Well, Genesis chapter 4, I hope you found it. I've given you a lot of time to find it this evening. I know the pressure of class has really gotten to you, but if you just let your Bible fall open, you'll find it. Genesis chapter 4. I want to begin reading in verse number 1. We're going to read the first 16 verses tonight. It says, And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 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. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, And his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass that when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground, and now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened up her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tellest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. And it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And what we've read in the first 16 verses tonight is what I call a tale of two brothers. You know, the first sibling rivalry in the Bible was a real doozy, wasn't it? Having been raised as an only child, I never knew of the jealousy, the resentment, and the hatred that siblings could have for each other. I was told by my friends, be thankful that you don't have any brothers and sisters. And yet I always resented their advice because I was so bored. But after reading about Cain and Abel, it's made me reconsider their advice. These two brothers were raised in the same household, in the same location, and yet they made two drastically different choices. My question to you tonight is, what was the defining difference in these two boys' lives? What is it that made Cain and Abel so different. I think it can be summed up in one sentence. Here it is. One chose to do things his way. And that decision determined his destiny. In our day of consumerism, we really want to have things our way, don't we? Some of you are about to embark on jobs. The Hill brothers were telling me they got hired at cookout. It all of a sudden just flew back in my mind working at McDonald's when I was in college. Back in those days, I can still remember working in fast food and you learned very quickly that people wanted it their way. After all, our competitor Burger King, their motto was, have it your way. But I'm telling you, as I worked at McDonald's through my college years, I learned that people wanted it their way. No pickles. No ketchup. Plain. Add lettuce and tomato. And the one that used to always burn me up is fries, no salt. Only to hand them salt packets. after we cook. I can tell who's working in fast food here as they shake their heads. They say, yes, yes, amen. But I guess you ought to suppose that people can have it their way. I mean, after all, if you're paying for it, I suppose you can. There's some of you that are pretty demanding. You go into a place and it's not right, you want it your way. Even in this project that we've had here at the college and the fine-tuning parts of it. There have been times we've said, that's just not exactly right and we've pushed it. Why? Because we've paid for it. And to be quite honest, in those situations, I don't think there's anything wrong. with demanding what you paid for, and especially if they offer it to you and say, how do you want it? You tell them, and you make a contractual agreement, and you want to have it your way. But you know, there are some people that go through life, and even with God, they think their motto is that they can have it their way. But let me tell you, there is a big difference between a fast food restaurant and eternity. You can march into a restaurant and have it your way, but listen to me, you cannot march into eternity and demand to have it your way. And the reason you can't, young people, is because you are not able to purchase peace. You are not able to purchase forgiveness. You are not able to purchase having eternal rest. That was bought through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the only way that can be purchased. But yet I am afraid there is a disease that runs in the souls of even Christians in which we demand to have it our way. And tonight, I want to show you the mistake that Cain made. And just as in the sea of humanity we find there are many people in the name of religion, they try to do the best they can, they try to purchase their salvation through works and through the tokens of men. Yes, they can't have it their way, but child of God, you can't just have things the way that you want or you're living in the spirit of Cain. And tonight I want to show you that. And so the first thing that I want to show you this evening is I want you to see first of all two brothers. They're outlined for us in verses 1 and 2. One's named Cain and the other one is named Abel. We're first introduced to Cain in verse number 1. It says that Eve bare Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. We find that Cain is the firstborn of the group. Firstborn, as this is the first firstborn, I guess you can say. Adam technically would be. But I'm talking about a natural birth. Here you have Cain as the first child that was born. Ladies, let me ask you a question. Can you even imagine how Eve must have felt as she is carrying a child and just a few verses earlier, in chapter 3, she's told it's going to be an excruciatingly painful experience. I mean, nowadays, women say, boy, I'm telling you, when this baby comes, I know it's... Listen, Eve had no idea of what she was getting into. And then she has that first child, and that child's name is Cain. And it's interesting, the word Cain means to get. Some people believe that his name is a play on words. When she