The Blood Atonement

November 17, 1996 - OBC - AM

BEHOLD THE LAMB

THE LAMB TYPIFIED

The Blood Atonement

Genesis 4:1-8

Gen 4:1-8

1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with {the help of} the LORD."

2 And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

7 "If you do well, will not {your countenance} be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

8 And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

(NAS)

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever noticed that, in the morning when you go out to

pick up the newspaper or to walk in the yard, the sun is just coming

up, that it cast the shadow of your body, if it's a bright day, and

that the shadow of your body is somewhat, distorted and elongated.

It may run across the lawn and up the side of the house if the sun is

just coming up in the east. But then, as the, sun continues to

come up a little more, you're shadow takes a little more definite

shape and then in the forenoon when the sun is at about a forty five

degree angle, the shadow becomes very sharp and very precise. But,

finally, when the sun in the summertime comes directly overhead the

shadow disappears altogether and all that is visible is you but

you're standing in the brightest light possible.

Now, really, in a way, that is a parable of what happened in the

Bible as God revealed to us the truth of the blood atonement. Now, the

Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews and also in the book of Colossians

that the things that happen in the Old Testament were shadows. They

were a shadow of things to come, Paul tells us in Colossians:

Col 2:17

17 things which are a {mere} shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

(NAS)

You see, in order for there to be a shadow, there first of all must be a light and then there must be some object upon which the light is shining.

Now, the light is the revelation of God given through his holy

Scriptures and the object upon which that light is shining is the Lord

Jesus Christ. But, in the dawn of civilization, in the dawn of revelation,

those shadows are not very clear, not very distinct, not very plain.

But as the Son of God's revelation continues to rise, the shadows

become sharper and sharper and clearer and clearer until we get to the

high noon of the New Testament and the Gospels and there in the dazzling

light of God's revelation we see no longer the shadow, but, we see Jesus

Christ himself in all of his purity.

Now, I want you to see now with me one of these Old Testament

shadows that begins to tell us about the Lord Jesus Christ and about

the blood atonement. It is the story tucked away here in Genesis four.

The story of the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel.

Now, the fourth chapter of the book of Genesis is written to

tell us that God is to be worshipped. That's what it's all about. That

God is to be worshipped. But, it also tells us that there is a right way

and there is a wrong way to worship God. You know what Jesus said

in the gospel of John:

John 4:23-24

23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

(NAS)

That means that some people worship God but their not in the spirit. And some people worship God but their worship is not according to the truth of God's word. And that kind of worship dear friend is not worth a half a Hallelujah.

I want to show you now the difference between biblical worship and biblical salvation and false worship and false salvation. And we find it here in the story of these two boys who came to worship the Lord. And Cain, of course, was a farmer and so he worshipped the Lord by bringing of the fruit of the ground.

He brought vegetables, fruit to offer to the Lord and then Able, who was a shepherd took a little animal. I suppose it was a lamb. A precious, spotless little lamb and with shed blood he worshipped the Lord.

Now, you see such a contrast. It is a contrast here that is far,

that is as far removed as the east is from the west. And I want you to

see with me this morning as we study under three headings.

First of all, I want you to see the contrast of their worship.

Secondly, I want you to see the consequences of their worship and

thirdly, I want you to see the conflict of their worship because one

of these brothers ended up murdering the other.

I. THE CONTRAST OF THEIR WORSHIP - Genesis 4:3-4

Gen 4:3-4

3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

(NAS)

Are you ready? First of all lets notice if we might the contrast

of their worship. Look if you will in verses three and four again as

we go back and look.

Now, let me say, that all religion is not the same. You know, somehow

we have thought almost un-American if we don't just put our arms around

everybody else and say well, God bless you. You believe one way and

I believe another way and your way is just as good as my way. Friend,

that is not true. Listen, there is but one way to worship God and that's Gods way.

That's Gods way. Now, Jesus is not just a good way to heaven. Jesus

is not even the best way to heaven. Jesus Christ is the only way to

heaven Now, that may sound narrow to some people but friend, its just

as true as I'm standing in this pulpit.

Do you know what Jesus Christ said? Jesus said,

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

(NAS)

And then the Bible says in Acts chapter four,

Acts 4:12

12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."

