If you have your Bibles, turn
with me to Genesis chapter four. We're gonna read verses nine
through 12 this evening. Our second message on the way
of Cain. Verses nine through 12. Our Lord speaks to Cain after
he has murdered his brother. And the Lord said unto Cain,
where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I
brought 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
tellest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee
her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
most gracious, loving, piteous God, full of mercy and full of
grace. We thank you that we have before
us the clear declaration of your sovereignty and man's depravity,
of your way of salvation and the way of man and the way
of King. We're thankful, Father, that you have not left yourself
without a witness, but have given us this book whereby we can know
and understand what you would have us know and understand concerning
yourself, concerning what we are, and concerning how you save
sinners by your grace. We bless you and thank you. Pray
tonight for those who are sick, those who are infirm, those who
are in trouble. We ask, Lord, your help for them.
for those who requested special prayer, for those of our company,
our brothers and sisters in Christ who have trouble, had gone through
troubles, for Brother Robert, Brother Wayne, Peggy Lambert,
Ethel Conley, for the others who have also requested prayer,
we ask your help for them. For this one has lost this young
child, we ask, Lord, you'd be with her and her family. Be with
us tonight. We've gathered here for the purpose
to worship you in spirit and in truth. But you know our hearts
and our weakness and our frailties. Please remove all that would
inhibit us to seeing who you are and what we are. Cause us
to fall at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, in
thanksgiving and praise for what you've done for us. It's in his
name we pray. Amen. Now last time we saw it, Cain
was manifest as the seed of the serpent, who was a murderer from
the beginning. And again, Cain is revealed tonight
to be that seed in that he lies when confronted about the whereabouts
of his brother. Another title that the Lord gave
the serpent, or Satan, was that he was a liar and the father
of lies. And now Cain proves himself to
be the father's true son, And in this passage, the Lord God
again confronts Cain. This time concerns the murder
that he has committed. And that murder is in the heart
of everyone who has gone the way of Cain, who are wroth with
God concerning the singular way that he accepts sinners by the
blood of a substitute. Over in 1 John chapter three
in verse 11 and 12, John says this, Well, this is the message
that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love
one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew
his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil and his brother's works were righteous. He that hates his brother, according
to 1 John, and according to the word of our Lord Jesus Christ,
he that hates his brother is a murderer in his heart. And it's clearly evident in this
conversation that Cain has no remorse concerning the slaughter
of his sibling, which at the least reveals that he considers
what he did to have been the right thing to do at the time.
That's the language he uses. I don't know where he's at. I'm
not his keeper. I don't know where he's at. I'm not his keeper. The right thing at the right
time is to kill someone. That's what he's saying. The
modern-day interpretation of that would be situation ethics
or values clarification, I suppose. That's how men justify their
behavior. We have seen that these confrontations
are typical of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel
Though ultimately good news to the elect is bad news to the
rebel, but also to the elect it is first a confrontation and
a revelation of sin. We don't begin to understand
the good news until we see by God's grace and God's life-giving
spirit that we actually have offended Him, that we actually
find the gospel adorable and wondrous and beautiful until
we don't see that until we see what we are and we see that also
by the grace of God. One man said the gospel will
mean nothing to you if you do not see yourself as a sinner
and are willing to admit to being whatever the Lord addresses you
as. You've got to do that. When the
Lord said to the Phisero-Phoenician woman that it was not meat to
give the children's bread to dogs, she declared, I'm a dog. I'm a dog. But I'm your dog,
and all I'm asking for is some crumbs off of the master's table. Whether maggot on a dunghill,
liar, lie, vain, lighter than vanity, lost, hopeless, helpless,
impotent, or infidel, is the category which the Lord places
you. I bid you assume it. Assume it, embrace it, or perish
in your sin. God will cross your path where
you are. He'll cross your path where you
are. Now Cain detested any accusation laid against him, and his punishment
would be great. In verse nine, the Lord confronts
Cain again. This is not an inquiry to gain
information from this one who was ordained to this condemnation,
but it's a calling out concerning the murder that he committed.
Where is Abel, thy brother? Where is Abel, thy brother? Now by adding the designation
thy brother, the Lord was adding insult to this crime. It was
not some guy named Abel that he had slain, but it was his
brother, his blood, his sibling born right after him. And Cain
just outright lies to the Lord. He said, I don't know. I know
not. I don't know where he's at. Now he knew where he was.