said, I have gotten a child, I have gotten a man from the Lord, that she named him Cain because she had gotten that man. And that was the play on words of his name. But here's what's really interesting. I cannot help but wonder that when Eve had that firstborn child, the words of God, very fresh in her mind, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. I can't prove this. Many times we quote that and we look ahead at Jesus. Here's Eve early on in her experience. I can't help but wonder if she's having this baby thinking, I wonder if this is the one, but it'd be thousands of years later. It's interesting when you put yourself in Adam and Eve's shoes. Here this child is born the first time of natural birth. A promise has been given that the seed of the man would bruise the head of the serpent. Yet all of that goes unfulfilled and then we find that in verse number 2 that Cain was a tiller of the ground. He was a farmer. You know, here as a young man it could be said there was a lot of promise. I believe there was a lot of expectation. Here is a first in the Bible and now Cain is a tiller of the ground. But I want you to look at the second. child. His name is Abel. We find more about him in verse 2. And she again bare his brother Abel. It's interesting. Do you know what the name Abel means? You folks that are taking Brother Hankey's Hebrew class, I hope that through all of what you're taking that you'll understand something. A lot of Hebrew names have great significance. I've been doing some studying on the Christmas story already, not because I'm wanting to start Christmas in August, but I've just been wanting to do some writing and as a result I have to do some studying on that. But so many names you see, when you see the names of towns, you see the names of people, you see great significances in those names. In your Bible study, I don't care whether you're a man or a woman, listen, when you see that name, that Hebrew name, a lot of times there's great significance given to it. And the word Abel, it has the idea of breath or vapor. You know, I think that's a very appropriate name. I don't think that Eve had any idea of just the significance of that name, but she would name that boy Breath or Vapor, and you know what? He lived a short life. And without even looking at Abel's life and looking at Abel's name, I'm reminded of the brevity of our lives. I'm reminded that we're like a breath. Are we not like a vapor? James chapter 4 and verse 14, Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. Psalm 90 in verse 10, it says, The days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Seventy. Eighty years. You know, I'd have to say that Probably the most disturbing birthday that I had of any of my years was my 25th. You say, why is that? It just hit me. I was a quarter of a century old. It just didn't sit well with me. But I'm going to tell you, when you turn 50 like I have today, it ought to cause you to put yourself in perspective. When I read that verse, 70 years, You know how old Brother Comfort was when he started ambassador? He was 50. He was also 6 feet 6 inches tall. He was 50 years old. I guarantee you, you say, how did that 20 years fly by? He would say, just like that. The writer of the Psalms talks about 80 years. You know what that is? If I just take it for face value, and I realize God has blessed men like with Dr. Scoville, 90, and there are others here, you say, I'm over 70, and some of you may be over 80. But here's what I'm telling you, as a 50-year-old, I'm starting to think to myself, what if I only have 20 years left? And when you start thinking that way, you know what you'll start doing? You'll start prioritizing. And young people, can I tell you, the sooner you start thinking about the finish line and eternity, and the more you start prioritizing in your life, the better off you're going to be. Some of you freshmen, you don't need to make up your mind to waste four years of frivolity and then get serious. Now, I'm not saying that everybody here needs to never have fun, but I'm telling you something. The sooner you can get the puppy out and you can just go forward and realize what is the most important, the better off you'll be. Spend your life wisely. That's what I'm saying. Psalm 90 and verse 12, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. I'm going to tell you what, Abel didn't live a long life, but he lived one of obedience. Abel may not have lived the life in which he had gained a great repertoire and he had gained a great resume of deeds, but one thing for sure is that he obeyed God. And what was Abel? Abel was a shepherd. I believe they learned how to be a shepherd and a farmer from their dad. Because life got really hard after the fall. Planting your own food, raising your own animals. I think all of a sudden Adam takes a crash course. Not only has he named all those animals, but now he's having to learn how to raise them. And now we find all of this transpiring. These boys have learned these trades from their dad. You find that Abel, his name means brevity. It talks about being a vapor. You see that he was a shepherd, but according to Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 4, and I think this is the most significant thing about Abel, is you find that he was a man of faith. When the Bible tells us it's by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. So as we begin tonight, we see first of all two men. We find Cain, he's a tiller of the ground. We find Abel, who is a shepherd. Abel's name reminds us of the brevity of life. But now I want you to go from two brothers and I want you to see now two offerings. In the first