A Murderer and a Martyr

Good morning. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here to worship with you all this morning, particularly for the privilege of preaching from Genesis chapter four. As Ben mentioned earlier, it's good to be back with you. I was surprised when Ben mentioned earlier that it had been four years. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. which is a sign that I'm getting old, I'm sure. Let's look together to start with at the passage. This morning, Genesis chapter four, if you're using a pew Bible, that's on page three. Genesis chapter four, I'll read the first 15 verses. Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain, a worker of the ground. In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother? He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, what? have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground and from your face. I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me. Then the Lord said to him, not so. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who found him should attack him. Let's pray together once more. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for your word, for the confidence that you give us in it, that you have preserved it for us, that you've provided it to us, that we might know you, the one true and living God. We pray that you will grant us grace as we consider it together this morning, that you will aid our minds and our hearts, that you will help us to hear and to heed for Christ's sake. Amen. But if you've opened up there to chapter four, the reading of the story here of Adam and Eve adding to their family, we only have to look back to the previous chapter to recognize that what's happening here is happening in the context of what we call original sin or the fall of mankind. As a result, there's a very close connection between what's going on in Genesis chapter 3, with the initial and original sin of mankind, and Genesis chapter 4. Chapter 3 exposes for us the beginning of sin in man, in mankind. In chapter 4, we read not of the beginning of sin, but the progression of sin. the fruit, the ongoing effects of sin. In chapter 3, it's sin in the individual, Adam and Eve specifically. In the other, it spreads to the rest of the family. In chapter 4, it spreads to the family and then to further society. Adam's sinful legacy spread immediately to his family. And from his family, the rest of society and history was affected negatively. I've split up these verses into three specific points for us to look at together. This morning, verses one through seven, I've titled Work and Worship. Work and Worship. Verse eight, stands alone, Cain kills his brother. And then 9 through 15, Cain's day in court. Work and worship. Cain kills his brother. And Cain's day in court. Now Adam had relations with his wife Eve. That is, they are fulfilling the mandate way back from Genesis chapter 1. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. This is what God said to Adam and Eve. And here they are doing that. They're being fruitful. They're multiplying. And she conceived. and gave birth to Cain. And her response is this, I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord. I have gotten, in the original, it sounds like Cain. Basically, I have Cain to Cain. I have received a Cain. It's a name with a real meaning. If you've traveled around the world in our day, this is still common in some cultures. It's not so common in our culture. We more like the way a name sounds. or what the letter that it starts with, but in lots of cultures, names have real meaning, and it was that way for Cain. She had gotten, she had received a man-child. She had received the promise, the promise that God had given her in Genesis chapter 3. But she didn't just have Cain. Again, she gave birth, verse 2, to his brother Abel. If Cain has a name with a real meaning, Abel as a name with a prophetic meaning. Ebo means vanity, or more specifically, vapor. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher. All is vanities. Ecclesiastes 1, 2. Or Psalm 144, 4, man is like a mere breath, like an able. His days are like a passing shadow, and we see the prophecy of his name becoming more clear. You are just a vapor, James 4, just an able that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord. There's a realization. In Eve here, even in the midst of the discipline for the original sin, God promised you will be the mother of the living. Genesis chapter three, verse 20, verse 16 says, in pain you will bring forth children. Here's the discipline of the Lord because of your sin, but Eve. There's a silver lining to this dark cloud of pain and childbirth. You'll be the mother of all the living. And here we see it happening, coming to fruition in the early verses of Genesis chapter 4. Abel was a keeper of the flocks. Cain was a tiller of the ground. Now, this is important for us to note because in reading this, we go from infancy to occupation. And there's a lot skipped over. Eve didn't do a very good job keeping up with her baby books. It's almost like these were the third and fourth children rather than the first and second. Some of you understand that. I have six kids. I understand that very well. Much is left out of their story. It's from birth to on