And we've entitled this series Hall of Faith, which is not unique to me. If you guys have been around church for any length of time, you have heard Hebrews 11 referred to as the Hall of Faith. And I want to explain that just a little bit more to give you a little bit of an understanding as we kind of dive into this. But before we do, I love Hall of Fame type stuff, right? And I'm a big sports guy.
And so I like, you know, Hall of Fame speeches. I like to visit, if I ever get an opportunity, you know, to go to some Hall of Fame things like the Golf Hall of Fame and, you know, the basketball. I love watching basketball inductee speeches and different things like that. And when you think about the Hall of Fame, whether it be for music or for sports or something like that, the Hall of Fame is reserved. For individuals who did some extraordinary things, right?
It's reserved for people that were just incredible at the trade. Maybe it's a sport, maybe it's songwriting, whatever. And when you think of the Hall of Fame, you think of just these incredible individuals that did some incredible things for the trade that they were involved in. And so when we come to Hebrews 11 and we call this. the Hall of Faith, it's a little bit different than that.
And here's why. It's easy for us to look at these stories that we're going to look at and immediately think: man, these guys are incredible individuals. These guys are at a different level of their spirituality than we are. And it's easy to elevate them and things like that. But as you look at these individuals, these specific characters, here's what you're going to find.
Many of them. They doubted. They were very imperfect people, right? Many of them had pretty messed up lives. Many of them lost their cool.
Many of them struggled. Many of them doubted God at certain times in their life. Many of them made some major mistakes in their life. And you see, this, and here's what I'm telling you: I don't want you in this series to just look at these individual characters and think, wow, I need what they have, or I need to be more like them, or anything like this. Because here's what I want you to know, and this is really the big idea for the entire series: is this: Hebrews 11 is not about how great these people are.
Okay. It is about how great the God they trusted in is.
Okay? And so I want you to know as we look at this and we are going to go character. By character, through this, all right. It's going to be a slow series, and we're going to slowly, methodically kind of work through each character of Hebrews chapter 11. There'll be a separate sermon on each character through this series.
And I want you to know that the goal of that is not this, it's not so that you can walk away and say, Wow, these people were incredible. These people had the deepest faith. These people are who I want to be like or who I aspire to be like. No, I want you to leave here every single week of this series, recognizing that the reason that they're in Hebrews 11 is because of the great God they trusted in. And that's who we need to trust in as well.
And so, just before we dive in. To the first character, I want to give you an understanding of what faith really is and what we're going to be talking about. Because this is called the hall of faith. That is the reason why, you know, God saw fit to list these people and these characters in here is because they trusted in God. They had faith in God.
So we have to define faith a little bit. And so if you look at our text real quick, and I'm going to read this a couple of times probably today, but in verse number one, it says, Now, faith is the substance of things, hoped for the evidence of things not seen. For by it, faith, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do. Appear.
A couple of things about faith I want to describe to you so you understand what we're talking about.
So, first of all, I want you to see this: that there is a difference. Between saving faith. and living by faith. There is a difference. Don't get them confused.
There is a difference. Between saving faith and and living by faith.
Okay. So, and you're going to see both of these a little bit on display in Hebrews 11. And I want you to understand the distinction. Saving faith, you know, Ephesians 2:8 says it best: for by grace are ye saved through faith. It is the gift of God, right?
Not of works, lest any man should boast. And so everyone comes into a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith. That is saving faith. That means that saving faith is believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus came to die on a cross for you to take away all of your sins. And to live the perfect life, the one worthy of a relationship with a perfect God.
And for you to have a relationship with that perfect, holy, righteous God, it only comes by faith in what Jesus has done for you. That's saving faith.
So if that's saving faith, what is living by faith? This is the kind of faith that God wants all of us to experience. He's wanting every one of you that know Jesus as Savior, he's wanting you to walk by this, to experience this. This is the confidence. And who he is.
And it's living. And walking. Each and every step of your life. in that confidence. Living by faith, it provides rest for your soul.
When you're trusting in the one that is in control. You see, this is different than saving faith because this is actually living by it and walking by it. It's when you get a bad diagnosis, maybe at the doctor, or something happens in your family that's out of your control, and you start wondering, like, man, how in the world could a good God do this? And you start trusting in who God is above what the circumstances say to you around you. That's living by faith.
