BY FAITH, WE ARE ABLE!!!

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 11

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

BIG IDEA: BY FAITH, WE GIVE GOD OUR ABSOLUTE BEST...

WE’VE BEGUN THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES WITH A DIRECT SET OF QUESTIONS: “DO YOU FEEL STUCK?”

TO WHICH I CONFESSED BOTH A LACK OF PROGRESS (OR FORWARD MOVEMENT), PARTNERED WITH A PRESENCE OF FEAR (OR UNCERTAINTY) WHICH CAN POTENTIALLY COMPROMISE OUR SERVICE AND WITNESS....(((STUCK)))!

TODAY’S QUESTION IS ALSO IN ALIGNMENT BECAUSE IT ASKS: “HAVE YOU BEEN GIVING GOD YOUR BEST?” - AS A SPOUSE, AS A SINGLE, AS A PARENT, AS AN ADULT, YOUNG ADULT, TEEN, OR CHILD - AS AN EMPLOYEE (AS A STUDENT)....AS ONE WHO HAS BEEN BORN OF HIS SPIRIT - WASHED IN HIS BLOOD....HAVE YOU BEEN GIVING GOD YOUR BEST?

SEE BELOVED, NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS CAN BE ANSWERED IN THE POSITIVE IN OUR OWN STRENGTH...

WE CAN ONLY MOVE FORWARD - OR FULFILL OUR CALLING - OR GIVE GOD OUR BEST - (((BY FAITH)))!! THAT’S WHY THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES IS FOUNDATIONAL FOR OUR SUCCESS IN 2021....

REMEMBER: FAITH IS BEING INTENTIONAL (TAKING STEPS TOWARDS FULFILLMENT & PURPOSE), WHILE RELYING UPON GOD’S WORD, WHICH IS CREDIBLE! EVEN THOUGH THINGS MAY SEEM IMPOSSIBLE!!!

DO YOU FIND YOURSELF “SANDWICHED” BETWEEN TWO IMPOSSIBILITIES? WORN OUT BY THE ROUTINE OF UNCERTAINTY - SEARCHING FOR A FRESH-WIND / FRESH-FIRE?

I STOPPED BY TODAY TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WHAT YOU NEED - WHAT WE ALL NEED IS A RENEWAL OF OUR FAITH, SO THAT WE CAN BE POSITIONED TO GIVE GOD OUR BEST...

GOD HASN’T GIVEN US FAITH SIMPLY TO TESTIFY THAT WE’RE FAITHFUL...

HE’S GIVEN US FAITH, SO THAT WE WILL DO...

FAITH IS ABOUT DOING - FAITH IS ABOUT FORWARD - FAITH IS ABOUT ACTION!

IN FACT, EVERY PERSON THAT WE’LL EXAMINE IN HEBREWS 11 (((DID SOMETHING))) WITH THEIR FAITH!

The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us. John Emmons.

BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS CREATED BY THE WORD OF GOD, SO THAT WHAT IS SEEN WAS MADE FROM THINGS THAT ARE NOT VISIBLE (VS. 3).

FAITH BRINGS CLARITY FOR OUR JOURNEY

THE WRITER HELPS US, BELOVED! BY FAITH, WE ARE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND AND TO SEE WHAT GOD IS UP TO...

VS. 3 IS A DIRECT REFERENCE TO GENESIS’ CREATION ACCOUNT, WHERE EVERYTHING THAT NOW EXISTS WAS CALLED INTO EXISTENCE BY THE VERY WORD OF GOD:

THE CREATION

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.,

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

FAITH BRINGS CLARITY FOR OUR JOURNEY

WE (NOW) SEE WHAT GOD CREATED, AND WE BELIEVE THAT HIS WORD CALLED WHAT IS SEEN INTO BEING…THIS CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD - (((BY FAITH)))!

BELOVED, THIS IS PRACTICAL FAITH: TAKING GOD AT HIS (TRUSTWORTHY) WORD, SO THAT WE CAN SEE AND DO HIS (TRUSTWORTHY) WILL!

WHEN THINGS ARE UNCLEAR, GO TO GOD’S WORD.

WHEN DIRECTIONS ARE FUZZY, GO TO GOD’S WORD.

WHEN LIFE BECOMES CHAOTIC, GO TO GOD’S WORD.

ISSUES WITH MARRIAGE: READ ABOUT LOVE

CONFUSION ABOUT YOUR FUTURE: READ ABOUT TRUSTING GOD

DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENT: READ ABOUT GOD’S RESTORING POWER.

When the preacher's car broke down on a country road, he walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar. "What happened to you, Frank?" asked the good reverend. "You used to be rich." Frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall. "Go home," the preacher said. "Open your Bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be God's answer."

