Hebrews: Hall of Faith

We're going to we're gonna have our bible readings. So we've got 2 bible readings. Again, you can find these in your booklets. And they are also going to appear on the screen behind me.

The first is from the very first book of the Bible And from the opening chapters, this is Genesis chapter 4, and then we're going to read from another book near the end of the bible called Hebrews. And both of those readings are there for you in your booklets. Adam, made love to his wife Eve and she became pregnant and gave birth to Caine. She said with the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man. Later she gave birth to his brother, Abel.

Now, Abel kept flocks and Caine worked the soil. In the course of time, Kain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. Enable also brought an offering. Fat portions from some of the first ball of his flock. The Lord looked with favor, unable in his offering.

But on Caine and his offering, he did not look with favor. And so Caine was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Caine, why are you angry, and why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door.

It desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Now Kain said to his brother Abel, let's go out to the field. While they were in the field, Kain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Kain, where is your brother Abel? I don't know, he replied, am I my brother's keeper?

The Lord said, what have you done? Listen. Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.

You will be a restless wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the lord, My punishment is more than I can bear. Today, you are driving me from the land and I will be hidden from your presence. I will be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me, but the Lord said to him, not so. Anyone who kills Kain will suffer vengeance 7 times over.

Then the Lord put a mark on Kain so that no 1 who found him would kill him. So Kain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of naught east of Eden. Kain made love his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city and he named it after his son Enoch. If you'd like to turn now to Hebrews 11 or rather just look down at that reading.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God's command. So that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith, Abel brought God a better offering than Kain did.

By faith, he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings, and by faith, Abel still speaks even though he is dead. Well, good morning. My name's Pete Woodcock. I'm 1 of the elders pastors of a church. Lovely to have you with us.

Lovely to have visitors from the families that we've just been giving thanks for what a joy to to see these kids. So wonderful. And we're really blessed as a church by having so many children and and also so many children's workers. There's there's a load of people out there teaching a hundred children or whatever it is, and it's just fantastic. Now we're gonna look at this story, but I guess I want to speak to parents or potential parents.

Let me just ask this question because in 1 sense that song asks the question as well. How far reaching is your vision or your plan for your children? How far reaching is it? What what what do you sort of want for your children at the end of their life perhaps or what do you dream for your children? I'm not talking about the end of your life, But what would you have hoped that they would have achieved that they would have been at the end of their life?

Do we ever think like that? What's your vision for them? Now obviously, we we all have the as parents are sort of vague idea that we want our children to be happy and we want our children to be stable. And perhaps, you know, you want your children to flourish and that achieve their potential. They're all good things.

Perhaps have money or fame. Maybe that comes into maybe you want them to have children and pass on your genes and the, you know, the family name or whatever it it goes on. There's that sort of desire. Sure. I think most of us are too busy thinking about smaller steps to sort of go that big sometimes, aren't we?

We're we're trying to get them through this crisis or get them into this school or get them into this club or get them through these exams or this mental health issue or or this physical problem or whatever it is. We're thinking in small steps. I was reminded of this verse or someone reminded me of this verse. And it's from a book in the bible written by John and the Apostle of a follower of Jesus. And he says this.

It's 1 little line. It's just it's just amazing. He says the world and all its desires pass away. The world and all its desires pass away, but Whoever does the will of God lives forever. It suddenly brings a new perspective, doesn't it?

What do I want for my kids? Everything in this world passes away. Or do I want them to live forever? Is it that, you know, this that and I think this story of Cain and Abel is really helpful for thinking this subject through. So that's why we're gonna have a look at it.

So the bible reading from the book of Hebrews in Hebrews 11 is really a commentary on the old story that you find in the book of Genesis, the first book of the bible. And it says this in verse 4, you can see it down there of of Hebrews 11, By faith, Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as righteous, When God spoke 1 of his offering and by faith, Abel speaks, still speaks even though he's dead. See the word commended there. You get it again in verse 2 of that chapter about the ancients being commended.

And it's telling us that the 1 commending is God. At the end of Abel's life, God says that was a good life. God God, not not just you, not just the world. God says that was a good life. God approves of the life that Abel lived.

And it's a very strong word the word commend. It comes from the word to be martyred. In other words, you you bear witness to something so much that you're prepared to die for it. You so believe it, you're prepared to die for it. It's that sort of thing that this word means.