So there's a difference between saving faith and living by faith. But number two, Faith involves believing, or faith believes in what is unseen.
Okay. And so let me explain this to you. Right there, it said in Hebrews 1: faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Here's a good way for you to think of faith as we kind of dive into this series. Faith is latching on to the promises of God, even if they are unfulfilled.
So, there's some promises that God has promised to you that you should be trusting in, and it might not be fulfilled up to this point. That's what faith is. It's trusting. It's the ability that you have to live as if God is in control, even when you can't see certain things. It is living with the awareness that there is a world that you cannot see with your physical eyes, but you trust that it still exists.
They seize. Not physically. but spiritually. You see, Hebrews 11 type of faith, what we're going to look at, it's about individuals who trusted even when they couldn't see the outcome. What's amazing about these stories, when you look at these things, we have the entire canon of scripture, we see the outcome.
For them, they didn't see the outcome. Noah had never experienced rain before. And he trusted God enough to build an ark. Right? And so you see these things throughout.
And I want you to know that faith is trusting even when you can't see the outcome. Number three, as you age with God. Your spiritual sight should be increasing. Right.
Now For some of you As you get. As you get older. Your physical sight starts to go away, right? How many of you have seen that in your own life? Be honest with me.
Don't lie, all right? Don't lie in the presence of God, all right?
So we get it. I'm 41 years old. I wear contacts. And every year that I go to get my eyes checked. I realize that my eyes are getting worse.
All right. It's part of getting old. I mean, it's just part of it, right? And so as we age, our physical sight starts to diminish. But it's totally different in your spiritual life.
Because as you age in your relationship with God. Your spiritual sight should be increasing. You should be able to have more faith and exercise more faith today than you did. Last year, as you walk with the Lord, you should, as you age with him, better hear his voice, know him better, and see him more clearly. Number four, faith is in action.
Not just a feeling. Self-explanatory, but what we learn in Hebrews 11 about living by faith. It's that it isn't just sitting around hoping God will do something. It's about exercising and acting within what he can do, and trusting God will come through in the end. What you're going to see throughout this series is a lot of action that supports the belief and trust that they had, that these individuals and characters had.
Abel offered, Noah built, Abraham went, Isaac blessed. You see the picture? What you're going to see throughout this series is that faith is not just a feeling. It's not just sitting here and hoping that God will come through and hoping that God will do something. No, it's exercising faith in what he has done and you taking a step towards him.
Even when the outcome is uncertain. And then the last thing before we get into the first character is this. Faith moves. based upon the conviction. That God is real.
He will keep his promises. And that it is worth it to follow him. Here's why we know that to be true. Look at verse 6 real quick. Hebrews 11, 6.
Without faith, it is impossible to please him. Listen, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. And that he is a rewarder. Of them that did diligently seek him.
So, every one of these characters, here's the common thing: it is faith. And here's what faith ultimately is: faith will act when it truly believes. And it is moved by the conviction that God is real. That he's going to keep his promises. And that it is worth it to follow him.
So, as we look at this, I want you to think about that idea the whole series that we go: listen, do I really believe that God is real? Do I really believe That he will, that I trust that he'll keep his promises. And do I really believe that it is worth it? to follow him wherever he leads. him whatever he asks.
Yeah. They So let's dive back in. I'll read it again. Hebrews 11. Verse 1, here we go.
Now, faith is the substance, that's assurance, by the way, of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, that is faith, the elders obtained a good report or a good story, a good testimony, because they trusted in him. Verse 3: Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. That means that he's saying that none of us saw creation and no human being, because it was before the people and mankind existed. None of them saw that God created the world.
We all have faith to believe that, right? You have faith to believe that there had to be a creator behind what you see, behind the creation. There had to be a designer behind all of it. And then in verse 4, we see the first character that is listed in the hall of faith. Here's what it is: By faith, Abel.
Offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. by which he obtained witness that he was righteous that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And buy it. He being dead yet. Speaketh.