I don't know whether he had buried him at this time or not, but
he probably had. He said, I don't know. Shakespeare said, conscience
makes cowards of us all. And here conscience does what
it does best. The natural conscience does something
really well. It seeks a way to cover the wrongdoing. I don't know. I don't know where
he's at. This is Cain's fig leaf apron and bush to hide behind. He knew precisely where his brother
was. The serpent seed cannot admit
the truth. It cannot but lie. This is the
epitome of audacity and hubris. And though we cannot hear the
intonation of Cain's voice, what he says next almost surely reveals
a smirk on his face. Am I my brother's keeper? Am
I my brother's keeper? In today's vernacular, we'd say
it's not my job to watch it. Not my job to watch it. This
is unmitigated gall. He is actually blaming God for
his unspeakable act. He is asserting a failure in
God's providence. He is insulting God's sovereignty
just as the man in Romans 9 said, how can God find fault with me
if he made me this way? He is saying that it is God's
job to keep Abel, not his. And like his father blamed his
mother, and like his mother blamed God, the fruit has not fallen
far from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just as the
effort failed with Adam and Eve, it failed with their firstborn.
He lied to God and blamed God for what he had done. The man
she got. the man he got from God was a
murderer I have gotten the man and the man she got was a murderer and beyond all this this all
falls within the framework of Cain being a man ordained to
this common condemnation don't try to figure that out just bow
to God and say It pleased the Lord, even so, Lord, it seemed
good in thy sight. The question that our Lord asked
in verse 10 is an accusation with the emphasis on thou rather
than what. And he said, what hast thou done?
What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me. from the ground what hast thou
done this is proven by the indictment issued by the Lord's next statement
the voice of thy brother's blood cries to me from the ground the
words voice and cry denotes a primal scream that's what it denotes
a loud outcry so this noise reached to the very heavens this blood
of Abel that was sinking into the sands the blood of Abel cried
to be avenged The word blood is actually in the plural, it's
bloods. And it may refer to what progeny
Abel may have produced, but it really applies to all that are
righteous in the sense of Abel's acceptance based on the substitutionary
sacrifice. Many such have paid with their
life's blood for trusting wholly in the merits of Jesus Christ.
The Lord's words to the Pharisees, those who had Satan for a father,
who himself was the murderer and a father of lies, declared
the meaning of the word bloods in our context. Abel's bloods
cry from the ground. Look over at Matthew chapter
23, that great chapter where the Lord deals with and sits
asunder the Pharisee. Matthew chapter 23 in verse 27
He says this woe unto you that is judgment without mercy unto
you scribes and Pharisees your hypocrites are two-faced For
you are like unto whited sepulchers Which indeed appear beautiful
outward but with the inner full of dead men's bone and unclean
you're a whited casket But you're a dead man inside even so you
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you're full of
hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
you hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and
garnish the sepulchers of the righteous. They had actual feasts
and festivities where they would garnish the tombs of Isaiah and
the prophets and men like that and just say, oh, we loved Isaiah.
Isaiah was our man. He was the man that taught us
the truth, and he would say, oh, we love Moses, and we love,
they did that. But our Lord said, our Lord said,
you do that, didn't he? But that's hypocrisy, hypocrisy. I mean, there's a feast, not
a feast, but a celebration in Ohio, I think it is, where they
celebrate Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who was called the Prince of
Preachers. And he was, especially in his early ministry, preached
some really good sermons. Later on not so much, but in the early
days they preached great messages. But they have this day of Spurgeon
where they talk about how great Spurgeon was and not one of them
believed what Spurgeon preached. This is the same way with Isaiah.
These are hypocrites. These are hypocrites. Our Lord
has something to say of them. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees
you hypocrites because you build the tombs of the prophets and
varnish the sepulchres and say well if we had been in the days
of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets if we had been back there we wouldn't have
killed them if we had been Cain we wouldn't have killed Abel
that's what they're saying wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves
ye are the children of them that killeth the prophets fill ye
up then the measure of your fathers Macedos is some strong word.
Just become a murderer and a murderer and a murderer again. You serpents,
you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation
of hell? How can you escape the damnations
in the hell? They can't escape it. Why? Because they're murderers. Just
like Cain was a murderer. He says, wherefore, behold, I
send you to the prophets and wise men and scribes, and some
of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge
in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city, that
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from
the blood of the righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias and
Barakas, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, these things shall come upon this generation.
