Hi, this is Pastor William. On behalf of the members of Providence Baptist Church, I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and thank you for joining us. It is our joy to share God's truth, and we trust that the preaching of God's Word will always bless His people. But we humbly remind you that no recording can ever replace biblical corporate worship or true Christian fellowship. So we encourage everyone everywhere to commit themselves to the service of God's kingdom in a local church. And we pray that the Lord keep and bless you as you continue to earnestly seek Him. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. If you have your Bible with you, open to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. Now chapter 11, As we said last week, it underscores faith as that unwavering assurance and conviction of things hoped for, but things not yet seen. And it shows us that faith has always been the characteristic of God's people. And it points us to that ultimate fulfillment in Christ. So true Christian faith combines the knowledge, belief in that knowledge, and a trust in what is said of Christ for salvation. And this is all grounded in scripture and God's promises. This chapter emphasizes that faith should guide a person's actions, despite the challenges posed by a fallen world and our own inclination towards sin. This chapter highlights individuals, presents them to us as examples that have come throughout history, who demonstrate biblical faith, beginning with Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, and emphasizing this profound significance of genuine faith in the Christian walk. We're gonna start again in Hebrews 11, verse one. But our focus is gonna be verse four. So, 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." So here, the author of Hebrews not only defines Christian faith for us, but also interprets the Old Testament through a Christian lens, showing us the proper way to read about people in the Old Testament, about the events of the Old Testament. And here he highlights the pivotal role that faith plays in the lives of Old Testament figures. The author views the Old Testament as containing foreshadowing elements that point to the coming promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, And those examples that are laid out, they look forward to the promised Messiah, just as we today look back to Christ and his crucifixion. And we all look forward to the complete fulfillment of the promises of a true new heavens and a new earth. This hermeneutic, if you will, of reading the Old Testament emphasizes that Old Testament saints look forward to faith in the promised Messiah and placing their unwavering confidence in God's promises. And that's what we should seek to do today. And then he showcases figures like Abel and Abraham and Moses. And the author underscores how faith was central to their relationship with God and their response to his promises. How can you have a relationship with God when you don't believe what he says? And that's what we said last week. That's the underlying principle of Christian faith, is that we believe what he says. This approach encourages readers that the Old Testament, or to read the Old Testament, encourages us today to read the Old Testament with a Christian perspective, recognizing that all of these examples laid out foreshadowed the faith that we would have in Christ today, bridging the gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and reinforcing the fact that faith is a timeless and essential element of redemption. So with that in mind, let's take a look at the faith of Abel, which is the first example given in verse four. It says, 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. So we know this reference is to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4 verses 1 through 7, which says, 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. And 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. I mean, there's a lot here. But the focus is, of course, on the faith of Abel. And we can tell some about that by looking at the comparison being made. Cain's offering was of the fruit of the ground. He was a farmer. They both had very agrarian life. Everybody then had a very agrarian life. You had to work in the field in some way if you were going to have sustenance for life. So Cain, worked the ground. Probably wheat or something, who knows? Squash, eggplant, whatever it was, it was the fruit of the ground. Abel, he was a shepherd. He kept sheep. And he brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And it is said that the Lord had regard for Abel's offering, but not for Cain's offering. So, he had regard for. The King James says he had respect unto Abel and his offering. The NIV says that the Lord looked with favor upon Abel and his offering. The New American Standard says that the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. Notice that it's not just the offering, it's about Abel. He had regard for Abel. He looked with favor upon Abel. I like, actually, the New Living Translation, which said the Lord accepted Abel and his offering. So the Lord accepted one but not the other. He accepted Abel's offering but not Cain's offering. So why? Why would God accept one? Why would God accept Abel's offering but not Cain's? And there are many opinions about