So we're continuing a series in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 11, a chapter in Hebrews on faith.
! And David will be up in a moment to teach for us.
But first, let's read together.
We're going to begin with Genesis chapter 4.
This is God's holy word.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.
And again, she bore his brother Abel.
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.
And the Lord said to Cain,
Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted?
And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.
Cain spoke to Abel, his brother.
And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain,
Where is Abel, your brother?
And he said,
I do not know.
Am I my brother's keeper?
And the Lord said,
What have you done?
The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
And now you are cursed from the ground,
which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
In Hebrews 11, verses 1 to 4,
the writer says this,
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen,
for by it the people of old received their commendation.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God,
so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,
through which he was commended as righteous,
God commending him by accepting his gifts.
And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
This is God's holy Word.
Our text this evening is Hebrews 11 and verse 4.
Let me read it to you once again.
Down through human history, there have been many examples of men and women
who refused to be silent in the face of oppression and injustice.
Their voices could not be silenced,
despite perhaps great pressure, persecution, even intimidation.
And as we turn to Hebrews 11, verse 4 tonight,
we are being, as it were, summoned to listen to a voice
that similarly refuses to be silent.
And that voice is the voice of Abel.
This is where the writer of Hebrews begins in his great gallery of men and women of faith.
And though Abel's life was one cut short by violence and murder,
yet nonetheless, his voice echoes down through the centuries to us this evening.
Though he died, he still speaks.
And so what is it about this man Abel that continues to speak to us down through the generations?
What makes his voice so enduring?
What message does his life continue to proclaim?
What does he have to say to us this evening?
Well, there's a lot in the text.
I want to highlight just three things from it tonight.
Tonight, we're going to do this, Abel, in one sermon.
I think I mentioned last week, I'd been looking at the sermons of Thomas Manton.
He had eight on this one text.
That is not a line that I will be taking.
You'll be glad to know.
Three things I want to highlight.
First of all, I want you to notice that through faith,
Abel offered what we might call an acceptable sacrifice.
By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
And so, we are being taken back by the writer to these early chapters of the book of Genesis,
and especially to chapter 4 of that great book,
to this famous account of Cain and Abel.
Before the fall, Eden, the garden, was, as it were, a sanctuary of the Lord,
a kind of natural tabernacle where God met with Adam and Eve.
It was a holy place.
It was a place of fellowship and perfect communion with God.
But with the entry of sin, all of that changed.
Judgment fell.
Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, driven out of the garden.
And Genesis 4 is a chapter that begins to describe the reality of life in a sinful and fallen world.
Along with sin comes disease, decay, disorder, and death.
Here is life in a world that has been spoiled by sin,
and in which men and women have become alienated from God,
and indeed from one another.
Here is life east of Eden.
And the story of Cain and Abel is one that reflects this new reality.
And it's interesting that first and foremost,
it's a story that begins and describes this new reality,
first and foremost, as being about worship.
That's the first thing highlighted in the text of Genesis 4.
Genesis 4, verse 1,
Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain.
I've gotten a man with the help of the Lord.
Again, she bore his brother Abel, Abel a keeper of sheep,
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 the firstborn of his flock
and of their fat portions.
Two brothers, Cain and Abel,
children, one commentator says,
children of the eighth day.
And they bring their worship to the Lord.
They are acknowledging Him as the giver of life,
the one to whom they owe honor and respect and praise.
And they each bring some of the fruits of their respective callings.
And they bring them as sacrifices to the Lord.
Cain brings some of his harvest.
Abel brings an animal from his flock.
But the worship,
the sacrifice they make,
the worship they bring,
the offerings they make,
have, we are told,
a profoundly different result.
And so we read in Genesis 4-5,
the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
but for Cain and his offering,
he had no regard.
And so Cain was very angry,
and his face fell.
Some translations say the Lord looked with favor.
That is, he accepted the sacrifice of Abel,
but rejected Cain's offering.
Why was that?
What were God's reasons
for accepting Abel's worship
and at the same time rejecting Cain's?
Now, there are a number of theories and suggestions.
We won't go into all of that,
but, you know,
some suggest it was because of the difference
in their offerings.
Cain offers the fruit of the ground,
his crops, and his vegetables.
Abel offers a blood or an animal sacrifice.
But that's not really what the text tells us.
And anyway, both of those kinds of offerings
are deemed acceptable in the Old Testament.
