Accepted By the Blood

Q: What does the Bible say about redemption by blood?

The Bible teaches that blood atonement is essential for redemption, as seen in verses like Leviticus 17:11 and Hebrews 9:22. Redemption by blood is a central theme in Scripture, emphasizing that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Leviticus 17:11 states, 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.' This principle is reiterated in Hebrews 9:22, which affirms that 'without the shedding of blood there is no remission.' In the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), God illustrates the necessity of blood sacrifice for acceptance, rejecting Cain's bloodless offering in favor of Abel's lamb, which represents Christ's ultimate sacrifice for sin. This sets a precedent for the whole sacrificial system that demands a blood offering for atonement.

Q: How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Salvation by grace is affirmed throughout Scripture, illustrating that it is a gift from God, not a result of our works. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone is foundational to Reformed theology and is affirmed in several Scripture passages. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states, 'For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.' This highlights the truth that salvation is entirely the work of God, emphasizing our inability to earn favor through our own efforts. Furthermore, the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis illustrates this separation between acceptance by works (Cain) and acceptance by grace through faith (Abel). Abel brought a blood sacrifice out of faith, recognizing his need for atonement, while Cain's reliance on his works led to rejection. Thus, Scripture repeatedly validates the truth that salvation is a gracious act of God, independent of human merit.

Q: Why is the blood of Christ significant for Christians?

The blood of Christ is significant because it serves as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, ensuring reconciliation between God and humanity. The significance of the blood of Christ cannot be overstated in Christian theology. The blood serves as the ultimate sacrifice that fulfills the requirements of God's justice and mercy. Romans 5:9 states, 'Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.' This underscores the belief that it is through Christ's blood that we are justified and made right with God. Moreover, Christ himself, as the Lamb of God, signifies the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system, where blood was required for atonement. The significance is further highlighted in Hebrews 10:14, which proclaims, 'For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.' Thus, the blood of Christ not only provides forgiveness but also seals the New Covenant, marking the believer's acceptance before God.

Q: What lessons can we learn from the story of Cain and Abel?

The story of Cain and Abel teaches that true acceptance before God comes through faith and obedience, not through works. The account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 serves as a profound lesson on the nature of worship and acceptance by God. Abel's offering was accepted because it was brought in faith according to God's command, typifying the coming of the ultimate sacrifice in Christ. In contrast, Cain's offering, which was based on his own efforts and abstained from the required blood, signifies the futility of attempting to earn favor with God through works. This story establishes the principle that there are essentially two ways to approach God: the way of grace, as exemplified by Abel, and the way of works, represented by Cain. It teaches us that one must recognize their own sinful condition and rely on God’s provision for atonement through the blood of His Son. Thus, the interaction between these two brothers sets forth a timeless dichotomy in how humanity approaches God and the necessity for faith in God’s established means of redemption.

