Hebrews 11:4

I invite you to join me in your copy of God's Word in Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

On your bulletin this morning is a quotation from a Puritan preacher by the name of John Trapp,

the context of this letter that we've been working our way through now for so many months is that,

as far as we know, this letter is written to a small church on the outskirts of Rome,

a group that's been sent out of Rome of Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews.

That's the title of the letter, Hebrews.

And they had suffered much for their faith.

Chapter 12, verse 4 says they had not yet suffered to the shedding of their blood.

No one had died in their church.

They had been publicly ridiculed.

They had been imprisoned.

Their material possessions had been taken.

And the temptation for this church was to go back to the ways of Judaism,

to return to the old covenant worship, thinking that it would be good enough.

We could worship as we once did and not suffer in this way.

And the author of Hebrews writes to them to say,

no, Christ is better.

Press on.

Persevere.

You have not done this in vain.

There's something that awaits you beyond this world.

Have, take up this living hope.

Show yourselves to belong to Christ.

To preserve your souls by your faithfulness.

He has been hard on them at times.

And he has been encouraging to them at times.

And this is where we find ourselves now as we concluded chapter 10.

And in verse 39, he said to this church he's writing to,

and I hope to us this morning,

but we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,

but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

And then he begins to give a description of what faith is.

So what does he mean by this?

This type of persevering faithfulness.

And he says in verse 1 of chapter 11,

now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction of things not seen.

So he says it's the surety in the promises of God.

Those things that God has spoken to us,

that we believe them.

And then in verse 2 he says,

for by it the people of old received their commendation.

Now the rest of chapter 11 is the author of Hebrews' tour

through the Hebrew Scriptures,

our Old Testament,

concerning the people of old who received their commendation.

Now when thinking commendation,

think approval.

This is how the people of old received their approval from God.

It was by their faith.

And the first in his tour through the Hebrew Scripture

is also the first martyr of the Bible.

A man named Abel.

A man who was killed for his faithfulness.

And I just absolutely love when the providence of God is made apparent.

God always is ruling.

Whether we recognize it or not,

he's always in control of all things at all times.

I just absolutely love it when I go,

thank you for being in control of all things at all times.

I made a schedule for us to preach through the book of Hebrews

that got thrown off course.

That got thrown off course by an illness that Clay had when he was scheduled to preach.

What a wonderful thing that we're not talking about Enoch this morning,

who didn't even die,

who was taken up on the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church.

I don't know what I would have done with that.

Praise God this morning that we get to look at the faithfulness of the Bible's very first martyr.

So our text for today is Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4.

Hebrews 11:4

And beloved, this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Hebrews 11, verse 4.

Hebrews 11:4

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.

Now upon an initial reading of the account of Cain and Abel,

Genesis chapter 4,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

one can find themselves rather confused.

Why is it that Abel's sacrifice was accepted and Cain's was not?

It feels a little arbitrary when you first look at the text.

The whole matter is a bit enigmatic, right?

Without some deeper, some more closer examination.

So this morning, I want to do that with you.

I want to look at that text a bit.

And then we'll look at the commentary that the author of Hebrews gives us as well

to observe the faithfulness of Abel.

So mark Hebrews chapter 11 and turn in your copy of God's Word to Genesis chapter 4.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention Genesis 4 · chapter mention

And we'll read the first 16 verses,

which is this account of the story of Adam,

or excuse me, of Cain and Abel.

The second word in verse 1 is Adam, which I was staring at.

Beginning in verse 1 of Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

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.

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.

The Lord said to Cain,

Why are you angry,

and why has 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.

Its desire is contrary to you,

but 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?

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.

When you work the ground,

it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.

Cain said to the Lord,

My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground,

and from your face I shall be hidden.

I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth,

and whoever finds me will kill me.

Then the Lord said to him,

Not so.

If anyone kills Cain,

vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

And the Lord put a mark on Cain,

lest any who found him should attack him.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord

and settled in the land of Nod,

east of Eden.

And the episode ends there.

But what does it all mean?

