And this is in chapter 4, opens
in this way. 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 bare his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in 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? 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 Cain rose up against Abel his brother and
slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain,
where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. 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 tillest the ground,
it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive
and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto
the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. In Hebrews chapter
11 we read a few comments about Abel and his offering where we
read, 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. 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. Now this accounts of the birth
of Cain and the birth of Abel, their offerings, and of what
Cain did under his brother Abel. given to us right at the beginning
of time, right after Adam and Eve had fallen into sin in the
garden, and had to leave the Garden of Eden, and the way to
the Tree of Life was barred. Right after man fell at the beginning,
we read this account of Cain and Abel. And in this account,
right in the beginning of time, we see another picture of the
Gospel. so plain, so vivid, so clear,
so powerful, that its truth remains to this day. Like Abel's blood,
he being dead, yet speaketh, so this account of Abel and his
offering, and his witness which he obtained that through that
offering he was righteous, This account speaks. It speaks with
his blood, it speaks throughout all time, it speaks unto us this
day. How might we obtain witness that
before God we are righteous? How can man be just with God,
as Job asked? How can any be saved? What determines when you pass
from time into eternity? whether you will find the blessing
of God forevermore, or whether you will find yourself with a
punishment greater than you can bear, as Cain did. What makes
the difference? Well, here in this account, we
see a difference. And we see the reaction that
that difference provoked. Both Cain and Abel brought forth
offerings unto the Lord. But whereas Abel's was received,
Cain's wasn't. And Cain was filled with enmity
towards his brother. He was filled with rage. So much
so that he rose up and he slew his own brother. So jealous was
he, so hateful was he of his brother and the fact that his
brother was blessed of God and he wasn't, that he actually slew
him. Now that's the effect of sin
and the rage of sin against those who are blessed of God. Man hates
God and he hates his ways and he hates his people. And though
his brother Abel had simply offered up a lamb unto God, he'd done
no wrong unto Cain. All he had done was worship God
in the way that he knew he should be worshipped. The response from
Cain was to slay him. And as it was then, so it is
now, throughout all time. If you receive the truth of God,
if your eyes are opened, if you come before God, God's way, if
you bring an offering unto God which is acceptable, the only
offering which is acceptable, then you will find that there
are those, even of your own kindred, Even those who in the flesh are
your closest, who will rage against you. Christ said in his warnings
to those who would follow him, when Christ came into this world
and he called the disciples and he preached the gospel, he said
that family member will rise up against family member. Mother
will rise up against daughter, daughter will rise up against
mother, son will rise up against father, brother will rise up
against brother, sister against sister. Doesn't matter how close
the natural bond is, if you follow Christ you'll find that there
are those who hate you. And Abel, in serving God and
coming before God on the right path, had the hatred of his brother. as a response, but in his offering
of the firstlings of the flock, in his offering of a lamb, and the fact that God received
it and blessed him, and the fact that through it he obtained witness
that he was righteous before a holy God. We see the gospel. The chapter opens with these
words, 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 bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Now every word here is
important. We often, in considering Abel
and Cain, draw our attention to the brothers. But we forget
the parents. And this account is not in isolation. It's Eve who brought forth Cain,
firstly, and then Abel, and her husband was Adam. And who Eve
is and who Adam is is pertinent to who Cain and Abel are. Adam
here is a picture of Christ. It's a picture of Christ himself.
Adam was the first man. Christ we read elsewhere in the
scriptures is the second man of whom Adam was a figure. Adam
was the first Adam, Christ is the last Adam. Adam was the man
brought forth upon the earth. Christ is the man who comes down
from heaven. Adam is the man who is earthly,
Christ is the man who is heavenly. But Adam here is set before us
as a picture of Christ. And Eve, his bride, is set before
us as a picture of the church. Again, as we see elsewhere in
the scriptures, the bride of Christ is the church. The bride
of the last Adam, the second man, is the church. And she's
pictured by Eve, who is the mother of all. The mother of all living. But the heavenly Eve, the heavenly
bride of Christ, is the mother of all the children of God. All the newborn. all those who
are born of heaven, all those who are born of Christ by his
gospel. And here we have a picture of
that which is brought forth by Eve in the church. Adam knew Eve, his wife, and
she conceived. By the gospel, the church brings
forth children. And in the birth of those children
there is a first birth and a second birth. There is that one which
comes first and that one which comes second. She conceived and
bare Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Cain came
first. And she again bare his brother
Abel and Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of
the ground. Cain is a picture of the first
man, the natural man. the old man, the flesh, the earthly
man, the man which is born of the earth and tills the ground
of the earth, the man who is set upon this world and its ways. When this man comes before God
and tries to serve God, all his attempts, all his thinking, all
his doing is earthly. Cain was a tiller of the ground.
