Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-07-16

LESSON TEXT-Genesis 4:1-l5
GOLDEN TEXT-By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that
he was righteous.-Hebrews 1f:4.
The weed of sin is fast growing,
and brings forth bitter fruit. The
disobedience of Adam and Eve re-
suited in their being put forth from
the garden, but that judgment did
not terminate the awful plague of
sin. We see it in this lesson showing
forth in their son, as it has in all
the sons of Adam down through the
centuries.
It is dark picture and one which
would discourage us did we not
know that redemption has been
wrought out by the second man.
the Lord from heaven" Il Cor. IS:
47).
We have here two sons of Adam
with their differing personalities,
a clash and sae first murder, and
then one man, a vagabond on the
face of the earth.
l. Two Sons wv. Id.
The birth of child is always an
exciting occasion, and one can read
lily imagine what it must have meant
when the first boy ever to be born
put in his appearance. What joy,
what concern for his welfare. what
plans for the future! And then. what
disappointment and sorrowl
But before speaking of that, let
us observe how he and his brother
differed in their interests and per-
sonalities. 1t is surprising thing
how completely dixerent two sons
in the same family can be.
Abel chose the work of a shep-
herd, much honored in the early
history of man. Cain became till
er of the soil, which with the pas
sage of time has come to be more
important than the other.
They also had a different view
point on worship. Cain was a re-
igious man. He apparently was
the first to worship. but he came In
the spirit of one who recognized God
only as his Creator, the One worthy
of his homage. Abel came also with
a gift, but his attitude was quite
different. His offering spoke of sac
rifice, the need of a covering for sin
(cf. Gen. 3:2D. It was more than
homage, it was a plea for forgive
ness.
The Lords acceptance of Abel's
sacrifice made Cain angry ". 81.
Here again he differed from Abel,
for there was no angry response on
his part. Abel had recognized Gods
desire in worship Cain not only
failed to do so, but rejected Gods
instruction and His plea wv. 6. %.
Jealousy led to anger, and anger
Gas it so often does) led to
II. Murder (vv. 8, 81.
Instead of repentance and correc-
ton, the anger of Cain carried him
to the awful conclusion of hatred,
the taking of life. We tend to think
of murder as crime which only
desperately wicked man would COM
NIT. We hardly think of the IRE
spectacle" little sin of envy as be-
ing the root of murder, but it is,
often and sometimes very quickly.
Actually there is no little sin. for
it is the genius of sin to grow. to
increase, to go step by step, yes,
often by leaps and bounds, to its
horrible fruition. 1.-THE heart is de-
ceitful above all things. and desper-
ately wicked: who can know it?"
(Jer. 17:9). Why trust it?
The deceitfulness of Gains heart
is shown by the callous evasiveness
of his reply to God concerning his
murdered brother. His sin brought
Gods question. 1t always does. Do
not assume that you can hide from
Him. 1t has been suggested that
committing sin is like touching a
burglar alarm-the bell rings, and
one must answer for his act.
"Am I my brothers keeper" is
Tile pGIlSCL CAPL CoolOl VI tAiC oCAA1oh
and Indifferent attitude of the world.
Human beings are regarded as
simply those to be exploited, beings
upon whom they may prey. For
example: Just to make money, men
are willing to destroy fellow man
with intoxicating liquor, or break
down his decency and morality by
selling him indecent books or maya
zines.
Murder having taken one of the
two sons, we find that the remain
ing one is just
III. A Vagabond wv. 1918.
Judgment for sin made Cain a
wanderer and a fugitive. Never
would he be able to get away from
the cry of his brothers blood ".
100. No wonder he said he could not
bear it. But notice that his cry was
not one of repentance or contrition.
but only of fear, of retribution.
So God shows mercy, forbidding
the judgment of men upon Cain.
Vengeance belongs to God, and in
this first murder He reserved judy
ment to Himself. Later He put upon
man the responsibility Of Judging
and furnishing murder by death
Gen. 9:6), but here He put His pro-
tecting hand on Cain.