(NAS)

If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, Jesus Christ is none of

the ways to heaven. If Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven, Jesus

is a faker, Jesus is a fraud, Jesus is a sham, Jesus is a charlatan

because he claimed to be something that he was not. A faker, a fraud,

a sham and a charlatan is nobody's savior. If he's not the only way,

he is none of the ways. He himself said,

John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

(NAS)

A. THE WORSHIP OF CAIN - Genesis 4:3

And so, I want you to see here, that here is a contrast between

these two ways. First of all, I want you to notice the worship of Cain

in verse three. What did Cain do?

Gen 4:3

3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

(NAS)

Now, remember, that God had said cursed is the ground and,

in order to get anything out of the ground Adam, now, you're

going to have to work the ground. It's not going to be like it use to

be in the Garden of Eden a, you're not, just going to be able to tickle

the soil and it will bloom with vegetables. Oh no. Listen,

you're going to have to work. You're going to have to struggle. In

the sweat of your brow, you're going to earn your food. You're going

to earn your bread that way. And, oh, how hard old Cain must have

worked. I'm sure he was a good farmer. Thank God for farmers and

thank God for the hard work that they do and I'm not putting down farmers

when I tell you this. We're all dependent upon the farmers and thank

God for them. If it weren't for the farmers we wouldn't have much to

eat, would we?

Now, listen, but here he is out there working hard in the noon day

sun, plowing and planting and cultivating and weeding and hoeing and

now he takes all of this. He takes this that represents the very best

that he can do. I imagine he took the most beautiful flowers. He

took the most fragrant of the herbs. He took the most lucious vegetables

and the ripest fruits and he prepared them and spread them before the

Lord and he says dear Lord, here is my offering to you. It must have

looked like a county fair. How gorgeous it was. How beautiful it was.

But, the Bible says, that God would not accept it. God had no

respect to that offering. God turned his back on that offering. It

was nauseous to God. Why? Because Cain did not understand the biblical

principle that he should have understood and I'm going to tell you

in a little bit further why he should have understood that biblical

principle. But here is a biblical principal. That we can only come

to God and approach God on the basis of the blood atonement. We can

only come to God and approach God on the basis of the blood atonement.

In the New Testament we read in Hebrews:

Heb 9:22

22 And according to the Law, {one may} almost {say} all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

(NAS)

Absolutely beyond a shadow of any doubt the Bible teaches that without

the shedding of blood is no remission of sin.

Have you ever heard this expression? You can't get blood out of

a turnip. Have you ever heard that? Well, I don't know where that

expression originated. But, it may have originated right here.

Now, he may have brought some turnips to the Lord but there's no

blood in the turnip. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission

of sin. Cain’s offering was very beautiful, but it represents the salvation of works.

The way that people try to save themselves by doing good. They think

that they can bring the fruit of their labor, of their toil and offer

it to God and God's going to be accept it. But, the Bible says it is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy that he saved us. The Bible says without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin.

Now, we, we divide religions up and all kinds of different religions.

We say there's Christianity and there's Confucianism and there's

Buddhism, and Mohammedism and rheumatism and all of these religions

and we divide them up and then not only that but we take Christianity

and we divide Christianity up. We say there's the Baptist, and there's

the Methodist, and there's the Episcopalian, and there are the Assemblies

of God, and there are this and this and this and we divide Christianity

up. But, let me tell you something dear friend, there are only really

two divisions of all religion and that is the salvation of works and

;the salvation by grace. That's it. Only two religions.

Now, Cain represents the salvation by works where he tries to be

right with God by what he does. You see the difference between religion

and real salvation is religion is rooted in what man tries to do for,

for God but salvation is rooted in what God does do for man. One is

spelled do, the other is spelled done and there's so many people who

try to justify themselves by the works of their hands and the bible

says that Christ is become of none effect to you whosoever you are

that are justified by the works of the law. You see, if, if righteousness

come by the law, if you could be saved by being good, if you could offer

the fruit of your hands to God and be right with God, then Calvary

was a blunder.

