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If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the book of Hebrews and chapter 11. This has been a series that has gone on for many months because the book of Hebrews is not a short book. There are 13 chapters and the good news is that we are now in chapter 11, alright. Hebrews Chapter 11, as we continue our journey in understanding faith. Now the book of Hebrews really encourages the church to keep following, keep believing in Jesus. So, crucial to that is the understanding of faith.

 

We began by looking at faith last Sunday, giving you a definition on faith. We said, “Faith: what is it all about?” Well, faith, for the first part, is a confidence in God's Word. Faith is not just an understanding, faith is not just a knowledge – it's more than that. It's a certain confidence, and this confidence is not rooted in what people tell us, neither is it rooted in what I imagine or I hope, I dream to be, but this confidence is on the solid, this firm foundation of God's Word: what God has said, what God has revealed, what God has written for us – that is our foundation. So, faith is a confidence in God's Word.

 

And we develop that further by saying this is regardless of circumstances and consequences. A man of faith is willing to follow God, even if it means pain and sufferings and even the loss of his life. That's what faith is all about. You're so confident in God and His Word, you spare not the price you have to pay. And this is regardless of circumstances, meaning, even if the whole world tells you, “Don't follow God,” faith says, “I will still follow.”

 

So this is a biblical understanding of faith, but let's add on the third and final component. Faith is confidence in God's Word, regardless of circumstances and consequences that results in our obedience. Faith is never passive, is never lazy. Faith shows itself by its works. If there is life, it will be manifested in obedience. So a man of faith is a man who is so confident in God and His Word, that even if the whole world goes against him, and even if he have to lay down his life, he would obey God in following God's will.

 

Several years ago, my son Shawn, now he's eight years old of course, I think when he was about three, four years old, we wanted to get him to swim or at least be familiar with the waters. Now my wife and I we were having, we had no clue how to help him swim. I know he would just be so scared getting near the water. So we sent him to a swim school for kids and we were wondering how they were able, or they will be able to help children overcome the natural fear of water, and I remember sharing this with you some time ago, the coach brought out a little tool, a little toy, this rubber ducky or rubber octopus, exactly looking like this (I found this on the Internet, okay) found this rubber octopus and he was, he was playing with it in front of Shawn and he took a cup of water and pours the water over the tentacles of the octopus and as he pours he says, “It's so fun dee, dee, dee, dee, deeee.” All those silly music, silly gestures, but Shawn was fascinated with the rubber octopus. He says “It's very fun!” and so, “Would you want to pour some over the octopus too?” Shawn took the cup and poured over him. “Would you like to pour some water over your tentacles too?” and Shawn poured over his shoulders, and so he somehow conned my son to pour water over his own head, and eventually get into the water himself, just like this.

 

This is the power of an example. It's very scary to get into the water, but when he sees the octopus in the water he says, “I also can what” – the power of an example to convince a young boy to overcome his fears. And that's what the author seeks to do in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is example after example after example of faith. That's why people call this the Hall of Faith. It's all about the rubber octopus that will encourage you and I to live a life of faith and even go through the baptism of fire that comes when we live a life of faith. So here we’re going to see many examples, that's why I think Hebrews 11 is going to be a rather long look at this chapter because there are so many worthwhile lessons of faith we can glean from individuals’ lives.

 

The author begins with the first example. The first example is this man named Abel. You recall Abel is uh, is one of the first people to ever walk on this earth, and so the author brings him up as the first example of faith. And there really is not a lot written about him in Hebrews 11, simply this one verse which we are going to consider today. Sermon today, likely to be short. So don't worry, simple look at a simple example of faith: Abel's faith.

 

Hebrews 11:4 ESV

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

 

The author says “By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” So, simply, Abel's faith this morning, and I'm going do it in a very easy storytelling fashion, uh, not three points, one conclusion, but just to go through the life of Abel and at the end of the day, hope that I've given all of you a little red octopus to encourage you in your journey of faith.