the job. I bring that to our attention because it's helpful for us to note that we're not discussing toddlers here. What's going on here is not a six and seven year old out in the field. Some of you have probably seen the old picture where the two little boys are standing there in overalls and one saying to the other, you've been farming long? This is not a picture of little kids here. They are adults, young men at this point. Abel has become a shepherd, a keeper of the sheep, and Cain is a farmer, a tiller of the ground. This is work. This is their vocation. It's what they were born to do, just like we were born to work. They likely learned their vocations from their father. Listen to Genesis 1, 29 and 30. God says to Adam, I've given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, and every beast of the earth, and every bird of the sky, and to everything that moves on the earth which has life. Evidently Cain learned how to raise fruits and vegetables from his father. Abel learned how to be a keeper of the sheep from his father. They both respectively learned their areas of vocation from growing up in Adam's house. Cain and Abel are physically from the exact same lineage, but spiritually, there's a massive distinction. Physically the same, but spiritually from different lines. Those different lines that were promised there in Genesis 3, 15. If you have your Bible out, just briefly look back at that promise. I will put enmity, God says, between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. These two seeds that are promised, the seed of the coming Messiah and the seed of Satan. And that's the two seeds that we see being represented here in the lives of Cain and Abel, these two boys with common parents. Which brings us to verse three. So it came about in the course of time, either on a Lord's Day morning, on a Sabbath morning, or potentially during harvest season. We don't know exactly, but we do know that Adam had been instructed evidently to worship during this time, and his sons were taking after him. And Cain and Abel came bringing offerings, offerings that were in keeping with their respective occupations. Abel was a keeper of the flocks, Cain was a tiller of the ground. Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. He just brought some fruit of the ground. No evidence of anything special, just brought some. But Abel, verse four, on his part, brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portion, the choicest part of the choicest animal. You see the distinction taking place. Cain, running out the door quickly on his way to church, unprepared, thoughtless, going through the motions, doing what's convenient, grabs some fruit to give. Abel goes through the trouble, paying attention, which is the best. which is the choicest part of the best. That's what I'm going to offer to the Lord. Cain and Abel not only would have learned work, shepherding and farming from Adam, but they would have learned worship from him as well. And really at this point in the story, I'm getting a little bit of head by the way that I'm talking about their offerings. But at this point in the story, the motions of their worship, of them bringing an offering from their respective occupations, the outward motions appear correct. But their motives are clearly not. We know that based on God's response. So it matters. It matters what our inward motives are with regard to worship. Why do you worship God? Are your inward motives pleasing to Him? Are you more concerned with what's convenient and what you want as opposed to what God says in His Word? But not just the inward motives. It's insufficient to just want the right thing within. The outward motions must be honoring to Him as well. It's helpful for us to set up reminders and ask ourselves often, are the motives and motions of our worship, inwardly and outwardly, are they in keeping with the word of God, with what he has said about himself and how we, as his people, ought to worship him? Second part of verse four, and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. But for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard. Here's God's response to the offerings. Notice, not just the offerings, but God's responding also to the offerers, to Cain and to Abel. He had regard. He accepted Abel. And he accepted Abel's offering. And he rejected Cain. And he rejected Cain's offering. Why? Why did God have regard? Why did he accept Abel and reject and have no regard for Cain? Hebrews 11.4 answers this. By faith, the writer of Hebrews records for us, by faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain. Note, it's not the sacrifice that makes the difference. It's the faith through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous. that through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice than his brother. By faith, Abel obtained a testimony to being righteous. By faith, Abel still speaks even though he is dead. Here's the great distinction between Cain and Abel. It's the distinction between people in our day as well. Before God, there are two major groups of people, those who live by faith, and those who don't. Those who, like Abel, were righteous and those who are unrighteous and self-righteous. There's only two options. Cain and Abel bring an offering