Part 3, Cain & Abel

Genesis chapter number 4. Genesis chapter number 4 in the series Great Stories and Eternal Truths.

When you get there, if you’re able, would you stand with us as we honor God and the reading of his word beginning in verse one of Genesis chapter 4.

And now hear the word of the Lord.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."

Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.

Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,

but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

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

"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and 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 He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.

"So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

"When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."

And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear!

"Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."

And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

May God in his blessing to the reading and now the preaching and your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised and all of God’s people say, “Amen.”

Amen. You may be seated.

Great stories and eternal truths. There’s a great power in stories, right? We know this. We know this from from movies. We know this from uh the novels that are so best-selling.

Good stories shape us. Good stories, stories that are uh meaningful to us, do more than entertain. They teach us. Good stories, powerful stories can change us for the better. Some stories lift our hearts. Other stories break our hearts. But have you discovered that some of the most powerful stories are the stories that don’t have a happy ending?

Nod your head like this. Give you some examples. Titanic, right? The movie Jack and Rose. two young lovers, starcross lovers that weren’t supposed to be together, and we root for them to make it all the way through. And then at the end of the movie, Jack slips beneath the icy. There was room for him on that door. And as that haunting music plays, you feel it deep in your soul that sometimes great love stories end in death.

Saving Private Ryan. I watched it this past weekend again for the 39th time. You’re caught up in the mission hoping against hope for the rescue when Tom Hanks character there in that last scene. The blood gurgling in the background whispers, “Earn this. Earn this.” Your heart aches. Victory came but at the cost of many, many lives. Not happy endings—sad endings to great stories.

Genesis 4 is like that. Genesis 4 is a story of two brothers. Could have been a story of great triumph. It could have been a story of brothers working together in the agricultural industry—one a farmer, one a herder—and making it big because they had such great cooperation. But it wasn’t.

It could have been a story of worship. How two brothers, different brothers with different occupations, come and worship the same God and worship him in spirit and truth. It could have been a great story of worship, but it wasn’t.

It could have been a story of family harmony and growth and blessing, but it wasn’t.

It was a tragedy, a warning that sin when left unchecked can destroy the people that we love the most.

So we begin where we begin every one of these sermons. The the outline will be the same in each of these sermons. Number one, a retelling of the story.

Let’s imagine the scene if we can. There’s Adam and Eve. You remember last week they’re having to start over. They’ve lost the Garden of Eden. The gates are closed. The angel stands guard with flaming sword.

Life had been easy and now life is hard. Achingly hard. Adam and Eve, the first couple, they’re learning what it means to live. To live in a world that brings sweat on your brow and to live in a world where childbirth brings great pain. God had intended none of that in the Garden of Eden.

But even in that hardship, there’s hope. They have a son. The Bible says Eve gave birth to Cain. And she said, “With the help of the Lord, I’ve gotten a man.” Did you catch that phrase?

The name Cain means acquired, gotten, possession. The baby is a gift from God. Amen. All babies are gifts from God. Bless them.

And maybe maybe Eve is thinking to herself, she’s heard the promise of God that there’s going to be a redeemer coming. Maybe she’s thinking, well, maybe this child that’s been born is the redeemer that’s coming. Maybe she’s whispering, “This is the one who will what? Crush the serpent’s head.” The hope in a mother’s heart, right?

And then came Abel. His name means breath. His ma name means vapor. He’s the younger brother and his life, it turns out, will be like a vapor, a breath, just a puff of wind. He’s here and he’s gone.

We fast forward. Many years go by, the boys grow. Cain works the soil. He’s a farmer, a man of the earth. Abel, he tends the sheep. He’s a herdsman. Two brothers, two callings, two paths in life. That’s not uncommon. Happens many times.

And one day they both go out and they bring their offering, their sacrifice, their worship to the Lord. And Cain brings some of the fruit of the ground—grain, vegetables, produce. If it was me, it would be peppers and okra and cucumbers.

Abel brings something different. He brings the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions, the very best of what he had. Now, pause here for a second. Stop the story. I want you to understand about this offering, this sacrifice. It’s not so much the what as the why.

In the New Testament in Hebrews 11, the Bible tells us that Abel offered his sacrifice by faith. Faith always gives the best because faith always trusts God.

Cain, tune in, get this phrase. This is one of those phrases I want you to remember. Cain gave something. Abel gave his best thing. Cain gave something. Abel gave his best thing.

Friend, here’s a question worth asking. When you give to God, whether it’s your time or your talents or your treasure, are you giving him the best or just what’s left? Do you give God just something or do you give God the best thing?

The text of scripture says the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but Cain not so much. The Lord, it says here, had no regard for Cain’s offering. And Cain noticed it. I wish I had time. This is part that I cut out for your sake. I wish I had time to talk to you about Cain realized the Lord was not pleased. Cain realized that God did not like what he had done. Cain was convicted in that moment. He knew God had not yet said to him, but he knew God had rejected his offering. And what it means for the believer to know when we’re convicted. Amen. But I don’t have time to preach that this morning. I got to get back and find my place now.