You see, here was Cain who said I just believe I'll do it this

way. His idea did not come from the revealed word of God. It came out

of his on noggin. Out of his own head, out of his own ideas. He said

this is the way I think I'll do it. Some people say, well, you

know, I'm looking for religion that suits me. You better find one that

suits God. I mean who are you, God? Are you God? A religion that suits you. Listen, there's the thrice holy God of the universe. The one who made you. And it is God who has revealed how he is to be worshipped. And so here is Cain with his own manmade religion, with his idea on works and rituals. Oh, it was beautiful. It was cultured, it was gorgeous, it was sacrificial but it was not accepted. That was the religion of Cain. And you know what the Bible says:

Jude 1:11

11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

(NAS)

Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain.

The way of Cain is the way of woe. Now, just mark it down.

Jude eleven. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain. Way

back over in the next to the last book in the bible. The Bible still is

talking about this fellow, Cain and the terrible mistake he made. Woe

unto them, woe unto them. Woe unto them. They've gone in the way of

Cain. What is the way of Cain? The way of Cain is self righteousness.

The way of Cain is trying to put your hands under your feet and lift

yourself off the ground. It cannot be done. It cannot be done.

Rom 4:5

5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,

(NAS)

Rom 5:1

1 Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

(NAS)

Eph 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

(NAS)

Woe unto them, for they've gone the way of Cain.

Are you offering to God the fruit of your hands today?

Are you saying to God, God, what a good boy I am. I go to Onley

Baptist Church. I go to Sunday School. I give my tithe. I read my

Bible. I pray. You can do all of that and go to hell. All of it.

You're not saved by the works of your hands.

B. THE OFFERING OF ABEL - Genesis 4:4

Now, let's contrast now, and see Abel and the offering that Abel

brought to the Lord. Look if you will please, in verse four,

Gen 4:4

4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

(NAS)

Now, Abel understood the blood atonement. Do you know I've

listened to Bible preachers and they say, well, now Abel didn't

understand anything about the blood atonement. This doesn't have

anything to do about the blood. It was just the attitude of Abel's

heart. I want to tell you dear friend, that Abel understood the blood

atonement, and I'm going to prove it to you in just a moment

that Abel understood the blood atonement and that's the reason he

brought a lamb.

Now, in the first place the Bible says in Hebrews:

Heb 11:4

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

(NAS)

By faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice Just put that down there in your

margin; Hebrews 11:4. Now, where did he get faith? Where does anybody get faith? Nobody has had faith until God first speaks. Now, put it down. Faith comes from hearing the word of God.

Rom 10:17

17 So faith {comes} from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

(NAS)

You've never had faith, I've never had faith, nobody’s ever had faith in anything until God has spoken.

There's some radio and TV preachers who preach preaching, name it and claim it. Friend, you can't claim it until God names it. Listen, God has to name it fore you can claim it. God has to speak before you can have faith. What faith is, is just taking God at his word. Faith comes by hearing.

Now, the Bible says it was by faith that this man offered a more

excellent sacrifice. Abel knew and he understood the blood atonement.

Did you know that Abel was a prophet? Did you know he was one of the

Old Testament prophets? Did you know that he was a man who prophesied

concerning the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Just turn to Luke chapter eleven:

Luke 11:49-51

49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and {some} of them they will kill and {some} they will persecute,

50 in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,

51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house {of God;} yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.'

(NAS)

From the blood of Abel, do you know what Jesus said Abel was

there? He was a prophet who was killed for his faith. He was a prophet.

Jesus said that Abel was a prophet. Now, the prophets had one

message. Every prophet had the same message. Do you want me to tell

you what it is? Acts chapter ten verse forty three tells you what

the message of every prophet was:

Acts 10:43

43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

(NAS)

All of the prophets had one message, Believe on Jesus and be forgiven. And Abel was a prophet. Jesus said Abel was a prophet. And the Bible says the

prophets, all of the prophets said, that through Jesus, when you believe

on Jesus, you'll have remission of sin.

Now, somehow we get the idea that Cain and Able were a couple

of country bumpkins. Out there, they didn't know anything, plowing up

ground with a stick, herding around a bunch of sheep. One day they just

sorta sundered into the presence of God and tried to worship him. But

oh no, the Bible says that this man worshipped God by faith and in order

to have faith he had to have the word of God. The Bible says he was

a prophet. He understood the blood atonement. I want to tell you

dear friend, he may not have understood it as you understand it, as I

understand it, standing this side of Calvary, but he was a man of God.

He was one of the Old Testament prophets that pointed to the Lord Jesus

Christ.

