Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Attention

14 words: The date: January 31, 1991.

The place: Alice Johnson Jr. High School.

The name: Pom Pom Mom.

Texas mother (Wanda Holloway, 37) so intent on daughter making cheerleading squad, she hired a hit man to kill the competitor’s (Amber Heard) mother.

Her hope was the 13-year old would be overwhelmed with grief and drop out.

(Chicago Tribune)

Was going to have both killed, but it was too expensive.

Opted for mom at $2,500.

(Eventually made into 2 movies!)

Raise a Need

Murder.

Madness.

Mayhem.

Our world has gone crazy.

In 2017, 1.28 million violent crimes occured in the US.

17,284 murders and non-negligent manslaughters in US (CA is #1)

99,856 rapes in US (Alaska is #1 per 100,000)

319,356 robbery cases (D.C. has highest rate)

https://www.statista.com/topics/1750/violent-crime-in-the-us/

Transition

In , homicide is the centerpiece…and violence is the name of the game.

But this passage is more than the first murder.

It is the story of the “seed of the serpent” and the fight against the “seed of the woman.”

In short, the story reveals the essential nature of all of mankind--our depravity--and yet it is more a story of God’s grace!!!

MIT/MIM

Sin continues to increase.

But sin aboundeth, grace aboundeth even more ()!!!

Background/Transition

Sevens and multiples of 7:

Abel and the phrase “brother” = 7x

Cain occurs 14x

God was in 35x; The words God, Lord, or Lord God are in this second toledot 35 times…with the final one in the last verse being #70.

1. God’s Grace Extends Over Deliberate Sin (vv.

1-16).

Explanation

v. 1 — “with the help of the Lord”

Issue of the offering (v.

3-4)

Not due to “blood”

Perhaps due to “first fruits”

Issue is Cain’s response: Heart Attitude (v.

5-6)

The bigger issue is Cain’s response (v.

5-6)

Cain’s was not an offering of faith.

He was the “captain of his own heart.”

— “O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Result: Cain’s sinful attitude led to his anger…which was directed at his brother instead of at God!

God intervenes!

God came and inquired.

If you do right, there is an uplift?

Sin is crouching at the door (v.

7)

Its desire is for you…but you must master it (v.

7)

Cain murders Abel

“Brother” is used twice…Cain didn’t murder just anyone.

“when they were in the field” (v.

8)

Personal: no gun, no bombs…did he crush his head?

Cut his throat?

Choke him?

However…it was personal.

Its desire is for you…but you must master it (v.

7)

Confrontation

When God confronted Adam, Adam told the truth.

When God confronted Cain, Cain lied!

Judgment

The curse fell (first where a human is cursed; see ).

Became a wanderer.

Family relationships broken.

Work became even more difficult.

Illustration

A true story is told in the setting of New Orleans in the 1980s by policeman John Dillman.14

Two men had contrived a get-rich-quick scheme.

One of them developed a relationship with and married an innocent young woman p 268 and took out a sizeable insurance policy on her life.

During their honeymoon he took her for a walk and, just as his accomplice was driving by in a rental car, pushed her to her death under the wheels of the speeding vehicle.

The suspicions of the insurance company eventually brought the two conspirators to trial.

What struck Dillman as unbelievable during the trial was the total lack of remorse on the part of the two criminals.

What reminds me of Cain is the next part of the description by Plantinga:

Pointing to the way the police kept interfering in their lives by pursuing, interrogating, and charging them, the two men complained that they were themselves the real victims in this whole affair and implied that they ought to be not punished but consoled.15

In this illustration can be seen one of the most insidious aspects of human fallenness: a refusal to be held accountable.

?

Argumentation: God’s Grace Extended!!!

God heard Cain’s cry for mercy!

God marks Cain — it did not lighten the penalty, but the fear of complete destruction was gone.

God’s grace...

Cain was cursed and separated from God…yet guarded BY GOD.

Marks Cain with a sign against others hurting him (v.

15).

God did not abandon Cain

Like He came to Adam, God comes to Cain.

When Cain arrogantly brought his offering, and God saw his anger, God did not turn away from him.

That’s grace!

God, in fact, went like a probing father to Cain trying to help him.

God did not leave him exposed to Satan…but protected him.

After the murder, God still listened to Cain’s unrepentant plea…and put a protection on him!

Marks Cain with a sign against others hurting him (v.

15).

Application

Did Cain repent?

Probably not.

Maybe.

The NT warns against the “way of Cain” () and the one “who was of the evil one and murdered his brother” ().

His life is contrasted with that of the “righteous Abel” ().

What we don’t know is HOW he responded to God.

But we know this…CAIN WAS NOT BEYOND GOD’S GRACE…and neither are you!

In Christ, we have the chance to experience God’s grace...