Scripture Introduction
Earlier this week I told my sister about my surprise that John Piper had invited Doug Wilson to speak at the Desiring God Conference. Nancy told me that others must have felt the same because Piper defended his decision on his web site. So I watched the video.
Dr. Piper gave an example of why he felt confident inviting Pastor Wilson. In a sermon on Romans, Wilson illustrated the difference between good advice and good news by saying, Many teachers give good advice to their students throughout the semester: study hard, memorize the paradigms, do your homework every night, take notes in class, and you will do well. All good advice. Now suppose at exam time, the teacher notices one fellow staring, frightened, at a blank paper. The teacher could say, “Johnny, relax, think about what we learned, remember what you studied, start writing something, and more will come to you – you can do this.” All good advice, no doubt. But good news is different. Good news is the teacher sitting beside Johnny and said, “Scoot over a bit, and I will take the test for you.” Piper then said, “Doug gets the gospel right.”
In Genesis four we meet Cain, a man who did not get the gospel right. We might not, at first, think to interpret these events from the perspective of faith, but Hebrews 11 tells us that is precisely the issue. Cain did not believe that he needed help, nor did he trust God to give it. He thus becomes a paradigm for the beginning of… unbelief.
[Read Genesis 4.1-8. Pray.]
Introduction
He was 86 years old when they arrested him, thinking an old man would be easily persuaded to deny Christ. At his trial, the judge said, “Swear the oath and I will release you.” He answered: “For 86 years I have served him, and he has done me no evil. How could I curse my king, who saved me?”
The judge threatened to cage him with wild beasts unless he denied Christ. He answered, “Call for them!” Angered by this response, he said: “I will have you burned, since you despise the wild beasts, unless you change your mind.” The man replied, “You threaten with a fire than burns only briefly and after a little while is extinguished, while you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Do what you wish.”
Eyewitnesses wrote: “As he spoke these and many other words, he was inspired with courage and joy, and his face was filled with grace, so that not only did he not collapse in fright at the things which were said to him, but on the contrary the [judge] was astonished….”
The crowd, however, thirsted for death. They grabbed wood, built a pyre, and tied him to the center pole, and burned him to death. Thus did Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, add his name to the role of martyrs for Jesus.
Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We do well to remember those who suffer for the Name. I think we also honor them by asking, “From where does the strength come to withstand persecution?” The Bible tells us that it is by faith that holy women and men stayed the course, even to death. Hebrews 11.39: “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised….”
It seems unlikely that any of us will face such great trials; nevertheless, you will each know trouble and temptation. Will we believe God’s promises and walk in obedience? Or will we doubt and turn away? Cain knew God, and what he required. But he did not believe in the reward; he did not believe that God’s way was blessing and joy. He harbored sinful desires and nurtured them to the destruction of his brother, and of his own soul.
Faith is the means by which we come to God through Christ. We trust in his work and receive his grace. Faith, also, is the means of sanctification, the way we trust God’s promises and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to obedience. This is why, at its deepest level, all sin springs from unbelief.
Why do we so little obey God’s commands? Because we do not believe his Word is more precious that diamonds, sweeter than honey, and that by keeping it there is great reward.
Why are our own preferences so often more important than sacrificial love? We do not believe that fellowship with Christ means counting others more significant, and that those who make themselves slaves to all will be first in the Kingdom.
Why do we pretend we are better than we are? We do not believe that God exalts a broken and humble spirit.
Why are we so angry when disrespected? We do not believe that love covers a multitude of sins and that it is a man’s glory to overlook a transgression.
Faith creates the desire to overcome self-centered passions, starving sin before it breaks out into our lives.
John Calvin: “All works done apart from faith, whatever splendor of righteousness may appear in them, are nothing but mere sins (being defiled from their root), and are offensive to the Lord…. It is not to be doubted, that Cain conducted himself as hypocrites are accustomed to do: namely, that he wished to appease God, as one discharging a debt, by external sacrifices, without the least intention of dedicating himself to God…. For it is his [God’s] will, first to have us devoted to himself; he then seeks our works in testimony of our obedience to him, but only in the second place. It is to be remarked, that all the figments by which men mock both God and themselves are the fruits of unbelief.”
