Abel: Faith Filled Worship, Part 2 (Hebrews 11:4)

Kootenai Church

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November 22, 2021

Abel: Faith Filled Worship, Part 2 (Hebrews 11:4)

Noah: A Faith-Filled Work, Part 3 (Hebrews 11:7)

00:17: Too wonderful for comprehension The depths of your love description
00:49: Majesty enthroned I stand,
01:03: I stand, I stand in awe of you
01:09: Holy Christ, it's true
01:16: I stand in awe of you
01:37: Description Yeah, God crushed you for my sin
01:46: In agony and deep affliction Enter in passion
02:09: Mercy so free Description I stand,
02:58: I stand in awe of you
03:29: Bless your praise to sing
07:06: Father glorious Embracing us before all time
07:13: You made us heirs to Christ on high And by your spirit now we cry
07:35: Majesty, face to face We'll worship and adore forever
07:54: Horned Word, O relentless love
08:00: Bearing our fatal curse With your living blood
08:13: Help us see your cross again You're the rock on which we live
08:21: Jesus, Savior All the day, we know what we finally have
08:34: Majesty, face to face We'll worship and adore forever
09:03: Grace to weary hearts Bring back the driver
09:15: You're the summer of our souls You're the fountain of our hope
09:24: Our assurance, here we go Spirit of the
09:29: Son Majesty, face to face
09:45: We'll worship and adore forever Come behold,
11:06: He the King In our
11:17: Lord, behold
12:37: In the stead, hangs the
12:43: Lamb in victory Come meet
14:26: The mystery of the cross
14:42: I cannot comprehend The agonies of Calvary You, the perfect Holy One Christ, your
14:59: Son Who drank the bitter cup Reserve for me
15:08: Your blood And welcome to Kootenai Church.
17:26: Thank you for joining us today. If you would please stand as we sing God of Grace and God of Glory.
17:37: God of Grace and God of Glory God of Grace and God of Glory All thy people, for thy power
17:47: Crown thy names in church's glory Bring her forth to glorious power
17:57: Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
18:02: For the facing of His power For the facing of His power
18:14: Sorry, I can't hear anything up here. Testing one, two.
18:21: Can you hear me out in the audience? Okay. Okay. I just can't hear anything.
18:26: And then we lost the slides. That explains that. Oh, so they're the wrong slides.
18:36: Boy, this day is great. Happy Thanksgiving. I'll be right back. Okay, test one.
20:28: Here we go. Alright, take two. See, this is why we
20:34: I guess we are recording our services. That doesn't make sense. Alright, here we go. God of Grace and God of Glory.
20:39: Let's try this again. God of Grace and God of Glory All thy people, for thy power
20:54: Crown thy names in church's glory Bring her forth to glorious power
21:04: Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
21:09: For the facing of His power For the facing of His power
21:23: Lord of hosts, our people round us Born by Christ, assail
21:31: His ways Fears and doubts too long have bound us
21:37: Bring our hearts to faith and praise Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
21:47: For the living of these days For the living of these days
22:00: Cure thy children's mourning madness
22:06: Bend our pride to thy control Shame our wanton salvage madness
22:15: Bridge in things and bore in soul Grant us wisdom, grant us hope
22:29: Blessed is thy kingdom's goal
22:39: Set our feet on lofty places Yield our lives that they may be
22:49: Armored with all Christ -like graces In the fight to set men free
22:58: Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
23:03: That we fail not man nor deep That we fail not man nor deep
23:39: Praise upon your Senior Behold your great life brings
23:48: Drawn near in awe and wonder His cross has spoken peace
23:58: Compressed from sin and striving Find endless stores of grace
24:08: Our heart that turns to Jesus Is cleansed from every stain
24:17: Oh, how deep, how wide, how long Oh, how vast the love of Jesus Oh, how sure, how sweet, how strong Oh, how vast is love for us
24:38: So lift your eyes to Jesus Arise from doubt and shame
24:48: His blood drives faith is finished Our life is in His name
24:56: Oh, how deep, how wide, how long Oh, how vast the love of Jesus Oh, how sure, how sweet, how strong Oh, how vast is love for us
25:17: Can separate us
25:41: In death or pain or fear We have this strong assurance
25:50: In Christ we've been brought near And in His strength we'll labor
26:00: His promise is our hope
26:05: Thus far His love has led us His love will lead us home
26:14: Oh, how deep, how wide, how long Oh, how vast the love of Jesus Oh, how sure, how sweet, how strong Oh, how vast is love for us
26:33: Oh, how deep, how wide, how long Oh, how vast the love of Jesus Oh, how sure, how sweet, how strong Oh, how vast is love for us
27:14: My heart is filled with thankfulness
27:19: To Him who bore my pain Who calmed the depths of my disgrace
27:29: And gave me life again Who crushed the curse of sinfulness
27:40: And clothed me with His light
27:45: And wrote His law of righteousness
27:50: With power upon my heart
27:56: My heart is filled with thankfulness
28:06: To Him who walked beside Who floods my weaknesses with strength
28:17: And causes fear to fly Whose every promise is enough
28:27: For every step I take Sustaining me with arms of love
28:37: And crowning me with grace
28:47: My heart is filled with thankfulness
28:53: To Him who reigns above Whose wisdom is my perfect peace
29:03: Whose every thought is love For every day
29:11: I have on earth Is given by the
29:16: King So I will give my life, my all
29:23: To love and follow Him For every day
29:31: I have on earth Is given by the
29:37: King So I will give my life, my all
29:44: To love and follow Him To love and follow
29:52: Him Right back here off the back of the sanctuary
30:27: For any who are interested in being in the Christmas Choir And then third, just a seasonal reminder that If you show up here on a
30:35: Sunday morning after heavy snow This building sheds a lot of snow So be careful if you're parking up against the building
30:42: That you park back about 20 feet or so Otherwise you will come out and you will not get into your car again
30:47: Until spring or until at least a big long season of warm weather arrives Turn your
30:53: Bibles please to Psalm 65 Psalm 65
31:02: This is a psalm of thanksgiving, a psalm of David This describes
31:12: God's abundant favor to His people Psalm 65
31:18: We read together the entire psalm There will be silence before you And praise in Zion, O God And to you the vow will be performed
31:26: O you who hear prayer To you all men come Iniquities prevail against me
31:32: As for our transgressions you forgive them How blessed is the one whom you choose
31:38: And bring near to you to dwell in your courts We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house
