Will you please turn to the book of Genesis? Genesis chapter 4.
Genesis, the fourth chapter. We will read the first twelve verses.
Genesis chapter 4, verse 1:
And the man knew Eve his wife;
and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.
And again she 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, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain told 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 cursed art thou from the ground, 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 its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.
The letter to the Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4:
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh.
Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee. Thou art ever faithful to Thine own Word. We do thank Thee for giving Thy Word to us, and now we just look to Thee to open Thy Word to our hearts. Speak to us, O Lord, and transform us according to Thine image. In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
Last time, when we were together, we mentioned that the book of Genesis is a book of biographies. This shows us that God is not so much interested in instructions, in teachings, in ways and methods, or techniques; but God is very much concerned and interested in man. That is the reason why the first book of the Bible is a book of biographies.
In the book of Genesis, we find the biographies especially of ten persons. In these ten persons, God had done such a work in each one of them that we could see in each one of them a signal, a trademark—something that came out of the dealings of God with their lives.
When you put all these signals together, you will find the man after God’s own heart. First, we see this Man in our Lord Jesus, and then we shall see this man in the church, the body of Christ.
The first man, of course, is Adam. In Adam’s life, we see the tree. As God created Adam, He put Adam before the tree of life, and by the side of that tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam was to choose between these two trees and also exercise the free will that God had created him with. In choosing either of these two trees, he would decide his own destiny.
Either he would choose the tree of life, to receive the life of God into him and thus be united with God in life and then in purpose. Actually, this is God’s original design for creating man. God’s purpose for creating man is that man may be such a vessel as will be able to receive His life into him and be joined with God in life and in purpose.
But if he should choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then he would try to develop his own soul, trying to develop his own knowledge of good and evil, and try to be independent of God or to make a god out of himself.
But the result is knowing what is good but not having the power to do good; knowing what is evil but not having the power not to do evil. It brought death to his life.
So here you find Adam standing before these two trees: the tree of life—the life of God, a life depending on God, a life in union with God, a life that lives by the life of God, and a life that is glorious, victorious, and will fulfil God’s purpose in man—or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Yes, there will be the knowledge of good and evil—an ethical knowledge, rationalisation—but the result is condemnation and death.
Unfortunately, our forefather chose the wrong tree. Instead of receiving the life of God in him, he rejected God’s life. He wanted to develop his own soul life and make himself a god.
Man fell and was driven out of the Garden of Eden. Now, of course, we mentioned that God did give man a second chance, because thousands of years later, in the fullness of time, we find another tree on Calvary.
On that tree, the Son of Man, the Son of God, was crucified. There we find our Lord Jesus. He took the penalty of our eating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon Himself and died for us.
Because of His death, the tree of life is again given to us. The way to the tree of life is open to us. Whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus shall not perish, but hath everlasting life.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we who have received this tree of life in us, from now on our lives should not be governed by the knowledge of good and evil. It is not good enough. Our lives should be governed by the life of God.
From now on, our question is no longer whether this is good or bad. The people of this world use that as their standard. But for us Christians, our question will be, “Is it life, or is it death?” If it is life, then we shall walk in it; and if it is death, then avoid it.
So in Adam we find Adam’s tree.
Now, this morning, we would like to continue with the second person in the book of Genesis, and that will be Abel: Abel’s sacrifice.
After man had sinned, God came to man. On the one hand, God pronounced His judgment upon man; yet, at the same time, He gave man a wonderful promise.
In Genesis 3:15, God said:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed:
He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.
Now, that is the first promise we find in the Bible. It is a wonderful promise. God gave this promise immediately after man’s fall. In the seed of the woman would be the salvation of the world.
After man was driven out of the Garden of Eden, Adam knew his wife, and she bore the first child. When the first child was born, they named him Cain.
The name Cain means acquisition. In other words, it means, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” What does it mean?
Adam and Eve, when they got their first child, thought this was the seed of the woman. They thought that God’s promise had become true. They thought that in Cain would be the salvation of mankind. But unfortunately, Cain was not that man.
The seed of the woman was not just any man born of woman. We know that the seed of the woman is fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord. In the fullness of time, He was born of a woman, a virgin, under the curse of the law, that He might deliver us from the law and give us our inheritance, even the adoption, the sonship.
What a disappointment it was to Adam and Eve to find that this child Cain was not the seed of the woman. Very soon, they discovered that he was not.
So when the second child was born, you find a complete reaction. They called the second child Abel. Abel means breath, or vanity.
They discovered that man under the dominion of sin was just a breath, just vanity. It was just like a breath, soon seen and soon gone. It was all vanity. So they called the second child Abel.
