Well, the Bible, let me invite you to come to Hebrews chapter 4, and I'll tell you now You may want to just be prepared to turn to Genesis chapter 4 as well We are in the Hall of Faith where the writer brings before us certain Old Testament figures who had saving faith Like faith with us and as we learned in verses 1 to 3 these folks from old were commended in verse 2 For by it that is by faith that people will receive their commendation And so tonight we're turning to consider Abel the son of Adam and Eve and the first of many Old Testament believers in this chapter whose faith Christians share and what I hope to do and intend to do is really sit in this chapter for a good long while and reflect on the faith of these different Old Testament characters and Why well because if we're a believer in Jesus if you are if I am What we all are this is our family tree these are our ancestors in the faith and Notice as we come to the passage Let me just remind you that the writer says by faith these believers did works that his faith was shown by what they did and That is because if you believe you do act on it. It does change you But this chapter is not commanding the works they did to us That is it's not saying just like Noah built an art You go build an art or or as Ray have gave friendly welcome despise you do too or at the end of verse 34 You must be mighty in war and put foreign armies to flax I mean they did those things through faith in God and so I say that because in verse 4 as we consider Abel It's not calling us to sacrifice animals like Abel did but we are called to have the same saving faith and trust In the Messiah frankly and for our salvation and so tonight we want to ask the question What do we learn about saving faith from Abel? And that's why we'll both look at verse 4 and consider Abel from Genesis chapter 4 Let me invite you to give your attention here to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4. This is the holy and inspired word of God By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than came Through which he was commended as righteous God commending him by accepting his gifts and Through his faith though he died He still speaks Amen, this is the word of God.
Let's look to God in prayer our Father Open our eyes to see wonderful things in your word especially Our Savior Messiah the Lord Jesus and grant us like Abel to trust our souls to him and to come to you through Our Savior in Jesus name we pray amen It's one sentence. There are three big phrases and I want to take them one at a time And so let me point out where we're headed here unless we're gonna learn first saving faith comes to God through blood sacrifice Abel offered a sacrifice an animal sacrifice to the Lord saving faith secondly receives from God his Announcement of righteousness the office gonna tell us Abel was received as righteous and then saving faith speaks on beyond the grave Abel still speaks it says so we're gonna think about those three things saving faith first approaches God Through a blood sacrifice notice this language of verse 4 by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than came And of course what he's referring to in Genesis chapter 4 And so you may want to just listen in but if you'd like to turn there I want to pick up the reading at verse 2 for a few moments and consider Abel and Cain and what the writer of Hebrews is telling us Notice beginning at verse 2 Or perhaps on it to let's see pardon me I'm at the middle of verse 2 is where I'm picking it up now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground and in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering But for Cain and his offering he had no regard So Cain was very angry and his face fell now Cain offered the fruit of the ground Abel the fruit of the flock Cain brought produce Abel brought an animal lion animal Well, I mean did he understand that his offering was somehow tied to God's provision in Genesis 3 of animal skins to clothe his people at the cost of a sacrifice and that's why he brought it or did the flaming swords of the angels at the entrance of Eden those sorts and Angels chair of the warning of death to anyone who would seek to return into the Garden of God Did that teach him that actually death or through death was the way to God or did he somehow tie his offering to Genesis 3 verse 15? the promise that the prefiguring that the one was coming and And the seat of the woman would be bruised for the redemption of fallen humanity or was there some other revelation given to him or to his parents Adam and Eve that they should come to God with sacrifice of animals We don't know the Bible isn't explicit But Hebrews is explicit about what Genesis 4 doesn't mention and that is by faith Abel did what he did Cain however did not do well. He did not come in faith He did not offer what God wanted offered Cain here says here's what I leave from creation and Abel says Here's what I need to offer you for redemption Cain says you're my creator Abel says be my redeemer King says I come to you through the offering I labored for and Abel says I come to you through the death of another And Cain's way is the way of destruction and Abel's way is is the way of being spared personal destruction Through the destruction of a substitute But notice in all of this how fatherly God is toward Cain he asks him questions So back in Genesis 4 verse 6 the Lord said to Cain why are you angry and why is your face falling?
If you do well, will you not be accepted and then the Lord said to Cain where is Abel your brother? He said I do not know am I my brothers keeper and the Lord said what have you done the voice of your brothers blood is crying to be from the ground So what's God doing God is actually drawing Cain out Inviting him to confess his sin he murders his older brother His Younger is younger brother. Yeah, yeah younger brother But Cain won't have any of it he won't listen in Genesis 3 as another put it Satan has to talk Adam and Eve Into sin and in Genesis 4 God can't talk Abel out of sin Now why is Abel's offering accepted in Cain's is not and God is an arbitrary here He isn't you know me you might know which do I like? What is Cain sin?