31:43: Your holy temple By awesome deeds you answer us in righteousness O God of our salvation
31:49: You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth And of the farthest sea Who establishes the mountains by His strength
31:57: Being girded with might Who stills the roaring of the seas The roaring of their waves And the tumult of the peoples
32:03: They who dwell in the ends of the earth Stand in awe of your signs You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy
32:10: You visit the earth and cause it to overflow You greatly enrich it The stream of God is full of water
32:17: You prepare their grain for thus you prepare the earth You water its furrows abundantly
32:22: You settle its ridges You soften it with showers You bless its growth You have crowned the year with your bounty
32:29: And your paths drip with fatness The pastures of the wilderness drip And the hills gird themselves with rejoicing
32:35: The meadows are clothed with flocks And the valleys are covered with grain They shout for joy
32:41: Yes, they sing Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads
32:50: Father, it is the joy and delight of us, your people To gather together here Openly and publicly
32:56: And to worship and to praise you To enjoy sweet fellowship And union around your word
33:01: And in the truth We are thankful for the many blessings That you have poured out abundantly upon us
33:07: We can say with the psalmist That truly you have forgiven our sin You have crowned this year with your goodness
33:13: And with your bounty You have abundantly provided for us, your people All that we need for life and godliness in your word
33:20: You have abundantly provided All we need for life in this world Each and every day
33:25: Each and every day is a fresh taste Of your mercies and your grace As you lavish your goodness upon us
33:30: And we thank you for it We thank you for the physical blessings that we enjoy Because of what Christ has done
33:36: We thank you for your grace and your provision Each and every day, each and every week But Lord, more important than any physical blessing
33:44: That we have received Are all of the spiritual blessings That we enjoy in Jesus Christ You have chosen us in him
33:50: Before the foundation of the world You have redeemed us You have adopted us You have sealed us with your spirit
33:55: You have drawn us to yourself You have granted us eyes to see And ears to hear your word
34:01: You have given us your Holy Spirit You comfort us and encourage us and equip us You have given us spiritual gifts
34:07: You have united us in the body of Christ You have given us new life You have forgiven all of our transgressions and iniquities
34:13: And you have given us the righteousness of your son The Lord Jesus Christ We are the undeserving
34:18: And yet thankful recipients Of all of these blessings and so much more We pray that as we lift our hearts
34:24: In praise and in worship today That you would be honored and glorified Through us, your people, and in the midst of us
34:31: We pray today, in Christ's name I will praise him still
34:54: When our trials come And my heart is filled
35:00: With the weight of doubt I will praise him still
35:07: For the Lord our God He is strong to save From the arms of death
35:15: From the deepest grave And he gave us life
35:22: In his perfect will And by his good grace
35:27: I will praise him still When the morning falls
35:34: From the farthest hill I will sing his name
35:40: I will praise him still When our trials come
35:47: And my heart is filled With the weight of doubt
35:52: I will praise him still For the
35:57: Lord our God He is strong to save From the arms of death
36:04: From the deepest grave And he gave us life
36:11: In his perfect will And by his good grace
36:17: I will praise him still For the Lord our
36:23: God He is strong to save From the arms of death
36:29: From the deepest grave And he gave us life
36:36: In his perfect will And by his good grace
36:41: I will praise him still Isaiah says in Isaiah 40
36:52: Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand And marked off the heavens by the span
36:58: And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure And weighed the mountains in a balance
37:04: And the hills in a pair of scales Who has directed the spirit of the
37:09: Lord Or as his counselor has informed him With whom did he consult
37:14: And who gave him understanding To whom then Will you liken
37:20: God Or what likeness Will you compare with him Let's conclude this part of our worship service this morning
37:27: By singing Behold Our God Who has held the oceans in his hand
37:47: Who has numbered every grain of sand
37:52: Kings and nations tremble at his voice
37:58: All creation rises to rejoice
38:05: Behold our God Seated on his throne
38:12: Come let us adore him Behold our
38:20: King Nothing can compare Come let us adore him
38:39: Who has given counsel to the Lord Who can question any of his words
38:51: Who can teach someone who knows all things
38:56: Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds
39:04: Behold our God Seated on his throne
39:11: Come let us adore him Behold our
39:18: King Nothing can compare Come let us adore him
39:30: Who has felt the nails upon his hand
39:43: Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
39:49: God eternal humbled to the grave
39:54: Jesus Savior risen now to reign
40:01: Behold our God Seated on his throne
40:09: Come let us adore him Behold our
40:16: King Nothing can compare Come let us adore him
40:27: Behold our God Seated on his throne
40:34: Come let us adore him Behold our
40:43: King Nothing can compare Come let us adore him
41:10: For our reading I should say before the message We're going to read together verses 3 through 7 from Hebrews 11
41:23: Beginning of verse 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible
41:32: By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous
41:39: God testifying about his gifts and through faith though he is dead he still speaks By faith
41:45: Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death and he was not found because God took him up for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God and without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him
42:01: By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith
42:13: Let's pray together Our Lord we ask your help and assistance today as we look at your word we pray that we may behold you in what you have revealed in scripture seeing your purposes, your grace your mercy, your provision in Jesus Christ we pray that you would grant us understanding in your word and cause your word to shine upon our hearts and our minds that you would be glorified through not only our understanding of your word but through our obedience to it.