I want to tell you dear friend that the blood atonement wasn't

something that God thought up in the New Testament. It wasn't an

after thought with God. It wasn't some sort of an emergency measure.

God had the blood atonement in his heart, in his mind when He swung

this planet into space. The Bible tells us in Revelation chapter

thirteen:

Rev 13:8

8 And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, {everyone} whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

(NAS)

That is, God had bloody Calvary in his heart, in his mind, in his

soul when he made this world. And God took his prophets and all of the

prophets had been prophesying about the Lord Jesus Christ. You study

this book dear friend and you study it hard and if you don't find Jesus

where you're studying you better go back and restudy it because you

missed the message. It's all about Jesus. All about Jesus. Somebody

says Dave, have you read the four gospels? Friend, I've read all sixty six.

The Old Testament says somebody is coming. The New Testament says

somebody is come. And the Epistles and the Revelation say

somebody is coming again and that somebody is Jesus, Jesus is the hero

of the Bible. To whom give all the prophets witness, all of the prophets

speak about the Lord Jesus Christ and starting right back here with Abel,

the second child in the first family was a prophet, a man of God so long ago.

You see there is a principle, dear friend, that starts in the book

of Genesis and goes all the way through to the book of Revelation.

And that is blood atonement. You cut this book anywhere, it will bleed. There

is a red river of redemption. It welled up there in the Garden of Eden

and flowed past the gates of Eden when God made for Adam and Eve coats

of skin. Remember Adam and Eve had three kinds of garments. First of all, they had a robe of glory. They were covered with light. And then they lost that robe of glory and they had a robe of guilt. They knew that they were naked.

And they were covered with shame. And a robe of grace as

God killed an innocent animal and with that innocent animal he made for

them coats of skin. What was God teaching right there in the dawn of

civilization. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of

sin. And then we see Abel as he comes continuing in the same idea.

And he brings this pure, spotless lamb and the fat thereof and God had

respect unto the prophet Abel’s offering. We continue on through the

Bible and we find after centuries have passed and men have sunk deeper

and deeper into sin that Noah, when he gets off of his boat, what is

the first thing that he does? He offers a bloody sacrifice unto

Almighty God, where even though the centuries have come and even though

the centuries have gone and even though God has judged and perched the

world with a flood, still the Bible teaches without the shedding of

blood is no remission. We see Abraham as he's ready there to sacrifice

his son Isaac and some people here would have accused God of cruelty.

But, I want to tell you there’s no more sacred picture in all of the

Bible than Abraham on Mount Moriah in Genesis chapter twenty two getting

ready to sacrifice Isaac, when the angel of the Lord says, Abraham, stay

your hand. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and a ram was

caught in the thicket and the Bible says Abraham offered that ram

in the stead, in the place of his son.

No wonder the Bible says, Abraham saw my day and was glad. Jesus

was speaking. Abraham saw my day. Abraham saw me. The Bible says

the gospel was preached unto Abraham. There was a blood atonement.

For the Bible says without the shedding of blood, there's no remission

of sins. We see the Levitical system now, or the night of the Passover,

lets start there when the Jews now become a nation and there getting

ready to come out of the land of Egypt. And we read there in the Bible

in the book of Exodus that God said to those Jews before you come out of

that land, you're to take a lamb and you're to slay that lamb and there's

to be a lamb for every house and you're to take the blood of that lamb,

and you're to strike it on the lentils and the door post of the house.

Can you see that as they strike it on the lentils and on the door post?

Can you see the cross that’s made there? Can you see the bloody cross

as they make it there? And the Bible says that that a death angel was

going to come to the land that night. And God said, I'm going to be

looking for the blood and God said, if I don't see the blood I’m going

to come in and slay the first born in every family. But, God says, when

I see the blood, I will pass over you. Had they put rubies and diamonds

and emeralds and all kinds of gold and silver and precious things upon 1

those door post instead of the blood, the angel would have come in and

slain the first born.

I want to tell you, had they written beautiful, gorgeous thoughts,

and poetry of all kinds and tacked it upon the door the death angel would

have come in. I want to tell you, had they taken a precious, spotless,

lamb and set that lamb before their door without killing that lamb, the

death angel would have come in. God says, when I see the blood, I will

pass over you. For the Bible says without the shedding of blood, is no

remission of sin. And the Levitical sacrifices come and upon thousands

and thousands of smoking alters, there is red river redemption continues

to flow. And what were all of those Levitical sacrifices talking about.

