Well, hello, Compass HB. It is an honor to be here with you tonight. Praise the Lord. It is awesome to see how Jesus Christ is building his church all over the globe, from Surf City here in Huntington Beach, to the bush of Uganda and Community Bible Church Kunami, and even all the way up to the hinterlands of Idaho. Well, I was just in Uganda last month, and one of the professors there was like, now, Idaho isn't that kind of in the middle of nowhere. And then he realized that he had just said that out loud and started to apologize. No apology needed for telling the truth. Idaho is kind of out there, not really close to anything, but the Lord is working there in Idaho, and I know many of you are praying for us at Compass Bible Church, Treasure Valley. So, thank you. Thank you for supporting the work that God is doing there. And even the last time I had the privilege of being here and speaking to you, when we were still over across the parking lot there, I shared even some prayer requests. At that point, we were still meeting every Sunday in a middle school gymnasium, setting up and tearing down, and I was telling you, pray where we're trying to look for land or a building to meet. Well, in the year 2024, God decided to give our church land and a building. And God provided in some amazing ways there in Idaho. We now own a thirty thousand square foot building with some space we can lease right next door. We also own seventeen acres of land in what will be like a prime location for the Treasure Valley for the next 50 years. So, God has been so good to our church, and of course, that's how he's providing; what it's really all about is making disciples. It's all about the souls. And we are seeing people in Idaho get saved, turn from their sins, and put their faith in Christ. We're seeing people move to Idaho from California. I don't know if you've heard that. That's a thing that happens. People are moving out there, thinking, you know, hey, maybe this will be a better place. And one of the things some of those people are realizing, who are gospel, believing Jesus, loving people, is they're realizing, wait, what I really needed probably more than a change of scene. I needed a church that was devoted to teaching the Bible, and I've never had that before. And they're seeing that their spiritual growth just take off as a result of that.
So, one of the reasons I love being a pastor is that you get to see God do so many amazing things. And you see that here. You see that in Uganda, you see that in Idaho. But also, as a pastor, you also get a front row seat many times to some pretty sad things. Sometimes, when there is tragedy or death, as a pastor, you're one of the first people that gets called. And even in those moments, even though they're sad times, you still see people's faith shining through in those moments. But probably the saddest moments as a pastor is when you're working with people, or you know that people in your church are sharing the gospel with somebody, or somebody's going through a trial, or somebody's working through temptation, and you end up getting a front row seat to watch someone ruin their life by turning away from Christ, and by turning away from the gospel. It's a very sad thing, and here's the deal, nobody sets out to ruin their lives. Nobody starts out that way. Nobody starts out life that way. Think of a mom and dad holding their first-born baby. Think of the hopes and the dreams that they would have for that child. No parent anywhere is holding that baby thinking to themselves, man, I hope this kid grows up and doesn't amount to anything. Nobody's thinking that. Nobody is holding that baby saying, I hope this kid grows up and wanders away from the Lord and everything we teach this child. Nobody holds their baby and says, I hope that this child grows up to be a murderer and a fugitive. Nobody wishes that, but it happens. In fact, that's exactly what happens to the first baby that was ever born in this world. And you know this story.