42:42: We ask your blessing upon this time for Christ's sake From the very instant that sin entered into a perfect creation
42:51: Adam and Eve knew the effects of sin In Genesis 3 they could see it and even though they hadn't yet died they had started to die and death was immediately evident to them when
43:01: God killed the innocent victim and provided clothing for them so right up front at the moment of sin from the very first minutes after sin
43:10: God demonstrated what the cost of sin was going to be when an animal was killed and Adam and Eve were clothed by that animal.
43:18: They saw that for them forgiveness could only come through the shedding of blood and the covering for their sin could only come through the death of an innocent victim so they saw death straight away and animal sacrifice and the death of an innocent victim was a stark and stunning object lesson to Adam and Eve and if you think that the idea of an animal sacrifice is somewhat distasteful to you or somewhat offensive to you if that's unsettling imagine what it would have been like for the very first man and woman
43:49: Adam and Eve for us we are used to the sight of dead animals. You see them alongside of the road, you see them out in the woods you see them on your barbecue we are used to the sight of dead animals that doesn't bother us.
44:01: For some of us the sight of a dead animal just reminds us of dinner. It's not at all distasteful to us but imagine that you had been in a world where there had been no death and then you sinned and all of a sudden there is a sacrifice of an animal right in front of you you have to deal with the reality of death you see death, you see the cost of sin and all of its horrific consequences this would have been more unsettling for Adam and Eve than it has been for anybody since Adam and Eve including their children who only had grown up in a world that was racked by sin where death was a reality where disease and and deterioration and decay had now entered into an otherwise perfect creation.
44:38: All that Abel and Cain would have grown up with was the realization that they lived in a world where death plagued it they would have seen animal sacrifices as Adam and Eve offered animal sacrifices to appease
44:50: God and to propitiate for their sin. They would have been familiar with that, they had been raised on that they understood that death is the penalty for the sinner.
44:58: And if you are sitting here today and you object to the idea that your sin deserves or calls for your death you are not yet ready for a
45:06: Savior because you have not yet come to understand just how grievous, how hideous how offensive even one act of disobedience is to a righteous and holy benevolent king.
45:17: It is only when we understand the depths of our sin and our depravity that we can look at our sin as it is in God's sight and say yeah that deserves death.
45:25: Well Adam and Eve understood that their sin required the death of an innocent victim for them to have fellowship with God and for their sin to be covered.
45:33: They would have raised Cain and Abel with that same understanding that same recognition, they would have grown up with that and they would have learned that lesson
45:41: One of them, Abel obeyed God by faith and believed what God said concerning atonement and sacrifice and blood being shed for the remission of sins and in Genesis chapter 4 he offered such a sacrifice in obedience to the command and the expectations of God Cain, Adam and Eve's oldest child, did not believe what
46:01: God said concerning atonement and sacrifice and offering to God blood so that his sins could be forgiven and instead he approached
46:08: God on his own terms, in his own way, being outwardly pious, outwardly religious, keeping up the form and the show of an outward belief in God and coming to God and trying to be accepted by God but he did not come on God's terms and so God rejected him.
46:23: That was what we looked at last week in Genesis chapter 4. Both men's actions revealed the condition of their heart
46:30: Cain's sacrifice of the fruit of the ground demonstrated that what Cain believed about God's word, that he didn't believe what
46:37: God said concerning how God was to be approached through the sacrifice of an animal Abel's sacrifice of the first fruits of his flock demonstrated that he believed what
46:46: God said concerning how God was to be approached through an animal sacrifice and through a blood offering Abel believed that and he offered in faith because he believed that he offered an animal sacrifice.
46:56: Cain rejected that truth and in a lack of faith he turned away from what God had said Abel's example of faith leads off the list of heroes here in Hebrews chapter 11 that we just read
47:06: It's in verse 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain and that's what we looked at last week.
47:14: We looked at Cain's sacrifice and we noted that there are three very notable elements or aspects of this example that Cain gives to us
47:20: The first was his sacrifice Last week, and all of that was just review when we went back to Genesis 4, we looked at the sacrifice that Cain and Abel offered, why they offered it and a little bit of what
47:30: God's response to that sacrifice was. Today we're looking at the second and the third notable things about Abel's example
47:36: Namely, his righteousness and his testimony You see it there in verse 4 Through which, that is, through the sacrifice he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.
47:46: God testifying about his gifts, that is Abel's righteousness described there in those words. And the last part of the verse describes
47:53: Abel's testimony Through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. So Abel's sacrifice his righteousness and then his testimony, what the lessons are from Abel.
48:03: So let's look first of all here at his righteousness. Verse 4 speaks of Abel's gifts and when verse 4 describes the gift that he gave
48:10: God testifying about his gifts He's talking about that animal sacrifice That's what's being described.