The text of Genesis 4 says,
the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
but for Cain and his offering,
he had no regard.
In other words, the emphasis here is on the person,
not on the quality or type of the offering.
It's the condition of the worshiper
that appears to be of first importance here.
And I think this is exactly what the writer
to the Hebrews is highlighting when he says,
by faith, Abel offered to God
a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
Why was Abel's worship and sacrifice
more acceptable?
The answer is faith.
Why was Cain's worship unacceptable?
There was a lack of faith.
The critical thing was not the sacrifice
or the offerings made,
but the spirit in which those offerings were offered.
Because God looks not just on what is offered,
but on the heart of the one bringing the offering.
The difference between the two brothers
was Abel listened to God,
trusted God, obeyed God.
Whereas Cain, the implication here,
simply did his own thing.
Yes, they both offered their produce.
They both offered sacrifices.
But the difference was not in the offering,
but in the man, in the men.
Calvin writes of Abel,
his sacrifice pleased God
because he himself was pleasing to God.
Abel's heart was given to God,
while his brother Cain brought his offering
in a completely different attitude and spirit.
And that's what we see clearly
in the text of Genesis 4.
Verse 6,
The Lord said to Cain,
Why are you angry?
Why is your face fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted?
If you do not do well,
sin is crouching at the door.
It's desirous for you,
but you must rule over it.
When his offering is rejected,
you see Cain's reaction,
his response,
betrays what is in his heart.
You'll notice that he doesn't confess his sin.
He doesn't ask for forgiveness.
He doesn't throw himself on the mercy of God.
There is absolutely no sense of sorrow or humility
or repentance before God.
Instead, he is raging.
He is full of anger and resentment.
And his response reveals arrogance and presumption.
I mean, who does Yahweh think he is?
I've done my bit.
Haven't I made my offering?
Haven't I brought my gifts?
Isn't that good enough?
There's that kind of underlying assumption
that God is obligated to accept him
no matter what.
I have discovered over the years,
lots of people still think like that.
I've done my bit for God.
I went to church at Christmas.
I put something in the offering.
But religious formalism
is absolutely death to the soul.
God looks not simply at what we bring to him,
but why and how we bring it.
He looks on the heart of the one bringing worship.
Is that worship being offered in faith?
Is there trust in God and in his word?
Not all worship is acceptable to God.
It's quite possible to offer worship
that's actually all about ourselves
and not God.
And that is the way of Cain.
The important thing about worship in one sense
is not whether it suits me, fits my taste,
but actually whether it fits God's taste.
Not am I comfortable with this,
but is God honored in this?
Not does this give me the right feelings,
but is the living God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit glorified?
Who's the primary consumer
towards which our worship is offered?
Is it myself?
Or is it the living God?
True worship springs from a believing heart.
And the key to worship that honors God
is faith.
For Cain,
it was not merely the presence of sin,
but the absence of faith
that was decisive.
It was through faith
that Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice.
Brings me to the second thing here.
And that is through faith,
Abel was commended as righteous
and accepted by God.
Our verse goes on,
through which he was commended as righteous.
God commending him
by accepting his gifts.
And again,
we have this language
of commendation,
acceptance.
Abel was commended as righteous,
and that commendation
was to be seen
in the acceptance of his gift,
his offering.
And this really is a descriptive,
it's really a miracle
of divine grace.
Abel, a sinner,
is commended,
considered,
counted as righteous.
We're not to read this text
and draw the conclusion
that somehow Abel
was inherently righteous.
Far from it,
he was unrighteous.
He was a sinner.
He was living east of Eden.
It was only through faith
that he was commended as righteous.
By grace,
he looked towards God.
And in faith,
he trusted in him.
By faith,
he was commended
as a righteous man.
And that commendation
was not a reward
for Abel's perfection.
It was itself
a gift of God's grace,
received by faith.
Because righteousness
is never something
that we ourselves
can manufacture.
It is something
that God gives
and bestows.
And so,
it doesn't matter
who we are this evening.
If you want to be accepted
by God,
if you want to be counted
as righteous before God,
there is only one way.
And that's through faith
in Jesus Christ.
Only in coming to God
in humble faith
and trusting in him
and in his provision
can we be commended
as righteous.
The way of arrogant
self-sufficiency,
that is the way of Cain,
is always a dead end.
John Calvin writes,
of that faith
which strips us
of all arrogance
and leads us naked
and needy to God,
that we may seek salvation
from him alone,
which would otherwise
be far removed from us.
