Crouching Sin, Hidden Dragon

We used to have a cat named “Baby.”  That’s a nice name for a cat, isn't it?  It seems like it would be a harmless little kitty.  Babies are pretty harmless, aren't they?  This cat wasn't harmless, though, he was a very fierce, effective hunter.  Birds and mice were in grave danger when they came onto our property.  That cat was a killing machine. 

I remember watching him one day, as a bird settled on our front lawn and picked at the grass.  He crouched down and edged slowly toward the bird, never taking his eyes off it.  The bird was aware of the cat.  He would look in the cat’s direction and the cat would freeze.  When the bird looked away he would begin to edge forward slowly, ever closer.

Finally, the bird realized that the cat was too close and started to fly off, but the cat leaped out of his crouch and knocked the bird from the air.  I will spare you the gruesome details of what happened next.

The problem for the bird was that he allowed the cat to get too close.  He didn't keep a safe enough distance between himself and the cat.  He didn't recognize the threat until it was too late, and that mistake was deadly.  Today I want to post on the danger of sin.

Genesis 4:1-12 (NKJV)
^4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord." ² Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." ⁸ Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" ¹⁰ And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."

The Danger of Sin

Often, when we know someone who is involved in sin we say something like, “Oh, he fell into sin.”  He fell, as if it was an accident, or he just somehow mysteriously wound up in that state.  The truth is that sin is never an accident.  It is always the result of choices.  Intent is necessary to make an action a sin.  The real truth is that we make a decision that leads to sin.  We don’t just fall into it.  We make a decision. That decision opens a door and sin enters into our life through that open door.

Our text tells us that sin lies at the door.  That word translated as lies, literally means crouches.  It crouches like that cat that’s ready to pounce on the bird.  It’s waiting for an opportunity. Its DESIRE is for us.  It’s exactly the picture of that cat stalking the bird.  He’s crouched down; his concentration is fully on the bird.  His desire is so intense he’s literally twitching.  That’s what God is describing to Cain in our text.  Sin crouches at the door; its desire is for you.

So sin is aggressive, it’s on the attack.  Let’s look for a moment at what makes sin dangerous. Look at the story here:

Adam and Eve have given birth and the children have grown up to be men.  We know that because they have jobs to do.  They are involved in certain trades.  Abel is a shepherd, “a keeper of the sheep,” while Cain is a farmer, “a tiller of the ground.”  They have both brought offerings to God, as expected, but there is an interesting phrase here in reference to Cain's offering:  “In the process of time.”  That phrase means after a period of time has passed.  So, it means that it didn't happen right away.  There was some time that had passed before Cain brought his offering.

It gives us this image of Cain planting his crops and after he has gathered the harvest, he waits before he brings the offering.  On the other hand, we see a different phrase with regard to Abel’s offering: “Abel brought the firstborn of his flock.” Abel brought the firstborn.  He didn't wait for a second generation.  He came with the very first of the blessing he had received.

So Cain gave out of his abundance.  He waited to make sure there was enough.  He waited to see how much there would be.  He wanted to be sure that there was enough to meet his own needs before he gave to God, but Abel gave in faith.  He gave the firstborn.  He didn’t wait to make sure the sheep got pregnant again.  He didn’t wait until there were more babies.  He gave the FIRSTBORN.

There’s an interesting contrast here.  Abel gave in faith that God would continue to supply his needs.  He believes God, but Cain waits to give in fear that there won’t be enough.  We also see God’s reaction to their giving.  He respects Abel’s offering and does not respect Cain’s.  Abel’s offering is a picture of faith and Cain’s is not, and the Bible tells us:

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God can’t be pleased with Cain’s offering because Cain hasn't given in faith.  There’s a lesson there for us as well; that we ought to give in faith.  Many of us don’t tithe; we don’t give the first fruits.  The Bible tells us in Exodus, that the first fruits belong to God.

Our tithe should be the first thing that comes out of our paychecks.  That’s how my wife and I do it.  When we receive our check we immediately deduct our tithe and bring it in the very next service.  We completely remove it from our account and set it aside.  We live off what’s left.  If we don’t do it that way we are bringing our offering, “in the process of time.”  We’re giving in the same way Cain gave.

I didn't want to post on tithing, in particular...that was free bonus.  I want to point out the danger of sin.  It isn't an accident that this takes place around giving, though.  God respects Abel’s offering.  That word translated as respects is sha-ah in Hebrew and it literally means to gaze upon; to see it.  So God could see Abel’s offering, but He couldn't see Cain’s.  As far as God was concerned there was no offering.  The danger is seen in what God says to Cain, “if you do well, will you not be accepted?”  If you do the right thing you’ll be accepted.  If we do the right thing God will accept us, but here’s the main point, “If you do not do well, sin lies at the door.”  Remember, the word translated as lies literally means crouches…as if to leap.  So, if we do not do well then sin is waiting for us to open the door so it can leap on us.