I was preaching for a pastor
down in below Raleigh, North Carolina, a few years ago. And
we had some visitors there from pretty far away. And he was introducing
the people, telling where they were from. Some had come a long
way. And he said, I'm really not surprised that you're here.
having come from so far, because he said a sheep will go a long
ways for a little clover. I was thinking about that when
Brother John Flannery was singing, reading God's Word and praying
for us. John and Esther are a great blessing
to this church. We're so delighted to have John
and the Cookie Monster here. That's what I call her. She makes
the best cookies around. Dear, dear, dear folks, I met
John a long time ago. I met him as a sheep who had
come a long way for a little clover. This was back in 1954. That's 35 years ago. John's a
Californian. You say, what's he doing in Kentucky?
Gospel. Gospel. how far sheep will come
for clover, 33,000 miles. But anyway, in 1954, I was pastor
over here on Blackman Avenue, and we decided to have, I was
in contact with Brother Ralph Barnard, Brother A.D. Mews, Brother
B.B. Carwell, but the man behind the
scenes was Brother I.C. Herringdean, Puengo, Pennsylvania,
who published Arthur Pink's books. He was Pink's early, early, early
friend, way back in the 20s, I guess, John. He published,
the first publisher of The Sovereignty of God, as I see Herringdean.
He and John were good friends. In fact, Brother Herringdean
knew everybody in the United States who believed in The Sovereignty
of God. Back then you could know them
all because of what that meant. You could about name the preachers,
maybe one hand or two at the most, who were preaching the
gospel of God's grace and glory. I was trying to preach it here.
In fact, a pastor from Oregon called Brother C.D. Cole, some
of you are familiar with the late Dr. C.D. Cole, and asked
him to come to Oregon and preach a meeting. This was in 52, 53, somewhere in there. And Cole
told him he was too old to make that long a trip. And the pastor
out there said, well, there's nobody out here that I know preaching
the gospel of God's grace, and I need to have somebody out here
to help me teach these people who God is. Now, God save Henry,
then. C.D. Cole, whom I'd never met,
but like I say, if you preach grace, it got out on you back
then. C.D. Cole, whom I'd never met, told
that pastor on the phone, said, there's a fella named Mahan in
Ashland, Kentucky, who preaches the same thing I do. Have him
come out. He's real young. And so I did. I flew out to Oregon and preached,
and that man's been my friend. That opened up the out there. But anyway, we had that conference
here at Pollard Baptist Church in 54. And John came driving in from
California. He and Brother Bierbauer, Brother
Stark, they came the farthest of anybody. We had preachers
from 17 states here. And that's where I met John Flanding,
and we've been friends, and he's been a faithful supporter of
this ministry for all those years, until he moved here a few years
ago to spend these days with us. And we appreciate you. I appreciate faithfulness. I
appreciate loyalty, dedication. I brought a message at Rose Clark's
funeral this morning, which I'm not going to re-over, I'm not
going to re-preach it, A couple of points in there, it says when
God speaks of Abraham, Noah, Abel, Enoch, he said they died
in faith. They died in faith. They persevered,
they believed God, and they died believing God. And I tell you,
that's, I hope as Jim Eccles said, that can be said of all
of us here tonight. We die in the faith. Continue
in the faith. Continue in the faith. Don't
go back. If they were mindful of that
country, they could have gone back. But they were looking for
a city. They had their eyes on one goal,
the kingdom of God. And something else about them,
they died. They died. Faith didn't keep
them from dying, did it? Faith don't keep you from hurting,
Tom, or getting sick or dying. It keeps you from sin, keeps
you out of hell. It won't keep you from dying.
But these people, now watch this, this is the point I wanted to
make and stress more than any other. They died in faith. They never got beyond faith.
They didn't die in perfection, they died in faith. They didn't die having received
the second blessing and got beyond faith. You don't ever get beyond
faith. We walk not by sight, but by
faith. I started the cross, and I'm
going to die at the cross. I started to feed of Christ,
and I'm going to die at the feed of Christ. Lord willing. I started
this journey believing Him, and I'll die believing Him. I started
Christ as my only hope, and when I die, He'll still be my only
hope. I never get beyond faith. They never did. Abraham never
got beyond faith. Never did. I hope when all of
us are 75 years old, if God lets us live that long, that we, like
this dear man who just sang for us and read for us and prayed
for us, are still as thrilled over the gospel as he is right