His face fell, his shoulders slumped, and you could see the storm that was brewing in Cain’s eyes. And here comes grace. Grace comes in. God speaks to Cain right there in chapter 4. Imagine that the creator of the whole entire universe stoops down and speaks to this struggling man and says, “Cain, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you’ll do what is right, will you not be accepted?”

And then comes the warning from God. And this too is grace. The warning. This line that echoes through the ages, this memorable line, and I hope that it is memorable to you. I hope you remember it today.

I’m going to say it right. So, let me get my Altoid meant. Excuse me.

God says to Cain, “Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must rule over.” Get that picture.

Sin is crouching at your door. Sin is a wild beast—a jaguar, a lion, a tiger, a bear—and it’s on the threshold of your life, and it’s muscles are tense, and it’s just waiting there at the threshold, ready to pounce. That’s what sin is.

There’s a whole another sermon here I don’t have time for. But look at what sin is. Number one, sin is patient. What is it doing? It is waiting.

Hey, get this, folks. Get this. It’s patient. Sin is waiting. Crouched there at your door. Any of y’all got cats at your house? You ever watched them hunt and waiting? Wait. It’ll do what? It’ll wait. Sin is crouching at your door. It’s patient.

Number one, it’s powerful. And number three, it’s personal. It’s It’s crouching at your door. Your door. Amen.

So, where are you standing today? What What beast is crouching at your door? Is it anger? Is it jealousy? Is it lust? Is it bitterness?

Folks, if you think you can tame it, think again. You can’t pet sin and expect it to behave. You can’t put a a collar or a leash on sin. No, you must kill it because it’s crouching at your door seeking to have you. You can either rule it. God said you can either rule it or it’ll rule you.

Back to the story. Cain doesn’t listen. He doesn’t humble himself. And that’s what he should have done, folks. He should have humbled himself. And that’s what you need to do and that’s what I need to do daily, recognizing that we can’t win the against the sin ourselves. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit. We must humble ourselves to God.

Instead of that, Cain nurses his sin and it grows and he invites his brother Abel to go out into the field. And there, far from the eyes of their parents and he thinks far from the eyes of God, Cain rises up and kills his brother. The first murder in history.

Life snuffed out by rage. Blood staining the soil. And some of us—I don’t have time. I’m going to tell you I don’t have time. I’m going to tell you this. Some of my studies, we’re not told what Cain killed Abel with, but it must have been gruesome because Abel’s blood sunk into the ground.

And God calls again to Ken. Where’s your brother Abel? Don’t see him around. Y’all remember from the first lesson, God’s not asking these questions for his sake, is he? No.

Cain shrugs. His lips curl. He’s defiant. I don’t know where he is. Am I my brother’s keeper? Am I his guard? Am I supposed to keep up with him today? How dare you talk to God like that?

Let’s stop right here. If that’s not the spirit of our age, I don’t know what is. The spirit of our age is not my problem, not my business. I’m looking out for me. Friend, that is the anthem of selfishness.

And God still asks us, “Where is your brother?” God is asking, “Do you care?”

Then comes the judgment and mercy again. The ground that drank Abel’s blood will no longer—God says no longer—yield crops for Cain. Cr Cain was a farmer and now he says you can plant all the seeds you want and they’re not coming up. You’re going to be a wanderer. You’re going to be a fugitive.

And Cain panics. He says to God, “My punishment is is more than I can bear.” That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? That Cain says to God, “Oh, my punishment’s too hard.” He wasn’t too worried about what happened to Abel, but it now he’s worried about himself.

And yet, don’t miss this. You got to get this, folks.

Cain is a wreck. Cain is a mess. Cain is a terrible, wretched, murderous sinner. And God shows him grace. Instead of striking him dead right there, he sends him out with punishment. But he puts a mark on Cain. And the mark is a mark of protection—grace on a murderer, mercy on a man who showed no mercy.

Folks, that’s our gospel connection. If that doesn’t sound like the heart of God, what does Romans 5’8 says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were God’s enemies, he gave us his son to die for us, we sinners.

God didn’t wait for us to clean up our act before he showed us grace. He covered us with grace, not with a mark, but with a blood of his only son.

Cain walks away east of Eden, away from God, away from home. A wanderer with a restless heart. And it all started with a heart that refused to listen when God said, “Sin is crouching at your door.”

Let me ask you something. Right now, last day of August 2025, the person sitting in your two square feet of space—what door do you have cracked open in your life for sin to come through?

Number one, retelling the story. I’ve got to move quickly and I will. Number two, remembering the truths.

This story isn’t here to depress us. It’s here to teach us five quick powerful truths we need to remember. You want to remember them? Here they are. You can write them down if you won’t remember them.