He was earthly, he was natural. And all he did concerned here
below. So when he came to offer something
up to God, he took of what he grew here below. He took of his
labour here below. He could see no other way of
approaching unto God but that but to come with his earthly
labour. He's earthly. He's the flesh. and he worked, he tilled the
ground, he worked in the earth, he worked with the soil, and
he brought before God that which his labour brought forth. As
we read in 1 Corinthians 15, the first man is earthy, and
the second is heavenly. Cain was earthy, but his brother,
the second born, was heavenly. Abel was a keeper of sheep. But Cain was a tiller of the
ground. Cain was born first, Abel followed
on. They're presented to us not only
as two brothers, but of two men. There were pictures of the two
births. The first birth, the earthly
birth, the natural birth, that which is common to all that are
brought forth from the womb. And the second birth, the heavenly
birth, to be born of God, to be born of the Spirit. They're
pictures of two births. In that sense, they're pictures
of one man and the warfare within, the warfare within the believer,
who is first born, an actual man, an earthly man, a Cain,
who comes before God with his labour and his offerings and
his working upon the earth. and then in time comes to hear
the gospel and is born again from on high and is brought forth
as an able by Christ through his wife, his bride, the church
Eve, through the gospel, through the gospel and the power of God
the Holy Spirit to bring forth new life within the heart. of a dead man, to bring forth
an able, to bring forth a new man whose conduct, whose life
is heavenly, whose coming before God is on a different level. No longer does he come before
God bringing his work of the earth, he comes before God bringing
that which is required to redeem him from his own iniquity and
sin as he is in his first man the second man brings an offering
of blood the second man brings blood to wash clean the iniquity
of the first man the second man brings a sacrifice that will
take that which was dead and judge it and condemn it and pay
the price that God's justice required. The second man brings
forth an offering of blood and trusts and believes that that
offering will bring him a witness that he is righteous before God. It's the pictures of two births.
Two men, two brothers but two births. The believer. The one is the flesh and the
second is the spirit. And as we read elsewhere in the
scriptures that the flesh is at enmity with the spirit, the
flesh wars against the spirit. So we see this in Cain and Abel.
Cain's reaction to Abel and his offering was to be filled with
hatred towards him. He fought against him. And he
slew him. He rose up against him. And so
the flesh rises up against the spirit. The flesh always does. Man in the flesh hates the things
of God. He hates the gospel. He hates
the people of God. He hates Christ. He hates the
spirit. Mankind in the flesh hates God's
work and God's ways and the believer feels this within. His own flesh
fights against the work of God. It fights against the spirit
of God. It fights against the new man
of grace. The flesh wars against the spirit. His cane rises up against his
able and seeks to slay him. Cane brought an offering. a sacrifice of the ground, of
the earth, of his own labour. But Abel was a keeper of sheep
and brought an offering of the firstling of the flock. Now one
might look upon this account and the offerings and the two
men and the fact that God had respect unto one and not the
other in a superficial sense and feel it's unfair. They may
look at Cain and say, well, he laboured in the field and he
brought forth an offering and he was sincere in it. And Abel
laboured with the flock. Abel brought of the flock of
his offering. Yet Abel's was received and Cain's
wasn't. A man with his natural reasoning
will have a sympathy for Cain. and feel it's unfair. Why was
one received and the other wasn't? Why must we all be keepers of
sheep? But what is seen behind the two
men is what they represent, what they are pictures of. Cain and
his tilling of the ground and his offering of the fruit of
the ground is a picture of his own labouring and his own earthliness
and his own attempt to appease God and to come before God with
his own works and to bring what he had done before God as though
God would be pleased with him and what he did. And God reasoned
with him when Cain was angry and rough, and said, if thou've
done well, won't you be accepted? If you've not done well, sin
lies at the door. So why don't you learn the lesson,
Cain? I've not received your offering. Then what does that tell you?