Why don't you open up your Bibles with me to Genesis, chapter 4 and the story of Cain and Abel. Now, in some ways, this is going to be a bit of an unconventional message. I'm turning you to a sad story. Honestly, I think it's one of the saddest stories in the entire Bible. And the conventional wisdom would be that, as a guest preacher, go to something encouraging, something happy. But the Bible doesn't just give us, you know, fun and good stories. If you actually read the Bible, you'll see there are some things that happen in the Bible that are incredibly sad, and God gives that to us because that matches up with reality. Is your life always good all the time? Are the things that are happening in the world, always good all the time? Of course not, but God's Word prepares you for those things as it tells you about those things. God gives us sad stories in his Word, in the Scriptures, to point us to the good story. The bad news helps us understand the good news, and it helps us even see the good news all the clearer, and it helps the blood of Jesus shine even more brightly. And that is my goal tonight is not to leave you with some sad story. My goal is to help you see the light of the good news of Jesus Christ in a bright way from Genesis 4. So, if you have your Bibles, please go ahead and stand, and I'm going to read for us the first sixteen verses of Genesis, Chapter 4, as we read our text for this evening. Genesis 4:1-16 says.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of 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 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 do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
You may go ahead and have a seat. The first two verses there start with a very familiar scene, a very happy scene, the scene of two sons being born, but then it ends with one son dead and the other wandering away from the presence of the Lord. And even that beginning is so good, you have these sons being born. And even though, after Genesis 3 and the curse you see Eve, even there honoring the Lord with the name of the of the child; giving honor to God is giving help for this son. And we see Cain and Abel both grow up, and they have honorable professions. Abel a keeper of the sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. But everything goes downhill from there. How do we get there? How do we go from the excitement and the hope of verses 1 and 2 to just the pain of verse 16, wandering away from the presence of the Lord? That's what we're going to see from this text.
And even though nobody sets out to ruin their life, it happens all the time. None of you are here tonight thinking, man, I really, really want to ruin my life in the next year, but that's what you're on track to do. And so, let's be warned by what we see here in Abel. And the first thing that we see go wrong here is these sacrifices. You see the two sacrifices, Cain’s and Abel’s. They bring offerings to the Lord, and it tells us that Cain brought “an offering of the fruit of the ground,” and that Abel also brought of “the firstborn of the flock and of their fat portions.” So, there are some questions. Was this a common thing? Was this a regular thing that they were doing all the time, making offerings? We don't really know all of those details, but what the text makes very clear is that the Lord, in verse 4, it says, had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So, God was pleased, and God accepted one of the sacrifices, and he didn't accept the other. Now, how was that? Many suggest that Abel’s sacrifice was consumed with fire. If you think of Elijah and the prophets of Baal, maybe a similar thing happened. We don't know exactly, but it is very clear that Cain and Abel get the memo. Abel knows that his offering was accepted, and Cain knows that his offering was not accepted. Now, why is that? Why does God accept Abel’s offering. Why does God reject Cain’s offering?
Some Bible scholars suggest, well, Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice, and Cain’s was just food, so that's why God did not accept it. I don't think that really matches with the text. Even later on in the Old Testament, we will see God ordaining offerings of food. But even if we just look at the text itself, the text highlights some things. If you look there at the end of verse 4, it makes it clear Abel, or the beginning of verse 4, Abel also brought “of the firstborn, of his flock, and of their fat portions.” The text is emphasizing the excellence of what Abel brought to offer to God. He brought the firstborn, he brought the fat portions. One of these worshipers went out of his way to please the Lord, while the other seems to have just been going through the motions.
So, point number one tonight, and these would be a little bit different than the points you normally write down. Point number one: Do you want to ruin your life? Just go through the motions. Point number one: “Just go through the motions.” And what do I mean by that? I mean doing something on the outside that you don't really believe on the inside. That's going through the motions. I'm doing something on the outside, but I don't really believe it on the inside, and these offerings, they are an act of worship.
Let's just think about worship for a moment. What is worship all about? What is worship really saying? And if you break down even in English, but where the word “worship” comes from, it's kind of morphed that way from the idea of worth-ship. See, when you're worshiping something, you are ascribing worth to it. You are ascribing value to whatever it is that you worship. And so, there are a lot of people in our world today that are going through the motions of worship. You're singing songs, you're raising your hand, maybe you're worshiping through giving. You're worshiping through serving. You're doing that on the outside without actually believing in your heart the worth and the value of God.