So, as we go through it, and we're going to look at Abel here today, you got to think of faith in Hebrews 11 almost like. A cube. I have these two cubes in my office. I should have brought one to you. And my mom got me a cube for both of my kids when they were baptized.
And I had the opportunity to baptize my kids. And so on this cube, it has on one side of it, it has the date that they were baptized. And then on each corner, you see a different picture of that day of them. And so it's telling the same story, but it's just a different way or a different picture that leads to the same thing. That's what a cube is.
And so today, we're going to look at one side of the cube, and each week we're going to look at a different side of the cube of faith, but it's telling the same overall story through a different character, through a different voice, through a different lens, through a different story. And so let's look at Abel here today. And so we learn a couple of things about Abel's fate that are applicable to us today. Number one is this, if you take notes. State of Based on Abel's story, faith approaches God.
On his terms. Not man's terms.
Okay, so what we learn from faith is that it approaches God. On man's terms. Not On God's terms, not man terms.
Okay? And so, you got to approach God the right way. And in order for us to understand this, we got to go way back in Genesis. You're welcome to turn there. You can go to Genesis 3 if you want.
It'll be up on the screen if you don't want to turn there. But in Genesis 3, we see the fall of humanity.
So, in Genesis 1 and 2, we see creation, we see mankind, and they were created for a purpose. What was that purpose? To walk with God, to talk with God. That was the reason why human beings were created in the first place to have a relationship with God. And in chapter three.
That changes. Let's look at it together. Here's what it says in verse number one: Now the serpent. That's the enemy. That's the devil, right?
You know the story. He was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. He goes on in verse 2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said.
You shall not eat of it. Neither shall ye Touch it lest Yeah. Ye die.
Now you see right off the bat Before the sin, you see the nature of all sin, and here's what it is. Unbelief. The nature of all sin, it's unbelief. What the enemy did was he tried to twist what God had said. What God had commanded.
In every sin that we ever commit, it is because we don't believe something that God has told us. Maybe it's a promise. Maybe it's his word. Maybe it's how to live. Whatever.
But the point is, you see the nature of unbelief here. And so what the enemy did was he said, Hey, does God really mean that? The enemy's always going to try to get us to doubt. God's word. And so he goes on in verse 5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open.
And ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Verse six. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did He did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened. And they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves.
Aprons So you say, what is significant here? Here's what you see: the nature of our sin is always unbelief. We doubt what God has told us. We doubt, you know, whether we can be saved based on the blood of Jesus. We doubt, you know, his word.
We doubt all these things. And so the nature of all sin is unbelief. But what we see from the very beginning is this: our response to our sin. From the very beginning. is we try to hide ourselves.
We try to fix ourself. You know, isn't it interesting that up to this point Up to this point, Adam and Eve did not even know they were so innocent, they had no idea that they were naked. And then, right after this, they were shamed. What what changed?
Well, when sin entered into the world, we shamed. Listen, Augustine, he made this statement about that verse. He claims that up until that point, Adam and Eve were completely clothed in the love and acceptance of Almighty God. But in that moment of weakness, that moment of sin, they forfeited that covering. due to sin, leaving them completely exposed and ashamed.
And that's really the nature of our sin. And so, what we see is the natural response, the first human emotion to sin was the feeling of shame and the need to cover it up. Isn't that true? Like your kids do wrong? The first response a lot of times is for them to deny or for them to kind of say, no, it wasn't me, or for them to blame, or for them to whatever.
The reason why we naturally go to that emotion is because we want to cover up our sin. And so, what happens after this, later in chapter 3, is that God comes down to walk with them and he found them hiding. And his response. was you can't hide from me. Isn't that true of our Lord?
You can't hide from me. And so, what God did in Genesis 3:21, and we don't have to take the time to look at it, but he took an animal. And he sacrificed it. And he made Adam and Eve clothes. Out of it.
You say, what's the point of that story? You can't clothe your shame. On your own. God has come so that he can clothe you.
So that he can cover your shame.
So you say, what does that have to do with Abel?
So let's go back to Abel.
So Abel, he sacrificed an animal. You know the story. He sacrificed an animal, and it was the time for them to come before God. And so here Abel is. Abel sacrificed an animal.