48:16: God said something about Abel's animal sacrifice that demonstrated that Abel offered the sacrifice in faith
48:24: We looked at it, or I should say we read it briefly last week in Genesis chapter 4, but I didn't camp on it knowing that we were going to be returning to that this week
48:32: In Genesis chapter 4 the Lord came, or Moses records that the Lord, after the sacrifices were made, said this, and the
48:40: Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard
48:46: The Lord had regard for the offering of Abel, but for Cain and his offering the Lord had no regard.
48:52: That is simply Moses' way in Genesis of telling us that at the moment and at the place that those two sacrifices were offered, the
48:59: Lord in some way, in some fashion demonstrated that he approved of and accepted the sacrifice of Abel and also in some way demonstrated that he had rejected the sacrifice of Cain.
49:12: Now how did that happen? We don't know and the text doesn't tell us. Genesis 4 tells us nothing other than that the
49:18: Lord had regard for Abel's sacrifice and no regard for Cain's sacrifice But both of those men obviously knew at that moment when they brought their sacrifice there to the
49:27: Lord, there was something that happened that indicated this sacrifice is unacceptable and this sacrifice is acceptable.
49:33: Something happened that indicated that. Was it an audible voice from heaven that stated
49:38: God's approval? That could have been it. Was it that fire came down out of heaven and consumed one sacrifice and not the other?
49:45: That happened also in Scripture at various times. We don't know what happened there but both of those men at that moment knew what was acceptable and what was not acceptable.
49:53: For God approved one and reproved the other. Abel was approved because of his faith and Cain was disapproved or reproved because of his faith.
50:02: Both men knew that. In fact, in that moment when God had no regard for the sacrifice of Cain, it says that Cain's countenance fell and he became angry.
50:11: He was angry that God had rejected his sacrifice. And the author here in his description in verse 4 is going back behind the controversy between these two men.
50:21: He is going back behind the sacrifices itself. He's going behind as it were whether it's an animal sacrifice or a vegetable sacrifice.
50:30: He's even going past the murder of the one by the other. He's going past all of that and getting to the heart of the issue which was that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith and Cain offered his sacrifice without faith.
50:43: Now, if Cain had offered an animal sacrifice just as a matter of perfunctory obedience without any faith or piety or at all, it would have been just as unacceptable as Cain's sacrifice.
50:55: But instead, Abel offered a sacrifice in obedience to God obeying what God said, believing in his heart,
51:01: God's revelation that on the basis of that sacrifice on the basis of a blood offering Abel would be acceptable in God's sight.
51:10: And so God certified Abel's sacrifice by approving of it. He gave some sort of visible audible public approval of Abel's offering and rejection of Cain's offering and this caused
51:23: Cain to be angry and before God, Abel was accepted. God certified that Abel had faith by embracing and accepting that offering and approving of it.
51:33: That was God's testimony. Abel obtained the testimony verse 4 that he was righteous because God was testifying, saying something about Abel's faith by approving of Abel's sacrifice.
51:45: And so, through that, Abel obtained the testimony that he was righteous. That is his righteousness.
51:52: Now, when we say that Abel was righteous, we need to make sure that we all understand what we don't mean by that because this can be misunderstood.
51:58: When we say that Abel was righteous, we do not mean, I'll give you three things, we do not mean that Abel had never sinned or that he was sinless.
52:07: He may have been only one generation into a fallen creation but he was still fallen. He may have been the very first generation of fallen parents but he was still a sinner.
52:16: So it doesn't mean that he was sinless or that he had never sinned and thus he was righteous. You see, if Abel were sinless and he had never sinned, then he would have had no need to bring an animal sacrifice, right?
52:27: If we say that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, well listen, without the committing of sin, there's no need to shed blood.
52:35: If Abel had never sinned, he would have been able to enjoy fellowship with God face to face on his own terms and be accepted into the presence of God on the basis of his own innocence, his own moral perfection and his own lack of any kind of sinfulness.
52:49: But obviously Abel needed forgiveness. He understood he was a sinner. He understood that he had to approach
52:54: God because God was holy and he was not and so he had to approach God through an animal sacrifice. Abel is confessing all of that by offering the animal sacrifice.
53:03: So his righteousness does not mean that he had never sinned. It doesn't mean that he was innocent.
53:09: Actually, his sacrifice demonstrates that he was guilty and he knew he was guilty. Now I don't know exactly what type of corruption
53:18: Abel would have demonstrated in his day to day life from the fall. I sometimes wonder, we look at our world and we think it's getting more and more sinful with every generation, right?
53:29: Is it because we're getting more and more fallen? We're not. We're just as fallen as Adam and Eve were when they were kicked out of the garden.
53:36: But the expression of sinfulness, does it get worse with every generation? See, I don't know that because I've only lived through one life.
53:46: We're not reincarnated. I don't believe in reincarnation. I did in a past life, but I don't in this one. So I don't know if previous generations were less sinful than we are, expressed it differently than we do.
53:58: So I don't know exactly how much sin Abel would have expressed that first generation after Adam and Eve.
54:03: I don't know that. But I do know that he was a sinner and that he knew he was a sinner. So, Abel's righteousness does not mean that he was sinless.
54:12: Second, Abel's righteousness does not mean that his sacrifice made him righteous. And this is key.
54:19: In offering the sacrifice, it is not the sacrifice itself that made Abel righteous.
54:26: If the sacrifice made Abel righteous, then Abel did some good deed, some act or action.
54:33: That act or action then contributed to his righteousness. Right? If his sacrifice made him righteous, then
54:40: Abel did something to acquire righteousness. That becomes a work. And we are not saved on the basis of our works.