Now these two children, as they grew up, both began to have their profession, their occupation. Cain became a husbandman. He began to till the ground and became a husbandman.
We know that before man sinned, when they were in the Garden of Eden, they ate the fruit of the trees in the garden. That was their food. After man sinned, God cursed the ground, and God told man that from then on he had to toil and labour for his living.
The ground would grow thistles and thorns, and with his sweat he would get his food. So here you find that the ground was a cursed ground, and Cain became a husbandman. There he tilled the ground. There he fought against the thorns and the thistles.
Is it not true that, in order to make a bare living, man has to fight against nature? Because nature has changed. There he had to toil and labour and sweat, and try to make a living out of the ground. That was what Cain was doing.
He tried to make a living. He tried to make the best out of the curse. He tried to live for himself.
But Abel became a shepherd. You know, this is very strange, because men at that time did not eat any meat. Man had no need of meat at that time. Men began to eat meat after the flood.
After the flood, because of the degeneration of our physical body through sin, God allowed man to eat meat, but not the blood. But before the flood, in the time of Cain and Abel, men did not need any meat. Men ate fruits and herbs out of the ground, the vegetables.
But why did Abel choose to become a shepherd? There must be a reason for it.
He began to tend the sheep, not that he might eat the sheep, but because he knew that God, before He drove Adam and Eve out of Eden, killed an animal, shed its blood, and made the skin as clothes for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness.
In other words, Adam and Eve must have told their children that because of their sin, an innocent animal must be killed. Blood must be shed in order that they might be clothed with the righteousness of God.
These two children must have heard this story from their childhood. They grew up with this story. But with Cain, it was just a story. With Abel, he believed it.
Because he believed that man was under sin, and there was no remission of sin without the shedding of blood, out of his faith and fear of God he became a shepherd.
In other words, he wanted to raise sheep in order to bring these sheep to God as sacrifices, that with the shedding of blood his sins might be forgiven. In other words, he sought for the salvation of his soul. He did not live for himself, in a sense, but he lived for God and for God’s salvation. He became a shepherd.
When Christ was born, the angels appeared to the shepherds tending sheep in the fields of that land. Now, we are told that these shepherds were not ordinary shepherds. These shepherds were temple shepherds.
In other words, you find sheep were being offered in the temple; therefore, sheep were being kept—sheep that had been under the scrutiny of the priests, sheep that were perfect, without any blemish, ready to be sacrificed.
There were shepherds tending these sheep, ready to be offered in the temple for God. These shepherds were special. Because of this, you find the angel appeared to the shepherds. They were the first ones who knew that a Child was born, a Son was given.
Because they tended the temple sheep, they must have been of such pure heart. Therefore, they saw God.
So, evidently, you find in the very choosing of their professions, Cain chose a profession for himself, for the maintenance of his physical body; but Abel chose a profession for the salvation of his soul, for the salvation of the Lord.
In the very choosing of their professions, you can see two different philosophies of life. With Cain, his philosophy of life was to make the best out of the situation in the world. But with Abel, he feared God. He chose the salvation of the Lord.
One day, in the fullness of time, Cain took of the fruit of the produce of his land to offer to God. Now, dear brothers and sisters, we must remember that Cain was not a bad person.
If you read carefully, you will find Cain was not a bad person at all. He was a good man. He was the average man. He was diligent, dutiful, even religious.
He diligently tilled the ground. He was not wasting, or rioting, or doing all kinds of bad things. The Bible did not say anything about that in the beginning. You find he was rather good. He was an average man, and he was a religious person.
He was not like many people in this world who have no sense of worshipping God. Cain felt the need of worshipping God. So, in the fullness of time, Cain took the fruit of the produce of his land and offered it to God.
Most likely, he would try to approach the Garden of Eden as near as he could. You know, there was a cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life. So, evidently, Cain would draw as close as he could to the flaming sword and the cherubim, and there he offered the produce of his land to God.
He knew that God must be angry with man, so he tried to appease God with the best that he had.
Now, is it not true that all natural religions are based on appeasement? No matter what religion it may be in this world, all the religions of the world are based upon the principle of appeasement.
They knew that God must be angry. Therefore, you have to offer something to appease Him, to bribe Him. Is it not true that all natural religion is based on the principle of the merits of good works?
Take the first fruits of the produce of the land, the work of your own hands, and the best of your work, your merit. By offering your good works to God, then certainly God will forgive you and God will accept you. Now that is natural religion.