Cain took of some of the fruits of his labor and that kind of thing. And both of them come before God. God. Why did God accept Abel's offering and not? not Keynes.
You you have to think both of them probably meant Well Their intent was probably fairly pure. Why would God accept Abel's and not? And not Cain. It is a great question. And here's what I want you to understand: the reason I gave you all of the backdrop of Genesis chapter 3 is because that is ultimately the reason.
Because God in Genesis 3 instituted a sacrificial system that through the shedding of the blood of that animal, He was able to clothe the nakedness and shame that Adam and Eve had experienced because of their sin. And so when they came before God, here's the difference: is Abel came before God in the way that God had designed for them to come. Whereas Cain, he tried to approach God on his own terms. His own work, his own labor. You see, he sowed, he planted, he watered, he harvested, and it was all about him.
And so what Cain did was Cain came thinking that what I have done, Will put me in favor before God. What I have accomplished. Will help me to be accepted before God. You see, Cain's offering was all about him. He ultimately thought, Cain ultimately thought that he could, through the work and through him doing his best, he thought that he could earn God's favor.
Abel recognized that he couldn't earn God's favor. He had to come to God by the way that God designed for them to come before him. through the sacrificial system. Here's the point. We don't get to decide how we approach God.
God's already decided that for us, right? We don't get to decide how we approach God because here's what I know. I've been around church, I've been around the block long enough to know that some of you, and I'm afraid that at the end of time, there's going to be a lot of church people that think this: that some of us, we come before God, there might be a time in your life where you felt like, man, I'm going to approach God on my own terms. I'm going to clean up my messy life. I'm going to fix myself up.
I'm going to try to do better. I'm going to try to stop messing around. I'm going to try to stop making poor decisions and poor choices with my life. I'm going to start living a life of morality. I'm going to start bringing my family to church.
And I'm going to start to come every time the doors are open and all this stuff. And those things are all really good things. But here's what I want you to know: that's not how God said we approach Him through our own good deeds, through our own works, through our own efforts. There's nothing that you can do in your own power to make you earn favor with Him. There's nothing that you can do in your own power to ever put you in good standing with him.
And so, if you've come through those things, I ask for you today to realize through the faith of Abel that you can't come in your own strength and you can't come in your own works. You can't come in anything that we can boast in. We can only come in the way that God said we can come to approach Him. It's his way, it's not our way. And so what we learned by Abel is that we have to approach God on his terms.
Not ours. Number two, we learn from Abel's faith that faith may cost us something. Faith may cost us something. Abel did the right thing and he suffered for it.
Alright, he lost his life. Kane was angry.
So he killed his brother. And Many of us believe that if we trust God, And if you're new to church, this might help you. But many of us believe And if we trust God. Everything's going to work out the way that we want. Right.
Like if I just If I start following Jesus. Everything in my life's going to work. It's going to flow. It's going to make sense. It's going to be great.
Well, here's what I want you to know. Hebrews 11 destroys that ideology. Because here's what we learned.
Some in this chapter, we're going to see conquered kingdoms. Others were tortured because of it.
Some of them escaped the sword. Others, here in Hebrews 11, they died by the sword. And here, what we learn from Abel is this: Abel lost his very life. Because of his faith. You see, faith is not trusting.
God, because He guarantees you an outcome that you want. Faith is trusting God regardless of what the outcome may be. Even if it means losing your very life. You can still place your faith in him because, like Paul said, For me to live as Christ But death here is gain for the believer. And that's what we learned.
Number three and finally, and this is most important. Faith Trust In the blood that saves. Faith. trust In the blood that saves. Let me explain.
So, here you got the story of Abel. Abel came to God on God's terms, not. Not Abel's terms. Cain came thinking, man, I'm going to earn God's favor by my hard work. Abel came realizing that there's nothing that I can do in my own strength to earn God's favor.
And so I'm coming based on the sacrificial system that God had set up in Genesis chapter 3.
Well Fast forward all the way over to Hebrews 12. You can flip over a page. It'll be up on the screen as well. Hebrews 12:24, the writer of the book of Hebrews, he actually, what's interesting, he brings Abel back into the story in Hebrews chapter 12.
