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call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 111 Psalm 111 I'll begin reading in verse 1 praise the Lord I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the Assembly of the upright and in the congregation the works of the Lord are great studied by all who have pleasure in them his work is honorable and glorious and his righteousness endures forever he has made his wonderful works to be remembered the Lord is gracious and full of compassion he has given food to those who fear Him he will ever be mindful of his covenant he has declared to his people the power of his works in giving them the heritage of the nations the works of his hands are Verity and justice all his precepts are sure they stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness he has sent Redemption to his people he has commanded his covenant forever holy and awesome is his name the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all those who do His commandments his praise endures forever amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnal to him number three hymn number three we'll use the second tune and we'll stand together as we sing [Music] [Music] well let us pray father in heaven thank you again for this privilege to gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to call upon you our Father and the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that our Great and triune God would be all in all in this place that you would be praised and worshiped and glorified she would encourage and strengthen our hearts she would build us up and our most holy faith and that the Spirit of God would be upon us and in our hearts tonight as we approach you may it be with that reference that is deserving of such a great God and may it be mixed and mingled with great joy as we consider that not only have you made us not only do you govern us but you are indeed our Savior or Redeemer and we bless you and we praise you for so great a salvation we thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him all blessings every spiritual blessing have been given to us by a gracious and a merciful father and we rejoice in this in this good gift and we pray tonight that you would look with favor upon this congregation she would strengthen each and every one of us that you would conform us unto the image of your son even our Lord Jesus Christ and be merciful and gracious to those who come in among us that are not yet confessing faith in Christ Jesus our Lord we know it's not by works of righteousness it's not by law keeping on behalf of sinners but it's ultimately by Amazing Grace the hymn writer said it was grace that taught my heart to fear rightly reflecting the promise and the Prophet Jeremiah where you put the fear of God in the hearts of your people and we pray that you would do this in your sovereign power and in your Sovereign Grace we ask that you would look with favor upon our children and our young people we pray God that they would remember their creator and their youth we pray that early on you'd get a hold of their minds and their hearts and that you would cause them to see the the infinite Worth and the glory and the excellence of Jesus Christ our Lord for certainly we live in a in a day and age where there is much sin much wretchedness and lawlessness many temptations present themselves to our to our young people and we pray that he would just surround them by your grace and mercy that you would watch over them and that you would cause them to rise up and be faithful and the things of Christ cause them to rise up and serve the Lord God Most High and we look forward to the future in terms of the young people and we pray that our churches would be well staffed with faithful preachers and and and godly men and women seeking to honor the Lord in all areas of life we pray now that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions we know Lord God that you are holy we know that you do not look approvingly upon any evil and we know Lord God that that is bad news for us as we do nothing but evil but we rejoice in Sovereign Grace we rejoice and forgiveness of sins we rejoice in the application of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ unto us nevertheless as believers we have remaining sin as believers we still fall short as believers we are prone to wander and prone to leave the god that we love so forgive us now for our transgressions and our iniquities and our and our sins against a holy God we pray for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you and rejoice that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and even now Lord God extend that mercy unto us and grant us that clear conscience so that we may indeed stand before a holy God praising his great and awesome name we ask that you would look with favor upon other churches in this community other churches that are near and dear to our hearts we pray that you would bless your people wherever they gather together tonight and we pray that you'd be pleased to send forth your glorious gospel and that Christ would indeed save to the uttermost sinners and that that dominion of Christ would indeed extend from sea to sea we know the promises of Scripture we know that in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed all the families of the earth will be blast we know from the profits that the the Word of God was expected to go forth it was expected to conquer was expected to be a means of salvation for a great multitude that no man can number our New Testaments tell us this as well when we see the book of Revelation we know that the redeemed are on innumerable and we rejoice in this Lord God we rejoice that Jesus Christ has promised to build his church and that the gates of ATS shall not prevail against it and we pray that even this Lord's Day that church would be built with new sinners being saved out of the depths of depravity called out of darkness into marvelous light to sing and proclaim the excellencies of God Almighty do this Lord for your glory and do this for the stability and the prosperity of your churches and may all of these things were down to the to the glory and honor of our great and our sovereign God we ask now that you would continue with us in our worship we ask that you would bless and encourage our hearts and we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn with me again in your Trinity hymnal to him number 600 hymn number 600 will use a familiar tune and will stand together to sing [Music] we can turn in your Bibles to the Prophet Nahum in the Old Testament following the prophet Micah we've been reading through the Old Testament and our evening services and Nahum is where we find ourselves now remember many years ago well not many years ago several years ago a high-profile pastor and I think son after him preached from the Book of Jonah on God's love for cities they should have followed up with the book of Nahum on God's hatred for cities don't mean to sound cheeky or disrespectful but it's not just cities that God loves its cities that are faithful to the Lord and after the preaching of Jonah there was Reformation in the city of Nineveh but by the time of Nahum Nineveh fell it fell in 612 BC which indicates that God and His mercy brought them to repentance but in their continuing in sin and rebellion the city was ultimately destroyed along with the Empire Assyria was the world Empire at this particular time but it's certainly in decline and Babylon will rise up in the history of the Old Testament to be the world power that ultimately is the means of chastisement for the southern kingdom of Judah well beginning in Nahum chapter 1 at verse 