, let me point this out. I thought about this
the days I was sitting in my study. Both of these young men
were brought up in the same home. They were both brought up in
the same home. They both had the same parents.
Same parents. They both witnessed the same
worship service. They went to the same worship
service. And yet one believed and one
believed not. Now, he was religious. He came
to worship God, but he didn't worship God as God prescribed. What's the difference? What's
the difference in this family of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel? What's the difference? They had
the same parents, brought up in the same home, had the same
worship service, observed all of this. What's the difference?
Grace. Grace made the difference. It's the grace of God that made
the difference. God did something for Abel and left Cain to himself. God's saved by grace, not out
of debt. He doesn't owe us anything except
the wages of sin if Christ did not put them away. I want to
go back to verse 1 here just for a minute, then I'll pick
back up on these two men here. Back here in verse 1, something
stood out to me. Eve thought, she thought that
she had gotten the man, the seed, the promised seed, the deliverer,
the Messiah from the Lord. She thought that she had just
gave birth to the Messiah. Not realizing. Not realizing
that the only thing that she and Adam could produce was another
sinful child. And a sinful seed is not going
to be the deliverer. The sinful seed is not going
to deliver us from the power of Satan. He's not going to crush
Satan. He's not a sinful seed. No, the seed must be holy. The seed must be holy. must be God. Only God can deliver
us from the mess we're in. Only God can deliver us from
Satan. Only God Himself can crush Satan's
head. See, they knew in part, just
like we do. Paul said we know in part, we
preach in part. But I tell you what, the part they knew, they
believed. The part that they did know, the part that God revealed
to them, they believed it. They believed God. And it didn't take long for Adam
and Eve to find out that their children were just as sinful,
just as rotten, just as wretched, just as fallen as they were.
You know how heartbreaking that had to be. It had to be heartbreaking, because
they were perfect at one time. We've never been that way. We
were born in sin and shame and iniquity. We've never known what
it's been to be innocent. We never have known what it was
not to sin. We've never known that. They
knew it. So it had to be really heartbreaking
to see this go on. We are sinners at best. And our
only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of that woman. That's
our only hope. So let's go back to these two
young men here. It says Abel. Abel, after he
grew up. Cain. These are grown men now.
These are not boys. These are grown men. Probably
had families. Abel brought, as I read to you in Hebrews,
a more excellent sacrifice. He brought the sacrifice God
required. He brought the blood. He brought
the sacrifice of the Lamb. Abel brought the blood sacrifice,
the blood that makes atonement for the soul. He brought what
God prescribed. He brought what God revealed.
He brought what God taught. That's what he brought. He brought
the way prescribed of God. That's what he did. And God,
it says over in Hebrew, God accepted him. It says here, God accepted
his sacrifice. God accepted him. God accepted
him through the blood and the sacrifice. of that Lamb, just
the way God accepts us through the blood of the Lamb, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Abel's Lamb represented Christ. It's always been through Christ.
It's never been through the blood of bulls and goats. As I had
a man tell me one time, years ago, that people in the Old Testament
were saved by the blood of the bulls and goats, and we are saved
by the blood of Christ. Any man, any woman is saved from
Adam to the last one, saved by the blood of the Lamb. But this
one represented the Lord Jesus Christ. This one spoke of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This was the type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And therefore, God accepted His sacrifice. He
accepted it. It was one of obedience. It was
one of faith. He offered it in faith. He believed
God. Abel believed God and he acted
accordingly. And then Cain. Cain. You know, his name means acquired.
Acquired. They named him Cain because she
believed she had acquired the man. You know what Abel's name
means? Vanity. Vanity. Vanity. Well, you know what? I bet Abel would say, you're
right. I am vanity. I am nothing. That's why I need
the lamb. That's why I need the blood. I am nothing. But Cain thought of the works
of his own hands, of which God did not prescribe. God did not
in any way, shape, or form even hint at bringing of his own works
of the fruit of the ground. This came from a proud heart. Cain, no doubt, he was a tiller
of the ground. He walked on that ground, he
sowed, he worked, he plowed, he planted. Abel was a keeper
of the sheep. He didn't give those sheep life.
He just tended the sheep. And when he brought the sacrifice,
he brought what God gave life to. And old Cain, he looked at
that garden of his, and he said, man, what a garden. What a garden. Have you ever seen my garden? He was so proud of his garden.
He's so proud of the fruit of it. He believed that God would
be impressed. Surely God would be impressed
with my garden, with the fruit of it. I bet he brought the best
of it. He brought the best that he had
out of his garden. Surely God would be pleased with
this. And he came to worship God. And he brought a sacrifice. He
knew there had to be a sacrifice. But there was no blood in his
sacrifice. There was no death in his sacrifice. It was just
the works of his hands. Fruit of the cursed ground. That
tells you what he knew of God. Brought up in the same home.
Brought up in the same home, sat under the same preaching
and missed it. If God doesn't do a work of grace
in us, we'll miss it. We'll miss it. I don't care if
we sit under the greatest preacher that's ever walked on this. How
many missed it when Christ was here? When He walked on this
earth in the flesh. They watched Him do miracles.
