Faith Still Speaks

to her dad's today. Happy Father's Day. I'm going to tell you, man, you are loved and you're appreciated. And if you have your kids with you, God bless you.

Enjoy them today. If your kids are not with you, I empathize. I don't have either of my girls. One is off on a honeymoon that's been a few weeks delayed, and the other is sitting in Austin, Texas.

I don't know what she's doing. I'm wearing a little tie today in honor of Sabrin. She got me this tie on her wedding day, and it's got a picture in the tie of me holding her when she was a little baby girl. No, I'm wearing it right because today's Father's Day.

And she's the one who made me a dad. I want to preach today, though, a message that applies to all of us. Matter of fact, I'm going to use a text today. It's Father's Day, but I'm going to use a text today that talks about a man who wasn't even a dad.

He wasn't, but he did what I hope every dad in this room would want. He did what I hope every mom in this room, every grandfather, every grandmother, matter of fact, every person. And you may not be a dad today. You may not be a mom.

You may not be a parent, but you know what? One day, you may very well be, regardless. Even if you're like this man in this text today, not Father, we can do what he did if we will do what he did. All right, so we're going to look today at a man named Abel.

A man named Abel. This message about leaving legacy. Can I tell you that this is the one thing that we can all do? Because here's the remarkable thing about the light that we live is that our influence can continue long after we are gone.

So last week, I was preaching about time, making the most of your time. We ended the service by saying that all of us have an hourglass. We don't know exactly how much sand is in the top half of the hourglass. We want to make the most of it.

We do. But at some point, for every one of us, the last grain of sand is going to fall through. And when it does, what is it that you're leaving behind? I ended by saying this.

Are you leaving behind? Hey, you've prepaid all your funeral expenses. That's probably wise. Are you leaving behind a last will and testament?

That's probably wise. Are you leaving behind some life insurance? That's probably wise too. But that's really not about preparing you to meet God.

That's about preparing others when you leave. However, speaking along those lines of others and what you leave them when you leave, the most important thing that you can leave is the legacy of faith. It's the legacy of faith. You know, a grandfather, a father may pass away, but his words can still echo in the minds of his grandchild or his child.

A mom, a grandmother, may leave this earth, but her prayers can continue to bear fruit. A faithful believer may die, but their example can continue to inspire generations to come. Every one of us is going to leave a legacy. It's not a matter of if.

It's not a matter of will you leave one. The question is, but what kind of legacy will you leave? I've been teaching through the book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights. Hebrews is an amazing book.

And this past Wednesday, we were in chapter 11. We started chapter 11. You know, chapter 11 is one of those chapters that often stands alone. It's the only chapter in all of Hebrews.

We give it its own title. What do we call it? The oral call of faith, or the heroes of faith, or the hall of fame of faith. And the authors got all of these examples of men and women who by faith obey God.

And then big things came out of it. The thing is, while it often is a standalone chapter, it really wasn't designed to be a standalone chapter. What it actually is, is an illustration of a statement that the author makes in Hebrews 10, verse 38. In Hebrews 10, 38, he says, the just shall live by faith.

Now that phrase, the just shall live by faith is from Habakkuk chapter 2. It's quoted three times in the New Testament, Romans, Galatians, also the book of Hebrews. And what the author is getting across is that, yes, it's true that on one hand, the just, those who've been justified, live eternally, because of faith. Right?

It is our faith in the finished work of Christ that brings us salvation. Yet on the other hand, it's not just, hey, we get eternal life by faith, but that because we've been justified, the just will live by faith. That is everyday life. In a practical way, what we do, how we live in this world, we live it by faith.

That's what the author was getting across to the Hebrews. Live your life, live out your everyday life by faith. Chapter 11 is a Hall of Fame. It's like a gallery.

There's portraits on the wall, or maybe if you know, like at the football Hall of Fame, there's the bus track of men and women who are heroes of the faith, men and women who trusted God enough to obey him. The just shall live by faith. And the very first person that the author of Hebrews chooses to use as an illustration is Abel. Now, in one sense, he's going chronologically.