now. I told Iris and Paul, some of us were having lunch, and
Ronnie and Trish, and I said, I left to pick out folks in the
congregation and preach to them. A lot of you. I'd like to look
you in the eye and preach to you. You know why? Because you'd
agree with me. That's right. I look over at
John, big tears would be in his eyes, you know, and he'd be nodding
his head. That's like saying, sick him to a bulldog. That's right. A pit bull, Reggie. All right, let's turn to Genesis
chapter 4 tonight. Genesis chapter 4. But I just want to keep reminding
you how much I appreciate you. When I'm out of town and the
mail comes in from the television, it stacks up if it's not answered.
And Martha answers it faithfully. And I answer the ones. When I
come back, I read them all. but then I answer the ones that
require my answer. But in reading them sometimes,
these faithful people, we have some folks that have supported
this television ministry for years and years, haven't we?
I could stand here and name a number, Pearl Ellis and Garnet Kinkowski
and Nona Evans and Dr. Pearson and just different ones,
and when I get a letter, Martha may have already written and
thanked them, and we thank everybody who sends anything here to help
on this television program. It's a personal, we don't send
a memograph card either, we write them and thank them. But sometimes
I'll take the letter she's already written and I'll say, now Martha's
already written to you, but here's another one, I just want you
to know, you're never taken for granted. Never taken for granted. God meets our need, but He meets
our need through His people. Let's not ever take anybody for
granted, and their generosity and their kindness. And I don't
take you for granted. I just want you to know that,
every one of you. In Genesis 4, let's read some
scripture here. Genesis 4-1, and Adam knew Eve,
his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain. And she said, the
man from the Lord. And she again bared his brother
Abel, and Abel was the keeper of sheep, but Cain was the 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. That's strange language, isn't
it? It doesn't. An offering unto the Lord, the
fruit of the ground. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstling 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." Notice the men were not separated
from their offering. He said to Cain and his offering,
no respect. Abel and his offering, acceptance. Don't forget that right there.
But under Cain and his offering he had not respect, and Cain
was very angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to Cain,
Why are you wrought? Why are you angry? Why has your
countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not
be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies
at the door 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. The Lord
said to Cain, Where is Abel, thy brother? He said, I know
not him. I am thy 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 hands. When thou tillest the ground,
it shall not his fourth yield unto thee, her strength. Fugitive
and a vagabond shall thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto
the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear." Now, we've
been influenced in our minds by pictures, religious pictures. We're influenced a whole lot
more than we think. I talked about this not long
ago, about how subtle this thing is and how we're influenced by
forces of which we're not aware. And pictures and children's Bible
storybooks, and I never buy a Bible with pictures in it. You're even influenced by those
pictures in your Bible. People already pick it up, see
the pictures. And these pictures in Bible storybooks have given
us a totally unrealistic view of the first family, the first
family, Adam and Eve and their sons and daughters. You see,
in all these pictures, you've never seen one that wasn't like
this. You have Adam and Eve and two sons. That's all. Adam and Eve and
two sons. One of these, Cain, one Abel,
one was killed and that left them only one son, a fugitive,
a vagabond. And then it comes along and says
when Adam was 130 years old, she bore Seth. And the pictures
and storybooks leave the impression that Adam and Eve had no children
besides Cain and Abel, and 130 years later they had Seth. This
is totally unrealistic. John Wesley's mother had 19 children. I have a friend down in the Yucatan,
Rutilio, pastor at Yobain, who has 20 himself, just one man. You see, actually, someone said
this. He said by the time that Seth
was born, look over here in Genesis 5, verse 4. Verse 3, Genesis
5, 3. And Adam lived 130 years and
begat a son in his own likeness after his image and called his
name Seth. That almost gives us the impression that that's
all the children he had was Cain and Abel and Seth. Actually,
I wouldn't offend the ladies, but the birth of females is not
even mentioned in the Bible. Generally not even mentioned.