 

The story begins, I think in this chapter “Growing Up,” so let's see their family, Abel's family. Abel grew up in a very small family actually. He has Daddy, Mummy, their names are Adam and Eve, and he has an older brother named Cain. So let's start with the birth of Cain. It must be an exciting time for Adam and Eve right, the very first birth in this whole world, very first because Adam and Eve were made directly by God. So the first children to be brought into this world via the womb is Brother Cain. I do not know how they did it – no gynae, no anaesthetist, just wah liao like that ah, must, must be a, but I think it must be an exciting time.

 

Genesis 4:1 ESV

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”

 

So, “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain (in Gleneagles Hospital) saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Now this is interesting, the name is interesting. The word “Cain” means “gotten” or “obtained” or “possessed.” So she exclaimed, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord!” therefore she calls him Cain. Now it may not be just that she has gotten a new son, but she has, she felt, maybe, she believed, maybe, that she’s gotten a special son.

 

Genesis 3:15 ESV

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

 

I think so because in Genesis 3:15, God said to Adam and Eve, “I will put enmity between,” or rather to the serpent, “I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” So here, God is saying there is going to be a coming conqueror through Eve and maybe she heard this and when she was pregnant and when she gave birth to Cain she was all excited and says “This is the one! I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Therefore, his name is Cain – gotten, promised and gotten.

 

Genesis 4:2 ESV

And again, she bore his brother Abel.

 

Well, sometime later, she again bore his brother Abel. Now Abel's name is rather interesting: Abel means “vapour” or “breath,” something that is short-lived, something that is transient, and this is how she named the second son. Why, we do not know, but that's how she named. So this is the picture of a happy small family and when I see this picture, it reminds me of my family, Shawn and Matthias, Winnie and myself, and I can imagine then – there's really nothing written about their growing up years – but I don't think it will be wrong for us to presume that the family will spend a lot of time together. I mean, after all, they don't have TV, no Internet, no Facebook, no iPhone, you don't Twitter around, when you eat you talk to one another, nothing else to do right, so they will probably be spending a lot of time together, chatting, exploring the world, finding out about insects, tigers, lions… maybe tigers, lions now cannot, last time can – after the Fall, things have changed – but they would explore their environment, they’ll try all kinds of fruit, and I am very sure Adam and Eve would talk a lot about the most important thing in their life, about the most important memory of their life – their life in the garden of Eden. He would have said to Cain and Abel, “You know, sons, this is not what it should be. We had it all in the garden. God made everything beautiful for us. If you think the durian now is nice, you should have tried the durian last time. If you think that the food we have here is great, you should have been with us then. You know, everything was perfect – we never got tired, we never got sick, but now, Mummy is coughing, Daddy is sick. It is not what it should be. You know why it happened? Because there was the tempter who came. This tempter came in the form of a snake, a serpent and he-, he lied to Mummy, he lied to me, he cheated us, we believed him – we didn't believe in God – so we took of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and now we are cut off from the garden. I still remember that day I-, I suddenly realized shame and nakedness – I never knew that before! – but we felt it and so we began to hide ourselves in amongst the trees. God, who was with us all the way, now asked, ‘Where are you, Adam?’ because we were hiding. And we sewed fig leaves together to cover our nakedness, and God cursed the world, the animals, the plants, the trees, the earth, cursed us, cursed the serpent, and we were chased out, we were evicted from the garden. Now we can't go back, and we’ve lost it all because Daddy and Mummy succumbed to the evil one and we didn't believe God, we sinned against Him. But you know something, sons? I don't think God gave up on us, because God said that one day – from one of you, maybe – there will come Someone who will crush the serpent. And God made for us coverings made of animal skins – He did it for us.” Now that story must have been repeated like 20,000 times, because that's the main thing in their minds, that's the most important memory to them. That's the, that’s the, that's who they are, who they were made to be.

 

Well, for many years, their family just progressed, grew, and eventually Abel became a shepherd, Cain became a farmer.

 

Genesis 4:2 ESV

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

 

That's what the Bible tells us. Act I, Scene I: Growing Up.

 

Act II, Scene I now, we move on to “Now is the Time to Worship,” and this is what is recorded for us in Genesis.