1 the burden against Nineveh the Book of the vision of Nahum the ELCA sight God is jealous and the Lord avenges the Lord avenges and is furious the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserves wrath for his enemies the Lord is slow to anger and great and power and will not at all acquit the wicked the Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet he rebukes the sea and makes it dry and dries up all the rivers bation and Carmel wither and the flower of Lebanon wilts the mountains quake before him the hills melt and the earth heaves at his presence yes the world and all who dwell in it who can stand before his indignation and can endure the fierceness of his anger his fury is poured out like fire and the rocks are thrown down by him the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knows those who trust in him but with an overflowing flood he will make an utter end of its place and darkness will pursue his enemies what do you conspire against the Lord he will make an utter end of it affliction will not rise up a second time for while tangled like thorns and while drunken like drunkards they shall be devoured like stubble fully dried from you comes forth one who plots evil against the Lord a wicked counselor thus says the Lord though they are safe and likewise many yet in this manner they will be cut down when he passes through though I have afflicted you I will afflict you no more for now I will break off his yoke from you and burst your bonds apart the Lord has given a command concerning you your name shall be perpetuated no longer out of the house of your gods I will cut off the carved image and the molded image I will dig your grave for your vile behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings who proclaims peace o Judah keep your appointed feasts perform your vows for the wicked one shall no more pass through you he is utterly cut off amen well we see some good theology proper at the very beginning in verse 2 God is jealous and the Lord avenges and the Lord avenges and is furious now certainly that aspect of who God is of those particular perfections of God have oftentimes been neglected in the church and certainly in the world persons like to have some sort of an ambiguous vague notion of a God who loves but they certainly don't like to entertain the thought of a God who is jealous a God who avenges a God who is furious note in verse 3 the prophet says the Lord is slow to anger and great and power and will not at all acquit the wicked we ought to make sure that we don't interpret the patience of God as the indifference of God certainly that happens persons don't see God immediately respond to sin and deal with it with with utmost force and so they begin to reason that either God is indifferent he doesn't pay attention or his patience and his love or such that there will never be a Rick whiting the book of Nahum tells us differently the book of Nahum tells us that Nineveh ultimately does fall and certainly it comes through historical means but it's the Lord God Most High behind the scenes who is bringing his judgment to bear and then dropping down to verse 12 there's a bit of a dialogue sort of indicator that we ought to see verses 12 and following though they are safe and likewise many yet in this manner they will be cut down when he passes through this is addressed to Nineveh now Judah is addressed next though I have afflicted you I will afflict you no more for now I will break off his yoke from you and burst your bonds apart you see Judah had in fact been plagued by the Assyrian Empire and so God the Lord says that in their judgment is your protection and then verse 14 again is addressed to Nineveh and then note verse 15 the Apostle quotes this in Romans chapter 10 behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings who proclaims peace now that's certainly applicable to gospel preachers and the new covenant era certainly we see that in the book of Romans those have beautiful feet who announced the good tidings of salvation by grace in this context there were such men who proclaim the victory that was indeed achieved in battle will let us close in a word of Prayer father thank you for the prophets thank you for their teaching to us thank you for the history of Israel and your dealings with that people and the fact that it demonstrates so much concerning your perfections and we pray that you'd help us to appreciate that you are a God of love but as well a God whose love is one that is that is jealous not in some sinful petty sort of way but in a way that does brook no competitors we as well appreciate and thank you for your great patience your long-suffering and yet father we know often times we are inclined to interpret that as indifference or as a lack of concern concerning our particular issues help us to realize that that that your your timing is not constrained or demanded or dooster should be changed according to what we think is necessary rather let us humble ourselves before the high D mighty hand of God and in your time may you lift us up thank you for your word thank you for the comfort and the encouragement that it brings thank you as well for the warnings and help us to heed these things and to realize that a people who continue to sin against God Almighty will indeed suffer the wrath and fury of God Almighty and we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn again in your Trinity hymnal to number 631 631 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] we can turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4 we're gonna do one more message from Genesis the Lord willing Lord supper next Sunday night and then we'll return to the Book of Proverbs in our evening services Genesis chapter 4 the first murder we're gonna read verses 1 to 16 beginning in chapter 4 verse 1 now Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain and said I have acquired a man from the Lord then she bore again this time his brother Abel now Abel was a keeper of sheep but Cain was a tiller of the ground and in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat and the Lord respected Abel and his offering but he did not respect Cain and his offering and Cain was very angry in his countenance fell so the Lord said to Cain why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen if you do well will you not be accepted and if you do not do well sin lies at the door and its desire is for you but you should rule over it now 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 killed him and the Lord said to Cain where is Abel your brother he said I do not know am I my brother's keeper and he said what have you done the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground so now you are cursed from the earth which is opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand when you till the ground it shall no longer yield it's it's strength to you a fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth and Cain said to the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground I shall be hidden from your face I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me and the Lord said to him therefore whoever kills Cain vengeance shall be taken on him Sevenfold and the Lord set a mark on Cain lest anyone finding him should kill him then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod on the East of Eden amen let us ask God's help as we look to his word father thank you for the word of God and thank you for not only the the good bits but as well the sinful things the things that we need to learn the lessons that we as your your people need to understand we pray tonight that you would guide us in our study of your word give us the