Abel had a belief in the value of God, while Cain seems to not have that. And I don't think that's just my personal opinion. That is what God's Word directs us to believe. We've been going through the book of Genesis at Compass Bible Church, Treasure Valley now for about a year and a half. And so, one passage that we've turned to a lot in that study is Genesis 11. Because in Genesis 11, God gives us some divine commentary on what is going on in the book of Genesis. And in Hebrews 11:4, it tells us why, ultimately, God accepted Abels offering is because by faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice that was acceptable, but Cain did not. Abel had faith. Abel really believed in God. “Faith is the assurance of things, hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Abel was convinced in his heart that God really was who he said he was. Abel was convinced in his heart that God was worthy. And Hebrews 11:6 says, without faith, it is impossible to please him. So, you can go through the motions of worshiping God in a hundred different ways, but if there is not faith in your heart. Faith is truly believing in the worth and the value of God. You will not please him, and that won't end up pleasing you. You will feel that that's what we see. Ultimately, with Cain, his face falls as a result of that. But God, he sees, not just what is going on on the outside, God's not just looking at our external actions or hearing our words, he's looking past that. As the old song goes, you search much deeper within through the way things appear. You're looking into my heart. God sees your heart.
And even in 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel rebukes King Saul, and he says, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” You can go through the motions, but if there is not faith, if there is not true obedience, along with that, that does not please the Lord in going through the motions. I mean, you probably cannot find a time or place or culture that feels more distant to us than Cain and Abel, the first sons born on planet Earth, in whatever life looked like in that time. But even though we have spanned millennia since then, even though we're in such a different context, and then people are still going through the motions all the time, that can be a temptation, even at a place like Compass HB. And I would go so far as to say, especially at a place like Compass HB, because even though I've never been able to, you know, be a part of this church, you may have noticed I'm related to a few of the pastors here, so I've always been observing what God is doing at Compass HB. And God is doing some amazing things here at Compass HB. Is he not? Is God saving souls here at Compass Bible Church, Huntington Beach? Are people growing up into mature Christlikeness here at Compass? That's right. God's doing some amazing things. God is transforming people right here at this church from the inside out. And wherever that's happening, wherever there's kind of a group or a community where people are changing from the inside out, there are going to be people who come in and see that and say, you know what? I kind of like this change that I'm seeing, and I feel like I need some of that. So, what do they do? I'm just going to start copying what those other people are doing. Seems to be working out for them. I'm just going to try to mimic what they're doing. Okay, I'll start coming to church. Oh, I should go to a Foundations class and join a Fellowship group. Okay, let's do that. I should watch these videos about SOTD. Okay, I should start serving somewhere. And they’re just start going through the motions and trying to find that change from the outside in, instead of ever really realizing what this is all about and realizing I need a transfer of worship here. I need to see that it's not just change that I'm after Christ, because he is the greatest, as we like to say in Compass Bible Church Treasure Valley. He is the treasure. There is no treasure like Jesus. And for some people at a church like this, Jesus becomes a means for the end of change. Friends, Jesus Christ is not the means to anything. He is the end of everything. All glory be to Jesus Christ. And if you're here using Jesus because I want to have a better life, I don't want to ruin my life, I like this change in what I see. You need to realize that the change is the byproduct of a heart that is set on worshiping Jesus Christ, a heart that realizes that Jesus is more valuable than anything else in the world. Do you really believe that? Because if you don't, and you are just here doing the things that you see other people doing, it's not going to end well. I mean, look at again, at verse five. So, Cain was very angry, and his face fell. You're going to start to see those same things happen in your own heart, because you're going to be here, feeling like you're doing the same thing as everyone else. And you see, man, God, doesn't seem pleased by this. I'm not actually seeing change in my life. What I'm actually seeing is I'm getting really good at being a hypocrite.