Most men are not mentioned. a few of them that God intends
to deal with or deal through specifically, but the girl babies
weren't mentioned at all. Cain may not have been their
first child. He was the first man child. There
is absolutely no scripture anywhere in the Bible that says Cain was
the first baby born, the first man child. It doesn't say Abel
was the second child. Not at all. You're going to see
in a moment why God chose these two. But one person said this,
there's a good possibility, Adam and Eve being so healthy, so
strong, he lived 900 years, that he may have had, right here in
Genesis 5, verse 4, in the days of Adam, after he'd beget Seth,
800 years. And he'd beget sons and daughters.
He'd just start begetting children when he was 130. Someone said
by the time Seth was born, Adam probably had 32,000 descendants. Figure it up sometime. Probably
had 32,000 descendants by the time Seth was born. And so we have a totally unrealistic
view of the first family. You see, Cain was the first man
child. Look here at verse 1. Adam knew
Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore a king. It does not
say this is the first time he knew her, nor the first time
she bore a child. It says she bore this child and
she said, now I've gotten a man from the Lord. Probably already
had a daughter, two or three or four, who knows? But I've
gotten a man. And Eve thought she had the Messiah. That's who she was looking for.
She wasn't looking for a girl baby. She was looking for Messiah. Because God, after the fall,
when they were still in the garden, God said, the seed of woman will
bruise the serpent's head. And she knew that wasn't a girl.
She knew that was a man. And this was a first man child.
When she bore that little boy and saw him for the first time,
a boy, her eyes brightened, her heart lifted, her voice sang,
I got him! I got the seed of woman, I got
the man-child, I got the Messiah!" Well, it wasn't. Her heart was
elated, but later on he'd break her heart. She thought she had
the man that God sent. But you see what the Lord is
doing here, I'm confident of this, and I hope you understand,
this will take care of a lot of questions about When Cain
killed Abel and God said he'd be a fugitive and he went off
into the land and they knew his wife and so forth and all these
questions, well where did he get a wife and all these things,
you know. There were a lot of children in that family. They
married, intermarried, had to. And they're both children, they
were just, they were, this world was, in this vicinity was populated
pretty well. They were everywhere. But God
singled out these two sons of Adam, and you're going to see
a particular reason. He singled them out to teach
right away at the beginning. See, we just left back here in
chapter 3, the garden, in the scripture. I don't know how many
years passed from chapter 3 to chapter 4, maybe several years,
who knows? But anyway, God has singled out
here at the beginning these two men to teach right away redemption
by the blood. That's what we're teaching. Redemption
by blood. God said, I have given you the
blood upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul. It's
the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Paul said, without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission. And God starts
out right here, right after chapter 3, beginning with chapter 4,
and takes two brothers. and illustrates and teaches redemption
by blood, blood, blood, blood sacrifice alone. That's what
he's doing. Secondly, to condemn salvation
by works. That's the two-fold purpose of
this story here that occupies nearly a page in God's Word,
this encounter between two brothers. Peter said, we're not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold. from our
vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers, but
with a precious blood of Christ." Now, the crossroads here are
established early. The crossroads are established
early. The way of Abel is the way of
grace, the way of free grace, the way of redemption by blood.
The way of Cain is the way of works, human merit and human
flesh. There are only two religions
in this world, ever have been but two religions. One is acceptance
by my works, the other is acceptance by grace. One is acceptance by
my deeds, the other is acceptance by Christ's person and his deeds. That's the only two religions.
You can call them Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopal
or whatever. I read in the paper the obituary
the other night talking about some dear one who had died and
said she was of the Presbyterian faith. Well, there's only one
faith, and that's faith in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ, or faith
in your works. Faith in Christ, or faith in
your flesh. And that's what God's establishing
right away. Now get this clear. This is so
important, what I'm about to say. Another thing about these
pictures. The picture of Cain and Abel