And they missed Him. He came unto His own and His
own receipt did not. It takes a work of grace to make
a man a believer. God's not going to accept our
sinful works. Not going to do it. It's the blood, and this
was taught. This was taught to Cain and Abel. It's the blood that makes atonement
for the soul. One believed it, and one did
not believe it. He said, surely God will be impressed
with this. Surely He'll be impressed with
this. No, it's the blood that makes atonement for the soul,
not a bushel of potatoes. It's the blood. Abel was obedient to the way. Cain was rebellious to the way.
Rebellious to God's way of salvation. He was rebellious to it. And
Cain became angry. Get this. This shows you Cain,
the spirit of Cain, angry with God. Is there ever a time In my life,
in your life, is there ever a time that we can truly be angry with
God? No. The Lord is good. Everything He does is good. But
Cain became angry with God because God accepted his brother's sacrifice,
which represented Christ, and He rejected Cain's sacrifice,
which was nothing but the works of his hands. And he was angry
over it. Angry over it. This is the spirit of works religion.
Angry over the gospel of grace. Angry because you say to me,
what I do doesn't mean anything as far as acceptance before God?
You're right, it doesn't. It absolutely means nothing as
far as our acceptance before God. And that makes people angry. I told a lady this one time and
she got angry. We had to quit discussing it. It's the blood of the Lamb. It's
the sacrifice. It's the seed of the woman. That's
our salvation. That is our salvation. But notice
the long-suffering of God here in verse 7. Cain gets, he's angry
with God. Because God accepted Abel's and
rejected his. And the Lord said in verse 6,
And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? You have nothing
to be angry about. Why are you angry? And why is
your counsel is fallen? If thou doest well, here's the
longsuffering of God. Cain, if you do well, if you
offer what I said, If you bring the blood and the sacrifice,
if you come through the blood and the sacrifice, you'll be
accepted. Instead of just annihilating him right on the spot for being
angry, God said, Cain, if you do well, you'll be accepted. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
thou shalt be saved. But if not, he says, sin lies
at the door. Here's what I'm saying, Cain,
the root of your problem, your anger, is sin. The very root
of it is sin. It lies at the door and it's
got you. It's got you. Oh, Cain, if you do well, if
you bring the right sacrifice, the blood, if you truly believe
and rest in it, It would be accepted. He couldn't
do it, could he? Couldn't do it. Couldn't do it. Oh, for what I prescribed, but
he couldn't do it. Why? What could he not do it? Without a work of grace, without
a work of the grace of God in you, it is impossible to worship
God. It is impossible to trust Christ
alone. Impossible. It is impossible,
apart from a work of grace, to leave our works out of it 100%. You just, well, they just reach
in, well, you've got to do something. You know, they even make faith
a work. You've got to do something. Faith's a gift of God. It's not
something you work up. It's not something you can work
up. It's not something you can muster up. It's the gift of God. It's the work of God in you. And then one day, they're out in the field. They're out in the field. Here's
the first murder. And here's the first martyr. Cain and Abel out in verse 8,
they're out talking. They're out in the field. Cain
is still mad. Abel is going on about his business.
He's out there, he's probably out there keeping the sheep. Cain probably just, he's so mad,
he's so fuming about this thing, he can't let it go. And no doubt
he makes his way, for some reason, some excuse, he makes his way
over to his brother Abel. And he's going to talk to him
about this. And they begin a discussion. And this discussion is over the
gospel. This discussion is over how God
saves sinners. This is what this discussion
is all about. How can I be accepted of God? Why did God accept you
and reject me? This discussion is over how God
can be a just God and a Savior. And Cain got so angry. He got so angry over this that
he probably picked up a rock and bashed his brother in the
head. Abel didn't change his mind.
Abel didn't back off. He didn't recant. Abel stood
firm. And he gave his life for the
gospel. And then God came and He said,
Where's your brother? The Lord said to Cain, where
is Abel, your brother? God knew where he was at. Like
He said, Adam, where art thou? Cain, what have you done? What
have you done, Cain? Your brother's blood is crying
to me from the ground. Hey, Cain, what have you done?
And the Cain, well, am I my brother's keeper? Well, yes, you are. Every one of us, we are our brother's
keeper. But he's trying to play this
thing. I don't know where he's at. Am I my brother's keeper? Is it
my turn to watch him today? That's what he's saying. Is it
my turn to watch him today? Smart aleck. God said, your brother's blood
is crying from the ground. It's crying from the ground to
me. And then God cursed Cain. What he did to his brother Abel. That's the reason I read to you
over in Hebrews 11. The very first person mentioned in the
Hall of Fame of Faith is Abel. And he calls him righteous. God
said he's righteous. He's righteous. You know why
he's righteous? He believed God. And the righteousness of Christ
was imputed to him. He believed God. But he cursed
Cain here. False religion will be cursed
of God in the end. It's cursed of God now. They'll
be cursed of God in the end no matter how serious people are
about their religion. No matter how serious they are.
I don't care how moral they are. Cain wasn't said to be immoral. He brought the fruit of his hands.
He came to worship God. He brought the best that he had. But he was cursed of God because he brought that of the
cursed thing. He departed from the way. He
despised God's way and came his way. Remember this. If it's not of God, it is cursed
of God. And what Cain did, And the worship
he performed was not of God. It was not of God. Therefore,
he was cursed of God. Let us, let us, Lord let me not be deceived. Let me not be deceived. Salvation is all of grace without
any works on our part whatsoever. Our hope is the seed of the woman,
his blood, his righteousness, his person, God in human flesh,
apart from any works of our own.