As many of you know, I come from a large family, seven boys and one girl. And before any of you think the poor girl thoughts in your head, trust me, she held her own and she had her own room and did not have to get hand-me-down underwear. And I just want you to know, this is no joke. For years, my mom believed in the virtue of Dutch underwear and how long they can last. And boy, they can last. I was the third male child, fourth kid in line, and I think it was college before I got to buy my own underwear. Either way, I hate them, so if you bring them up, they make it. But being a big family, especially with a bunch of boys all close in age, we were always told how similar we looked, which couldn't have been a worse insult to us. The person we've been saying is the ugliest thing on the planet now is our twin, and so everyone tends to think you look alike. That's how it happens, right? If you're in a large family, people tend to see you as the same. They're looking for similarities. You even end up getting very alike reputation. Maybe warranted in some cases, but each of us is unique and different, but everyone says you're just alike. You act the same. And as our story unfolds, as we continue on with creation and we move now into this first family, we're going to encounter two brothers. Likely, based on the scriptures indication, these were the first two brothers and yet these brothers will differ drastically from each other in the most profound and eternal ways. And so begins what I call the tale of two brothers Part one. And that's going to carry on into chapter five as well as we see the comparison of Cain and Seth. But now it's a comparison of Cain and Abel with the first children being born as Genesis 4, 1 through 2 stated, it said, And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep. Cain was a tiller of the ground. Cain, born with the hope that he would be the deliverer. His name means the one acquired, though he most certainly was not. And Abel, the one described as righteous and even a prophet by our Lord, yet given a name that means vapor. But he's the man who lives a life of substance and focus on God. Sadly, Cain was not a man of true spiritual substance and firmly fixed on God and worshiping Him. Instead, as this story unfolds, we find that he served God how he wanted. Verses 3 through the first part of 5 says this, "...and in the process of time it came to pass." And that's just letting us know that significant time has passed. We tend to see everything in the Bible story as happening day to day, and it's showing us that a lot of time has taken place. It says, "...that came brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord." And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not Respect. Now I want us to realize that this wasn't the first time they're offering anything, that this most likely, and I'll talk about it later a little bit, a hundred some years have transpired. We can deduce from these early verses that Cain and Abel have grown to maturity. One became a farmer and they would have been providing the main source of food. And the other tended the sheep or the flock. And that would have been the source for offerings, mainly clothing and then possibly milk. Now, it's important to realize, as I just mentioned, that Cain made a decision to bring the wrong offering with the wrong attitude, and that this was likely not the first offering that both of these men would have offered. As we've mentioned before, there seems to be a regular time and place for men to meet with God. Possibly, as one commentator notes, possibly where the cherubim guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden. As we know, the cherubim would guard the throne of God. You see that as you move through the Old Testament. You'll see them over key points of worship, and so you're going to see that this maybe was the place they met together, and that both of these men would have been instructed in bringing the offering that God had designated with the proper spirit, which would have been a disposition of respect, worship, bowing down, submitting to God's will. When we read about Cain's countenance falling, it's really his glance that fell. He walked in very arrogantly to this worship. I want you to note too that When we're looking at this offering taking place, in our mind we see Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. We see four people, but that was not how many people would have been there. Basing a bit of our math on when Seth was born, and Seth was viewed by Eve as a replacement to Abel. And so when we look at that, he was born 130 years after Adam was created. And so there's a high probability that both Cain and Abel had families, that many other children had been born to Adam and Eve, that those other siblings most likely had children and families. You see that when Cain complains to God about his punishment. How many people could have ended up harming Cain enough that he was worried about it? And so when we're thinking about this time of offering, we oftentimes see Cain and Abel Maybe visualize Adam and Eve, but what you need to see is quite the group of people gathered together. Quite a few family members would have been present at the time of offering. And these two men were responsible to bring the offering. So Cain knew what God required. This was not an unfortunate ignorance of the rules. This is not God saying, oh, you missed the mark. You didn't make it. Instead, Cain just decided what to give. Instead of taking the necessary steps to secure the correct offering, and I want to remind you, his own brother tended the flock, tended the animals needed for atonement and worship. He