CAIN AND ABEL--DIFFERENT CLASSES
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."--Genesis 4:6-7
God set the seventh day apart as the day of His rest. But the man of sin has set up a false sabbath, which the kings and merchants of the earth have accepted and exalted above the Sabbath of the Bible. In doing this, they have chosen a religion like that of Cain, who slew his brother Abel.
Cain and Abel both offered sacrifice to God. Abel's offering was accepted because he complied with God's requirements. Cain's was rejected because he followed his own inventions. Because of this he became so angry that he would not listen to Abel's entreaties or to God's warnings and reproofs, but slew his brother.
By accepting a spurious rest day the churches have dishonored God. The people of the world accept the falsehood, and are angry because God's commandment-keeping people do not respect and reverence Sunday. The Lord sanctified and blessed the seventh day.
God says, "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her." [Revelation 18:5-8.] (Letter 98, July 10, 1900)
REFLECTION: Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 72-73)
The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."--Genesis 4:6-7
God set the seventh day apart as the day of His rest. But the man of sin has set up a false sabbath, which the kings and merchants of the earth have accepted and exalted above the Sabbath of the Bible. In doing this, they have chosen a religion like that of Cain, who slew his brother Abel.
Cain and Abel both offered sacrifice to God. Abel's offering was accepted because he complied with God's requirements. Cain's was rejected because he followed his own inventions. Because of this he became so angry that he would not listen to Abel's entreaties or to God's warnings and reproofs, but slew his brother.
By accepting a spurious rest day the churches have dishonored God. The people of the world accept the falsehood, and are angry because God's commandment-keeping people do not respect and reverence Sunday. The Lord sanctified and blessed the seventh day.
God says, "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her." [Revelation 18:5-8.] (Letter 98, July 10, 1900)
REFLECTION: Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 72-73)
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