Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Genesis 4:1-16

A few years ago (2004) a Chinese movie hit theatres and was a box office smash called “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The plot of the movie was about a sword that was stolen as well as two women who were fighting for standing in a society that honored men far above women- especially in the martial arts.

The title of the movie reflected a Chinese proverb that meant: “Talented or dangerous people hidden from view.”

(source: Actress Zhang Ziyi web site- http://csc.ziyi.org/filmography/cthd/wangdulu/titlename.html)

And the movie seems to bear that out. Each character is hiding their true identity in order to avoid issues with other characters. In the end, the movie is tragedy as the main characters come to their demise in various ways.

I chose the title of this message not to reflect the movie but to reflect the reality of sin and problem of sins in the lives of people and especially God’s people. We expect sinners to sin. We anticipate that without Christ a person will be prone to committing sin. However, we don’t believe that it is ever okay for a Christian to commit sin.

And here lies the heart of the message today: sin is like a crouching tiger lying in wait at the door of your life. You face the temptation, you allow it to manifest itself in your life and pretty soon this sin masters you and controls who you really are- not the person you want people to think you are.

Furthermore, behind the sin crouching is the hidden dragon of Satan who is continually seeking whom he may devour. Jesus warns us that the evil one comes to steal, kill and destroy.

What is going on in your life?

1. Brotherly Differences.

Siblings are going to be different. I enjoy the relationships of 3 families: my biological family with 2 brothers and 2 sisters; my foster family with 2 brothers and 1 sister; and my wife’s family with 4 sister-in-laws and 1 brother-in-law. Trust me, we are all different and have all shared our differences over the years. But none to the point of what we see happening with Cain and Abel.

a) Cain- Older; Abel- Younger.

When Cain was born Eve simply says, “I have brought forth a man.” Most likely she was referencing her miraculous ability to bear a child and the very first one. When Abel was born there is no response recorded but I have to believe that she was just as thrilled with having a second child.

b) Cain- Farmer; Abel- Shepherd.

Cain was a worker of the soil. For most of us here, we hold a high regard for farmers. They literally feed the world and feed us. We don’t think too often of shepherds and ranchers- unless we’re looking for a good sweater or steak- or belt. But we don’t think any less of them. And we wouldn’t think any less of Cain or Abel if we happened to be their neighbors- actually brothers and sisters.

c) Cain’s offering was unacceptable; Abel’s offering was acceptable.

At the time of worship, the brothers brought gifts that came from their separate occupations. Cain’s was from the fruit of the soil. Abel’s from the flocks of the field. God chose to accept Abel’s but not Cain’s.

Now this is something that has troubled Bible scholars, commentators, pastors and Sunday school teachers for thousands of years. What was the problem? We teach you to offer whatever you have to the Lord because it all belongs to him anyway. Cain was not a shepherd, he was a farmer. Abel’s offering was easily accessable- he raised the sheep.

We cannot assume that Cain offered the wrong sacrifice. God wanted his kind of offerings as well. Leviticus 2 outlines the “Grain Offerings” and how those were to be handled.

So what was the problem?

d) Cain was a man of anger; Abel was a man of faith.

Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel was a man of faith. In fact, he is listed as the first example of being a person of faith. What we see is Abel’s inner attitude of faith as he made the offering. Cain did not carry this inner attitude. Instead, when Cain’s offering was rejected he became visibly anger – “his face was downcast.”

Sibling rivalries happen. Last week Naomi watched one of our twin grandsons take a toy from the other twin grandson. These things seem to start early.

But let’s not miss the greater principle here: Are you an man or woman of faith in God first? If so, we don’t get smug in our right choices as Christians but we love the brothers and sisters and mom and dad in our family. Furthermore, we love our brothers and sisters within this church family. and let’s not forget our Lord’s great command of loving our neighbor as our self.

God spoke to Cain. He warned him that “sin is crouching at your door.” What did he mean?

Think of a wild animal that is in its lair. As you approach the opening this animal is ready to leap out at you. The warning is clear: beware of becoming a slave to your jealousy.

God then tells Cain that you must master it. (v. 7) Cain had allowed hostility to fester inside of him. He was seething with envy and anger.

God’s acceptance or rejection was clearly based on not only the offering itself but also on the attitude of the heart. God told his prophets on numerous occasions that He did not want sacrifices as substitutes for lives of obedience and inner righteousness.

How easy it is for us to fall into that trap. In other words, God does not want you to come to church and do the church thing as a substitute for being obedient to Him and living a life of faith.

James 1:15- “After [evil] desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

In a literal sense, Cain was allowing evil desire to become full-grown in his life. And in so doing he chose a path of no return.

2. Cain’s Path of Jealousy.

In Galatians 5:19-21 the Apostle Paul lists what he refers to as acts of the sinful nature. Among these he names “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage and selfish ambitions.” We have to be so careful that we do not allow the devil a foothold in our lives. You see, just as God warned Cain that sin was crouching at his door, so to for any of us- if we allow certain reactions and behaviors to manifest themselves- sin will be ready to destroy our heart, soul and life. And those around us.

Cain charted a course that would lead to destruction for both him and his brother. Here is a small example of that.

a) Envy.

Have you ever saw someone achieve something and suddenly became jealous of what they received? Or did you see someone receive something and become upset that they were succeeding and you weren’t?

Have you ever been passed up for a promotion and watched someone else of less work ethic and less creativity get a raise and promotion that you though you deserved?

Have you ever watched the boss-man praise someone else for their efforts, ideas and work but he or she rarely says anything positive to you?