just substituted it with what he did. So instead of bringing worship as God dictated, he says, I'm raising the cash crops. And remember, he would have been the one raising the food. This would have been how you would eat. They weren't eating animals at that time. That's something that's given after the flood. And so here is Cain coming and saying, you know what? I'm not gonna trade for sheep. I'm gonna just do what I want. I'm gonna bring what I do. Cain did what he wanted from a position of pride and control, and he expected God to be grateful for it. He expected accolades and praise for doing for God what he wanted and decided to do regardless of what God had clearly said should be done. And I put my notes here, sound familiar? It should, because it permeates the heart of the church today. Every single one of us needs to feel the weight of conviction that comes with Cain's decision to come to God how we want to. We walk to God and say, we'll serve you this way. This is how I decided I'm going to serve you. I'm going to serve you with this and in this manner. That's what Cain's disposition was. But as much as Cain thought he set the tone and could decide, it was apparent that God declared what is right. It says, and the Lord had respect unto Abel, speaking of the individual disposition of Abel. So not saying Abel was his favorite, because that's how people say, well, God liked Abel more than he liked Cain. That's not the case. He had respect unto Abel in the sense of Abel walked to God with the right disposition of worship. We tend to approach worship from a mindset of what appeases me, what makes me happy, what is my preference, what do I want to do? And if you think about it for a second, as we tend to walk in, we do center every decision around ourselves. But worship is about bowing down to God. It's about submitting to Him. It's about doing what He says. And so it says here that God respected Abel and what he brought, because he brought the right thing. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. It wasn't just that he brought the wrong thing. It's that he brought the wrong thing with the wrong disposition. See, God graciously made clear, and this is what I hope we can understand, and He does so fairly quickly, it appears, whose disposition and offering was acceptable. And I want us to remember this, though. God wasn't testing the two boys. And boys would be a misnomer, right? They're 130 years old. They're older than the oldest people here, right? We've been older than dirt, almost. So he wasn't testing them. This was not a test that Cain should have failed. It wasn't, I hope you get the right answer. God had made it clear what should be done and how it should be approached. And we'll talk a little bit more about his attitude later. But the fact remains, regardless of how long God waits or seems to tolerate the wrong disposition and offering, he exclusively declares what is right, and he is not open or susceptible to our human reasoning. I want to say that again. God declares what is right, and no amount of words from you are going to change God's mind. He may tarry. He may wait. In this situation, he did not. He immediately expressed what was right or wrong, and sometimes we misuse that. We don't see the love and care in that. The case has been closed. There are no more arguments that you make to sway the judge. You either have obeyed or disobeyed. You either have a heart that is submitted to him or you do not. But the idea of serving God in the way we want, of worshiping God when and how we want, is as problematic today as it was at the beginning. God has been and remains clear. I want that to be understood. God has not muddied the waters, but we've done our best to make it confusing. The question is, how are we responding? Do we have, and this will be the closing question for the whole sermon, do we have the disposition of Cain or the disposition of Abel? And before we're quick to claim Abel, what excuses do we make for ourselves and how we serve, how and when we worship, what we give to the Lord, what can interfere with our serving the Lord, how have we reasoned away things? And then I want to give you one other thought to think about here. Instead of, or as you're evaluating all your reasons, and you're saying, well, this is a valid reason, and this one, maybe this one's not, but maybe this one is, I want you to realize that all of our reasoning likely indicates a Cain disposition. If you're sitting there looking at, well, I have a valid reason, I want you to realize that's Cain. That's where he's sitting at. That's what he was doing. I have a valid reason. I raise crops. He should take what I give. I'm going to walk in. I don't need to bow my head. I don't need to come humbly to him. I'm going to look up. That's why his countenance falls, because it walked in with pride. If you're reasoning, I would venture out without 100% certainty that most likely you're acting like Cain. Now all of this stem from the fact that Cain approached God how he wanted. This is the end of five through the first part of seven. And it's his response to it that we understand how he walked in. And Cain was very wroth. And when scripture adds that extra, he was immensely angry. And it says, and his countenance fell. Or one person says, better translate almost glance, his look changed. It was crushed. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thou countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? See, Cain had walked into worship with, to God with his head held high, his plan, his plan paramount, his sentiments, his feelings, the focus. Cain had decided he would pick the offering and God would certainly have to be pleased and have to respond positively. And I want us to not lose sight of this because I know in my own heart and mind, when I approach a story where there's an obvious Cain and Abel situation, I am quick to be Abel, right? We're quick to jump in and say, well, I'm definitely not Cain. I wouldn't do that. I'm not going to involve that. But the sad approach today is that we feel entitled to a certain spiritual prize or reward if we do and say the things we've decided to say and do for God. It's like we make up the game, make up the rules, and then go to God and say, we'll play the game that we made up. And we played by the rules that we came up with. Why aren't you giving me what I want? And it stems from something I've shared before. We see God as a genie. And what we think in our mind is that as long as I have the lamp in my hand, I get my wishes. And sadly, I've seen this in people who have been believers for years. It's a sad revealing of a wrong look at who God is. Because it takes faith and it says, I now get to get what I want. If I do what I say I should do, the rules I've made up, well then God must give me this. But I want you to see something, and this is understanding who Cain is. Cain did not approach God as a true worshiper. He instead walked in with arrogance and self-worth. The change in offering wasn't, and again, he's missing the whole need for a blood atonement. He's bypassing so much. But his disposition was, I will bring you what I do. I will bring you what I'm succeeding in. And so he felt his self-worth. Here, look at what I've produced. This is what we eat off of. This is how we are sustained. And I will give you some of that, God, so you can use that. And to God's correct and loving rejection of his sacrifice and attitude, because that's what it was, a loving rejection. And I want us to not miss that. We oftentimes, and so much of the world, and it's a sin that they do this, is to try to make God into some kind of harsh dictator, despotic type of God. But instead, as you see what he does to Cain, it's done in loving rejection of his sacrifice and attitude. Cain responded in what I would like to say, bitter anger. He had approached worship with pride and self-importance, and in front of all those gathered there, he was confronted directly. I want you to see it in his mindset, his righteous and prophetic brother. Abel is, by the way, linked with other prophets. When Jesus condemns the Pharisees, he says, you've killed the prophets from Abel to Zechariah, Luke 11, 50 through 51. So he is a prophet. You can imagine that comes with all the things entailed. So we see this in a moment of time, there's an offering, and then we think they're just doing their life like normal. But what we realize through the New Testament and biblical interpretation, scripture interprets scripture, is that Abel was the one preaching, the one talking about what God says and living for God and how we should do this. And so you can think of Cain, he thinks to himself, in front of all these people with my pride and my walking in and my expectation of God to reward me for my greatness. Because I'm bringing, quote-unquote, in all reality, the meat of that time. The more important tasks, the cash crop, I bring that. And into that, he thinks, God is happy with my preachy, godly brother. because he brought what God commanded with a worshipful, and I want to make a reminder, not self-righteous, because that's what most people do. Oh, self-righteous Abel. And you might not say that about Abel, but you'll say that about somebody else who lives for the Lord and follows through. It wasn't self-righteous. He came with a worshipful disposition. Cain feels humiliated. He does. I say he's lovingly corrected by God directly. But he's gonna feel humiliated, yet instead of repentance, we get a fiery anger that blames God. And as MacArthur notes, rather than being repentant for his sinful disobedience, he was hostile toward God, whom he could not kill, and jealous of his brother, whom he could kill. Yet even in Cain's arrogance and anger, I want you to realize that God reached in loving correction. Don't miss the end of what God said there. If you do right, will you not be accepted? Cain could repent and offer what was right with the right attitude and God would accept him. And we think, oh, there's God with his set of rules and he'll reach that. Do you realize that what God is promising him is, he talks about why are you so downcast? Why is your countenance crushed? Because he'd set his pride on himself. And God says, you'll be accepted in that sense. He says, I will lift your countenance back up again. See, it's a beautiful reality that what we will never truly achieve in our own pride and self-inflated worth, God accomplishes in us and for us as we biblically worship and serve Him. So the glory, the self-glory that Cain had, he would experience glory in Christ, glory in God, if he would just do as God had commanded. God made it clear that we do not manipulate or dictate to God. Yet God made it equally clear that he stands faithfully ready for repentant hearts and response. It's a sad thing when we miss how gracious God is in these early portions of scripture. Here is Cain doing what should, he should have been struck by lightning. If people get struck by lightning, this is the one to do, right? What a better illustration, poof of smoke, there's Cain, he's gone. And I bet you no one would offer something wrong for at least 10 years. But no, that's not what God does. He, when I say stoops in this sense, here is God, the creator, who's giving clear instructions, And in this moment, he is engaging with Cain, reaching