Hope Church LV Sermons
Not By Sight :: Able - A man of Faith
The opening chapters of the Bible reveal amazing truth about God and His relationship to humanity. For example, Genesis chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, starts answering the big questions. Where did all this come from? Why do I exist? What is the purpose of my life? Genesis 1, 1, says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It begins to answer some serious universal questions about where we came from and why we exist. Then in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 27 God describes the crowning moment of creation when He created human beings. Listen what it says in Genesis 1, 27, "God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him male and female. He created them. God blessed them and He said to them be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on earth. God created human beings in a very unique way. He made them unlike the rest of creation in his own image." Why? So that you and I could enjoy a fellowship relationship with him. God created us to know him and to live our lives in fellowship with him and that's what the Garden of Eden was all about. God made Adam and Eve and He placed them in the garden in this beautiful environment that was a picture of man's relationship with God. But then as you read on into chapter 3 we know what happens, right? In Genesis chapter 3 Adam and Eve choose to sin against God and what happens is the fall of humanity. Humanity falls in sin and death enters the world. The Bible describes that as his spiritual death. Adam and Eve in that moment of sin died spiritually and they lost the ability to have a relationship with God. They lost the ability to have fellowship with God. God up until that point had been the scripture says coming into the garden daily and spending intimate moments in fellowship with God. But on that day when God came to meet with Adam and Eve they hid themselves from God because they'd broken that fellowship relationship with God. From Genesis chapter 3 God begins to proclaim the message of redemption that God had put in motion a plan to restore that which sin had taken away. The whole Bible is the story of God redeeming that which we lost because of sin. And we read the first proclamation of the gospel in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. Maybe you've never noticed it before. Listen to what it says, Genesis 3.15 God says to the serpent I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. Now if you're really paying attention when you read that you understand biologically something's not correct about that statement. In the reproductive process the female does not bring the seed to the relationship. What does he mean when he says he's going to put enmity between the seed of Satan and sin and the seed of the woman. He's speaking and prophesying about the way the Messiah is going to come into the world thousands of years later through the virgin born Mary. God brings the virgin born son of God through Mary. She was a virgin. She'd not had relations with the man and God brought his son into the world through Mary. Here's a prophecy that all the way in the book of Genesis God's beginning to tell foretell about the coming of a Messiah into the world to redeem. Listen what he goes on to say. He says and he shall bruise you on the head talking about this one who would come through the seed of a woman Jesus born of a virgin, the virgin Mary. This one Satan will bruise you on the head. It's a Hebrew phrase for a death blow meaning that through what Christ would accomplish he would forever bring the death blow to Satan and the Bible says in your bruise him on the heel. Speaking of the crucifixion yes he would bruise our Savior but the ultimate victory would belong to Christ and then God continues to proclaim visibly this picture of redemption in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21. You see what Adam and Eve did when they sinned. They knew that their sin had separated them from God so they tried to create a covering. The Bible says they made fig leaves and they covered themselves but God began to proclaim to them that because of their sin there was nothing they could do to cover themselves. That sin required a sacrifice. It was a blood sacrifice and in Genesis 3 and verse 21 the first physical death ever in creation occurs. God himself slays an animal and in Genesis 3 21 the Bible says the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and he clothed them. It was a picture that sin required a sacrifice a covering that we could not do in and of ourselves no matter how hard we tried God had to provide a sacrifice and it was a picture and a promise that one day he would provide the ultimate sacrifice through his son Jesus on the cross that first sacrifice in Genesis 3 21 was a type it was a picture of what would one day happen on a cross Jesus offering himself for the sin of the world as our covering. A.W. Pink said it this way to Adam and Eve God preached a blessed and basic truth of substitution the just dying for the unjust the innocent suffering for the guilty. Then in Genesis 4 humanity as we now know it comes on the scene for the very first time. In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel are born. The first human beings born after the fall meaning the first human beings that were born into this world dead to God and alive to sin. I want you to read about it with me in Genesis 4 I want to read some verses and we're doing this to lay some foundation you'll see where we're going here in just a minute. Genesis 4 look at verse 1 now the man had relations with his wife Eve and she conceived and gave birth to Cain and she said I've gotten a man child with the help of the Lord again she gave birth to his brother Abel and Abel was a keeper of flocks but Cain was a tiller of the ground so it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard so Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain why are you angry and why is your countenance fallen if you do well will not your countenance be lifted up and if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door and its desires for you but you must master it. Cain told Abel his