In the very act of Cain, you find the source, the root, of all religions: appeasement, good works, dependence upon yourself. All natural religions tell you that if you want to be saved, you have to do it yourself. You have to depend on yourself.
So Cain, you find, depended on himself. He depended on the work of his own hand, thinking that these should be good enough for God. But he was rejected. God did not look upon Cain and his offering.
Abel came. He offered a lamb. The blood was shed, and God looked upon Abel and upon his offering. God accepted him.
Now, brothers and sisters, you will find the difference is not between Cain and Abel as people. In other words, God was not partial to Abel. God looked upon Abel and Cain in the same way, but the difference was in their sacrifice.
God did not look upon Cain because of what he offered. God looked upon Abel because of what he offered. In Hebrews 11, you find that by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice.
So far as people are concerned, we are the same. There is no difference. In Romans 3, we are told that there is no difference: all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is absolutely no difference. But what makes the difference is the sacrifice.
Cain had faith in himself, but not in God. Abel had faith in God and in His Word. By faith. How important it is that by faith we offer the sacrifice that God will accept.
Now, this is revealed religion. If you want to distinguish among all religions—we do not consider Christianity as a religion, because Christianity is Christ—but suppose you consider it as a religion. You will find there is a great difference between Christianity and all the other religions of the world.
You can put all the other religions in the world in one category: natural religion. By natural religion, we mean that it is something conceived naturally by the thoughts of men. Then you can put Christianity on the other side as a totally different category: revealed religion.
That is, it is not conceived by man, but it is revealed from above, revealed by God. You find a vast difference between revealed religion and natural religion.
According to the natural thought of man, it is appeasement. But according to the revealed thought of God, it is satisfaction. In other words, it is not a matter of appeasing the anger of God, trying to bribe Him; it is a matter of satisfying the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness must be satisfied.
That is the glory of the blood of our Lord Jesus. You know, we often think of the blood of the Lord Jesus as something to be sprinkled upon our hearts. That is true.
In Hebrews, we find that the conscience of our heart is sprinkled. Because our conscience is sprinkled by the blood, it is cleansed. We have a clear and clean conscience before God. Now, thank God for that.
But we must remember that the blood is not basically for us. The blood is primarily for God, to satisfy the righteousness of God.
You remember during the Passover, God commanded the children of Israel to prepare the lamb for each household. The lamb must be killed—not just have a lamb, but the lamb had to be killed.
After the lamb was killed, what about the blood? The blood must be put in a basin, carried out of the door, and put on the lintel and the doorposts. For whom to see?
The family would be gathered within the door. They would not see the blood. The blood was put outside the house, on the lintel and on the doorposts. Probably the basin was left at the bottom of the threshold.
In other words, the blood was not for the Israelites to see. The blood was for the angel of destruction to see. When the angel of destruction passed through the whole land of Egypt and saw the blood, he passed over.
That symbolises that the blood is basically to satisfy the righteousness of God. Oftentimes we forget that. Oftentimes we think that the blood is for us. Thank God, it is for us.
Because of the blood, our conscience is cleansed. Therefore, we are no longer under condemnation. We have a clear conscience before God. We can stand before God with holy boldness. It is because of the blood of the Lamb.
In Hebrews 10, we are told that we can enter into the holy of holies by the blood of the Lamb. That is true. But basically, it is to satisfy the righteousness of God. Unless the righteousness of God is satisfied, there is no salvation.
That is the reason why, no matter what you do, you cannot appease God. There is no satisfaction. All human religion tries to appease God. And by what? By good works.
By doing some good things, by the produce of the land, even the first fruits of the produce of the land—the best that you can gather—and you try to bribe God with the best to forgive and forget your sins. But you cannot.
All our righteousness is as filthy rags, we are told in the book of Isaiah. The best that we can offer to God is filthy. Only Christ, only Christ, can satisfy the righteousness of God.
So here you find one is depending on yourself, but revealed religion is depending on Christ, on the redemption that God has provided for man through our Lord Jesus Christ. The result is that one is rejection, and the other is acceptance.
God looked upon Abel—that is, upon his offering. God saw the blood. God saw Abel in the sacrifice, and he was accepted.
Dear brothers and sisters, how can we be saved? We cannot be saved by our good works. We can only be saved by the blood of the Lamb, by the blood of our Lord Jesus.
We are accepted in the Beloved, not because we are any better than anybody else. We are no better. But because we have faith, we believe that God has sent His Son into this world, and Christ has died for us.
The blood has been shed. God’s righteousness has been satisfied, and our conscience has been sprinkled with the blood. We have holy boldness to stand before God. This is Abel’s sacrifice.
