The Heroes of Faith (2)

Hebrews 11:4 takes us back to the very beginning of time, back to the first family that lived upon this world. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the image of a holy and just God. But they sinned that image away and lost their first home, which was Paradise. After they sinned, the Lord came to them, saying, “Where art thou?” When the Lord came to them, He spoke of punishment because of their sin, and He spoke of another covenant. He spoke of that covenant of peace that is between the Father and the Son. He revealed a Way that has been opened from heaven, a Way whereby a sinner may be saved. The Lord pointed unto His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, would be that one thing needful, also for the children that would come forth from Adam and Eve. Their children would come into this world dead in trespasses and in sins. And even though the parents were sought after and delivered from their sins by the Lord, the children themselves would need to be converted. It is a great privilege to have God-fearing parents, but that is not enough with which to meet a holy God on Judgment Day. We all need that individual work of the Lord wrought in our hearts, which is the washing away of our sins by the blood of Christ.

We read in Genesis 4:1 that a child was born to Adam and Eve. When Eve held her child in her arms, she gave him a name. In this naming we get a glimpse into Eve's heart. She called him Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” She was thinking of that promise that the Lord had made not so long before. We find that promise in Genesis 3:15, which says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” The Lord promised that a way would be opened through the blood of Jesus Christ to restore the communion that was lost in Paradise. And as she was holding her baby, she thought, “Could this be the one?”

Perhaps you know what it is to wait for the fulfillment of a promise from the Lord. Has the Lord spoken to your soul? Are you waiting each day for the Lord to grant the fulfillment of it? If so, then you can somewhat understand this mother's thoughts. This mother was looking, looking for the promise to be fulfilled, but, alas, she was looking at a murderer. He would kill his brother, would wander away from God, and depart into everlasting darkness.

Another child was born unto them, and he was named Abel. As the children grew up, each had to choose an occupation. Cain became a farmer and tilled the soil. His brother Abel became a shepherd and watched over the flocks and herds. When they came to adulthood, each had a desire to sacrifice to the Lord. We read in Scripture that one of the sacrifices came from the field, the other from the flocks. The Lord accepted the one and not the other.

It had nothing to do with the field or the flock. Why did the Lord not accept Cain's offering? Cain was a religious man; his upbringing taught him that there was a God, a Creator of the heaven and earth. He knew that there was a Creator, but he did not need Him as a Redeemer. Cain felt a desire to sacrifice to the Lord, but he was proud of himself, and he missed the love of God in his heart. He was a man who missed the hunger for Christ in his heart.

Abel's sacrifice, on the other hand, was accepted by the Lord. Why? Was he better than his brother? No, you must not look at it that way. What you see in his life was a wonder of God's grace. There came a time in his life that the Lord looked upon him in His love and mercy. Because of that, when Abel offered his sacrifice, he did it by faith, looking not only to God as Creator, but also to Christ as his Redeemer. As he sacrificed unto the Lord, out of the love of his heart, he saw that the blood flowed from the altar. As he saw the blood flow, then he thought of what his father spoke pertaining to the blood of the Redeemer who was yet coming. He knew Him as the Creator, but he needed Him as the Redeemer. There we see a man, who by faith, looked unto God. As he saw that blood flowing, then he spread his hands unto the Lord, saying, “Lord, have mercy on me.”

Both men, Cain and Abel, stood by the altar, bringing the sacrifice. While they might appear to be the same, the Lord saw something that no one else saw. The Lord saw that one sacrifice was more excellent than the other. One was brought by faith, and the other was not. One was brought with a heart of love, the other with a proud heart. The Lord saw that one was more excellent because behind it lay a burning desire to know Him as a Savior. “By which he obtained witness that he was righteous.”

When their father and mother, Adam and Eve, stood there, perhaps they struggled with whose sacrifice was accepted and whose was not. Possibly they thought, “Why Abel? Why not our firstborn son, the child who was given unto us 'from the Lord'?” Maybe you also struggle with the will of the Lord. Perhaps you struggle with the thoughts that all your children are leaving the truth, one by one, and this or that family has all their children still coming to the house of the Lord every Sunday. Do you struggle with that? Do you bring your children unto the throne of grace? How do you bring them? As Cain did, as a pious man with a proud, religious heart? If so, then the Lord rejects it. Do you question the Lord because He is working in someone else, and not in you? You go to church two or three times every Sunday, and yet the Lord seems to be passing you by. Well, my friend, how do you come before the Lord? Do you come as a pious, righteous person who has a right to salvation? Oh, may you come as Abel did, with a broken and a contrite spirit.

Notice carefully, that when the Lord does answer prayer and speak peace unto your soul, it is always in and through Christ. We are never accepted because of our sacrifice, or because of who and what we are; no, only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord speaks to a sinner, then such a person becomes small before the Lord. Then there is a looking at self and saying, “Lord, how is it possible that Thou canst accept such a person as I am?”

We read in Scripture that Cain was wroth with his brother Abel. Why was he wroth with him? Because God had accepted his brother and rejected him. He missed the heart work, the bowing down before the Lord, otherwise he would have come upon his knees, crying, “Lord, I am here also, please pass me not by.” But he turned to anger instead. We see that the religious man can also become angry. Cain became so angry that he killed his brother. How is it today? It is still the same. The true work of God is persecuted, and it will always be persecuted, until the end of the world.

We have seen two people, Cain and Abel, explained in our text, two hearts that had a desire to sacrifice unto the Lord. But we also see the separation that came between them. One went to heaven, and the other wandered about in darkness and ended his life in everlasting darkness. Once more they will stand together, one more time, on the Judgment Day. They will stand next to each other one more time before eternity. You will also stand there with the one or the other depending on what the Lord has wrought within your heart. It will not matter if the world has accepted you or not; no, but it will matter what the Lord has given and accepted. Blessed, blessed are those people who are no stranger to the life of faith that Abel had. Oh, to have that true faith that looks unto and for the Redeemer. That way is not always easy, but Abel, after all these years, is still speaking. “And by it he being dead yet speaketh.” That way is God's way, and it is a wonderful way. The way can be difficult, but the end will be everlasting peace, everlasting glory.

— to be continued —

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