This is amazing because at the end of Abel's life, God is saying, I put my life on this. I absolutely approve of the life of Abel. I commend it to you. That's an extraordinary vision for your kid, isn't it? But at the end of their life, it's not just people in a building like this saying dearly beloved, we're here to commemorate the life of.

But actually, god is saying, dearly beloved, I commend this man's life, this woman's life. There's another thing I hope you notice as well. Look. And it says this, Abel still speaks even though he's dead. Ab still speaks even though he's dead.

Now it doesn't say that of Cain. Now of course, Cain speaks in the sense that we can read his history and learn from his failures as we're going to do in a in a minute. But It says Abel talks in a way that he's sort of still alive. It seems that he's he's gone through death and now he's alive again, and he speaks. Seems that that's going on.

And the interesting thing is if you read the story or if you know the story, of Cain and Abel is that Abel lived a very short life. A life where actually his parents were at his funeral, sad to say. They knew the pain of knowing their knowing their second son's death. They outlive their second son. That's a painful experience.

Doesn't normally happen like that. But Cane, he went on to have children, and he went on to make a city That's just interesting, isn't it? At the end of Cain's life, a whole city might have come out and mourned him. But he's not commended by God. At the end of Abel's life, there was only a few around.

But he's commended by God even though it was a short life. The world and its desires pass away But whoever does the will of God lives forever. That's what's going on here. Okay. Let's get into this story then.

Let me break it down a little bit. And have a look at various aspects because I really think it's helpful and it's very helpful for for parenting as well. So first of all, the 2 brothers then. They had so much in common. Same parents, obviously.

Same racial background. Same economic background, same family, same home, all of that sort of stuff. They were both born into this world east of Eden. That is outside of the garden. That is outside of the the way God created us to be within the garden and within fellowship and friendship with him.

They were born into a world like our world, what it is our world, where there's wonderful blessings but there's also curses, where there's wonderful fruit, but there's also thorns and thistles. Where there's fantastic life but there's also death. They were both born into this world east of Eden. The only difference you can see about their upbringing, and it may be too much is that when Cain was born, Eve had a sort of thanksgiving service. She was thankful to God for him, but we're not told that of able.

Maybe, you know, they liked Kain a little bit more than it that they bought. Who knows? I don't know. Maybe he's reading too much into it. But they were both workers.

Cain was an arable farmer. He was into crops and fruit and veg and stuff. Abel became into a farmer into livestock. He was a shepherd. They both bought offerings to God so they both knew that you couldn't just come to God any old how.

You had to bring an offering that you wanted the offering to make God make you acceptable somehow. They they knew they couldn't just come to God. They had to bring some kind of offering. I guess, Adam and Eve, their mom and dad had told them what they had been up to in the car. I mean, I I just I was just imagining this week what that conversation was like.

You know, what what age were were Cain enable when Adam and Eve can, you know, fessed up to say, we blew it. You know? We were the representatives of the human race and we were in a garden and it was amazing and we blew it and we got thrown out and gone. I mean, was it at breakfast? Was it, you know, was it you know, bedtime story.

Now, you know, let me tell you about what your mother did. Says says Adam. You know, we we knew joy and peace in our heart. But we did something that made us utterly feel guilty. So guilty we felt we had to cover up.

We were very clearly told Cain and Abel that the wages of sin of going away from God, of making ourselves God, that that brings death. The wages of sin is death. We were very clearly told that. And suddenly we experience that. The alienation from God, The alienation from each other, that's why that's why me and mom argue.

The alienation from this world, that's why there's thorns and thistles. That the spiritual death that we we suffered now, it it it's impossible describe what it was like not having that guilt on us. The the the the the fingers that are now arthritic. You know, when you see mom and she's trying to dig up the potatoes and she's got those fingers that ate so much after a little while as well. We never had that in the garden.

And it's all come because we wanted to be God, and then we try to cover up with with fig leaves. I mean, here's a picture of me at me and at me and your mom be before the fall. Yeah. 0 0 0 no. Sorry.

That's we're naked. Now, here's a picture of us and we've got fig leaves on because we tried to cover up and it was like playing hide and seek with God. And God's asked the first question. Where are you? Now he knew where we were were, but he wanted us to see where we were, and we were we were trying to cover up and hide from God.

And God said, that won't do, and he provided animal skins. No. The wages of sin is death something has to die to cover you now. That's how serious the issue is with you trying to be god. That's how serious it is and you're banished from the garden.

