Welcome to our fall sermon series "Vintage Faith" where we are teaching from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews about the kind of faith the people of old had . . . the ancient people who loved and lived for God thousands of years ago.
My hope is by digging into their lives it will move us to the same kind of deep, long lasting, God glorifying faith which enabled them to put a stamp on history and leave a great legacy for others.
But before we jump in, I need to tell you a little bit about the book of Hebrews because as we say at Logos Dei . . . Context is everything. You can’t just open the bible and read a few lines or even a chapter and then try to make sense out of it without understanding the context.
That’s called roulette reading . . .
For example, say you just randomly open up the Bible and say you end up on Matthew 27:5 "Judas went and hanged himself." That doesn't sound so good. So you roulette again and this time end up with Luke 10:37 with Jesus saying, "You go and do likewise." No good. That's a bad way to read the Bible.
And because I love you and want you to avoid those traps, we’re gonna take a few minutes to look at the context of Hebrews.
The book of Hebrews is a beautiful poetic account of God’s work in the world from creation, throughout the history of God’s people, and into the age of the church who were anticipating the future. And throughout the whole book . . . Jesus and his work on the cross is unpacked with amazing detail in how it relates to everything.
And as we come to chapter 11, the author is addressing a group of people who are struggling with faith; what it means and how it works itself out in your life. You can read about those struggles in chapter 10.
• Some were calling themselves Christians, confessing it, but not letting that shape their lives.
• Others had got out of the habit of going to church . . . they didn’t see the value in it. Besides sleeping in or going to the beach sounded far more appealing.
• Some had come upon hard times and because of it we’re beginning to give up on God.
• Some had made their lives all about seeking jobs and money and positions, and possessions . . . instead of reaching out and helping others.
The whole chapter climaxes in this crescendo which basically says, “Don’t give up on God. Have faith in his provisions through his Son Jesus and let that faith shape your life”.
Now insert chapter 11 . . . it’s an unpacking of what faith actually is and what it ought to look like. And he does this by giving examples of real people in real situations whose lives; though most of them had lived thousands of years before . . . still spoke with clarity and truth about faith . . . its Vintage Faith.
He starts at the very beginning . . . it’s a very good place to start . . . with a guy named Abel and his brother Cain who are the children of Adam and Eve. Let me tell you his story.
Although Adam and Eve had been banished from the Garden because of their disobedience, they were faithful to be fruitful and multiply. And it was just as God had said; the pains in childbearing were very severe.
And they gave birth to their first son . . . Upon gazing on her child for the first time Eve says, with the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man. Something every proud mother might say . . . but what she is doing is not learning her lesson . . . she is boasting.
And she’s going back to the promise that God gave to her . . .
“You have sinned greatly. You have brought devastation and death and destruction into the human equation. But that’s okay, because I love you, and I have an answer for your problem and that is that a son will be born. There will be a little boy who grows up to be a man. He will conquer sin. He will conquer death. He will be victorious.”
What Eve is saying is, “I know I made a big problem. I know I shouldn’t have rebelled. But that’s okay, I’ll fix it . . . God said a son would cure it and I made a son.”
She’s banking everything on Cain and believes that this beautiful baby boy that she brought into this world will be the one who will save the world . . . in other words, she has faith in her own work.
"I got us into this mess . . . I'll get us out of it."
Soon after, she gave birth to second son named Abel. There’s not a lot of length to the story of Abel. In fact his very name means, “vapor”. But there is a lot of depth.
So, there’s Cain and Abel.
• Cain is the oldest, first firstborn son, first child born in the history of the world. Big hopes, big dreams. His mother thinks that perhaps this might even be the one who is going to fix the mess she’s made.
• And then there’s Abel, who we don’t know much about.
As the boys grew up . . . they got jobs. Abel was a herdsman and Cain was a farmer.
Now, I would imagine that as Adam and Eve raised their children, they told them about the garden and about getting to walk with God and it must have been out of these stories that bring us to this first church service we see in scripture.
It’s apparently the harvest season, and the two boys come into the presence of the Lord to worship the Him and each brings an offering . . . now before we get too far into the story, we need to recognize that they both come to worship the Lord.
And they both come with offerings in their hands. Each brings an offering that is in accordance with their vocation.
• Abel is a herdsman . . . he brings an animal sacrifice.
• Cain is a farmer . . . He brings the first fruits of his farming.
So, both men came to church. Both came with an offering. But God looks at Abel’s offering and says, “yes” . . . and then looks at Cain’s offering and says, “no” . . . Why?
If we go to the New Testament, it sheds some light on this.
• 1 John 3:12 says that the reason why Cain was rejected was because he came to worship with jealousy in his heart against his brother.
• Hebrews 11:4 says that Cain came with unbelief, an Abel came with faith.
Cain’s problem in coming to worship was that he wasn’t there to meet with an audience of one. He was fixated on his brother – jealously, sibling rivalry.
When we look at the Story of Cain and Abel, there’s nothing wrong with what they bring in their hands, it’s what they brought in their hearts.