54:47: Where does righteousness come from for you? Where does righteousness come from for you?
54:53: What is the source of that righteousness? Does it come from within you? Does it come from good deeds which you have done?
54:58: Does it come from any act that you can do that pleases God on the surface or in the heart? Does it come in any of those ways?
55:04: It comes on the basis of faith. So, if you are justified or declared righteous on the basis of faith, if that is true for you, that is true for the previous generation, the previous generation, and this is not just something that is true since the
55:17: Reformation of the 1500s or since the death and burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that is true since the beginning of time from Adam and Eve's very first expression of faith, being kicked out of the garden when they came to God with an animal sacrifice.
55:30: This was true then just as much as it is true today. That one is declared righteous on the basis of faith and faith alone, not any meritorious deed that you have done.
55:38: So, Abel's sacrifice did not add to him righteousness. It's not like he got a dose of righteousness every time he made a sacrifice until he was finally righteous to be accepted by God.
55:47: That's not how it works. That's not how it worked for him. That's not how it works for us. So, the sacrifice didn't make him righteous.
55:55: How is it that you are declared righteous? You are declared righteous by faith. Where does that righteousness come from? For you.
56:03: If you can say today that in the sight of God, positionally before His throne, in terms of your guilt before Him, that you are completely righteous, whose righteousness do you have?
56:13: Is it your righteousness? No. It's Christ's righteousness.
56:19: This is the heart of the gospel. That He takes our sin upon Himself and all of His righteousness
56:25: He imputes to us. So, our sin is credited to Him. His righteousness is credited to us.
56:31: This is an exchange that takes place at the moment of faith. Faith is the means by which we experience this exchange where we change our dirty robes of our own self -righteousness for His robes of perfect righteousness so that all of our sin is credited to His account paid for by the
56:46: Son of God and that sacrifice and all of His righteousness that He earned through a perfect life lived here in this world is credited to our account.
56:54: All of that is imputed to us on the basis of faith and faith alone. Well, if Abel was righteous, whose righteousness did
57:00: Abel have? There is only one source for all of humanity for righteousness that will avail before the throne of God.
57:09: Whose righteousness did Abel have? His own? It wasn't Adam's and it wasn't his.
57:15: It was likewise Christ's righteousness. So that when Christ died, He paid the price for Adam and Eve and Abel and all of the righteous men who had faith through all of human history.
57:29: He paid all of their sin prices and ours, if you are trusting in Jesus Christ, and the righteousness that Abel had also comes from Christ.
57:38: That righteousness of Christ is imputed all the way back to Abraham. So Abraham stands before God in the same righteousness that you and I do.
57:46: Not our own righteousness, but only the righteousness of God, of Christ, which is through faith. That is what is meant in verse 7 when he talks about Noah becoming an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
57:58: There is only one righteousness which is according to faith and it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now Abel would not have understood that.
58:04: Everything I have just laid out for you. Abel would not have understood that. Abel understood this. I am unrighteous and I must stand before God who is righteous and in order to stand before God who is righteous,
58:17: I need to be credited righteousness. Abel would have understood that. He would have understood that if I offer to God an animal sacrifice as God has directed that God will accept me on those terms.
58:29: If an innocent victim dies in my place, in my stead, and bears that punishment, then
58:36: God will credit me with righteousness. He will consider me justified and righteous and I can stand in his presence.
58:42: Abel would have understood at least that much. That righteousness comes only through faith. Because God testified of Abel, you are righteous.
58:52: There is righteousness there for Abel and it is the righteousness of Christ. Man can never please God by his own works.
58:57: So if any man has ever gained God's approval, it must be by faith and faith alone. Because nothing that we can ever do and nothing we can ever contribute ever adds anything to our righteousness.
59:08: We have no righteousness in ourselves. So Abel's sacrifice then served the very same purpose as the good works do in James chapter 2.
59:16: See, Abel's sacrifice didn't give him righteousness. Abel's sacrifice didn't make him more righteous. It wasn't the thing that brought him righteousness.
59:24: His faith brought him righteousness. The sacrifice was an expression of a righteous heart. Abel was righteous because of his faith.
59:31: Before he ever offered the sacrifice, the sacrifice was the evidence of a faith -filled heart because it was faith -filled worship.
59:39: Cain's sacrifice was evil deeds and evil works which flowed out of a faithless and rebellious heart.
59:45: That's the difference between those two men. Third, Abel's righteousness does not mean that his righteousness was of himself.
59:53: I covered this just moments ago. His righteousness was not his own righteousness. He's not doing things that are going to earn him righteousness.
01:00:01: He was born with the same need that you and I are born with. We're sinners and we're born with a need for someone else's righteousness.
01:00:07: Something else to clothe us in the sight of God so that we are not consumed on Judgment Day. And the only righteousness that can avail, the only righteousness that is acceptable in the sight of God is the righteousness of Christ.
01:00:18: Infinite in its supply, infinite in its power, infinite in its value, it is applied to those who have faith.
01:00:25: It is applied to the faithful at the moment of their salvation so that when those who have faith stand in the presence of God, God sees them not as a forgiven sinner but as a righteous individual because the
01:00:37: Lord sees not our righteousness but the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So Abel's righteousness was not of himself.
01:00:43: It came in the same way that you are made righteous by faith and it is the righteousness of another. And before we get off the subject of righteousness, this is not in my notes but this is very important.
01:00:53: Since the righteousness that you have by faith in Jesus Christ is not your own righteousness, and since you did nothing to gain it, you can do nothing to lose it because it is imputed to you on the basis of faith.