They were all pointing to the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And one day ole John the Baptist stepped from the banks of the River Jordan and when he saw my precious Savior, that wonderful Jesus coming, John the Baptist pointed to him and said,

John 1:29

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

(NAS)

Now, I want to tell you this shadow that we see back here in the

book of Genesis was just pointing to the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus

Christ.

Do you remember reading about that Russian psychologist whose

name was Pavlov. Pavlov did some experiments with dogs and what he

called a condition reflex. That is, he put his dogs in this pen, and then he

had a bell and he would ring the bell and then he'd

feed the dogs. The next day he'd ring the bell before he'd feed the

dogs. The next day he'd ring the bell before he'd feed the dogs.

Ring the bell, feed the dogs. After a while he got these dogs so

conditioned that all he had to do was ring the bell and these dogs

would begin to drool and salivate. They knew that the ringing of the

bell meant food.

Now, that's exactly what God was doing in another way in these

Old Testament sacrifices. You see, in these Old Testament sacrifices,

God was building up into the hearts and minds of his people that sin

means death. Bell means food, Sin means death. Sin means death. Sin

means death. That the wages of sin is death. The soul that sins, it

shall surely die. I require a blood sacrifice. The Bible says it is

impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.

Well, the bible says these things are shadows. There pointing to the

Lord Jesus Christ and here back in the dawn of civilization we see a

shadow. Yes, it's not clear, yes, there's not a lot of form, yes, there's

not a lot of color. There's no color, there's no, no real power in

substance in a shadow but dear friend, we're living now in high noon

and God is pouring all of his light upon the Lord Jesus Christ and God

is saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, Behold the Lamb of God." Look at

Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. You see,

the comparison, the comparison of their worship. One a worship of works,

another, a worship of blood atonement and therefore by grace. For the

Bible says, "without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin."

I. THE CONTRAST OF THEIR WORSHIP

II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR WORSHIP -

Genesis 4:4-5

Now, I want you to see the consequences of their worship. The consequences

of their worship.

Gen 4:4-5

4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;

5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

(NAS)

The Bible says in verses four and five that God

received one offering. God did not receive the other offering. The

difference between the religion of Cain and the religion of Abel is the

difference between righteousness and unrighteousness. It is the difference

of acceptability and unacceptability. It is therefore, the difference

between heaven and hell.

You say now, wait a minute, after all Cain was doing the best he

knew how. Why couldn't God just say, now, Cain, I'll have to admit that

you didn't do it exactly the way I wanted and I'll have to admit there's

no blood sacrifice here but Cain, I'm going to accept you anyway. Why

couldn't God do it that way? God's holiness would not allow him to

overlook Cain's sin. You see, God must judge sin. God's righteous

judgment, God's holiness, God's integrity says that sin must, it must,

it must be punished.

Turn to Romans chapter three, for a moment. And Romans chapter

three, verse twenty three, you know that we're going to start reading

there and we're going to read some that we don't normally read.

Rom 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(NAS)

Beginning with Cain and Abel, beginning with Cain and Abel this is true of all people who have ever lived. It's true of you, it's true of me. All have sinned. We're sinners by birth, sinners by nature, sinners by choice, sinners by practice, sinners under judgment. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That's what the Bible says. But now look, continue to read here,

Rom 3:24

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

(NAS)

"Being justified," that means being made right with God, "by his grace,"

that means without earning it, without working for it, without buying

it, without deserving it.

Rom 3:24

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

(NAS)

The only way that you can receive grace is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. At the cross, we were redeemed.

Now, notice verse twenty five,

Rom 3:25

25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. {This was} to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

(NAS)

Now we're talking about the blood atonement. Do you know what that word

propitiation means? It means a satisfaction. It means a satisfaction.

Whom God has set forth to be a satisfaction through faith in his blood.

To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed

through the forbearance of God. Now, what does that mean? It means

dear friend, that God has a holy law. And that law cannot be over-

looked./God never has, God never can, God never will let one half of

one sin go unpunished. If God were to let one half of one sin go

unpunished God would cease to be a holy God. God would topple from

his throne of holiness.