is kids. These weren't kids. These weren't
young boys here. Cain and Abel weren't young boys.
They were heads of households, or they wouldn't have been offering
a sacrifice. Is that not correct? If they
had been at home, Adam would have been offering the sacrifice.
You see, this is the thing that Esau sold was his birthright.
The head of the home, the priest of the home, the one who offers
the sacrifice, the one who comes to God for his family. And these
two men, Cain and Abel, weren't boys. Cain was a farmer, and
a good one, too. And Abel was a shepherd, and
a good one, too. And they had families. They had
families. They were family men. They were
heads of household. They were men of occupation.
You can just mark that down, or they would not have been building
altars offering sacrifices. Isaac wasn't going up the mountain
to offer the sacrifice, he was going with his 110-year-old daddy
who was going to offer the sacrifice. The Bible always deals with representation
now, and we need to remember that. We get too free and loose
with this thing. We've got a high priest with
somewhat to offer. You don't just bust into God's
presence. I wonder whoever gave us the
idea that just anything goes, you know, anything goes with
God just so it looks good. You talk about a chain of command.
You talk about an order of things. God has an order of things. And
there's one great high priest, and you come through him or you'll
perish. There's one offering, there's one sacrifice, there's
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one mediator. One. Another thing
about these boys, is they had been instructed about how to
approach the Lord. Just like when Isaac walked up
the mountain with his father, he turned to him and said, here's
the wood, here's the fire, where's the lamb? Abraham had taught
Isaac well that you don't worship God without a blood sacrifice,
and these men knew that. And as the head of households,
these two men came to worship. They came to appear before God. And they brought their sacrifices,
they brought their offerings, one was the sacrifice. They brought
their offerings before the Lord and Abel brought the lamb and
Cain brought his works. That's what it says, doesn't
it? Read it. Verse 3, in the process of time it came to pass
that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to
the Lord. Now what was wrong with Cain's
offering? What was he built? I'm sure he built an elaborate
altar. I'm sure he gave great care and
great pain for erecting a beautiful altar before the Lord. And he
came to worship. He acknowledged there was a God.
He came to worship. He built an altar and he brought
an offering. And in our modern generation
and modern theology, that's all it needs to be. Maybe he was
sincere. But there were several things
wrong with his offering. First of all, it was a bloodless
sacrifice. This is the whole foundation
of his era. It's a bloodless sacrifice. And
in bringing a bloodless sacrifice, first of all, there are five
things about his offering. First of all, he rejected the
Word of God. The Word of God plainly says
it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Is that not clear?
It's the blood. It's not the water. It's not
the time. It's not the law. It's the blood.
And the very first thing that Abel did, he rejected the Word
of God. I don't know how to emphasize
this. I try to emphasize it wherever I go. And we make much here of
the Word of God. We've already read two chapters
tonight. One in the study there, one out
here, and now another one, part of it, for the message here.
What we have to say is just to help people understand what He
is saying. That's what our preaching and
teaching is. I wrote that set of commentaries, and we're going
to have them printed in French, which they did, but the first
thing Bill Clark did, he approached some men in France, some preachers,
some highly intelligent, supposedly well-thought-out preachers, and
he presented my commentary, and he asked them to read it, and
wanted it printed in French and distributed, and wanted them
to be the distributors. And they rejected it. And this
was the reason they gave. They said, well, all he says
is what the Bible says. Now, you think about that. All he says is what the Bible
says. That's all I've got a right to say is what the Bible says.
We can't go beyond the Scripture. This was Cain's first mistake. He blatantly, willingly rejected
the Word of God. God said, it's the blood. Secondly,
he denied he was a sinner. You say, how can you say he denied
he's a sinner? The wages of sin is death. And when Cain refused to bring
a dead, a dying substitute, he's saying, I don't believe the wages
of my sin is death. He's saying, I'm not a sinner.
He's saying, I don't deserve death. See, this is what we're
saying. We're justifying God in this matter of redemption.
When we come to God, and we say that the one hanging on the tree,
This is what John sang about. I saw one hanging on a tree in