grace father to avoid the sorts of sins we see associated with Cain this the seed of the serpent it will help us to be faithful to you Lord God to express love brotherly love toward one another we ask for the ministry of your Holy Spirit we ask for the help from on high that we need to internalize your word and to put it into practice in our own lives and our own hearts and our own conduct grant us help in this grant us grace in this and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well essentially what we have in Genesis chapter four is the genealogy of Cain I'm sorry Adam via Cain we see that that will take back up in verse 17 after this digression after this teaching this this study in evil and I think that this passage does show us the rapid escalation of sin we see the fall of Adam we studied that in the last to Sunday evenings Adam and Eve transgressed the law of God they take from the tree that had been prohibited two of them and they sin they rebel they lack conformity unto God's Word and we see already with Cain and Abel that continues on in Cain's murder of his brother Abel so I want to look first at the first brothers and verses 1 to 5a secondly the first murder in verses 5b to 8 and then thirdly the first trial in sentencing in verses 9 to 16 now technically the first murder took place in Genesis 3 it was the devil murder originates with the devil according to Jesus in John chapter 8 when I say the first murder I mean between men Cain murders Abel well let's look first at these brothers and verses 1 to 5 a note there gain means acquire or to acquire or to get now Eve may have thought or likely had thought that this was the promise of genesis 3:15 coming into play remember that God had promised that a seed of the woman would rise up and be the skull-crushing seed that would devastate the works of the devil so it means to acquire or to get the second is Abel which likely means vanity breath or nothing and I don't think that they had a particularly low view of their second born son but rather it is prophetic it is something that is true with reference to this young man he's ultimately going to come to nothing through the murderous rage of his brother now this is the first instance of a familiar pattern in the Old Testament the second is more favored than the first you have Jacob and Esau of Isaac and Ishmael you have the second born oftentimes getting the blessing of God and being the one that is righteous and then as I read I hope you understood or rather heard the repeated emphasis on brother brother brother brother it comes up seven times in the passage I don't think Moses under divine inspiration thinks that he's writing to a bunch adults they can't remember or can't keep track of who Cain and Abel are but rather he is emphasizing the fraternal relationship that exists between these two men to show how heinous sin is to show how wicked Cain was to show how evil it is to do what Cain did to his brother fat Kyle and Dale it's a mat Moses intentionally repeats again and again the words his brother to bring clearly out the horror of sin Cain was the first man who let sin reign in him he was of the wicked one and already here in Genesis chapter four we have an illustration or an application of what was stipulated in genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel now I've tried to explain that has an individual reference to the Lord Jesus but there is a collective sense as well this seed of the woman will be the godly this seed of the woman will be the righteous this seed of the woman will be the ones that are targeted by the seed of the serpent excuse me by the devil himself and we have that in this instance of Cain and Abel now note their offerings in verses 2 to 4a Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a tiller of the ground and I think this goes along with what we saw last week in our studies in Genesis 3 labor is good labor is not a bad thing labor was present before the fall and labor is present after the fall all kinds of labor now some suggest that God had respect for Abel because he didn't like farmers he'd rather have men engage in shepherding but that's not the accurate way to see what's happening here in terms of God's acceptance of Abel and gods reject rejection of Cain Adam was stationed in the garden according to Genesis 2:15 to tend it and to keep it farming is a noble noble cause and so farming or shepherding or whatever it is that a man finds to do lawfully is glorifying to God labor is not an effect or a consequence of the curse but rather it is a blessing well certainly it has suffered repercussions as a result of the curse but labor in and of itself is a good thing now notice what the text says concerning their sacrifice verse 3 it says and in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord now if you have the New King James and in the process of time literally is and at the end of days tried to explain this before it doesn't mean at the end of days in terms of the end of all days cannot be the future for us that's in view here it's probably the end of the days of the week when they had been trained to worship God following God's pattern Sabbath predates Sinai Sabbath is a creation ordinance Sabbath is something that God Himself does and intends that his creatures follow fact I think Matthew has it right when he says with reference to this phrase more probably at the end of the days of the week or upon the seventh and the last day of the week Saturday which then was the Sabbath day which before this time was blessed and sanctified according to Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 and so when they come at the end of the days that they when they come on this Sabbath day it is to present sacrifice it is to present an offering now we ought to infer from this that Adam taught this to them God taught Adam Sabbath and God taught Adam a sacrifice and so Adam in turn teaches his kids this very thing and it is consistent with their vocations for them to bring the particular things that they bring notice verse 3 in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat again that is consistent with their vocations Abel was a keeper of sheep so he brings fat he brings blood Cain is a tiller of the ground so he brings fruit he brings vegetables he brings this as an offering to the Lord and then we see the divine response with reference to this sacrifice but up to this point notice we've got men observing Sabbath and we've got man offering sacrifice this is obviously going to be amplified and developed later on in the Pentateuch but the seeds are there right at the very beginning man created in the image of God were created to worship God men created in the image of God were created to rest on the day set apart by God and they were created to attend public worship and present their offerings under the Lord this is given to us without comment and without exhortation it's just the way that it is in other words man comes from the hand of God as a religious creature and we come from the hand of God as a religious creature because we are made in the image of God and as a result those things written on our heart are put into practice now no doubt again Adam instructed them in turn Sabbath Adam instructed them in terms of sacrifice but nevertheless we see this religious nature of man reflected from the very beginning we have caused to observe or we have had cause to observe on many occasions in our studies in Genesis on Wednesday night that the evolutionary theory of man is just patently false this idea that man is created and then or man rather evolves into some ape-like figure and he and he drags his knuckles through the through the the the bogs