• Abel came with love and faith for God.
• Cain came with jealousy and unbelief.
And God, who knows the heart, judged the heart of Cain and he refuses to accept the worship of Cain.
Well Cain doesn’t like this and gets very angry and says, “What do you mean, God? I did something, I showed up. I gave a tithe. What do you mean that mine isn’t acceptable?”
And so God begins to ask Cain a few questions in an attempt to elicit repentance.
• “Why is your face downcast?” I can see it on your face, Cain. You are frustrated. You’re angry. You’re mad. You’re Jealous.
• “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
What God is saying to Cain is, “I love you, and I’d be happy to accept your worship, but the problem is I see your heart, and it’s not good. And until you deal with that, don’t think that I’m just going to wink at you and tell you that everything’s fine, because it’s not. If you don’t deal with it, you’re going to do something wicked. I’m warning you . . . deal with it before it’s too late.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, he brings Abel out into a field where there are no eye witnesses and he attacks his brother and kills him. This is all premeditated and he’s probably thinking, “Nobody saw it.”
God saw it but instead of dropping the hammer of justice, as Cain deserved, He extends grace and asks, “Where is your brother?” . . . God comes to Cain to once again elicit repentance.
But Cain lies, and says, “I don’t know . . . Am I my brother’s keeper? . . . Am I his babysitter? He’s a big boy. Do I need to look after him?”
Now at this point some of us might look at Cain and say . . . “What a terrible guy” but you know what, we are all in some way . . . just like Cain.
Here’s my question . . . Who are you whittling away at? Who are you jealous of? Who are you bitter against? Who are you mad at? Who, if you could get away with it, you’d kill them right now? At least make their life miserable.
And when God speaks to us . . . we don’t pay attention. We lie. We fight. We resist. We go do devastating, hurtful things . . . Guys, we are Cain.
But do you see how gracious God is?
• God came to Cain and said I’m not accepting your offering because I love you. Your heart is not right and I’m telling you, you’ve got to deal with you sin . . . but Cain killed his brother
• Then God comes to him again and says, “I still love you”. What have you been doing? Cain says, nothing, it’s none of your business
• Now God comes to him again and says . . . Cain, listen. Listen to me. That is God’s word to all of us. Listen to me, stop fighting me, stop rebelling against me, stop distrusting me and just listen. Have faith in who I AM.
God is a good God . . . and when he speaks it is to save us from ourselves. A lesson Cain should have learned from his parents. A lesson the writer of Hebrew's is teaching his listeners. And a lesson we should learn from the stories in God’s word.
God says, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground . . . and now, you are under a curse’”
What he is saying is, “Cain, you’ve defiled the dirt. You murdered your brother. You threw his blood in the ground. You have dishonored the dirt, and now the dirt is going to rebel against you. You’re a farmer. Farming is going to get a lot harder for you.”
I believe at this point, God's persistence finally cracked the hard shell of Cain’s heart.
• I believe that Cain is not saying, “I don’t want to be punished.”
• I believe Cain is coming to repentance and is saying to God, “There is nothing you could do to punish me that is worse than what I have already done."
• Cain says, “Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
That doesn’t sound like a godless man, this is Cain finally waking up and realizing he needs God. And he is afraid that without God someone will eventually track him down and kill him.
But God said to him, “Not So” . . . Just as God had been loving and gracious to Abel when he accepted his offering, he’s going to be loving and gracious to Cain.
God says . . . “not so” for you are my possession. You belong to me. I’m going to protect you and no one will harm you. Then he put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
And he used the story of that merciful grace that he showered upon Cain for the saving of many lives, which is why at the end of this story a huge revival breaks out and all people – people in the line of Cain - began to call on the name of the Lord.
If my understanding of this text is correct, and indeed Cain is recognizing his need for God . . . then when we look at Cain’s long life that was blessed with a city, a wife, children, and eventually a revival we should realize
• If God can forgive Cain, he can forgive me.
• If God will put up with him, he will put up with me.
• If God is patient with him, he will be patient with me.
• If God is merciful to Cain, then he will be merciful to me.
In the beginning of this story . . . we saw that there was hope in a son because God had promised a son. Cain was not that son . . . it was Jesus.
Abel’s death was the first human death . . .
• Abel’s blood cried out in defeat.
• Jesus’ blood cries out in victory.
• Abel’s blood cried out in death.
• Jesus’ blood cries out in resurrection.
• Abel’s blood cried out for justice.
• Jesus’ blood shows that justice was met at the cross, when the Son of God, was murdered, and as he was he cried out, “Father, forgive them,” and we were forgiven.
What the author of Hebrews is telling that group of people who were struggling with their faith is this; I know things are difficult but don't give up. Don't tap out. Don't try to fix things yourself.
Have faith in God's persistent grace and be the church together; encouraging each other, lifting each other, and serving one another.
And as we gather here to worship, remembering that we come here to meet with an audience of one who eagerly awaits our worship, our praise, and our offerings.