Augustine wrote on the matter in his famous work,

The City of God,

which I commend to you,

where he explained Cain was first born,

and he belonged to the city of men.

After him was born Abel,

who belonged to the city of God.

Augustine saw that Cain and Abel

approached God and the things of God

with radical difference.

Jude wrote in Jude verse 10,

and the first part of verse 11,

These people blaspheme all that they do not understand,

and they are destroyed by all that they,

like unreasoning animals,

understand instinctively.

Woe to them,

for they walk in the way of Cain.

There's a juxtaposition being made here

between these two brothers.

It is this difference that we want to understand this morning,

that the author of Hebrews intends for us to understand,

the way of Cain

and the enduringly faithful way of Abel.

He wants us to find ourselves identifying with Abel,

being those who have faith

and preserve their souls.

In order to do so,

we will put them against each other,

juxtapose them

with particular attention to Abel

in the following outline.

So here's the outline for our text this morning.

Number one,

Abel's worship by faith.

Number two,

Abel's wholeness by faith.

Number three,

Abel's witness by faith.

If I printed notes for you on the back of your bulletin,

you could see the cleverness of the alliteration.

Worship,

wholeness,

with a W,

and witness.

Number one,

Abel's worship by faith.

The very first part of verse four says,

by faith,

Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice

than Cain.

To do something by faith,

it must be connected

to a word from God.

We are not faithful willy-nilly.

We are faithful in God's promises

and in God's commands.

Paul writes in Romans chapter 10,

Romans 10:17

verse 17,

so faith comes from hearing

and hearing willy-nilly.

That's not how the verse ends,

is it?

And hearing through the word of Christ.

So,

there must have been something

that undergirded

Abel's faithfulness

and Cain's

faithlessness.

God must have given instructions

for sacrifice.

Otherwise,

how does the text in Genesis 4

make sense

in light of Hebrews 11,

4,

who is here,

the author,

saying that it's by faith

that Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice.

It must be that God told Adam and Eve

and therefore Cain and Abel

that their sacrifices

were to be made

with animals.

In Genesis,

death enters into

the garden.

Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

we see the rebellion

of Adam and Eve

and the curse that follows.

And because they were

working to hide

their nakedness

and their shame

with fig leaves,

God instead

makes for them

more suitable clothing.

And what does He do

in order to make

more suitable clothing?

He sheds the first blood.

The first death

enters into the garden

because of the sinfulness

of man.

It would seem,

as a result of this,

that sacrifice

began

at this

time.

It's likely

that Cain and Abel

understood

their need

of atonement,

of replacement

death

for them

to be found

acceptable

before God.

At the first reading

of this text,

and I have

for many years,

thought that this

was the first time

that Cain and Abel

had attempted

to worship the Lord.

This was the very

first time they ever

had brought sacrifice

before God.

Like, look at these two

just suddenly getting

the idea that they

should offer a sacrifice.

Right?

And they came up

with what they had,

and God commended

one and was unhappy

with the other.

However,

at this time,

if you look through

genealogies,

Cain was 129 years old.

likely lived lives

of worship

toward God.

And then Genesis

Genesis 4:3

chapter 4,

verse 3 reads,

In the course

of time,

Cain brought to the Lord

an offering of the fruit

of the ground.

And in the course

of time is more

literally translated,

at the end

of days.

At the end

of days.

Indicating

the end

of a specific

period

of time.

Likely,

we can't know

for sure,

but likely,

a time that God

had designated

for a regular

sacrifice.

It was probably

a time that God

had given

for them

to come

and offer

a sacrifice.

At the end

of that time period,

they came to offer

their sacrifice.

So God

had given

instruction

as to how

they were

to worship.

And Abel

worships faithfully

according to the

prescription

that God

had given him.

Cain

does not.

Cain

comes to God

in his

own way.

Cain

is thinking

he has a

superior way

than the way

that God

had commanded

them to come.

Cain

may have

reasoned

in this way

and I'm just

going to read

this to you

quickly

because I think

it was well

written,

better than I

would write

myself,

from a

commentary

by Kent

Hughes.