Like if you go back and you look at it, he's going chronologically, but he goes, he doesn't just go, hey, let's go back to King David, or let's go back to Abraham, or let's go back to Moses. No, no, no, let's keep going all the way back. We're going pre-flood. We're going to the person, listen to me, who has been dead the longest.

Let me think about that. Abel has been dead longer than any other person who ever walked on the earth. And yet here's what we're going to see that author Hebrews say. Yet though he be dead, by his faith, he's still speaking.

Hey, he's still speaking. He's been dead longer than anyone else, but he's still speaking. Now look, we don't know a whole lot about Abel. We know that he's the younger brother of Cain.

He's the second son of Adam. We know that he was a shepherd. We know that he was murdered by his brother. That's almost all of it, right?

That's chapter four, the book of Genesis. He's mentioned a couple other times. We're going to see him in one verse in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews. Here's a man who never wrote a book.

He never preached a sermon. He never led a nation. He did not. He only takes up a very small space in the narrative of scripture.

And yet the Bible says, but he's still speaking. He's been dead longer than anyone else, but he's still speaking. I'm telling him, that's a legacy. That's something that we need to learn from.

Hey, as a dad, I'm going to leave this world one day. I want my legacy to continue to speak on in my kids, in my, hopefully, grandchildren. Hey, maybe in my great-grandchildren, maybe in other people, maybe people here in this church. You want to have a legacy that continues to speak on and to preach on in the days to come even after you leave this world.

I want to preach to this morning, a message entitled, Faith Still Speaks. We're in Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 4. We're just going to read one verse today. If you would stay in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

We offer rights and says by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than came, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. And by it, I eat his faith. And by his faith, he being dead yet speaketh.

I'm going to take Abel's faith, still speaks on. And I pray this, let us live lives today in a way that even years after we're going, our children, our grandchildren, our friends, our family, our fellow church members are even total strangers would say this, that man's faith is still speaking today. And influencing others for Christ. Lord, we just want to say thank you for today.

Lord, thank you for Dad's. Thank you for Father's Day. Thank you for Mom's. We thank you for life.

Lord, that you've given to us. We thank you for salvation. We thank you Lord that you save us by grace completely and totally free. But you do it through our faith.

God, thank you for counting our faith as righteousness. God, I pray, Lord, that today you will save, Lord, by faith. And what every person here today who's already been saved, I'm praying this, would you now help us to know and to understand that we have a life to live. And Lord, the same faith that we exercise to get saved, to be saved, to receive salvation is the same faith that we live by every day.

God help our faith to show up in us in practical ways and how we show our trust and how we obey you. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So Abel died in Genesis chapter four.

And in Hebrews 11 and verse four, the author says, his faith is still speaking. What a legacy. I must consider three truths about a faith that still speaks. Number one, faith still speaks through worship.

Verse number four says that by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. First thing we learned about Abel is that he was a worship and he was worshiping God. He was bringing a sacrifice unto the Lord. But here's the thing, if you go back to Genesis chapter four, guess what?

Cain's doing the same thing. Cain's bringing an offering, Abel's bringing an offering. They're both bringing an offering, but one's worshiping and one's not. They both appear outwardly religious, right?

They both come to worship. They both have their sacrifices, but God accepts Abel's sacrifice and he rejects Cain's sacrifice. Now the reason, and the author of Hebrews tells us, is that one brought it by faith. By faith, Abel brought his sacrifice and he worshiped the Lord.

I would take that implication or by inference that Cain did not operate by faith. His sacrifice was not brought in obedience and trust of what God had revealed unto him. Hebrews tells us that Abel came by faith. His worship flowed from a heart that trusted God.

Can I tell you this, that faith always affects our worship. You can worship without exercising faith. But if you exercise faith, you're going to worship in a way that pleases God. Matter of fact, two verses down, verse six says this, but without faith it is impossible to please God.

Those who come to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. If we're going to truly worship, we're going to worship by faith. See, we're not going to say by faith, we worship by faith. You can worship without faith, but when you have faith, when you exercise faith, you will worship in a way that pleases God.

You see, true worship is not about routine. It's not about appearance. It's not about checking all of the right religious boxes. I got the privilege of teaching our Sunday school class last Sunday, and many of you are in the same lesson, right?

