So as I said, we're in Genesis 4, and we will read the first seven verses of this, not the whole story of Cain and Abel, but the first half of the story with Cain and Abel. Please listen to the reading of the Word of God. Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. And in the course of time, or at the right time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. But for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face, or his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. So Cain will kill his brother for this. And I was talking to my family about this yesterday. And I said, and then in two weeks, because next week we have Jason Holopoulos will be preaching to us. So in two weeks, I'll finish the story. about this battle between two brothers, and my two sons immediately said, oh no. Expressing great worry over this. What kind of a tale will I tell? And I'm glad to say, while my boys fight, there has been no taking of life yet. But before we can talk about the relationship between brother against brother, a theme that comes up in the scripture from beginning to end, we have to talk about the vertical relationship. And what I hope we get here is, we're gonna see this again, as I said in another sermon, but the horizontal relationship between us and others always flows from our vertical relationship with God. Because the story here has both. God gets upset with Cain, so Cain takes it out on his brother, Abel. And so often in our lives, we take things out on others when we're not happy about circumstances in our own life. We want an outlet for it, and other people bear that. That's why there's a connection like the Declaration of Faith that we prayed today. between the great commandment, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, some translations say with all your strength, but Jesus immediately follows it up with, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That's the table of the law, the first four commandments, the first table, and the second table, the last six. You can't do the last six, and I can't do the last six unless we get the first four right. And so today we talk about worship, and our heart for worship, and our obedience in worship. And when we talk about this, many people view this story, similar to the Adam and Eve story, as unfair on God's part. God here says, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, there's gonna be judgment. And rather than read that as a negative, why do we not read that as God's grace? If you do well, it's a tricky phrase to translate. Other languages have so much more nuance and depth in their words. God knew what he was doing when he wrote the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. because there's such beauty in those words. And honestly, studying the languages is good. I mean, we pastors have to do that. But there's so many tools out there that will show you the nuances in the words, even if you don't study the languages. And what's interesting about this, if you do well, see, many people say, what is that supposed to be, works? It's an interesting phrase. It means two different things that almost seem opposite, but they're related. if you are good or pleasing. In other words, if you're pleasing to the one you're seeking to please. But the other way it's translated is you will be pleased. And this is why when we say what is the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. You see, because there's a connection between us giving God glory and us feeling joy. And so God says to Cain, why are you angry, burning, seething with angers, is what the phrase means. Won't you be happy if you're pleasing to me? And we think that that's selfish of God or petty of God. I mean, why does God care what we bring him, how we bring him, what we bring him? I just... think because that's how relationship works, besides the fact that he's the creator of the universe. Like even if he weren't, do all glory and honor, because he has all dominion, which he has all the, but just in any relationship, you can't approach your wife or your husband however you want. I know, I tried early on. I've told this before, some of you get really, you're scandalized by it. But when we were first married, I thought it would be funny. I'm the otter, I'm the playful one to sneak up behind my wife and give her a wet willy in her ear. And I see some women just shaking their head. Yeah, she did not like it. Even though my attention was totally fun. I once put a Reese's Pieces in her nose. All this was the first year, you learn quick. I thought she would prevent it, but the innocent, precious woman that I married never would have conceived of her that I would put a Reese's Pieces in her nose. And as one tear flowed down her face, I knew the error of my ways. But even our kids, you may say like, Yeah, but God is a father, and we just love anything our kids give us. So they color something, or they draw something, and it looks completely ridiculous, but it doesn't matter the quality of it, because that's our child. And yes, I have a lot of completely indescribable pictures from my kids from when they were young, and they're all precious to me. But is it really true that we don't care what they give us? So let's say you're a mom and you love sunflowers. And so the husband plants the sunflowers and they bloom outside the kitchen window. And the kid knows that the mother loves the sunflowers. And out of a heart to want to show the mother, well, look, I know you want the sunflowers, digs it up, brings a pile of dirt, and puts it on the dinner table. Is that OK? Would the mother not lovingly, lovingly correct the child? Is God's correction here not loving? The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? He didn't smite him dead. We live in a country and a world that thinks we can just do whatever we want and God will accept it. And the story of Christianity is there is one way to God and that's it. And when we come that way, he is pleased