Verse 7 if you do well, will you not be accepted when the word told Cain to do well? He meant if you bring the kind of sacrifice that you know I desire if you do what is right in this regard But he didn't he deliberately did what was wrong first John 3 12 tells us again new testament reflection and authoritative that we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother and why did he murder him because his own deeds were evil and his brothers were Righteous how did Abel offer his sacrifice by faith faith was his response to God Cain disobeyed and able obeyed But why did God want them to come by animal sacrifice? Well ultimately, you know as Hebrews has been teaching us thoroughly that without the shedding of blood There is no forgiveness of sins that the wages of sin is death that as God had told them in in Genesis 2 before the fall Right you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil lest you die and so death is what is deserved as the penalty for sin And so the offering for sin the offering for sin penalty is to be a substitute in death In Genesis 3 we learned God made the first sacrifice remember to cover their nakedness and shame the skins of animals were the proper covering of Adam And Eve not the fig leaves they had supplied for themselves now in Genesis 4 the sacrifice of animals was the proper sacrifice for sin Not the produce they grew for themselves and in Abel's sacrifice the way it listen to how one put it enable sacrifice the way of the cross was Prefigured the first sacrifice by sinners was Abel's lamb one lamb for one person later Came to pass over with one lamb for one family then came the day of atonement with one lamb for one nation and finally came good Friday One lamb for the whole world So Abel has his eyes by faith fixed on Jesus He doesn't know that name, but he knows there's a redeemer coming a messiah to come Cain and he knows that he needs it But Cain doesn't admit his deed he won't admit that without the shedding of blood There is no forgiveness of sins and so he's upset when his offering isn't accepted thinking probably something like what ought to be good enough And he's really guilty of proud self-righteousness. I will do it my way I will give to you what I want to give to you and you ought to take it But Abel is trusting in the remedy of the shed blood of the lamb and is coming to God not in arrogance But in humility saying death is what I deserve Forgive me and receive me Through this substitute and so he was assigned to us We should imitate the faith of Abel who sacrificed an animal looking to the Lord who takes away sin by the sacrifice of another King says this ought to be good enough.
I've done my duty able says I am not worthy have mercy on me And so let's just pause and reflect here. Do we understand that this is how any sinner comes into the presence of a holy God The only way to come is through the satisfactory substitute of another's death in our place And so if I asked you if you were to die tonight you appeared before God in heaven and if he said to you Why should I let you in? What would you say? If your answer is I'm good enough or I've done my duty.
I tried to be a good person I was better than some of those others. I got a church. I've been baptized all of those answers if you're trusting in those answers We'll take you straight to hell. They all start with I I did this I did that It's all about me, but the correct answer is to say because Christ died for me and my only hope is him I deserve what happened to him Let his sacrifice be enough for me have mercy on me for his sake That's the first thing we come to God saving faith comes to God through blood sacrifice Now what was the result for able of doing so?
He was declared righteous. Notice that language saving faith brings pronouncement of God's righteousness and back in uh Hebrew chapter 11 Uh pick it up again at the beginning my faith able offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain Through which he was commended as righteous God commending him by accepting his gifts So faith in God's ordained sacrifice obtains his testimony that the center is righteous It's not that his own actions made him righteous They obtained the testimony from God that he is righteous because his actions proved his saving faith And through saving faith he was accounted Righteous in God's eyes. He was declared righteous Not on account of his own works But on account of the seat of the woman who came to crush the head of the serpent Whomself was bruised in his heel on the cross and prefigured in the sacrifice of the lambs Or who was prefigured in the sacrifice of the lambs who able trusted by faith so You believe the promise of the lord about this messiah had his work And you are accounted by God righteous first john chapter two says if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father Jesus christ the righteous one And of course we all sin And so we're not righteous But our advocate advocate is the righteous one and in the goodness of the gospel his righteousness Is accounted to us and God accepts us as righteous in his sight And so first Corinthians 130 says this christ Jesus became to us all who believe wisdom from god Righteousness and sanctification and redemption so that it is written like the one who boasts in the ward And so And so think about then what that means it means in god's eyes all of you who come take him through christ You are welcomed you are commended you are accepted As righteous perfectly righteous as righteous is christ Not in the merits of your own but on the merits of christ and uh warren weersby uh Illustrates this justification from a story about royces and if you've heard this before forgive me, but it's just a life on royces famous for right It's luxurious Vehicles its reputation for craftsmanship Kind of a car is the ultimate symbol of wealth and style and prestige and elegance It seems as weird as me that there was a man in england who put his rolls Royce on a boat and went across the continent to go on a holiday And while he was driving around gurep something happened to the motorist car So he cabled the the rolls Royce people back in england and said i'm having trouble with my car What do you suggest i do? And the rolls Royce people flew a mechanic over and the mechanic repaired the car and flew back to england and he left the man to continue his holiday As you can imagine that the man was wondering how much is this gonna cost me So when he got back to england he wrote a letter to the people and asked you well how much do i owe you He received a letter from the office in ruppai dear sir There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a rolls Royce Uh, that's justification god keeps no record of wrong He doesn't hold it against us and it of course is because he held our wrongs and the record of them against his own son And it's such a glorious gift and it is perfectly satisfied and accomplished in christ john flaville asks did christ finish his work How dangerous is it to join anything of our own to the righteousness of christ in pursuit of justification before god Jesus christ will never endure this it reflects upon his work dishonorable He will be all or none in our justification if he has finished the work what need is there of Our additions and if not if he hasn't finished his work to what purpose are they can we finish that which christ himself could not complete Did he finish the work and will he ever divide the glory and praise of it with us?
