"Abel" Sermon: Hebrews 11:4

“Abel”

[Hebrews 11:4]

July 7, 2013 Second Reformed Church

            We began chapter eleven of Hebrews last week – “the faith chapter” – and we took special note of understanding the first verse:  “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, ESV).

            We saw this verse talks about faith being “the assurance of things hoped for” and “the conviction of things not seen,” and we understood that to mean:

First, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute certainty that everything that God has promised and said will come about, will come to pass, exactly as it has been given to us and received by us in faith.

Second, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute conviction based on the evidence we have received that things that are spoken of which are not seen by us, either by difference of time, or because such are invisible to our eyes have happened, will happen, and do exist, exactly as they have been given to us and received by us in faith.

We noted in the second verse that it was by faith the believers prior to the Incarnation were found to be pleasing to God.  And, so, this morning, we see that the author of Hebrews first turns to Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve.

We will remember that after God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, Eve gave birth to their first son, Cain, and then to their second son, Abel.  And we read:

“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 for 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” (Genesis 4:3-8, ESV).

Our reading this morning notes:  “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.”

All that having been said, we may still be scratching our heads, “Why did God accept Abel’s offering and not Cain’s?”

Well, what can we understand from the Genesis text?

First, we see that God told Adam and Eve how to worship Him, and Adam and Eve told Cain and Abel how to worship God.  We would be hard pressed to believe that Abel simply stumbled on to worshipping God in a way that pleased Him.  No, we have to believe that the unspoken history here is that God told Adam and Eve, and they instructed their children, how to worship God rightly.

Now, when Cain and Abel came to offer their sacrifices, Cain, being a farmer, brought the best food of his crop, and Abel, being a shepherd, brought the best of his flock.  If they had been offering up the tithe, it would seem that what they did would be right, because God says we are to give back to the work of God ten percent of our gross income.  For Cain, that would have been ten percent of the crops he grew, and for Abel, that would be ten percent of the flocks he shepherded.

Based on our text, we can reasonably draw the conclusion that Cain and Abel were offering up a sin offering.  And we remember:  “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22, ESV).  Cain’s sacrifice did not involve blood, Abel’s did – that seems to be a key to why Abel’s sacrifice was received and Cain’s was not.  Cain was trying to get away with offering a sacrifice which was not according the way God said that He was to be worshipped.

Thus, we can conclude that the way we worship matters to God.  We see at least three things that are necessary in Scripture that mark a faithful worship service:  the reading and preaching of the Word of God, the use of the Sacraments, and the practice of discipline.  By example, we could also add singing, prayer, the collection, and fellowship as biblical items which may occur in worship.

The way we worship God matters to Him.

Second, we see that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith – God accepted his gifts and commended him for them.

If Abel offered his sacrifice in faith, we must be able to identify a hope which he was assured of and/or a conviction of something that was not seen – as we gather from the first verse of the chapter.

The answer in this case is both:  Abel offered his sacrifice in hopes of something that he was assured of and with the conviction of something that was not seen.  Who or what was his faith in?  The Savior Who was to come – Jesus.

Surely, Adam and Eve would have told their sons about their sin and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the curses that God brought down upon them.  They would have also told them the Gospel message that God promised in the Garden:  “I will put enmity between [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).  This is the first promise of the Savior God would send, and it was a promise that Cain and Abel would have grown up with hearing.

So, Abel offered up his blood sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins, according to the will of God for worship, and in faith that God would send the Savior that He promised.

Thus, we can see that the state of our heart in worship matters to God.  Even if Cain had offered up a blood sacrifice, if he had done so without faith – without having received the promise of God to send the Savior and believing in it as a motivation for what he was doing, it still would have been rejected.  Likewise, if we go through the motions in worship, but have not received God’s Word and believed in His promises, our worship will be rejected – it will be sin. 

The state of our heart in worship matters to God.

Third, as we look at this morning’s text, we see that Abel was commended as righteous.  The word, “commended” in our text means “borne witness to, confirmed” – God bore witness to/confirmed the fact that Abel was righteous.  And God bore witness to/confirmed him righteous – publically – through the accepting of his sacrifice.

Now, consider, we are born spiritually dead, so, in order for us to be spiritually alive, God has to enliven our hearts – God has to change our hearts and make us spiritually alive.  In raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life, God declares us righteous, because those who are spiritually alive receive salvation from Jesus Who imputes/credits our sin to Him and His Righteousness to us.  Then, we are able to act in faith – having assurance in the things that we hope for and being convicted of the things we have not seen, which God has revealed to us and promised to us as believers.

Thus, we can see that Abel was justified by faith.  He received the imputation/the crediting of Christ’s Righteousness to him because he had faith.  He received Christ’s Righteousness because he had faith – he believed with assurance in the hope of Christ’s coming as Savior, and he was convinced by God’s promises of Christ’s coming – though he had not seen it.

John comments:  “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” (1 John 3:12, ESV).

And Solomon wrote, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him” (Proverbs 15:8, ESV).

And so we have confirmation of what we read in Paul’s writings, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28, ESV).  Abel was justified – he received Christ’s Righteousness – through faith, not through anything he did – not even his obedience in worshipping as God instructed that He should be worshipped.

Likewise, we are justified by faith.  We receive Christ’s Righteousness through faith alone – not by anything we do.  Remember the image of gutters and leaders I gave us for picturing faith – faith is the means of reception of Christ’s Righteousness which God declares is ours.

Our text continues, “And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”

Because Abel was a man of faith, his witness continues on.  As we have already seen:

Abel shows us that the way we worship God matters to Him.

Abel shows us that the state of our heart in worship matters to God.

Abel shows us that we are justified by faith.

We also see through Abel’s death that persecution is normal for Christians.

As Jesus prayed, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14, ESV).

And Peter warned his readers no to be surprised, but to expect tribulation:  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12, ESV).

Abel’s death also reminds us that we ought not to seek vengeance when we suffer for Christ’s sake.  Just as God punished Cain, God will bring vengeance upon all those who persecute His people.

As Paul wrote, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19, ESV).

And:  “This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:5-8, ESV).

So let us be prepared to suffer for the sake of Christ.

Let us not be afraid, but seek to do all things – and especially worship God – in accordance with the Will of God and with a heart that truly believes all that it has received through faith.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for the examples of Your people in history that You have preserve for us that we might learn from them and be inspired by them.  Help us to be people who worship You rightly, faithfully, and with a clean heart.  Help us to stand for You and not be afraid, not matter what threats or violence come our way for Your sake.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.