01.01. Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Am I My Brother’s Keeper? And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, Am I my brother’s keeper? — Gen 4:9. THE FIRST GREAT QUESTION of the Bible is found in the response of Adam’s first son to an inquiry of the Lord. It is a sermon in itself. It answers itself. Cain’s reply, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" is an unconscious expression of soul responsibility. The story of Cain and Abel is recounted in the fourth chapter of Genesis. Its famous question, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" is usually applied to physical well-being. It is used to enforce the axiom that we have duties to perform in behalf of the unfortunate who need food and clothing, shelter, and medical attention. There is no doubt that this construction can be amply justified in the text. We are responsible for the physical welfare of our neighbor whether he lives close by or far away. We who are eminently blessed of God are not to be thankful that we have bread to eat while others starve; we are rather to be grateful to the kind providences of heaven that we have bread to share with others who have none.
One of the far reaching projects of our own church that has marvelously blessed our people is the organization and support of our six missions. However much we may have proved to be a blessing to the people unto whom we seek to minister, it can be truthfully said that the six missions are a much greater blessing to us who have made them possible. It blesses us when we take advantage of the opportunity to share what we have with others. To feed a hungry man, to clothe a naked child, to bring medical care and attention to the sick, or to comfort the distressed, has a recompense paid with coin of God’ own minting. The image and subscription written large on the increment of that reward is never dulled or worn away by use. THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF THE STORY The true turn of the story of Cain and Abel, however, is not outward but inward. It is not physical but spiritual. It is not of the body but of the soul. We know this because of the description of God’s response to the offerings of the two men, found in the fourth and fifth verses of this fourth chapter of Genesis. The inspired record states that "The LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering." First the Lord had respect unto Abel himself, and then He had respect to his offering. In the next verse we are told, "But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect." First, God refused Cain, and then He refused his offering. The acceptance and refusal of the Lord God were based upon the spiritual attitude and response found in the hearts of the two men. It was not a question of something outward, bodily or physical; rather, the turn of the story is to be found in something inward and spiritual.
Like a proud exhibitor at the county fair, Cain brought a vegetable offering. He was complimenting God with so fine an arrangement of so excellent a gift. He was proud of himself, full of himself, and his offering was a portrayal of his own estimation of his endowed abilities. His heart was puffed up; he was not right, either toward man or toward God. On the contrary, Abel was a true, humble child of the Lord. In the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are told that "By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." The difference lay in the heart and in the spirit of the man. What he had, he had by faith, by trust, by commitment to God. By faith, he offered a blood sacrifice, an atonement for the soul. He felt himself unworthy, a sinner; and the deep, spiritual intuitions brought to him and taught to him by the processes of faith led him to make the sacrifice in blood.
We have thus a portrayal of these first two brothers. The humble approach the attitude of Abel to the throne of God by the blood of the lamb is a type and a harbinger of the worship and approach of all men who by faith have reached out and upward to touch the hem of the garment of the Almighty. It was not so with Cain. He was full of himself, proud of himself, ambitious for himself. His inward spiritual rebellion is unveiled in the story that follows. In his envy and his wrath at the acceptance of his younger brother, the true nature of Cain is fully displayed. He slays Abel by his own hand, and the earth drinks up the blood of Adam’s second son. The tenth verse of the fourth chapter of Genesis is a terrible verse. God says to Cain, "What have you done? the voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground." The first murder was born in the heart of a man who was indifferent to spiritual values. What was it to him if his brother was destroyed in death? AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WHOLE BIBLE The question of the Lord God, "Where is Abel thy brother?" and the counterquestion of Cain, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" make a kind of introduction to the entire Bible. Life responsibility, soul responsibility, is a recurring teaching of the whole Scriptures; it is woven into the warp and woof of the biblical fabric. In the Old Testament, the Lord God said to his prophet Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, ’You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself (Eze 3:17-21). In the New Testament, the responsibility for the salvation of all men, of all generations, of all peoples everywhere, is laid upon the Church in the great commissions to be found in the gospels and in the Book of Acts. In Acts 20:26, Paul stands in the presence of the elders of Ephesus to say, "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men." The reason for this freedom from blood guiltiness he states in the next, Acts 20:27 : "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." He had preached the Gospel fully, fervently, prayerfully. If men were not saved, it was not be laid to his charge. He had done what he could.
All of this emphasizes the heavy and weighty responsibility by which we are chargeable before heaven for the spiritual welfare of all men. God will surely call us into account — "Where is Abel, your brother?" Our souls are not free from blood until we have done our best to win the lost to the saving knowledge of Christ our Saviour, our only hope in this world and in the world that is to come.