So Abel, you know, he's listed in verse 4 of Hebrews 11 as the first. Member of the Hall of Faith, right? And then he closes the verse after verse 4. You don't hear about Abel. And then here it is in chapter 12, verse 24.
He brings Abel back into the picture, and here's what it says: And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling, that speaketh better things. And you say, what's he referring to? And I want to explain that for just a moment. Because if you go back all the way to Genesis chapter 4. Verse 10 You'll see something that's so interesting.
In Genesis chapter 4, verse number 10, why don't you guys go over there for just a moment? Genesis 4:10. Here's what it says in Genesis 4:10, because it'll make Hebrews 12 make sense. In Genesis 4, verse 10, it says this. And he said, What?
Have thou done The voice of your brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. Talk about Able. He says the voice of your brother Abel, his blood crieth unto me from the ground. And then in Hebrews twelve, what we just read in verse twenty four, it says that Jesus' blood speaketh better things than that of Abel. You say, what is the writer trying to tell us?
He's trying to tell us this: that Abel's blood in Genesis 4 communicated something. And in Hebrews 12, Jesus' blood communicated something better, something greater. Is what he's saying.
So, so what's the difference between what Abel's blood communicated and spoke, and what's the difference in Jesus' blood?
Well, here it is: the connection is between the two. Hebrews is saying that Jesus' blood speaks louder, Jesus' blood speaks better, Jesus' blood speaks stronger. Here's why: Abel's blood cried out for justice. Jesus' blood cried out for mercy. Abel's blood cried out, saying that sin deserves to be punished.
Jesus' blood on the cross, it cried out that I am taking the punishment for all of humanity upon me. You see, Abel's blood exposed all of mankind's guilt. Jesus' blood provided forgiveness for all of mankind's guilt. You see, here's the point. The point of the whole story, and what Abel's faith really tells us, is this.
Is that Abel brought a sacrifice to Jesus? And what Jesus has provided for you and for me is a much better. Sacrifice. than any of the Old Testament sacrifices. You see, Jesus became the sacrifice for you.
And so you say, what does this mean for us? Abel's blood speaks justice. Jesus' blood speaks mercy. What does that mean for us? When it comes to faith.
You see, faith, it stops trusting in what I can bring to God. And it starts trusting in what God has already provided for me. That's really what it means.
So, what we learn from Abel's life is simply this: if you're struggling with faith, and maybe you're struggling to believe, and you're struggling to have the kind of confidence that you need to have in what Jesus has done for you, and maybe you're on the fence, or perhaps you're a churchgoer, and you've been here all your life. And you're coming by the way of your Sunday school attendance and by the way of the verses you've memorized in primary church or whatever. And those are great things and you should be doing that. But if those are the things that you're coming to God based on to try to earn acceptance of Him, you've missed the mark, you've missed the point. Because that's what Abel's fate teaches us.
We come to God based on Him. And so, faith, it's stopping the trusting in what I can bring to Him. And it is a starting to trust in what God has already provided for me. Does everybody understand that? That's what faith is.
That's what we learn from faith. You see, religion, because there's a difference between religion and the gospel, religion says, look at what I'm bringing to God. The gospel says, look at what God has provided for me. There's a difference. We're not calling people to come and get religious.
That's what the The Pharisees struggled with. We're not calling you to get religious. That's not the answer. That's not the calling. That's not faith.
We're not asking you: hey, listen, try really hard. I'd be a terrible pastor if that was the narrative that I was communicating today. Hey, if you try really hard, if you start dressing the right way, if you start listening to the music that you should be listening to, if you start going to the places, hanging out with the right people, being here every time, you know, those times, and those things are all really good things. And I'm not downplaying those things, but here's what I am downplaying: if that is the basis by which you are coming to God, then there's going to come a day one day where you're going to be sorely mistaken because you tried to approach Him your way and not His way. The only way and the only proper way for us to approach the throne room.
Is by the blood that was shed upon Jesus Christ.
So we're not asking you to get religious because religious says, look at what I can bring to God. The gospel says, look at what God has already provided for me. That's the difference between religion and that's the difference in the gospel.
So the question is that I want to ask you today. It's this. What? Are you trusting then? To make you right with God.
What are you trusting in? What are you trusting in to make you right with God?