To show us our need, and our natural bent toward unbelief, God gives us the example of Cain. First, we see that…
1. Unbelief Rejects God’s Regulation of Worship (Genesis 4.1-5a)
We do not know what prompted these sacrifices. It was likely the regular practice of this first family, maybe due to the arrival of the harvest, or by some direct command of God. Somehow these two men knew it was time again to make an offering. So Cain brings crops. He had plowed the ground, planted the seeds, and harvested the fruit; now he gives a portion to the Lord. Abel, too, brings God a gift, but different – “the firstborn,” and “of their fat portions.”
Bible students argue over the exact reason for God’s approval of Abel’s gift over Cain’s. It seems the text points to at least three reasons, each showing the need for faith, each of which requires we trust God for the reward.
1.1. Worship of God Requires Our Best Offerings
The text does not say that Cain brought the leftovers. But God does say that Abel brought his very best. Before he knew which calves would be best, he set aside the first; he also brought the fat portions, the cream of the crop. Surely we are to understand that the same was not true of Cain: not the first harvest or the fat of the land, but what was left after he took the best.
Professor of Old Testament, H. C. Leupold: “There can be no doubt that the significant words, ‘the firstborn’ and ‘of their fat’ aim to show a distinguishing feature of this sacrifice. Since one merely gave of what he had acquired, but the other gave “firstlings” and “fat pieces,” it is evident that the one gave because it was time and custom to give—pure formalism; whereas the other gave the best—pure, devout worship.”
To whom do you give your very best? Is it not the ones we love the very most? The woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her tears and hair, was commended for her great love. I wonder if our worship is sometimes the leftovers of a week with too many activities? Have we already given our best to work and play, to our own pursuits and desires, so that God gets our leftovers?
Cain loves himself much and God little, because he does not believe that God rewards those who give their best; he does not trust God’s Word. Worship requires our best offerings because true worship comes from a heart of faith.
1.2. Worship of God Requires Blood Offerings
Adam and Eve cover themselves with leaves after they sinned. But that was not enough. God covers them with the skin of a slaughtered animal because “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9.22).
James M. Boice: “Of the many things about Genesis that trouble modern people, the acceptance of Abel’s offering and the rejection of Cain’s is high on the list because it seems unfair and irrational. ‘Cain did the best he could,’ such persons argue. ‘He gave what he had. Why should his offering be judged inferior to Abel’s? In fact, if a choice must be made, why should not Cain’s beautiful offering be judged more acceptable than Abel’s bloody one?’ Ah, but that is just the point. Abel’s sacrifice involved blood and therefore testified to the death of a substitute. When God killed animals in the Garden of Eden and then clothed Adam and Eve with their skins, God showed that, because sin means death, innocent victims must die in order that sinners might be pardoned. The sacrifices pointed forward to Christ…. When Cain brought his fruit he was rejecting that provision.”
A few years ago, I read an article about a woman who traveled all the way from Omaha, Nebraska, to India so that she could worship at the Ganges River during the alignment of the 12 stars of the Zodiac. The article assumed that God must accept her because of her devout effort and great sincerely. That woman’s circumstances were different, but her heart aligned with Cain. She did not believe blood sacrifices were necessary to approach God. She felt God ought to hear her prayers because she wanted them heard. She thought herself a basically good person, surely not needing God to place her sins on an innocent substitute. Unbelief sees no need for a blood offering.
A. W. Pink, “Cain was no infidel or atheist. He was ready to acknowledge the existence of God; he was prepared to worship Him after his own fashion…. But by faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice. It was by faith, and not by his own fancy, that Abel brought his offering to God. He had heard that God required a sacrifice, he believed, and he evidenced his faith by a compliance with God’s revealed will.”
Faith worships through the sacrifice of Christ because it believes that God alone can make a new and living way back into his presence. Third…
1.3. Worship of God Requires Our Whole Heart
“The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” Notice that God’s acceptance is first directed of the person, then the gift.
Leopold: “This fact shows that the determining factor in worship is the attitude of the individual. His heart God weighs. If he is not found wanting, the gift is acceptable. If he fails to please the Almighty, his gift is reprobate…. Formalistic worship is of no value in God’s eyes; it is an abomination.”