this. If you have a study Bible, I'm sure somewhere in there there's an opinion about this. And some have argued that Abel's offering was accepted because he offered his very best, the firstborn, the fat portions, while Cain kept the choicest produce for himself. So Cain and Abel, and certainly that would have offended God. That would have offended God to keep the best for yourself. I mean, he is after all, the one who provides the produce. It is by his hand that you have any crop at all. It's by his hand that you have a firstborn in the flock. Then here we have Cain and Abel, both part of that first generation born naturally. And they certainly would have heard of the Garden of Eden, and they would have heard of Adam's sin and the banishment, and they would have heard the story of the curses and the promises given just in Genesis chapter three. And take note that in verses six and seven that we read, it appears that God spoke directly to Cain. He spoke to Cain. So how did Abel know that his offering was accepted? How did Cain know that his offering was not accepted? It is possible that these offerings were brought to Adam, who may have acted as the priest for that family. I also read in some other commentaries that it's possible that they brought these offerings. Remember, this is before the deluge. This is before Noah and the flood. So they brought these offerings right to the gate at the garden where the cherubim sat and protected the way to the tree of life. They brought these offerings there. So God may have been speaking audibly right to Cain and Abel. However it happened, the implication is clear that there was ongoing revelation here. In some way, God was communicating, either audibly, or maybe just in their own minds and hearts, or maybe through Adam, or maybe through this cherubim, we don't know. But they knew, Cain and Abel knew, they certainly knew and understand who God was. They certainly knew and understood who God was. They knew that God was their creator. They knew that God was their provider. But only Abel acknowledged this truth. Only Abel acknowledged God's worthiness by his actions. He was worthy of the firstborn, the best, and the fat portions. I don't care what modern medical says, the fat portions on the steak are the best. That's the best part. That's the part with all the calories and all the flavor. They knew that as well. So to just offer that up for the Lord, that meant something. So others argue that Abel's offering was accepted because God had specified that only an animal sacrifice was acceptable. Well, There's really no indication that this is the case. Remember, we're in chapter four of Genesis. We know now that only blood can atone for sin, but we're on the other side of the incarnation. We're on the other side of thousands of years of revelation and 66 books recorded. And we know that those 66 books don't contain everything that God has said throughout history. So we have all of that telling us about the incarnation, telling us about the substitutionary atonement of Christ. But to think that Abel understood all of those things, I think is to assume too much. This offering was an act of worship. I don't think that this generation struggled with, does God really exist or not? I don't think that's what they struggled with at all. They knew it. They knew it, just like, I don't think that Israel, coming out of Egypt, struggled with, is God real or not? They saw the things that happened. But Cain and Abel were offering, their offering was an act of worship, because they knew there was a God. Cain and Abel were showing what they thought of God's worthiness in that action. And we know from Leviticus that the produce offerings were acceptable to God. We know that to be the case. In Leviticus 2.10, the grain offering is actually described as a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord. But the real clue as to what's happening is found in God's response to Cain. In Genesis, 4, verses six and seven, the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why is your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? That's what it said about Abel, that he was accepted, his offering was accepted. And continuing, he says, 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. Now, we've noted in the past that the author of Hebrews likes to quote from the Septuagint. which is the Greek translation of the ancient Hebrew text. I think that's important. I really do. Because there you have a bunch of Greek, or a bunch of Greek-speaking Hebrews who understood the Old Testament, both in the writing and in the oral traditions. And so, when they translated the Hebrew into Greek, they had a better understanding than anybody else could have had. And so the Septuagint here is what Hebrews is actually quoting in the Greek, and it says, in verse seven, it says, did you not sin when you offered your sacrifice correctly, but you did not divide it correctly? The point is, it wasn't the gift. It wasn't the gift that was brought that was rejected, it was the giver. Cain was rejected. His offering may have been acceptable in any other case. But it was Cain that was rejected. Consider this, Matthew chapter 15. Verses seven through nine, this is Christ speaking. You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. These are the words of Christ, the promised