for him, because God is forever faithful. Cain had approached God sinfully and selfishly. Cain was corrected, yet God still reached for Cain through that correction. He is forever faithful and true. But the question for us remains, how are we approaching God and how do we respond to his loving correction? Will we change and offer what is right? instead become locked in, ready to attack anyone who does what God asks, in the way God asks, in the time and consistency God asks. Think about your own heart. Think about conviction when it comes. How do you respond? How do you react? How do you, how do you move? And I dare say as they go all the way back, we're more like Cain than we are like Abel. that our propensity is to lock in to justify. And again, I want to go back to that thought I had. The second you start justifying your reasons, realize your reasons are indicating to you that you're like Cain. God was patient and long-suffering with Cain. God even warned Cain. Yet Cain disregarded what God, he disregarded God when he wanted. This is the end of 7 into 8. It says, God is carrying on the conversation. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him." And it's giving a personifying sin as an individual. It's painting sin as this person crouched out of your door. As you walk out, it's going to attack you. And then God says something very interesting to Cain. He's warning him about the sin. And then he's telling him, you are responsible to not fall into that sin. We love to blame sin, the circumstances, what we fall into. Adam has done that. And God is saying to Cain, hey, if you do well, will you not be accepted? But if you don't do well, realize that if, that sin is there. Sin is hunting you. It is there for you. And then we read the next verse of 8. And we realize how Cain responded. And 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 slew him. Cain, or God had appealed to Cain to show the right behavior and also warn Cain about the sin crouching at his door. God was clear that sin was hunting Cain. Yet Cain was responsible to rule or resist that sin. But Cain ignored God's warning. Blew right past it. He didn't care. Do we hear his thoughts at all in the scripture? No, we just get the next thing that proves he let sin overtake him. Instead of realigning his emotions, recognizing the sin of his pride and hate and confronting it, we find that he embraced the sin and let it come to complete fruition. You see, his issue was with God. But as I read that quote, he hates God, but he can't kill God. But he didn't kill Abel, or at least try to. And what does he do? We find that Cain murdered his brother. It's not an accidental thing. There seems to be a clear sense of premeditation here. Cain having a conversation with Abel, no doubt Abel encouraging Cain to submit to God's authority and leadership. As we mentioned before, Cain can't kill God, but he can definitely go after Abel. And so he awaits or orchestrates a time Remember, there's a lot of people around. So what does he do? He's out with Abel in the field. Is that a natural thing? This is why it's premeditated. Remember, they did two different jobs. One cultivated crops, one kept sheep. You rarely put the sheep in the cultivated crops. You had to take time to connect and he made sure he did. Why in the field? Well, no one else is around. So he gets this all together, and when no one else can stop or see him, he murders his brother. And Cain was warned clearly by God about this. He was told that sin was out hunting, crouched at the door and ready to destroy, but Cain didn't care about God's warning. He didn't care about God's word, and he didn't care about God's way. Cain cared about appeasing himself, and so sin was given free reign in his mind, his heart, and then his actions. That's why I warned about, if you have reasons, you're acting like Cain. And I want you to see the path that walks out when you are like Cain. When we follow Cain's path, we start with, we will do what we want. God will be happy, he better be, with what I serve him with. Because I'm me and I can serve God with what I do. You, you, you, right? Not about him. And then it reveals an approach to God that is sinful. And then as God warns, we disregard that. And then that sin is given free reign. As your reasons are validated, I just want you to realize that. As you validate your reasons for not worshiping or for whatever your lifestyle is, for whatever excuse you want to give yourself, as you validate it, just know you're Cain. And just know where Cain's life leads. where it ends up. Because he's given sin free reign. He's given reasoning free reign in his mind, his heart, and then his actions. And I put here, are we acting the same as Cain? How, not do we, how have we disregarded God's warning of sin? And I use we on purpose. We as believers, we must understand that we are so much more like Cain than we think. How have we disregarded God's clear expectation that we overcome that sin and instead of let sin wander in our mind, infiltrate our hearts and ultimately direct our actions? That's what Cain did. God said, sin is at your door. The plan built. First I'll bring worship. I'll bring what I want. I'll serve God how I want. I'll approach God with the attitude I want. I'm proud. I'm confident. Look at me. I raise what we eat, people. And we're going to come off for that. And God humiliates him, but lovingly. And then it grows. And we look at who God accepts. The guy that has the sheep. The guy that has, he's tending the animals that are used in worship. Possibly for some other things, but specifically for worship, for offering. We formulate the plan, the sin crouching, to get rid