01:01:07: That righteousness can never be tarnished. It can never be minimized. It can never be taken away, clouded over, polluted in any way because that righteousness is not based on anything that you do.
01:01:19: Now that should never motivate us to go out and sin and say, well then, I'm as righteous as I'll ever be. I'm as righteous as Christ.
01:01:25: I will just sin with license. No, that's not how it works. The one who understands what imputed righteousness is says,
01:01:32: I don't want to sin against that righteousness. I want to live a holy and righteous life in obedience to God because He has declared me to be righteous on the basis of the work of another.
01:01:41: Righteousness can never be taken away. It can never be tarnished. Nothing you ever think and nothing you ever do will ever take away that righteousness because you don't have it on the basis of anything you've ever thought or done.
01:01:54: It's not your righteousness. So Abel had faith and by that he was pleasing to God. Hebrews 11 6 says, without faith it is impossible to please
01:02:01: Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. This is exactly what
01:02:07: Abel did. He believed that God is. He knew that God is. He trusted that what God said concerning pursuing
01:02:12: Him and coming to Him was true and he approached God and came after, pursued God, diligently searched for Him in the very way that God said to do so.
01:02:21: And he believed that he would be rewarded, that is, accepted before God on the basis of diligently pursuing Him and so Abel did it.
01:02:28: And he was righteous. Jesus affirmed that Abel was righteous in Matthew 23 verse 35. When Jesus was announcing judgment upon the religious leaders of His day,
01:02:36: He said in Matthew 23, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous
01:02:43: Abel to the blood of Zachariah, the son of Brachiah. He said Abel was righteous. So Abel gained
01:02:48: God's testimony. God testified concerning Abel that he was righteous by accepting his sacrifice and then
01:02:54: Jesus of course said Abel was righteous. That's Abel's righteousness. Now look at his testimony. This is the third notable feature of Abel's example.
01:03:03: He sacrificed his righteousness and then his testimony. This is at the end of verse 4. Through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
01:03:10: Now that's something that can be said of every person that's mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. We could say that of Abel, of Enoch, of Noah, of Abraham, of Moses, of Joshua, etc.
01:03:19: Every person listed here, we could say even though they're dead, they still speak. There's some lesson to be learned.
01:03:25: There's some example that they have set that is still of value to us and they still speak to us in that sense.
01:03:31: But there's another way in which Abel is said to speak here and I want to get into that. The language here in using this of Abel right at the very top of the list.
01:03:38: This is true of everybody. But the language seems to suggest that the author has in mind something said back in Genesis chapter 4 that we read last week, but I didn't comment on it.
01:03:47: Genesis 4 .10 After Cain killed Abel, the Lord approached Cain and said to him,
01:03:53: What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
01:04:03: Abel's blood was speaking after Cain slayed him and killed him. Abel's blood was still speaking and God says that blood is crying out to me from the ground.
01:04:11: Now in that context what the Lord meant and what Moses meant by that was that Abel's innocent blood was crying out for vengeance.
01:04:20: It was crying out for justice. It was crying out for a payment for that. Somebody has to pay for that innocent blood.
01:04:26: I believe it is true that all of the innocent blood shed on the earth cries out for such justice and vengeance all of the time.
01:04:32: God takes it very seriously when innocent blood is shed. Abel's is no different.
01:04:38: So what the Lord meant by that in Genesis 4 was that Abel's blood was crying out demanding justice. That innocent blood demands justice.
01:04:46: A payment must be made. Justice must be satisfied. Vengeance must be taken. Something has to be propitiated on behalf of this innocent blood.
01:04:54: And so the Lord says your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground. Now, I don't think that it was not an audible voice.
01:05:03: It's not like if you had gone to the scene of the murder you would have heard blood crying out from the ground. You understand that? There's a metaphor here that is being used to say that in some sense
01:05:13: Abel's blood was crying we need justice. We need atonement. This needs to be satisfied.
01:05:19: Vengeance must be taken. This has to be dealt with. This type of a sin cannot be just let go.
01:05:25: Something has to happen to satisfy the demands of God's justice. That is what Abel's blood was crying. I think that there are a number of lessons to be learned from Abel's blood and how it cries out to us and what it says to us.
01:05:36: I'll give you three of them. First, there is I think a prophetic symbolism in Abel's death. A prophetic symbolism.
01:05:43: I'm not the only one that thinks that Abel's blood says something. The author of Hebrews back in chapter 12, look at chapter 12 verse 22.
01:05:51: Chapter 12 verse 22 of Hebrews But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living
01:05:57: God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the myriads of angels, to the general assembly of the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
01:06:12: There is a sprinkled blood which speaks something better than the blood of Abel. In other words, Abel's blood was speaking
01:06:18: Abel's blood says something. There is a lesson here. There is something that Abel's blood says and I think it's an interesting statement that the author uses there.
01:06:26: He's describing the blood of Jesus inaugurating the new covenant and saying that we inherit or receive all these blessings of the new covenant, salvific and eschatological all of those blessings are ours, but what has secured that is a blood the blood of the mediator of the new covenant, the
01:06:42: Lord Jesus Christ, which speaks something, says something better than what the blood of Abel says. The blood of Abel says something.
01:06:49: Jesus referred to Abel as a prophet in Luke chapter 11. This is a parallel passage to the one in Matthew 23 that I just read a few moments ago where Abel is called righteous by the
01:06:57: Lord Jesus. Jesus said this in Luke 11 so that the blood of all the prophets since the foundation of the world may be charged against this generation from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah.