Messiah, speaking to first century Israel. This is after the exile to Babylon. Before the exile, the people outwardly worshiped idols. They struggled with idolatry. In large part, the nation was a nation of polytheists, worshiping many gods, and they just worshiped Jehovah in addition to those. But after the exile, after the exile, they didn't struggle with this issue. They were monotheists when they got back to Jerusalem, when the Lord brought them back. They were monotheists. They didn't struggle with worshiping false gods. but they still struggled with idolatry because they made God out to be something that he wasn't. They didn't believe as they should have what his word said, but they did profess to worship one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But here's Christ saying that that's what they say, but that their hearts are far from me. That's what they say with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. So the Lord is looking upon their hearts. And again, 1 Samuel 16, verses six and seven. This is the prophet Samuel. And he is about to anoint King David, but he's looking at Jesse's sons. And verse six says, and when they came, he looked on Eliab. This is Samuel. He looked on Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. He looked at this young man and thought, that is a wonderful specimen of a human. And surely this is the one. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his statue, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees, but looks on the, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. This was the issue with Cain. God could see his heart, and his heart was not right with God, regardless of his sacrifice, regardless of his offering. God is far more concerned with what's in our hearts than what's in our hands. When we come to worship, God is far more concerned with what's in our hearts than what's in our hands. In Luke 21, verses 1-4, we have this story. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. So here is Christ with his disciples, and they're watching as people are going through and putting their offerings in the box. And he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. This woman gave all that she had because she trusted God. She trusted God and she gave all that she had. This is like the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17, when she fed the prophet Elijah, she said, he asked for something to eat and she says, all I have is a little bit of oil and a little bit of flour and I'm gathering sticks and I'm gonna go back and make some bread for me and my son and we're gonna eat and die. That's what she thought, I have enough to make a cake for me and my son and then we're gonna starve to death. And Elijah the prophet told her, you feed me first and that oil and that flour will never run out until it rains. And he was speaking on behalf of God. This was the prophet Elijah. She believed him. and she fed him first. And true to his word, God ensured that that oil and that flower never ran out. So there's two points to learn from this. First, Cain's offering probably would have been accepted if his heart towards God had been right. Who knows what all was going on with Cain? He certainly showed himself prone to envy and hatred. Certainly he was capable of murder. That was the first record recorded murder that we have. He may have convinced himself that what he was doing was right. Look, I'm going through the right actions. I'm checking the box, but God is just being spiteful over petty things. but he wasn't checking his heart. Remember what Jeremiah 17, nine tells us, that the heart is wicked. The heart of fallen man is wicked. We can deceive ourselves so easily. Jesus tells us the same thing in Matthew chapter 15, when he says that our hearts are the wellspring of sin. So when we set our hearts against the desire of God, when we set our will above the will of God, Is it any wonder then that King David penned the words in Psalm 139 when he says, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting. When the Lord tells us, let no man deceive you, he means to start with yourself. Don't deceive yourself. Have you ever been in this situation and asked yourself, how could I have said that horrible thing? How could I have done that? How could I have been so rude? How could I have been so sinful in my behavior? God gives us those moments. When you study sin, and the fall and sin and the punishment thereof. Our confession tells us, God gives us those moments, not to condemn us, but to enlighten us, so that we do not get too confident in ourselves that we're walking upright before God. But he shows us the sin that still dwells in this fallen flesh, so that we may rely more on him, so that we may seek him more. So that's the first point, that's the first lesson to learn from Cain is to check yourselves, to test yourselves, to search your hearts and your thoughts and don't be complacent about it. The second thing is the danger of envy and comparison. Cain's reaction to God's acceptance of Abel's offerings shows the destructive power of envy and comparison. You are who you are and you are the only you there is. God made you to be who you are. And when we become envious of someone else or their possessions, or we begin to feel inferior because we are comparing ourselves or what we have to