That Cain

may have

reasoned

like this,

what I am

presenting

is far

more beautiful

than a

bloody animal.

I myself

would prefer

the lovely

fruits of a

harvest

any day

and I

worked far

harder than

able to

raise my

offering.

It took

real toil

and sweat

and it is

even of

greater market

value.

Enough

of this

animal

sacrifice

business,

God.

My

way

is far

better.

It's

with this

kind of

attitude

that Cain

comes

and makes

his offering.

Cain's

offering was

the evidence

of his

self-righteousness

and pride.

He thought

he knew

better.

Abel

humbly

believed

God

and

obeyed

his

command.

He

came

to

God

with

a

submissive

penitent

heart

trusting

that God

would accept

him

through his

prescribed

means.

Further,

Cain,

upon having

his offering

rejected,

became

angry.

He thought

that he

had some

right to

worship

God

on his

own

terms.

And when

that way

was not

accepted,

he stamped

his foot.

God is

being unjust

towards me.

I thought

I was

doing a

thing that

was good

and proper.

And God

in his

great mercy

goes to

him.

This

astounds

me in my

reading of

this story.

He becomes

angry at

God because

God doesn't

accept his

unacceptable

sacrifice.

Genesis 4

5 says,

so Cain

was very

angry and

his face

fell and

God comes

to him

and he

speaks to

him,

verse 6

and 7,

why are

you angry

and why

has your

face fallen?

If you

do well,

will you

not be

accepted?

Cain has

the opportunity

here to

repent.

You were

right,

God of

heaven and

earth.

You told

me the

way in

which I

should come

and worship

you.

the doing

well of

verse 7.

But what

does Cain

do instead?

He remains

angry.

He does

not

repent.

His mom

had to be

talked into

sinning.

He couldn't

be talked

out of it.

And his

anger

finally and

fully finds

its vent

in the

murder

of his

brother.

God

will

to

God

on

his

terms

and

not

our

own.

We

are to

submit

ourselves

humbly

to his

good

commands,

trusting

that we

will be

delivered

by the

atoning

work of

Jesus

Christ

on our

behalf.

God.

We are

to come

to God

on his

terms.

And there

is no

other way

to properly

worship God

than through

the sacrificial

work of

Jesus Christ.

There's no

other way.

If you don't

place your

faith in

Christ,

if you're not

found in

him,

clothed in

his

righteousness,

then anything

you attempt

to do

for

God,

toward

God,

will not

be accepted

by him.

But if you

are in

Christ,

if you

belong

in him,

in his

righteousness,

you've been

buried by

baptism

into his

death,

you've been

raised to

life in

him,

then we

can do

no wrong.

In all of

our feeble

efforts,

God accepts

us because

he accepts

us in

Christ.

Don't lose

sight of

what the

author of

Hebrews has

said in

the previous

chapter.

We walk

through these

texts so

slowly.

Just back

in Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and verse

14,

the author

wrote,

for by a

single

offering,

he has

perfected

for all

time those

who are

being

sanctified,

set apart

by the

single

offering of

Christ

himself.

Offered

once for

all.

And then

in verse

18 of

Hebrews

10,

where there

is forgiveness

of these,

there is no

longer any

offering for

sin.

Praise God

we have no

need of an

altar in our

gathering place.

There is no

altar here.

If you're in a

Christian church

that claims to

have an altar,

it should make

you cock your

head a little

bit.

I don't know

what's happening

in this place.

We don't make

sacrifice again

and again.

once for

all.

Jesus

accomplished

this work.

And it's

by faith

in Christ

that we

properly

worship

God.

That's

Abel

trusting in

the sacrifice,

the atoning

work of

this worship

that God

had prescribed

that commended

him as

righteous.

Which brings us

to our next

point.

number two,

Abel's

wholeness

by faith.

Abel's

wholeness

by faith.

This is the

middle part

of verse

four of

Hebrews 11.

Through

which he

was commended

as righteous.

