Choose the Way of Righteous Abel

Thank you, Mrs. Prater and Mr. Tinkler. Really appreciate that and enjoyed that very much. It's inspiring to hear that. Wonderful message there. I would like to welcome any guests that we may have here for the first time. If you're traveling and passing through, we're glad that you're here with us. And certainly all those on the webcast, welcome to our services. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Now even you kids out there have heard of Cain and Abel, right? The young ones, I mean. Everyone's heard of Cain and Abel. Both gave a sacrifice and offering to the Eternal. Cain's offering was from the ground as he was a farmer, and it says he gave of the fruit of the ground. It doesn't say that Cain gave of the first fruits or the very best of his harvest. The Bible simply says he made an offering or gave a sacrifice. Let's pick up the account in Genesis chapter 4. Let's read it together. It is a powerful account, obviously, of what occurred, and we can learn from it. Genesis chapter 4 verse 1. Now Adam and Eve, I'm sorry, now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Eternal. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, so some time had passed, obviously. 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 Eternal. Again, no mention that it was of the first fruits or it was the choicest of the ground. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock. So this does mention that it was of the firstborn and of their fat, so of the choicest in the flocks. And the Eternal respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

So the Eternal said to Cain, why are you angry? 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. So God is actually trying to help Cain at this point. He's being patient with him. He's explaining what's going on here. 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. Then the Eternal said to Cain, where is Abel your brother?

Cain said, I do not know. Of course, that was a lie. He knew exactly where Cain was.

And then he tries to deflect, am I my brother's keeper?

And God said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Of course, God knew what had happened. God was aware. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. So a curse was placed upon Cain for his actions, a fugitive, and a vagabond you shall be on the earth. And Cain said to the Eternal, my punishment is greater than I can bear. I think that's telling as well. He's more concerned about himself than his brother that he just killed. So it's an interesting dialogue and dynamic that's going on here. He's more concerned about his punishment than his poor dead brother.

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. It sounds like it's all about him, doesn't it?

It's all about Cain. 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 Eternal said a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. While Cain simply gave an offering, the Scripture says Abel gave of the firstborn and the fat were best of his flock. God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice. He was not pleased with Cain's offering.

We saw that Cain became very angry when God expressed his disappointment in the sacrifice. Now, the Bible doesn't give us a lot of information to go on, but we would do well to glean as much as possible from what is shared with us. God wants us to learn the lessons of Cain and Abel. Why was Cain's offering unacceptable to God? Why did Cain go on to kill his own brother? Let us unpack what happened with Cain and Abel today. Beware, lest you walk in the way of Cain. Instead, we must all choose the way of righteous Abel.

Cain's offering was unacceptable to God. Perhaps Cain should have inquired as to why God was not happy with the sacrifice. That seems like that would have been a very normal response for someone who wasn't perhaps already feeling somewhat guilty.

Oh, God, what do you mean? I thought I gave a fine offering, the best offering possible.

That was not his response. He became very angry. Why did he become so angry so quickly? Is it not because Cain likely knew why God wasn't pleased with the sacrifice? Cain likely knew he was holding back and not fulfilling what God had already made clear to him regarding sacrifices and offerings. A loving God isn't going to look so negatively at one's offering if that person hasn't yet been instructed properly as to what God expects. Cain chose to give the type of offering he did. This was a choice that he made, and he certainly chose wrongly. God said, if you do well, then good. But if not, sin lies at the door. He obviously had not done well. In fact, he had done very poorly, and then he attempted to justify his actions. We know that sin is the transgression of God's law of love, love toward God, and also love toward one's neighbor. God is love, and his law defines what love really is all about. The way of Abel is to choose the way of God. It's to choose the love of God. It is to choose life. The way of Cain is to do just the opposite. It is to choose pride, selfishness, vanity, jealousy, hatred, and ultimately death.

Cain was angry because God was calling him on his breach, on Cain's breach, on Cain's sin, rather than simply ignoring it. God didn't ignore it. He told him exactly what he thought. He was communicating with him. He was trying to teach him. This was a teachable moment for Cain, but Cain was not teachable. Instead, he became angry. He did not accept God's correction, but we know that God corrects those he loves.