brother and it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Cain and Abel. The first two human beings born just like you and I were born under the curse of the fall born into sin. Cain and Abel had apparently been taught the message of God by their parents. Adam and Eve had explained to them about the covering. They'd explained to them about sin. They'd explained to them about a relationship with God and separation because of sin. They'd explained to them about the provision that God had made through a blood sacrifice and how God offered us forgiveness but we had to come on his terms and both of these boys both of these young men understood that there was a God that needed to be worshipped that they needed to know the difference is they came two different ways. The Bible tells us that Cain decided to come his own way. He thought he knew better than God he didn't need a blood sacrifice he brought the best he could bring he he worked hard and he tilled the ground and he brought an offering of the fruits and vegetables I'm sure it was a beautiful offering a much more beautiful offering than that that Abel brought. It wasn't just a bloody piece of meat it was a beautiful offering of vegetation and fruits and and he brought that and he offered it the best that he could do. The problem is Cain chose not to come God's way. Cain, Cain, man's way, self-effort trying to earn with my performance a right standing before God. Listen to the way John MacArthur describes it. Cain believed in God but he did not believe God. He thought he could approach God in whatever way he wanted and expected him to be impressed and satisfied and so doing Cain became the father of all false religion. False religion is trying to come to God by any other way than the way God has prescribed. Abel came by faith. Abel was a man of faith, Abel it wasn't that that his offering was a better offering it wasn't what he brought it was why he brought it. You see what he brought he brought in faith believing the promise of God believing the message of God he trusted Abel rested his whole weight on the promise of God and for that reason he's the first name recorded in Hebrews chapter 11. As we continue our study this week walking verse by verse through Hebrews chapter 11 in a series we began last weekend called not by sight ordinary people extraordinary faith. The back story is very important to help you understand why Abel is listed first. He's the first in a long line of human beings born into this world under the curse of sin that by faith enjoyed a relationship with God. So if you have your Bible Hebrews chapter 11 verse four here's our text and I want to show you just a few short truths. Here's the text Hebrews 11 for by faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous. God testifying about his gifts and through faith though he is dead he still speaks. In the few moments we have left I want to tell you three things that we learn about Abel we're going to spend most of our time on the first one and we'll just mention the last two. Here's the first one Abel lived by faith he lived by faith and there are two aspects of this. Number one Abel discovered righteousness by faith. The Bible says that by faith Abel offered. Abel brought this offering by faith last week and we answered this question where does faith come from? Remember where it comes from Romans 10 17 faith comes by what? Hearing. Faith comes from hearing faith is not something that I create faith is my response to hearing the promise of God the Bible says in Hebrews 11 it was by faith that Abel offered. Here's what that means Abel heard the promise of God he heard the message of redemption he'd heard from his mom and dad Adam and Eve how God made a promise that there needed to be a sacrifice how one day God would send a sacrifice and by faith Abel responded to what he heard and he brought his offering and the Bible tells us that through his faith Abel was counted by God as righteous. It tells us here in Hebrews 11-4 it also tells us in Matthew 23 and verse 5 because Jesus calls Abel righteous Abel in Matthew chapter 23. The word righteous describes someone who has been declared right with God who's been justified who's been forgiven of their sin and cleansed and been given a right standing before God. Abel did not receive his right standing before God through his performance Abel received his right standing before God by faith in the promise of God. Here's the point. There's a moment when Abel's faith gave him a relationship with God. There was a moment when Abel's faith relationship with God began and the same is true for you and me today. Every one of us that has a relationship with God. If you have a relationship with God today there is a moment when that relationship begins by faith. If you have a relationship with your person being made right with God is not a matter of your performance. There are a lot of people, there'll be even some here today. You're attending this service today believing that by your attendance you're somehow appeasing God. You've brought him an offering today of fruits and vegetables. God I'm here today to prove myself. There's some of you who are trying to turn over a new leaf hoping that if you can just demonstrate better action then God will forget all the past action. There's some trying to live moral lives. There's some trying to conform to a system or standard of religion believing that if I'll just become religious enough, if I can just answer all the questions, if I can perform hard enough then God will somehow accept me. Listen that is all the way of Cain, the only way into relationship with God is the same way Abel came and that is by faith. We must come to the end of ourselves and realize there is absolutely nothing I can do to ever earn a right standing before God. There's no morality I can live, there's no religious action I can perform, it is only by the grace of God through faith that I can be forgiven of my sin and given a relationship with God. Let me show it to you on the screen. Second Corinthians 521, one of my favorite verses in the Bible says, "He God the Father made him Jesus the Son who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf." What is that? That's the