 

Genesis 4:3-4 ESV

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

 

The Bible says, “In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.” It's very interesting when the Hebrew says “in the course of time.” That's translated to be such in the ESV. In the original Hebrew, it really means the “in the end of ‘yom’” (pronounced “ohm”) – “yom" is the word “days” – in the end of a period, or end of the days, but this is the sense, the hint, that there was a period of time that they were supposed to fulfil, and when it is that the end of the days, it's now time for worship. Somehow both Abel and Cain knew about the time of worship, so they brought their offerings to God at the end of this period. One brought the produce from the ground, maybe fruits and vegetables, broccoli, I don't know what, lemon, or so on; the other brought one of the flock, a sheep or a lamb. And they presented it as their offering to God – the God that Mummy and Daddy have been telling us, the God who is holy and righteous and evicted them because of sin, the God who at the very same time did say that there will come a conqueror through the family line.

 

Genesis 4:4-5 ESV

And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.

 

So they approach God and worshiped Him, but they were not both successful because the Bible says, “The LORD had regard for Abel and his offering” – the sheep, the lamb, was accepted. “But for Cain and his offering He had no regard” – it was not accepted. The immediate question that comes to your mind is why – how come one is accepted and the other is not accepted. Some people say, because God likes steak and not salad. Uh no, that's obviously not the answer. Uh, some people think it's because Cain is a evil guy and Abel is a good guy. Wrong too, because ever since Adam and Eve fell, there has never been a good guy. Everyone is evil, everyone is sinful, except the Lord Jesus Christ who’s not born directly of a man and a woman. So that's not the reason why one is accepted and one is not accepted. Some people think it's a pure random thing.  No, it's not a pure random thing; it's not that God somehow decided He liked this and not that. Because the Bible is rather precise.

 

Hebrews 11:4 ESV

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

 

The Bible says Abel was accepted because he approached God by faith. Remember, this whole chapter is a chapter of faith. So the author is saying, “You know why one offering was accepted, and the other is not?” It’s because of faith! Same family, same upbringing, same desire to bring something to God, but one brought it in faith, the other didn't bring it in faith.

 

You say, “What is faith?” Well, it comes back to our definition – faith is confidence in God's Word, regardless of circumstances and consequences that results in our obedience. What I can say for sure is that Abel is accepted, not because of chance, but he obeyed, he did something that was right – he knew what was right and he did something that was right.

 

 

And we know that this is, again, the theme of Hebrews in the last few chapters, because again, the context of 11 is in chapter 10, where it says this is how you need to keep believing.

 

Hebrews 10:36 ESV

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

 

This is how you need to keep pressing on. You need to do the will of God. Hebrews 11 is all about obedience, about people who live God's will.

 

Hebrews 11:4 ESV

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,

 

So, when it says Abel lived or offered this sacrifice by faith, it means he knew what God wanted and he gave God what He wanted, which is a lamb or a sheep or an animal sacrifice.

 

Now, how then did Abel know? And what does this really signify – why does God want an animal sacrifice? Now the Bible here, I must say, does not explicitly say how he got to know – doesn't. But I think most commentators would agree, this would be very reasonable to conclude that Abel and Cain actually both knew what God wanted because Adam and Eve must have told them about it. I mean, I was rehearsing the story to you, how he was, or the both of them were raised in a family that talked a lot, I'm sure, about the garden of Eden – about the fact that they hid from God; how they were, have their eyes opened, knowing that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together;

 

Genesis 3:7 ESV

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

 

and how God actually doesn't approve of that and instead provides for them garments of skins.

 

Genesis 3:21 ESV

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

 

An animal has to be sacrificed, or animals need to be sacrificed in order for them to have covering of skins. And I think these four points are not difficult to derive at. Number one: a covering is needed for sin. Now this one, nobody even needs to teach because it was instinctive. The moment Adam and Eve knew they sinned, they were naked, they knew that they were ashamed and they found a covering for themselves – it's instinctive. God did not tell them to cover themselves; it was natural.