agony and blood. Well, he didn't deserve that.
Well, why is he there? He's there for me. I deserved it. I should
have been crucified. And I'm saying that he's my hope
because in him I died and I deserve to die. And Cain is bringing
the fruit to the field. He's saying it's lovely things
God requires. It's beautiful things God requires.
It's thoughtful acts. It's the work of my hands, it's
the striving of this flesh, you know, and God looks with favor
on it. In the flesh, well, it's no good thing. Nothing you bring
to God is beautiful. Everything we bring to God is
corrupted, tainted, and spoiled by sin. So he denied he was a sinner.
He denied the need of death and atonement. And another thing
he did, watch this, I see this, he denied the need of a mediator.
Now, we go to God through Christ, our great high priest, who has
somewhat to offer that will satisfy divine wrath and satisfy divine
justice and honor the divine law. But Abel is saying, I don't
need that mediator. I'll be my mediator. Isn't that
what he's saying? I'll be my priest. I don't need
a priest. But I'll tell you, this sinner does. And I'm going
to wait outside mercy's door while He goes in in my place,
in my stead, bearing His blood to put on the mercy seat of glory
and atone for my sins. And I'm going to wait until the
Father says, I accept Him, I raise Him from the dead, I receive
Him, I take Him to glory and seat Him, and He's going to open
the door and say to me, you can come in now. You can come in. And that's all
I do is just come in. I don't bring nothing. See what
I'm saying? You can come in now. And that's
my hope, believe me. You say, I mean, all this preaching
you've done and this, nothing. As if I hadn't said a word, preached
a sermon, witnessed one, walked one step or one word. Nothing
I've ever done has pleased God Almighty. There's nothing I've
ever said, done, or thought with which God can look upon it with
any favor. But everything Christ did, found
favor with God. And I'm in Him. But Cain's saying,
I don't need that mediator. I don't need that high priest.
And then fourthly, here's another thing wrong with Cain's offering.
He was proud of what he had done. Evidently, he was a pretty good
farmer. I just bet you, Tom, he was a farmer and a hag. I
bet you those biggest watermelons laying on that altar anybody's
ever raised. And I bet you he didn't go out and pick out the
mangy, moldy ones. He picked out the best ones,
the best fruit and vegetables, and he was flat-dab proud of
it. He was proud of it. He found
great satisfaction in his efforts. He brought it to God. He said,
I'm good and I know it. I'm able, I'm capable, and I
recognize it. He came to God that way. But
he was rejected. Now watch, I called your attention
to this a moment ago. It says here in verse 3, In the
process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit
of the ground an offering to the Lord, and Abel he also brought
of the fresh thing of the flower and the fat thereof. And the
Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering. But under Cain
and his offering, you can't separate the two. You are what you believe. That's all this, that's the way
God's going to deal with you, that's the way God's going to
judge you. Here came Cain with his offering, the wrong one,
coming in his pride, in his denial of his sinnerhood and all these
things, and he brought it. And he was judged totally, completely
before God on the basis of what he believed and what he offered.
And when God threw the offering out, he threw Cain out. When
God turned His back on the offering and turned His back on Cain,
they lived and died together. And I'm saying this, when Cain
brought his blood sacrifice and his lamb, God saw Christ. And He brought the offering to
his heart, and when He did, He brought Abel with Him. Abel and
his offering. That's right. And I know, I know
there's people, I know, I recognize more and more as I get older,
the seriousness of it. We've got an idea that things
are just going to be different there. They're not going to be
different. A man is what he believes. And whatever, if he comes, if
he comes in Christ, and that's what we dealt with Sunday morning.
If you be circumcised, Christ profits you nothing. If you keep
the Sabbath, Christ profits you nothing. If you tithe, if you
do all these things in any way as As a reason to be accepted
of God, you've got to stand on your offering. And if God takes
it, He'll take you. If He turns it down, He'll turn
you down. And I'll tell you, the only offering God can receive
is a perfect holiness. And you don't have it. But He
does. Isn't that beautiful the way
that thing is written there? To Cain and his offering. To
Cain and his offering. God had no respect. But to Abel
and his offering, Abel and his offering, he can't separate it.
God had respect. Well, why did God have respect
to Abel's offering? Let's see. Well, first of all,
it was offered in faith. Works didn't have anything to