I've said it before that when a guilty man is acquitted, the judge

is condemned. It God ever lets a sinner go unpunished, God himself

becomes a sinner. Such a thing is unthinkable. God has sworn by his

holiness that sin will be punished. His righteous law must be satisfied.

What meets the satisfaction of God's law is the death of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Jesus death upon the cross. The Bible says he is the propitiation.

He is the satisfaction for our sins and so, notice in verse twenty six,

Rom 3:26

26 for the demonstration, {I say,} of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(NAS)

Just put a star by that. Because of the cross, God can be both just and the

justifier of those that believe in Jesus.

Now, if God were to forgive us, without the cross, he'd be the

justifier but he wouldn't be just. He wouldn't be just because he would

be overlooking sin. But on the other hand, if God were to give us

what we deserve. You know, there are a lot of people who say well,

you know, I just hope God will give me what I deserve. Boy, I hope

he doesn't give me what I deserve.

One lady went to the photographer to have her picture made and

it looked just like her, so she didn't like it. She took it back

to the photographer and said, "You'll have to do it over again." He

said, "Why, what's wrong with it?" She said, "It

doesn't do me justice." He looked at it and then he looked at her and

said, "Lady, you don't need justice, what you need is mercy." And

this is what all of us need. Now, if I got, if I got justice, if God

gave me what I deserved I'd go to hell. But, if God gave me, on the

other hand, if God justified me, he wouldn't be just anymore. He would

have overlooked my sin. But, don't you see the cross is God's way

that he can be the just justifier?' Don't you see the cross is God's

way where Jesus took my place and all of my sin, and all of my shame,

and all of my blame, and all of my unworthiness. He who knew no sin,

God has made to be sin for me and Jesus, God's lamb, took my sin to the

cross and there, he bowed his head and said, "It is finished." That

means paid in full. My righteous demands have been satisfied. He

is the propitiation. He is the satisfaction for my sin so, that's

the difference, dear friend. The consequences is, that one of these

boys went to heaven and the other boy went to hell.

The Bible speaks of some today and it says, "Woe unto them, for

they have gone the way of Cain." There are but two ways, the way

of Cain and the way of the cross. Which way you going? There are but

two ways, the way of Cain, and the way of the cross. Woe unto them,

for they have gone the way of Cain. In the dawn of civilization, God

is teaching this lesson and would to God that you'd learn it. Without

the shedding of blood, is no remission of sin. Now, I know there are

some of you who still don't believe this. You believe in culture

rather that Calvary. You're going to bring your herbs, your fruits,

your flowers. You're going to bring your ingenuity, you're going to

bring your good deeds. You're going to bring your golden rule. You're

going to bring it all and you're going to say, Now, God look and see

what a good boy I am. But, God's not impressed. The Bible says,

Eph 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;

9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

(NAS)

You're not going to be a boaster when you get to heaven. You're going to give

him all of the glory. I want to tell you, if you were to start with

Cain and Abel and take the best men that ever lived, all of them, and

you were to extract from those best men that ever lived, the finest

qualities of their lives and you were to take from every.. all of those

men the finest qualities and put them all into one man, that one man

would have to bow at the feet of Jesus Christ by faith and his shed

blood in order to get to heaven. You understand that? What I'm

telling you dear friend, is that there is no salvation apart from the shed

blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put it down big, put it down straight,

put it down plain, without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin.

You say, I don't agree with that. The preaching of the cross is to them

that perish foolishness. But unto us, who are saved, it is the power of

God.

You can try culture if you want, you can try works if you want. You

can bring the fruits of your hands if you want. But, the Bible says,

"Woe unto them, they have gone the way of Cain." Why do you think God

put this story in the Bible?

I must needs go home by the way of the

cross. There's no other way but this.

I shall nearer catch side of the gates of life

if the way of the cross we miss.

Now, Abel was slain. But, don't worry about that. The Bible

says, "he being dead, yet speak." Listen, death to the child of

God is not a period, it is a comma. And we leave behind all that we

have and we take with us all that we are. And dear friend, all

that you are, is what you are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, the way of Cain and the way of the cross. That's the consequences.

