By Faith Abel Worshipped

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Greetings again in the precious name of our Lord and Savior. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Brothers, sisters, where would you rather be than a place like this this morning? I maintain that if we don't enjoy fellowship with God's people and sharing and worshiping together, how would we ever enjoy heaven? [00:00:35] Because that's what we're going to be doing all throughout eternity. There's no place I'd rather be this morning than with God's people. worshiping and fellowshipping with you. Open your Bibles again this morning for a message to Hebrews chapter 11. I'd like to this morning read the first four verses and zero in primarily on verse 4 then as it relates to this example of faith again. We're going to talk about Abel this morning, and I don't know if you see in verse 4 any type of worship or not, [00:01:13] but I'd like to say this morning that by faith, Abel worshipped. As Abel sacrificed, that was a form of worship in his day, in his time. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1 through 4. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained a witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. [00:01:55] We could talk about verse 1, 2, and 3, but I don't think I'll spend much time with that. I'll move right on into verse 4. By faith, Abel worshipped. Abel was a witness as to what true worship is really all about and what it takes for true worship. I'd like to divide it into three different points this morning. Verse 4 as it relates to this godly man, man of faith and his worship and what we can draw from that. [00:02:30] Point number one says that his sacrifice or his offering was more excellent. Excellent. More excellent than that of Cain's. He offered a more excellent sacrifice. Turn in your Bibles back to Genesis chapter 4 and let's read the account there where it actually took place. Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1 through 8, we have the account of where this took place, Abel's sacrifice. [00:03:05] And Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. In a process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground of the offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of the flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. [00:03:36] But unto Cain and to his offering he had no respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? Now why is thy countenance fallen? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted. Or if thou dost not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass, when they were in the field, [00:04:07] that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Now we could do a lot of speculating this morning as to this sacrifice and offering and what all it is and was and why it was that Abel's was acceptable and Cain's was not. Was it what they brought and so forth? We want to leave some of that and just look at some thoughts. It says in verse 3, it says, in the process of time, in the process of time it came to pass. [00:04:41] But they brought this fruit and this offering. Over a period of time, is what it's saying. Now it's very possible that there was a time in Cain's life that he did present to God in worship an acceptable sacrifice. But brothers and sisters, we know what happens in the process of time. Something happens to you and I in the process of time. So in the process of time, as we gather to worship collectively, or as I worship God privately, something happens. [00:05:19] Either that worship experience will take me closer to God, or I drift away from God. So in the process of time, something was happening in the life of both Cain and Abel. The songwriter says it so accurately when he says that neutral we cannot be. We cannot stay in the same state that we are in this morning spiritually. Either we will mature, develop, grow, or we drift and depart, and we drift and depart away from God. [00:05:56] So in the process of time, these two brothers came to worship. Cain, the Bible says, brought them through the ground. Abel, he brought a firstling of the flock. Now was that the problem, or was that the reason that Abel's worship was not acceptable? Maybe not, and actually at that time there were probably only two occupations of that time. Either they were as Cain, or sorry, as Abel, a farmer, a shepherd, herdsman, something of that nature [00:06:33] Or they were as Cain, a tiller of the ground And we know that, we talked about it in our class this morning That at that time and that day they were only to eat that which was produced from the ground That which Cain would have brought They were not to eat meat The animals, as I understand, were used simply for clothing That's what they were used for, to cover their bodies. So, I'm not sure if there's... Now, we know there's a lot of typology here in Abel's offering. [00:07:04] As he brought that, of course, a lamb pointing forward to Jesus Christ, that lamb. So there is typology. Again, I don't know if we want to spend a lot of time with those questions. Let's not spend so much time with that. Let's look at verse 4 and 5. And Abel, he also brought the firstling of the flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. [00:07:36] But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. He had not respect. God respected Abel's offering, and he did not respect Cain's offering. Or we could say that God had respect to Abel's worship, but not Cain's. Doesn't