with us. When we try to do it a different way, he's not pleased. Now the Old Testament shows, as far as I can tell, everybody highlights that God is angry over the abuse of people, orphans and widows and how people treat other people. Yes, absolutely. But he's most upset about faulty worship. Both worshiping Him in ways that the heart is not connected, but also in worshiping Him where people think they're doing a good thing, but they do it in a way He hasn't asked for them to do it. And so Nadab and Abihu mix up the incense a different way, and God smites them dead with fire. And Uzzah doesn't like to see the ark of the covenant about to fall in the mud. And so he reaches out to steady it and God smites him dead. God does not only just care about what we do or how we do it, but also the heart behind it. But it's not just the heart. Because the road to hell is paved with good intentions, somebody said once. Our good intentions are not enough. What we see here in the garden is what we all do. Not that we kill our brothers, although when we hate or fight, Jesus says that's like murder, but we tend to approach God as we want, often in half-hearted ways, and we expect him to be pleased. We actually expect him to be pleased about it. But what we see in our text, what we will see, is that God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and patience. That his mercy and long-suffering is meant to lead us to repentance. But that he also requires a way that we worship that engages both heart and what we do in obedience, and that can only happen, and it's the reason Jesus came. See, it's it. And so Old Testament saints are sacrificing and worshiping in and through the promise of the one who would come to make it acceptable on their behalf. And us New Testament saints are always going back to that cross of Christ where the right sacrifice was made in which then we can then enter boldly to the throne of grace and get help in our time of need. what we're gonna see in our text. You'll see the three points there, two ways of worship, wicked or worthy. The next one, the way to worthy worship, and then the last one, hearts of willing worship. So Adam and Eve, we've been studying creation, and many of you have enjoyed this study in creation. They have kids. These are the first two. They have many, many, many kids. They make a sacrifice. The first thing we notice, though, is just in the description of their job descriptions, in their resumes, they're actually doing what God commanded them to do in Genesis 1 and 2. See, God tells them to exercise dominion over the earth, to work the ground, to take dominion over the animals, and then one son is a worker of the ground. He's doing what his father Adam would have done. And the other has domesticated animals. That's dominion, keeper of animals. So they're both doing what they're supposed to be doing. Yet it was in their sacrifice, or their offering, that God had favor upon one and not the other. And there's three different ways to understand this. When we pastors prepare sermons, my own process is I will read it, I will outline it, I will look at the words, look at the words in the original languages, and come up with some thoughts, and then I go to commentaries. I wanna see, am I off base here? I don't wanna have a translation or an interpretation that nobody's thought of before. with 2,000 years of good history on how to interpret the New Testament, and many more for the old. And what was interesting is there's different understandings from the people that I've read on this on what the issue was. A lot of translators simply say it was 100% simply Cain's heart. God didn't accept the sacrifice because his motives were wrong. His heart was wrong. Other translators that I respect say it was the quality of the offering. Abel offers the first fruits and the fat, in other words, the best of what he was tending, the animals. And Cain just gives some of the fruit. Doesn't say, like that's an important detail, like one gives the best and the other one it just doesn't say. So again, the options are, the first one is their motives and heart was wrong and it didn't matter what they gave. The second one is one gave something that was better in quality. The third is, no, no, this is because Abel slaughtered an animal and sacrifice requires death and blood and Cain gave fruit. Do you know the Bible teaches all three of those categories? God cares what you give, the quality you give, and your heart in that. But the question is, what does the Bible mean here? Is God simply mad because their heart was in the wrong place? Or is he upset because one gave an animal and one gave fruit? Or is he upset because one gave the best animal of the animals and one just gave any old fruit? Some people will say, well the Bible allows first fruit and grain offerings in the law later in the books of Exodus and Leviticus and so on, Deuteronomy. And it's true, God does allow like plant offerings. But do you know that the goodwill offerings, the first fruit offerings, the grain offerings, are only given after they've explained the need for sacrificial death offering, the covering of sin. In other words, in the law, you can give back to God your best from what you have, your plants, for instance, only after sins have been accounted for and atoned for. See, you can't just go to God with anything. We go to God in and through a means. And you know, patterns help us see what's going on here. And there really seems to be a pattern between creation, Genesis 1 and 2, and then the fall in 3, and what's going on here in 4. What do I mean by that? So we spend a lot of time talking about how God, how He acts. Like God didn't need six days to create. He didn't have to create in an orderly way. But there seems to be a pattern in that God creates order from chaos, and then He tells people to exercise dominion, to cultivate, to spread out, to do what I have done. You can't make anything from scratch, something out of nothing, but you can order chaos. You can cultivate. And so Adam and Eve are told to do that. Be fruitful, multiply, fill, and subdue the earth. Exercise dominion. We see God resting on the seventh day. Why does God rest? He doesn't need to rest. Once again, a pattern. I have done this. This is the pattern I give you. Exodus 20 says, six days I worked and now I rest. Now you need to rest. At the end of Genesis 3, God makes a sacrifice to cover the shame of Adam and Eve. Could that be a pattern? that there needs to be the shedding of blood to cover shame and sin. I wonder if there's other things between the fall, Genesis 3 and Genesis 4 that would give us a clue that there's connection. We looked last week and we said how the curse to the woman is your desire will be to your husband, but he will rule over you. And we see in our text this week the same thing is said of sin itself, the same phrase. Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is to rule over you, but you shall rule over it. So right there you have a linguistic, a word connection between Genesis 2 and 3. There's a curse. In Genesis 3, and the verses we haven't read, there's a curse placed on Cain for disobedience to God. Genesis 3 shows there's an expectation God has, and Adam and Eve don't meet the expectation, and so God questions them, and they deflect in their answers. Do you know that's exactly what happens here in Genesis 4? There's an expectation God has. He questions Cain. Cain will say in two weeks, we'll see. What am I, my brother's keeper? He responds in sinful ways like Adam does. And the way Adam and Eve are driven from the garden, Cain is driven from this land. Again, we'll see next week. In other words, the Cain and Abel story shows the pattern in the garden in Genesis 3. A lot of comparisons. And so if that's true, if what happens in Genesis 3 re-happens In Genesis 4, with Cain and Abel, in a different way, there's something else going on between the two. Because what does Adam and Eve try? How do they attempt to cover their sin? With fruit. Fig leaves. And what does God have to do to cover their sin? Kill an animal. Again, the pattern. Now what does Cain bring to God? fruit. And what does Abel bring? Animal. I just think the Bible is teaching it's all there. The heart needs to be right, but also how and what and the quality of it needs to be there too. It's both of it. In Hebrews, so you know the Bible talks about both Cain and Abel in the New Testament. Hebrews 11.4 says, By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. Through which he was commended as righteous. God commending him by accepting his gifts and through his faith. Though he died, he still speaks. Both are included there. Abel's faith and what he offered in faith. The actual offering. Now in 1 John 3 we hear about Cain. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Now listen, why did Cain murder his brother? Because his own deeds were evil. Speaking of the sacrifice. So the question is, and some people say, well this isn't fair of God. He never told them what they should sacrifice. How do you know that? These are adults. I don't think that God went decades and decades and decades, because that's what this is, without relationship with Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and in their life. And one day Cain and Abel woke up and said, hmm, let's bring an offering to this God that we've never known. It seems that there's been relationship there, knowledge there. I think it's safe to infer that there was an expectation, but even if God didn't explicitly tell them, he's telling them now, the same way things come up with our kids. We can't make a rule for every single thing, but when they do something that pleases us, we indicate that, and when they do something that we'd like to see differently, we also indicate that. And so I think God does, in fact, have an expectation that they are to understand. And even if not, they're supposed to understand it now. And what I said is we see in Genesis 3 is that God now, with sin, with the breaking of the law, must relate to his children through sacrifice. always and ever before them that the relationship is broken, that death has occurred, and to approach God, we need to do it through that thought process. It may have been perfectly fine for Cain to bring fruit once the sin was dealt with. And that's what you see in the Mosaic Law, in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. that there are freewill offerings given after sin offerings are given and presupposed. As I've already said, God does not want our innovation in worship. There may be more going on here, and again, we have to be careful what it says and doesn't say, so I'm holding all this loosely. There is a biblical case for everything I've said, but from this passage we have to infer. But this may be going on. It's almost like, look what I did, God. I worked the ground. I know you want that animal, but I'm a worker of the ground. Look at what I'm giving you. And that's what we do. Whether or not that's in this passage, the Bible speaks of this. Paul speaks of it. It speaks of it everywhere. The Bible calls that filthy rags. And the truth is, if you actually looked up what that means, all our works are filthy rags, you'd see it's far worse than rags. But we do that in our jobs and in our careers and our schoolwork and our relationships. We puff up with pride over what we did and we say, God, now you'll accept me. And God wants to say to those who are his children, I already accept you. if you're my child, because you're coming on the basis of faith and the grace that I give you in that, but if you are coming to try to prove yourself to me, you're operating in the flesh. That's what the New Testament says. So, Jesus comes as the new Adam, as we've taught over and over and over in this study, to make all this right, to make a way, to not just crush the head of the serpent, but to return us to garden-like conditions that's both in our spirit and