do with it. Over there in Hebrews 11, the writer of Hebrews said, by
faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than King. And God
accepted it. And even now, being dead, he
yet speaks and yet spoken of. He believed God. Now what's this?
Let's correct our language. The devil believes in God. I
hear people say, well, I believe in one God. The devil believes
in one God. Abraham didn't believe in God.
He believed God. You say you're splitting hierarchy.
I ain't no such thing." Now, no such thing. No such thing. The whole world believes there's
a God. It's only the fool who says there's no God. Why believe
in God? Well, you do well, James says,
the devil believes that. But Abraham believed God, and
the first thing about Abel's offering, he brought bread because
he believed God. He believed God. He just flat
believed God. Whatever God said, he believed.
And then secondly, his offering typified Jesus Christ. He brought
a lamb. Christ is the Lamb of God. The
innocent die for the guilty. The lamb was without sin. Christ
is without sin. The lamb was slain. He didn't
bring a live lamb on the altar. He slew the lamb, shed its blood,
and laid it on the altar. He brought a lamb that had died. and blood had been shed, and
he took that lamb and laid it on that altar and put the fire
under it and burned its body. And that, when Abel stands back
yonder 4,000 years before Christ, and did what God told him to
do, never mind what his brothers were doing with all this paraphernalia
and running about and much ado and fancy offering and all that
sort of thing. He just didn't pay any attention. He brought
over here what God said, because he believed God. He knew he was
a sinner. And he brought a lamb, and he
watched the fire burn the body and consume the body of that
lamb. And he looked in there by faith, and he said, my sins
deserve death. My sins deserve the fire of God's
wrath. My sins deserve to be consumed. And someday, God will send a
Savior. I don't know how, I don't know
when, but I just know He will. And I'm going to keep bringing
my lamb until he sends that lamb of God. That's what those Old
Testament people believe. We believe the same thing. You know, you talk about justifying
God. Two scriptures turn to Psalm
51. Abel justified God. That's, I
tell you, and I never heard anybody preach this, Back yonder when
I was growing up, and I don't hear them now, I don't hear anybody
talking about justifying God. God's got to do something for
Himself before He can do anything for you. Abraham said to Isaac, God will
provide Himself a lamb. The lamb didn't die to get you
to feel sorry for Him, or for God, or for Jesus, or anybody
else, or for yourself. The lamb died as an offering
to God. He died before the Lord. He died
to satisfy God's requirements, and Jesus Christ didn't die to
get your attention. He didn't die to win your sympathy
or to gain your pity. He died that God might be justified. And that's what David's saying
here in Psalm 51 forward, against thee. And thee only have I sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that you might be justified when
you speak, and clear when you judge. When God condemns you, is He
just? If God sent you to hell, would
He be just? You better justify God. And that's
what Abel did when he brought Thulami, justified God's wrath
against sin. That's too extreme, preacher.
That's too harsh. Blood, blood. I don't want to
hear anything about blood. Slaughterhouse religion. Well, I'll tell you,
a thread of red runs through this book. The trail of blood,
I mean the real one, I ain't talking about the Baptist church,
I'm talking about the blood of Christ. Starts in Genesis and
goes to Revelation 22. You look over here at Luke 7,
here's one more scripture about this business of justifying God.
I don't care what he says, he's just. I don't care how he deals
with us, he's still just. If he sends us to hell, he'll
be just. If he takes us to heaven, he'll
be just because he'll take us there in Christ. But I'm going
to be saved not only by mercy but by justice. That's right. I'm going to be saved by justice.
Jesus Christ took all that was due me and I'm justified. Look here at Luke 7 verse 29.
And all the people that heard him and the publicans justified
God being baptized with the baptism of John. They walked down in
the water and said, we're sinners, we deserve to die. We'll be buried
in baptism as Christ is crucified and raised. We deserve to die. That's what they're saying, baptism
of repentance. But, what says the Pharisees, the religious,
the moral, the law keepers, the legalists, the intellectuals,
they rejected the counsel of God against themselves. They wouldn't justify God. They
said, we're not sinners. The first step a man takes toward
heaven is not when he believes on Jesus, it's when he believes
he needs Jesus. That's when he takes the first
step. You don't move an inch toward the Kingdom of God until