Matthew Henry agrees: “Observe that hypocrites and evil doers may be found going as far as the best of God’s people in the external services of religion…. A hypocrite may possibly hear as many sermons, say as many prayers, and give as much alms, as a good Christian, and yet, for want of sincerity, come short of acceptance with God.”
Cain gave out of form. He felt he owed God a debt, and he would pay it and be done. Abel gave from a heart of faith; believers realize that Jesus paid a debt he did not owe, because we owe a debt we cannot pay. Are you here to please God, or are you here because God is pleased with you? Those are two different religions. Unbelief rejects God’s regulation of worship.
2. Unbelief Responds in Anger to God’s Rules (Genesis 4.5b)
Cain refused to look up to God. You know the feeling—someone corrects you, and you are hurt. As the anger rises, you turn away, unwilling to look them in the face, embarrassed that part of the rebuke is correct, angry at the part that is not, ashamed that the truth is worse than they could know, and anxious that God may want you to ask forgiveness.
Cain knew that if glanced upon Jehovah God, every cold thought of self-justification would melt. He was tending a grudge in the garden of his soul, and he dared not face him who would whither it with the burning heat of holiness and truth. So he is angry at God.
1John 5.3: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
How do you respond to God’s rules? Are they your delight? Do you grow angry when the pastor steps on your toes? Do you resent certain teachings of the Bible? Faith loves the commands of God.
Of course, we all fail in some ways, so how do we respond when God must remind us that we have fallen short?
3. Unbelief Refuses to Hear God’s Correction (Genesis 4.6-7)
God does not excuse Cain’s poor choice. But neither does he bring fierce and quick judgment. Instead of preaching at Cain, God comes as a priest; instead of a condemner, God is a counselor. God graciously exposes and kindly calls Cain back: “Look at yourself, my child. See the anger within, which you cannot justify. Your feelings are hurt because you measure your worth in comparison to your brother. You are jealous of him and embarrassed at your failure. You are ashamed of your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. Yet you refuse to look to me and live.”
That is a hard message, but at the same time full of kindness and mercy! Cain deserves damnation; God pleads for him to accept reconciliation. “Come, Cain, let us reason together. Admit your need and ask for help, and you will find grace sufficient. But be warned, the evil that is in your heart is in grave danger of welling up and being overtaken in a sin more terrible than you can imagine. It desires to destroy, but you can rule over it.”
Keil, “God talks to Cain as to a willful child, and draws out of him what is sleeping in his heart, and lurking like a wild beast before his door. And what He did to Cain He does to everyone who will but observe his own heart, and listen to the voice of God. But Cain paid no heed to the divine warning.”
How do we respond when rebuked? Are you quick to listen and slow to speak, especially to speak words of justification of yourself or attack on the messenger? Do you take correction to heart, or consider that God is unfair, his standards unreasonable? Unbelief refuses the Lord’s rebukes.
4. Unbelief Rails Against God’s People (Genesis 4.8)
One error we sometimes propagate is assuming that our problems will always be solved by better communication. Of course, there are times we need to talk more, and more clearly. But we might also be aghast if others communicated to us what they really thought; what we really need is love.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”
Unbelief does not love God’s people. I know there are good reasons to dislike me, or another Christian. Maybe Abel was hard to live with, or mom’s favorite, like Joseph was for Israel. But Cain had no room to trust God to deal with Abel, or to trust himself to God’s care. Afraid to admit that his real anger is with God, he lashes out at the one closest to him. And Abel lies dead.
I know you are not treated as well as you deserve. You are, after all, daughters and sons of the King. But sometimes those who are most royal show it by being the most forgiving toward their subjects who fail them. Faith loves God’s imperfect people.
Unbelief grows angry with them. Do we love our brothers and sisters in the church?
5. Conclusion
Cain’s deeds were evil. He resented God’s rules, rebelled against God’s correction, and rejected the way of worship which God prescribed. Abel, on the other hand, submitted to God in these things. So Cain killed him.
Unbelief seems a small thing while crouching. But like the leopard, the small, quiet cat hides a powerful foe. Let us commit to fight the good fight of faith, and take hold of eternal life, by which we turn from the way of sin and find grace and help in every need.
