Key Question: What was the difference between Abel’s sacrifice and that of Cain’s?
There are four facts concerning sin which are found in these verses.
I. Sin will keep us from doing our best unto the Lord. “Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15).
Have you ever noticed that after a person leaves the sanctuary after a worship service, that some seem a lot happier than others and even more changed than others. I believe it is the way in which a person offers their sacrifices unto God.
Some come to the place of worship expecting great things to happen while others come expecting others to make them happy. Consider this: one person after the service will say “Wow wasn’t that a great service? I could feel the presence of God in our service today!” Another person responds, “I did not get anything out of this service.” Two people, two different responses with two different attitudes.
Sin affects us physically, emotionally, and mentally. If we have unrepentant sin in our life, and especially an unforgiving spirit in our hearts we will not give our best unto the Lord.
It says that Abel gave the first born of his flock; which was probably a sheep or a goat.
Cain gave of his produce; it not stated that he gave of his best unto the Lord.
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22”. This does not mean that God turned his offering down for this reason.
There was a provision for the giving of produce as a free will offering. This type of offering was acceptable as a sin offering. It could have been that there was some unrepentant sin in Cain’s life.
Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. When one becomes angry, sin always lies at the door.
This is not to suggest that every time someone gets angry; that they sin. We must be careful not to judge. But temptation always lies at the door; when we are angry.
God asked Cain, “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 must rule over it!
Do you see a similar situation in Luke 18:10-13? The Pharisee was thanking God that he was not like other men, especially this tax collector. He was full of pride. This Pharisee could be a type of Cain in the New Testament; while the Tax Collector was a type of Abel in the New Testament. This sinner would recognize that he needed a sin offering while the Pharisee would not want to admit that he even sinned. Abel brought a suitable sacrifice in order that his sins would be forgiven. It was not even acknowledge in the Scriptures that he gave his best unto the Lord.
II. God Requires Obedience Rather than Sacrifice Hebrews 13:15 “Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Whenever, we come into the presence of God, we bring a sacrifice of praise. But before he will accept our sacrifice of praise, we must be obedient God first.
Before we come into the presence of God we must be sure that we are holding no grudge or have unrepentant sin in our lives.
We also must be sure that our attitudes are in sync with the Scriptures.
When we come into the sanctuary of praise we should be focusing on Jesus Christ, the only one who can take away the penalty of our sin which is death. Our focus should not be on our neighbors, what we are going to do after church, or trying to sell items among the church members. We come to church to strengthen our relationship with Christ.
Whether it is our sanctuary of praise, our tithe and or gifts we must give Jesus the best that we have.
III. Sin steals our joy. Too often we are not happy with ourselves or with others like Cain. The main reason for this is we are working outside God’s will for lives. When we make sinful choices, instead of God choices, we are not going to be happy campers.
Christ does not want us walking around being defeated. He has given us life that we might enjoy it abundantly.
The true happy person is one who has committed his life to serving the Lord with his/her heart, mind, soul, and strength.
The last couple of weeks, Manila have been hit by the worst floods I have ever seen in my life. And yet one person was jumping in the flooded street, in front of the justice, hitting the water and yelling “Give Me Justice.” He was of course making a good thing out of a bad situation.
If we have the joy of the Lord in our lives, even the worst circumstances are not going to detour us. No matter what happens to us, it is never too late to take back what the enemy has stolen from us.
IV. We must overcome sin. We cannot enter into the joy of our heavenly father if we are choosing to live in sin. If we expect to live with Christ forever, we must rule over sin. We have the same power that Christ has in overcoming sin and death.
To overcome sin means we must have a strong bond with Jesus Christ and those of the household of faith. We must decide if we are going to be hot or cold for Jesus Christ.
Too many Christians want to straddle the fence between Christ and Satan. Now if you are going down the highway staying on the right is safe, staying on the left is safe, depending on what direction you are traveling. But when you try to stay in the middle, sooner or later you are going to get hit and probably end up dead.
We have to decide if we are going to die spiritually or physically in the choices we make; when we choose who we are going to serve.
There are four facts in this text concerning sin:
1. Sin will keep us from giving our best.
2. God requires obedience rather than sacrificie.
3. Sin will steal our joy
4. We must overcome sin
This means we have to examine ourselves daily asking God to search our hearts and allowing Him to detect if there is any evil in our hearts. We must purge the un-leaven out of our lives complexly.
We will either choose to follow Satan or God. When we decide who we are going to follow will detect to us how we then shall live. But the choice is all ours to make. The choice we make brings forth rewards of either righteousness or wickedness and we much think very carefully before making that choice.
Solomon says that there is a way that seems right unto man but the end leads to death. Davy Crockett lived by a motto, “Be sure you right then go ahead.” Each and everyone should make sure that we are on the road that we want to be on; whether is on the road that leads to Christ or the road that leads to Satan. What choice do you want to make? Are you sure you are on the right road? In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Amen.
