I want to bring the message this
morning out of Genesis chapter 4. You know the story of Cain
and Abel. These two men represent the two
religions that are in this world. One is of God, it's all of grace.
And one is of man, it's all of works. Now these two were brothers. They had the same father, Adam.
They had the same mother, Eve. Both were born after the fall,
which means they were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. They
were raised in the same house. They were taught the same truth
about God from their father Adam. They were taught the same about
the blood, about the sacrifice, and about how to approach God
and how he is to be worshipped. They were taught the same truth
about what happened in the garden. One heard and believed and the
other one didn't. Both of these men were religious.
One was right because his religion was of God. It's a true religion.
And one was false because it was of that wicked one. And these
two religions have not changed. They are with us until this day.
Now let's look at these two men. First let's look at Cain. Cain
was the eldest son of the two. He was a tiller of the ground.
There's nothing wrong with farming. It's a good occupation, even
though Cain did it. He was religious. He believed
in the existence of God. He believed that there was one
God, and he attempted to worship Him. He brought an offering unto
the Lord, it says in Genesis 4.3. But here's the problem. He brought an offering of his
own works. before the Lord. He brought an
offering of his works to be accepted and to appease God. His purpose
and his motives were all wrong. They were all selfish. He stood
before God as his own representative and that is stupid. Christ is the representative
of sinners. Not us and not our works. It's
Christ and Christ alone who is the representative of sinners. And then Cain's offering was
from the cursed ground. He brought the fruit of his hands
that he had raised in the ground that was cursed of God. There's
no blood in his offering. Without the shedding of blood
there's no remission for sin. It's the blood that makes atonement
for the soul, not a bushel of potatoes. It's the blood of the
lamb that makes atonement for the soul of the sinner. God appointed the sacrifice. God appointed the blood. And
these were pictures. These were types of Christ, the
Lamb of God, whose blood puts away sin, who is a substitute
for a multitude of sinners. And then it was the fruit of
his own labors that he offered. It was as if he were saying,
look, look God, look what I have done, look what I am bringing,
look what I am offering you. He tried to impress God by what
he brought. Acceptance with God is never,
ever of worse, lest any man should boast. Then his offering was
one of disobedience. God did not tell him to bring
such an offering. Cain came up with that offering. Cain came up with that one. God
said bring a lamb. God said bring the blood. And
Cain brought the works of his hands. And then his offering
was without repentance. And here's how I know this. If
you read there in the scriptures it says he got mad. He got angry. When God rejected his offering,
he got angry that God would reject such work, such fruit. He got angry. He got angry with
God, not with himself for being so stupid. He got angry with
God. He thought God ought to be pleased
with what he did and with what he brought. Oh, he said he ought
to be pleased with this. God is pleased with Christ. He's
pleased with what he did. He's pleased with his sacrifice.
He's pleased with his blood. He's pleased with his righteousness
and no one else's. And he's pleased with everyone
that's in him. Everyone outside of him is in
a whole lot of trouble. And then Cain's offering was
not by faith. Faith believes God. Faith does
what God says to do. And faith brings what God says
to bring. Cain wanted the blessing of God's favor without the obedience
of faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Cain's offering was a self-will
offering. He offered what he wanted to
offer, regardless of God's will, regardless of God's command,
regardless of God's appointed means and ways, which was the
lamb and the blood. Cain ignored that. and brought
what he wanted to bring. And God rejected it. And Cain
got upset about it. He can get upset all he wants.
God's not changing. You can get upset all you want,
but God's not changing. It's through His Son and no other
way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. I don't care how big your garden is. It's Christ who makes
us accepted. Cain was the first and father
of all hypocrites. He worshipped God with his lips,
but his heart was far from him. He acknowledged God's existence,
but rejected God's way, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Cain
rejected it. Cain represents all false religions
in the world. All are built on works, human
works, and we live in a day We live in a day when men take the
Bible and they'll use grace, they'll use the words of the
Bible, they'll use the words of the gospel, and then they
end it with works, that you have to do something, that you have
to do your part. That's not of God, that's works.
Grace is God doing it all. Grace is God choosing you. Grace
is God plucking you like a bran from the fire. That's grace. Grace is Christ redeeming you. Grace is Christ making you righteous. Grace is God accepting you in
Christ without anything done on your part. That's grace. Anything else is works and God
hates it. Now let's look at Abel. His name
means vanity. And he knew it. He knew it. He knew he was nothing. God taught
this boy something. He taught this young man something.
