The
Sixth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
|
O
|
GOD, who hast prepared
for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into
our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may
obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
1 And
Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have
gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process
of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the LORD. 4 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: 5 But unto Cain
and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his
countenance fell. 6 And
the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If
thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over
him. 8 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. 9 And the LORD
said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my
brother's keeper? 10 And
he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me
from the ground. 11 And
now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy
brother's blood from thy hand; 12 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. 13 And
Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou
hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall
I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall
come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD
said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on
him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should
kill him. 16 And
Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on
the east of Eden. (Gen 4:1-16)
Our Bible text today exposes the age-old battle between good and evil,
right and wrong, Hell and Heaven. Cain and Abel represent the starkly opposing
sides of that battle.
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I
have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel
was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground
Who was Cain, and who was Abel?
Cain was the first born of woman (Eve). Just as his father, the first
man, Adam represents the human race, fallen and rebellious, so does this
son, being the first born upon earth, represent fallen man in the depravity of
will and conscience. In every culture and custom, the first born usually
occupies the seat of preeminence among the offspring of a family, but with God,
it has always been just the opposite: Examples: (Adam –Christ, Cain-Abel,
Ishmael-Isaac, and Esau-Jacob). He is a man, not cursed of God, but cursed by
his own sins, unrepented. All who go into the fires of Hell go by their own
merits. No one enters Heaven by their own merits – only by the Salvation made
available through the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Cain brought an offering to
God which was the product of his own labors, and from a source that was cursed –
the earth.
Abel was the first prophet born of woman.
He honored God in his worship and obedience. He did not worship God according
to his own desires, but in reverence and conformity to the will of God. Abel
brought a blood sacrifice which was pleasing to God, and not a product of the
labors of his hand. Wherefore, behold, I send
unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill
and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and
persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matt 23:34-35)
Why was Cain’s offering refused? Because it
was not honoring to God. It was a product of the sweat and labor of Cain in
tilling the earth. The earth was cursed. And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the
tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is
the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life (Gen 3:17) Cain was arrogant and presumptuous to bring an offering
that he knew was not pleasing to God. He worshipped his OWN way and not the way
laid down by God. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Abel brought forth a lamb for his offering.
The lamb foreshadows that Lamb of God whose coming was necessary to redeem us
from our sins. Abel, himself, foreshadows Christ. He was a prophet, and he laid
down his life (at the hand of his brother) in making a sacrifice pleasing to
God. The sacrifice of Christ was pleasing to God because it conformed to His
plan to redeem fallen man. 4 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 God does not need our good (or truly
bad) works. He needs an acceptable offering. That offering is the Blood of
Christ. He needs not money and sacrifice now that the sacrifice has been made –
He needs a broken and contrite heart. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
(Psalms 51:17)
5 But unto Cain and to
his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance
fell. When we fail to bring that suitable offering to God mentioned above, why
are we upset with God instead of ourselves? We are too much laboring to get God
on OUR side instead of getting our hearts and souls on HIS side. So we do wrong
and are chastised. We sulk away angry and resentful as a child who has been
refused the third popsicle. Being angry with God, contrary to many popular
novels of deceit, is not a healthy proposition. Anger against God is a sin!
When we embark on the road of harboring one sin, that one sin gives birth
prolifically to many sins just as described in Psalms 1. Sin is a road that
leads down and down to destruction.
6 And the LORD said
unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If
thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt
rule over him. The privilege of the first born was high
honor in ancient times. God tells Cain, “If you do well, your
sacrifice would be received and you would not have lost your birthright.”
When Isaac blessed Jacob (the second born) he thought he was blessing Esau. Jacob
deceived his father in getting that blessing of the first born. Isaac said: Let
people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee,
and blessed be he that blesseth thee. (Gen 27:29) But Cain did not
well receive the chastisement of God. He made his prospects of greater
damnation in that rejection.
8 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. The implication here is that the ‘talk’ Cain
had with Abel was not friendly. Perhaps Abel, being a prophet, reminded Cain of
his obligation to bring a suitable offering of blood to God. Cain was rich in
products grown from the soil – not sheep. So he wanted to offer that which was
CONVENIENT to him. Doing things OUR way always leads to ruin. It not only hurts
us, but those to whom we owe love. Cain began in disobedience to proper
worship, and ended with the murder of his only brother. The reverence and
proper order in which we worship is important to God. We do not worship using
those products of the world, but in an impeccable manner honoring to that One
who bled and died for us.
9 And the LORD said
unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am
I my brother's keeper? Not only had Cain failed to be his brother’s
keeper, but his murderer instead. How often we attempt to mitigate our sins by
committing a greater one. One does not lie to God. Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7)
and “…….ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you
out. “ (Num 32:23)
10 And he said, What hast thou
done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground Though the bodies
of the righteous martyrs lie in the earth, their spirits cry unto God from the
dust for their murders. Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘Tale-Tale Heart’
illustrates this even if fiction.
11 And now art thou cursed
from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from
thy hand; 12 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 I ask you, friends, what caused the curse to fall
upon Cain – God, or Cain’s sins? I believe the answer will be perfectly honest
to all who hear this sermon. It was the transgressions and rebellion of Cain
that brought upon him the curse! It is the same for us in our day. God will
take from us every privilege because we have renounced right to that privilege.
13 And Cain said unto
the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this
day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall
be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that
every one that findeth me shall slay me. Whether or not the
punishment for our sins is greater than we can bear is irrelevant! We SHALL,
indeed, bear them. Sin ALWAYS separates us from God. And who sins, God or us?
We separate ourselves from God through our disobedience and disregard for the
reverence owed Him in worship – if we worship at all. Even the world
hates the reprobate of God.
15 And the LORD said unto him,
Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.
And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Even though
despised and hated for his perverted ways, murdering such a one is a sin
against God because it would deprive God of the prospect of redemption for even
a Peter (who denied Jesus thrice) and you and me for our sins of commission and
omission. We shall leave it to God to condemn though we judge sin by His Holy
Word. We do not know precisely the manner of ‘mark’ set upon Cain, but I
believe it was not a visible mark, but one in the mind where judgments and
decisions were made – much like the Mark of the Beast or the Seal of God
mentioned in Revelations which was IN the forehead (where deliberative
decisions are made and judgments enacted) and not ON it.
16 And Cain went out from the
presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. All who abide in
their sins go out from the presence of the LORD. Remember that horribly fateful
night when Judas departed from the presence of Christ and went out into an
eternal dark night? He then having received the sop went immediately out:
and it was night. (John 13:30) Are you yet in the dark night, or have you
come into the glowing Presence of Christ?