That story was told to them. So the brothers knew they had to bring an offering to God. So there's the brothers. 2 brothers. Let's have a look at the offerings then.

2 offerings. They're very different. In the Genesis passage, it says in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the lord. But Abel also brought an offering fact portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel's offering But on Kain and his offering, he did not look with favor, so Kain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

And then you've got the interpretation of of that in Hebrews 11. By faith, Abel offered God a better offering than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offering. Now at first reading, it looks like, come on, God. It's a little bit arbitrary, isn't it?

They both bought offerings. What's up with you? I mean, we teach our children, don't we? That, you know, even though aren't moored has knitted you pink jumper that has like 3 arms and no hole for the head. You're okay.

You don't like it but you will write a letter and say thank you aren't bored. I love my new jumper. I mean, you know, we teach kids be thankful for the offering that's given to you. Even if you, you know, throw it away. So what's up with God?

You know, is it like taking a carnivore to a vegetarian restaurant. He said, oh, what do you think? Oh, I'm not gonna eat this, you know. What's up with it? Isn't it the fort that counts?

Well, the aesthetic it is. It's the fort that counts. We're told, listen, by faith. Abraham had thought about it. By faith, April brought God.

A better offering than Cain did. Abel's offering wasn't an accident. It wasn't just that he happened to be a shepherd that he brought a sheep, a lamb. He did it with thought It was an act of faith. Now faith in the bible isn't some religious mystical feeling.

Faith just simply means trust. He trusted what God said. The bible very clearly says about Christian faith, Christian trust, faith comes from hearing the message. And the message is heard through the Word of Christ. So Abel clearly heard.

What he was meant to bring. And he clearly knew that it was a picture of someone to come. The Christ. He knew that. And so he brings it with thought, with faith, with response to what he heard.

In that book of Hebrews where we read those few verses from chapter 11, there's a sentence that sums up a lot of the bible's thinking and it says without the shedding of blood, There is no forgiveness for sins. Now he would have heard that from Adam and Eve, his mom and dad. We put fig leaves on. God said they're not acceptable. God provided skin of an animal.

Without shedding of blood, without the taking of life, there's no forgiveness of sins. The wages of sin is death. So something has to die. So here's Abel, looking forwards, when he brings his offering. Looking back, he knows what happened with adam and eve and the skin, He's heard the word of what that means.

He's thought about it, responded to what God says, and looks forward to the point that went 1 day, a lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world will come. That's faith. That's Christian faith. And so his offering is based on what God will do for him and not what he does for God. Now Cain's offering is completely different because it's the thought that counts.

Kain thought that he could approach God with his good skills, his good fruit, His wonderful works. Look how skilled he was in order to take the ground and weed the ground and and produce these fruits of his hands, and God should be impressed with it. And so he brings see, he doesn't have faith in what God said, like Abel, he has faith in himself. He has trust in himself. I'm bringing this fruit and God should be pleased and say, wow.

That's skillful. Well done. Thank you for that. Do you see the difference? It's the difference between the fig leaves, and the skin covering with Adam and Eve.

In fact, when you read the story and think about it, which I've been doing this week of Kain, He clearly thinks he's a deserving 1. He clearly will not listen to God In fact, God gives him a chance. And he says, look, you know, if you brought what Abel brought, what Cain never says, sorry. What's the difference? Tell me the difference.

He's just very angry about it and depressed about it. He doesn't like a god like this. And God pursues him and says, Kaneas, you do the right thing. If you have faith, if you trust me, if you allow me to provide for you, Let me let me explain it. I've been reading a book.

It's it's an extremely heavy book. About philosophy and all of that sort of stuff. But 1 of the simple illustrations in the book, I just blew me away. And it's the difference between Christianity and what a lot of people think Christianity is. And he puts it very simply.

He says the difference is between like an n. You know, an n goes like this. It comes up and over and down. The difference between an N and a U, a U goes down and then up. And he says this, and this is what Kain is trying to do.

What we think Christianity is often or what we think religion is often or what we think about God is it we're down here. It starts with us. And we do our thing. We bring our offering. We bring the fruit of our hands.

We are good people. We are better than others. We work hard. We're kind. We bring an offering to God like the end going up.

And it comes to God and God says, okay, well then I'll bless you. And he then gives to us. You see? It's a transactional view of God. It's what you do with those machines that have chocolate bars in.