 

But number two: they also realize that man's own covering is unacceptable. What we try to sew for ourselves, our own self-righteous works – not acceptable before God, it cannot cover for sins. Number three: an innocent life has to be sacrificed – the animal didn't sin, but the animal was sacrificed to provide a covering. And number four: it is God who provided that covering. Now these are not difficult to derive, I don't think you need to be Einstein or a deep theologian to figure this out. Adam and Eve would have said, “Ya, we, we needed that cover, we can't do it, it has to be from an animal, another life, and God is the One who gave. So Cain, Abel, sons, you've got to know this is who God is. This is what He has revealed to us back in the garden.” And so when Abel came with an offering, I don't think he just offered an animal. What he’s coming with is symbolized in the giving of the animal, but I think in his heart, in his mind, he understands, “I am a sinner.” He understands that he can't save himself. He has figured it out that a sacrifice is needed and God is the One who will provide. That's what he's saying with the offering of the animal. And therefore I think that's what it means when he comes to God by faith – he’s obedient, he’s confident in God that He will provide, and therefore he approaches God in such an acceptable way.

 

But the brother is the opposite: Cain – who grew up in the same family, had all the same theological education – preferred and chose to give fruit from the ground, and with that he really is saying, “I am not that bad. I don't think I need to atone for my sins, I can please God by my own works, I don't need a sacrifice, and I don't need God to provide for me.” Now, the apostle John, subsequently, is even more bold in declaring this.

 

1 John 3:12 ESV

Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.

 

He says that Cain's deeds were evil and the brother's righteous. So this is not a chance thing. This is not, “Aiya, I didn't know.” No, no, you knew, but you did that which is wrong. Your brother Abel knew and did that which was right – it's rather absolute.

 

Genesis 4:4-5 ESV

And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.

 

And so the Lord has regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.

 

So what happened?

 

Genesis 4:5 ESV

So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

 

Cain became very angry and his face fell, like a kind of "pek chek" ah.

 

Genesis 4:6-7 ESV

The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted?

 

And the Bible tells us the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? What right have you to be angry? Why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? Cain! If you have done what I have told you guys to do, if you’d done what you knew you was supposed to do, won't you be accepted as well? But the reason you’re not accepted is because you chose not to do what you're supposed to do!” Well, Cain didn't listen nor repent.

 

So, Scene III right now is a scene of murder. It's a dark chapter. Fascinating that right in the beginning, right after the Fall, soon after that, murder took place. And it's not just murder of your enemy or someone you do not know – it's murder of your own brother.

 

Genesis 4:8 ESV

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

 

Cain spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. I like what Joseph Parker said: “Cain killed his brother when church was over.” Came to God. “We came to worship you, God.” But right after that, the apparent worshiper turned around and committed murder – murder of his own brother at that. And I want to say something about coming to church. I think it's great that people come to church, I think it's great that you have an opportunity to, to hear the words and to sing the words. I think it's great for you to understand the Bible when the Bible is taught and preached. I think it's beautiful, it's wonderful. I mean, where else are you going to hear the truth in this world? But then if you think that by coming to church, you can provide a cloak for your sin, you're wrong. If you think that by coming to church, you can get right with God, you are wrong – you are like Cain.

 

Cain thought that he could get right with God with his own style of worship, with his own offerings of fruits and vegetables, but his heart was never changed. You see, religion, external rituals of religion, the physical presence of being in religious bodies cannot save a man. External religious rites don't change a man, don’t save a man – only faith in Jesus Christ saves a man; only the gospel saves. Cain is a prime example of that. He went to church, but he was not changed. In fact, he was shown up in his hypocrisy and wickedness. Joseph Parker continues to add (he's a preacher during the times of uh, round about the times of Spurgeon as well), he says, “If you want to find out Cain's condition of heart, you will find it after the service… You know a man best, out of church.” Because in church, I see all nice people. “Hi Pastor.” Even if life is very tough, he says “I'm, I'm fine.” Then when you get in the car, you scold your wife, you kick your dog, you, you do every kind of thing that people, “Wah, you mean a Christian is like that one ah?!” You know a man best out of church, not in the church. Cain was shown up.

 

1 John 3:12 ESV

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.

