Apply Within

Bob Davis: Maybe you go to church right now because your parents told you to, but you still don't quite know why you do. But you're doing it, and you can see that some works that will come from me and from you, God doesn't accept them. They're wood, hay, and stubble; they're going to burn. You know that. We see that in the New Testament.

But you look at these two boys. The Lord must have taught Adam and Eve, which means Cain and Abel have been taught by their parents how to worship the Lord. And one way to worship him would be to offer sacrifices, to offer offerings to God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the Word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply his Word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. As our study of Genesis continues in chapter four, we see what happens when Cain ignores God's warnings and lets his anger take control. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Now let's just jump into Genesis Chapter 4, remembering now they have sinned and God has talked about the curse upon the land and sin, etc. and so forth. But God did something. Verse 21: "And unto Adam also and to his wife," Chapter 3 verse 21, "did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothed them." Because they were naked, God clothed them.

And I mentioned to you the last time we got together that those are animal skins, and animals don't just give up their skin. That's what they live in. So they were sacrificed. There was bloodshed to get the skin for those animals to cover them. Notice they tried to do the works of their own hands. They took fig leaves to cover themselves, but our works are as filthy rags; they're not good enough.

God shed blood so their sin and their shame could be covered. Not gone, covered. The only thing powerful enough, the only blood powerful enough to wash it away and take it completely gone, is the blood of God Almighty himself. And God is a spirit; he has no body. He can't bleed. So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly became flesh and dwelt among us miraculously. And people say, "Why did he do that?" Because God will pay the price, but he has to become flesh. And he did, and he dwelt among us.

And so now you understand what's going on. We now have Adam and Eve outside the garden, but we're not given any timeframe. They're out there. I don't know how long they've been out there, but we read this in verse one of Chapter 4: "And Adam knew his wife." That is a physical, sexual relationship. "...knew his wife, and she conceived and she bare Cain." She brought forth a baby boy, Cain. "And she said, I have gotten a man from the Lord."

And she again bare his brother Abel. How come she didn't say, "I've gotten another man?" Good question. There's a reason. Bob, you're so weird. I know, but look! "And she again," verse two, "bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the soil, of the ground." Something's going on here. Eve conceived. Cain means "acquired." "I have gotten or been given." I've acquired a man. The language could read, "the man" from the Lord. What are we talking about here? She believes the Word of God.

She's taking God at his word. He promised her that before the curses were handed out. Before the serpent was cursed, before the devil, etc., before the land, right? God made a promise. That's what she's believing. That's faith, you see. She believes that Cain is the promised child from Genesis 3:15. I'll read it: "And I will put enmity between thee," he's talking to the snake or the devil, "between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall crush your head and you shall bruise his heel."

Now, the same needs to be true with you and me. We've got to learn which promises are for me and you, the church, Christians. Which promises are for Israel? We've got to learn and stand on the promises. Believe in them and be expecting them. When Jesus said, "Behold, I come quickly," I need to be looking every day for Jesus. I should be. Hurry! We're looking for God to come.

She is looking for the promise, and she has this baby, and this is it. It's the promise. This has got to be the one. It's a man; it's a little baby boy. This is it! I love that heart. She's wrong, but that's okay. It's not a sin, and she'll learn quickly that it's not the one. But she has another little boy too, and she names him Abel. Okay, I like it. Cain is acquired. And Abel means "breath."

Let me put it another way. "Brief" or "brevity." "Fleeting." Breath. When you breathe a breath out, how long does it last? If you go in the wintertime and you breathe outside and you see because it's cold, you see your breath. How long does it last? Yeah, a second. If it was really, really cold, a second and a half. That's his name. Abel means "breath," carrying the idea of brief or brevity, fleeting.

It is translated over 35 times, the same word in Ecclesiastes, as "vanity." Just here and gone. Nothingness. So little Abel is brevity, breath, vanity. There are some who suggest that these names are simply a reference to life after the Fall, after sin came into the world. A reference to life. Cain's name reminds us that life comes from God. Well, where did I read that? "And Adam knew his wife, she conceived and bare a son and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." I've acquired; God has given it to me.

So Cain's name reminds us where we all came from. You came from God. You have life; I have life. We have life because God gave life. There are many now taking life just after conception, but God placed that life there because only God can create life. And we know it. So here are our lives. We've come from God. Abel's name reminds us that this life is brief. Vanity. Short in comparison to eternity.

It may feel long for you if you've got a job you don't like and you're hoping you can make it to retirement. It may feel long, but it's not long. You'll be looking back on it if you live quickly. But here it is. Cain and Abel. If you recall, God's command was that mankind, Adam and Eve, and they were the only ones, that they do what? Be fruitful and multiply. So he wants them to have children and children and children and children.