You know? You put your pound coin in, And if you put your pound coin in, what do you expect? The Mars bar to come out. If the Mars bar doesn't come out, and you've put your pound in, you, in your mind, as long as there's no cameras or anyone around, have the app absolute right to boot the machine and say, how dare you you took my money, you give me. It's an n way of treating God.

Transactional. I bring my offering, you bless me. That's what a lot of people act like God, and that's K. The other way though is God gives God gives the sacrifice. God gives the skin.

God gives the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He gives we come down the you, and when we realize that it's all of him, then we give praise to God. We bring our offerings of praise to God. It's out of praise to God that we do this, and that's the difference between Cain and Abel. Actually, if you look at the the Genesis 4 account, you you see that Cain isn't over generous even in bringing his offering.

It it says like some fruits, whereas able He brought the fat portions of the firstborn. All pictures of the 1 to come. I hope you've got that. So the offerings. If you haven't, I'm gonna rub it in in this third point.

Yeah. Abel speaks. Dead man's still talking. Someone said this. Death is never the last word for a righteous man, a man right with God.

That's what I want for my kids. That they never die. It will never be the last word. Just have a look at Hebrews 11 verse 4 again. Look.

By faith, Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as righteous. When God spoke well of his offering and by faith, abel still speaks even though he's dead. He still speaks. Yeah?

He's the first man that had faith in God. See Adam and he didn't need that faith. They saw God face to face. He's the first man of faith. So what are you saying?

Able. What's your sermon? Well, it's here, that 1. Able come oh, lovely to have you able? Can you come up here?

Cool. How old are you, mate? Come up here? Because you don't look too well. But anyway, come up here, what you're gonna say?

Dead man speaking. He speaks, and what's he gonna say? He's saying you've got to have faith in what God has done for you. Stop looking at yourself. Look at the generosity of God.

Stop loving yourself. You're all this nonsense you've got to learn to love yourself. It's 1 of those stupid things. Your love isn't big enough to satisfy what you need in love. You need to know God's love.

God is so big, so generous. Your love is like a little tiny sort of little bell or something. God's this mighty booming love. Fundamentally, everyone in this room knows you we're not acceptable to God. It's 1 of the reasons why some of us will not believe in God because we don't like the idea that we have to stand before a God someone who's bigger than us and give an account of our lives.

It's why we want to cover up. The book of Hebrews again says this, this is a I mean, listen to this sentence. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Nothing about you is hidden from God's side. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

He knows everything. Everything He knows more about you than you know about you. He knows your motives, your covering up, He knows you, God knows you, and it's all laid bare before him. And so the idea that there's a God like this makes us wanna cover up, put the fig leaves on. Try and sort of divert his eyes from our sins and our failures and our selfishness and say, well, look at the fruit, look at the things I've done, look at my skills, I I got some good exams.

Look look how clever I am. And we do that all the time. We try to cover up. With fig leaves. Even before each other, let me just think of social media how we have to present ourselves and not as real but as fake.

We're covering up. We're faking ourselves. And Abel is saying, Don't do that. Trust in Christ. There's a sentence in this book of Hebrews, again, another sentence.

It says the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from the acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. The blood of Christ cleanses to the very conscience right into the mind, everything. That's the cover, Abel saying. That's the cover, the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. That's to cover Abel speaking about.

There's another verse in Hebrews. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with full assurance having had our hearts cleanse of guilty consciences. It's Christ that cleanses us. And God's done this. It's the you.

He sent Christ He sent the covering. He sent the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And when you know that at the bottom of the you, you revel in it, and out comes your praise, out comes your offerings that is acceptable to God. That's what Abel is preaching. But hold it?

He's speaking because even his short life was a Christ like life. Because of his believing in in in Christ's offering in God's offering for him. He lives like Christ. Ab was a shepherd, Jesus. I am the good shepherd.

Abel was hated by his own. Jesus was hated by his brothers, Ab was the first 1 to be martyred Jesus died on a cross. But not only that, The blood of able speaks. There's a weird sentence in chapter 12 of Hebrews, the book that we're looking at. It says that Jesus blood speaks a better word than the blood of able.

Jesus blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. So what does the blood of Abel cry out from the ground saying? I was murdered, revenge. He had justice. This world is crying out for justice Yeah?

We see awful things happening, and this weather justice. Yeah? But the blood of Christ cries out mercy. That in justice, I will bring mercy. That's what the cross is.

I will take the sin of the world. I will be the just 1 in order to bring mercy. The blood of Christ cries out mercy. Mercy. Caine, if only you would see this, You could know mercy.

