The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-04-11

"TN " faith ana grace
Here, b W e e n
these brothers, lies the question of the
way of salvation and approach to God.
!. Whether God spoke directly to
Abel or indirectly through his father,
Adam, is not revealed, but since by
faith" he offered his sacrifice n
since faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the Word of God" 1t Is
certain that Abel had heard Gods
word. God had spoken and he be-
lieved what He said.
And Cain, as well as Abel, knew OF
Gods provision for Adam and Eve:
The garments of animal-skins, made
by Gods W han1s, to cover their
~nakedness and to displace their fig
leaf aprons, proclaiming that mans
efforts to fit himself for Gods pres
ence are futile and insulting; that he
must have a suitable garment to wear
there; that 1t must be of Gods own
providing and that it can be had only
through death and the shedding of
blood. Thus Abel, believing Gods
word, brought Of the frstlings of his
flock a more excellent sacrifice" 1t
is Gods estimation: "More excellent"
because 1t was another of those long
shadows of the cross cast upon that
distant day, and because what AbePs
faith saw through the haze of distance
and what his faith really brought was
Christ. And God testified of his
gifts by sending the fire to consume
the sacrifice that rose In turn as a
sweet SAVIOR to Him.
There was a place of worship as
well as a way. Gods presence was
manifest In the shekinah between the
cherubim at Eden's gate, and His In
flexible righteousness was there re-
vealed. And there 1t was, coming in
the a of righteousness, that Abel
was accepted and obtained witness
that he was righteous, righteous by
faith" accepted of God on h ground
of sacrifice. Laying his hands upon
the head of the lamb he transferred
his sins to that innocent substitute.
Thus hath our God 'laid upon Him
the iniquity q us ALL" and beneath
the awful load He bowed His head
and died, "the just for the unjust"
God has prescribed the way of ap-
preaching Him and there Is 40 other.
Neither is there salvation in any 9th.
or for there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved"
II. Nothing is revealed as to the
relative goodness of these brothers.
For all we know Cain may have been
the better. Perhaps, today, he would
shine as a leading citizen, moral and
upright and even religious, but hating
"the religion of the SHAMELESS" as the
enemies of the cross have designated
our holy Christianity, in their blind
ness and hardness of heart overlook
ing what is written about counting
the blood of the covenant an unholy
thing" But Cain did not believe Gods
word and rejected the divinely APP
pointed way for his own. His offering
was doubtless more costly and more
pleasing to the eye than Abel's, his
altar piled high with the precious
fruits of the ground. "a just God will
surely accept It," he cried, behold
the labor of my hands" All, Cain.
that very toll of thine was a token of
the cursel The very ground whose
fruit thou didst bring lay under the
curse! Alasl Cain, with all his up
rightness and religion, did not know
the reality of human sin in its
hatefulness to a holy God who alone
has found a way to deal with 1t. And
no fire of God touched the vain OBJ.
lation.' 1t was rejected by God, who
nevertheless pleaded with the self
righteous and angry man-pleaded
In long-suffering patience and love:
"If thou doest not well, a sin offer
Ing coucheth at the door" Yea,
"coucheth," as already provided by God,
not to be hunted for, it was at the
very door. Thus God pleads with the
sinner still. "Come now and let us
reason together, saith the Lord"
"Now then are we ambassadors for
Christ as though God did beseech by
US, we pray you therefore In Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God"
Gains was the first attempt, since
Adams, to approach God without
the shedding of blood" by a way Of
his own devising. 1t is the way of
religion opposed to Christ. 1t is the
way of human pride opposed to the
way of ESTABLISHMENT. 1t is the way
of elf-rightousness that refuses to
find at Jesus cross Gods own right
eousness. 1t is the denial of Gods re-
vealed will and the lnterposlng Of the
will of the flesh.
But his attempt was not the last.
So popular has HIS way become that
It has acquired his name, and multi.
tudes of blinded men and women are
treading it today. There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of
DEATH"