point, we find they have the same parents, but now we see in the second point they have different ideas about worship. Even though we're very early on in human history, and the Ten Commandments have not been laid out, there are no synagogues, there is no tabernacle. I think one thing is pretty obvious that when these two boys bring, these two men, bring their offerings to God, there's one reason for it. Do you know what that reason is? I think it's none other than worship. The word worship is not going to be mentioned in the English until Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham says, I and the lad will go yonder and worship. But Abel and Cain bring these offerings to God and I believe very plainly that it was because it was an act of worship. It was an act of reverence to God. Young people, I want to tell you, every time you come into this chapel for a service, I hope that you will come with the attitude and the heart of worship. The other day I was reading a Baptist church where they had a night of worship. Really all it was was a night of music. Now I think that music is an important part of worship. I love it. And by the way, those of you that are jumping in on the music program, it's amazing to see how many are in the chorale, the music groups that we have, either opening chapel or singing in chapel. There is no doubt in my mind that music is a part of worship. But listen to me. Worship runs far deeper than just music. When you come to this chapel service, listen to me, you can sing with perfect pitch and have a cold heart and not worship God. And here these fellows, they come to worship and we find that there are two different offerings and there are two different reactions. Let's talk about Cain's offering, the very first one you see mentioned. And in verse 3 it says that Cain brought the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. Cain brings this offering to God and what happens? The Bible makes it very plain that this offering was rejected by God. Verse 5, But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. God did not acknowledge it. God refused Cain's offering. And what was Cain's response? He was very wroth. He was very angry and his countenance fell. And soon thereafter, in verse 6, God asks him two questions. Why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance fallen? God said, Why are you angry? Why has your face just fallen? You know, as I was studying this passage, you want to know something very interesting? Up to this point in the Bible, every time God asks a question, it's not good. I mean, He creates perfection in the garden. But I'm telling you, when Adam and Eve make their dreaded mistake, every question that comes from God is a bad one. Genesis 3.9, Where art thou? Genesis 3.11, Who told thee thou wast naked? Genesis 3.11, Hast thou eaten of the tree? Genesis 3.13, What have you done? Isn't it amazing that your parents' questions sound a lot like God's questions in the garden? What have you done? And now God sees Cain and He says, Why are you angry? Why is thy countenance fallen? You know, in those two questions, you know what it tells me? It tells me this. God sees the outside and God sees the inside. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15, 3. In that one verse it shows us that God's eyes pierce the body and the soul. You know, you can tell sometimes when somebody's countenance has fallen. Just recently I saw where somebody's countenance fell and they just wept. I've watched others where their countenance fell and they were angry. You could see it on their faces. I'm definitely not the most skilled in human behavioralism, but I'll tell you, there are even times in chapel sometimes you can see a person's face and it tells a story. Some of you come and your face is filled with fear. Some of you, your face is filled with, I have to be here and I can't wait till I get out. There are some of you, your faces are filled with joy. But old Cain's countenance, it told the story. His heart was filled with anger. You know, it's sad to say, but so often with sin, we're so good, we try to conceal it from the outside so that nobody can see it. And, you know, you say, well, I don't have any tattoos and I don't have any piercings. And yet you sit in a pew and you've got anger in your heart. Here we are this year, our theme is revive us again. And yet I'm talking to some of us here tonight. Listen, on the outside there may not be any grave imperfections, but on the inside there is a hatred, there is a jealousy, there is an envying, there's something that is not right. And that was the very thing that drove Cain to do what he did. Some of you have a problem with anger. James 1.19, the Bible says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Proverbs 14.17, He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly, and a man of wicked devices is hated. What am I saying? I'm saying this week as you go through an opening revival, don't you just be so consumed with cleansing the outside that you refuse to deal with what's within your heart of hearts. If revival is to come, it will demand a most painful, embarrassing honesty that will yield a great freedom if you'll humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. But instead of admitting his envy, instead of confessing his jealousy, Cain let it rage in his heart and it drove him to the point where he killed his own brother. Cain's offering was the fruit of the ground, but what was Abel's offering? It was the firstling of the flock. Hebrews 11, 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. I believe on that one verse based in Hebrews chapter 4 or 11 