He brings up Abel, doesn't he? brings up Abel, says that to
the Pharisees. Who are the Pharisees? They are
they that practice exactly what Abel practiced when he made an
offering unto God. They offered their works unto
God as suitable for a righteous standing before God and God says,
you're going to hell for that. It's as simple as that. You look
good, but you stink. You look good. Verse 11, back in our text, so
the result of Cain's crime would result in him being hunted down
and slain by Abel's friends and companions if it was discovered. There's no indication that God
did tell anybody about Cain. And what he did, told us about
it as his word was written by Moses years and years later. But that would be the end of
Cain, no doubt about that. But God doesn't punish him that
way. God doesn't do it an eye for an eye here. He doesn't kill
Cain, though Cain had killed Abel. Look at verse 11. He says, when thou tellest the
ground, it shall not henceforth. Verse 11 says, and now thou art
cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive
thy brother's blood from thy hand. from thy hand." The concept
of capital punishment did not apply at this time because there
was no law concerning it. Where there is no law, sin is
not imputed. The law defines sin and applies
the sentence and the penalty for sin. If you don't have a
law defining something, you cannot charge a person with sin. I saw an interesting thing today,
or maybe read an interesting thing to me, a fella up in New
Hampshire, and I couldn't believe this, the FBI actually used the
word pre-crime. I don't know whether y'all saw
that Tom Cruise movie about pre-crime, but that's kind of a weird thing.
Pre-crime, in other words, somebody decides if you're going to commit
a crime, then they actually act upon you and punish you. That's
something, isn't it? That's something, isn't it? But
that's not lawful. You see, in order for a thing
to be a crime, it must have a law saying it's a crime. And right
now, at this time, there's no law concerning capital punishment.
There's not been a murder yet until this one happened. Now,
there will be such a law that will be applied after the flood.
In Genesis chapter 9 and verse 6, The law sets that in motion. The Lord said, said, Whoso sheddeth
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image
of God made he man. Now that's where the capital
put him. Now we have a law. But back then we don't have a
law. So the punishment is different back then. The punishment allotted
to Cain sets forth, however, rather the grievous condition
of all that follow the way of Cain. the way that has its roots
in the origin of rejection of the way of God the life of the
lost is declared in very simple terms in verses 11 and 12 and
this is the way it needs to be read this is you and me by nature
who by nature had a religion and our religion was the religion
of Cain and now art thou cursed from the earth which hath opened
her mouth to receive thy brother's blood at 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. You might say,
well, I'm not a fugitive, I'm not a vagabond. By nature, that's
exactly what you are. Unless God does something for
you, that's what you'll always be. We know that men and women
who have no interest in Christ often have great success in this
world and the believers should never begrudge them their happiness. David complained about this seeming
happiness of the enemies of God until God revealed to him their
end. Look over Psalm 73. Now David really gets upset. David gets upset when he looks
out. He's having all kinds of troubles. Everything seems to
be happening bad to the children of God. And here out, the men
in the world and women in the world are doing fine. Everything
seems to be really good for them. Truly, God is good to Israel,
even as such of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped.
For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked." Well, there's no bans in their death. Their strength
is firm. They are not in trouble as other
men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore pride compass about
them like a chain violence covered them as a garment their eyes
stand out with fatness They have more than a heart could wish
they're corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak
loftily They set their mouth against the heavens and their
tongue walking through the earth Therefore his people returned
hither and the waters of a full cup are wrung out unto them And
they say how doth God know? And is there knowledge in the
midst of the most high? Does God see in this? Does God
know this? Behold, these are ungodly who prosper in the world.
They increase in riches. Verily, David said, that's not
like me. You see, Lord, I've cleansed
my way. I've cleansed my heart and it's been in vain because
I've not got anything out of it. Does a Christian talk that
way? You better believe he does. You better believe he does. I've
washed my hands in innocency. For all the lay long I've been
plagued. and chastened every morning. Then he gets a little
sense. He says, if I say I will speak
thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy
children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for
me, until I went down into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood
their end. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places, Thou castest them down to destruction. How
are they brought into desolation as a moment? How are they utterly
consumed with terror as a dream when one awaketh? So, O Lord,
when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image. Thus my
heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish
was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me
by thy right hand. Hear that wonderful thing, just
to read those two verses together. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterwards receive me in the glory. Whom have I
in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire but thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast
destroyed all them that go a-whoring from thee. But it is good for
me to draw near to God, and I put my trust in the Lord God, that
I may declare all thy works." He was really upset. Really upset. We know people We have no interest
in God, whatever, and I seem to be doing just great. There
never seems to be any trouble coming our way, and we know as
children of God, it don't seem like nothing but trouble does
come our way. Only the left hand and the right.
But you see, it is the end of the thing that matters. Many
years ago I sat with Henry Mahan, and he told me this. He says,
I hope I end up well. I hope I end up well. I know I started out pretty good.