to the Lord. In the course of time, what is the difference between Cain and Abel? Think about the ways that we distinguish worship, the worship of God. We're tempted to think that it might have been the sincerity of their heart, or the intent of their heart, or the style of their offering. Style of worship is a popular thing to talk about. Or the substance of their offering, whether animal or vegetable, But does it really matter how sincere their heart was? Does style even matter? Is the substance what the point of the passage is? Not at all. The difference between Cain and Abel, according to the writer of Hebrews, is faith. Abel was a man of faith. The sacrifice that is acceptable to God is not acceptable merely because of its material content, but it is acceptable insofar as it is an outward expression of a devoted and obedient heart. Abel was in a right standing with God, and he sought to please God. He sought to do the will of God that was passed down to him. How to worship God was passed down to him from his father, and he sought to do that. Cain, on the other hand, did not. Oftentimes, when thinking about this passage, we immediately run to the difference was one was an animal and it required the shedding of blood, and one was a different kind of offering, a vegetable or a fruit, and didn't require that, and this one's picturing Christ, and there's some truth to the picture that's being painted there, but there's no evidence that this is actually a sin offering, and in other places in Scripture, things like grain offerings are actually commanded, and Hopefully this isn't news to you, but grain doesn't shed blood. So the distinction here is not that one has blood and one doesn't. The distinction is in the men's hearts. The difference is in Cain and Abel. One sought to please the Lord. Listen to what the great French reformer Calvin said about it. Abel's sacrifice was preferred to his brother's for no other reason than that it was sanctified by faith. He goes further, surely the fat of a brute animal did not smell so sweetly that it could by its odor pacify God. What a statement. The difference is not protein is better than greens. The difference is not bacon is better than butter beans. That's true, but that's not what's being stated here. Abel's sacrifice was accepted because he himself was accepted, because he was righteous. He was accepted by faith. The distinction was not in the offerings that were brought, but in the men who brought the offerings. Look at God's response to Cain. Again, God's response is what exposes the reality here. If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? Here's the distinction. One did what was right. One did not. Abel pleased the Lord. Cain did not. Abel's sacrifice was the outward expression of his own personal obedience and faith toward God. Just like for Cain and Abel, The same is true for us. No acceptable work, no right work can proceed from us, from our hearts, until we are justified before God. And we are justified before a holy God in the same way that Abel was justified, by faith, by faith alone. And Abel was operating from this principle of faith, and his brother Cain was not. which ought to beg the question for each of us. What are you offering to God that is not being accepted? Are you assuming that God's regard for worship is based in any way on your own reason or rationale? On your own convenience? On your own personal preference? Or is your worship of the living God revealed on the Word of God? We must be a people who worship Him based on how He has determined that we worship Him. And we must do it by faith. And faith comes by hearing. Do you not think that Adam had sat down with both boys growing up Imagine how often Cain and Abel had heard the story about how Adam was created from the dust of the ground, and how their mom was created from the side of their dad, and how God had put them in a perfect garden and said, you can take of anything. It's all yours. Just don't take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Imagine how many times Adam, with tears running down his face, reiterated to his sons how their mom was deceived and how he followed in the being deceived and gave in to sin and took of the tree. And how everything changed after that and they were forced out of the garden. But imagine also the glee and the hope in his voice as he sat down with both boys and continued to tell the story of how God intervened and promised to one day send a Messiah that would redeem them and give them hope, and how he explained the story of they tried to cover themselves up with fig leaves, but then soon realized these are going to rot and we'll leave ourselves in shame and exposed still before God, but God provided a better covering, a covering of blood through the loincloth. And though both boys had grown up hearing the message, the message of hope and the message of the Gospel, only one believed it. Faith comes by hearing. Faith is trust in God. It is humble reliance on His Word. Friend, do you have this kind of faith this morning? When God speaks, faith hears. When God speaks, faith believes. When God speaks, faith obeys. Biblical faith in Jesus Christ can only breathe in the atmosphere of revelation, of divine revelation. It can only stand on the rock of God's