Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

It is an instance of the condescending patience of God, that he would stoop so low as to reason the matter with Cain. Just like the father with the elder brother that repined and murmured at the acceptance of the younger. Luke xv. 28. Herein God deals with men as men,-as rational creatures. God spoke to Cain, either by an audible voice, (which seems most agreeable to that dispensation,) or by the voice of Cain's conscience; the language of his heart smiting him for his sin,-which is the way that God takes now in his reasoning with sinners. There is more work of that kind doing in the world than we are aware of;-the Spirit convincing of sin in a spiritual way.

Why is thy countenance fallen? God takes notice of our countenance; he observes what our looks are. There's not a wanton look, not an envious look, not a repining look, not a wrathful look, that escapes his observing eye.

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God proceeds to show Cain the unreasonableness of his anger: "If thou wilt be angry, thou must be angry with thyself; for 'twas thine own fault that thou wast not accepted." This verse affords us a proof of the justice and righteousness of God in the government of the world, and is an exposition of those words of the psalmist, thou renderest to every man according to his work. Psa. lxii. 12. Divine justice holds the scale with an impartial hand, dealing rewards and punishments according to the rule of righteousness.

1. On the one hand, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? No doubt thou shalt. Even thou, O Cain, though I have rejected thee now, yet if thou wilt repent and amend, and do as Abel did, this rejection shall be no bar in the way of thy future acceptance.

If thou doest well. Many do facere bonum, that do not facere bene; do that which is good, but do it not well. They pray-that is good; but they do not pray well: hear the word-that is good; but do not hear it well: and so of other duties. But the holy God looks at the manner as well as the matter of our performances; which is the sense of that saying of Luther, "God loves adverbs."

Shalt thou not be accepted? "Though thou hast not done this well, yet if thou wilt do another thing

well,-viz. believe and repent, and make thy peace, all shall be well; there's a pardon ready for thee." One end of sacrificing was the forgiveness of sin. Lev. vi. 6, 7.

2. On the other hand, If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. God doth here set before Caín life and death, blessing and cursing. His sin was one of omission, but he cannot stop himself there; that omission will beget a commission. If sin lies at the door, when one (seemingly little) sin has opened the door, all the rest will come rushing in. Sins are like circles in the water, when a stone is thrown into it; one begets one another. When anger was in Cain's heart, murder was not far off.

The word translated sin is sometimes rendered a sin-offering, as in Exod. xxx. 10. Lev. ix. 15. "Though thou hast not done well, yet be not cast down and dejected: the sin-offering is at the door; the remedy is at hand; the propitiation is not far to seek. If thou dost repent, there's a pardon even for the iniquity of thy holy things; there's a way to aceeptance, and 'tis at the door." Christ, the great sin-offering, is said to stand at the door, Rev. iii. 20; ready to come in, if we will open to him. And do not they deserve to perish for their sins, that will not step to the door for a share in the sin-offering? "As God had read the first lecture of faith to Adam in the

promise of Christ, Gen. iii. 15; so doth he read the first lecture of repentance to Cain, under the doctrine of a sin-offering."-LIGHTFOOT.

The same word in Hebrew signifies sin and punishment, to show how near of kin they are to one another. If sin be in the house, punishment is at the door. To be at the door is a scripture phrase for a thing at hand. Matt. xxiv. 33. Jam. v. 9. Though thou dost not fear the sword of human justice, yet thou wilt have reason to fear the arrest of divine justice. Sin lies at the door, like a fierce mastiff, ready to seize upon the sinner whenever he stirs out of doors: wherever he goes, his sin will be sure to meet him; the guilt of it crying for the punishment of it. It lies, as if it slept: I kept silence, saith God, Ps. 1. 21: but it lies at the door. That's a very unquiet place to sleep in, and the least noise will be sure to wake it; the opening of the door will rouse the mastiff,-and then, sinner, look to thyself, for be sure thy sin will find thee out, first or last, sooner or later. Num. xxxii. 23.

And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. The latter of these phrases is exegetical of the former: unto thee shall be his desire; that is, thou shalt rule over him,-as is clear by comparing this passage with chap. iii. 16; but to what it refers, interpreters do not agree. It is generally un

derstood of Abel; and then the meaning is, "I know that which troubles thy carnal heart is, fear of losing thy birthright privileges hereby; but never fear: Abel is thy younger brother still; and, as such, is thy inferior, and to be subject to thee. My preferring him before thee in the matter of my own worship and service, doth not, shall not, take away that civil honour and respect which he owes to thee as his elder brother; and therefore be not angry at that, -let not thy countenance fall for that."

God's putting a difference between some and others in the dispensing of spiritual gifts and graces, doth by no means warrant the withholding of civil respects as they are due. Believing servants are, for this reason, often cautioned by the apostle to be subject even to unbelieving masters; for religion (however many now-a-days may think otherwise) doth not pluck up the hedge of common civility.

8 And 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 slew him.

Anger, which is heart-murder, is a bad step towards, and doth often end in, hand-murder. Our Master tells us so, Matt. v. 21, 22; the apostle John