someone else, it can lead to tremendous sin. We should guard against these tendencies and focus on our own individual relationship with God, recognizing that He provides us with all that we have. He provides us with what we have. He provides us with what He wants us to have. Now, that does not mean that we aren't to be diligent and to strive towards being productive. because he calls us to do that, to take dominion. But he knows who we are, and he gives us what we need, what he wants us to have, and he values us and our unique contributions, and he desires our sincere devotion. Now this short study of Cain's unacceptable offerings gives us some insight into why Abel's offerings were acceptable. It wasn't because he brought the first born and the fat portions thereof. Yes, he brought the very best, but why did he bring the very best? Because his heart towards God was to show God's worthiness. We can see that in the comparison between the two, but it is Hebrews chapter 11 that confirms for us how to read that passage. So we look at that in Hebrews 11, four, it says, by faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, by faith. In other words, Abel believed what God had spoken up to this point. That's what he was acting on, what God had spoken. Now, Genesis 3, while cursing Adam for his sin, God also promised that a Savior would come that would make things right. A Savior would come that would make things right, implying a Savior would come and fix this relationship that you have broken and bring you back into the garden. Now, that's not really what's going to happen. We are going to be better off in the new heavens and the new earth than Adam was in the garden. It will be better than it was in the garden. But that's what the Savior is coming for. That's what the Savior was promised in that. And we know that this was on the minds of Adam and Eve by their reaction at the birth of Cain. Eve said, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. Now I did some study of the Hebrew here, and what I could find on it, and the indication is that Eve may have thought, really thought that Cain, the firstborn son, was the savior that was promised in Genesis chapter three. The Hebrew there is a little tough to translate. From what I can get, what it actually says verbatim is, I have gotten a son, the Lord. but there's no punctuation in the ancient Hebrew. So it's kind of hard to know. But what we can tell is that if these, that these things were on the mind of God, they were looking forward to it. They believed. And so they were looking for the promised Messiah. So yeah, she'd never been pregnant before. Nobody had been. There had never been a child born. So that's what, when this happened, that was her immediate thought, that this is God fulfilling the promise. Now, we know that that wasn't the case, but it was pointing to it. It was pointing to it, yes, there was gonna be a savior just like that infant-born son that was coming. So these things would have been on the mind of Adam and Eve, so surely they would have spoken them to Cain and Abel. Surely they would have spoken of these things, and we know that anybody that's spent time around a child knows they ask questions. What happened before that? Well, what happened before that? Well, eventually Adam was the one that said, well, son, before that, there was nothing. There was nothing before that. I woke up in the garden and There was nothing before that, but they asked questions and we know that. So the point is that Cain and Abel both knew that God had spoken up to this point. They knew what God had spoken up to this point in the story of redemption and Abel believed it. He trusted it. Cain didn't. We don't know why. I can imagine it would have been a heavy burden if Eve had kept pointing to him and saying, you're supposed to be the Messiah. Stop acting like this. That would have been a terrible burden upon a boy's shoulders to think that way. But I don't know that that's the case. What we do know is that Abel believed God. Abel had confidence in God's word. Abel's heart was right towards God, therefore his offering was acceptable. I dare say that even if Abel had messed it up a little bit, he got the firstborn, but it wasn't quite as perfect as he thought. He might've missed the blemish or something. I dare say that God still would have accepted it. because his heart was right with God. And we see other cases in scripture where, especially when the Israelites are coming back from the exile in Babylon and they're setting up worship again, they're not getting everything right, but the Lord is accepting their worship because their desire is to be right with God. Because God cares more about what's in your heart than what's in your hand. By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice through which he was commended as righteous. Abel was commended as righteous. Consider what that word means, commend. In the military, you have commendation awards. Same root word, commendation awards. When you get a new job, you are looking for recommendations from people to recommend. It is to formally or officially recognize somebody or something as worthy of praise. And so God commended Abel as righteous because by faith, Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice, by faith, because Abel believed God. Remember, God considered