the reality of the physical. And he has this conversation with the woman at the well, and we read that for the call to worship. And it's a fascinating conversation because he's in Samaria, which is not in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem and the temple is where worship had to happen. It's the throne of God. So this Samaritan woman says to Jesus, you Jews say you have to worship in Jerusalem on that mountain, but we say we have to worship on this mountain. Which is it? I could tell you're a prophet. It obviously matters where we worship God, and Jesus says, you don't know what you're doing. In essence, that's what he says. You can read this in John 4. But we Jews know what we're doing because salvation is from the Jews. Now what's interesting is Jesus' assessment of Judaism is it's apostate. So get it, get this. The woman out of a spirit of wanting to please God wants to know where to worship but she's doing it wrong on a different mountain. The Jews who actually know better are doing it wrong because of their hearts. But Jesus says, and my father is seeking true worshipers, and God is spirit, and he's seeking worshipers to worship in spirit and in truth. Not just in spirit. Not just what you want in your being. Now there's debate about the spirit. What spirit? The Holy Spirit? Worship in the Holy Spirit and in truth, truth in the spirit? Or our spirit? Or our attitude, you know, like there's a spirit of joy, a spirit of love, a spirit of wanting to work. Once again, I think it's all of it. God wants our heart engaged with his heart, our spirit connected to his spirit, and our spirit connected with the Holy Spirit to Christ. Where do I get that? Romans 8. And the spirit bears witness with our spirit. So our spirit connects to God's spirit through the Holy Spirit. And David says what? Renew a right spirit within me. I already have a spirit. Make my attitude right. Make the attitude of my spirit united to your spirit. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me, he says in the same thing. Renew a right spirit within me and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. It's connected. In order to worship properly, We need the Holy Spirit to change our heart, to give us willing spirits, to wanna worship God, and we still have to do it in truth. What is truth? Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. So our spirit connected to his spirit through the Holy Spirit, worshiping the truth of who Jesus is and how he has called us to do that. Now we'll look at that, because the book of Hebrews says we don't have that old system anymore. Why is that? Because Jesus is the sacrifice. He's the sacrifice, pictured in all the chapters of Genesis. In Genesis 2, there's a sacrifice. Did you know that? Before the fall? God puts Adam into a deep sleep. We've talked about this. Opens his side, he's wounded. Out of the side comes a rib by which he forms his bride and closes Adam back up. Adam sacrifices a part of himself. In Genesis 3, there's two pictures of it. To the serpent, your seed will battle her seed, and your seed will strike his heel, but he will crush your head. There's a wounding, a sacrifice of the one to come, the new Adam. At the end, they try to cover their sins. Their shame is their sin, you get it? Exposure before a holy God. Let's put these leaves. There needs to be blood. An animal is killed. There's a picture of Christ as the sacrifice. Now, Hebrews 11, or 10, Says this, for since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect the ones who draw near. Otherwise, they would not have ceased to be offered. So there Hebrews is acknowledging the old temple system is done. And those old sacrifices never actually atoned for. The word atone is to cover for, to make right. But in those sacrifices, there's a reminder of sins every year. For it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take sins away. That's why it seems silly to us. Why am I killing an innocent animal to cover for my sins? That's imputation. Because a sacrifice would come by which my sins will be placed upon his perfection and nailed to the cross. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired. That's interesting, and that's all throughout the Bible. It talks about Psalm 40, in sacrifice and offering you have not delighted. In Isaiah, I don't want your sacrifices, they're disgusting to me. And what's weird about that is God commanded the sacrifices. But the sacrifices without the heart to connect to the act, They're not done in faith. It's disgusting. In burnt offerings and sin offerings, you've taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. When he said, you have neither desire nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, in burnt offerings and sin offerings, offered according to the law, a way that you're supposed to do it, then he added, behold, I have come to do your will, He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. See, the first is not thrown away, the need for sacrifice is just because, but because God comes in the person of Jesus Christ and becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. What a gruesome sight it must have been to be a Jew in Israel, and approach the glory of the temple that you would see from miles away, because it stands on a hill, and it was shining white, the sun reflecting off it, and coming into the presence and the glory of God, and bringing your little baby lamb with you, a sacrifice that your kids grew up with, Presenting that in the temple to the horror and smell of death and screams and the priests who are mediating you before God are covered in blood as they hack up animals. That's a picture of what our sin needs in order to get to the holy place, the lampstand. And Jesus says, I am the light of the world, the table of showbread. I am the bread of life, the altar of incense, carrying prayers up to God. It's like a dining room table presented. There's a laver there to wash away the blood. And the Holy of Holies, where the mercy seat of God is, the throne of God dwelling with his people. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice, the priest, the temple. He's all of it. This is why blood is needed. The promise was death if you disobey and yet God just keeps giving life. The promise is judgment and he keeps giving grace. And then we read passages like this and we're like, what right does he have? What are we? Do you realize the creator of the universe has given you every opportunity to be in relationship with him? But he just wants what any human being would want, honestly. And the difference is he's actually do it. He's a loving heart that is expressed in acts of love. The works don't justify us before him. He don't want your work. He wants your faith that produces things for him. That's why Romans Twelve, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship or service. Do not be conformed to this word, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. And this is why, Christians, we don't make sacrifices like the sacrificial system. We look to Christ, the one sacrifice, and then we live lives of worship. Our lives are lived in worship. 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whatever you do, do all of the glory of God. Colossians 3, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Your job, wherever you are, whoever your boss is, you may not like that person, you may not like what you do. Paul says in Colossians 3, Ephesians 6, you're doing it for God. Our work is worship. Our hobbies are worship. If you're good at something, say we have good painters in this church, we have good woodworkers in this church, we have good bakers and cooks in this church. You like to do it. Good, he wired you that way. Use your gifts for the body and for his glory, that's worship. But there is religious worship. And these Wednesday night classes that we've had, three of them, they're all online, talks about whole life worship, lives lived to the glory of God, but also talks about religious worship. You personally connected, your personal heart connected to God's heart in devotion and prayer. You worshiping with your family in your homes and us coming together as a body to worship God. And when the community and the body comes together, we have to worship as God has shown us to worship because we can't add things lest they be seen as adding to His worship. There's only worship through Christ, who's the Word. And so we read the Word, we pray the Word, we sing the Word, we hear the Word, the Word is preached, we see the Word in the table. We worship the Word because Jesus is the Word. That's how we worship. And God doesn't want any of that if our hearts are not united to His. The book of Hebrews is awesome. You know that. It's all about telling the Hebrews, the Jews, how to process the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. And it says the Old Covenant is not that that was a different arrangement. It's a different mediation of the same arrangement. It was pointing to the same reality that we have. through types and shadows that we now have the substance in Jesus Christ. And what's a beautiful thing is because it's all about worship, it keeps using this phrase about drawing near to God. Grasp that. almighty creator of the universe that made the most amazing things in whatever we could see, whether it's galaxies and stars and the northern lights and the Grand Canyon and roaring seas and calm seas and beautiful breezes and the springtime flowers and the leaves that we're gonna see in the fall and animals and beautiful animals and weird animals like platypuses and all of it and lions and tigers and bears and fluffy cats. That guy wants a relationship with you. and me. We can have that. And then rather than cowering under his glory and splendor and majesty by which we'd be vaporized as if we were even any closer to the sun, he comes in the person of Jesus Christ so that we can draw near through him. Hebrews 4.16, let us then with confidence, other translations say boldly, draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Hebrews 7.19, the law made nothing perfect, but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God, and the hope is Jesus Christ, a living hope, Peter will say. Hebrews 7.25, consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives now to make intercession for them. See, when we're told to draw near, come boldly to the throne of grace in Hebrews 4, that's not apart from Christ, like what the world is trying to do. Those who draw near to God through him, Hebrews 10.1, For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. The old system's done away, and anything we erect to think that we're more pleasing to God is like Cain offering up some fruit that he made. Can't draw near through that, he gave us away. Hebrews 10.22, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. We can't come to God if we're not washed before him of our sins. Abel had that. Hebrews 11.6, without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. If you get one thing out of this sermon, even though I've said a number of things, God wants our hearts, He wants our obedience, He wants our best. Not our best as, look, we're better than the next person, but our best is done through faith. If you get one thing, it's faith. We come to God in faith. When you come in faith, you come the way He wants you to come, spirit and truth. We have the most amazing thing that we can ever have, us who are in Christ. If you're not in Jesus Christ, you don't have this relationship with the creator of the universe, and actually, he stands in judgment over you. But he bids you, he invites you, he calls you to repentance like he does Cain here. He doesn't smite Cain. Why are you upset? I'm just showing you how to be in relationship with me. You can have that in and through Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, and the only sacrifice that God will ever accept. Trust Him. Let's pray.