that tell us a lot about Cain and Abel? I think it does. It tells us considerably about Cain and Abel. that Abel had a relationship with God and God could respect that, but not Cain. [00:08:14] Again, typology. Cain was the firstborn. Abel was the secondborn. Cain was the first birth. Abel was the second birth. Now, does that tell us something? I don't know if it has any significance in this particular setting with Cain and Abel, But He does this morning to you and I. If we are going to worship God Almighty, we must have that second birth. Outside of the second birth, we will not worship acceptably our God this morning or privately in our private worship. [00:08:56] There must be that second birth experience. Jesus made it so clear when he was talking to the woman at the well and his conversation with him He said, outside of worshiping God in spirit and in truth, there is no worship God is a spirit and they that worship him must do so in spirit and in truth There has to be that second birth and the presence of God's spirit in our hearts [00:09:27] if we're going to effectively and acceptably worship God. You see, brothers and sisters, it is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God within you and I this morning as believers that unshackles God from the pages of history, those ancient pages of history, and allows God to be within you and I this morning. Outside of the Holy Spirit, God is not with us or within us. There must be that second birth. [00:09:59] Brothers and sisters, I am confident this morning that the organ, the bass guitar, the drums, the volume does not put my heart in a condition to worship God. It doesn't. It just doesn't do that. If I'm going to worship God, it's going to take an excellent spirit, an excellent heart, as Abel had. [00:10:40] His offering was excellent, the Bible says. It was acceptable to God. And it's going to take a heart that's pure and clean to worship God Almighty. You see, our body, our physical body, is made up of the five senses. And someone has accurately said that faith to you and I this morning is like the five senses are to this physical body. [00:11:13] I think one of the brothers mentioned that for us to touch something hot makes us aware of that, that it's hot. That's the senses. That's what's kicking in. Oh, by turning your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and I think this clarifies what I'm trying to say. As it relates to communicating and worshiping God in spirit, The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians here, in chapter 2, in the first several verses of chapter 3, he talks about three men and three minds. [00:11:52] And that's a sermon in itself, but I won't go into a lot of detail here. But these three men are the natural man, the spiritual man, and the carnal man. And all three of these men have different minds, different mindsets. They think differently. Sometimes, look at verse 9 But as it is written, I hath not seen, nor heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man Those things which God has prepared for them that love him Sometimes we preachers do injustice to this scripture Because we use this as a funeral message text [00:12:25] Talking about life hereafter Well, I'm not saying this morning that that's wrong Because I do believe that life hereafter is beyond what you and I can imagine this morning. But I wonder if the Apostle Paul is not talking about our experience this morning, here in this life. That it's beyond what our eyes can see and our ears can hear what God can do for you and I. [00:12:56] Because it says in verse 9, as it is written, having reference back to Isaiah chapter 64, And if you check that out, it's writing about the church and what God has in store for the church and their experience. You see, we as believers, as New Testament believers, have the sixth sense added to us. We have the best of both worlds. We have the five senses of our body, but we have another one added to us. [00:13:27] What's that? The spiritual sense. Look what it says in verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto who? To us. To us here this morning. By His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, ye the deep things of God. If we want to worship God this morning by faith, it's going to take the Spirit of God to understand the deep things of God. [00:14:02] and to worship him acceptably as Abel did. Yes, Abel, he brought a more excellent offering and sacrifice. And it's going to take the second birth in my life and your life to worship God. To truly worship God. Far too many want to worship God as Cain did, selfishly. [00:14:41] His heart was full of pride, jealousy, or it would appear that, at least, selfishness. The natural man and the natural mind, the carnal mind was controlling that man. But the spiritual man alone worships God. Romans 12, 1 and 2 says it very clearly, That our bodies are to be given as a living sacrifice And we do this only as a transformation of the mind And when the spiritual man begins to control that mind of ours [00:15:13] Then we worship and are able to worship God Point number two then We see in our text verse Hebrews 11 verse 4 That he witnessed that he was righteous Abel was a righteous man Because of a more excellent sacrifice He gives the report that he was a righteous man He is the first man listed in this catalog of men of faith [00:15:48] Who was called a righteous man It simply means that the word righteous means that he was innocent He was holy in character