Abraham as righteous. He was accounted as righteous. Not because Abraham's actions were perfect. The only thing we know about Abel is that he offered an acceptable sacrifice. He was born after Cain, offered an acceptable sacrifice, and Cain killed him later. We know that about Abel. We know about Abraham's sin. It's recorded. We know how he lied and misled. We know that. So Abraham is obviously not accounted as righteous before God because of his perfect behavior. No, he's counted as righteous before God because Abraham trusted God. Abraham believed him. So when God said, hey, get up and move your stuff over to this place, because I'm going to show you a land where I am going to bless you and all the world through you. And what did Abraham do? He believed it. How do we know that? Because he picked up all this stuff and he moved. He had faith, he was convinced, he was convicted that God's word is true, what God said is true. And God testified of Abel's righteousness by accepting his offering. He accepted the offering, which testified that Abel was righteous, was right before him. He rejected Cain's offering because Cain was not right before him. Jesus also testified of the righteousness of Abel in Matthew 23, 35. Calls him righteous Abel. Apostle John also testifies of Abel's righteousness in 1 John 3, 12. So he's counted as righteous because of his faith. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. Romans 15 verse four says, for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. Abel's example is recorded for us in scripture. His example of faith is given to us for our edification. It is recorded for our edification. His example of faith continues through this author of Hebrews to instruct us in regards to how we approach God in worship and how worship is acceptable before God. So Hebrews 11 gives us greater insight into the story of Cain and Abel. And it gives us an example and teaches us about genuine worship and the importance of living by faith in God's promises. The importance of genuine worship. If there were two points to take away from this, I would say this, the importance of genuine worship. The faith, that's where we see it played out for Abel, and that's the starting point in Hebrews. The faith of Abel highlights the significance of offering our best to God in worship, whatever it may be. Now, we don't slay lambs anymore. We don't bring grain offerings. Abel's offering was accepted because he gave with a sincere heart. He gave believing in God's promises and trusting in God's worthiness. In our lives, we apply this lesson by ensuring that our acts of worship, whether in prayer, in praise, or in service, are done with a genuine and sincere heart. It's not just about the outward actions, but the attitude of our hearts that truly matters in our relationship with God. You will stumble over your actions. We will trip up. We have all done it. We've all been in those awkward moments where it's our turn to pray and we just go blank. But what's in your heart? That's what matters. You're not, I promise you, there's no amount of words or quality of words or anything that you can string together that is going to bless God outside of your faith in Christ. It is about the heart towards God that matters. And that is only through Christ. So the importance of genuine worship. And then the second point would be faith-based living. Living out your faith. Abel's faith in God's promises and his willingness to offer an acceptable sacrifice based on that faith set an example for us. Just as Abel believed in God's redemptive plan, even though it hadn't fully unfolded, he believed that there was a promised Messiah coming. We can apply this by living our lives with faith in God's promises. We know that the promised Messiah came. We're believing in his return. Even when we don't have all the answers, or when our life, the circumstances of our life seem so incredibly challenging, we can trust in those promises. Abel's faith continues to speak to us today, to be an encouragement to us to trust God's word and live accordingly. And that begins with simply believing what God's word says. And as an unbeliever, the first and most important thing to believe is, I'm not perfect. I'm not perfect. but Christ is. Now, I've heard this said other ways to believe that I'm not good enough. Well, good enough for what? You're good enough to be doing what you're doing now. And I don't think that's what scripture says without the proper focus. You're not good enough to get into heaven as you are. That's why the saviors came. It's not about whether you're good enough to do this or do that. That's a whole different aspect, a whole different thing, a whole different question to ask. We're talking about salvation. We're talking about that promise. I'm not perfect, but Jesus Christ is, and it takes perfection to get into heaven. That's the first step in believing the word of God. Accept that, believe that. Remember, If you walk away with one thing, I know we've made a couple of points here, but if you walk away with one thing today, this is what it would be. When you come to worship, remember, God is more interested in what's in your heart than what's in your hand. This is the example, this is the example that is set by Abel and his faith. And this is what's laid out for us in Hebrews chapter 11. Let's pray.