One time I asked a Sunday school teacher to be responsible for the winning of a young man who had moved to our city. The young man steadfastly refused the love and invitations and pleadings and appeals of the Sunday school teacher. Without any warning, either to himself or to others, the young man was suddenly stricken and died. The Sunday school teacher sought me out and with tears said earnestly and humbly, "Pastor, I did what I could; I tried the best I knew how: his blood is not on my hands." It is only when we have done our utmost to win others to Christ that we can say with the Apostle Paul, "Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men." Until this can be said by every one of us in all truth and in all sincerity, we are responsible to a God who will some day call us into account. The instruments of salvation are in our hands; God has committed them to us. There is no doctrine to be seen more frequently in all the Holy Scriptures than this charge and commitment. In Pro 11:30; the Holy Scriptures say, "He that winneth souls is wise." That is, we are to win souls; God has committed to us that responsibility. In Dan 12:3; we find these words: "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Here is the same truth again: we are to turn many to righteousness; God has called us to that task. We see it plainly again in the Great Commission of Mat 28:19-20 — "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." We are to make disciples; this is our Christian assignment. In the Greek language all the verbs in that commandment are participles except one, and that one verb is in the imperative — "make disciples." Going, baptizing, teaching — we are to make disciples. That this gospel ministry is committed to our care and trust is emphasized by James in the fifth chapter and twentieth verse of his epistle. The words are written by the pastor of the church at Jerusalem under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. "He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." We are to convert the sinner from the error of his way. The responsibility is laid upon us. THE METHODS OF GOD’S GRACE The methods of God’s grace are strange and unusual beyond compare. They are never exercised without human instrumentality. In the story of Cornelius and his household, recounted in the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Book of Acts, we read of the visit of the angel to the centurion with a message from God in Heaven. The message of the angel concludes with the directive that Cornelius is to send to Joppa to call for one Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell him words whereby he and his household shall be saved (Acts 10:6; Acts 11:14). Why did not the angel tell him the words whereby he and his household could be saved? Because the instruments of soul salvation God hath entrusted to us. We are to preach the Gospel; we are to win men to Christ; the responsibility for their salvation lies upon us. In the marvelous and heart-moving story of the conversion of the Apostle Paul, recounted in the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts, Paul, trembling and astonished, says to the Lord, who appears in power and glory: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Then the Scriptures quote the Lord: "And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and you shall be told what you must do" (Acts 9:6). Why did not Christ tell him what to do? Because He mediates His truth through others. The Lord’s message was delivered to Saul of Tarsus by a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias (Acts 9:10). It is thus through all Christian history; the message of God is delivered to us to deliver to other men. We are saved to save others; we are called to win others; we are elected as the instruments of salvation for lost men everywhere. The responsibility of their salvation lies upon us.
One time I stood in the midst of a group of men gathered in the square of a little town. They were arguing about whether the heathen were lost without the knowledge of Christ. In the midst of the discussion, the postmaster, who was a fine Christian and Bible student, went into his office, picked up his Bible, returned to the group, opened the Book and read Rom 10:13-15. Without saying a word, when he had finished reading the passage, he closed the Book, returned to the post office and laid the heavenly volume down upon the table from whence he had picked it up. There was no more argument. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?" The responsibility for the saving of the lost world is upon us.
God’s truth is mediated through human personality. There is not a syllable of the Holy Scriptures written without human hands. There is not a soul saved without a soul-winner. There is not a spiritual work done without a consecrated worker. There is not a sermon preached without a preacher. God and you make the Kingdom. God and you make the Church. God and you do the work. God and you win the souls.
"God Himself cannot make Stradivarius violins Without Stradivarius." Our soul responsibility reaches to every part and piece and section and relationship of life. Parents are responsible for their children; friends are responsible for their employees. God will even hold us accountable for our opportunity to speak to chance acquaintances whom we meet by the way.
Long ago I heard a great and devoted preacher describe a journey he made on a certain train in the early years of his ministry. Facing him in the coach was a sad-faced young man concerning whom the Holy Spirit whispered in the heart of the preacher, "Speak to him about his soul." The preacher somehow delayed, refused, and the young man got off the train never to be seen by the preacher again. The minister of God, in describing the incident, said these words: "If I could unravel all the years with their sorrows and trials and tears, I would do so, if I could only get back to that moment when I looked into the face of the sad, young man and felt the urging of the Holy Spirit to speak to him about his soul." The burden of that dereliction pressed upon the heart of the preacher through all the years of his life. Oh, the dereliction of us all, church and all, people and all, congregation and all, Christendom and all! How slow we are to make known the good news that Jesus died for our sins, that He was raised for our justification, that all who believe in Him shall have eternal life. An African who had just heard the marvelous story of love of Jesus was running to tell his fellow villagers the good news when he stopped, returned to the missionary and said: "Missionary, when did you say He died for us? Was it yesterday? Was it last week? Was it a year ago?" How tragic that the missionary had to explain that the Saviour died for the lost of this world one thousand nine hundred years ago!
Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord, I care not how, But stir my heart in passion for the world.
Stir me to give, to go — but most of all to pray.
Stir, till Thy blood-red banner be unfurled O’er lands that still in deepest darkness lie, O’er plains where no cross is lifted high.
Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord! Thy heart was stirred By love’s intensest fire till Thou didst give Thine only Son, Thy best beloved One, Even to the dreadful cross that I might live.
Stir me to give myself so back to Thee That Thou canst give Thyself again through me.
Am I my brother’s keeper? God help me to be true to the trust. I am.