If your offering was so good, if your works were so good, would
I not have received them? If they were perfect and righteous,
would I have not accepted them? Well, the fact that I haven't
must tell you something, Kate. Yes, you've laboured. Yes, you've
brought your labour. But it's not been accepted because
there's sin in it. You've brought no answer for
your sin. You think you can appease me
and my judgment of your sin by trying to bring some labor of
your own but you've not done anything about your sin and even
what you bring is brought in your own pride to bring glory
unto yourself. Look what I've done, look at
what I've worked at, look what I've labored at, look how good
I am. Just like the religious throughout
all time, just like those who will come before God, unto Christ
and say, Lord, Lord, have we not done this in thy name and
that in thy name? Lord, Lord, have I not grown
this and sown this and laboured at this? Be pleased with me. It's all done. As a show of vainglory,
it's all done not to worship God, not to bring praise unto
God, but to bring praise unto oneself. Now you might come before
God and bring offering before God, but if it's like Cain's
offering, it's all just to bring glory and praise to yourself.
You're not offering anything unto God. You're not bringing
any glory unto God. You're not worshipping God. You're
coming before him hoping that he will be so pleased with what
you've done that God will worship you. People speak of worship
and worshipping God and there's no worship in it. They're seeking
God's approval. They're seeking God to fall down
and worship what they have made. They do as it were bring before
God idols that they've created and they bring before him and
look at what we've made. Look at our brazen offering. Look at our cow that we've carved
and overlaid with gold. Look at the bull. Look at what
we've made. And they think that God will
praise them. In reality, there's no worship of God here. There's
a seeking and a desire that God will worship them and what they've
done. Which is why that God says under
Cain, that sin lies at his door. Abel's sacrifice, the firstling
of the flock however, had nothing to do with what Abel did. It
was nothing to do with how Abel brought up the flock or how he
bred livestock. It was nothing to do with him
bringing something that he'd brought forth and saying, look
how I've farmed, look how good I've done. He knew it was nothing
to do with that. What Abel was doing when he brought
the offering of the flock before God, was coming before God in
faith, believing that he was a sinner by nature and believing
that that sin needed to be washed away. Believing that blood was
required. Abel, you see, had heard the
gospel and believed the gospel. In the previous chapter, when
Adam and Eve fell, we read of how God made Adam and Eve, after
their fall into sin, he made them coats of skins and clothed
them. They tried to clothe themselves. They tried to clothe themselves
with fig leaves. They tried to, as it were, bring
an offering before God of this earth. They tried to take and
make themselves coats. by which their sins could be
covered, but it covered nothing. And God took animals, slew them,
shed blood, and made them coats of skins. He showed unto Adam
and Eve that their sin demanded a price. Their sin could only
be redeemed and taken away if one suffered the wrath of God
in their place. Their sin was so great that judgment
must fall down upon the sinner, that the wrath of God, the sword
of God, must come down upon the sinner and they must be slain. And either God would slay Adam
and Eve themselves because of their sin, or he would bring
his judgment, his sword of justice, down upon another in their place. and judge another and shed the
blood of another and clothe them in the skin of another as a picture
of the righteousness that that blood and that judgment brought
in in their place that the death of another in their place paid
the price for what they had done what they had done demanded death
and they either died themselves or another died in their place.