We're in Amos chapter one through four, and where Amos is telling the nation of Israel, hey, you need to prepare to meet your God, right? Judgment is coming and it's giving them an opportunity to repent, and one of the sins of the nation of Israel was their religious hypocrisy. Chapter two verse eight says that they were laying their coats down beside altars, and they were drinking wine before their gods, and what you find out is they were worshiping while they were in open rebellion. I mean, they were rebelling against God, and yet at the exact same time, they were worshiping.

And God's like, hey, I reject that, right? They loved religious activity, but not genuine obedience. And so their worship just became a noise to God. And I asked this question of the class that I was teaching.

I said, hey, can a person be present in church but absent in worship? Now I'm asking you, you're present. Is it possible though that we've shown up to church many times, but we've been absent from worship, religious hypocrisy, living a life where, man, we love to sing the songs. We enjoy the worship, and we end up making the worship more about us and what we like than seeing our worship and our heart lifted up to God.

The book of Amos, God said, ah, it's just noise to me. And so all it is, true worship is responding to God with faith. You see, God wants more than religious activity. He wants surrendered hearts.

Anyone can attend church. Anyone can sing songs. Anyone can bow their head during prayer. God looks beyond the activity, and he looks on the heart.

One of the greatest gifts that a father can give his family, a mother can give her family, a grandfather, a grandma to listen, one of the greatest gifts that we can give is the example of genuine worship. Children learn what matters most and what matters most to their parents. Let me say that again. Children learn what matters most about watching what matters most to their parents, so sports matters the most.

They'll know if money is what matters the most. They'll know if entertainment matters the most. They'll know, but if God matters most, they'll know that, too. I would say this that every father in this room, mothers, too, right?

I'm not excluding anyone today. I'm just telling you that we would look to our kids and say, I want my kids, however old they are, but especially if they're young to say this. But one day, I want my kid to love the Lord. So we're back to what we do on the first Sunday of May.

We have baby dedication. We have moms and dads stand up here with their kids. They're typically less than a year old. And I challenge them to think with the end in mind.

Think 18 years down the road. When little Johnny, when little Susie's packing up their suitcase and they're walking out of your house or headed to college or headed off into the work world, what do you want them to be? What do you want them to do? And whatever it is you want them to be, whatever it is that you want them to do, you need to be that.

And you need to be doing it. We need to model it. It's, man, I want my kid to love Jesus. The place to start is you loving Jesus.

If we say, man, the great commandments to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, the place to start is not to say that to our kids, although we want to teach it. The place to start is to do that in our own lives. See our children need to see us worship. Our children need to see us pray.

Our children need to see us open up God's word and read from it. They need to see that our faith is real. Abel is still speaking today. You know why?

Because he worshiped by faith. Number two, faith still speaks through obedience. Abel not only worshiped by faith, but he obeyed God by faith. But that is he applied what God had revealed to him.

Now Genesis chapter four implies this, that God had spoken how to approach him in worship. More than likely through Adam and Eve in chapter three, when God comes to them and their clothes and big leaves and any kills to animals and he closes and skins. They probably passed the message along to their kids. This is how we worship.

This is how we approach God, the innocent sacrifice for the guilty. We could say that, you know, there was a blood sacrifice. And we see where Abel brings the blood sacrifice. He brings the sheep, he brings the best.

But when you look at Cain, he doesn't bring a blood sacrifice. He brings the fruit. And I'm not saying that that was necessarily wrong because we don't know, Greg, sure exactly what God told them. But whatever he did or didn't do, he didn't do it in faith.

He wasn't doing it in obedience. So we know this that Abel obeyed God's instructions. Cain chose his own way. One brother trusted God, the other trusted his own way.

The difference in their lives was faith. And faith does not merely believe in the God exists. Okay? I talk about this Wednesday night.

Because there's a whole lot of people in the world who are like, I believe in God, I believe the God exists. I believe the God is real. Faith is way more than that. Faith is way more than saying, I believe in God.

Faith is believing what God has revealed about himself. Faith is saying, you know what? I believe in God. Yes, he's real, but he's sovereign.