He loved Cain. He wanted Cain to listen. He wanted Cain to change, to repent. Sin was lying or crouching at the door because Cain was being disobedient in the way the offering was given. Perhaps he knew that God wanted a blood sacrifice. It doesn't tell us that that's what God was requiring at this point. Perhaps it was Cain's attitude of not giving the very best of his harvest. We can only speculate and try to make accurate conclusions based on what we do know and what the Bible says and infers, but the Bible doesn't specifically say why God didn't respect Cain's offering.

We know he didn't. We know he was not pleased with the offering, and we can have a pretty good idea of why that was. However, we can also be sure that Cain knew enough to be held accountable. He knew enough about his choices and decisions to be held accountable, and God was holding him accountable. Abel's offering was accepted and respected by God. And we'll talk about Abel's offering some as we go along. Again, Cain's was not. When God confronted Cain, he became angry immediately. He was not angry at himself.

There's no indication that he was remorseful or angry at what he had done in not giving the kind of offering that God expected. He wasn't really confused, evidently, because he didn't act like he was confused. He was angry and took this response from God in a very negative way. He did not appreciate God trying to help him. He blamed God for not respecting the sacrifice rather than realizing that he was the one at fault, not God. Again, God said that sin lies at the door, so it is pretty clear that Cain should have known better and that he did not follow God's instructions properly, and he had disobeyed in not following those instructions.

1 Samuel 15 verse 22 says, obedience is better than sacrifice. This was Samuel speaking to King Saul when Saul offered a sacrifice improperly. Obedience is better than sacrifice. And Hebrews also talks about that, how God wants us to be faithful and obedient more than most anything else. He wants us to follow him, obey him, do what he asks of us. So now I would like to share five times that you need to be aware that you may be walking in the way of Cain. Here are five ways.

I'm sure there are many others that we can talk about, but here are five. The first one is, beware when you find yourself seeking your own will rather than God's will. Certainly Cain was doing that. He was seeking his own will. And when we begin to seek our own will, then we are walking in the way of Cain. Whenever man substitutes his own will for that of God's, he is following the way of Cain. The difference between the two offerings is seen in Hebrews 11.

So in Hebrews 11 verse 4, we know this is the faith chapter, breaking in on verse 4, by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. So we see that Abel did have faith. Abel did trust in God. He believed God, and he was doing his best to please God. He was bringing an offering to God that God accepted because he was doing it the way God wanted him to. This is what God was looking for. So by faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.

He was doing the right thing by giving this type of offering. And God was well pleased with that offering. God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks. So today, Abel is speaking to all of us. He's dead. He's been long dead.

But he still speaks. His words or his actions, his example, has been preserved for us so that we can learn from it. The excellence of Abel's sacrifice is seen in that it was offered by faith. On the other hand, it doesn't say that at all about Cain. He really didn't trust in God. It wasn't just God and his life. In fact, he was more concerned about himself than he was about pleasing God.

In Romans 10 verse 17, Paul says, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So no doubt, Abel listened to God. Abel heard what he had to say, and he applied what God instructed him in the way he gave that offering. Thus, Abel was pleasing to God because he obeyed God's commands and followed his instructions, whereas Cain did not. So beware when you find yourself seeking your own will. Does that ever happen? Do we ever seek our own will? Well, remember, that's where it basically started with Cain. You know, seeking our own will rather than God's will. Now, God wants what's best for you. So better to seek God's will than your own because you may be deceived as to what is best for you, but God knows what's best for you.

Secondly, beware when you find yourself becoming resentful or angry with God or with others, for you are beginning to walk in the way of Cain. Beware when you find yourself becoming resentful or angry with God or with others, for you may be walking in the way of Cain. Now, there is a righteous indignation. There's a righteous anger that is acceptable. In fact, we should be passionate about God's truth, about God's way of life, about doing it the way God would want us to, and when we or others are not doing that, then that should have an impact. It should make a difference. But when you find yourself becoming resentful and angry with God, that's always wrong, right? You know, God is perfect. God is not the problem. Now, with people, it can be a little harder because people can do things that are upsetting, that are hurtful, and so forth. So just beware when you start becoming resentful or angry with God or with others, and you're going to be hurtful or with others because you may be starting down that path, the way of Cain.

God attempted to reason with Cain. God was giving Cain a chance to repent.