I can come to church and put on the mask and act like everyone else, but I know what's still going on in my heart. I know what's still going on in my home, and it's not good. That's going to be a frustrating experience. And even this is something I've seen in ministry, especially sometimes as I've talked to people who were here at church, seemingly running after the Lord, and now they're long gone, they've walked away. And sometimes when I get to talk to those people, they describe their experience in the church as miserable. And I actually kind of say, you know, I think I understand where you're coming from, because I can't imagine anything more miserable in this world than trying to be a Christian. That sounds awful. It's showing up, trying to do what everybody else is doing, without a real trust and a faith in Christ in your heart, without a real turning from sin, and replacing yourself as the Lord of your life with Jesus Christ, trusting in him, realizing he is worthy, he is valuable. Without that if you're just trying to be a Christian, what a miserable existence that must be. Remember, even recently, someone that stopped coming to our church, and I was like, where is this guy? I called him up and said, man, how are you doing? What's going on? And he said, well, I'm not walking with Christ anymore. What happened? Why not? It's just too hard, is what he told me. It's too hard to follow Christ. I said, you know, I kind of understand what you're saying, because if you were just trying to get your act together, that's right, that's kind of part of the whole point of the gospel. It is too hard for you. It's impossible. That's why you need a savior, because you're not going to be able to do it yourself. You need Jesus Christ. You need his Spirit at work in your life. But if you're just going through the motions, no, that's going to lead to envy, that's going to lead to anger, that's going to lead to hypocrisy. But one more caveat, just on this idea, I don't want it at all on the gate, the idea even of duty in the Christian life, there are times in the Christian life where I say, I know this is the right thing to do. There's a part of me that doesn't feel like doing it, but I'm going to do it anyways. I think, really, when that's what happens, that's actually not hypocrisy. Do you know what that really is? It's faith. Because you're saying, my flesh does not feel like doing this, but I'm going to do it anyways, because I really believe that Jesus is worthy. I really believe that he is valuable, even when I don't always feel that. So, that is a good thing, a necessary thing, and even an expression of faith in the Christian life.
But things aren't going so well for Cain. He's been going through the motions, and God's not happy. I'm not happy. This isn't going well. And God comes and he confronts Cain. He warns Cain. In this next section, in Genesis 4:6-8, God comes and says, “Why are you angry?” And we see this is the first time we'll see God asking Cain questions. Now God doesn't need Cain to give him information. God knows. This is really God wanting to teach Cain. He’s drawing Cain out with these questions. “Why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?” But then he gets to the warning “If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It's desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” That's the language that echoes what we saw back even God saying to the woman. Her desire shall be contrary to her husband, and he shall rule over you. Now, God's talking about temptation here. But does Cain listen to God? Does Cain listen to the warning? Verse 8, no, he goes and he murders his brother. Ladies, if you remember chapter 3, the serpent talks Eve into sin. In chapter 4, Cain can't even be talked out of his sin by God himself. He ignores God's warning.
And that's point number two: You want to ruin your life? “Ignore God's warnings.” Ignore God's warnings to you. And even what God says to him prefigures what will happen next. But God points to him that there is a way out. There is a way out of temptation. There is a way out of ruining your life. Many of you may be familiar with 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” And oftentimes, we just take that verse and we think about how encouraging that is. I'm not alone in this, and that is encouraging, but what you have to remember is that's not just meant to be an encouragement. That's meant to be a warning, because if you read the verses that come before that, which is always a good idea when you're studying one verse, he's talking about, hey, don't do this like the Israelites did, and 23,000 fell in one day, and don't do this like the Israelites did, and they were destroyed by the destroyer. Hey, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to me, and it's a warning. Hey, you're going to face the same temptation, but you may face the same consequences. But then there is promise as well, because it goes on to say, “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” God points to a way of escape. God gives us so many warnings, and these warnings come in many shapes and sizes. But we have loads and loads of biblical warnings right here in this book. The Bible warns you about all kinds of ways that you could ruin your life. And you can find so many passages that they say, no, no, don't do this, because I'll tell you in the Bible, I'll tell you how it ends ahead of time. Think of the father to his son in Proverbs, chapter 5, talking about the danger and the life ruining capabilities of sexual sin. “Oh, son, in the moment, it's sweeter than honey, her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end, it is death.” Listen to the warnings of the Bible. Think of how God warns us repeatedly about our own pride. God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