you know you're a sinner. Because then you'll start looking
the right way. You'll quit looking here and looking there and looking
yonder and looking wherever else for some help. You'll start looking
at the only source of help there is, looking to Him. Let's go
back to our text and see the results of all this. What's going
to happen? Cain came by works. Cain came
by flesh. Cain came by his own righteousness. Cain sought acceptance in what
he did. He thought he'd deal with God himself. He didn't need
a mediator. He didn't need a substitute.
He didn't need the blood. He just met God on his own grounds.
Abel over here came empty-handed, confessing his sins with no hope,
no help, looking to the crucified substitute, the bleeding lamb,
the burning body, the roasted lamb. Well, God rejected Cain
and his offering. God accepted Abel with his offering. All right, but Cain, verse 6,
verse 5, and Gain was angry, and his countenance fell. He
was depressed and angry. You see, the religion of merit
and works and flesh is depressing. It yields no comfort. It yields
no peace and no rest. Men go about their ceremonies
and the details and duties of their ceremony, but they don't
find any rest or any peace. It's always turmoil and anger
and depression. His countenance fell. And he became angry. And this
is what I find wherever we go with this message. King wasn't
angry with himself as he ought to have been. He ought to have
been angry with himself, John. He ought to have said, I'm a
fool. He looked over there where Abel was, and God accepted Abel
and accepted his offering. And he refused his efforts. He
refused his works. And he should have been angry
with himself. Well, I played the fool. I played the fool. I've gone against God's Word.
I've gone against what my daddy taught me. I've gone against
everything that's preached to me. My brother's right. I've
been a fool. God helped me. I'm a fool. No. He got mad at
God. He was angry with God. He was
angry with his brother. Instead of looking to his own
heart and finding his trouble, he ran it against Abel. Paul said to one church, he said,
and this is what happens, you get up and you preach, you just
read the Word of God. About God's sovereign insalvation
and man's lost condition, inability, and you come to the unable sinner
and you say, now don't despair. There's help, there's a crucified
Lord, there's a Redeemer, God's plenteous in mercy, he will save,
he's able to save, he will be gracious, he will be gracious. And they said, we won't have
that, they get mad. And Paul said, have I become your enemy
because I tell you the truth? Does that make me your enemy? And here Abel has told Cain the
truth, and he's his enemy. And instead of repenting, instead
of coming to God, he could have, couldn't he? Well, certainly
he could have. Instead of that, look at this.
Why are you angry, God said, Cain? Why are you angry? If you
do well, you'll be accepted. Won't you be accepted? And that's
what I say to whoever may be hearing this tape. You all know
it here, but wherever it may be played, I say, you know, don't
be angry with God. God's still God. Redemption's
not a debatable issue. There's no contest between grace
and works. It's all of grace, it's all of
works. No question about what God should
do or God will do or God must do. He'll do what He will do.
Let's just believe the Word of God. Don't ask for an explanation. Redemption's a matter of revelation.
Find out what God Almighty says. Find out what God Almighty's
will to do. Why, he said, if you do well,
you'd be accepted, but if you don't do well, sin lies at your
own door. You've got to face your own sins.
There's no sin at the door of Abel if sin's put away. Your
sin's at your door. That's your door. And Cain talked
with Abel, his brother. Now watch this. It came to pass
that when they were in the field, Cain rose up and slew him. The
first blood ever shed. on this earth. There's been a
lot of it shed. Been a lot of it shed. Been a lot of bleeding
and dying on this earth. A lot of wars and a lot of conflicts,
a lot of bleeding and dying, a lot of anger, a lot of murders.
But the first blood, the first drop of blood ever shed from
a human body on this earth was shed at the hands of a man of
works, hating the grace of God.

Accepted By the Blood

What does the Bible say about redemption by blood?

How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Why is the blood of Christ significant for Christians?

What lessons can we learn from the story of Cain and Abel?

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About Henry Mahan

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Accepted By the Blood

What does the Bible say about redemption by blood?

How do we know salvation by grace is true?

Why is the blood of Christ significant for Christians?

What lessons can we learn from the story of Cain and Abel?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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