So God showed them this, he showed them the gospel, he showed them
the promise of the coming of his own son in their place, the
Lamb of God, who would be slain for sinners, whose blood would
be shed, who would die in the place of sinners, and who would
clothe sinners with his own blood as their righteousness. He showed
Adam and Eve the gospel. And Abel heard that gospel. He knew the gospel as shown under
his parents. He heard, he received the gospel
from Adam and from Eve. He received the gospel from Christ
and his church. The Gospel came unto him and
because he received the Gospel and because he believed the Gospel
he became a keeper of sheep. Which is in many respects a picture
of one who looks after the sheep of God, the flock of God, the
people of God. He's a preacher of the Gospel. He's a keeper of the sheep. And
when he comes before God with an offering, he doesn't bring
anything that he's done. He doesn't try to cover himself
with fig leaves like his parents once did. He doesn't bring the
offerings of the earth, but he brings blood. Just as his parents
needed to be covered in blood, in animal skins, just as there
needed to be death in order that those who were once dead should
live, so he knew that he must bring blood. He must bring blood. So he brings an offering of the
firstling of the flock. That's why his sacrifice differs. It's not what the sacrifice is
but what it pictured, what it showed and what it showed regarding
Abel that Abel had heard the gospel and believed the gospel. So when he brought his offering
it wasn't what the offering was or the labor involved in the
offering or the fact he'd had to look after the flock and be
involved in the lambing, it wasn't anything to do with Abel, it
was to do with the faith he had in the gospel as pictured. This
is why Hebrews tells us, 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. He obtained witness that he was
righteous before God. He brought his sacrifice and
God had respect under Abel and to his offering. And because
God received it, he received witness in his heart. He knew,
he believed that this was the gospel. He believed, he trusted
in the blood shed on his behalf. And God the Spirit said yes unto
him. Your sins, Abel, are forgiven. The blood washes them all away. Not the blood of the lamb which
he offered, but the blood of the lamb that that lamb was a
picture of. The blood of Christ. the blood
of the Lamb of God. He obtained witness. Have you
obtained witness that you are righteous before God? Have you
heard the gospel? Have you heard the gospel from
your mother and your father? From Adam and Eve? From Christ
and his bride? From Christ through his church?
Has the Gospel been preached unto you? Have you seen the importance
of a sacrifice? Of the shedding of blood? Of
the covering by that blood? Have you brought that as your
offering unto God, your only offering? Have you given up on
your works and your labour? On your effort to bring earthly
offerings and goods unto God, have you given up on it? Have
you brought an end to it? Have you ceased to work? Have
you trusted and rested in the blood alone? And through it,
have you obtained witness that you are righteous? There's only
one way to be righteous before a holy God and only one way to
obtain witness that you are righteous and that's through the blood
of Jesus Christ. No works, no efforts on your
part at any point and at any time as a believer or before
you're a believer no works on your behalf on your part will
save you no works will make you righteous no works will perfect
that which God has done the work is all of God all of grace all
in the blood of Christ Abel received witness, he obtained witness
that he was righteous through that blood there was nothing
he had to add. We don't read any more of Abel
after that he's slain. His brother rose up in enmity
against him and he's slain. We don't read of anything that
Abel did that contributed in any way. to his salvation or
to his sanctification or purification or being made more holy and ready
for glory. All he needed was the offering,
one offering, accepted before God. All he needed was to obtain
witness that through that blood, through that lamb slain on his
behalf, he was righteous. And having obtained that witness,
and having brought his offering, and having believed in the Gospel,
he felt the enmity of his brother. Cain hated Abel because he was
blessed. The firstborn hated the second. The flesh warred against the
spirit. And the believer will know the
same. O child of God, you'll know this
battle, you'll know this enmity. as soon as you're born again,
as soon as you become enabled before God, as soon as you start
to believe and trust in the Lamb of God and turn from your own
works and your own efforts in religion, as soon as you put
an end to your own works and effort, as soon as you turn from
the law and your own striving to keep the law and turn to the
gospel and believe and rest in the gospel and rest in Jesus
Christ, when you come to that point you'll find the flesh starts
warring. You'll find there's a warfare
within, not just without, not just from others, not just from
those who are religious and those who are walking the path of Cain
and those who are seeking to worship God Cain's way, Not just
from others outside, but within you the flesh will just keep
fighting. It will just keep saying, no,
don't go that way. No, it's not enough to rest in
the blood. No, Christ alone isn't enough.
Surely you must do this. Surely you must work at this.