He's gracious, he's loving, he's kind, he's trustworthy. God is trustworthy. Faith is saying, I believe who God is. But I believe what God's revealed about himself.

You see, the Bible says even the demons believe that God exists and they tremble in fear. So it's believing that God exists. That's not faith. That's intellectual faith, but that's not volitional faith.

Volitional faith is saying, hey, I trust God. Now what he's revealed, I want to act upon it. Faith moves in obedience to what God has shared. Faith takes God seriously.

The rest in his character. Faith trusts God enough to obey him. You know, we live in a culture that celebrates doing things our own way. We do.

Now it's been years ago, I heard the song, you know, O Frank Sinatra. I did it my way. The whole song is really this arrogant, egotistical. I did it my way.

And you know what? There's a lot of the world that looks to what Frank Sinatra is saying and says, you know what? Yeah, that makes sense to me. You know why?

Because it's the way we live our lives so often. You ever tried to help someone or tell someone how to do something and they said, well, I'm doing it my way. And it shows up in your kids, right? It shows up when we were little kids and people came by and I said, hey, let mommy help you.

Let daddy help you. No. What's that kid say? I want to do it my way.

I can remember my dad, he, you know, veteran carpenter. And he would teach me like, this is the way, right? This is the Thompson way, right? We're out on the job side.

This is the way you do it. And I'd be doing it different than he said. How did I tell you to do it? I'd say, well, I got my way.

As if I knew something. That's the way we are. And we celebrate when we see someone who does what? We call it.

I do pull himself up by his bootstraps. We're like, wait, go, man. You did it your way. You know what the Bible says?

The blessings of God come from obedience. It's obedience that brings the blessing of God. It's not my way. It's God's way.

And the author of Hebrews reminds us that faith obeys even when it doesn't fully understand. Can I tell you this? I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, conjecture on my part. But I would say that Abel probably didn't understand everything that had been revealed to him.

Like, why do we do this? Just, you know what? God revealed it. I'm going to do it because I trust God.

Now, if you keep flowing through the roll call of faith, you know, you'll drop down a couple more names and be like, hey, by faith, Noah, built an arc to the saving of his family. Did Noah understand everything that God was asking him to do? I mean, God shows up one day. Noah finds grace in the eyes of the Lord.

He says, Noah, it agrees my heart that I've created humanity. Every thought is violent and wicked. And I'm going to destroy the earth with a great flood. Noah's filet was a flood.

Well, it's water that stacks up on top of itself. And it's going to keep stacking, stacking, stacking, until it covers the entire world and covers even the highest mountain peak. Wow. Where's that coming from, God?

Well, these little droplets of water are going to fall from the sky. You've never seen it before because the Bible says up into this day, it had not rained upon the earth. Earth is covered by a firmament. And it's kind of like a greenhouse effect.

And the mist is rising in the morning, keeping everything misty and moist and wet. Say, it's all coming to an end. It's going to rain. Noah went to work immediately.

And he worked for 120 years. He didn't wait until the thunder cloud started. And then it started sprinkling. Hey, boys, grab the hammers.

We got to get after it. Now we believe. No, he believed God the very first moment. He took it.

Did he understand everything? He did not. But he laid. Abraham, drop him down in the roll call of faith.

God comes to Abraham and says, Abraham, who's in the early counties, you come. And I'll show you a land. And I'll give it to you. You know what?

Abraham didn't do. He didn't pull out his Google map. I say, no, God, you drop me a pin. And you show me where it is that you want to give me.

And I will determine whether I will follow you or not. He didn't even simply ask the question. Where are we going? What's the land?

Where is it located? God just simply said, follow me. And I will show you a land. And once I've shown it to you, I'll give it to you and to all of your offspring.

Did Abraham know or understand everything that God was asking for him? No. What did he do? He believed that God was trustworthy.

And he obeyed Moses. Grows up in Pharaoh's home. He is in line, perhaps, to be the next Pharaoh sitting on top of the most powerful empire in the world. But he looks out every day and he sees his brethren.

Now, he knows he's not Egyptian. He grew up Egyptian, but he knows he's not Egyptian. He looks out. He sees these Jewish slaves.