God is opposed to the proud. Whenever I read that verse, I think of myself. I'm kind of a skinny guy. I think of myself lining up on the line of scrimmage in an NFL game. How's that going to go for me? Not good. God is opposed to the proud. If you are proud, you are lining up on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage from God. How's that going to go for you? Be warned. Or I think of another image. I think of a time I was competing against my brother Bobby, and now I'm the youngest of the three Blakey boys, but I am the tallest of the Blakey boys. But that doesn't mean that I ever became the biggest or the strongest or the fastest of the Blakey boys. So, in all that sibling rivalry, I never really got to the point where I could say, okay, finally, now I could beat my brothers. I. Could never beat Bill in basketball. And if it was a test of strength, Bobby was always going to win. And even one time, I was still a high school student, but I probably was as tall and weighed the same pretty much as I do now. And Bobby was the high school pastor, and I was a student at his summer camp, and they brought out some of those inflatable games one day, and there was one of them where you're on this inflatable thing, so everything's safe, but you get tethered to the other person that you're competing against. And there are two like inflatable basketball hoops on the either end of this thing. And so, you stretch it out at the beginning, but then they put these little mini basketballs back in the middle, so you run back and get the basketball, and then you're supposed to run over to the hoop. And it was Bobby against me, and so we start, the whistle blows or whatever. And I was probably faster than Bobby at this point, so I run back, I grab the basketball, I'm cruising over to my basket, thinking, man, I'm going to destroy him. And then it hit. Right. I wish this was videotaped, because it was like, immediately, as soon as I felt a tug on my back, I was gone right, like flying away back towards the middle of this thing, and I was destroyed in this game because Bobby was bigger and stronger than I was, and I had no chance going up against him. Guys, if you're living a life of pride, be warned. You may feel like you're getting away with it right now, just like I thought it was in those first couple moments, right? Oh, I'm doing okay. It's going to hit. God is opposed to the proud, and you don't want to taste what that feels like the Bible is warning you right now. But if you want to ignore God's warnings, or if you want to ruin your life, just ignore God's warnings.
The Bible warns us about a lack of forgiveness. If you fail to forgive your brother, Matthew 18, that parable that Jesus tells you, you're the one that's going to end up in jail. So many biblical warnings that God also gave us. In addition to biblical warnings, God gave everybody a conscience built into what it means to be human is a God imprinted innate sense of right and wrong that every human being has, that he's given us a conscience. But many people tend to ignore that warning. It's like the seat belt alarm in your car, or the airbag, right? You know, if you have a passenger in that front seat, and it senses, hey, there's someone in that seat, but they don't have their seat belt on. Ding, ding, ding, my car, it starts off slow, ding, ding, ding, and then it like, picks up, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, it's like, going to try to annoy you, but if you let it go long enough, you know what happens? It stops. And that's how a lot of people operate with their consciences. There's like, something going off in your mind, ding, ding, this isn't right. You know it's not right. Oh, you're not stopping. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, it picks up, and then it stops, and you sear your conscience. There's one way the Bible puts it, because you ignore this warning that God has built into you, and if you're a Christian, God even reinforces your conscience by giving you the Holy Spirit. And one of the main functions of the Holy Spirit is to convict, and he often will bring conviction of our sin. And even taking the general things that God Word, God's Word says and really driving it home to your heart in a specific way. Hey, the Bible says, put away all bitterness. But the Spirit come in and says, you're bitter about that person, so put it away. But you may be tempted to ignore that.
There are personal warnings where God will put someone in your life who will come to you and even lovingly, in a pleading way, say, hey, man, I'm seeing some things in your life, or I'm seeing that you're doing this, and they will warn you about it. And God is so kind to put people in our lives like that. But many people, they just push that away and they ignore it. Ignoring God's warnings leads to a ruined life. And if you want to even read more about that, go to Proverbs, chapter 1, where you see wisdom saying, hey, I'm calling out in the streets, but you didn't listen, and now it's too late. That's the cry of a ruined life. I should have listened, but it's too late now, because I've already done the thing. Things that I was warned not to do.