So let's wrap it up. 2 ways to live them. This is what we're going to teach our children, and this is what everyone in this room is. You're either a cane or you're either unable. It's fairly offensive because Cain was a murderer.

You're either a cane or you're either an evil. And what do you want your children to be? A cane or a naval? Now obviously, you don't want them to be a murderer. But the fundamental difference is not the murder, is their different understanding of God and their different approach to God which in the end will affect everything they do and could possibly lead to murder.

Because 1 is basing his life on merit. What he does. And if you base your life on merit, if that's where your fundamental heart is, if you base your life on merit, of being better, then you will always want to live in the light of that. I've got to prove myself. Or I've got to stamp on people to be better or remove people.

But at least I need to prove myself. And that means you'll be restless like Cain was. I've always got to prove myself. I've always got to get this next thing. I've always got to have this.

I've always got to find myself more. I've always got to prove myself or you live your life on grace. I don't deserve it, but I'm loved. I don't deserve it because I'm a failure, but it doesn't matter. I'm loved by God.

I'm I'm either going to live in the end in trying to shout out to God or to life. I've got to build the end to the top and then I deserve what I get. Or I'm saying, hey, God forbid, a flooded grace down. I mean, life is just way I can chill out. It's a bit like 1 of those things that's just in the world of adventures, isn't it?

You know, the end is is clicking up click click click click click click click click like that, and then down you go. But you know, the Christian life in 1 sense, I mean, this is a bit stupid and I wish I hadn't thought of it now. It's like, whoa. Whoa. Spash, and then it's sort chilling out, it's enjoying it because God loves me.

I'm not restless. I don't have to prove myself. I can put down my silly pride. I can put those arguments down that I'm better than. I don't have to make more money than you.

I don't have to have a bigger house than you, a bigger car than you. I don't have to have a better wife. I have. I actually have. Yeah.

What is the gift you're bringing God? If it's what God has done for you in the first place, If it's Christ, you are righteous. You are right before God. You know that grace. You can chill out.

You don't have to prove yourself. If it's I must strive I must do. It's quite an ugly life. It's quite an ugly life. Let me just read yet another sentence from the bible, but it's so rich this.

Listen. For it is by grace, Such a beautiful word. Grace is undeserved giving. For it is by grace, you have been saved. Now just the word saved, not save yourself.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God. Not by works. That's coming up the end. So that no 1 can boast.

You see, if it's by works I know God, then I'm better than someone who doesn't know God. If it's by work, so I know God, I'm better than my brother who doesn't know God. And yet my brother is a much nicer character than I am. If it's by works, then but it isn't. It's by grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so no 1 can boast. For we are God's handy work created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We'll do good works because we're creative in Christ Jesus to do good works, but it's not by works I get right with God. If it's by works, I'll be like Cain, and I'll be angry at God.

There isn't a transactional God. It's not fair, grace. Grace is not fair. I've been a good person. How can that bad person be made right with God?

It is not fair because you're thinking of the n and not the u. So what are we going to teach our children? Well, it's so vital that we teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's so vital that they know the lord Jesus Christ because if they have a short life, they'll live forever. It's not having a good innings like Kain, where a whole city will come out and say he built us.

But he's not commended by God. What are we teaching our kids? What are we teaching them? And what about you? Where are you?

Are you a fundamental and cane or an evil? Let's bow ahead some pray and then over to Tom. By faith, Abel brought God a better offering than Kain did. By faith, he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith, Abel still speaks even though he is dead.

Father we thank you that as your living word has been spoken to us this morning. We have heard the faith of Abel speak to us through your word. And we do pray that like him that we would not dare to or try to get right with you in our own strength and with our own offerings that we would turn away from trying to please you with the work of our own hands. And instead we would humble ourselves before you to realize that we have nothing to offer you and that we are so completely in need of God given grace. We thank you that Abel understood something of that that he bought his sacrifice knowing that he needed to trust in your methods and to do things your way and that he needed a sacrifice for his sin to be right with you and we pray that you would give us a similar understanding and conviction.

That we would walk with you on the basis of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice that you have made for us and we do pray for for many and we pray for Josiah again and for all the children learning about you right now, we pray that they would understand this from the very earliest days that by themselves They can't earn their way or buy their way into heaven, but that Jesus Christ loves them. And has done everything necessary to bring them there. Help us lord in Jesus name. Our men.