Some time later, the preacher bumped into Frank, who was wearing a Gucci suit, sporting a Rolex watch and had just stepped our of a Mercedes. "Frank." said the preacher, "I am glad to see things really turned around for you." "Yes, preacher, and I owe it all to you," said Frank. "I opened my Bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer -- Chapter 11." 

FAITH BRINGS CLARITY FOR OUR JOURNEY!

AWW, THE TEXT IS MOVING:

BY FAITH ABEL OFFERED TO GOD A BETTER SACRIFICE THAN CAIN DID. BY FAITH HE WAS APPROVED AS A RIGHTEOUS MAN, BECAUSE GOD APPROVED HIS GIFTS, AND EVEN THOUGH HE IS DEAD, HE STILL SPEAKS THROUGH HIS FAITH. (VS. 4)

THESE TWO BROTHERS, SONS OF ADAM AND EVE, WERE TASKED WITH GIVING GOD THEIR BEST. ONE SUCCEEDED. ONE FAILED.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 4

Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the LORD. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

BY FAITH, WE GIVE GOD OUR BEST!

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Faith

Faith

Faith is the gift of God. So is the air, but you have to breathe it. So is bread, but you have to eat it. So is water, but you have to drink it.

So how do we accept this gift? Not by a feeling, for “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come upon me with a strong feeling of some kind. Rather, faith comes when we take God at his word.445

ABEL - SHEPHERD - FLOCKS ABOVE GROUND.

CAIN - FARMER - SOIL BELOW GROUND.

BOTH HAD RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS FROM GOD!

CAIN BROUGHT “SOME OF THE LAND’S PRODUCE”

ABEL BROUGHT “SOME OF THE FIRSTBORN & FAT PORTIONS OF HIS FLOCK”

ABEL WAS APPROVED - “REGARDED” FROM GENESIS ACCOUNT, BECAUSE HE FAITHFULLY GAVE GOD HIS BEST, BELIEVING GOD WOULD BLESS THE REST...

CAIN GETS MAD (((HOW YOU GONE GET MAD CAUSE YOU GOT CAUGHT)))?

CAIN’S OFFERING MAY HAVE LOOKED PRESENTABLE TO MAN…BUT GOD HAS THE FINAL WORD/AUTHORITY!

I’M COMING DOWN YOUR BLOCK BELOVED (AND MINE TOO)...

WHAT MAY APPEAR GOOD TO MAN - TO OTHERS, MAY BE OBJECTIONABLE TO GOD!

WHO DO YOU DESIRE TO PLEASE? GOD OR MAN?

BY FAITH, WE GIVE GOD OUR BEST!

God judges what we give by what we keep.

G. Mueller.

ABEL’S OFFERING WAS BETTER: B/C OF THE

SUBSTANCE OF HIS FAITH (RIGHTEOUSNESS ASSOCIATED WITH SUBMISSION) - ABEL’S FAITH MADE THE DIFFERENCE! HIS INTEGRITY - HIS RIGHTEOUS MOTIVES!

SUBSTANCE OF HIS GIFT (GAVE HIS FIRST & BEST) - what made Abel’s offering superior to Cain’s was evidently its being an offering of the “firstlings” (first-born) and its including the “fat” (Gen. 4:4). Ancient Near Easterners commonly held that a deity deserved the first of whatever man, beast, or crop brought forth. The fat likewise represented the best part of an animal offering. Abel’s offering shows the respect he gave God as worthy of the best whereas Cain’s offering, as Moses described it in Genesis 4, indicates that he did not so reverence God.

Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Heb 11:4). Galaxie Software.

THE SUBSTANCE OF ABEL’S GIFT STILL SPEAKS!!! - EVEN THOUGH HE IS DEAD, HE STILL SPEAKS THROUGH HIS FAITH...

BELOVED, THAT’S LEGACY!!!

AWWW BELOVED: ABEL’S FAITH AFFIRMS THAT GOD IS ABLE!!

Charles Spurgeon preached to thousands in London each Lord's Day, yet he started his ministry by passing out tracts and teaching a Sunday school class as a teenager. When he began to give short addresses to the Sunday school, God blessed his ministry of the Word. He was invited to preach in obscure places in the country side, and he used every opportunity to honor the Lord. He was faithful in the small things, and God trusted him with the greater things. "I am perfectly sure," he said, "that, if I had not been willing to preach to those small gatherings of people in obscure country places, I should never have had the privilege of preaching to thousands of men and women in large buildings all over the land. Remember our Lord's rule, "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 221.

EXAMINE YOUR HEART

EXAMINE YOUR GIFT

EXCHANGE HIDDEN MOTIVES FOR ACTIVE FAITH