Sin is aggressive, “Its desire is for you.”  It wants you; it wants to pounce on you like that cat wanted to pounce on the bird.  I don’t need to tell you that all that was left of the bird after that was a pile of feathers.

Our text tells us that through Cain’s lack of faith in giving he opened a door to that crouching, waiting sin and we know the rest of the story.  Cain Killed Abel and was forced to be a vagabond and live in fear.

Opening the Door

I want to go back to my illustration about the bird once more:

That bird knew the cat was there.  The cat wasn't hidden.  He could easily be seen; he was lying in the sun out in the open.  The bird saw him and as the cat edged closer and closer the bird would stop and look at him, watching him.  The bird made a mistake, though; he didn't grasp how dangerous the cat was.  He allowed the cat to get close enough to be able to pounce, and the cat got him.

A lot of the time we are just like the bird.  It’s almost as if we’re PLAYING with sin.  We allow it to get closer and closer.  We see it, we know it’s there but we don’t keep enough distance between it and us to be safe.  We’re staying right on the edge of sin’s pouncing distance.  We flirt with it, and we play with it, but the danger is that we can misjudge it, and before we know it we’re caught up. 

How do we open the door to sin?  Let me give you an example from my own life.  I was a drunk.  I got drunk every night.  I missed work because of hangovers, only once or twice, but enough times to say that alcohol was more important to me than my job.  I chose getting drunk by myself over spending time with people, so it’s safe to say that booze was more important to me than relationships.  When I started to drink I never thought that it would be like that.  It wasn't my intention to become a drunk.  I did it because I wanted to have fun.  I did it because it felt good and I always thought I’d be able to control it.  I never imagined that it would end up controlling me.

People don’t start doing drugs with the intention of becoming an heroin addict.  Women don’t have sex hoping, that in the future they’ll be single mothers living in poverty.  We always think we can control it.  We always think we can play with fire and not be burned. 

It’s almost as if you open the door and say, “Here kitty, kitty,” and then when the cat leaps you slam the door at the last possible second, but the sin is aggressive and it waits.  It gets a little closer.  It changes its position just a little with each door slam and eventually, you open the door, and before you can react it pounces and it’s got you.

In our text, Cain opened the door with his unbelief.  He didn't believe that God would provide for his needs, that’s why he held out, to make sure he had enough.  “If I give it you God, I may not have enough for my family.”  So he waited and after he was sure that his needs had been met he gave the rest to God.  Those weren't the first fruits; they were the last fruits.  They were an afterthought.

Then he got angry, “Hey God, I gave to you…why aren't you blessing me?”  Then he got mad at the one whom God did bless and he killed him.  He opened the door with unbelief, and stood at the door with envy and jealousy. Finally, the sin pounced on him and destroyed his life through the murder of Abel.  He never imagined his resistance to giving to God would result in the murder of his brother and a curse on his own life.  What are you considering, right now, that may have consequences down the road, that you can’t possibly see.

Do you know what is one of the biggest problems in society, today?  Everybody knows everything.  Nobody can hear any criticism of what they want to do.  Nobody is willing to take any advice from anyone. I used to ask my wife, “How did I become the only man in the world that doesn't know everything?”  Actually, it works in my favor, because I can listen to criticism and I can take advice.  Because of that, I can avoid problems, struggle and turmoil.  What about you?  Are you always right?  I know that some people are reading this right now and saying to themselves, “He’s wrong, he doesn't know what he’s talking about.”  Sometimes, someone else can see the outcome, down the road, when we can’t, or actually, they see it when we don’t want to.

How do we Keep Sin at Bay?

Where did Cain really go wrong?  Was it in his giving?  The way that he gave was wrong, it was the thing that opened the door, but I don’t think that was the fatal thing.  Was it getting angry with Abel getting blessed?  Jealousy and envy are definitely sin.  Bitterness is ugly and physically harmful to us.  These things certainly contributed to Cain’s outcome, but that wasn't the fatal flaw, either.

Cain’s fatal mistake, the thing that led to his downfall, was that when God told him that he was wrong, he couldn't repent.  God came to him and told him, “If you do well, you WILL be accepted, but if you don’t, sin WILL destroy you.  Cain didn't listen to God; he never repented.  It was his lack of repentance that led directly to the murder of Abel.

Some people are reading this with unrepented sin.  Maybe you don’t see the consequences down the road, or maybe you think it’s just a little thing, or may be you understand it's sin, but you think you can control it.  You ought to be looking.  You ought to be watching because if there is unrepented sin, it can destroy you.

Sin is aggressive, its desire is for you, but you can overcome sin through repentance.  Cain didn't have to spend the later years of his life as a vagabond, looking over his shoulder, fearing death.  All he needed to do was repent.