of life until such time as he as he forms a grunt and and then later on a million years later he starts to speak and then later on he develops this sort of notion of of religion because he lives in a big world and he's got to try to make heads or tails of this big world that is so absolutely positively false Adam comes from the hand of God as a communicating being God is able to speak to Adam without grunts without any sort of you know let me tell you what this is and shut no he gives him a prohibition against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Adam comes from the hand of God a rational being image bearing being and a religious being so the idea that evolution is a good sort of description of what man is is absolutely positive positively ridiculous I've often thought that evolution is the biggest fairy tale ever designed by men it is an adult fairy tale with the attempt to evade the clear notion that man is created by God and that man will ultimately be judged by God you see scriptural history it's not cyclical it's not circular it's not just this ever winding around cycle of events with reference to the history of man there's a beginning there's a middle and there's an end and certainly the engineers who put together this concept of of evolution no doubt in their thought get rid of God in the beginning and what happens you get rid of God in the middle and you get rid of God at the end you see you get rid of him in the mid the beginning and the rests or two takes care of itself you don't want God in your life so you adopt this fairy tale to try to explain the existence of man again the idea is absolutely contrary to the biblical record and to what man I would argue inherently knows now notice God has respect for Abel and his offering notice there in verse four Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat and the Lord respected Abel and his offering I think the order there is conspicuous he respected Abel and his offering he respected Abel and his offering Paul will tell Timothy take heed to thyself and to thy doctrine in other words the man comes first and then the doctrine the man comes first and then the sacrifice the man been the offering God had respect for Abel and his offering and then note his disregard or his rejection of Cain verse five he says he did not respect Cain and his offering now why why did it God respect Cain and his offering as I said earlier some suggest that God prefers Shepherds over farmers I don't think the text bears that sort of weight or interpretation the fact that Cain failed to present blood I think that gets a little bit closer God showed by by his own practice the slaying of animals to cover the sins of Adam and Eve and in chapter 3 verse 21 but later redemptive history tells us specifically in exactly why God had respect for Abel and not for Cain it was by faith that Abel brought his offering you can use the book of Hebrews to help you in your interpretation of the book of Genesis that is a prevailing opinion out there among Bible interpreters that we can't let later Redemption or later revelation help us understand previous revelation that is absolutely false you can use the whole Bible to study the whole Bible you can use Revelation itself to help you with a book of Genesis you can certainly use the book of Hebrews to help you understand why in the world God accepted able and he didn't accept Cain in Hebrews 11:4 we read by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than gained through which he obtained witness that he was righteous and as well I think the text would even indicate something this direction the genesis tax notice that offer Abel's offering was the firstborn of his flock and of their fat doesn't faith want God to have the best doesn't faith want God to be glorified and honored doesn't faith say when it comes time to do the monthly budget I'm not gonna wait and whatever few pennies are left I'm gonna bring that to the house of God I'm gonna put God before the mortgage I'm gonna put God before the internet I'm gonna put God before Facebook I'm gonna put God before you know candy crush I'm gonna put God first isn't that what faith does isn't faith jealous for the glory of God and I think that when we see Abel bring the firstborn of his flock and he brings the fat it evidences the reality of Hebrews 11 by faith he presented this with reference to Cain he brings an offering now it's not that the offering is bad in and of itself but it's that the offering is symptomatic of the lack of faith that is in Cain's heart it's not that he's a farmer it's that he's faithless that's why he has disrespected that's why rather he is rejected and he is not received by Yahweh it's not that he farms it's not that he kills the ground it's not that he has chosen the lesser of the two professions it's that he's a faithless wretch who's about the externals only and when we follow the narrative that is precisely what is at stake it's not the fact that he brought the heart that he brought the offering that he actually did this for the glory of God and God said no I don't want anything to do with you because I favor your brother Abel that's not it because he was a faithless wretch he pulls an offering out but because Abel is a faithful man he takes the first he takes the fat he takes the best and he presents it unto God you see when the way that a man gives the way that a man sacrifices the way that a man offers to God the way that a man manages his budget oftentimes says something concerning his faith how do men spend time and money and I don't just mean men I'm speaking the way that people that were saying used to man included male and female but wait the way that a man or a woman spends their time or money oftentimes indicates the location of their heart if Facebook comes before jehovah you've got a problem if candy crush comes before church you've got a problem if anything comes before Jesus you've got a problem now I'm not suggesting you're gonna die and go to hell I am suggesting and encouraging you to reflect upon this reality to consider that the facts that where I spend my time and money more often than not evidences the condition of my heart so it's by faith that Abel offers up it's by faith that Abel is accepted by God notice the response of Cain and verses 5 B and following he was very angry and his countenance fell I think this indicates that his offering was not offered in faith he thought that if he just did it it should be okay isn't this symptomatic of the external ascore the formalist and religion as long as I show up in the right spot at the right time then God will accept me as long as I do the right things then God is obliged to accept me if I go to Christian school then God should bless me if I go to Sunday School then God brethren that is to treat God as if he's bail it is to reduce him to the to the status of a vending machine it is to reduce him to the status of a tool or a a yeah tool to get us what we want and because Cain was angry it evidences the lack of faith in his heart because he thought that if I bring this offering cheap as it may have been I have at least engaged in my religious duty and therefore God owes me its externalism it is perfunctory it is an abomination before the Lord most high and the Proverbs tell us that proverbs 15:8 the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord now note secondly the first murder in verses 5 B 2 a we see Cain's anger verse 5 became was very angry and his countenance fell now I would suggest that Cain's anger was directed in two ways he's angry at God and he's angry at Abel he's angry at God because God at least in the mind of Cain has shown favoritism to Abel why are you