No, no christ is no half savior. It is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon christ For righteousness god humbles the proud by calling sinners holy from their own righteousness to christ for their justification So saving faith in the sacrifice of jesus brings god's pronouncement of righteousness and what effect does that have? Well, I think we can see some of it in in able and cane um If somebody points out your sin You don't have to get defensive You don't have to hide from god or your spouse Like adam and eve hid from one another in the garden and hid from god and you don't have to shift the blame like adam did and saying Well, it's her fault and it's your fault god because you gave her to me Uh, and and you don't have to try to cover up your shame with fig leaves You don't have to do any of that you can be honest about your sin and not be defensive about it because jesus is all your righteousness And so you can be honest about your own personal unrighteousness You don't lose anything by doing so you don't gain anything by pretending otherwise But the proud like cane can't be honest about his sin And not having a savior is a threat to him They can't be taken down a notch by being shown what they are the proud Because they have no security before god that he accepts them as if they were better than they are So after cane killed able verse nine the lord said he came where is able your brother and he said i do not know Am i my brother's keeper And of course the lord confronted him cane denied it not being justified he couldn't bear to admit And he thought his punishment was too harsh and this will happen too if you don't understand the gift of righteousness He thought his punishment was too harsh genesis for my punishment is too great to bear Able knew death for his sins what is what he really deserved anything less was grace But cane thought he was getting the raw end of the deal i don't deserve this i don't deserve what you're giving to me See how proud he was And and also if you're justified you don't have to be jealous of the lord's blessings on others But cane was mad god accepted able cane was angry at god Jealous of able envious of god's blessing on his brother and instead of humbling himself like able He nurtured his anger and murdered his brother. He wouldn't let it go.
He couldn't let it go He didn't receive the resources of god's gracious generosity In the gift of god's favor to himself So he couldn't be happy in the gift of god's favor to others But those who are declared righteous with god through faith in christ They know everything that happens to gift from god and like the angels in heaven They're learning to rejoice with even a prodigal brother who returns home and is met by the welcome of the father And so so important that we understand this saving faith comes to god through blood sacrifice and saving faith Commends us as righteous or god accounts us righteous in his eyes Because we're righteous in christ the righteous one and the last thing is the saving faith speaks on beyond the grave This is the end of verse four in hebrews 11 and through his faith though he died He still speaks how of course did able died? We mentioned that came in the Hebrew spirit of genesis four can't spoke to his able his brother And when they were in the field king rose up against his brother able and killed him There's an irony there One declared just by god was treated so unjustly by his brother And that's a that's a reminder to us That was as another point you could look at the story of able and say his faith didn't get him anything much here He got him killed by his brother You could say that seems kind of unfair But the author of hebers is saying no look able's faith is an example of what some of god's people have to endure You will we will all endure in justices in this life And it does great damage to give people false encouragement to say you know if you only have faith if you really just have faith and did not doubt Then everything will work out all right for you in this world, right? You'll be fine if you just believe enough name it claim it so to speak But actually more to the truth the author of hebers says you know if you are faithful if you're a person of faith You might just be killed for it And that was true of able and yet though he died he still speaks how does he still speak? Well, the lord said to came what have you done?
The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground Able's blood was spilled unjustly and his blood cries out for what it cries out for justice His blood cries out for justice just as the martyr's blood in Revelation 6 cries out for justice the martyrs Well, john says I saw under the altar the souls of those who have been slain for the word of god and for the witness They bore they cried out with a loud voice. Oh sovereign lord holy and true How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth How long before you bring justice for our martyrdom? And in verse 11 it says they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer Until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete who were to be killed as they themselves had been The blood of the martyrs cries out for justice the blood of able cries out for justice Yet his own voice and sacrifice in this world Called out for mercy through the sheblad of jesus whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of able Able's faith still preaches there is a blood that cries out for mercy Able's blood cries out for justice But he put his faith in the blood that cries out for mercy The blood of the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world and through faith in him You are declared righteous and so let me just ask you what will your faith preach from your grave? That is will anybody know What you believed?
Will anybody at your grave recall the just shall live by faith Will they hear at your funeral? I am a great sinner, but jesus is a great savior Will your legacy be what a great name you made for yourself or will your legacy be even in that moment of burial Your boast was in christ Maybe a prayer Father we put our hope in your son We thank you that he's the righteous one. We thank you for accepting us righteous Through him accounting his righteousness to us And so we saying salvation is of the lord from first to last And we ask that you would cause that righteousness That we have before you to reshape our hearts In jesus name we pray amen Amen, let's speak together