The Tupelo journal., 1903-06-05

God and the secret of acceptance
with Him. They love to dwell on the
excellencies of that which they have
given; they compare their outward
lives with the lives of those who have
been accepted of God through the
sacrifice of the Lamb, Christ Jesus.
but they fail to answer the direct
question of God or reply to the
charge which He brings against
them. "If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted" and thou hast not
done well. because ''sin lieth at the
door," Let us consider this question
and this charge of the Lord against
Cain.
IN the first place the question which
l God asked of Cain is one which
He has been asking of man ever since.
"If thou doest well, shalt thou not
be accepted?" The human heart
yields ready assent to this question,
if it is granted the privilege of
judging it's own motives and con-
duct, but to this the Lord of all
the heaven and the earth will not
and cannot consent. He who search
eth the heart and knoweth the hid
den thoughts (and, by the way, did
it ever occur to you that that term
hidden thoughts" does not imply
alone those conscious thoughts which
you withhold from others and cher
ish i'll your inmost heart, but in
clude many thoughts of which the
heart is not really conscious. God
tells us that "the heart is dcceitful
above all things, and desperately
wicked. Who car know it?" and no
man knows the lurking enemies
which invade the natural heart)
and He Who searcheth the heart
and knoweth the hidden thoughts
is the One Who must decide. To Cain
and his offering God had not respect.
1t was a great surprise to Cain.
VkTHAT are the terms of accept
wv ance with God? Surely it is
not a fluctuating condition which
God places upon man, by which the
Abels are accepted and the Gains re-
jected. In the question which God
asks He reveals the terms upon which
He is able and willing to accept man
and his offering. Well doing is what
God demands. Absolute perfection
(for that is what well doing means
when tested and estimated by Cod
absolute perfection is. what God re-
quires before man can be accepted
by Him. God has but one stand
ard, and if man cannot measure up
to that standard he cannot hope to
see God or be accepted of Him. Gods
solemn command is: "Be We holy,
for 1 am holy" Did Abel measure up
to this standard, and Cain fall short
of it? Scripture does not say or
cident Abel was any better boy than
was Cain. They were undoubtedly
both model young men. They both
observed their outward religious OBJ
legations, as is attested by their of
ferings to the Lord. But the time of
testing came when they brought
their offerings. There wa an ele-
ment in Abel's offering which made
it acceptable to God, because it met
Gods requirement. by faith, Abel
offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain" 1t was faith
which transformed the offering. IT
was faith which bore it aloft to
the very presence of God. Gains of
fering was o made in faith, but
was the natural expression of the
ton of Gods Word that whatsoever
is not of faith is sin," and because
faith was lacking in Gains offering
God declares that sin lay at his
door. And again Gods Word says:
without faith it is impossible to
please Him."
I EFT us now consider these two
- facts in their relation one to
the other and see how beautifully
they fit together. There is Gods re
quirement of perfect righteousness
before man can be accepted of Him,
and then there is faith which bridges
the chasm which separates the nat
ural man from God and which claims
as it's own the righteousness which
is in Christ Jesus. That which it IS
impossible for man to gain by his
own merit. he may obtain through
the medium of faith. Cain, trusting
in himself, with an offering which
did not reach beyond the hands which
had plucked the fruit, was rejected
with his offering by God. because all
of his good qualities, all his fright.
businesses were as filthy rags
Abel, with the vision of his sou
quickened by the faith which reached
up after God, obtained recognition
not only for himself but acceptance
for his offering. His offering not
only testified of his own unworthi.
ness in the sight of God. but was
prophetic of the way of salvation
which God was to work out in the
world through the person of His only
begotten Son, Christ Jesus. 1t was
not the offering of itself which God
desired, but the man behind the of.
fering which God wanted. Favor
with God cannot be bought with ma.
terial things or with formal religious
ceremonies.
The Psalmist David, in the expert.
ences which gave birth to the
F%ifty-frst Psalm, learned this and
declares: "Thou desirest not sacri.
fee, else would I give it: Thou de.