Sermons on Genesis (V) - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABEL’S FAITH AND CAIN’S FAITH

My review of Sermon 6 “Let’s Not Become the Descendants of Cain” of book 52 (The Difference between Abel’s Faith and Cain’s Faith)
It is written in the Bible that Cain left the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod. Why would Cain leave God, who reigns over life and death? Even though God was making all effort to make him believe that He is the God who saves every sinner and to thus save him, he still left God. I pondered on why Cain left God so easily and recklessly. When Cain killed his brother Abel, he thought that no one could know and find out. People like Cain are the same people like Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot never believed in Jesus Christ as the Almighty God, that was the reason he collected thirty pieces of silver before the Last Supper (Matthew 26:15) and still refused to admit he would be the one to betray the Lord during the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-25). In this way, even though God questioned Cain about the whereabouts of his brother Abel, he still denied knowing about him asking whether he was his brother’s keeper. People like these think nothing of God. They think of God as big elephant, perhaps big tree or some inanimate objects. They never believe that God is the only omnipotent and omniscient God, who exists by Himself and lives forever. These kinds of people have many gods in their hearts. Cain left God because he did not believe in Him. Cain leaving the presence of God means that he left God’s church. As a result, he became a wanderer, moving from one place to another not setting his heart on one place. He lost the peace of the Lord God, Cain became a fugitive and lived in fear. When people passed by, he hid himself in fear thinking, “Are they coming to kill me?” This is what inevitably happen to those who leave God. The biggest mistake he made was leaving God’s presence because he did not believe in Him.
There are times even the people of God are on the run, but because they believe in God they do not run away from God but from men, so God always protects and helps them. We see when Jacob ran away from his brother Esau, because Jacob believe in God, He protected and helped him throughout the period. Who will then protect and help us when we leave God’s presence? We should never leave God’s church, no matter what. Looking at Cain and his descendants, we should never take the gospel of the water and the Spirit for granted nor think little of God’s church, even though we are insufficient and make countless mistakes, we should never leave God because He is the only self-existing Almighty God. Because there is no life outside God’s church, I will follow His church wherever God leads His church. I believe this is what pleases God. God told the Shulamite woman many times to return to His church, because He loves her (Song of Songs 6:13). This means that God hates it when we leave Him and try to live with the strength of our flesh. For those who leave God, God follows them around cursing them every step of their way, hoping they will turn around and return to Him. It doesn’t just end with them, God will curse their children and children’s children. There is no one who leaves God and still have peace and joy in his heart.

When Cain became too downtrodden for killing his brother Abel, God set a mark of salvation on him so that no one should find and kill him. By setting mark of salvation on him, God was telling Cain “Even though you are evil and a murderer, I am the God of salvation. Believe in Me, and receive My salvation into your heart. You will receive protection and all blessings if you abide in Me. But you will face destruction and receive curses if you don’t believe in Me and leave My presence.”
However, Cain did not believe in God till the end, he left Him instead and faced destruction. Even now God is telling everyone to receive their salvation by believing in the baptism that Jesus Christ His Son received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. But just how many people have left God and are now living outside His church?
Cain left God, and built a city of his own and protected it with walls. He was the first person to build wall to protect himself. Adam and Eve lived under the protection of God, they never had to build a castle for protection against enemy`s attack. Cain was the first to build castle to protect himself, because he lived in fear all the days of his life. Fearing men, animals and even birds! I know that Cain would fear everything because he lived outside the protection of God. If we leave God, our souls will be bound by darkness again and we will wander to and fro and face death in the end. Even to this day, the descendants of Cain never settle down in one place and one thing, and live struggling with their own strength and die in vain. These kind of people depend on their physical strength and never trust in God, but when they run out of their physical strength they die. When a mouse falls into a bucket of water, it struggles to get out of the bucket. Swimming from one side to another, climbing up and down. In the end it runs out of strength, drinks lots of water and gets drowned. Those who leave God’s presence will struggle all alone and die in the end. But we will live the brightest life in both body and spirit if we believe in God and follow Him because God is the source of everything.
Cain built a castle to protect himself on his own. When people leave God, they eventually build their castles. They build castles in many ways; they make friends with the worldly people and surround themselves with them and try to gain riches of the world, they try to build good relationship with worldly people and work hard to maintain it and have a happy family, they make up their religion and want to do everything on their own way. We are building our own castle if do not follow the teachings and instructions of God’s church. Those who say “Even though God’s church believe in this way, I do not believe in such way. Even though God’s church is doing the work in this way, I will do the work on the way that suits my own thoughts” are building their own castle, it means that our self-righteousness can be our castle. Those who build their own castle reign over their own lives, they are kings of themselves.
But such castles will crumble in a single stroke.
The descendants of Cain were Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain. Jabal was a man of tents and livestock, Jubal was a man of flute and harps and Tubal-Cain was an instructor in every craftsman in bronze and iron (Genesis 4:20-22). By examining the life of these three descendants of Cain, we can see what all the descendants of Cain do all their lives on this earth.
The first thing those who leave the presence of God do is to work hard with their physical strength to take care of food, shelter and clothing, and that is what Jabal did. After they have taken care of their basic need of food, shelter and clothing they go for pleasure of this world. Jubal was a man of flute and harps, it means that he lived enjoying the pleasures of this world. When those who leave God’s church have taken care of their basic need of food, shelter and clothing they definitely go for pleasure and when they have it they seek for a way to protect their wealth and loved ones. It is written that Tubal-Cain was an instructor in every craftsman in bronze and iron. Put it differently, he was a man of war. This is how human civilization has come to exist. Even in this world today, when a country becomes prosperous they next step they take is to protect their territory and people, they invest heavily in military arms and ammunition. This how human beings will destroy themselves in the future.
However, God has warned us that He will curse those who follow the path of Cain, He will pass down their curses generation after generation. The curse of God will follow those who leave His church and build their castle.
Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are building their own castle with their own thoughts of their flesh. But what await them are God’s curses and eternal punishment in hell. Sinners said they have received the remission of their sins through the precious blood of Jesus Christ alone. Strictly speaking, this is just their own castle. It is written in the Bible that Jesus Christ came with both the water, the blood and the Holy Spirit to save us from our sins (1 John 5:6). When He was baptized at the Jordan River our sins were passed onto His head, He was crucified to receive the wages of our sins shedding His blood on the Cross, He rose again from the dead after three days. He has saved us from the sins of the world. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God Himself, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Virgin Mary and put on human flesh to save His people. Believing in anything outside this Truth is also building our own castle.
Unlike Cain and his descendants, the spiritual descendants of Abel believe in the Word of God as it is and offer the right faith to God and abide in His church. People like Abel know their weaknesses and therefore trust in God, they do not have anything to depend on but God. They simply know that they cannot survive without the help of God so they never leave God’s church.
Let’s have the faith of Abel by believing in the God-given gospel of the water and the Spirit and dwell in His church so that we may not receive the curses that follow Cain and his descendants.