In the previous chapter,
the writer of Hebrews
quotes from Habakkuk 2.5.
That's in Hebrews 10.38.
The righteous by faith
shall live.
Men and women of God
do not live
by their own achievements,
but only through faith in God.
Our lives are to lean
wholly and solely
upon God himself.
We sometimes sing those words,
I dare not trust
my sweetest frame,
but wholly lean
on Jesus' name.
The American
Reformed theologian
B.B. Walfield
wrote these words,
The saving power of faith
resides thus
not in itself,
but in the almighty
Savior
on whom it rests.
It's not faith that saves,
but faith in Jesus Christ.
Strictly speaking,
it is Christ that saves
through faith.
The saving power
resides exclusively
not in the act
or attitude
or nature
of faith,
but in the object
of faith.
Abel was righteous
before the Lord
by faith
in the coming
seed of the woman
who would crush
the serpent's head.
That is Jesus Christ.
By grace,
he was saved
through faith.
That not of himself,
it was the gift of God.
By faith,
he became
the first human being,
as it were,
to be justified and
brought into the presence
of God
and made perfect.
Only faith
in Jesus Christ
brings acceptance
with God.
Only through Christ
can we bring
acceptable worship.
And it's interesting
that this idea
of acceptable worship
is actually one
that we find
throughout the New Testament
and throughout
the epistles.
Peter,
for example,
speaks of offering
spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2.5.
In the very next chapter
of Hebrews,
the author speaks
of offering to God
acceptable worship
with reverence
and awe.
Hebrews 12.28.
Philippians 4,
Paul writes
of the gifts
he received
as being a fragrant offering,
a sacrifice
acceptable
and pleasing to God.
Philippians 4.18.
And then,
most famously of all,
Paul writes
to the Christians
in Rome.
He tells them
to present their bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable
to God,
which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12.1.
Worship means
offering to God
ourselves.
It's always a response
to what God
has revealed
of Himself.
And worship,
therefore,
involves the whole of life.
It involves
all of us.
It's not a hobby.
It's not a pastime.
We sometimes sing,
love so amazing,
so divine,
demands what?
My soul,
my life,
my all.
I recall many years ago
how old,
back in the 1980s.
So that's how old that is.
That's a long time ago.
And I remember
as a younger Christian
seeing the Christian artist,
the guy called
Jeffrey Stevenson.
And he was doing a mime.
I actually think
he became an academic.
I think,
actually,
might be a lecturer
at Edinburgh University
if he's the same guy.
And this mime,
which made quite an impression
of me,
if I'm sitting in the pew,
I won't do the mime.
You'll be glad to know.
I'll be going too far.
But he was sitting in the pew.
And in those days,
there was an offering bag
passed around.
And as it came to him,
he mimed this bit.
He's kind of putting his hand
in his pocket
and he takes out a few coins
and he drops them in.
And then the offering bag remains.
And so he reaches for his wallet
and he takes out some notes
and he puts it in.
Put it in the bag.
Bag remains.
And so then he,
eventually,
he kind of takes out
all the coins
and his wallet
and he takes off his watch
and he takes off his ring
or whatever else,
puts it in the offering bag.
And so,
still the bag is there.
Until eventually,
he places it on the ground.
He steps into it
and then pulled it over his head.
It was a very powerful visual image.
Christian worship involves
everything that we are
and all that we have.
We're to hold nothing back from him.
That was the big difference
between Cain and Abel.
Faith and no faith.
William still was a prominent
Scottish minister
of last century.
And he has a comment
on this passage
in volume three
of his collected writings.
This is what he writes.
Cain's heart well knew
why his offering
had not been accepted.
He was not in it.
It was a kind of concession.
Whereas Abel was in his sacrifice
as a humble,
believing sinner.
There is all the difference
in the world.
I think that hits the nail
on the head.
He was not in it.
He was not in the sacrifice.
He was not in the offering.
He was not in the worship.
Let me ask you tonight,
are you in the worship?
Are you in the singing?
Are you in the ministry?
Are you in the offering?
Or are you going through
the motions?
Are you worshiping
the way of Abel
or the way of Cain?
William Temple wrote
these words,
You have to trust God
to worship like that.
You have to believe in Him.
You have to cast yourself
on Him.
You have to give yourself
to Him.
For trusting Him
will lead to joy,
not sadness.