He knew he was nothing. He knew he needed the blood.
He knew he needed the sacrifice. And he brought it. He brought
what God said to bring. It says in Hebrews 11.4, it says
here, and by faith, He offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. Now let me give you some ways
in which his sacrifice was far better than what Cain's offering
was. First of all, it was more excellent
because it was appointed by God. Abel did not design this offering,
God did. Christ is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior. Before God created anything,
this matter of salvation had already been settled. Christ
was the surety. He was the substitute. He's the
appointed Lamb. He's everything in salvation,
and that was taken care of before God ever created the first thing.
Christ is the Lamb of God's appointing. And then his offering was more
excellent because it pointed to God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who only is excellent. His name is excellent. His person
is excellent. His blood is excellent. His sacrifice
is excellent. He is excellent. And then his
offering was more excellent because by the blood and sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ, God can be a just God and a Savior. That
offering that Abel offered pointed to God's Lamb. And it's through
God's Lamb that God can be a just God and a Savior. God cannot
save you through a bushel of potatoes, but He can save you
through the blood of the Lamb. And that is excellent because
it truly puts away sin. Cain's offering put nothing away.
It brought some things out. Oh, it revealed some things.
But it put nothing away. Nothing. And then it's excellent
because it magnifies the grace of God to sinners. Oh, it magnifies
God's grace. The substitutionary work of the
Lord Jesus Christ magnifies the grace of God to sinners. And
then it's excellent because it magnifies every attribute of
God. Holy, just, gracious, and merciful. God can be all of these through
the sacrifice and the blood and the righteousness of His Lamb,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And no other way. Christ and
Christ only. And then it's more excellent
because it was accepted. The Bible says it must be perfect
to be accepted. When our Lord arose from the
grave, God said, God stamped, accepted. And everyone for whom
He died is accepted in Him. Now note here, note, let's note
here how He offered the sacrifice. It said by faith. Oh, that says
so much. By faith He offered. He believed
God. He believed what God said about
himself. He believed what God said about
the sacrifice. He believed what God said about
sin. He believed God. And he offered it with repentance.
How do I know this? Because faith and repentance
go together. You cannot believe God savingly
and not repent. They go together. And Abel, it
says here, brought of the firstling of his flock, and the fat thereof,
which shows that he killed the lamb and shed the blood. He brought
the best that he had. He brought what God said to bring.
Cain brought the fruit of the ground. Nothing said about the
best. In Cain's offering, he brought
pocket change. Cain brought pocket change. He brought a bushel and a pack.
But Abel brought the best. He brought that which represented
the best, the Lord Jesus Christ. Cain's offering was nothing but
pocket change. Abel represents all true believers
who believe God. They believe God is who he says
he is. They believe Christ is the Lamb
of God. They believe he's the only way
to God. And that they are indeed sinners
in great need of Christ the Substitute. And they know, they know that
salvation is all of grace from Alpha to Omega. Even faith is
of grace. It's God giving it to you. And
they worship God sincerely from the heart. They love God, they
love God's Son, they worship Him in spirit and in truth. They
worship, I tell you this, worship to God's people is a very serious
matter. It's not like this emotionalism
that we see today, all this foolishness that's going on and calling it
worship. It is a very serious matter of
the heart worshiping God in spirit and in truth. They approach unto
God by the appointed way, the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood
and righteousness of God's Son. Cain tried to please God by what
he did. Abel pleased God by what God
did. King's religion of works produced
hatred, he killed his brother. Hypocrisy, he pretended to worship
God. Envy, wrath, malice, no faith,
no repentance, therefore no salvation. Abel's religion produced love,
sincerity, gentleness, kindness, peace, faith, repentance, eternal
salvation. What a difference. What a difference
in these two religions. Ones of God and ones of the devil.
Results of Cain's religion of works? Rejected. No blood, no
faith, no hope. Results of Abel's religion? Accepted. Blood? We have the atonement.
Faith? We have obedience. Substitution?
We have satisfaction. There is only one true religion,
and that is by grace alone, through Christ alone, and no other way.
Alright, until next week, may God be with you.