That's why he created them. They were healthy. There were no diseases, no DNA issues, no anything. Nothing ugly has gotten in to break down anything yet. And now, of course, they've sinned, but they don't have years of DNA breakdown yet. Their bodies are going to slow. You're going to see Adam live to be 930 years old. So it's a little different than those of us who feel 930. Just different, right?

So listen. God's command was that mankind, Adam and Eve and all of their children, however many there may be, they be fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the earth. All the critters. You're in charge. Take care of them. Keep an eye on them. You run this for me. God's representative on this creation is human beings, men and women. We just learned that Cain worked the soil, kind of almost like a picture of the curse. You're going to work the soil, and you're going to sweat by your brow.

In the garden, it was a slice of heaven. It was not work. They were thrilled, and nothing was wrong, and singing every day, all day. They took dominion, and they're working with the animals. That's why it was not a shock to Eve that the snake had a conversation with her. If a snake starts talking to you, I would get out of there and then check the food you're eating.

Cain worked the soil. Part of the curse because of the fall into sin. Abel kept the flocks. The idea of dominion. He took care of the flocks. He's doing—not that Cain shouldn't be doing, and I don't think that that's really become an issue in the long run—just kind of a picture of one who really isn't interested in God at all. It's religion. And one who goes out of his way—you'll see in a moment—one doesn't really much care; "here, I'll offer you this." But one goes out of his way to please God. Two different. And remember, they're all fallen in sin.

So verse three says this: "In the process of time." Let me ask you: how long? Okay, well then quit trying to put dates on it. In the process of time. In the process of time, I graduated high school. In the process of time, you finally got married. In the process of time, you'll retire and get all that big money. In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

Cain did. Of what he had toiled on, worked on, grew up on his own. He comes to bring an offering to the Lord. And Abel, he also brought—now listen to the language—of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. That means he brought the most healthy and the most desirable. He brought the very best he had. Cain brought whatever he grew. "I'll give you some." But notice Abel goes out of his way to please God.

The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering, God did not have respect. In other words, he didn't receive it. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The idea of his attitude. He's bitter. He's got hurt feelings now. None of us have ever felt that way, but other people out there, they're bitter. They're angry. They're hurt.

Both of these men brought offerings to the Lord. Okay, now you're a Bible student. So instantly you start to ask the questions, right? You say, "Why would he bring an offering to God?" Because Cain, you're going to find out, doesn't have a heart for God at all. Yet he's doing it. Why? Because that's what he was taught that's what you do. So basically, put two and two together, and I won't try to step too far into it, but the Lord himself, the Lord God Almighty, must have taught that to Adam and Eve, right?

They saw that blood was shed and that the work of God clothed them. That what they clothed themselves with with their own hands, the works of their own flesh, weren't good enough, weren't acceptable. And so God did it for them. And what would he tell them to do? Of course, you're going to teach your boys, your kids, your boys and your girls. Parents, you're going to teach them. But you know, if they're just going through the motions like sometimes we do, then they're doing it because they're supposed to.

Maybe you go to church right now because your parents told you to, but you still don't quite know why you do. But you're doing it, and you can see that some works that will come from me and from you, God doesn't accept them. They're wood, hay, and stubble; they're going to burn. You know that. We see that in the New Testament. But you look at these two boys. The Lord must have taught Adam and Eve, which means Cain and Abel have been taught by their parents how to worship the Lord.

And one way to worship him would be to offer sacrifices, to offer offerings to God. And Cain brought of the fruit of the ground. Why? That's what he did for a living. Was it a sin? No. That's what he did for a living. The fruit of his own labors. In other words, the works of his hands. Abel, as opposed to Cain, the Bible says, went out of his way to please the Lord.

He brought the best that he had. The healthiest, the strongest, the best that he had. He's taken very good care of them, and he's going to offer them to the Lord. They're sacrificed to the Lord. Bloodshed. The shed blood of those sheep and goats. God did not accept Cain's offering. Why? Because it wasn't from his heart. If I offer him something now, he's saying, "Means nothing. It means nothing. You're my child, yeah. But this is nothing. This is not coming from your heart. I want you."

Worship changes when you're just worshipping God because it doesn't have to be loud. It doesn't have to be anything. It's coming right from a surrendered heart. And it's not coming from Cain that way. It's coming from Abel that way. He went out of his way to please God. That's the faith he had. Simple faith. "By faith," Hebrews 11:4, "Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead is still speaking."