substitute, that's the sacrifice, that's the offering, that's the covering. He made him to be sinned, why, so that we might become the what? Righteousness of, this is important, the righteousness of who? God, do you understand that? I'm not simply trying to become a more righteous person, I get the privilege through Christ of substituting my sin for the very righteousness of God. Here's what that means. Now God no longer sees me as a sinner, He sees me as righteous as Himself. Do I deserve that? Absolutely not. Grace, how do I get in on it? By faith I lay hold of it and I appropriate it to my life. That's why Romans 5, 1 says, "Therefore, therefore having been justified by God." By faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, able discovered righteousness by faith. So here's the question, have you ever discovered the righteousness of God by faith? I'm not asking this morning if you've ever tried church, I'm not asking if you've ever tried to be religious, I'm asking, have you ever laid hold of the very righteousness of God through faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross? That's the only way. The second aspect of this is that Abel lived a righteous life by faith. He didn't just discover righteousness by faith, he lived the righteous life by faith. The righteousness that Abel had received by faith spilled out of his life as he walked with God daily by faith. Last weekend I gave you a statement I want to put back up on the screen, we called it the point. Here it is, faith in Christ is not a decision I make. Faith in Christ is a life that I live. It is true that for the follower of Jesus living a faith relationship there's a moment when it begins, when when I begin my relationship with God by faith, here's the problem. We think you put your faith in Jesus and once you receive Jesus now you step over that line and you try to now live the Christian life until you get to heaven, no, no. You live the Christian life the same way you became a Christian. How did you become a Christian by performing, by doing better, by trying hard to know? I became a Christian by faith in the wonderful grace of Jesus. How do I live the Christian life? Same way, by faith. What does it mean to live by faith? There's the question of the morning. What does it mean to live by faith? I tried to begin to unpack it a little bit last weekend. I want to give you a little more clear definition. It's not going to be complete or exhausted but it's our attempt to try to put it in a way that we can at least wrap our heads around it. Here it is, to live life. Now, stop right there, don't read any further yet. Walking by faith is not just what you do on Sunday morning. It's not just what you do in your small group, it's not just what you do in your quiet time. It's living life, meaning that this relationship with God permeates everything. Every moment of every day, every day of every week, every week of every month, every month of every year. To live life, not trusting in myself. To live life, not trusting in myself but resting moment by moment in his very life in me. Walking by faith, living by faith is to live life, not trusting in myself but resting moment by moment in his very life in me. It's exactly what Jesus said in John 15 5, with that verse up there, John 15 5, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the what, branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do what, nothing. There is not one command in John 15 for you and I to bear fruit. There's not one." Bearing fruit is really a description of the righteousness of God. It's literally the life of Christ. There's not one command in John 15 for you and I to go and live the life of Christ. Not one command in John 15 for you and I to go produce righteousness. No. Command. You know what it is? Abide in me to rest in his very life in me, moment by moment. Here's the principle. Through faith, I not only experience the forgiveness of sin in my life positionally, but by faith I experience freedom from sin practically moment by moment as I live in dependence on his very life in me. By faith I'm forgiven, but now I'm here living this life, right? How do I deal with all the temptations, the thoughts by living moment by moment by faith in him? Man that temptation comes, what do you do with it? I try to withstand it. No. You run to him. You run to him. By faith. By Lord, I will mess this up, Lord, I will fall flat on my face, Lord, I know who I am. I know the wickedness of my own heart. I know the carnality of my own soul, but Lord I know who you are and God I put my trust in you and Lord in this moment, I want you to live through me. That is living. Listen, you may have to do that 57,000 times a day. But that's the key and what happens in over time as we begin to live that way, it just becomes the way we live, it becomes as natural as breathing. I no longer try to struggle against this and no, I just live in dependence on God and let God through me have his way in my life. Does that make sense? There's freedom in that. Now, when I begin to live that way, there's evidence of that in my life. John Calvin said it this way, "Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is never alone." Where there is the righteousness of God imputed in my life, as I begin to live by faith, that righteousness begins to be manifest in my life on a day in and day out basis. You see it enables life. We don't have time to go through it exhaustively, but in Genesis chapter 4, it was able faith that led to generous sacrifice. Why would he bring this offering? The Bible tells us it was the firstborn that he had, meaning that it was the first out of his produce. And not only that, it says that he brought the fat portions, meaning that he didn't bring the leftovers, he brought the very best of the very best that he had as an offering. Why did he do that? Wouldn't it make sense to save that best and just bring the offering of something? Why? Because he wasn't trusting in himself. He would look into his own intellect and his own logic and his own rationale to make those decisions. He was walking by faith and dependence on the promise of God. There was evidence of that in his life. Let me give you another evidence. His faith led him to