The L'Anse sentinel., 1903-05-23

7 enters into unholy strife with evil
and righteous Abel did not provok,
his brother that day. No angry wor,
of rebuke or condemnation passed
his lips. III there had, Cain woult
not have felt so bitter and trans
ferred his quarrel with God TO the
person of his brother. But God haC
laid the charge of sin at his door
| and he was not willing to recognize
| it. He wanted to talk about the ex
cellent qualities of the fruit he had
| brought. lie wanted to talk of his
abilities as farmer and his faith
| fulness and steadfast habits. And
there has been long line of the de-
| scendants of Cain, which reaches to
the present day; people who recog-
nize their obligation to God and who
bring their offerings, but who fail
to realize the way of approach to
| 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
! 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 its 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
1T 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'm your inmost heart, but in
clude many thoughts of which the
heart is not really conscious. God
tells us that 1.-The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately
wicked. Who can 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 great surprise to Cain. 1t
came as a terrible shock to the hith-
erto complacent view which he had
taken of himself and of his attitude
towards God. Gods question should
have set Cain to thinking. Instead
of rebelling against Gods estimate
of his offering, and arguing with his
brother to prove it's worth and ac-
ceptability, he should have sought
to discover wherein the offering of
Abel was acceptable to God while his
was not.
IkTHAT are the terms of accept
wv ance with God? Surely it is
not fuctuating 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
lie 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 God),
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 am holy" Did Abel measure up
to this standard, and Cain fall short
of it? Scripture does not say or
imply that up to the time of this in
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 was 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. 1t
was faith which bore it aloft to
the very presence of God. Gains of
fering was not made in faith, but
was the natural expression of the
natural man. 1t is the plain declara-
tion 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 IL is impossible to
please Him."
EFT us now consider these two
- facts in their relation one to
the other and see how beautifully
tbay ~ fo1efber There ie God,s rc.