verse 4, it very clearly makes it known that God paid a certain respect to Abel's gift that he did not to Cain's and I believe because those boys knew full well what God expected. I believe with all of my heart that the reason God praised Abel and the reason He rejected Cain is because they knew what was acceptable. And yet, you know what? One decided he was going to worship God his own way. There are people who do that today. There are even people in Christian homes, people in Bible college settings. They determine they're just going to worship God in their way. They're going to stay in their lane. They're going to keep the peace. They're going to do the best that they can, but yet in their heart of hearts they know that they have never placed their faith in Jesus Christ and His blood sacrifice. Let me tell you something, young people. It'd be tragedy for you to be in Bible college one day and hell the next. because you wanted to try to do it your way. Let me tell you, somebody made a way for you. His name is Jesus Christ, and if you want to have a successful semester, I'll tell you where it begins. It begins by making sure you're following the example of Abel and not the example of Cain. When it comes to this matter of salvation, you just can't do it your way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. But I wonder if there's some Christians here tonight. Yes, you're saved by the blood, but you have the heart of Cain. You're just determined to do things your way. You're here. You know why you're here? You may be here just to please some other people, and you've never really thought about just laying your life before God. There's some of you here tonight, maybe there's sins in your heart that you refuse to deal with. You have bottled up during the summer months and those things are building in you. And you know what? That's the spirit of Cain. And I'll tell you, if you don't deal with those things, bad things happen. I want to ask you tonight, when are you going to figure it out? You can't have it your way. Number one, you see two brothers. Number two, you see two offerings. But the last thing I want you to see, I want you to see two destinies. Two futures. You know, you basically see two things after these two brothers make their offering and then Cain kills Abel. You say, that's it. No, that's not it. Even though Abel's blood is crying from the ground, do you know what we see with Abel? Do you know what his legacy is? Do you know what it is that why we still know about him today? It's because of his martyrdom. Thousands of years later in the book of Hebrews, Abel is mentioned. Do you know why Abel is mentioned? By faith. The man may not have lived very long by the world's standards, especially of that day. But He's known to every one of you in this room. Why? Because He had faith in God. You know, I want to live a long life. I really do. I'm not ready to get in line and just jump off a cliff and shorten it. But the longer I live, the more I've come to this conclusion. I just soon just live a life full of faith more than anything else. Thousands of years later, we still know about Abel. Why? Because of his faith. And can I tell you, some of the greatest Christians in history have left a lasting legacy. Why? Because of their faith. Abel offered up that blood sacrifice. He offered up the firstling of his flock. His life was shortened because of it, but he honored God. He pleased God. When I came to college in 1992, I was excited about Bible college because you didn't have to take history of civilization and algebra and physics and all that good stuff. I was really excited about that. But you know, there were two classes that put the fear of God in me. One was English, but the second one was speech. I remember I showed up in speech class. Mrs. Surrett, who just went home to be with the Lord a few months ago, was my speech teacher. And while she was a meek and mild woman, she would lay it on you if you didn't do your speech right. And it was during those days that we had, every year there was a Reader's Theater play that we would do. Instead of having tons of scenery and hacks and all of that, we basically came out here standing wearing like black shirts or white shirts and black pants and acting out the play, but you didn't have to worry about all this other stuff. And she came before us early in that class year and she said, all right. She said, we're going to do a play. And she said, the name of this play is The Bridge of Blood. Well, you know, we guys sort of get excited about that a little bit. You know, we're like, all right, you know, this isn't dancing through the tulips. This is going to be good. But I'm going to tell you that all sort of wore off when we got our hands on the script and we began to realize what it was. It was a play about five men that would be martyred for their faith by the Alcaindians. And I will never forget when Mrs. Surrett looked at me and she said, you're going to be Nate Saint. I looked over that book. I didn't want to be Nate Saint. Because behind Jim Elliott, Nate Saint had the most talking points and I didn't want that. But you know what? It didn't matter what I wanted. That little lady looked up at me and she said, you will do it. And I did. But I'm going to tell you, it was during my sophomore year of college that I was introduced to the martyrdom of those five. They had such a burden to reach the Alka Indians. By the time of September 1955, they had established where they were doing airdrops over the Alka Indians. This was a very primitive tribe, and they began dropping gifts down to them. And Nate Saint, who was the pilot of the