To freedom,
not slavery.
To life,
not death.
To hope,
not fear.
True worship begins
with a heart
that trusts God's character
and clings
to His grace
and mercy.
through faith,
Abel offered
an acceptable sacrifice.
Through faith,
Abel was commended
as righteous
and accepted by God.
And then thirdly
and finally here,
through faith,
Abel continues
to speak
even after death.
And through his faith,
though he died,
he still speaks.
Abel's life
was cut short.
He became
the first martyr,
first to die
for his faith.
And yet the writer
to the Hebrews says,
His voice is not silent.
He still speaks.
He still bears witness.
He still testifies
to God's goodness
and grace.
What does he speak of?
Let me mention
three things
very briefly.
I think he speaks
to us of the cost
of faith.
Abel's faith
led him
to a bloody field,
just as the faith
of countless saints
has led them
to persecution,
suffering,
and death.
And yet in their deaths
they testify
that God is faithful.
Abel's blood,
we're told
in Genesis 4,
verse 10,
cried out
from the ground.
The voice
of your brother's blood
is crying to me
from the ground,
says the Lord.
God heard that cry.
And God hears
the cries
of his people.
They are never ignored.
And if you're suffering
for your faith,
take heart.
Your voice
is heard in heaven.
Actually,
John,
the apostle,
takes this incident
and uses it
as a kind of word
of encouragement
for those
he was writing to.
He says,
for this is the message
that you've heard
from the beginning
that we should love
one another.
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 brother's righteous.
Do not be surprised,
brothers,
that the world hates you.
God sees the hatred
of the unrighteous
for the righteous.
And he says,
you know,
don't be surprised
sometimes
if the world hates you.
And there's a kind of comfort
here
for God's people.
Abel's blood
cries out
for justice.
But vengeance
and justice
are not things
we're to take
into our own hands.
These things
are matters
for God.
God will act
in justice.
His will
will be done.
The God of the Bible
is not deaf
or blind
to the evil
and injustice,
the many evils
and injustices
we see in this world.
And even if the world
does not care,
there is one who does,
and that is God himself.
Thomas Manton writes,
the blood of a martyr
hath a loud voice
in the ears
of God.
The cost of faith.
And then,
I think also
he speaks to us
of the triumph
of faith.
Death
could not silence him.
His faith,
though it cost him
his life,
secured
eternal commendation.
He is alive
in God's presence.
His example
calls us
to persevere
in the way of faith.
And yes,
people may mock
our faith,
maybe our families
misunderstand that.
Maybe our own hearts
are sometimes,
you know,
tremble.
But faith
in God's promise
will never be put
to shame.
And there's a reminder
here of the powerful
impact a life
of faith can have.
As we live
on the basis
of what God
has promised
us in the gospel,
who knows
how God
might be pleased
to use our testimony,
even after
we're long gone.
The life
of faith
you're living
today
may yet
become a legacy
for your children
or your grandchildren.
We may never
know the full
extent
and impact
of our witness
in this world.
So let me
encourage you
to remain faithful
and to keep on
in the way
of faith.
sometimes we feel
we can feel
as if our testimony
of faith
has been rejected,
maybe even despised.
Yet God may use it.
Though he died,
yet still he speaks.
Abel still lives.
He's part of that
great cloud of witnesses.
And he urges us
to trust God,
to bring him
the same kind of worship.
a kind of worship
in which we give
ourselves
wholeheartedly
to the Lord.
And then a third
thing here.
I think Abel
also speaks
and points us
to Jesus Christ.
In the very next
chapter
we have another
mention of Abel
and it's one
that makes a very
direct connection
with Jesus.
The author of Hebrews
talks of
coming in worship
as we were thinking.
perhaps this morning
of the city
of the living God.
And to Jesus
he says,
verse 24,
the mediator
of a new covenant
and the sprinkled
blood
that speaks
a better word
than the blood
of Abel.
So what's this
connection between
the blood of Jesus
and the blood
of Abel?
Well, as I mentioned,
back in Genesis 4
we're told that
Abel's blood
cried out
from the ground.
What have you done?
The voice of your
brother's blood
is crying to me
from the ground.
Abel's blood
cried to God
from the ground
and demanded
justice,
demanded condemnation,
demanded judgment.
But while
the blood
of Abel
called for justice,
now the blood
of Jesus
speaks of something
very different.