Well, I hope I end up well. I hope in the end of my days,
I don't deny the Lord Jesus Christ, don't deny his gospel. How a
thing ends is what matters. And the end of those who oppose
God is threefold set forth in our text. Verse 11 and 12. Let's read it
again. And now thou art cursed from
the earth. which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's
blood from thy hand when thou tillest the ground it shall not
henceforth yield unto thee strength a fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth first no matter what is gained in this
world it will never satisfy you and will prove in the end to
be mere sustenance yield till the ground that it won't yield
to you what it could what does that mean? it means that the
food you eat and the water you drink whether imbibed on a yacht
or in a shanty is what keeps you alive and makes it so that
the pauper differs not one whit from the king except for temporary
accessories and that's just a fact the ground is cursed for your
sake it will only make for you a satisfactory survive that's
all it'll be it's all it'll be secondly no matter what is gained
in this world will be left behind you can't take it with you you
can't thirdly this world is not a resting place not a home Those
who follow the way of Cain are fugitives. And this word means
in the original, it doesn't mean on the lamb or running from the
law. It speaks of a state of unease. It literally means to
tremble and quake and suggests a kind of paranoia that makes
for no lasting peace or joy in the world. A kind of a waiting
for the other shoe to drop mentality. Nobody like that, you know. Something
good happens to you, you think, well, something bad's on the
way. Gotta be there. What's that? That's that mindset.
Also, we're called vagabonds in the earth or vagabonds on
the earth. And this means to wander aimlessly, to go to and
fro, to waver or to flutter. This intimates a state of dissatisfaction,
a kind of innate knowledge that there must be more than this.
There must be more than this, a searching but never finding
until it's too late. Look at Luke 16. In Luke chapter 16, beginning
with verse 19, the Lord said, and there was a certain rich
man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously
every day. There was a certain beggar named
Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desired
to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover, the dog came and licked his sores and it came to pass
the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he
lifted up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and
Lazarus in his bosom and he cried father Abraham have mercy on
me and send Lazarus that he may dip The tip of his finger and
water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame
But Abraham said son Remember, oh my son Remember That thou
and thy lifetime receiveth thy good things and likewise Lazarus
evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented beside
all this between us and you there is a great gulf fixed through
that which would pass from hence you cannot neither can they pass
to us that would come from thence." Then he said, too late. He learned something didn't he?
There's some things you learn in the place of torment. I pray
thee therefore father that thou would send him to my father's
house. Send Lazarus to my father's house.
I got five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also
come to this place and told me. Could you do that? Very sumptuously
every day. All this was available to you.
The word of God was available to you. Just like it was available
to Lazarus. It was all there. But you didn't do it. You had
no interest in it. He said, Abraham said unto him,
well they got what you had. They got Moses and the prophets. Who did Moses and the prophets
speak of? All the Moses and the prophets gave witness to Jesus
Christ according to scripture. They got Moses and the prophets,
let them hear him. And he said, no, no, too late. No, Father Abraham, but if one
went into them from the dead, they will repent. Now one did
rise from the dead. And he said unto him, If they
hear not the law and the prophets, which is all that they had at
this time, they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded, though one is raised from the
dead. This is the lot of those who
follow Cain, who follow the way of Cain. Jude talked about Cain
a great deal. I've quoted him a few times.
Look over at Jude. And Jude verse 19 says, excuse
me, verse 11 brother. Jude verse 11 says this, woe
unto them for they have gone the way of Cain and ran greedily
after the way of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying
of Korah. Now we know that all three of those represented those
who don't agree with God, but agree with the ways of Cain.
Well, what are the people of Cain like? Well, they are spots
in your feasts of charity. They don't ruin your love. When
they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, clouds
they are without water. carried about by the winds, trees
whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up
by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own
shame, wandering stars, to whom reserve the blackness of darkness.
And Enoch, also the seventh from Adam, prophesied these, said,
Behold, The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to
execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them of their ungodly deeds, that they may have ungodly committed,
and of their hard speeches, which ungodly sinner hath spoke again."
Four times the word ungodly is used in that one sentence. These
are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their
mouths speaketh great swelling words, having men's person in
their admiration because of advantage. But beloved, remember ye the
words which the Lord before spoke to the apostles, how he told
you that there would be such markers and markers in your day.
Now here's the question that this passage of scripture brought
to my mind as I read it, studied it, and thought about it. Do you have hope beyond this
veil of tears. It's a question you need to ask
yourself. Do you have hope beyond this veil of tears, this world?
You are in the world, we are in the world, but are we of the
world? John said love not the world,
but the things of the world. The lust of the eyes, the lust
of the flesh, the pride of life. These things are of the world.
They're not of God. And they're gonna pass away. But he that
doeth the will of God abideth forever. Do you have hope beyond
this world? If you're not, you're a child
of Cain. And too late, you'll realize it. It's just that simple. Am I my brother's keeper? Maybe
ought to be. Father bless us to our understanding
in Christ's name. Amen.