And you know what the Bible says? He esteemed the reproaches of Christ. More worthy than the riches of Egypt. He went and he served his people.

He walked away from being an Egyptian. He walked away from being perhaps the next Pharaoh to go and serve his. Now, did he know that when he did that, that it was going to cost him the next 40 years of his life wondering in a desert on the backside of Midian keeping sheep like a nobody? He didn't know that.

And did he know that in the last 40 years of his life, he actually would take all those things and he learned in the desert leading sheep so that he could lead people in a wilderness for 40 years. He didn't know it. He didn't understand it. But he knew this.

God was calling him. And he answered the call. And he obeyed. And God used him to do great things.

Listen, friend, we will not always know or understand exactly what it is that God may call us to or the why did he ask us to do something. But if we count him, trustworthy. If we say, God is trustworthy. I trust God.

Did we sing a song like that today? I trust the Lord. And he heard it. Listen, if we count God trustworthy, we don't just pray and ask him for stuff.

If we count God trustworthy, we obey him in what he has revealed to us. How many fathers? How many mothers spend years telling their children what to do when in fact their children learn far more by watching what mom and dad did do? It's true.

Our children learn more from what we do than what we say. The greatest lessons are often caught rather than taught. Our kids notice. They notice how we treat people.

They notice how we handle disappointment. They know how we respond to pressure. They know how we prioritize church. And they know how we speak about God.

Can I tell you that little Susie, little Johnny, need to hear you talk. That's true. Deuteronomy chapter 6. Teach these things.

When you lie down, when you get up in the morning, when you sit down at the meal, when you walk along the path, they teach these things. Yeah, it's a little Johnny. Little Susie needs to hear. But more than that, they need to see, dad, that you walk the walk.

It's got to be more than talk. It's got to be the walk. The Father's obedience. It's true for all of us though.

Our obedience gives credibility to our words. The loudest sermon that we will ever preach is the life that we live every day. We say things like that. Sometimes when it comes to funeral service time, my amen, gives life, her life, men, their life preaches, their funeral.

Can I tell you this? The loudest sermon will ever preach is the life that we live. So let's live our life by faith that shows up in our obedience. Able, worshipped by faith, he obeyed by faith, and then lastly, faith still speaks through legacy.

And this is the heart of the passage of verse four. This is the truth, right? Here's what the other said. And by yet, that is, and by his faith, he being dead yet speaketh.

Now Abel's life, we're just again surmising here, was relatively short. I don't know exactly how short it was, but I know this, it wasn't as long as Cain's. And I guess that's the thing. All right, what?

Cain's living, Abel died. But what I got when I was telling you there was the second son of Adam, he's the brother of Cain, he's the shepherd, and he got murdered by his brother. One of the things I didn't tell you, that this is interesting, is what his name means. Abel's name means voice, breath, vapor.

It's a breath, it's vapor. You say, my name, where have I heard the word vapor recently? Oh, last Sunday, James chapter four verse 14. For what is your life?

It is even a vapor that appears for a little while. And then it's gone. Abel lived up to his name in both ways. His breath is still speaking, and his life was like a vapor.

It was short. From a human perspective, it seems unfair, does it not? Cain disobeyed, Abel obeyed, Cain lived, Abel died. The righteous brother was murdered by the unrighteous brother.

The wicked brother walked away, but God wasn't finished with Abel. Thousands of years later, the author of Hebrews, when he chooses to illustrate the just shall live by faith, the first person he goes to, Abel. And he says, yet though he be dead by his faith, he is still speaking. His life reminds us that faithfulness matters, whether it's faithfulness over years, or whether it's faithfulness over a brief period of time.

God never misses our faithfulness. He does not. Faithfulness matters, not because it guarantees, earthly success, not because it guarantees comfort, but because God doesn't forget faithful people. Monday, I preached the funeral of Doris Fowler, and I chose Matthew chapter 25 as the text for that funeral service.