group, Nate Saint had developed a system where he would fly his plane in a circle. And in flying in a circle, when they would drop that line, that line would stay stationary as he would fly around. And that's how they would drop their gifts. And they did that for a series of weeks in hopes that they could befriend those Alka Indians. And eventually, the time came. when they landed and they made their first contact with the Alcas. And there was a great excitement as one day they were hoping to give the gospel. And it was in the midst of those early hopes that on January 8, 1956, the very people that they would try to evangelize would martyr them, kill them. on sandy beaches. You want to know how old Nate Saint was? 32 years old. By the world's standards, he was young. Many people read the story in Time and Life magazines. and on newspapers and shook their heads and said, what a tragedy. But can I tell you something? Nate Saint did more for God in 32 years than some people who go to Bible college do in a lifetime. And you want to know why? Because he determined not to have his way. He said, not my will but thine be done. And there may be some of you, you're looking at the wrong things. What's going to cause me to live the longest? Hey, what's going to cause you to live for the fullest, for God? Abel was the first martyr. Nate Saint and many others have followed in his steps. But you know, when you see the tale of two brothers, you don't just see martyrdom. You know what you see? You see judgment. God tells Cain like it's going to be. He said, Cain, you're going to be as a fugitive or as a vagabond. And what was Cain's response? He said, my punishment, my judgment is greater than I can bear. Cain illustrates for us, you want to have your own way. You want to be self-willed. You want to have things on your terms. Listen to me, there'll be hardship. There'll be isolation and there'll be fear. Cain, you're going to be put out by yourself. Cain comes back to God and he says, everybody I see, they're going to want to kill me. And you know, it's almost like God just throws out just a little bit of mercy and he says, Cain, I'll put a mark on you. so that your life will be preserved. Perhaps we could have said God had every right to say, well, Cain, that's your problem. You got into this. But I just find it interesting that God gives Cain a little bit of a reprieve. But can I tell you whatever hope that little bit of reprieve gives, it doesn't dare outshadow the ominous judgment that was over him. I don't know about you, but I like sunny forecasts, don't you? I like it when they say it's going to be sunny and no humidity. That's rare in North Carolina, by the way. But here recently, I've just felt little tinges of fall. It's been great. I'm like, wow, the humidity's dropped. It's gotten a little bit cooler. I love beautiful forecasts. But I'm going to tell you, when they say it's 120 degrees outside, that just does not thrill me at all. For those of you from out west, you're like, it's dry heat. It's heat. I don't like those kinds of forecasts, but can I tell you, if you sit through a week of opening revival, and God is beginning to crack open your heart about your self-will and having your own way, and you resist Him, let me tell you, you take that to the fullest extent, I promise, hardship and isolation and fear, just like Cain. The question is this, are you going to start this school year having it your way? That's a bad way to start. Proverbs 14, 12 says, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Something that looks good to you, but horrible to God. Proverbs 12 and verse 15, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. There may be some of you during the course of the summer months, you got counsel from good people and they said, listen, be careful about where you give your heart, be careful about what you do, and you've marched into the doors of ABC and you still have those desires, that self-will in your heart. Listen to me, the way of the fool is right in his own eyes, But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. Are you going to be like Cain or are you going to be like Abel? You're going to live a life that's known of faith or are you going to live a life known of foolishness? It's all in whether or not you desire to have your own way. You know, as I've read through the Bible, I've learned to characterize books certain ways. And one book that I've learned to characterize a certain way is the book of Judges. I think if there's any book of the Bible that was ever like a roller coaster, it was Judges. Right now, some of you are like, I love roller coasters. Let me tell you, there's a day you won't. There's a day you're going to go with your children after not being on a roller coaster for 15 years and your heart begins to beat with excitement and you say, I love roller coasters. I loved this one when I was a kid. And once they get started, you're going to come to the realization, I don't love roller coasters anymore. Just write me a postcard when it happens. I know right now you're thinking, boy, I'm going to tell you, a roller coaster in an amusement park, that's fun. Listen to me, a roller coaster in life is not. And you know what made Lotta up and Lotta down in the book of Judges? It's very simple. It was just one simple fact of having their own way. Some of you may have been on a roller coaster this summer. Can I tell you tonight be a good time to get off? It won't cost you a dollar but it'll cost you your pride. You have a choice tonight. You can be like Cain or you can be like Abel. Are you willing tonight to set your way to the side? I hope you will.