God

commending

him by

accepting

his

gifts.

Proper

worship

comes by

faith.

Righteousness

being

declared

right is

also

the result

of faith.

We do

not know

exactly

how it

is that

the Lord

had regard

for Abel

and his

offering.

Jewish

tradition

holds that

a fire

came down

and consumed

it but

didn't consume

Cain's

offering.

But we

don't know

for sure.

But the

author of

Hebrews

under

inspiration

of the

Holy

Spirit

tells us

that God

commended

Abel

as

righteous.

Commending

him by

the acceptance

of

his

gifts.

saving

faith

is

accompanied

by

works.

The

works

do not

save

us

but

saving

faith

is

evidenced

by

works.

James

write in

James

James 2:17

chapter 2

verse 17

and 18

so also

faith by

itself

if it

does not

have

works

is

dead.

Verse

18

but

someone

will

say

you

have

faith

and

I

have

works

show

me

your

faith

apart

from

your

works

and

I

will

show

you

my

faith

by

my

works.

Abel

believed

in

God.

He

believed

in

God's

commands

he

believed

in

God's

promises

and

he

showed

that

he

believed

by doing

what?

By

obeying.

He

evidenced

his

belief

in the

fact

that

he

obeyed.

It

wasn't

the

work

that

saved

him

it

was

his

faith

evidenced

by

his

work.

This

is so

very

important

for us

to

understand

in

our

age.

Again

from

Kent

Hughes

I like

this

little

analogy

he

wrote

faith

and

righteous

works

are

like

the

wings

of

a

bird

there

could

be

no

real

life

no

flight

with

a

single

wing

!

Whether

works

or

faith

but

when

the

two

are

pumping

in

concert

their

owner

soars

through

the

heavens

authentic

faith

produces

an

authentic

life

that

flies

high

like

the

Abel

of

old.

It was

through

the

evidencing

of

Abel's

faith

that

God

declared

him

righteous

whole

Abel's

wholeness

by

faith.

And

then

third

and

finally

Abel's

witness

by

faith.

The

last part

of

verse

4

of

Hebrews

11

says

and

through

his

faith

though

he

died

he

still

speaks.

And

I

hope

that

the

end

of

verse

4

just

resonates

with

you

as

we

have

previously

considered

those

who are

suffering

around

the

world

even

in

this

day

for

the

name

of

Christ

and

Pastor

Han.

In

Genesis

Genesis 4:10

chapter 4

verse

10

Abel's

blood

cries

out

from

the

ground

for

justice.

Today

his

blood

cries

out

for

faithful

perseverance.

That's

what the

author of

Hebrews

is doing

all

through

chapter

11.

He's

saying

to us

look

look at

the

faith

of

Abel

and

press

on

to

the

end.

Your

end

may

come

soon

like

Abel's

it

may

come

long

like

others

but

press

to

the

very

end.

Don't

be

one

who

shrinks

back

and

is

destroyed.

Be

one

who

has

faith

and

preserves

their

souls.

Abel

speaks

to us

from

the

very

page

of

scripture

as

this

author

pens

this

letter.

He

is

not

silent

although

Cain

thought

he

was

silencing

him.

He

and

so

many

more

after

him

have

taken

their

place

with

our

Lord

and

glory

and

they

want

to

see

us

ushered

into

their

number.

They

are

longing

for

the

day

to

come

when

the

number

of

the

church

will

be

complete.

And

it's

to

this

end

that

the

author

of

Hebrews

is

encouraging

!

us

right?

Worship

by faith.

have

wholeness

by

faith

and

witness

by

faith.

Live

faithful

lives

and

preserve

your

souls.

Hebrews

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

chapter

12

and

verse

1

he

brings

chapter

11

to an

end

as

he

says

therefore

since

we are

surrounded

by so

great

a cloud

of

witnesses

!

Let

us

also

lay

aside

every

weight

and

sin

which

clings

so

closely

and

let

us

run

with

endurance

the

race

that

is

set

before

us.

Let's

pray

together.