When Cain saw that his offering was rejected by God, he was angry. He thought that God should accept what he offered. In other words, he thought that he was doing God an honour.
He was trying to serve God. He was doing the best that he could. He was honouring God. Why should God reject him?
So God told him, “You are rejected because you offered the wrong thing. If you do the right thing, you will be accepted just as your brother. But if you do not do the right thing, sin is at the door.”
What happened? One day Cain and Abel were walking in the field. They were talking, and suddenly Cain rose up and murdered his brother.
Do you see the picture here? Cain was an average man. He was not bad at the beginning. On the contrary, you find in the beginning he was a diligent farmer. If he was not diligent, he would have no produce.
He was quite religious. He thought of worshipping God, honouring God, even with the first fruits of the produce of his land. He was good. He was a good man.
If you say there is no good, probably you will not believe it, because here you find Cain was good. What good? Good flesh.
Cain manifested the good in his flesh. In his flesh there was something good, and he manifested the good of his flesh.
But because he lived according to the flesh, even the good of his flesh, one day the bad in his flesh would come out. The murder was already there. It had not had the chance to come out, but when the chance was given, it came out.
That is the reason why the Bible says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” In other words, in this flesh there might be some good and lots of bad, but whether it is good or whether it is bad, it is flesh. All flesh is condemned by God.
If we allow the good of our flesh, to live by the good of our flesh, the result will be that the bad of our flesh will sooner or later follow.
Do not depend on your flesh. Have no confidence in your flesh. If you have confidence in your flesh and live even by the good of it, one day the bad of it will be revealed.
That is what you find in Cain. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. You cannot change your flesh. You cannot try to transform your flesh. The religious flesh is still flesh, just as irreligious flesh is flesh.
Before God, all flesh is condemned. It is a blessed day when you realise there is no good in your flesh.
Even in the life of the Apostle Paul, you find that before he knew the Lord, how he had confidence in his flesh, because there was so much good in his flesh.
If you read Philippians 3, he said:
I was born an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin; on the eighth day I was circumcised.
I was brought up a Pharisee, a son of the Pharisees.
According to the righteousness of the law, I was blameless.
Here was a man full of the goodness of the flesh. He was born an Israelite, of God’s chosen people. He was born of the tribe of Benjamin. Why did he boast of the tribe of Benjamin? Because, you remember, the ten tribes separated themselves, but Benjamin continued on with Judah. Benjamin never separated.
He was circumcised on the eighth day, because God told Abraham, “All your males must be circumcised on the eighth day.” Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen years old. Abraham was circumcised when he was ninety-six years old.
So Saul was circumcised on the eighth day. He was brought up a Pharisee, a Pharisee of the strictest sect. According to the letter of the law, he was blameless. Oh, he had so much good in his flesh.
But at that time, he was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus Christ. He himself acknowledged later on in the letter to Timothy, “I was a persecutor, an arrogant, insolent person, the chief of sinners.”
But he did not know that. Oh, how he depended on his good flesh, and how he sinned against God, until God met him on the road to Damascus. What a change!
Even after that, he had to come to a point to see that, even after he believed in the Lord Jesus, he could not depend on his good flesh.
In Romans 7, he said, “I know, according to my renewed mind, I know what is good. I know I should not be greedy. I tell myself, ‘I do not want to be greedy. I will not be greedy.’ But,” he said, “the more I will not to be greedy, the greedier I become.”
Until he said, “O wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from this body of death?” I acknowledge that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is no good.
Here, brothers and sisters, do not say that the flesh is all bad. It is true that there is some good in the flesh, but even the good in the flesh is condemned by God. If you try to live by that, the result is death. It will bring out all the bad that is in you.
So we need to have our eyes opened to see that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is no good. Only then will we be completely delivered. So he said, “Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Dear brothers and sisters, remember this one thing. Not only at the time that we are saved can we not depend on ourselves; we have to utterly cast ourselves upon the Lord Jesus and His blood. But remember, this is a principle of living.
Even after we are saved, do not go back to depend on your flesh. God has not changed your flesh. He has saved you. He has given you a new life, but He has not changed your flesh.
So after you are saved, if you try to go back and depend on your flesh—your good flesh—brothers and sisters, the tragedy will be that all the badness of the flesh will come forth.
We need to see there is no good in our flesh. We cannot live according to the flesh. The flesh is condemned before God. The flesh and all its passions and lusts are crucified on the cross with Christ.
It is no longer I; it is Christ who lives in me. Brothers and sisters, this is the way to live.
Otherwise, you will be walking the way of Cain, depending on his flesh. What a tragedy it is. He became a wanderer and a fugitive. He went out from the presence of God.