 

And therefore, the apostle John concludes actually we should not be like Cain. “Oh, but I thought Cain is a worshiper, he’s a churchgoer!” Yeah, yeah, yeah, he went to worship, but he was really of the evil one. During the times of Jesus, there were many people who worshiped in the temple, but they did not follow God. There were many Pharisees who taught the Bible, but they never really had hearts that are changed.

 

So I say to you, by your presence here in church, it doesn't mean that you please God. In fact, none of us could earn favour with God by our mere attendance – only Jesus could have that favour from God, and if you're willing, you humble yourself, you believe in the Son, in the Lord Jesus Christ, then your heart can be changed. But please, don't ever for a moment think that your mere ritualistic external observance of rights and practices is the cover you can have to stand before God – it doesn't work. So Cain was rejected. Why? Is it because God don't like salad? No, Wiersbe says, “Cain wasn't rejected because of his offering, but his offering was rejected because of Cain: his heart wasn't right with God in the first place.” So, fascinating when you think about it: externally, both looks the same; heritage-wise, both the same; but the hearts are very different. So, murder took place. It's a religious murder, mind you, and today, a lot of murders are religious in nature – still the same. Cain is the father of it all, persecuting the true church of Jesus Christ.

 

But let's end with this statement “Abel Still Speaks.” I think that's why it's interesting. Why is Abel called “vapour” and “breath?” Maybe it's something God has revealed, that your son Abel is going to be like a breath, short life – hundred plus, I know, but short by those days standards – he’s going to die young. And, his life looks like a waste – so sayang, die so early. But the Bible says Abel still speaks.  Yeah, he died early, but his legacy, his impact, lived on thousands of years after that.

 

Hebrews 11:4 ESV

And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

 

Hebrews 11:4 says, "And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks." It's very interesting. If you look at the whole Bible, there is no recorded words of Abel at all, he never spoke a word that is recorded. None. But he spoke not with his lips – he spoke with his life. You say, “What kind of a life?” A life of faith, no doubt.

 

So like what James Moffat had to say, “Death is never the last word in the life of a righteous man.” Yeah, yeah, he died, looks like a waste. But no, in the light of eternity, it's never the last word – he is still speaking today.

 

Hebrews 11:4 ESV

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

 

He speaks about the approval of true faith in God – the power, the beauty, the acceptance of real faith. Looks like a waste! But God says, “It's not a waste! I approve, I am pleased, and I want to highlight the faith of righteous Abel. I accept his gift.” Nobody really knows how God shows that He accepted the gift. Commentators say it's almost quite uniform or universal that whenever God accepts a gift He sends a fire to set it ablaze. Now it may be the case, but we do not know, but we do know God approved. God said Abel's sacrifice is accepted, Cain's is not. His faith is proven genuine. But not only did God say that, Jesus Himself commended and approved of Abel's faith.

 

Matthew 23:35 ESV

So that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

 

He says “the blood of righteous Abel.” Never heard that, never hear of that for Cain. In fact, Cain is someone we should not follow, according to the Bible. So, Abel speaks in the reality or the approval of God's, speaks of the reality of God's approval for a man's faith in Him, and indeed, in the gospel. So when he says, “I'm a sinner, I can't save myself, a sacrifice is needed, God will provide.” God says that is good faith – good, good faith. Now someone – his name is Donald Grey Barnhouse – he says, “At this point in the Bible, the highway to the cross began to be built.” So he's saying that the Bible is actually a story that builds up – at least in the Old Testament – builds up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And this is not a sudden thing, because God has been putting story after story to lead us to the cross. And he says, “At this point, the story begins to unfold.” Actually, to be fair, it unfolded in Genesis 3 already. But here you have a sacrifice that is given, and he says it would be one lamb for one man, but later at the Passover it would be one lamb for one family, and then on the Day of Atonement it would be one lamb for one nation, and then at Calvary it would be one Lamb for the world.

 

So this idea of a sacrifice – for a man, for a family, for a nation, and for the world is beginning to be built up from here. And the whole idea is this is where life of faith really begins – faith in the Lamb of God. It begins with the acknowledging of sin and of the need of an atoning sacrifice. So Abel spoke a lot. In a sense, he hinted of the First Coming of Jesus. Now of course, I don't think Abel knew about First, Second Coming, but he believed that there will be a coming sacrifice. But besides that, Abel's blood speaks of something else.