promises. It has no ear but for heavenly words. Biblical faith. It can only read what the finger of God writes, and it seeks to implement it and apply it to every area of life. Faith is always and only exercised in the context of divine revelation, in the context of the revealed will and word of God. The apostle whom Jesus loved records in 1 John 3.12, Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother, And for what reason did he slay him? Why did Cain kill Abel? According to John the Apostle, because his own deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. And that encapsulates the title this morning, A Murderer and a Martyr. Because his brothers were righteous, Because Abel was doing what was right. Because Abel was worshiping God in the right way. In Genesis 3, we pointed out earlier that the sin was primarily against God. And here in Genesis chapter 4, the sin is also against fellow man. Cain was in rebellion against his brother because he was in rebellion against God. And the order that we witness here in the early days of human history is still the same. The one who has no fear of God before his eyes has no genuine respect for the rights of his neighbor. We live in a culture that is in love with death, that has no regard or respect for human life. In Genesis chapter 4, we see the local and immediate fulfillment. of the promise in chapter 3 verse 15, the enmity between the two seeds, the wicked Cain and the righteous Abel. Listen, Cain was born in the same original guilt as Abel. He shared in the same parental instruction. In outward advantages, there was no difference. But their spiritual character is completely opposite. The truth on the one hand melts one, and that same truth hardens the other. One receives a blessing and the other a curse. Cain, with all the advantages of his brother Abel, worships God wrongly, selfishly, conveniently, contrary to the word of God, to the ways of his father. This is not the only example in Scripture of unacceptable worship. There's example after example on the pages of our Bibles that reveal to us that God will not accept worship that isn't pleasing to Him, that isn't demanded by Him, that isn't prescribed in His Word. You remember King Uzziah. We know him primarily because Isaiah draws attention to the year that he died. And the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. But who was King Uzziah? He was a king who had great strength, and he was conquering army after army. And he grew proud. And he went into the temple, and he offered a priestly sacrifice. The king and the priest, the offices that would only be combined in the promised and coming Messiah. And the priests of that day come in, and they find him in there, and they tell him to walk away, and he refuses, and he's struck with leprosy. And this man, who was a great man, died as a result of offering unacceptable worship. Or Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10, offering strange fire to the Lord. You remember what happened to them? Consumed by him. struck dead, and consumed by God for offering a sacrifice that God did not demand. Or Uzzah, 2 Samuel 6. Uzzah meant well. David had just taken the ark back from the Philistines, and rather than them following the prescribed method of carrying the ark that is on the poles and on the shoulders, They decided to do it the worldly way, the way that the Philistines had taught them. Just put it on the cart. It's so much easier. The wheels are so smooth. You don't have to be weighted down. It'll be fine. And so they attempt to carry the Ark of the Covenant, the ways of the world, and they reach the threshing floor. And you may remember the story, but it gets a little unstable. And Uzzah, he wrongly thinks that his hands and his heart are cleaner than the dirty ground. And he reaches out to touch it, and he's struck dead. worshiping God in a way that God hasn't commanded. Or Achan, in Joshua 7, who took what God had banned and hid it back, and there was sin in the camp, and he was exposed. Or Ananias and Sapphira, who brought an offering to the Lord, but they lied about what they had brought. God will not receive unacceptable worship. Cain found that out. For Cain and his offering, God had no regard. Second time for verse five, so Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. He became angry inwardly. The inward response to being rejected by God within his soul was burning anger, like a volcano billowing within his soul, anger towards God, anger towards his brother. He's so angry within that there's an outward reaction. The body language is giving himself away. He's despondent. He's displeased. He can't hold back the volcano within. The smoke comes billowing forth from his face. The same is often true for us. Listen to Isaiah 3.9. The expression of their faces bears witness against them. Your face, your body language is often, not always, but often the mirror of your soul. Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Why? Because nothing angers the self-righteous like being told that your worship is not acceptable to God. Nothing. Cain was furious that all his labors should stand for nothing. He was attempting to earn favor with God. God said, I'm not interested. He was angry at the thought that he could not approach and worship God according to the desires and dictates of his own mind and heart. The natural man, the man outside of Christ, the woman who's not a Christian, in sin, in pride, in self-righteousness, they hate the biblical truths of substitutionary atonement and propitiation of sin and forgiveness. worse than they hate the devil himself. He became angry, angry at God, angry at his brother. But the Lord doesn't leave him there. There's calculated, compassionate questioning. Look, God comes to him, verse 6. Cain, why are you angry within? Why has your countenance fallen? This is a gracious appeal from God to Cain. I see you, Cain. I recognize you within and without. I understand that your heart is bothered, your face is giving it away. Cain, if you do well, Will not your countenance be lifted up? Oh, but Cain, if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you. Oh, but Cain, you must master it. A stern warning. compassionate, grace-filled inquiry here from God, a warning against disobedience, against domesticating disobedience. The warning here is not without promised hope. It's not, Cain, you did this, and this is your judgment. It's, Cain, if you do well, not if you had have done well, but Cain, turn from your ways. If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? Here's God coming to Cain and saying, Cain, here's the solution for despondency. Here's the solution for being down and out. Obedience, if you do well, if you do what is right. Friend, if you're downcast, obedience to the Lord is the solution. If there's anger and bitter within, obedience to the Lord is the solution. Are you anxious and worried? Obedience is the remedy for your soul. Repentance before God results in forgiveness and acceptance with Him. Cain, if you do well, Your countenance will be lifted. That's what we can hear God saying. Oh, but if you do not do well, if you do not do what is right, if you do not turn from this sin cane, it is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you to be lifted. but you must master it. Sin, especially hidden sin, is not a domesticated house pet. Its desire is for you to destroy you. It's not a sin that you can just take out of the closet here and there and put it back under the bed, pet it when you want it, set it aside when you don't. You know those sins, the lust, fornication, pornography. It is too often treated like an animated stuffed animal when desired and then put back in the kennel. We're not talking about a toy poodle creeping around the corner. This is a savage wolf that will destroy you. Cain, sin is crouching at your door and its desire is for you. Or what about vanity and flirtatiousness, consumed with what others think, desiring even for others to take a second look, dressing and acting in ways that draw attention. This is not a cute little purring kitten in the corner. This is a ferocious lion that will destroy you. Or that secret vice, hidden addiction, Listen, no addict ever planned to be trapped with the addiction, with their family destroyed, with their life disrupted. It's not a garter snake in the flower bed playing with the children. It is a boa constrictor that will suck the life out of you. Sin is a beast. It is crouching at the door. Its desire is to destroy you and your life. But you, Cain, and you, friend this morning, must master it. There are two kinds of worshipers, those that God accepts and those that God rejects. We are all children of Adam, but the question remains, are you a child of Cain or a child of Abel? Listen to Jude, verse 11, woe to them for they have gone the way of Cain. Are you a child of Cain? Have you gone the way of Cain? Cain and Abel stand as the representatives of two great classes of people, the only two classes of humankind, representing the lost and the saved. The self-righteous and the broken-spirited. The formal professor of religion and the genuine believer in Jesus. Those who rely on their own works for salvation and those who are resting on the finished work of Christ. Those who insist continually upon salvation by human efforts and those who are willing to be saved by divine grace. Those who are rejected by God and those who are accepted by Him. That is the overarching application from our story here in Genesis 4. Are you following the line of Abel or of Cain? Or more specifically, in our context, are you receiving or neglecting the Lord Jesus Christ? Your sins, they are many. The sands of seashore, they are few in comparison to your sins. And each and every one must be blotted out or you die. A single sin unpardoned cannot enter heaven. But all who come to him by faith, all who respond in repentance are washed clean. Made pure, forgiven forever. But Cain will not hear it. Cain told Abel, his brother, look at verse eight. And it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Eve was talked into her sin by Satan. and Cain refuses to be talked out of his by God himself. He will not even confess it or accept his punishment for it, as we'll see. Cain is seeking by the murder of his faithful brother to extinguish that gospel light which is exposing him. And the fruit of the sin within his soul, the envy and the anger, gives way to murder. And obviously, based on the text, it's a violent death. The ground soaked up the blood of Abel. Cain is just like his spiritual