01:07:09: Jesus refers to all the prophets and then he says Abel was a prophet Zachariah was a prophet so that all of the bloods by all of the prophets shed will fall upon this generation that was a pronunciation of judgment upon the wicked rulers of the nation of Israel.
01:07:23: And he charges against them and that generation and those spiritual leaders the blood of Abel who was a prophet and the blood of Zachariah and all of the prophets in between, all of those innocent men who died.
01:07:35: Now in what sense is Abel a prophet? Because we go back to Genesis 4, Abel never said anything. There's not a word from Abel's mouth ever recorded in Scripture.
01:07:44: So in what sense is Abel a prophet? Old Testament prophecy didn't just come in terms of words that were spoken.
01:07:53: Symbols could be prophecies, events, ceremony, people. These could all have a prophetic significance.
01:08:00: You see that all the way through the Old Testament. So I would suggest to you that it is not something that Abel said that was a prophecy, it was something that Abel suffered that was a prophecy.
01:08:11: It wasn't his words, it was his blood. You see with the entrance of sin into the garden, into humanity, meant physical death, human death.
01:08:22: Abel was the first. He was an innocent man who was righteous in God's sight, who suffered and died and shed his blood on the ground.
01:08:30: I think that there is a prophetic symbolism to that. As a prophet his blood speaks of a later blood that would be shed from a righteous man who has shed his blood on the ground as a sacrifice for our sin.
01:08:42: It was a prophetic foreshadowing. The blood of Abel cried out for atonement, for justice, for vengeance, for payment.
01:08:52: And the blood of Jesus which speaks something better than the blood of Abel provides that atonement, that justice, that vengeance, that satisfaction for sin.
01:09:02: Abel's blood showed that sin had to be dealt with. Jesus' blood showed that sin has been dealt with. That makes the blood of Jesus better than the blood of Abel.
01:09:09: Abel's blood did cry out in a prophetic way that eventually there would need to be blood shed to atone for that sin.
01:09:16: There would need to be blood shed to cover over and to pay the price of sin. And Christ's blood does that.
01:09:23: Second, Abel's death reminds us of the lot of the righteous in this world. Abel's death reminds us of the lot of the righteous in this world.
01:09:30: Abel pleased God and was righteous and Abel was murdered.
01:09:37: That is a foreshadowing, I think, of what the righteous can expect in every age since the garden.
01:09:43: That is what we ought to expect. Sometimes in this life those who please God, those who have faith, those who are righteous, those who are obedient, they suffer.
01:09:53: They suffer in this world. Abel's death is a foreshadowing that the righteous in every age will suffer.
01:09:59: It's a tale as old as time. It's Cain and Abel, it's Ishmael and Isaac, it's
01:10:04: Jacob and Esau, it's the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
01:10:12: It's a tale as old as time. It goes back to the very beginning. That the righteous in this world will suffer. And there is no cognitive disconnect between those two statements that Abel was righteous and Abel was murdered.
01:10:29: You are not going to be able to fit both of those statements into your Joel Osteen best life now theology or your prosperity gospel, but you better have room in your theology for both of those statements.
01:10:40: That Abel was righteous and Abel was murdered. Because sometimes in this world God allows the righteous to suffer.
01:10:47: Sometimes God in this world causes the righteous to suffer for his own purposes. Abel was righteous and Abel suffered death.
01:10:55: This has been true in every age. It has been true. That the wicked persecute the righteous.
01:11:04: There will always be in every age those who are outwardly pious, outwardly religious, who follow after the way of Cain, worshiping
01:11:11: God according to their own dictates, who will hate, hunt, persecute, and yes, sometimes even murder those who are actually righteous.
01:11:20: If you are righteous, you can expect persecution. You can expect opposition from the wicked in this world.
01:11:26: You will be scorned and opposed and rejected and disparaged and slandered and spit upon, hated, reproved, and yes, if God should permit, murdered.
01:11:39: It was the way of Abel. Could God have protected Abel? Could have.
01:11:45: God didn't protect Abel, did he? He didn't. Abel reminds us, his blood reminds us of what the righteous are going to face in every age.
01:11:55: Because the reason that those without faith, the reason that the wicked hate the righteous, is because those who think that they are accepted by God on the basis of their works, that's
01:12:05: Cain, will always hate those who are accepted by God on the basis of faith. Because those who are accepted by God on the basis of faith, remind them that nobody is accepted by God on the basis of works.
01:12:19: And the righteous life of the faithful, obedient, righteous people, their life is a living, breathing condemnation of the unfaithful, disobedient, and unrighteous, or self -righteous people.
01:12:33: And so they hate it. And that's why they hate it. And this is an important reminder for these early
01:12:38: Christians, and for us, that if you have suffered a great conflict of suffering, and you are suffering because you are righteous, or even while you are righteous, or are suffering in your righteousness, you are one of a long list of godly and good men and women who had the favor of God, who also suffered in the very same way, sometimes the very same things.
01:12:59: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, the whole long list.
01:13:05: Those are your kin. Those are your brethren. Those are the ones who also suffered for being righteous.
01:13:11: And Abel heads that list. And he suffered, not just suffering, but he suffered the worst of all suffering, and that was death. He was taken, even in his righteousness.
01:13:19: And if you suffer in your righteousness, you are in very good company. Your company is Abel and Enoch. That's some good stead.
01:13:27: Third, Abel testifies of the necessity of faith, and this is certainly in keeping with the entire context of Hebrews chapter 11.