I. THE CONTRAST OF THEIR WORSHIP

II. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR WORSHIP

III. THE CONFLICT OF THEIR WORSHIP - Genesis 4:5, 8

Now, one last thing, and I'll be finished. I want you to notice the

conflict of their religion. Oh, it's a sad story. But, look,

beginning in verse five,

Gen 4:5, 8

5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

8 And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

(NAS)

I believe there was a little subterfuge here. I believe he was luring

him away out into the field. "And it came about when they

were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother and

killed him." Oh, the conflict of their worship.

Did you know, dear friends, that false religion is one of the

meanest things on this globe? Did you know that people don't need

religion, they need to turn from religion to Jesus Christ. And here's

the awful thing, there is so much hatred, there's so much

strife, there's so much division, do you know what happened in Iran?

That was over religion, over religion, over a militant religion.

Religion without Jesus is mean and narrow. I want to remind you that

it was a religious crowd that crucified Jesus and anytime you see any-

body trying to force somebody else to believe their way, you back off

it's not of God. I believe what I believe with all of my heart but I

would not lift one finger to force you to believe what I believe. And

if you want to believe something else, you have every right.

You know, when I preach a sermon sometime about Jesus being the

only way, some people think well , you know, he's just trying to

force me to believe his way. I couldn't do it if I could I wouldn't

do it if I could. Friend, that's your business. I believe with all

of my soul, I would fight for your right not to believe it.

Religion marked by force is not the religion of the Bible. Now, we don't have to agree with other people but we ought to love other people. But, here's ole Cain now, who sees somebody else standing out a little different from him and

he can't stand it so he wants to do something about it.

Now, just come up real close, I'm going to tell you something, now.

Pay attention. If you are a true bible believer in these last days, and

if you preach the message that Jesus Christ is the only

way, you can get ready for the wrath of this world to fall on you.

There are people listening to me right now who are as mad as Ned at

me right me now. Who is he? Where's he get off preaching this?

Let me tell you something. Those early Christians could have gotten

along just hunkey dory with the Roman empire if they had just said

that Jesus is one more way among the many ways. They had a place

for all their Gods and they had Zeus and Nike and all the rest of them,

Mars and the rest of them and all we have to do is just have a, a little

niche for Jesus and everything would have been fine. But, they said,

we're not going to have a niche for Jesus. It is not Jesus

plus, it is Jesus only. The world doesn't like that. They think that’s

narrow, they think that’s bigoted. But, the strange thing is, that there's

nothing so intolerant as the intolerance of the tolerant against the

intolerant of the tolerance. What I'm trying to say is, that these so called broadminded people come down like a hammer on those who refuse to be as broadminded as they. And there is a narrowness to their broadness.

NOW, here's what Jesus said, in, in John chapter sixteen and I want

you to put this in the margin right there where it says that Abel got

killed. Jesus said,

John 16:1-4

1 "These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling.

2 "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

3 "And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, or Me.

4 "But these things I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

(NAS)

That is later on, people who really believe in Jesus Christ are not going to side with this old world headed toward the anti-Christ. And the religious folks are going to say, what's the matter with these people? They won't cooperated with the system. What's the matter with these people. They seem to stand out against everything. What's the matter? Don't they understand that the only way that we're

ever going to get together is to have one great big world government and

one world wide religion. See. Well, the only way to do with these

people is just to exterminate them in the name of God. And Jesus said,

"They who kill you will think they do God a service." Now, I'm not

trying to frighten you. Ha, Jesus said, these things going to happen

to you but don't worry about it, not a hair of your head will perish.

I've always kinda laughed at that. He said they're going to cast you

into prison. They're going to kill you. They're going to do this and that.

But not a hair of your head will perish. Ha, you see, what, that's

exactly what the Bible means when it says that Abel, he being dead,

yet speaks.

Oh, God forgive us for our narrowness when it comes to other things.

But, oh, may God ever keep us true to the one way of salvation. It's

the way of the cross. It's the way of the cross. Do you understand

that? Do you believe it? Oh, friend, I want to tell you today that if

you will receive Jesus Christ, thought your sins be as scarlet, they

shall be white as snow, and thought they be red like crimson, they

shall be as wool. There are two ways, the way of Cain, the way of the

cross. One leads to heaven. One leads to hell. I know which way

I'm going. When he shall come, with trumpets sound, oh, may I then,

in him be found. Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to

stand before the throne.