And we talked about how the master, who was going away on a long journey, showed all his goods over to his servants, and he took one guy, gave five talents, another guy, two talents, another one talent. He leads for a long period of time, he returns, and then he calls his servants to take account, and to the five talent guy and the two talent guy, he says the same thing to both, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Not thou good and famous servant, faithful servant. You see the world looks at us and says, hey, you're successful when you're famous.

You're successful when you make it, right? You've got money when you've got possessions, when you've got prestige. God says you're successful when you're faithful. Abel is faithful.

Abel's name appears in God's hall of faith because he trusted and he obeyed. For a lot of dads, in today's Father's Day, and we start thinking about our family, we start thinking about our life, and while this is important, it's not the most important, but here's one of the things we tend to think about. As a man, I gotta make provision for my home. I gotta provide for my wife, I gotta provide for my kids.

I gotta work, I gotta work hard, and those are all good things. But they're not the most important things. Like here ago, Saven's now husband was just our boyfriend, and his name is Tyler, and Tyler texted me and said, what do you do in Tuesday? I said, well, I'm busy.

I got this going on, this going on, this going on. What are you doing Thursday? I'm open. He said, let's eat lunch at outlaws.

Now, I knew what he wanted to do. He didn't say what he wanted to do. He was like, let's eat. So I meet him up here at outlaws about a year ago.

And we sit down at the table, and we're eating, and you know, just talking. He's a football coach. So we're talking football. He's a baseball coach, and we talk baseball.

We talk football. We talk football. We talk football. We talk to the Razorbacks.

He's an Aggie fan, so we talk about the Aggies. I'm a Razorback fan. We talk to the Razorbacks. When we finish up those, I'm like, I know what he's up to here.

I know what's coming, but it finally came. And he said, I know that you know that I love you, daughter. And I want to ask for your blessing and your permission to marry her. I said, Tyler, you got it, man.

I want to tell you, man, you've got my permission. You've got my blessing, but Tyler, you know something. But you don't need it. You and Sabrin, I mean, y'all are just a few years away.

You're almost 30 years old. You do whatever you want. You don't need my permission, and you don't need my blessing. Though I give it to you.

But, Tyler, what you do need is the blessing of God. And what I want to hear right now is how the husband of my daughter is going to lead his family so that the hand of God in his blessing is on you. That's what I want to hear. That's what I want to know.

And hey, if you don't have a plan right now for that, get a plan. Execute the plan. Because while we may think as a man, I want to provide for my wife, I want to provide for my kids. I want to provide for my home.

And all those things are important. It is not as important as I want to live my life in such a way that the hand of God in his blessing is covering my home. His hand is covering my wife. His hand is covering my future children.

The most important thing that we can do is live our lives by faith and obedience to God that brings his blessing into our life. And when we do, the greatest thing that we'll leave behind is a legacy of faith and faithless. You see, someday, your children may not remember what car you drove or what car you gave them on their 16th birthday. Years from now, your kids may not remember how much money you made, what your salary was, or what possessions you owned, or what gifts you gave to them.

I'll tell you this, but they will remember, whether your faith was genuine, they will remember whether you prayed, whether you prayed for them and over them, they will remember whether you love Jesus, they will remember whether you lived out what you claimed to believe. You see, the greatest inheritance is not what you leave to your children. The greatest inheritance is what you leave in your children. Many years ago a man died and he left very little money behind.

He didn't have any real estate, no arch investment, no fortune to divide. And yet at his funeral, his three sons he stood up and said, you know what, my dad taught me how to love the Lord. My dad taught me how to trust in God. My dad taught me how to pray.

Hey, the man left a richer inheritance than many millionaires leave behind because he left an inheritance of faith. His faith was still speaking. Abel's life should lead all of us to ask of ourselves one simple question. What will still be speaking even after I'm gone?

What will still be speaking even after I'm gone? Will it be my achievements? Will it be my possessions? Will it be my hobbies?

Or will it be my faith? You see Hebrews says that Abel is still speaking to this day because he worshiped my faith, because he obeyed my faith, and because he left a legacy of faith. And that challenge today is not merely for fathers because I'm telling, Abel wasn't a dad. You didn't even have kids.