accepting my brother and you're not accepting me why have you disregarded my sacrifice why have you left me hanging so his anger is directed to God but remember sinners can't get to God if sinners could get to God they would take him off his throne and it would cast him down into the earth we see that with reference to the son of God the Lord Jesus Christ the second person of the Blessed Trinity in his state of Incarnation rather the Incarnation he is cast down he is ultimately crucified so what does Cain do he can't kill God so he's going to kill his brother so his anger is directed to Yahweh his anger is directed to his brother now note in verses 6 & 7 the divine response God asks a question in verse 6 just like in chapter 3 God's not asking because he doesn't have the information not asking because he needs to be informed God's not looking down and saying what's happening in my creation I don't understand what's wrong with Cain he's asking for Cain's benefit and as we move through the narrative we see that God in His long-suffering God in the patience that Nate him ascribed to him that God extends mercy to him even in the midst of his rebellion and in his mayhem and here God asks him again for the purpose of bringing Cain to himself to own his sin to repent of it so God says why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen and then notice he extends grace verse 7 a if you do well will you not be accepted no I don't think this is works righteousness Cain be a good boy you have right and then I will accept you rather can be like Abel who expresses his sacrifice or his offering out of the context of faith if you do well Caine in your approach to your way that's not external that's not formal but rather that is internal and rather that is full of affection for God will you not be accepted towards Cain you're not blocked from the path to Yahweh because of anything that y'all way has done rather Cain the problem is with you and I think we ought to internalize that whenever there's a breach between us and having the problem ain't with God whenever you go to church or you pick up your Bible you engage in prayer and you feel let down or you feel as if somehow God hasn't urged you or God hasn't answered you or he hasn't sent those times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord the issue is not God needs to change the issue is we need to change the issue is we need to examine ourselves the psalmist said it well if I regard iniquity in my heart Lord you will not hear me now notice God's grace again the emphasis is not on works righteousness but on coming to God in a manner similar to able by faith and you will be accepted the heartless sacrifice and subsequent anger of Cain at this point can be forgiven by God you see if Cain would have just said yeah I messed up yeah I was wrong see I think this is one of the reasons why we should study Genesis three and four we ought to understand their place or location in the biblical context we ought to understand what you know some men call the redemptive historical sort of a position of the text but practically we ought to see how we live I think we see at least in Adam and Eve and the way they respawn when when God calls them and reckons with that what we oftentimes do the same thing we cover ourselves we hide ourselves but we engage in subterfuge we we we shift the blame we do all those sorts of things well well the same thing is true here it's almost as if God takes Cain by the hand and says Cain it it's not right for you to be angry okay you need to you need to bury that anger pain you need to not get upset and you need not to flip out you need not to have a pity party but rather you need to be like your brother Abel not because Abel is intrinsically holy or pure righteous but because Abel knows that I don't bring a sacrifice to my god unless it's in the context of faith that that's what God is doing is grabbing Cain by the hand he's leading Cain by the hand and he's saying to Cain look you can fix this he can get this right many times does God do that with us texts come up into our minds thoughts concerning sermons that we've heard as if God is speaking audibly to us through his word by his Spirit and we continue to close our ears we continue to resist him we continue to reject him and we go on in our pity parties we go on in our whining sessions we go on in our anger and instead of repenting instead of forsaking and instead of coming to God the way that we ought to come to God we continue down that spiral now you might say well Butler you've got big problems I know I do but I don't think I'm alone I think I've seen other people that and handle things this way as well there's a time in all of our lives and we need to just shut our mouths listen to God and do what he says and if ever there was that time it was with Cain here at the precipice of murder and mayhem and then the next statement verse 7 I think is a warning so God not only takes him by the hand and says to him Cain Cain there is acceptance with you if you come in faith Cain it's not right for you to be angry Cain you need to you need to bury this you need to put this to death you need to get things right and you need to come back and now he's just gonna warn him flat-out verse 7 if you do well will you not be accepted and if you do not do well now here's the warning sin lies at the door and it's desire is for you but you should rule over it the warning concerning the power of undealt with sin Gill explains if thou does not do good works nor offer an offering s it should be offered sin lies at the door of conscience and as soon as that is awakened and open it will enter in and make sad work there as it afterwards did so you see everything that God says with reference to cane in terms of this particular warning at the end of verse seven actually comes to pass sin is lying there sin is crouching sin is is at the door of your heart came the decisions that you make now are going to affect everything again we have those moments in our lives don't we we we choose you know that that that be option when a was the clear one oh well cane is that a Navy option choice or a B choice here and he chooses the wrong option he rejects the kindness of God the overtures of God there is acceptance with you if you come in faith but as well he rejects the warning of God sin lies at the door of your heart the desire rather its desire is for you but you should rule over it Cain disregards God Cain does not rule over it rather its desire is for him its desire grows and its desire ultimately captivates his mind in his heart such that Cain goes out and he bashes his brother's head or whichever way he chose to dispatch him you see God in His grace again we read these narratives and we don't think enough about God we don't think enough about what God is doing taking came by their hand there is acceptance with you taking came by the scruff of the neck and saying be warned that sins desirous for you if you don't rule over it it will ultimately be victorious the Lord God is merciful in his interactions or in his dealings with Cain and again I think that exacerbates the sinfulness of this particular man now note verse eight very brief very terse very quick explanation of how Cain deals with his anger now there is the absence of a verbal response God speaks to Kate in verses 6 & 7 Cain doesn't answer lords God says why are you angry Cain doesn't say well you know because you're unfair well you know because Abel he's got problems or you know because I tried he doesn't even answer god there's an obvious absence of a verbal response that there is the obvious answer of the non verbal response in other words Cain's actions evidence