 

Genesis 4:10 ESV

And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

 

The Lord said, “What have you done, Cain? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.” Abel still speaks because his blood still speaks. You say, “What does the blood speak of?” The blood speaks of the cry for justice and vengeance for the righteous. You say “Huh, Christian can be like that ah? You mean Christian can cry for vengeance and justice one ah?” Yeah.

 

Revelation 6:9-10 ESV

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

 

In fact, in Revelation 6:9-10, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne.” These are the martyrs.

 

Abel is the very first martyr in the Bible. So from Abel all the way to Zacharias and even up to today – there are many who have been slained for the Word – they cry out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” This blood is crying, or this is a cry for justice. Our God is a just God. He will avenge. And I think this alludes to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will, He will make all things right and all sin will be judged and all sinners, and the demons will be judged. So Abel spoke a lot. He really did – not with his words, but with his very simple life in Hebrews 11:4.

 

But I just want to remind you today, all I'm trying to do is to show you this octopus, and I hope you will carry this octopus in your heart, because sometimes in a Christian's life, it's easy to give up. It's easy when we go through hardship or ridicule or persecution or disadvantageous positions that we say, “Maybe we should give it all up.” But not, not people like Abel – they, they suffer for the faith, they go through the baptism of fire as it were, they were killed. But God says it is good. Whereas if you think about Cain – well, he went on to be rather successful in worldly terms. He had many children, he built cities, his children were musicians and artists and engineers. I mean, fantastic earthly accomplishments, but in the eyes of God and in the light of eternity, he wasted his life. In fact, he ruined his life and now is suffering because he would not have faith, he would not humble himself, he would not come and trust in what God has said. So keep believing – that's the point of the author. And I pray today that as you go through your Christian journey, remember this octopus, the first example in the hall of faith.

 

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Two boys born into the same family, with the same parents, with the same upbringing would end up in very different places at the end of their life. One is declared righteous, the other is seen as evil; one would be accepted, the other would be rejected; one brings what God wants, the other brings what God is not pleased with. You say, “What's the difference?” Faith. This morning, you may come from a family of Christians – your parents are Christians, your brother is a Christian, and you think that by virtue of the fact that you are in this family, you are Christian. By virtue of the fact that you come to church service this morning, you are Christian. Well, Cain was the first guy who made that mistake – he was never saved. Abel was saved, because he knew he is a sinner, he needed a sacrifice, and he believed that God would give that sacrifice. And with that faith, his heart is changed: he obeys, and he suffers, and he died for his faith. But all is well, all is well because his cry for vengeance will be satisfied one day and now he is with Christ forevermore. My friends, you can't measure life based on what you see today. Cain looked like the great success, but he wasn't – he was the great failure. Who would you choose to be like today? Is your goal in life to build a terraced house? A semi-D? A bungalow? A building? Let me tell you, Cain built a city. He built cities through his descendants, but his life was a big fat zero. Abel lived a short life, but he was an hero, he is still a hero, his life still speaks today. The choice is yours. Right now in your family, you can choose to be a Cain, or you can choose to be a Abel – the choice is yours. So my friends, whatever the Lord is saying to you, if you are new with us, I say, this is a story that builds up to the cross. In fact, the whole Bible is really about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, God's Son who came to be the Lamb who died for your sins. You are included in that if you today are willing to repent and believe in Him. The Lamb is slain for you. May this red octopus inspire you in your journey of faith today. Father, we thank You for Your Word and I pray that You will bless it to each and every heart according to our needs, according to our struggles. Thank You again. It is unthinkable that You will love us so much that while we were yet sinners, You gave Your innocent, holy sinless Son to be our sacrifice, to die on our behalf, to cleanse us from sin and to bring us back to Yourself. We want to honour You, we want to praise You, and we want to pray each heart today will be surrendered to Your love, that we will follow You. So bless each individual soul gathered this morning. We pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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