and act. He was just and right. It comes from the root word which means that he gave evidence that he was a righteous man, that he was right with God. Yes, he gave testimony that he would not divorce an excellent heart from right living. [00:16:20] It fits together. His excellent heart and spirit that he had was connected with his righteous living. Again, we could speculate a bit. Possibly, as I said, there was a time that Cain brought an excellent sacrifice. But in the process of time, something happened in the heart of Cain. John, in his writing, 1 John 3, verse 12, reinforces the fact that Abel was a righteous man. [00:16:58] He says, because his own works, speaking of Cain, were evil and his brother's righteous. And that's why he slew his brother. Cain's works were evil, but his brother's were righteous. A quote that I picked up as it relates to this, a basic factor in being right is an honest effort to do right. That's the bottom line. Basic factor in being right is an honest effort to do right. [00:17:30] We must always remember that someday we want to stand before Almighty Holy God who is righteous. And if I want to stand before a righteous God, then I must consider the fact that I myself must be doing right and be righteous in His sight. Genesis 4, verse 7, we read that verse where it says, And God told Cain, If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? [00:18:00] If thou doest not well, sin lies at the door. Now I don't know, did Abel go to his brother ever and remind him of his sacrifice that was not acceptable to God or not? The Bible does tell us, Jesus, in his own words, Matthew 23, where he had those hard and harsh words for the scribes and the Pharisees. And he says something like this to them. He said, you have killed the prophets, beginning from righteous Abel, the very first one, even to Zacharias. [00:18:37] So it would indicate that Abel was a prophet. And so maybe it may be well that he did go to his brother Cain. That's what prophets do. They love their people, they love those who they interact with, and they declare a message that's clear, that unless they repent, there'll be judgment. That's the prophet heart in a prophet. And I believe it may very well be that Abel went to his brother and reminded him that his offering was not acceptable to God, and he needs to do something about that. [00:19:16] And of course, in the process of time, we know that Cain killed his brother. Number three, then, because of his excellent heart and his righteous living, the Bible says in verse 4, testifying of his gifts, And by it he being dead yet speaketh. Can a dead man speak? Of course, verbally he cannot. But yes, a dead man can speak. And Abel is still speaking to us this morning, thousands of years later. He's still speaking to us. His life and his message is ongoing. Yes, he was murdered at the hands of his angry brother, but that didn't stop the message. [00:20:04] This message, as it relates to worship, is still with us this morning. What is that message telling us this morning? Number one, it's telling us that we must have an excellent heart, a spiritual heart, if we're going to worship God. Secondly, it does mean that we cannot compromise as it relates to righteousness, if we're going to worship God. Maybe it's telling us something else as well. Now, this blood that's crying out from the ground, as it says in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 10, how does the blood of Abel cry out for God? [00:20:45] Revelation chapter 6 verse 9 through 10 says, there's a host of those who experienced things like Abel did. They were martyred for their faith. And this host is crying out and saying, when God, when will the time come when vengeance will be taken on those who have unjustly destroyed us, killed us? And God is saying, wait, as it were in my own words, that time's coming. [00:21:20] That time's coming to a close. There are yet those who are going to have to experience what you've experienced. But the day is coming. The blood of Abel reminds God that justice someday will be measured on those ungodly men such as Cain. The blood of Abel speaks to God, as it were. It's still speaking. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 22 and 24. [00:21:53] I believe the blood of Abel speaks here as well. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly, and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. [00:22:23] So, what is the blood of Abel reminding us of this morning? Jesus Christ alone is that mediator between you and I this morning and God Almighty. His blood that was spilt for you and I is the only access and the only way that we will worship God. It speaks better things than the blood of Abel. It allows you and I entrance in boldness, the Bible says, to the throne in communion with God. [00:23:04] The blood of Abel still speaks this morning. Certainly it does. Reminds me that I am a guilty sinner. And outside of the blood of Jesus, I cannot worship God. Jesus my mediator, and access and root to the Father In closing, as we think of worship and I know that we this morning, New Testament believers [00:23:35] I believe there's a sense in which we can worship God this morning in a way that Abel probably didn't understand because of what I said, the presence of the Spirit of God the sixth sense has been exercised in our hearts But somehow these old men of faith, heroes of faith, had some understanding of worshiping God And we could go to the Psalms, and I invite you to do that sometimes