what he made of God's taking him by the hand and what he made of dodge warning in verses 6 & 7 he rejected them he disregarded them he rebelled against them notice verse 8 now Cain talked with Abel his brother it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him he talked with Abel the Septuagint has let us go out to the field Cain rose up against Abel and Cain murdered Abel and it doesn't get into the grisly details but it is intriguing and we noted this at our Bible study on a Wednesday night even when there aren't guns there can be murder you see the big argument about guns it's not guns it's people people are the problem people are the issue people are the sinners sticks stones bare hands if there's a person that has hatred in their heart there's a person that has murder in their heart they're going to display it no matter what the tool is they use no matter how it has to come to pass they will vent out that murder one way or the other again we ought to be mindful of that it isn't stuff it isn't items it isn't things it's the human heart and and we just don't want to pay attention to that well let's throw more money at this let's throw more money at that let's do this let's do that let's do you can't fix hearts the state will always come up short when it comes to heart fixing the state's job isn't to fix hearts it's to punish evildoers they embrace that the better for all of us there's one agent that fixes hearts and his name is God Most High there's one agency that proclaims that and that's the church see the state is to be about the repression or suppression of evildoers it's the church's job to preach the gospel so that those evildoers will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior when we ask the state to be the healer we are irrigating to them something that belongs to God that's why we've got the mess that we're in but that's for another sermon someday when we get to Deuteronomy we'll deal with all that sort of stuff but let's look now at the first trial and sentencing in verses 9 to 16 you see the arraignment of Cain verse 9 then the Lord said to Cain where is Abel your brother I'd like to think at this point I wouldn't have to say it but again God is not asking because he doesn't have the information he's again telling Cain come clean I've got you I know what's happened he says in the next verse the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground all of these overtures all of these questions all of this time shows demonstrates highlights and parades before us the patience of God let no one ever tell you that God is impatient let no one ever tell you that God is not long-suffering let no one ever tell you that God lacks compassion because the biblical narrative tells us directly opposite he does possess long-suffering he does exercise compassion now note the plea the arraignment where is Abel your brother now the plea from verse in verse 9 I do not know am I my brother's keeper now the attempt to evade through a blatant lie he's showing escalation of sin see when Adam is called to account he doesn't just deny oh no we didn't eat the fruit oh you're wrong if we didn't what what do you mean wait we didn't eat the first no he doesn't evade it like that he evades it in different ways but he but he he doesn't he doesn't deny that it actually took place this is what Abel or I'm sorry Cain is do I do not know where is Abel your brother I do not know I mean maybe he was fastidious like you know the later tell Munich practices would be well III threw him in a field but I don't really actually know the exact coordinates I mean maybe he could try to sort of weasel his way out in a courtroom like that but he is denying the knowledge of having murdered his brother and then notice what else he does he tries to evade through a blatant lie and then he tries to evade through arrogant rhetoric verse 9b am I my brother's keeper am I my brother's keeper well the Bible never tells us to be our brother's keeper in the sense that 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days out of the year we are right next to them and making sure everything is good so no we're not called to be our brother's keeper but the Bible everywhere does command us not to be our brother's murderer and this is where in Cain has fallen Cain is trying to get arrogant with God when um's as he overstates his responsibility toward his brother in order to deny it completely and then the indictment comes in verse 10 the indictment in verse 10 what have you done what have you done 10a what have you done the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground now we have seen this in Adam and Eve we see this in Cain we see this all throughout Scripture the attempt to cover our own sin never ends well we saw this in proverbs 28 whoever covers his transgression will not prosper but he who confesses and forsakes it will find mercy when we attempt to sort of evade our sin or our responsibility for it it never ends well God doesn't say oh I guess you don't know where he is and I guess yeah I never made that clear that you are supposed to be no he doesn't do that it says what have you done he knows our sin brethren he knows and understands our hearts and he calls him to account yet the voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground the Lord knows the deeds of men the Lord prizes human life even after death I think this passage underscores this God prizes human life even after death other words there's value for human life isn't there even in its death how we treat the body even after death is something we ought to be consistent with in terms of the creator and creature sort of distinction God is concerned there's a whole passage in Scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 21 verses 1 to 9 there is the law of the unsolved homicide I mean this this this whole law was developed such that if somebody found a dead body they didn't just say well we can't explain it let's throw it into the ditch or we can't explain it let's just bury it in the potter's field we can't explain it so you know that's just the way it goes know there was an elaborate ritual set up with a heifer with water with with confession and with asking God to atone for the sin that had occurred in that instance what do we make of that we make of that this God is concerned with the sanctity of life God is concerned with the voice of what how many millions and millions of babies that cry out to him from the ground or the judicially innocent elderly people or the judicially innocent terminally ill people that have been dispatched by the modern state we may think it's no big deal and hopefully we don't but God Almighty hears their their voice crying out from the ground the blood of the voice of their blood crying out from the ground and the Lord hears the blood of innocent Abel Calvin said Abel was speechless when his throat was being cut or in whatever other manner he was losing his life but after death the voice of his blood was more vehement than any eloquence of the orator that's very powerful very powerful after death or after that after death the voice of his blood was more vehement than any eloquence of the orator the significance of blood will be seen as we move through Genesis life is in the blood the capital punishment do for the murderer the reality that God uses or God rather calls for blood in atonement in order to approach the we do so through the blood of atonement and then note the punishment of Cain finally in verses 11 to 16 we see escalation here as well that means a heightening you not only see rapid escalation of sin in how bad it gets so quickly you also see the rapid escalation of curse upon sin and there are