And that's what happens with Cain. Verse 8, Cain spoke to his brother, or in some old translations, it even adds, you know, he's luring his brother out to the field. Everything from the text gives us the sense that this was deliberate. This was premeditated. He lured his brother out and he murdered him. So, then God comes to him again and says, “Where is Abel, your brother?” Once again, God already knows the answer, but he is drawing Cain out, and Cain responds with one of the most well-known lines in the scriptures, and it's not truthful. “I do not know.” That's a lie. And then he says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Not only does he not own up to his sin, he tries to absolve himself completely of responsibility.
Point number three in ruining your life: “Don't take responsibility.” You want to ruin your life? Just don't take any responsibility at all for your sin. And this is even just from the Word of God and also from the experience of pastoral ministry. This is one of the number one way that people ruin their lives is they never take responsibility for their own sin. And one of the places you see this the most is within the family. Husbands blame their wives. Wives blame their husbands. Parents blame their children, and children blame their parents, and nobody wants to stand up and say, I'm the problem here, or at least a big part of the problem here, because it's so much easier to blame someone else than it is for you to take responsibility for your sins. So much of reconciliation begins with someone admitting I did something wrong. So much of ruin starts with the opposite, with you blaming somebody else. And you see this in our society, a victim mentality is running rampant in our culture today. And I think if we look at the Bible, the Bible helps us to see this. I think you can also see this even in one of the greatest works of American literature in the last half century. And of course, I'm speaking of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It speaks to this very powerfully. Obviously, some of you know it. If you don't, it's a comic strip about a young boy named Calvin, who is particularly mischievous, and his imaginary best friend, a stuffed tiger named Hobbs, who, to everyone else, is just a stuffed tiger, but when it's just him and Calvin, he's alive, and many times he is the wise foil to Calvin's boyish foolishness. And in one of the strips, Calvin says, “Nothing I do is my fault. My family is dysfunctional and my parents won't empower me. Consequently, I am not self-actualized.” To which Hobbes responds, “One of us needs to stick his head in a bucket of ice water, to which Calvin responds, I love the culture of victimhood. In another comic, he gets a bad grade, and he's complaining to his teacher about how the bad grade has lowered his self-esteem, to which his teacher pops into the next frame and says, “Work harder.” And Calvin says, “Your denial of my victimhood is lowering my self-esteem, right? Everything just comes back to, hey, it's not my responsibility. But doesn't that sound like the world that we are living in? If you don't think that the victim mentality is out of control, just think about how your generation views the generation that's coming after you, right? The baby boomers are all convinced that Gen X is ruining the world, and Gen X people, like my brother and that generation, they're looking at me and the millennials, thinking that we are ruining the world. But we know that's not true, because it's all Gen Z's fault behind us, and since Gen Z has no one yet really behind them, they just go back to blaming the boomers for all the problems in the world. You see, how that is the problem every person; every generation, is looking for somebody else to blame. But blame shifting will never lead to salvation. It will only lead to ruin and destruction. And one of the main reasons why is God knows the truth. You can fool other people by blaming someone else. You can then fool yourself. But you cannot fool God. God sees and someday you're going to have to answer to him, and your excuses will not stand in God's court. Your sin will find you out. As one of my old pastors said, you don't have to feel guilty to be guilty, and we are all guilty before the Lord. Well, then God brings out the consequences after Cain just totally tries to absolve himself of responsibility. God says, what have you done? And he speaks very powerfully, “The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.” And so now he curses Cain. And even, do you think he's already cursed Cain’s father, Adam. And he said, hey, I'm going to curse the ground for you, Adam, you're going to have to work hard to make the ground to bear fruit. Well, it's even worse for you, Cain, it's not going to bear fruit for you at all. And so, you're going to have to be a fugitive and a wanderer, because you're not going to get the ground to produce anything for you. And so, Cain is condemned to a lifetime of restlessness and wandering, to which Cain says, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”
Point number four, here's the last step in ruining your life: “Complain about the consequences.” Complain about the consequences. And this is common for people to do today. And people come up even with theological reasons why they can complain about the consequences. Ladies, you probably saw that in Genesis 3, the first ever instance in human history, but not the last of the devil made me do it. That's what Eve says, oh, the serpent deceived me. Or many people today, when they look at the things that are wrong in the world, who do they blame for it? They blame God. Can you imagine? Really, that is a shocking thing to do, the gall of being able to look at the consequences of our sin and act like God, this is your fault, right? You don't sound any wiser than Calvin did in the comic strip. When you talk like that, and people do this all the time with financial problems that we have contributed to with our own sin, there's relationship problems that we have contributed to with our own sin. And we walk around like what did I do to deserve all of this when all we're doing is reaping what we have sown.