Number one, the most dangerous sins start small. Cain didn’t wake up saying, “I think I’ll murder my brother today.” It started with that disappointment, then jealousy, then anger. That’s how sin works—gradually, quietly until it explodes. The most dangerous sins start small.

Folks, you don’t have to listen. You don’t have to go examining your life for the great big sins. You know why? Because there are great big neon sign flashing in your face. You see the great big sins in your life. Amen. I do. What you got to look for is the little bitty sins that want to grow and get bigger.

Lust will not remain small, it’ll get bigger. Jealousy won’t just be a little grain of sand. It will become bolder. Anger will not just be a dripping faucet. It will become a waterfall. You’ve got to find the little sins in your life.

Number two. Number two, worship without faith is empty. Cain brought an offering, but God looks at the heart. Hebrews 11:4 in the New Testament says that Abel’s sacrifice was better because it was offered with faith. God cares more about the why than the what. Faith is the key.

Number three, folks, sin is not passive. Sin is predatory. We need to start thinking about sin as being a wild beast just right right outside of our front door. We need to start thinking about sin not as something uh that’s uh cartoonish. No, but something is horrid. Something that seeks to devour us. Sin is not passive. It’s predatory. God w warned Cain. Sin is crouching at your door. It’s not a pet, it’s a predator. If you toy with it, it will master you.

Number four, we are responsible for one another. My whole life I remember going to to Rush, now Ashner’s Hospital. My family were were Russians. Worked there. Worked there myself. Went there my whole childhood. All of my doctors were there. They, you know, all the doctors I went to my whole life are now retired. Is that what happens as you get older? I I went to the same pediatrician till I was almost 30 years old.

But there in the lobby at Ashner used to be Rush Hospital is that plaque there in the lobby and it and it has the builder’s motto, the original motto of that hospital there. And it’s right beside that plaque. If you never looked at it, if you’re ever in there, it talks about the pin that was so the first pin bone that was ever pinned was done at Rush Hospital in Meridian. Historically, that was a big historic thing. Then that then that plaque there, the builder’s motto of the hospital is yes, I am my brother’s keeper.

Cain asked that question. Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes, you are. We are called to love each other, not destroy each other. That we are called to support each other, not drag each other down. We are called as believers, as the bloodbought, born again, spiritfilled children of the living God within the family of God to encourage each other, to want the best for each other.

Folks, listen to me. Look around this room. Not as big as crowded last week. Still a good crowd. Y’all look around. Turn around. Look. You should want the very best for every single person in this congregation.

We are responsible for each other.

Number five, jealousy blinds and can ultimately kill. Folks, jealousy doesn’t just damage relationships. And look, I get it. We’re human. Jealousy is one of those things that that all of us experience from time to time. And jealousy is we think one of the minor things. Oh, I feel sort of jealous, but I’m not going I’m let’s let’s work on my my uh my cussing habit before we work on my jealous habit.

No, jealousy, folks. I’d rather you cuss and quit being jealous. Amen.

Because jealousy doesn’t just damage relationships, it destroys them. It is an acidic poison that corrods everything it touches. It drove the first murder. It will wreck homes. It will wreck friendships. It will divide churches. Jealousy binds and kills.

Remembering the truths. Number two. Number three, responding with faith.

Now, here’s where it gets personal. You say, “Preacher, if it gets more personal, I don’t know if I can handle it.”

Cain’s downward spiral is a warning to us. He got angry. He got bitter. He ignored God’s conviction.

Listen to me. Hey, listen to me. He ignored God’s conviction and he gave in to sin.

Where are you on that spiral? Maybe you’re not a murderer, but every step downward is still sin. Are you harboring anger? Are you nursing jealousy? Are you ignoring God’s conviction?

The good news is you don’t have to keep going. God told Cain, “You must rule over sin or it will rule over you.” In Christ, you can do that. Romans chapter 6 says, “Sin will not have dominion over you.” The same God who warned Cain gives you grace to win the battle today.

So, let’s conclude with God’s grace in the gospel. Even after Cain’s crime, God showed mercy. He didn’t strike him dead. He marked him for protection. That’s grace. That’s grace. He didn’t deserve it. That’s grace.

How many of you have received grace? Amen. Do you receive gra. How many of you have gotten some grace today? How many of you probably God ought to have struck you down this week? Amen. But he gave you grace instead.

So when we receive grace, let’s thank God for it. And when God gives grace to other people, let’s not be mad that they got it, okay?

Grace.

But the blood of Abel, even though that he received grace—Cain received grace—but the blood of Abel still cried out, cried out from the ground for justice. Justice is different than grace.

Hebrews 12 in the New Testament says, “The blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Oh, that’s such a amazing statement. I wish I had 15 more minutes to tell you about it. That the blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Abel’s blood cried out from the ground for vengeance. Jesus’s blood cries out from the cross for forgiveness and salvation.

Sin still crouches at the door, but grace is still offered. The door you choose determines your destiny.

Will you open the door of your heart to sin, or will you open the door of your heart today to the savior Jesus Christ?