[Have
you ever noticed that in the early morning when you
go out to get your newspaper your shadow is long and
somewhat distorted? Then later in
the morning as the sunrises you notice that your shadow is shorter but
more defined. Then when
high noon comes and the sun is directly overhead your shadow disappears
altogether and you are left standing in the brightest light possible.
]
[That is what happened in the Bible as God revealed
the Blood atonement.
The Bible tells us in the New Testament that the thing that happened in
the Old Testament we shadows of things to come.]
[In order for there to be a shadow there must be a
light and then there must be some object upon which the light is
shinning. The light is the
revelation of God given through His holy Scriptures.
The object is the Lord, Jesus Christ.
But at the dawn of God's revelation those shadows are not very
distinct nor very clear.
Then as the sun of God's revelation continues to rise then the shadow of
those truths become more distinct and more clear.
Until we get to the high noon of the Gospels and there stands
Jesus and the shadows are gone.]
[The forth chapter of Genesis is written to tell us
that God is to be worshiped.
It also tells us that there is a right way and a wrong way to
worship God.]
[Jesus said, ]
[John
4:23-24
23 But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God
is a Spirit: and they
that worship him
must worship
him in spirit and in
truth. ]
[This tells us that:]
-
[Some people worship God, but they are not in the spirit.
]
-
[Others worship God but they are not in the truth of God's Word.]
[Notice in this text the difference between:]
-
[Biblical Worship and Biblical Salvation.]
-
[False Worship and False Salvation.]
[Cain was a farmer so he worshipped God by bringing of
the fruit of the ground.
Abel was a shepherd so he worshipped God by bringing
an animal; he sacrificed the lamb and worshipped God with shed blood.]
A.
The Contrast Of Their Worship (vs
3-4; John 14.6; Acts 4.12) [- All religion is not the same.
Somehow we are thought un-American if we don't just place our
arms around every other belief and accept them as just as good as our
way. There is but
one way to worship God and that is God's way.]
[Jesus is not just a good way to heaven, Jesus
is not even the best way to heaven, Jesus Christ is the only way to
heaven.]
[Jesus
Said,]
[John
14:6
. . . I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.]
[Acts 4:12 12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. ]
["If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven,
then Jesus Christ is non of the ways to heaven.
If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, then Jesus is a
faker, fraud, sham, and a charlatan; because He claimed to be something
He is not. And a faker,
fraud, sham and a charlatan is no bodies savior."]
1.
The Worship of Cain
(vs 3; Gen 3.17-19; 4.5; Heb
9.22; Titus 3.5; Gal 5.4; Jude 1.11; Rom 4.5; 5.1) [-
And in process of time it came to
pass, that Cain brought
of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the LORD. - Remember, God
had said, cursed is the ground,]
[Genesis 3:17-19
17 And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of
it:
cursed
is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat
of it all the days of
thy life; 18 Thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb
of the field;
19
In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou
art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.]
[Cain
must have been a good, hard working farmer.
Thank God for good hard working farmers. After Cain had worked
hard. He took the best that
he had. The best
vegetables, the best fruits and took them and spread them before the
Lord. It must have looked
like a county fair with all those wonderful foods.]
[But God did not accept Cain's offering,]
[Genesis 4:5
5
But unto Cain
and to his offering he [God]
had not respect. . . . ]
[Cain should have understood the
most basic
principle of worship.
That principle is that we can only approach God on the basis
of the blood atonement.]
[Hebrews 9:22 . . .
and without
shedding of blood is no remission.]
[You
have heard the age old saying, "You just can't get blood from a
turnip."]
[Salvation by
Works - Cain's offering represents a salvation of works,
which is that we can bring the best that we can do and that is good
enough for God. Salvation
by works has as it motivation that one can work this salvation thing out
in their way and on their terms.
This is the old, “Its my way or the highway” mentality.]
[Titus 3:5
Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost;]
[We
love to divide things up.