But even in the complaining, God is gracious. Cain complains that they're going to kill me, and God says, no, no, they're not. He's going to give a mark. He puts a mark on Cain. And there are all kinds of theories. I've heard, everything from a tattoo to a dog that God gives to Cain as this mark. Again, it doesn't tell us exactly what, but it makes the point of it clear. Because of this mark, no one who finds you is going to attack you. And there we get even more of the shock. Many times, people are complaining about how bad the consequences of their sin are, when, in reality, God is actually still being more gracious to them than they deserve. And that's so true for many of us. And so, the story ends there in verse 16. He's wandering away. And even the idea of the “land of Nod,” Nod means wandering. He's away from the presence of the Lord, and wandering. Isn't that a sad story?
So, there it is, four easy steps to ruin your life. God bless you. Be warned and be filled. You are dismissed. No, there's some extent to which we didn't really need to be taught this, right? Because we can figure out those four steps by ourselves. In fact, every single person in this room, in some way, shape or form, we've done our level best to ruin our own lives. This is what we do naturally. So, is this the final word, or is there a better word? Maybe, if you've been at church for a while, maybe that's even ringing about, wait, wait. Doesn't the Bible say something about, like a better word than the blood of Abel? Doesn't the Bible say that? It does? Let me show it to you.
Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Now let's just look at a couple other passages to close our time tonight. But really this is the most important part, because we've all done these four points. We get it, we know how to ruin our lives. I need to know, and you need to know how Jesus can save it. You. So thankfully, God doesn't leave us in the dark. In Hebrews, chapter 12, there's an idea that some people have, I think even today, that God somehow softened up between the Old Testament and the New Testament, right? Like in the Old Testament, God was really angry, and somehow he became more chill before the New Testament came around. But Hebrews 12 is saying, if anything, the stakes had actually been raised. If you thought Mount Sinai in Exodus in the Old Testament was intense, wait till you get a load of Mount Zion. Wait until you see this. But even in all this, the good news of the gospel becomes more clear. Look at Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 22, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” And to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. And here we go to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Now, what's that saying? What does it mean there when it's talking about a better word? Well, in some ways, it's speaking figuratively, but let's work that out. Let's try to narrow it down to a word. What is the word that the blood of Abel is speaking, back in Genesis 4? God comes to Cain and says, “What have you done? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.” What will be a word for that? Justice? The blood of Abel is crying out for justice and for vengeance because of Cain’s sin. And here's the thing, you're a sinner too. Maybe you haven't murdered somebody in cold blood like Cain did, but you've hurt other people with your sin, and you have dishonored God. You've Dishonored Christ by your sin, and your sin is crying out to God for justice, but the blood of Jesus Christ speaks a better word. What word is that? Let's think of some possibilities. How about mercy? How about forgiveness? That's what the blood of Jesus Christ is crying out for. What did Jesus himself say on the cross? Did Jesus on the cross say, Father, remember this on the Day of Judgment, Father, make sure these people pay for what they're doing? Is that what Jesus said on the cross? No. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing.”