But then you find Abel. By faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. He depended upon Christ and upon His blood. He did not depend upon anything in himself. Because of this, he was accepted by God.
Now, is it not true that the flesh always persecutes the Spirit? Is it not true that the world always persecutes those who are the Lord’s?
This happened in the beginning of human history. There you find Cain, a representation of the flesh, and Abel, a representation of the Spirit, because he sought for spiritual things. There you find Cain persecuted Abel and murdered him.
From the very beginning of human history, the world, even the religious world, always rises up and persecutes those who follow the Lord. It has not changed. Even in our time, you find how the flesh always hates the Spirit, because the flesh is rejected by God.
Even until our day, you find not only the world, but the religious world always persecutes those who are pure in heart. They cannot stand to see people who are accepted by God.
But there is nothing to fear. Why? Because even Abel was murdered, the Bible says, “By faith, having died, he yet speaks.”
In other words, though he was killed, yet his blood cried out, and God heard his cry.
Abel’s blood cried for vengeance, but the blood of our Lord Jesus cries for forgiveness:
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Not only does the blood of our Lord Jesus cry out for forgiveness, but the blood of the martyrs throughout the centuries cries out, “Forgive.”
You remember the first martyr in the church, Stephen. When he was stoned to death, he cried, “Lord, forgive them. Forgive them.” This has been the cry throughout the centuries of the blood of the martyrs.
Even though they die, yet they speak. In other words, there is a testimony—a testimony to the reality and the greatness of the salvation of the Lord.
Cain, who lived according to the flesh, became a wanderer and a fugitive. Yes, it is true, he went out from the presence of the Lord. But you know, Cain was the first one who built a city.
Is that not a contradiction? God said he was to be a wanderer, but he built a city. In other words, he was in rebellion to his very end. He was always trying to make the best of his situation.
He was trying to improve his own situation, but never repented and humbled himself before God.
But look at Abel. Though he was killed, yet he speaketh. His testimony continued on.
Brothers and sisters, we who believe in the Lord Jesus, do you think that we can expect the world to welcome us, to put out a red carpet for us? Not only will the world as such not do it, but remember, if you really follow the Lord, even the religious world will rise up and persecute you.
Do not be surprised. Throughout the twenty centuries of church history, you find that official Christianity has always persecuted those who are pure in heart. How many were killed, not by the world, but by the Christian world.
But thank God, man can kill your body but cannot kill your soul. That is why the Lord says, “Fear not the one who can destroy your body; fear the One who can destroy your soul.” Fear God.
Not only that, even though outwardly you find there will be persecutions and all these things happening, yet, having died, he yet speaks. In other words, there will be a testimony.
Where is the testimony of Jesus? How is the testimony of Jesus maintained throughout the centuries?
Remember, the testimony of Jesus has been and is still being continued and maintained by those who live according to the Spirit, who trust in the sacrifice, in the blood of the Lamb, who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
Even though outwardly they will be persecuted and despised, yet the testimony of Jesus will continue. Oh, they yet speak.
Do we want to be a wanderer and fugitive, or do we want to have our testimony go on?
You see, in the light of these two brothers, they had the same opportunities. They lived at the same time, not very far from the days of the Garden of Eden.
The Garden of Eden was still before them. They could see the flaming sword, the cherubim. Probably they could see afar off the tree of life.
Yet one did not believe—did not believe in God, did not believe in God’s Word, rather trusting himself. But the other, by faith, offered a more excellent sacrifice.
God bore witness to him that he was righteous, and by it, having died, he yet speaketh.
Today, it is the same thing. The same gospel is preached. The same offer is given. But some have faith, and some do not.
May the Lord help us that we be those who, by faith, offer this more excellent sacrifice, even Christ Jesus.
But remember, it is not just a matter of offering a sacrifice, not just a matter of receiving the Lord Jesus. After we have received Him, this is a way of life.
We do not live for ourselves; we live for Him. We do not live by ourselves; we live by Him. If we do, then we will have a testimony on this earth.
May the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that even though man has failed, yet Thou art merciful and gracious. Thou hast prepared a sacrifice for us.
Our Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast given us faith to believe in Thy sacrifice, even the blood of our Lord Jesus. How we thank Thee that we are now accepted in the Beloved.
Now, Father, we do pray that we may not walk in the way of Cain, but that we may always walk in the way of Abel. We pray that we may not live henceforth for ourselves, but that we live for Thee and live by Thee.
We pray that, no matter how difficult it may be in following Thee, yet, Lord, there may be a testimony going out. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.