father, the devil. He's a murderer and a liar. Jesus' words to the spiritual Pharisees, you are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. That's where Cain stands. He gave way to the envy within, the anger within. It's how sin happens. It begins within. It is revealed once we act on it. James 1, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust, the inward desire. When it's conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. The second man ever in the history of humankind, Cain, murdered the third. That's a pretty poor start for humanity. Why? Why did he kill his brother? Remember John told us, because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. The first man murdered in the history of humanity was killed due to his religion, because his deeds were righteous. And he wasn't killed by a pagan running loose. He wasn't killed by ISIS. He was killed by a mere professor of religion. He was killed by a traditionalist. He was killed by his brother who had a form of religion but denied its power. He was killed by someone who was attempting to bring an offering to God, who in his own mind was worshiping God. And in a very real way, spiritually speaking, the self-righteous religious in our day have done far more damage to the kingdom of Christ than the militant atheist. False religion, easy-believism, legalism, Roman Catholicism, we could go on and on. These do far more damage to biblical Christianity than those that we often Note, as our enemies, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Verse 8 says, Eve initially thought that Cain was the promised hope. I've gotten a man-child. The one that was promised is here. He's the line through which the Messiah will come. That was her initial hope, but a hellion he became, a son of hell he proved to be. What about you, young people? Your parents have high hopes. They want far more for you than you want for yourself. They want more for you than they have themselves. Don't become a son or daughter of hell the way that Cain did by rejecting the wise words of your parents, by avoiding the worship that is demanded by God and revealed for us in his word. Cain chased Abel to heaven early. And God comes to Cain, this is remarkable, the mercy that is shown to the murderer here. He comes to Cain saying, basically, that door through which you chased him, the door into heaven, it's open to you, Cain, to even you, a sinner. I mentioned that the third point was Cain's day in court, verses 9 through 15. The continued careful questioning. God attempting to bring about a confession. Where is Abel, your brother? Where's Abel, your brother Cain? Why not? Why not in that moment beg for mercy? Oh God, I've killed him. Have mercy on me. But rather than that, One sin leads to another. He lies, shamelessly lies. I do not know. Arrogant disrespect. Am I my brother's keeper? You know, Cain, actually you are. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your brother as yourself. Remember how this all started, and see the progression of sin. It starts with Cain attempting to conveniently worship God in his own way. To not do what he's been told, but to do what he wanted and what was easy. To worship in a selfish fashion. Resulted in bitterness and anger and envy, which gives way to murder. Sin gets a grip on us and has us in its control. It masters us, which is why verse 7 says, you must master it. Romans 6 talks about this. When we become Christians, we have a new master. Sin was our master. We often believe the lie that somehow we can master it, but it's simply not true. John says in 1 John 3.15, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. But God continues with his line of compassionate questioning. to elicit a confession from Cain. What have you done? Cain, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. What have you done? God, essentially saying to Cain, Cain, you may have plugged your ears and been deaf to his cries for mercy as you bludgeoned him to death in the field that day. Out there where no one could hear the cries, but Cain, I'm not deaf to his blood crying out. The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. God comes to Cain questioning in mercy and offering the opportunity to repent and to turn, to find freedom and forgiveness, and rather than confess, he lies. He attempts to deceive, like his father Adam did previously. He avoids accepting any responsibility. God not only hears the ground crying out, but he responds to that cry. Verse 11, he hears the blood crying out. He acts accordingly. Cursed are you. Cain, as a result of your sin, you will not get provision from the ground. You will not receive a place to settle. The ground that soaked up your brother's blood that was dripping from your hands as you watched him die due to the injuries that you afflicted, that ground is cursed and you will not receive fruit from it. Remember, he is a tiller of the ground. He's not just being exiled from the garden like Adam and Eve were, but from any settled place. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its fruit, verse 12. You'll be a vagrant and a wanderer. You're going here and there. There's no comfort for you, no rest for you, Cain. It's inescapable torment. It's a death sentence without literally dying. In a very real way, Cain, this is it for you. It's hell on earth. Cain said, Verse 13. Oh, it's unfortunate when this is our response. So late. My punishment is too great to bear. Finally he's bothered. No concern about the sin when he committed it. No concern about the sin when he was confronted by God regarding it. Oh, but now when the consequences are levied. Self-pity, whining self-pity. God, you're too severe. I can't take it. It's too great to bear. You've driven me from the face of the ground. From your face, I'll be hidden. I'll be a vagrant, a wanderer on the earth. Whoever finds me will kill me. Four complaints, one after the next. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And note the last one. Whoever finds me will kill me. His own conscience knew what he deserved. The law of God is written on our hearts before the death penalty was even instituted. That happens in chapter 9, verse 6. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man. Cain recognizes that that's what he deserves. And these consequences, being hidden from the face of God, wandering here and there, struggling to survive. They've bothered Cain in a way that his sin and God's warning about his sin had not previously. Listen, if you are hiding sin and pretending to get away with it, and you feel fine day after day or week after week or year after year because it is yet to be exposed, be sure your sin will find you out. All sin will be exposed and it will be dealt with accordingly. The judge of all the earth will do right, even or especially in your case of hidden sin. Your conscience will not leave you alone. If you have hidden sin, it's bothering you right now. Cain knew this. Whoever finds me will kill me. This whole life, looking over his shoulder, wondering, will I be exposed? Who's going to find out? What will I do? What's the cover up? What's the story? And even in the midst of this situation, as horrific as it is, God continues to show mercy for the murderer. The Lord says to Cain, verse 15, whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold. The Lord appointed a sign for Cain so that no one finding him would slay him. Sevenfold. Cain, he's been judged, he's received the discipline of the Lord, but there's also mercy, massive amounts of mercy mixed in. The full weight of God's judgment sevenfold would fall on whoever killed Cain to the full extent they would be dealt with. This part of the story here at the close is is almost beyond reason. Because God's concern for the innocent, Abel, whose blood was crying out, is matched by his care for the sinner. He shows the same kind of care and concern for the murderer and the martyr. That's revealed to us because God protects Cain. He does so there in verse 15, via divine promise and a divine picture. The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And when the blood, when the blood of Abel cries, God says, I hear it. And he acts accordingly. He judges righteously. Abel's blood cries out for vindication, for vengeance, for revenge, for retaliation. You may have noticed in the Scripture reading this morning that though Abel's blood speaks, there's a blood that speaks better. Hebrews 12. You've come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. This is all those who were in Christ, to myriads of angels, to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Not instead of. It doesn't speak instead of. Abel's blood continues to speak, and God still hears its cry, that cry for vindication and revenge, for vengeance and retaliation. The blood of Abel still appeals for justice, and God is a just God. Oh, but Christ's blood speaks better. It appeals not for justice, but for mercy. And Christ's blood continues to speak as well, and it continues to speak better. And God still hears not only the cries of Abel's blood for vengeance, but of Christ's blood for mercy. God still hears those cries. The message of Abel's blood reaches heaven's throne this morning. But the message of Jesus' blood is louder all the still, the message of pardon. and forgiveness and reconciliation. One hymn writer of old said it well, Abel's blood for vengeance pleaded to the skies, but the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries. The blood of Abel brought God from heaven to take vengeance on Cain. The blood of Jesus is efficacious this morning to bring all the blessings of the gospel to all who believe. The blood of Abel is crying out for justice. The blood of Jesus is crying out for mercy. My question in closing for you is, which blood is heard at the throne this morning on your behalf? Come to Christ. Turn to Him, all you ends of the earth, and be saved. repent of your sin, even or especially those hidden sins, and come to Jesus in order that his blood and the cry for mercy might be heard at heaven's throne, that you might find forgiveness and reconciliation in him that will last both now and forever. Let's pray. Our Lord and our God, we thank you again for the sufficiency of your word, and we pray that the truths as they are in Jesus, as revealed in your word and as discussed appropriately among us this morning, would sink down into the deep recesses of our souls in order that it might bring about fruits in keeping with repentance so that our lives might reflect your glory both now and forever. Amen.