Surely you must bring this as well. And there's a constant
warfare and a constant doubting. as the flesh wars against the
spirit the flesh will do all it can to slay Abel within all
it can but even if it slays him even if it could and it can't
not anymore the blood of Abel will rise up and it being dead
will yet speak it knows, it trusts, it believes, it rests, it's saved
Abel had to die. In many respects he was a picture
of the second man, Christ from heaven, who in order to bring
salvation to his people was slain, was slain by the wicked, was
slain by the natural man, was slain by the wicked in religion.
He was slain. He had to be slain. Cain hated
Abel because he was blessed. And the natural man, the Jews,
Man below hated Christ that is coming. He must be slain, the
Lamb of God must be slain. And Abel you see was slain as
well as the Lamb which he offered. He was slain. He believed that
the blood of the Lamb would save him. But he was slain also. And this is important to see.
He was slain. He died, as it were, with Christ. He suffered with him. He bore his reproach. He was
united with Christ's sacrifice. One with him. He being dead. Yet speaketh. In 1 Samuel, chapter 6 we read
of how the Philistines had taken the Ark of God and how the Ark
of God is returned unto the people of God and in verse 18 we read this particular thing. And the
golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the
Philistines, belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities
and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel,
whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which stone remaineth
unto this day in the field of Joshua the Bethshemite. They
got the ark, and they returned the ark, and they set the ark
of God upon the great stone of Abel in the field of Joshua. Now these are not random things
and random names. but this return of the Ark, a
picture of Christ, from his enemies who took him and as it were slew
him outside of the camp. The enemies, the Philistines,
took the Ark of God, Christ, they put him to death as it were,
outside of the camp. he's returned and he's set down
in the field of Joshua, Jesus, Jesus Christ, he's set down in
the field of Joshua upon the great stone of Abel. And so in this account we see
the importance of Abel and how we see in Abel and his death
and his sacrifice and his blood the unity between Abel and his
Saviour Christ. See the stone of Abel. The ark
set down upon it. The field of Joshua. All met
together. All met together. When Cain as
it were had raged against Abel. When the Philistines had taken
the ark. When they'd finished their nasty
work. When the end had been completed.
When Christ had been slain. When Cain had slain Abel. Here in the end, Abel is found
united with Joshua, with the Ark. Together, the Ark is set
down on the solid stone of Abel. On the altar of sacrifice, on
the solid stone of the truth, the Lamb is offered up And the
stone, the great stone of Abel remains unto this day. It cannot be taken away. Elsewhere
in the scriptures we read in Ephesians that all God's people
are described as stones, as living stones. And Abel is remembered
in the scriptures by this great stone. He won't be moved. Cain tried to destroy him but
he won't be moved, his blood speaks unto this day and he remains
as a great stone, a solid truth, the solid truth that salvation
is by grace alone, through blood alone, through the death of Christ
alone. No matter what men may say, no
matter what men may do, no matter how much religion may rage against
it, no matter how much the flesh might insist upon you working
and striving to please God by your own labor, the truth remains
as a great stone of Abel. a great stone upon which the
ark of God is set, never to be removed, in the field of Joshua,
where the flock is gathered, where the sheep are gathered
in one flock in his field, gathered around the altar, gathered around
the ark, gathered around the great stone of Abel. look in
by faith unto the blood of the Lamb of God by which they all
obtain witness that they are righteous. People may fight against
the truth all they like. You may fight against the truth
of sovereign grace all you like. You may strive to put a burden
upon the people of God. You may seek to have them dig
and sow and plant and gather like Cain did. But God's people
like Abel know that all their hope is in a lamb offered in
their place. All is of grace. All is of God. All is outside of themselves.
and they stand on this truth and they will not be moved from
this truth. They're like stones, great stones,
great stones of Abel, great stones of Abel in the field of Joshua. Slay them if you will, shed their
blood if you will. rise up against them if you will
but there they will remain great stones in the field of Joshua
upon which the ark is set down there they remain in his field
with his flock with the sheep never to be moved there they
stand there the ark stands upon the stone in the field of Joshua
visible to all remaining to this day The blood of which speaks. They remain preached in the gospel
throughout all time from the beginning and to the end. The blood speaking. The blood
of Christ speaking better things than that of Abel. They're gathered
as stones in the field of Joshua and they come by faith. They come by faith to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Amen.