Take your concordance and go through the Psalms [00:24:06] And look at all the times that David talks about worshiping God So that tells me that these men of faith, men and women of faith, had some kind of an idea and understanding of what it meant to worship God. I'm certainly not a Hebrew student, but I do enjoy looking at some Hebrew words occasionally and putting them, taking them back into the ancient Hebrew, into pictograph. Back when they drew pictures instead of using letters, back before they had letters. [00:24:38] So they used pictures to write what they wanted to say. And if you take this word worship, Psalmist David says in Psalm 96, Verse 9, O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 95.6 he says, O come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. What was David saying when he said worship? What was he thinking about? If you put this into pictograph, you have the first picture you would see in this word of worship was a doorway or a gateway. That was the first picture. [00:25:15] The next picture beside it would have been something like a fence. An enclosed area with a fence around it. And then the last picture was a picture of a man's teeth. Now in Hebrew, you always read from right to left. So let's read those pictures from right to left. And just picture in our minds what these pictures were supposed to mean. All right, so we have the first picture of a man's teeth. [00:25:49] And that represented consuming something. Now here in a bit, we're going to dismiss, we're going to go back here, and we're going to have a fellowship meal. And it's going to take my teeth, your teeth, to consume this food, right? It's going to take our teeth to consume it and to take it in. That's the first picture. If I'm going to worship God, then I have to be consumed with God Almighty. I have to take it in. There has to be some kind of consumption. [00:26:21] I'm consuming it, taking it within. The second picture was the fence. Now, in the children of Israel's mind, in the Hebrews' mind, what does a fence remind them of? What's that a picture of? Well, a fence is a picture of safety Okay, there's a fence around me So that's protection And the things that shouldn't be on the inside stay out there [00:26:52] Because there's a fence here And I'm safe on the inside That's interesting As I become consumed with God And I take Him into my life And there's a sense of there's safety then There's a protection. No, for Abel it wasn't physical protection, but there was a spiritual protection that no one could ever take out of the heart of Abel. Even if they killed him, even if they spilled his blood that speaks to us this morning, [00:27:22] they could not take that away from him. Protection. And then the third picture, the doorway. Now when I go out that door, and I leave this building, that opens me up to the outside. It's an entrance into something else. And they knew that when they saw a picture of a doorway, it meant a path or an entrance into something else. Brothers and sisters, I maintain this morning that if we become consumed with worshiping God [00:28:00] But in that place of safety and protection, we will find ourselves in ministries, in a path that we may never ever have dreamed that we'll find ourselves at the beginning. When we begin to go through that door. I can testify of that in my own personal experience, brothers and sisters. God has called me to things that I never ever dreamed that I would have been called to. When I said, God, I want to be consumed of you. [00:28:31] And I want to worship you. The psalmist David says that God will take us into a large place. What does that mean? He'll open up to us ministries and possibilities that we may never have dreamed of before. That's the work of God. As we're consumed in worship. It is far more than corporate worship as we are this morning. That's part of it. It's only a part of worship. [00:29:03] When we gather our family around the living room or around the table, wherever you gather for a time of family worship, and I hope you do that. But it's more than that. That's part of it. But true worship as able worship God in faith means that I become consumed of God. and it leads me to places that I never dreamed that I would go. I may have said that I could never experience something difficult like this in my life. [00:29:38] God, how is it that you've brought me to this ministry? But yes, within that protection, God works in our lives and leads us on to new and greater ministries. I say this morning with the psalmist David, O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Let's kneel. God of heaven, we come to you this morning through our mediator Jesus Christ alone. [00:30:14] And this morning we thank you that his blood was shed on the cross so that we can have entrance, as it were, to worship experiences. Father, we thank you this morning for the beautiful pictures in your word. Father, I pray that we would be consumed of you. Oh Lord, teach us what that means. to take you in and just be consumed of you [00:30:46] and allow you to just clothe us with your spirit. Protect us, Father. The enemy wants to destroy us, but we thank you for that promise that you will keep us from falling and present us faultless before your throne. Thank you for that fence. Thank you, Father, for open doors. [00:31:17] Continue to open those doors to us. Lead us in a greater worship experience of you. We thank you for this time this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.