These kinds of things create unfriendly feelings. That’s not the problem. We all get passed up in one way or another. We all are going to feel “dissed” by the boss, our spouse, our sibling, our neighbor, our pastor or anyone else out there. It’s going to happen. I’m sure that somewhere over the last 10 years I did not give someone credit for something- not intentionally. And you might be that person.

It’s going to happen. And the unfriendly feeling we get isn’t the problem. It’s when we allow this unfriendly feeling to stir up the emotions and cause us to think constant about it.

This is what happened to Cain. Rather than go to God and figure out the problem and seek counsel from another sister or brother, Cain chose to sulk over it. And his sulking turned into…

b) Hatred.

I find it unbelievable that people can hate each other but it does happen. I find it hard to believe that even church people can find themselves caught in this vicious cycle. Why? Sin is crouching at their door and behind the sin is the hidden dragon of the devil willing to do anything to deceive the hearts of people.

Hatred is the opposite of love. Hatred speaks of division between you and someone else. Hatred creates hostility which leads to arguments, strife between the two parties and even a literal fight. The courts are filled with this and jails keep taking on people who have allowed hatred to come to full bloom.

And for Cain this hatred eventually turned to…

c) Murder.

In a day when there were no guns Cain found a way to carry out the dark thoughts of the human heart. His passionate outburst of anger became murder. The result was blood poured on the ground and how God’s heart must have broken that day.

Anyone can feel as though they would never go that far. Yes, the prisons are filled with psychotic people who kill as easily as they get dressed in the mornings. But prisons also hold people who have killed someone in an outburst of anger.

God had warned Cain. He spoke to Cain about this sin-directed pride. But Cain refused to listen.

Anytime we refuse to listen to God we will experience as Cain did…

3. Results of Sin.

Sin always has a negative result. You might feel good blasting someone’s character behind their back but somehow it will hurt you in the end.

a) An unthinkable occurrence.

Cain lures Abel into a field and murders him. Afterwards, God comes to Cain again and asks him, “Where is your brother?”

Cain responds with those now infamous words: “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

MacArthur points out that this is a play on words. Earlier we read that Abel kept sheep. Some versions of the Bible refer to Abel as a keeper of sheep. This is the same sense. In a way, Cain is not very repentant for what he had done. He lies about knowing where is brother is when in fact he knows what he did to him and he doesn’t care about where Abel is.

Envy turned to hatred and hatred to murder. When sin is full grown it gives birth to death.

b) An earthly punishment.

Cain is sent out to be a fugitive and vagabond. He will not succeed as a farmer. He does marry and started a city. However, he carried a mark on him that kept others from killing him. No one is sure what that mark is but it was something that warned others.

But there is something worse than the earthly punishment:

c) An eternal punishment.

Verse 16 says: “So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence…” There can be no worse punishment than to be dismissed from God’s presence. Cain’s parents, Adam and Eve, were sent out of the perfect world of the Garden of Eden because of their sin. Cain is sent out of a perfect relationship with God. A kind of spiritual death took place that day.

So what do we learn from this terrible tragedy? How can we better in our lives?

Conclusion: Practical Lessons- Winning the Battle for your soul.

There is a battle for your soul. And the devil will do whatever he can to deceive you, trip you up and destroy your life. But God provides a better way. Remember, he told Cain that he must master the sin that is crouching at his door. How do we do that?

a) Guard your emotions.

We are human beings not robots. We have very real emotions that get hurt easily. Even the strongest of men face these issues. How we handle them is of utmost importance.

Guard your emotions. Get into God’s word regularly. Pray for those who spitefully use you and say all manner of evil against you.

Guard your heart. When confronted with being wrong then admit it, apologize and seek forgiveness. And then don’t do it anymore.

Cain had every opportunity to get closer to God. He could have sought out why his offering was unacceptable. But I have a feeling he knew better. He had a heart of rebellion.

b) Value your relationships.

Value your family members, your friends, your church family and your neighbors enough to hold them close and to love them appropriately. What do I mean? Trying to control other people is a dicey issue. But loving them as God enables you to love them is the best way.

Do relationships challenge us? Absolutely. But you can love others- even that surly neighbor who wants to argue property lines with you.

c) Be victorious through Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:22-23 speaks of the fruit of the Spirit. Those who belong to Jesus Christ live by the power of the Holy Spirit. The result is a life of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

d) Learn the art of forgiveness.

You can’t really move on in life unless you know how to forgive people even when they intentionally hurt you. And you need to learn how to forgive yourself as well. (Sermon in a couple of weeks about this.

e) Live a testimony of love and grace.

As a result your life will be a testimony of love and grace. When you are wrong you admit it and people know that about you. When someone says evil about you your response are words of love and forgiveness. When the world is against you, you know that God is for you who can be against you.

Back in my Bible college days we experienced a revival of sorts. The Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of students and staff for several weeks. The altars were lined constantly as we sought desperately sought God. Chapel services were filled with testimonies of what God was doing. What an incredible time!

But the true highlight of this revival was not the altars full of people seeking God- as great as that was; it was not the testimonies of students and staff at Chapel; it was the seeking out of each other and making confession of wrong attitudes and actions.

A change took place for the rest of that school year. We became more sensitive to the things we said to each other and how we handled issues of relationships.

My life was further molded into and towards the image of Christ that semester as a result of what God was doing in the lives of others and in me.

2 Corinthians 13:5- “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you- unless, of course, you fail the test?”

What does God want you to commit to Him this morning? Are there areas of envy and even hatred towards someone else that shouldn’t be in your heart?

This is an opportunity for you to commit your heart to the Lord right now and allow the Holy Spirit to work again in your life with the love of Christ.