Examples of Apostasy Pt. 5 "Cain The Rejector"
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We continue our Bible study series in the book of Jude tonight as we see yet more examples of apostasy that we are given.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
We are given three more examples of apostasy right here…I’m telling you, there’s no reason if you’re reading and studying the Bible that you shouldn’t be able to spot an apostate! If you can’t, it’s definitely not because we weren’t given enough examples!
We have been given four examples already:
The unbelieving children of Israel in verse 5,
The rebellious angels in verse 6,
The wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrha in verse 7,
The religious animals in verses 8-10,
and then, tonight, we will see the 5th example...
I’m going to separate this verse into three messages probably. Tonight, I want to focus on the first third of the verse...
Jude 11 (KJV 1900)
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain,
The 5th example we are given here of an apostate is Cain. Those who go the way of Cain, the Bible pronounces woe unto them!
In the Bible, we find that Jesus often would use the word “woe” before pronouncing judgment.
The word means grief, destruction, and judgment.
Lamoyne Sharpe wrote, “God always warns of woe before He sends it. He usually cuts men down by the mouth of His ministers, before He cuts them off by the hand of the executioners.”
There would be no excuse for these ungodly apostates who had turned the grace of God into lasciviousness.
These examples we have been studying and are studying rejected the light of God, the love of God, and the life from God and the Bible says, “Woe unto them!”
“The way of Cain!” is set forth in the Bible as the antithesis of God’s way.
It is that “way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12).
Cain invented the world’s first false religion. At its heart are the basic principles that are characterized by every false religious system ever spawned upon this planet.
Let’s take a look at what Cain did that was contrary to the way of God:
Cain Rejected Truth
Cain Rejected Truth
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.
These two boys grew up together in the same home. They had the same parents, received the same instructions, saw the same things, and shared the same experiences. But, as they grew, differences began to emerge.
When it came time to choose a job, Cain became a farmer. Abel became a shepherd.
At some point, probably as they reached young adulthood, these young men came before the Lord to worship.
I am sure they had been trained by their parents as to how they were to approach God.
Can you imagine what kind of evangelists Adam and Eve would have been? They knew what it was to walk with God, they knew what it was to lose that sweet fellowship. They were there when God confronted them over their sin and killed an animal to provide a covering for their nakedness...
I can imagine they shared that information with their sons.
• I wonder how many times Adam took them on his knees and told them about God, and how He was to be worshipped?
• I wonder how many times Eve warned them to listen to the Lord and not to the devil?
Cain voluntarily departed from truth. This is why we read of him in Jude as an example of an apostate.
Remember, an apostate is someone who has the truth, but rejects it, withdraws from it, and turns to a lie.
Cain believed in God, but did things his own way.
Cain rebelled against God’s way of salvation.
Cain rejected Divine authority.
Cain went the way of religion instead of faith. As I mentioned in the introduction, he creates the first false religion.
So, Cain rejected the truth, but also...
Cain Rejected The Faith
Cain Rejected The Faith
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Cain brought “of the fruit of the ground”, while Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof”. God approved of Abel’s offering, while He rejected Cain’s. What was the difference?
The blood.
In Genesis 3:21, God set the pattern for sacrifice: blood was required.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
But there’s something deeper to explain here…
The real difference was between faith and unbelief. Hebrews 11:4 makes this plain:
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
James Montgomery Boice wrote, “Abel’s sacrifice involved blood and therefore testified to the death of a substitute. He was coming to God as God had shown He must be approached. When God killed animals in the Garden of Eden and then clothed Adam and Even with their skins, God was showing that, because sin means death, innocent victims must die in order that sinners might be pardoned. The sacrifices pointed forward to Christ. When Abel came with the offering of blood he was believing God and was looking forward to the provision of the Deliverer. When Cain brought his fruit he was rejecting that provision.”
Cain’s sacrifice was probably more pleasing to the senses than the carcass of a dead lamb. But his sacrifice was offered without faith, and therefore it was unacceptable to God. You can give to God whatever you have or whatever you are, but you must offer it in faith.
Let me tell you tonight…The work has been done, the sacrifice has been made, Jesus shed His precious blood for your sin and my sin, but listen, without faith, you cannot accept Christ’s sacrifice!
This moves us right into the next point!
Cain Rejected The Sacrifice
Cain Rejected The Sacrifice
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.
God says to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” The eldest son always occupied a place of preeminence, and this boy thinks that now he will lose that. God tells him there is no reason for him to lose it if he does well. To do well would be to bring that which God had accepted from Abel, a sacrifice and the acknowledgment that he was a sinner.
There was a sacrifice at the door and all he had to do was to get it and offer it, but not Cain—he’s just angry.
I want you to understand tonight that THERE IS A SACRIFICE AT THE DOOR OF EVERY HUMAN HEART IN THIS WORLD…HIS NAME IS JESUS!
You have the same option Cain did, accept the sacrifice, or reject it!
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
He’s the only way to Heaven tonight!
Cain rejected the sacrifice! He denied he was a sinner. He rejected the redemptive work. He went his own way and rejected God’s way!
What’s the way of Cain? Let’s recap quickly...
Cain rejected truth, Cain rejected the blood, Cain rejected the sacrifice,
Notice with me also, that
Cain Rejected His Brother
Cain Rejected His Brother
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.
Cain was unwilling to slay an animal, but in his anger, didn’t have a problem slaying his brother...
The Bible says that Cain talked with Abel...
John Philips writes, “From listening to Cain’s spiritual heirs we can well imagine the kind of thing he would have said. “Your religion is disgusting and offensive, a religion of the shambles. Your gospel is a gospel of gore. It is repulsive to a refined, sensitive, moral human being. And what did it cost you? Nothing! Look how much effort I put into my religion. I refuse to believe my effort is worthless. Look at your disgusting altar! Look at it, red with blood, black with smoke, stinking to high heaven! Look at mine! Look how beautiful it is. Come and smell the herbs and flowers. Confess that my way is better than yours.”
Then, possibly infuriated by Abel’s quiet testimony, Cain, whose religion was too refined to slay a lamb, plunged his knife into his brother’s heart. Thus he stamped one of the greatest of all hallmarks on false religion. It is characterized by force, by persecution, by the martyrdom of those who stand for God’s truth. Before it was an hour old, ‘the way of Cain’ produced the world’s first martyr.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
Cain left his mark behind him in a great and thriving civilization, as many founders of false religions have done.
He founded a civilization characterized by great social, secular, and scientific activity. But it was all sinful activity, for it ignored Christ and led directly to the Flood.
25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.
Don’t walk in the “way of Cain”. You need a Savior, and there is only One. His name is Jesus Christ.
He died on the cross to open a way of salvation for you. If you will come to God through Him, you will be accepted by God, your sins will be forgiven, and you will be saved. If you try to go any other way, you will die in your sins, and you will go to Hell.