It speaks not
of vengeance
or judgment,
instead
it speaks
a better word,
a word
of forgiveness,
a reconciliation
with God.
What can
wash away
my sin?
Nothing
but the blood
of Jesus.
What can
make me
whole again?
Nothing
but the blood
of Jesus.
The blood
of Jesus Christ
is an atoning
sacrifice.
It is the
reality to which
Abel's animal
sacrifice
pointed.
In Genesis 4,
Abel's offering
and the language
used to describe
it reflects
later Old
Testament
regulations
for making
atonement for
sin at the
tabernacle and
temple.
Because the
worship of faith
draws near to
God on the
basis of
sacrifice.
That theme
runs right
throughout the
biblical witness
from Genesis
to Revelation.
And in the
previous chapter
here, the
writer of Hebrews
reminds us
that that
sacrifice is
nothing less
than the blood
of Jesus Christ.
Remember he
says in
Hebrews 10
19,
Therefore,
brothers,
since we have
confidence to
enter the
holy places
by the
blood of
Jesus,
by the
new and
living way,
he opened
for us
through the
curtain,
that is
through his
flesh,
and since we
have a
great priest
over the
house of
God,
let us
draw near
with a
true heart
in full
assurance
of faith,
with our
hearts
sprinkled
clean from
an evil
conscience,
and our
bodies washed
with pure
water.
The blood
of Jesus
Christ speaks
to us a
word demanding
not condemnation,
but deliverance
and salvation,
not expulsion,
but reconciliation,
not pushing us
away, but
welcoming us
in.
And it's at the
cross of Christ
we see the
blood that
can make
even the
foulest
clean.
Sometimes
when, on a
Sunday, we've
had people
round for
lunch,
occasions I've
sent them on
ahead with
the keys
for the
house, because
we've been
delayed, and
sometimes they
feel a bit
uncomfortable
letting themselves
into the
house.
But it's a
fact that I've
given them
the key.
I've given
them access.
I want them
to go in.
Sinners, we
always feel
uncomfortable
about our
sin, and
that's a
healthy thing.
But God
has sent
His Son
to die
that we
might be
forgiven.
And that's
the key to
God's
presence.
Forgiveness
and His
righteousness.
And that's
the key to
worship.
He doesn't
ask us to
try and
feel, you
know, feel
we've got
access.
He asks us
to believe
that it's a
fact.
And He
invites us to
come to
Him by
faith.
He has
given us
the key, as
it were, and
that key is
Jesus.
Hebrews 10,
19 doesn't
say, since we
have confidence
to enter by,
you know, how
well we've been
doing as a
Christian this
week.
It says, since
we have
confidence to
enter by the
blood of
Jesus.
In other
words, it's
nothing to
do with how
well or
badly we've
been doing.
It's entirely
to do, completely
to do, with
Jesus' death.
That's what
makes us
acceptable to
Him as we
are.
So what does
Abel's faith say
to us tonight?
Well, if you're
not a believer,
it says, come to
God.
Not with your
own works, not
in your own
effort, but
trusting in the
sacrifice of
Jesus Christ.
Come to God, not
with your own
merits, but
pleading the
blood of
Jesus.
Come by faith
in the one
whose sprinkled
blood still
speaks a
better word
than the
blood of
Abel.
And if
you're a
Christian, it
says, hold
fast to your
faith.
Even when it
leads through
the valley of
suffering, God
will vindicate
you.
To the
weary and
the struggling,
it says, your
voice like
Abel's will
not be
silenced.
Your faith
will endure
beyond the
grave.
And so the
invitation then
is to join
this great
cloud of
witnesses we
see in
Hebrews 11,
offering to
God the
sacrifice of
faith, trusting
in the blood
of the Lamb
who was
slain.
By God's
grace, may it
be true of
us, that
even when
we're like
Abel long
gone, our
faith like
Abel's of
old will
still speak
and point
others to
the God
who is
faithful
forever.
Let's pray.
God, our
Father, we
thank you for
your rich
mercy and
grace.
we thank
you for
your great
love for
us in
the Lord
Jesus
Christ.
We thank
you for
the shed
blood of
our Savior.
We thank
you that it
speaks to
us a better
word than
the blood
of Abel.
Lord, receive
our worship
this evening
as we
offer
ourselves to
you in
faith and
trust,
confident not
in ourselves
but in
Jesus Christ,
our great
and mighty
Savior, and
in whose name
we pray.
Amen.