We divide:]
a.
[Religion - We say there is Christianity, Confusionism, Mohammadism,
Buddism, Taoism, and rummatism.]
b.
[Christianity - Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalians, Assemblies of
God, etc . . .]
[There are only really two divisions of
religion. They are, ]
a.
[Salvation by works ]
b.
[Salvation by grace.]
["Cain represents a salvation by works,
where he tries to be right by what he does."]
[The difference between religion and salvation is,]
a.
[Religion is based upon what
man does for God.]
b.
[Salvation is rooted in what
God does for man.]
"One is spelled
do the other is spelled done."
[Galatians 5:4
Christ is become
of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified
by the law;
ye
are fallen from grace.]
[Cain basically
said "I believe this is the way I think I'll do this."]
[His worship came out of his mind, not out of
the revealed Word of God.]
[You shouldn't
be looking for a religion that suits you; you better find one that suits
God.]
[Jude
1:11
Woe unto them!
for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after
the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.]
[The way of Cain
is the way of Self-righteousness.]
[Romans 4:5
But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.]
[Romans 5:1 Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ: ]
[Titus 3:5 Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved
us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;]
2.
The Worship of Abel (vs 4; Rom
10.17; Luke 11.49-51; Acts 10.43) [-
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: - Abel understood the blood
atonement.
Hebrews 11:4
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.
[Where did Abel get faith?
Nobody has had faith until God first speaks.]
[Romans 10:17
So then faith
cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.]
[Some say, "You name it, and claim it."
You can't claim it until God names its.
Until God speaks you can not have faith.]
[Faith is taking God at His Word.]
[Abel offered his sacrifice by Faith.
God had spoken
and Abel obeyed God.]
[Able was a prophet,]
[Luke
11:49-51 Therefore also
said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and
some of them they shall
slay and persecute:
50That
the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the
world, may be required of this generation;
51From
the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished
between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be
required of this generation. ]
[The prophets had one message,]
[Acts
10:43 To him give all the
prophets witness,
that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins. ]
[The difference between Cain and Abel,]
[God had spoken - In order for Abel to
have faith he had to have heard from God.
In order for him to be a prophet he had to have a message to
carry.]
[Rev.
13:8 And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the
book of life of the
Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world.]
a.
[Abel obeyed God.]
b.
[Cain obeyed himself.]
B.
The Consequences Of Their Worship
(vs 4-5) [- 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:
5 But unto Cain and to his
offering
he had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
- God received one offering, while God did not receive the other.
The difference between Cain and Abel is the difference
between righteousness and unrighteousness.
It is the difference between acceptability and
unacceptability.
It is the difference between heaven and hell.]
[Why couldn't God accept Cain's offering?
God’s holiness wouldn't allow Him to overlook Cain's sin.]
1.
Cain
was Rejected (Rom 3.23-25; 1 John 2.2; Rom 3.26) [- God Must
Judge Sin. God's
integrity says that sin must be punished.]
[Romans 3:23-25 For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus:
25Whom
God hath set forth to be
a propitiation [a satisfaction] through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God; ]
["When a judge lets a guilty man go free the
judge himself is condemned. God
must judge sin."]
[What meets the satisfaction of God's law is
the death and blood of Jesus Christ.]
[1
John 2:2 And
he is the
propitiation [the satisfaction] for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world. ]
[Romans 3:26 To declare,
I say, at this time his
righteousness:
that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.]
[God is not only the justifier, but through
Jesus He is also Just.]
[Illustration. - A lady had her picture taken and she didn't like it
so she took it back. The
photographer asked, "What's the problem?"
She said, "I don't like it, it doesn't do me justice." The
photographer took one look at the picture and said, "Lady you don't need
justice, you need mercy."]
[If God gave me justice, if He gave me what I
deserve, I would go to hell.]
[If God just justified me, then He would be the
sinner. God would be an
unjust judge, but God is just and always will be just.