Now, he was basically explaining to him that God was not pleased because there was a problem with the sacrifice. The problem wasn't with God. The problem was with the sacrifice, and it was with Cain. But Cain became angry immediately.

He didn't give God a chance to reason with him. He didn't give God a chance to explain to him further if he didn't really get it, understand it. He was obviously in rebellion against God because he was not doing what God expected and what God wanted. God was very direct. Why are you angry? Why are you angry?

You know, that should have stopped him in his tracks, and yeah, why am I so angry?

Why am I so angry? Did God do something?

Or could I be the problem? If he was upset with anyone, it should have been himself.

Right? It shouldn't have been with God, for sure. And Abel just didn't do anything except give a good sacrifice, which may have been part of the problem because maybe he was jealous of righteous—did I say a lot? No. I don't know what I said. Righteous Abel. Anyway, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 instructs us. Paul says, Be angry and do not sin. Okay, again, there's a time when we can be angry initially, but do not sin. You know, do not allow that to fester and to get to you and to get you off course and to get you away from God. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. So you got to be careful if you're getting angry, if you're becoming wrathful, you need to analyze why that is, and you need to process that and move along in a godly manner. Whenever a person hates his fellow man, it says—the Bible says he abides in spiritual death, basically, whenever a person hates his fellow man. So Christ said, if you harbor hatred toward someone, you have murdered them in your hearts.

So we have to be careful. We have to beware if we're starting to go down that path. First John chapter 3 verse 14, the apostle John says, We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Let me read that again. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Now Cain killed his brother, his own blood brother.

He who does not love his brother abides in death. In the end, those who choose to walk in the way of Cain must also share in his punishment. The wages of sin is death. If we don't repent of our sins, then surely we shall die. Those who blame others for their problems are often traveling the way of Cain. We should not blame others. We should not blame God. We should consider what we have done to contribute to the problem. We should own our part. We should pray if there's others involved that also need to repent that they also will repent. So we should be peacemakers and we should work together to show that love for each other. A third, beware. Beware when you're losing self-control.

When you're becoming jealous, when you find yourself envious, when you find yourself contemplating doing something that's contrary to God's will, for you are now walking in the way of Cain. That's Cain's way. When you become prideful, there's still time to change, to turn around if you analyze things. If you look at things, if you sense that you're losing control. That's not a good thing, one of the fruits of God's Spirit is self-control. Being able to control yourself. We get into all kinds of trouble when we can't control ourselves. When we say or do things that we regret later on, better not to have said it, better to maintain control. If you're losing control, you are in grave danger. Self-control, again, is the fruit of the Spirit of God. Patience is the fruit of God's Spirit.

Also, we're told not to let anyone steal our joy. We should let no man steal our joy. No, God is the one that grants us joy and gives us joy, and we joy in Him.

So don't let anyone steal your joy, for that is a gift and a fruit of God's Spirit. So be careful when you're losing self-control and seek for the fruit of God's Spirit. All of them. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, kindness, patience. I'm getting them out of order now. Self-control, faithfulness, goodness, you know, you know, the nine fruits of God's Spirit. Those are the things that we need to be applying on a daily basis in our life.

If we are applying all, if we're producing all nine of those, we're not going to have much problem with losing self-control. Let's go on to a fourth. Beware. Beware when you begin to lie and cover up your wrongdoing, for you are surely walking in the way of Cain. The first thing Cain did is, well, he began to lie right away, especially after he'd already killed his brother. He lied. He tried to cover up the wrongdoing. Cain should have repented when God corrected him the first time. The first time when God corrected him, he should have, he should have he should have repented right then. Instead, he plotted and killed his own brother. There must have been some plotting, although it could have been a rage, too, that overtook him, but evidently he considered it and may have plotted it in some fashion. Cain should have repented also when God told him that his brother's blood was crying out from the grave. How devastating would that be to kill your own brother? I mean, he was really out of control. You know, he just allowed envy and jealousy and pride and vanity and selfishness to really consume him. God saw what had happened. Cain should have owned his behavior right then and then. He obviously didn't have faith in God. He didn't see God very clearly. God was in control. He wasn't.