01:13:33: He testifies of the necessity of faith, that without faith it is impossible to please God. Abel was accepted to God not because of the sacrifice.
01:13:41: The sacrifice was evidence that he had faith. He was accepted by God not on the basis of his own works, not even because of his act of obedience.
01:13:49: None of that made him acceptable to God. What made him acceptable to God, what made him pleasing to God, was his faith.
01:13:54: It wasn't the outward action of the sacrifice. It was the heart of faith. And the one who believes what
01:13:59: God has said concerning how he is to be approached, will approach God only through the sacrifice of the
01:14:05: Lord Jesus Christ. The one who believes what God says is going to, without any questions whatsoever, reject all of their own attempts at their own self -righteousness, reject all of their attempts at good deeds and pleasing
01:14:18: God in the flesh, the one who believes what God says in His Word is going to come in humble recognition that they are a sinner, that they are without any righteousness, that they are without hope, that they cannot cure their position, that they are hopelessly lost, helplessly depraved, helplessly wicked, and unable to please
01:14:36: God in themselves. They will come to God on those terms. And further, they will come to God on those terms glad and thankful for and embracing the one sacrifice that God has offered and provided, that is the
01:14:48: Lord Jesus Christ, which is able to atone for all of their sins and give them the righteousness that God demands.
01:14:54: What God demands of us, perfect righteousness, He has provided for us in the Son. And the one who believes
01:15:00: God, like Abel believed God, will come to God on the terms that God has laid out, repentance and faith in the
01:15:07: Lord Jesus Christ. And the one who comes to God on those terms will be accepted to God. Not because the person who comes is acceptable, but because the person who comes is made acceptable by imputed righteousness, not because of what they have done, but on the basis of what
01:15:21: Christ has done for them. It's all based upon the work of another. And any other attempt to earn
01:15:27: God's favor, by your own deeds, your own righteous works, or your own terms, any attempt to earn
01:15:34: God's favor is nothing less than as insulting as offering to God vegetables when
01:15:40: He demands a blood sacrifice. Such an attempt is just as offensive to God as Cain's offering was to God.
01:15:48: Because the one in faith will come on the basis of what God demands. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do not know the
01:15:55: Lord Jesus Christ, you are here. Many of you are new. I don't know where many of you come from. This is my appeal to you.
01:16:01: If you have never been born again, and you have never trusted Christ for salvation, there is no other payment under heaven for your sin.
01:16:09: Not one animal, not a hundred animals, not a million animals, not all the animals in the world will satisfy the wrath of God against you for your sin.
01:16:16: Only one thing. That is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and Him alone. Come to God through the sacrifice of Christ in repentance and faith.
01:16:26: And cast yourselves on His mercy. He will receive you. He will forgive you. Come and put yourself in His hands by faith for the forgiveness of sins where you will die impenitent and fall into His hands.
01:16:37: And Scripture says that is a terrifying thing, to fall into His hands, because you will certainly face judgment. Let's pray.
01:16:44: Father, we thank You for so sufficient and so perfect a sacrifice as the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank
01:16:50: You that the righteousness that we have is the same as Abel and Abraham and Noah and Moses and David and anyone else who is made acceptable to You.
01:17:00: It is the righteousness of Christ and Christ alone. We have no hope for our own salvation apart from Him.
01:17:07: And we thank You that we can do nothing, for if we could do something to gain that righteousness, we would certainly lose it and we would never be able to attain it.
01:17:16: So we pray that You would draw to Yourself any who are here who have never trusted
01:17:22: Christ for salvation. Help them to see in Jesus Christ that He is the sole and sufficient sacrifice for their sin and the only one who can give them righteousness that will avail before You.
01:17:31: We thank You that we are accepted in Christ and before You not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but on the basis of faith and faith alone in Your Son.
01:17:41: And we thank You that He has provided for us a sufficient sacrifice to atone for all the sins of all who will trust in Him.
01:17:49: We're grateful for His work and we are grateful for that righteousness. We thank You that we are Your children by faith in Christ.
01:17:56: We ask these things and we praise You this morning. In Christ's name. Amen. Please stand with us to sing a closing song.
01:18:15: Should nothing of our efforts stand, no legacy survive.
01:18:26: Unless the Lord does raise the house and make its builders strive.
01:18:37: To you who boast tomorrow's gain, tell me what is your life?
01:18:47: A mist that vanishes at dawn, all glory be to Christ.
01:18:57: All glory be to Christ our
01:19:02: King, all glory be to Christ. His rule and reign will ever sing, all glory be to Christ.
01:19:21: His will be done, His kingdom come on earth as is above.
01:19:33: Who is Himself our daily bread, praise
01:19:39: Him, the Lord of love. Let living water satisfy the thirsty without price.
01:19:53: We'll take a cup of kindness yet, all glory be to Christ.
01:20:05: All glory be to Christ our
01:20:10: King, all glory be to Christ.
01:20:16: His rule and reign will ever sing, all glory be to Christ.
01:20:28: When on the day the great I am, the faithful and the true, the
01:20:40: Lamb who was for sinners slain, is making all things new.
01:20:50: Behold, our God shall live with us and be our steadfast life, and we shall e 'er
01:21:03: His people be, all glory be to Christ.
01:21:11: All glory be to Christ our King, all glory be to Christ.
01:21:21: His rule and reign will ever sing, all glory be to Christ.
01:21:32: All glory be to Christ our King, all glory be to Christ.
01:21:43: His rule and reign will ever sing, all glory be to Christ.
01:21:55: You're all dismissed. Have a great week. Washing of His mercy makes my ransom hard to see.