of that guy. Hasn't thought that through, has he? And then God warns, we ignore it, we follow through, we murder it, and then beyond that Cain shows no regret about his sin. God confronts him about it. He asks a question. to Cain, not to trick him, but it's to encourage confession and repentance. And we instead see that Cain attacked God when he wanted. It says, and the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? God knows where Abel is. And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, and now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And we again, and I want you to see this, find God graciously reaching for Cain. He gives him the opportunity to confess and repent from what he had done, of which God was fully aware. But what does Cain do? Cain insulted God. Where's your brother, God asks. And with an insolent and disrespectful response, Cain actually makes a play on Abel's occupation. He says, am I my brother's keeper? And what he's saying is, am I supposed to keep the keeper? Am I supposed to watch over the guy that watch overs things? He's your buddy, here's your dad. Am I supposed to care for him? Is that my job too? As Morris writes, he compounded his wickedness by blatantly lying to God and challenging God's right even to question him. God confronts him, a chance to confess, to repent, and he attacks God and says, no way, do you have the right to ask me any questions? And as Morris finishes, thus does long cherished sin harden a man's heart and pervert his senses. We look at the story from the outside in. And so we see the sin of Cain and it almost seems silly. Why would he do this? Because we're not in his world in this circumstance and we don't see how we copy this. But see, it's gotten so hard in his heart. He's gotten so firm about his hate and his desire to have his pride and to do things his way and to be elevated that it's perverted his sense of what is right and how you do worship. and justifies in his mind the right to kill his brother. And what we realize is that Cain's arrogance has not shrunk at all. Instead, he reveals the sinful attitude in his heart and how it has grown. It is blossomed and it's continuing to bear fruit. I put the world loves to do the same, thinking they're sticking it to God, but they most certainly are not. And here with Cain, with his snarky response and disrespectful disposition, we see that God judged Cain rightfully. God does not play with Cain and his word games. He doesn't keep it up where, well, am I my brother's keeper's keeper? God immediately goes to the heart of the matter. What have you done? He cuts through the arrogance and the belligerence. And he says, your brother's blood cries up from the ground. The ground that you cultivate, your domain, where you are, you till this ground. And he gives us yet another indication. What field were they in? The pasture or the cultivated field. And it seems that they were with Cain. Abel has come out to talk and he killed him. Cain would no longer be able to settle in a place. He would no longer be the farmer because God would specifically curse the ground that he attempted to work. Thus he has to wander. Why does he have to wander? Because he's gonna have to take whatever nature supplies. Because when he touches a plow, when he sows seed, when he does anything, it will not yield its fruit. You don't ask Cain to help sow your garden. That's the gist of it. It will be cursed, not just as it was cursed before, but cursed specifically for him. We're gonna see that he tries. He's gonna build a city, he's gonna name his son after that city, but he can't cultivate, he can't grow anything. He will not be able to get any yield from that. He would have to scavenge and roam to find the food for himself and family that they needed to eat. He would have to wander a living example of what happens when sin owns you. Cain, when confronted with sin, chose disrespect instead of repentance. He chose to attack God instead of submit to him. And I put here, yet how will you respond when confronted with your sin? How will we respond when God confronts us with our sin? Will it be in belligerent disrespect or humble repentance and obedience? I think the story of Cain and Abel is a tough one. We see a massive contrast between two brothers. We don't know much about Abel except really what is expanded on by our Lord and Savior in the gospel accounts. We understand that he was righteous and that he was a prophet, we see two brothers, one godly, the other worldly. Cain is murdering Abel because he spurns and hates the righteousness he lives and preaches. First John 3, 11 through 12 says, for this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that you should love one another. This is John encouraging the church to manifest proper love for each other. And he says, not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous." It's a sad tale of two brothers and hopefully a wake-up call for us today. Are we like Abel or are we like Cain? And then I think the second question follows right after it. Will we honestly evaluate ourselves here? Do we come to God with a truly worshipful approach, seeking to obey His Word, to listen to His warnings, to live for Him in all of life? Or are we like Cain, where we approach worship with our perspective in mind? We serve how we feel best or deem fits our lifestyle. belligerently ignoring his clear warnings of sin and instead embracing and defending that sin. And I go back to that interesting thought. If you're having reasons for not doing what you really know you should do, well then that's a good indication that you are most definitely like Cain. But which brother are you really like?