The challenge isn't just for dads, right? It's for all of us to live our lives in such a way that when our life is over, our faith continues to speak. Here's the bottom of the message. A life lived faithfully for Jesus, leaves a legacy of faith that speaks loudly to others about Jesus.

I want to leave a legacy of faith that speaks about Jesus to my daughters. You may have sons, leave it for your sons, leave it for your grandchildren, leave it for others, leave it even for strangers to say, that man's faith taught me, spoke to me, influenced me regarding Jesus. I want you to think again about the power of legacy and influence. Think about it.

Abel has been dead longer than any person yet his faith is still speaking. Now let's bring home. If your children had only your example to learn what it means to follow Jesus, what would they learn? If the only example that your kids have is you and how you follow Jesus, what is it that they're learning about following Jesus?

You see, will your faith, will still be speaking when you're going? Perhaps today you're a father and you realize something. I've been concerned about a whole lot of stuff, but I haven't been concerned about the spiritual. I need to make some adjustments in my life.

I need to make some changes. This altar is open to you. I promise you, man, God's on board with, hey, I want you to operate my faith sooner rather than later. But it's later rather than the sooner from years ago, let the sooner be today.

Right now, you can recommit your life to leading your home toward Christ. Perhaps today though, you're a parent burden for a child who's far from God. They're just not where they need to be. I just want you to encourage to bring that burden to this altar.

Bring it to the Lord. Tell God. Let him know how you feel. And I'm telling you'll find a father who empathizes and who sympathizes with where you are.

Perhaps today though, you've never trusted Christ as your Savior. I want to tell you that Abel's sacrifice points us to a even greater sacrifice. Abel sacrificed a lamb with points to a greater sacrifice. You see, Abel brought a lamb that says that he brought of the firstlings of the flock and the fat thereof.

He brought the best that he had. And he brought the innocent. He died for the guilty. Several years later, in Genesis chapter 22, Isaac and his father Abraham are going to Mount Moriah to worship.

And as they make their way to Mount Moriah, Isaac looks and says, hey Dad, we got the wood, we got the fire. But where's the lamb? Son, God himself will provide a lamb. Years later, John the Baptist was preaching and teaching his disciples.

And he looks up, he says, hey boys, I want you to look. Behold, the Lamb of God who take it the way the sin of the world. And he was pointing to Jesus. Jesus is the lamb that God provided.

Jesus is the innocent one who died for the guilty. In Genesis chapter 4, when God came and found Cain, he asked Cain the questions. It came where she brother. He said, am I my brother's keeper?

He said, I'm going to take Cain. Your brother's blood is crying out from the earth. You know what I think his blood was crying out for? Justice.

Thousands of years later, the Lamb of God who died on the cross shed his blood and his blood cried out. And the blood of Jesus cried out mercy. The blood of Jesus cried out forgiveness because the blood of Jesus also cried this out. Justice.

Listen, Jesus died for all of the guilty. And God's justice was satisfied. What Abel's blood had been crying out for for all those millennia finally came to fruition. And God's justice was satisfied.

And God now grants his mercy and his forgiveness to every person who will trust in the trustworthiness of God. God's worthy of being trusted. God took your sin upon himself, robed himself in flesh, went to the cross, died in your place, buried, and by the power of God, raised up to life again. And he will forgive you of your sin.

He will remit your sins. He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. But you've got to trust him. He's got to call on his name.

Not some rinky dink mantra or prayer. Say these words. Repeat after me. No, no.

I mean gut level conviction. I'm calling on the Lord to save me because only he can. But he does it one way and one way only. By his grace through your faith, the feast of two eight nights is for by grace through your faith.

That not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works. He's the only man should boast today. Kind of trustworthy, trusting today. He'll save you, who change you.

And once you've been justified by faith, then as the just live your life by faith, and one day you'll leave a legacy of faith that will continue to speak on to the people that you love most. I'm going to ask you to stand this morning. I'm going to have a hymn of invitation today. If you just need to spend time with this altar, whether it's for yourself, whether it's for your son, your daughter, your grandchild, maybe it's for a friend, you just want to pray for the wayward to come home.

Maybe you're the wayward in this time. And you're here today to say, Lord, I trust you. I want to be saved today. As we sing, you come this morning.