Abel's Faith: Sacrifice, Righteousness, Enduring Testimony

Jesus blood cries for mercy. Abel's blood condemned the murderer. Jesus blood cleanses the murderer. Abel's death was a tragedy of sin. Jesus death is a triumph over sin. Abel speaks as a witness, but Jesus speaks as a savior. [01:07:00] (18 seconds)  #JesusCleanses

You know what's interesting? Is there's not one single recorded word spoken by Abel in the Bible or anywhere else. You won't find Abel saying anything. There's not one word that's recorded. You have what Adam said. You had Eve said. You have Cain speaking. You have people all throughout the generation speaking. But you don't have one single recorded word spoken by Abel. But his life is still speaking to this day. [01:07:38] (28 seconds)  #AbelSpeaksByLife

Abel's voice, 6,000, 4,000, eight thousand, whatever thousand years it is later, is still speaking to our hearts today. What is it saying? First of all, Abel tells us that there's no entrance into god's presence except by faith. The way of Cain, the way of self righteousness, and the way of human effort doesn't cut it. You've got to walk by faith. If you want god to be happy with you, you've got to walk by faith. [01:04:44] (26 seconds)  #FaithIsTheWay

And the final thing, his his voice is saying to us is the priority of the heart. He reminds us that god looks at the giver before he looks at the gift. He looks at the giver before he looks at the gift. Without faith, even the most expensive sacrifice is an abomination to god. He wants our hearts. [01:06:24] (20 seconds)  #HeartBeforeGift

God doesn't care if you're in church this morning. If your heart is not right with him. God doesn't care if you give an offering. If your heart is not right with him. God doesn't care if you opened your Bible this morning and you read and you said some words of prayer to god. If it does not come from a a heart of love for god, god always looks past the external actions and he looks to the heart. The Bible tells us in the in the Old Testament over and over again how god, how the Israelites said, god, we offer this to you and we offer this to you. We did this for you and god says, I could care less about that. What I want from you is I want your heart. [00:56:11] (42 seconds)  #HeartMattersMost

What is your life saying? What is the testimony that you're giving? You know, we're we're all gonna die. We're all eventually gonna pass away. And what are people going to say about you? What's the testimony that you're going to have? Are they gonna say, man, he was so successful in life. Oh, do you see that house he was able to buy? Do you see what kind of car that guy was able to drive around in? He went from from poverty to riches. Look at this guy. Look what all he was able to accomplish. Is that what people are gonna say about you? Or are they gonna look at your life and say, my dad, my grandpa, he trusted God. He walked with God. He lived for god. [01:08:06] (55 seconds)  #LegacyNotLuxury

Secondly, Abel speaks about the cost of faith. Abel was the first person to die for his convictions. He tells us that following god might cost you everything. It might cost you your reputation. It might cost you that promotion. It might cost you your your family's approval. It might even cost you your life. Following god and doing what is right by god doesn't always mean that life on this earth is gonna be easy. [01:05:10] (24 seconds)  #FaithHasACost

Hebrews chapter 11 verse four tells us that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice. Why? Why was it more excellent? The Bible does not explicitly tell us the exact reason in Genesis, but later passages and and there's also Genesis four that there's some suggestions that give us the understanding of why it was done this way. The key factor was not simply the type of the offering. A grain offering versus an animal offering, but rather it was the heart. It was the attitude of the offering. The Bible tells us in Hebrews eleven four that it was by faith that Abel offered his sacrifice. That gives the indication that that Cain was not offering by faith. It was the the heart of trusting and obedience to and in response to god. Abel's faith made his sacrifice more excellent. [00:52:38] (58 seconds)  #FaithMakesItExcellent