A Witness Across The Ages

A Witness Across The Ages

Genesis 4:1-10 1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRO:

We have here one of the most famous stories of our Bible. The story of two brothers, Cain and Able. The story of two sacrifices, fruit and blood. The story of two endings, life and death.

By life and death, I DO NOT mean how Cain killed Able. I’m talking about something much more permanent that! I’m talking about Jeremiah 21:8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is much more serious than a physical death. This is about eternity. This is about what you say long after you are gone. Cain is referenced much more in the Bible than Able. Able however is listed in Hebrews 11, and verse 4 has this tag at the end of it, “and by it he being dead yet speaketh”.

Now, what is “IT”? “It” is the sacrifice he offered. Cain was the founder of the world’s first false religion…. Cain’s religion was one of good works and human merit. According to him salvation must be earned…. Cain tried to approach God on the basis of his own work; Abel approached God on the basis of faith…. God respects the offering of Calvary, and Abel came into the good of that by faith ” John Phillips Exploring Hebrews You see, Cain’s offering had Cain all over it, Cain tilled the ground, Cain planted the seed, Cain watered the plants, Cain harvested the fruit, Cain arranged the presentation. However, ABEL HAD HIS SACRIFICE ALL OVER HIM. By the time Abel finished preparing the lamb he would offer God he had the blood of the lamb on him.

So, we know that we are ultimately talking about life and death, HEAVEN AND HELL! So, if Able is still speaking nearly 6,000 years after his death what does he have to say. If we could sit down and say, “Mr. Able, according to Hebrews 11:4 you still have something of value to say to us today. What is so important that you would still be saying it after 6,000 years?” I believe there are many things he would probably say to us, but I want to give you three of them that I believe would top that list.

A Witness Across The Ages

I. Obey God

A. In Salvation 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

I understand that this verse references a blood sacrifice but the point I want to make here is that obedience is the thing that God is after. We discussed in the Introduction that the reality is, Cain put more work into his sacrifice than Abel did. Cain put all the work into farming and Abel just let “mother nature” take over and produce a lamb that could be slain. The difference is that the Bible doesn’t reference the fruit of God in John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. You see Abel’s sacrifice, his blood offering pointed to Calvary, it pointed the first sacrifice in the garden, when God killed animals to cover his parent’s nakedness. This is what God demanded!

B. In Service Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Can I read between the lines a little bit here? The Bible says that Cain talked with Abel. In the previous verses Genesis 4:6-7 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. So, God is trying to get Cain’s attention and I have to believe that Abel was echoing the same thing that God was saying. “Hey Cain! Obey God!” In other words, he was witnessing to his brother. He was serving God. He was fulfilling the Great Commission before there was a Great Commission!

II. Be Faithful 1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

FAITHFUL: Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of religion. Webster 1828

Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Do right till the stars fall”. Is there ever a time when it’s wrong to do right? Imagine if Abel had just brushed off what Cain had done.

“Oh Cain, I know that you messed up this time but there’s always next time! It’s really not a big deal.”

“Ah! That’s just Cain! He always has his own way of doing things.”

“Well, you did your best. Maybe you can learn from this mistake, and God will just forget about it this one time.”

THE TRUTH IS GOD WILL NOT FORGET ABOUT IT UNTIL IT IS COVERED BY THE PROPER SACRIFICE! I believe that if Cain would have came back with the proper sacrifice after God dealt with him that God would have been quick to forgive. After all isn’t that what Jonah accused God of, Jonah 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

Abel, however, was not willing to brush it aside. He was faithful to be a witness even when it put him at odds with his own family. Sometimes, being faithful will put us in uncomfortable situations. It will put us on opposite sides of issues with family, friends, & coworkers. It may even put us at on opposite sides of an issue with other Christians. The question, however, is this, “What does God say about it?” Romans 3:4b …let God be true, but every man a liar… It doesn’t matter if it’s you, me, or your best friend, if there is an issue that comes up, we must be faithful to God!

It will not always be pleasant. But it will always be right.

DO RIGHT TILL THE STARS FALL

III. Have Faith Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith gives substance to the unseen reality John Phillips Exploring Hebrews If we are going to do anything for God, we must have faith inGod. Now, this can be easy preaching, but hard living.

It’s easy to say, “Just trust God for that!” when it’s not my bill that’s due.

“Just let God take care of that!” when it’s not my family that’s suffering.

“Just have faith in the Lord!” when it’s not my job that just ended.

“Just let go and let God!” when it’s not my family and friends that are pressuring me to loosen up on standards and convictions.

All of these things and more can be a cliché to us. The reality is that all of these saying are true. What we must realize when we face these situations, and when we say or hear these sayings is that it IS NOT ABOUT US!!!!! Whether we are on the SUFFERING end, or on the ADVISING end. You see, the truth of the matter is that the whole story of Cain and Abel, isn’t even about Cain and Abel. It is about what we must have if we are to be an effect Christian. So, what is that? It’s FAITH!!!!!

The worth of Abel’s offering arose from this: that he was weak, and that he cast himself upon One whom he knew to be strong. The Biblical Illustrator

Is that not what we understand faith to be. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. As children, we skin our knee and run to Momma’s arms, she holds us, and we feel better because we can FEEL the Mother’s love exuding itself from her. We can’t see the love, sure we can see the evidence of it, we can feel the evidence of it, just like Christ explaining salvation, and the Holy Spirit to Nicodemus in John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:. It’s not what we see that makes us trust Momma, it’s what we know in our heart!!!!! It’s that we have FAITH that she loves us so much that she would never hurt us and that she is there to protect us!

So it was with Abel! He knew that he was weak, just like Adam and Eve were weak. Surely, he had heard the stories of the Garden, the serpent, the fruit, and man’s expulsion. Most likely he had walked as close as he dared to the entrance of that Garden to see the Cherubims, and the flaming sword which turned every way. He knew he could never enter this wonderful place, then he remembered the story of the fig leaf aprons and their failure. The coats of animal skin and their sufficiency. The blood that had been shed. The sacrifice that had been made, and the commandment that had almost certainly been given by God to his parents and pass on to him. So, BY FAITH he casts himself upon the One who created everything he could see. He trusts Him to cover his sin, just as He had covered his parents’ sin so that he too could be righteous.

So, it was by faith that he slew a lamb and brought it to God as an offering. In this act of faith, he obtained witness from God that he was indeed righteous. Not because of what he did, but because of WHO he trusted.

CLOSING

If we could interview Abel today, this witness across the ages, I believe three things he would say to us are:

I. Obey God

A. In Salvation

B. In Service

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

II. Be Faithful – no matter who else if faithful to God, and no matter what it costs.

III. Have Faith – God will always lead you to what is best for you, and what glorify Him Most!