Therefore Cain was rejected.]
2.
Abel
Was Received
(Eph 2.8-9) [- But through
Jesus God is the Just, Justifier.
Through Jesus God gave what I didn't deserve.
God gave me grace.]
["There are but two ways, the way of
Cain, and the way of the Cross, which way are you going?"]
[Ephes. 2:8-9 For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
9Not
of works, lest any man should boast.]
[Cain
and able both had the same opportunity to worship God the right way, the
only way that would result in eternal life.
Abel choose to obey God and he was received.
Even after Cain
tried to worship God the wrong way, he could have worshipped God the
right way and have been accepted, but Cain became wroth and demanded
that God accept his false form of worship.
Your demands and hard head will gain you nothing with God, you
must come to God His way for it is the only way that can possibly be
accepted. The penalty must
be paid.]
C.
The Conflict Of Their
Worship (vs 6-13; John 16.1-4) [-
And the LORD said
unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 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.
1.
The
Deception of Cain (vs 8; 1 Peter 5.8-9; 2 Tim 3.13; Eph 4.14)
[– 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. – This is a reminder
of the subtlety used by the serpent in the Garden of Eden when Eve was
deceived.]
[Genesis 3:1
1 Now the serpent was more
subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden?]
[This
recurring theme of deception from chapter to chapter in the Bible
reminds us to be watchful and vigilant for our adversary will come upon
us in deception with a desire to destroy us.
The Bible reminds us,
[1
Peter 5:8-9
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour: 9 Whom
resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.]
[2
Timothy 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. ]
[Ephesians 4:14
14 That we
henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive;]
[Who was this that was
approaching Able with villainy in his mind and perhaps a dagger behind
his back? It was none other
than Abel’s brother Cain.
One whom Able should have been able to trust.
One whom should have had Able’s well being and protection in
mind. Yet, he killed his
brother, for what? For
something Abel had done against Cain, no not at all.
What had Able done, but the right thing in the sight of God.]
2.
The
Debauchery of Cain (vs
9-10; John 16.1-4) [- And the
LORD said unto Cain, Where is
Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not:
Am I my
brother's keeper? 10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground. ]
[False religion is one of the meanest things on
this earth. People don't
need religion they need the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Religion without Jesus is mean and narrow.
It was a religious crowd that crucified Jesus.
Religion marked
by force is not the religion of the Bible.]
[If you preach the message of Abel, that Jesus
is the only way, get ready for the wrath of the religious way.
There is nothing as intolerant as the tolerance of those that
preach tolerance against the tolerance of those they call intolerant.
There is nothing as narrow as the cruelty of those who are
against those of us that preach the narrow way.]
[John
16:1-4 These things have
I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2They
shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh,
that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3And
these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the
Father, nor me.
4But
these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may
remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you
at the beginning, because I was with you. ]
3.
The
Desperation of Cain (vs 11-13; Luke 21.15-19) [-
11 And now art
thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy
brother's blood from thy hand; 12
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.
13 And Cain said unto the
LORD,
My punishment
is greater than I can
bear. –
Learn from Cain, those of you who hate with murderous minds.
In the end, one day, not long after your terrible sin has been
committed you will come to a point where you will realize that you will
stand in judgment with Almighty God and that will be a time of shear
desperation for you. Be
careful about what you suppose to do in trying to protect you faltering
religious beliefs. There is
coming a pay day someday.]
[Abel
was dead - Death to the Christian is not a period it is a comma.]
[Luke
21:15-19 For I will give
you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to
gainsay nor resist.
16And
ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and
friends; and some of
you shall they cause to be put to death.
17And
ye shall be hated of all men
for my name's sake.
18But
there shall not an hair of your head perish.
19In
your patience possess ye your souls.]
["There are but two ways,
The way of Cain,
And the way of the Cross,
Which way are you going?"]
CrossRoads Baptist
Church, August 2, 2009,
Sunday Evening