Abel's sacrifice there is still speaking to our hearts today because it was by faith that he did it, that it would bless God and honor God and show that he's grateful for what God is doing in his life. It's just that simple. So we go to verse six, I believe, don't we? Because Cain's got his feelings hurt. And the Lord, verse six, said to Cain, "Why are you angry?"

Notice God doesn't just wait for Cain to come to him. God didn't wait for Adam or Eve, did he? He came looking for them, remember? They didn't understand what was happening to them, and God loves them, and he came looking in the cool of the day, saying, "Adam, where are you?" And now he comes looking for Cain. Abel's doing great. Cain's got a problem, and God said to Cain, "Cain, why are you angry, and why is your countenance fallen?" In other words, why is your attitude? Why are you bitter?

"If you do right or good or well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin is lying at your door. And unto you shall be sin's desire, and you shall rule over him." Don't let sin get you, Cain. Don't. Don't do that now. Now we've seen this before because we looked in Chapter 3 when they were hiding because they knew they ate from the tree. They were hiding, and God comes walking in the cool of the day when the shadows are long, and he just wants to be with them. He loves them.

And Adam's hiding, and he says, "Where are you?" We've seen this. Did God love Cain? Absolutely he did. And he's right there to say, "Come on, Cain." When you and I sin as Christians—Christians sin. When we do, the Lord's right there, isn't he? God just speaks to your heart, and your heart, you say, "Lord, I shouldn't have said that. Lord, you just heard what I was thinking." Because nobody else hears what you're thinking, but God hears, and you say, "Lord, that's just—I confess that. That's weird."

You know what's right, Cain. Do that, and it's always accepted. Always. "You know that," he says. "But if you choose to do wrong, sin is hiding. It's crouching. It's waiting right outside your door to pounce on you and destroy you." Sin's desire is to literally devour you, crush you, destroy you. And God says, "Don't let that happen."

And then God in his mercy, he gives Cain a warning. "Don't do what you're thinking about doing." God knows our thoughts, and he says to Cain, "Don't do what you're thinking about doing." The struggle between good and evil, right and wrong, faith and works. Cain. He had the envy and the jealousy and the strife and the struggle and the anger and the hatred, and it's making you, Cain, a sitting duck for the devil.

He'll come after you like a roaring, hungry, vicious lion. Sin is waiting. Stop it now. Don't leave this place. Confess it. First Peter says, First Peter 5:8, for all of us Christians: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." Anger is silly, but it works, right? Anger is one letter short of danger. You catch yourself a little angry, stop. Calm down. Pray.

And that's what God calling Cain to do. Did God love Cain? Yes. See, if he didn't love him, he would say, "I don't care what you do. Lousy sacrifice; do what you want." That's not the heart of God. When we go astray, he always says, "Where are you going? Come on. Where are you?" Look at verse eight: "And Cain talked with Abel." He didn't listen to God. He talked with Abel, his brother. "And it came to pass when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and murdered him."

"And the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother?" God was right there on the spot. "Hey, where's Abel? Where's your brother Abel?" And Cain said, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" That would have gotten me slapped at my house. Look how patient God is. And God says, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground."

Cain was very angry and wouldn't listen to God. You have his Word. Those of you that belong to the Lord, you have his Holy Spirit indwelling you. We have his Spirit. We can listen to him. Even in the midst of frustration and hurt and anger and whatever the emotion you've got, we can calm down and go straight to the Word of God, start to pray, and say, "Lord, I don't know what I feel. I don't know how to feel. And I'm frustrated and I'm confused and I'm angry and the list is getting bigger, and I don't know what to do."

But you're doing the right thing by crying out to God. And Cain was angry, and he wouldn't listen to the Word of God, and he murdered his brother. He murdered his brother Abel. So I'd like you to know that guns don't kill people, brothers do. Guns don't kill people, sisters do. Guns don't kill people, people do. We want to blame it on everything else.

"Well, it's the woman you gave me. Well, the snake tricked me. Well, the family dog just makes me want to kick every kind of animal." It's not my fault. It's never our fault. But sooner or later we've got to stop and just simply confess. No explanations. If you explain it to God, you've wiped away the confession. "Lord, I didn't mean to say that to him, but he drives me crazy, and he knows it drives me crazy, and he does it on purpose." That's not confession; that's whining. That's snowflaking, if you will. Confess the sin.

God asked Cain a simple question: "Where's your brother?" Did God know where his brother was? "Where's your brother Abel?" Did God know? Yes. Why is he asking? Not to get information, everybody, to give sinners the opportunity to think it through, tell the truth, and confess.

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is the radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at NorthCountryChapel.com/studies. That's NorthCountryChapel.com/studies.

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