boldly sharing his faith with others, the truth with others. The Bible says in verse 7 of Genesis 4 that when Cain was confronted by God, the first thing he did was go talk to Abel about it. Now, Abel being the younger brother, wanting to look up to and gain respect of his older brother could have said, "It's all right, Cain, your offering's good." But he didn't do that. He boldly applied the truth of the message of God to the life of his brother. What enabled him to do that? His faith. Hey, listen, his faith led him to even being willing to sacrifice his life for the truth. Verse 8 tells us that when Cain heard the confrontation by Abel, Cain didn't take it well. He killed his brother. What would make a young man willing to lay down his life for the truth? Listen, not trusting in himself, but living moment by moment and dependence, resting his whole weight on the very life of God in him. He will live by faith. I'm going to give you the last two quickly. Abel received his reward by faith. Hebrews 11, 4 says, "By faith, Abel obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts." The phrase "obtained to testimony" literally means to be emphatically testified about in a positive fashion. Here's what the Bible is saying, "God saw Abel's faith, and it brought incredible joy to the Father, not his performance, but the simplicity with which he trusted the Father." So much so, the Bible says God emphatically spoke about it. God declared him righteous, not just one-on-one with Abel. He told the whole world about the righteousness of Abel, but also at the end of his life when Cain took his life, Abel stood before the Lord and heard those beautiful words that every genuine follower of Christ longs to hear, "Well, done." Not because of what Abel did, but because of why and how he did it. He rested on the truth of God, and the Father said, "Well, then listen, you can try all day long through your offerings, through your service, through your witnessing, through your morality, through your good work. You can try all day long to please the Father, but there's only one way. Hebrews 11, 6 says, "And without faith, it is impossible to please him." The only way my life pleases the Father is as I'm living in complete dependence on him and allowing him to manifest his very life through me. You know what he finds pleasing in my life, the life of his son? To the degree that the life of Christ is manifest in me, therein the Father finds his joy. And that does not happen through my performance, that happens through my dependence. The last thing we understand about Abel, he touched the world by faith. Hebrews 11, 4 closes with this phrase, "Though he is dead, he still speaks." Here we are literally thousands of years later, and Abel's simple life of faith. Abel didn't preach big crusades, Abel didn't plant thousands of churches, Abel didn't travel to continents with the gospel. What do you do? He's lived by faith. And here we are thousands of years later, being tremendously impacted. We so have messed up how you measure success in the kingdom of God. We're going to get to heaven. There's going to be some names we all know that are not going to be the names at the front of the line in heaven. There are going to be some people you and I have never heard of. The Abel's of the world who just trusted God where he put them. The quote I've given it to you before by William James, it just so speaks to my heart. It says this, "The great use of a life is to spend it for something that outlasts you." How do you do that? Let me tell you how, by faith, right where you are, you just start depending on him, moment by moment, and he will do through you what you never dreamed possible. Let me give you an example, Clyde Cranford. If you know the name Clyde Cranford, you've heard me say it many, many, many times, Clyde was a mentor in my life. In 1998, God brought Clyde into my life. I was a young pastor still just having finished up seminary right at the end. God brought Clyde into my life and Clyde had dedicated his life to one thing, discipling and mentoring men in ministry. He completely lived by faith. He had no income other than God providing. He gave his life 30, 40 hours a week. He would spend discipling men. That's all he did, men in ministry. He'd come once a week to my office. He'd sit down with me for two or three hours and you knew when Clyde came. He needed a Bible, a pen, and a notebook, and a tin of beer. You just need to be ready. He's about to pour it out. For a year and a half, Clyde came sat with me every week, a couple hours, just pouring into my life. Clyde in his mid-40s went home to be the Lord. They found him sitting in his living room with his recliner kickback, Bible open in his lap, pen and notebook. He was sitting there spending time with the father by faith. In the next moment, he was with the father by sight. Now, if it weren't for me saying his name, you would never know the name Clyde Cranford. Never spoke to big crowds. His audience was typically a one-man audience, one guy, so much that I understand today about intimacy with God, about it all being about a relationship, about God working in me so that he can work through me, so much of that I understand today because of the investment of his life in my life and listen to me, there are many of you whose life has been changed and you didn't know it, but it was God using a man named Clyde Cranford. Clyde's touching the world, we're now training leaders on four continents, Clyde's touching the world. Listen, he didn't have a big plan and dream to go do something great for God. No, he just trusted God. He just moment by moment rested in him and let God do through him greater than anything he could ever imagine. Listen, God doesn't need you to do something great for him. He wants to do something great through you. We've got too many people trying to do something great for God. You know why they want to do something great for God because they want to create it? When God does something great through you, let me tell you who gets the glory. He does. Because you know what you know, there's no way it happened if it's me, there's no way. What was a man who walked by faith? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.