But he did not have faith in God. He did not trust God for who God is. That's, that is a really foolish thing to diminish God, to diminish his power, to limit his power, and to think that we can pull one over on God. That doesn't happen. It'll never happen. Instead, Cain deflected. Am I, am I my brother's keeper? Why are you asking me this? How would I know where my brother is? Well, you just killed him, for one thing. You probably got a pretty good idea where you hit him. He tried to deflect. He lied straight out. Tried to cover up his sin, just like he tried to cover up and hide his brother's dead body. So we don't see any remorse on Cain's behalf.

So the fourth situation is beware when you begin to lie. No, it's not that hard for people to lie.

It is one of the Ten Commandments. I mean, everyone in here has lied before. I know that. I'm convinced. There's not a single person in here that has never lied once. If you have, please come and tell me. Come and explain that to me.

I mean, I'd love to understand that better. But if you've gone, I mean, I'm 70 years old, and I know I've lied a few times. More than a few. I put few in quotes. I mean, I really don't know how many times I've lied, but I'm certain I've lied. And not near as many in the last 50-some years as probably the first 17 before God called me and showed me a better way.

But nevertheless, we're still subject to sin, aren't we? The Bible says there's a sin that easily besets us. And usually we lie when we've already done something else that wasn't exactly stellar. You know, we're covering up. You know, we're trying to make it not look quite so bad. Trying not to make us look so bad. And then we exacerbate things by heaping lies on top of it.

Repent quickly. Repent quickly. You'll be much better off. A fifth time to beware is when you're about to make a decision that will affect another person's life and you have not properly considered the consequences of that decision. Now, I bring, I give this one out because I think this is really important. Think about, you know, Cain. Was he thinking about his poor brother?

What was his life going to be like? Oh, he wasn't going to have a life! Wasn't he? His life was snuffed out at a very early age.

Beware when you're about to make a decision that will affect another person's life and you have not properly considered the consequences of that decision.

Now, we've done that way too often in God's church. Now, we've made choices, decisions, and things that affect other people and we haven't really thought it through.

That's beginning to walk in the way of Cain. We need to be more careful. When we love our brothers, then we consider the consequences of what we're about to do.

So, are you acting in love toward God and toward your neighbor in all the decisions that you make? Now, that's one that'll keep you busy.

Are you acting in love toward God and toward your neighbor in all the decisions that you're making? The decisions that really matter, that count, that affect other people, are you doing this in love or are you being selfish? Are you being like Cain? Are you being envious? Are you being jealous? Or are you putting another priority before love?

Which really is and should be our top priority because God is love. So, we have to think these things through. All of us do because we're going to be faced with many decisions in our life and they will impact other people. So, if you aren't doing these things, if you're not thinking about the consequences and how it'll affect others, then you certainly are beginning to walk in the way of Cain.

Now, Cain's decision was to end his own little brother's life. That was his decision. Now, most of us don't make decisions that are this harsh, do we?

I don't think anyone here has killed his brother or sister, or anyone for that matter.

Most of us don't make decisions that are that harsh or so clearly wrong and unrighteous, but we often make decisions that hurt others without clearly considering the consequences of those decisions. Think before acting. Think before doing. In 1 John chapter 3, you know John has a lot to say about love. The Apostle John in 1 John chapter 3 verse 11, 1 John chapter 3 verse 11, For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. I mean, it's always been taught. It's been taught from Genesis. We should love one another.

Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil. Cain's works were evil and his brothers righteous. Do not marvel, verse 13, my brethren, if the world hates you.

John is speaking to the Church of God, to members like us. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. I read that earlier. Because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. And Christ said, if you harbor hatred and resentment toward others, then you've murdered them in your heart. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Jesus Christ set that perfect example, laying his life down for us, calling us friends.

And that's how we should treat friends. Now we should treat friends as though we truly love them.

Does that make sense? As God's people, we can and should do better. I believe that's a true statement. I include myself.

As God's people, we can and we should do better. Abel simply gave a wonderful sacrifice. This is what Abel did. He gave a wonderful sacrifice, a wonderful offering to God, and God was well pleased with that offering. Abel hurt nobody. He hurt no one.

Abel was simply going about doing the best that he knew how as God had instructed him.

He was giving his best. There is no indication that he was trying to one-up his brother.

No, he was simply striving to please God. That was his motivation. He meant no harm to his brother Cain.