several lines of evidence for this first the escalation of curse upon Cain in Genesis 3 14 and 17 the curses were upon the serpent in the ground Adam and Eve themselves were not cursed now in their vocation in their lives with reference to Eve in terms of marriage and in terms of procreation there were going to be certain consequences affecting her subsequent to the fall with reference to Adam there's going to be you know consequences subsequent to the fall but Adam and Eve are not cursed it's the serpent in the ground here Cain is cursed as a result of what he has done as well Adam would have difficulty with the land in 317 219 Cain would have nothing from the land I don't think that means everybody in Cain's family from forever but it's a specifics specific indictment of specific curse upon Cain for this act of murder and then note that Adam was exiled from the garden Cain would ultimately be exiled from any stability on the earth he'd be a fugitive he'd be a vagabond he'd be a wanderer isn't man isn't the desire and design of men and women to find stability to find security to find a place to hang our hats at the end of the day I mean every one of us desires a bit of a Haven every one of us desires a bit of rest every one of us desires after a long hard day to be able to go somewhere it doesn't have to be the Taj Mahal it doesn't have to be the white house it just has to be a place where we can put our feet up and praise God Almighty from whom all blessings flow Cain's not going to have that Cain is sacrificed that Cain has thrown that all away Cain according to Calvin was not only condemned a personal exile but was also subjected to still more severe punishment namely that he should find no region of the earth where he would not be of a restless and a fearful mine now note Caine's response to his punishment he cries out concerning his punishment not the sin that he's being punished for you sometimes see this don't you you you follow the news and you see a court case and somebody's sentenced and instead of you know owning what they've done and confessing what they've done they they say well that judge is harsh that jury was unfair this system is rigged it's bad well that's what Cain does Cain doesn't cry out on my iniquity has been great there's a marginal reading that suggests that based on other tax types but the the preferred reading is my punishment it's too great for me to bear other words God's being harsh this is too much this isn't cool this isn't legit this isn't right this isn't normal instead of crying out over the sin that got him into the mess he rather cries out over the punishment that he cannot bear he implies that God is too harsh matthew henry said in penitent on humbled hearts are therefore not reclaimed by god's rebukes because they think themselves wronged by them and it is an evidence of great hardness to be more concerned about our sufferings than for our sins that is indicated indicative of a hardened heart to be more concerned about our sufferings than about our sins he knows within himself the legitimacy of Genesis 9:6 even prior to Genesis 9:6 Cain knows the legitimacy of it could it be what Genesis 9:6 pect step of stipulates in terms of capital punishment for murderers is part of the law of God written on our heart so it's not only the prohibition concerning murder but it's the penalty associated with the murderer Cain knows that wherever he goes there are persons that are going to want to take him out who wants a a man who's engaged in fratricide the murder of a brother living in their community fact when we dropped down in the narrative and we find that Cain has a wife most of the commentators suggest he probably had the wife before he murdered Abel now just because the tax gives us Cain and Abel doesn't there aren't other people on the earth Adam and Eve had a multiple a multitude of sons and daughters so the the commentators rightly and I would say I would say correctly say that he probably had his wife before he murdered Abel why in the world would any woman want to saddle up to a guy who had murdered his own brother I mean this is not the sort of guy you want to bring home for you know turkey dinner on Thanksgiving he's a he's a wretch and he understands this the other others in the in the world around him they're gonna want to exact vengeance upon him they're gonna want to destroy him and then note God's command in verse 15 the Lord said to him therefore whoever kills Cain vengeance shall be taken on him Sevenfold and the Lord said a mark on Cain lest anyone finding him should kill him the Sevenfold vengeance is probably a poetic form of speech meaning full divine retribution it's borne out or rather used that way in other places in the Old Testament and then why does god preserve Cain's life Cain deserves to die God should have had him executed but God doesn't do that why I don't know I don't know I think gills probably close as gill most often is either right or close it was the will of God that though Cain deserved to die yet that he should not die immediately but live a long and miserable life that it might be a terror to others not to commit the like crime I probably said when considering this in our Wednesday night Bible study if given the option I would prefer the gas chamber over the modern penal system if I was convicted of a capital offense I would prefer the death penalty than life in prison I'm not suggesting that you imitate that but the modern penal system is far scarier than anything that lie beyond the grave for a believer I don't want to be victimized I don't want to be sodomized I don't want to have a life of torment in a prison so I could understand why some would opt for the chair versus the cell and I suggest that that's what's at play here death for Cain would have been a blessing as opposed to what he was destined - now in this life that he had chosen by rejecting the kind hand of God the firm warning of God the repeated questioning of God and while he went out when he went out and he murdered his brother it was better for him to die actually but he got what he want and Bishop Paul makes this observation not the Roman Catholic but rather the Anglican bishop Joseph Hall he said he that would not keep his brother is cast out from the protection of God he that feared not to kill his brother fears now that whosoever meets him will kill him the troubled conscience projects fearful things and sin makes even cruel men cowardly sin makes even cruel men cowardly the righteous are as bold as a lion aren't they according to proverbs 28 but the wicked flee when no one pursues they're afraid of everything why cuz they've got a guilty conscience that's Cain he's got a guilty conscience he's a vagabond he's a fugitive he's gonna bounce from place to place he's fearful of the the blood avenger he's fearful of a family member coming and exacting vengeance upon him for his having dispatched Abel he goes on Paul goes on God saw it was too much favor for him to die he therefore wills that which Cain wills Cain would live it has yielded him but for a curse he shall live banished from God carrying his hell in his bosom and the brand of God's vengeance in his forehead God rejects him the earth refines out in Menna bore him himself now wishes that death which he feared and no man dare pleasure him with a murder how bitter is the end of sin yayyyy without end still Cain finds that he killed himself more than his brother we should never sin if our foresight were but as good as our sense the issue of sin would appear a thousand times more horrible than the act is pleasant now I often say if you ever want to quote or notes email me and I will send this to you all really need that