Hebrews 11:1-6

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 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. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.  And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.  Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 and without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.

 

Intro-macro view of faith, micro view

• Great cloud of witnesses: 
  • Enoch-faith to take an early divine exit to heaven
  • Noah-faith to build a ship to survive rain that had never come before
  • Abraham-faith to go to a place i’ll show you later
  • Sarah-faith to conceive at 90
  • Issac – faith to kill own son
  • Faith to stop the mouth of lions
  • Faith to put armies to flight
• All of these make sense, all of these kind of get me excited lol
• Able always stood out as an anomaly
  • Like the least impressive person at a talent show or the average player who makes it to the nba, but is at the end of the bench
  • Able had faith to give…
  • I was wrong! Because faith to give goes way beyond giving, but giving is an expression of worship.  If we can get the faith and heart right behind giving, it affects all of our worship

 

Read Hebrews 11:1-6

 

Mpt- Because of what Abel believed about God, he offered an acceptable offering. 

Mps-We must have believe God is a rewarder and that He is worthy when we offer our worship

 

God the Worthy Rewarder

 

• Read vs 1 and 4 again

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.  And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

 

*What did Abel believe about God that caused him to offer a pleasing and acceptable offering to God?*

 

Genesis 4:1-7

 

1Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gottena a man with the help of the LORD.” 

2And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 

3In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 

5but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 

7If you do well, will you not be accepted?b 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.”

 

• Again, what did faith have to do with this sacrifice, this offering, this worship?
• What did Abel believe about God, what was he assured of and convinced of about God that caused him to give a praiseworthy gift?

 

• I believe there are two things that Abel believed about God that caused him to give worthy sacrifices:

• That God is a Rewarder:

1. 1. 6 and without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.
   2. 7If you do well, will you not be accepted?
   3. Luke 6:38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

2 Corintians 9:6-11

6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.a 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”b 10Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be enriched in every way to be generous on every occasion, so that through us your giving will produce thanksgiving to God.

• Malachi 3:10  10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 

• Abel believed, Abel had faith, Abel was assured and convinced of the fact that God was a rewarder
  • Remember, this goes way beyond giving, giving however, is a tangible expression of worship towards God, and one that is commanded
    • Our giving must be done by faith, it must be driven by what we believe about God
• I don’t believe believing that God is a rewarder is enough because this can be done without faith

Isiaiah 29:13

“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,

• • • Cain gave his offering without faith, he could have even given a better offering without faith

• 2) 2nd thing that Abel believed about God that caused him to give an acceptable sacrifice was that Abel believed that God was worthy of his best sacrifice.

• • Again, this goes way beyond our giving, do we believe, are we assured in our hope and our conviction that our God who we can not see is worthy of our worship.
  • This moves our worship and our offering to a heart issue.  
    • Whether or not God accepts it has to do with heart
    • In all that we do for God, from the worship of singing, to the honoring of God in our behavior, God can see if we are doing it by faith and belief that He is worthy
  • Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

 

1 Chronicles 16:25, 26-29 — For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods. … For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and joy are in His place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array.

 

Psalm 100:1-5 — Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.

 

• Our God is worthy. By faith Able gave an acceptable offering, by believing that God was worthy he offered an acceptable sacrifice.

 

What about Cain?

• Cain’s Perspective
  • Not by faith, he didn’t give because he believed God to be a rewarder or worthy.  He wasn’t motivated by God in his giving.
  • Proof was in his response (lets look)

 

6The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 

7If you do well, will you not be accepted?b 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.”

• • Instead of doing what he had to do to please God, he instead killed his brother.  This means his heart wasn’t about pleasing God
  • As we think through Cain’s, lets look at 3 other examples of how not to give to the Lord
  • Two more examples:
    • Rich young ruler

• Matthew 19:16-22

• • • • He didn’t believe that God was a rewarder, he didn’t believe that God was worthy.  He ascribed worth to his stuff.
    • Feet lookers

• Acts 5:1-11

• • • • He didn’t believe that God was a rewarder, he didn’t believe that God was worthy.  He ascribed worth to his stuff.
  • Me
    • Giving
    • Worship
      • Everything I do for the Lord or in the name of the Lord
        • Does it reflect that He is a rewarder and that He is worth it

 

6 and without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him.

 

Gospel

Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

God is our reward and eternal life is our reward, we get this by faith

Sermon Outline on Hebrews 11:4

Preaching Notes on Giving (Abel)