The blood of Jesus Christ speaks a better word, not justice, not vengeance, but mercy and forgiveness. That's good news, my friends. And so, that then that begs the question, okay, I know I have ruined, or I'm in the process of ruining my life. Okay, the blood of Jesus Christ speaks a better word. How do I get in on that? Okay, let's look at one final passage. Turn with me to Psalm 51, and here we see another person who did something awful. We see another murderer in the Bible. This one is King David, and like Cain, David will be confronted not by God himself, but by a prophet of God, with his sin. How does David respond? And what we will basically see is, just let's start at the end of our points for this message, and let's work our way back. And let's just think about the opposite of all of those things. Look at Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions, Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you.” Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. He's not complaining about the consequences. He's admitting God's justice. And he's not avoiding responsibility. He's taking it on. God, my sin is before me, and I have sinned. I against you. That's the whole idea.
Even in the Greek language, the word confess, it means to say the same thing. That's what confession is all about. I'm going to come and instead of blaming somebody else, I'm going to come and say the same thing. Is God about my sin. This is sin. This is wrong, and it's on me. I'm confessing that to God. And we have to remember even the text there at the beginning of Psalm 51. It tells us this is the Psalm of David. When Nathan, the Prophet went to him, God warned David. He sent Nathan, and he told him this whole story, and said, David, you're the man. And David listens to the warning and listen to what he goes on to cry out in verse 7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, and let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities, create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.” And then here catch the parallel, or really not the parallel, but the contrast with the book of Genesis. “Cast me not away from your presence.” Don't let me wander away like Cain did. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.” And then look where he goes now, and starting in verse 13, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will single out of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise,” for you will not delight in sacrifice, right? You don't delight God in just going through the motions, or I would give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. O God, you will not despise.” there's no going through the motions here for King David. There's a genuine desire to honor the Lord.
And if you are a believer here tonight and you say, man, I don't want to go anywhere near ruining my life. I don't even want to start down that road. How do you avoid that? It's right there at the end of verse 17, “a broken and contrite heart.” Oh God, you will not despise when you realize I am nothing. Jesus is everything. “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.” That's what they sing in Revelation 5. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for you have redeemed the people for yourself and made them a kingdom and priests unto our God.” You were a sinner. You were lost, but you've been found. You were dead, but now you're alive, and it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Jesus. When you realize that you won't go through the motions, you will know. You will be at what Jesus taught the first beatitude. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed are those who know I am nothing. Jesus is everything. Worthy is the Lamb who is slain. And when you think that way, you won't go through the motions. You won't just show up here and sing songs, because that's what everybody else is doing. You'll do it because you believe that Jesus is worthy. You won't just serve to check a box. You will do it because you know Jesus is worthy. You won't just, you know, go through, you know, the bare minimum of seeking to share the gospel with others, because you know that Jesus is the only hope for them. When your heart is like this, a broken and contrite heart, your life won't be ruined. It will be and it will remain restored. And that's the end that I hope is true for all of our stories here in this room, not one of ruin, but one of restoration because of the better word spoken by the blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.
Father, we come to you and confess we have ruined our lives. We have sinned. We have strayed away from your presence, away from your Word, away from your wisdom, God. We rightly deserve justice. We rightly deserve punishment. But you, in your grace, in your mercy, have made a way. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, for sinners like us to be reconciled to God. God, I pray for anyone here tonight that is on the path of ruining their life, that they would turn away, that they would accept responsibility, that they would confess their sin and find grace in the only place that it is possible for it to be found God. And I pray for all of your people here, that you would keep our hearts humble, that we would be the people that are poor in spirit, because we know who we are without Christ, and we know who he is. We believe with all of our hearts in what he has done. God, let those be the things that shape our lives. May we never go through the motions. May we be true worshipers who worship you in spirit and truth. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.