one because I think that's one of the best commentaries on what's happening here with reference to Cain that I've read and it's hard to digest it in the span of 20 seconds in a in an audible reading perhaps you can look at it on your computer screen and ponder the implications of what our brother said so many years ago concerning the wretched end of Kane and then notice finally with reference to the banishment from God verse 16 then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of Nod on the East of Eden it's intriguing because how does the chapter begin the chapter begins with sabbath day worship the chapter begins with two brothers taking sacrifices or offerings to approach God to come nigh unto God to draw close to God and yet the end of the chapter Cain is driven even further from God this is the divine commentary on man's sin well brethren as I said in the course of this this sermon we ought to appreciate or notice or observe the rapid escalation of sin Wenham says Cain is portrayed as a much more hardened sinner than his father Adam merely ate a fruit given him by his wife Cain murdered his brother Cain rejects the divine and treaty and then grumbles about his sentence everything Cain does is wrong in this chapter and then walki makes the observation the Sundering of the familial bond begun in chapter 3 here escalates to fratricide in one mere generation what's Walt he's Wilkie saying he's saying that that family bond that begins to be disrupted in Genesis 3 remember the woman whom you gave me the the woman that that you put in my life what's Adam doing he's throwing the woman under the bus boss chapter 2 18 to 25 shows us that marriage is a blessed and a wonderful thing there is this one flesh mint about it and yet when it comes to sin Adam is ready to throw Eve right under the bus in order to try and evade the very judgment and wrath of God so we see that we see that disruption when God comes to deal with the woman what does he say your desire will be for hand but he will rule over you in other words the marriage is going to continue the marriage is going to persist but there's going to be some distortion as a result of sin so we see that at that level and then we get into chapter 4 and what do we see fratricide the actual murder of one brother by another brother you see this concept that we can do a little bit of sin and keep it under control it's absolutely positively false you cannot do one little sin and keep it under control and then back in the day when I was a little kid I remember a an advertising campaign for one of the potato chip companies and they said you can't eat just one they're right have you ever reached into a bag of chips and eaten just one is that possible are you the winner have you done that probably not you can't eat just one sins like that you can't just do one you can't just reach your hand and take out one little chip eat that and then be done with it sin is monstrous sin always goes for the throat oh and somewhere in volume six says every every doubt would end in an absolute atheism if given vent every you know unguarded look upon the opposite sex would end an abject sexual immorality if not stopped at the very source you cannot play with sin solomon asks his sons can a man take fire into his bosom and not be burned can you engage in an adultery in that context and not end up with with wounds and dishonor and the wrath and fury of God you see brethren we have way too small view of sin thinking that we can domesticate it that we can tame it and that we can somehow control it we cannot that's what James says with reference to the tongue remember that in James chapter 3 it is an unruly evil no man containment what does James mean there James means what James means no man can tame the tongue now there's one of two ways to read that we could read that and say oh then I'm not even gonna bother I'm just going to engage in the sorts of lawlessness that tongs engage in no that's not James's purpose no man can tame the tongue but God the Lord contained the tongue and as believers you ought to ask him to set a restraint over your tongue brethren we cannot play games with sin let cain teach you that as well with reference to the first murder it demonstrates the antithesis announced in 3:15 there is this collective warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent we see that the first murder was religious in nature that's how Jesus interprets it in Matthew 23 35 Abel was a martyr Meredith Klein says not mere social disorder was involved but radical religious discord the enmity of the serpent seed against the seed of the woman Jesus interpreted Cain's murder of Abel as the first shedding of martyrs blood the first murderer did not heed the warning of God the first murderer did not listen to the voice of God the first murder engaged in rebellion against God and in first John chapter 3 we as the people of God are told to avoid the sin of Cain and then with reference to the glory of the God of justice he knows the deeds of men both of the good the good and the evil and the Lord is indeed the champion of the sanctity of life there's a commentary on on the book of Deuteronomy and this fellow says with reference to the law of unsolved murder again Deuteronomy 21 1 to 9 read at some time and it might seem odd it might seem strange got a measure you got to find the priests you got to kill a heifer you got to get water you got to pray to God to get atonement for this one unsolved murder this one unsolved homicide right says it is often when the Old Testament seems most culturally remote from us that we need to pay closest attention to its challenge what ought to strike us from this law is not the oddity of a cow with a broken neck in an uninhabited Brook but the expected response of a whole community through its Civic judicial and religious leaders to a single human death that's what ought to strike us god the champion of the sanctity of life and then God as well hears the voice of the cry of Abel's blood and the verb that's used here is used elsewhere in the Bible fact when I'm I think accurately summarizes here Abel's blood is pictured crying to God for vengeance the verb pry is the desperate cry of went of men without food expecting to die then there's texts here or oppressed by their enemies it is the scream for help of a woman being raped it is the plea to God of the victims of injustice the law the prophets and the Psalms unite with narratives like this to assert that God does hear his people's desperate cries for help and I think that's a good place for us to end and the best help that God gives is the help of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we can be assured that if we cry out to him in faith he hears us and that he answers us and that he gives us life because God not only hears the blood of Abel but he hears the blood of Jesus and it speaks better things according to Hebrews chapter 12 the blood of Abel cries out condemned the blood of Jesus cries out forgive let us close in a word of Prayer father thank you for your word and thank you for these accounts in the in the book of Genesis and the early history of man may we learn the lessons that you would have for us may you help us to see sin and all of its ugly detail and description and may grant us grace to heed the voice of God Almighty we ask that you would go with us now and we pray that you would cause your face to shine upon us that you would keep us that you would protect us it would fought our hearts and minds with that peace of God which surpasses all understanding and we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen I'm close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you you