At least there's no indication of any of that sort of thing going on. And they're brothers, so there may have been some dynamics going on there.

But the Scripture is clear that Abel was righteous.

Brethren, we're also told to beware of others who are walking in the way of Cain. That's another thing that we need to consider.

We need to beware of others who are walking in the way of Cain. We should not be naive. Jude 1. Jude 1. This is Jesus' brother.

Jesus says, or I'm sorry, Jude says, Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain. So he's talking about bad things that have been happening. People have been doing evil things. I don't want to read the first 10 verses. But woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain. They have run greedily in the era of Balaam for profit. So greed was a factor with Balaam. Greed, I think, was also certainly a factor with Cain.

Jealousy was a factor.

And perished in the rebellion of Korah. So these three men, Cain, Balaam, and Korah, you really don't want your name listed with those three.

That is not a good place to be.

He says, These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

So again, selfishness.

When you find yourself being selfish, again, beware. They are clouds without water. They are carried about by the winds. They are late autumn trees without fruit. Twice dead, pulled up by the roots. This is good grammar language. You know, this is well written. Raging ways of the sea, foaming up their own shame.

Foaming up their own shame. Wandering stars. You know, Cain had to wander, didn't he, after this?

He was cast out. He had to wander.

Satan is a wanderer, going to and fro on the earth.

Wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

So you definitely don't want to go the way of Cain.

Jesus also warned us of this type of person, but he did speak very well of Abel.

Matthew 23. Let's go there. Matthew 23, verse 33. And this is the chapter where Christ really speaks out against the hypocrites.

Time and time again, he excoriates the hypocrites. Clearly, he did not like hypocrisy.

You know, Jesus and the Father, they want to see genuine people.

Now, they want to see real people. You know, people that don't put up a lot of barriers between communication and being able to talk to each other. You know, that's one of our problems, too, is we're not great communicators in the Church of God. You know, we really don't engage oftentimes when we should engage and try to get to the bottom of things. You know, we should do better at that. Matthew 23, verse 23.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

I'm in...wait a minute, that's 23. Yeah. 33 is what I want.

Serpents. Now, he's still not speaking very highly of the Pharisees. He's gone on against the Pharisees for many moments here. And then he says in verse 33, serpents. Yeah, Jesus told it the way it was. Serpents, brood of vipers. How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Now, how do you think the religious leaders of the day like that?

How can you escape the condemnation of hell? I mean, that's a little confrontational, isn't it? Well, there's times to be confrontational, I suppose. Our Savior did it. I mean, we have to be a lot more careful because we don't have the authority that He had.

Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. This had been happening for centuries. They had killed the prophets for centuries.

That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah. You know, it was pointed out to me between services I gave this sermon this morning. It's a little ironic, but we're talking about A to Z. Abel to Zechariah. From A to Z.

Abel, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah. All of it comes on your head, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Surely I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. So, He didn't have a lot of good things to say about the religious leaders who were not genuine, but were hypocrites.

Now, brethren, we live in some very perilous times today. We're going to be tested as to whether we will walk in the way of Cain or the way of righteous Abel. No, Jesus, Brother Jude, warns us regarding the way of Cain. He tells us in the last days there will be perilous times, and there will be people that we have to be on guard against because they will try to make us walk in the way of Cain.

They will want us to follow them on the path that Cain was on. We don't want to go down that path. We want to get on the straight and the narrow path that leads to eternal life. And God will give us the discernment to understand and know that if we're close to Him. If we're close to the Father and Son, we need not fear because God...it's all things are in God. If we place our faith and our trust in Him like Abel did. And again, Christ refers to the blood of righteous Abel.

Abel was a righteous person. He did the right thing. He was an innocent man, not completely blameless. He wasn't perfect. But he was repentant. And he was setting a good example and doing what God expected. So again, Jesus, Brother Jude warns us regarding the way of Cain and not going down that path. So, brethren, as it says in Deuteronomy chapter 30, choose life. You know, there's choices out there. You can go the way of Cain or you can go the way of Abel. And when you start getting off the track and you start walking in the way of Cain, that's the time to repent quickly.

And so we need to be close to God so we can discern and understand the signs of the time. So, brethren, choose life. Choose the way of righteous Abel.