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Advent Productions

Hebrews 11- Faith

Benjamin Ng

01 The Faith of Abel

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time.

Thank you Lord that we can come and study your Word together.

Thank you Lord for seeing us safely through another week.

Thank you for giving us this rest that we can put aside our burdens Lord and we can come and focus upon You, that we can deepen our relationship with You.

And so Lord, as we've come seeking for a blessing this evening, Lord, we cannot be blessed without Your Holy Spirit who will grant us all blessings, spiritual blessings even.

And so Lord, this evening we're asking for wisdom as we open your word.

Guide us, lead us, O Lord, is our earnest plea and prayer, for we pray in Jesus' name.

So let's turn our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 and we're going to start in verse 4.

Hebrews 11 verse 4 is the first character that we come across.

I know that there are a few verses earlier and maybe we could go back and study just generally what faith is about.

But as we go through the character studies, we're going to study more into faith itself.

But Hebrews 11 verse 4, the Bible says, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh." And so what do we see here?

It is the faith of Abel, which is our lesson titled in such a way this evening, The Faith of Abel.

But it says here that he offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain and not only that, because of this he showed that he was righteous.

Look, The reason that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice was because of faith.

So before we dive into the story of Cain and Abel, let's turn to Bibles.

It's 1 of my favorite texts that you hear me mention a lot.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God so Abel's willing sacrifice the reason why he sacrificed a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, yes it was because of faith, but faith comes by hearing what?

He was willing to listen to God's Word above his feelings.

Keep that in mind as we now turn our Bibles to Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis chapter 4 and we're going to start in verse 1.

Genesis 4 verse 1, the Bible says, And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

And she again bear his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

He's the 1 that had, in a sense, the birthright.

In olden times, before the Levites became the priests, the priesthood, the spiritual blessings, the birthright, all fell on the eldest.

He was the inheritor of the birthright in a sense.

And so he was the oldest and the Bible tells us what?

He was, the Bible says, a tiller of the ground.

Verse 3, And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the first of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.

Verse 5, but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect and Cain was very wrath and his countenance fell.

So in the process of time as they're older, both of them bring different sacrifices.

1 brings a fruit and the vegetables, the other 1 brings a sheep.

So look, why was it that God had respect unto Abel's offering and not Cain's?

Let's turn the Bibles to Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 11.

Why is it that God accepted Abel's sacrifice but he didn't accept Cain's 1?

He accepted Abel's offering but he didn't accept Cain's offering.

The Bible says this, For the life of the flesh is in the blood And I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the souls." Because of sin, sin demanded the life of the sinner.

And so in order for us to be atoned, to be cleansed from our sins, what it was required was blood.

And fruits and vegetables do not have blood.

You might argue they bleed but no, they don't have blood.

When you eat a vegetable, you can eat it raw but meat, no, you have to cook it.

It does have blood, the fruit and the vegetables, it doesn't.

So Look, in order for sin to be paid for, life needed, well, blood was needed to be shed, life needed to be given, right?

He was disobeying what God asked him to bring.

And so as a result, God could not accept his offering.

Because not only did God not accept his, he had visible evidence of God accepting his brothers, his younger brother in fact.

So of course there was jealousy coming up, right?

Did Cain have a right to be angry though?

I mean maybe he didn't know what sort of offering he had to bring Or maybe they were just bringing the best of what they had and Cain just happened to be a farmer and Abel just happened to be a shepherd.

Why was it that God seemed to be so picky?

First, look, you're telling me that Adam and Eve didn't educate them properly then.

You know when Adam and Eve sinned, right, the first sacrifice was made in the Garden of Eden by God.

Adam and Eve knew they would have known that in order for sin to be cleansed away, they should have known that sacrifice needed to be made.

Let's turn the Bible to Genesis 3 and verse 21.

At the beginning of Genesis 3, this is where Adam and Eve sinned.

Genesis 3, 21, And unto Adam also and to his wife Did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them?

What did Adam and Eve make at the very beginning?

When they found out that they were naked, they sewed themselves fig leaves, right?

But God was the first 1 to make the sacrifice.

He had to slay the first lamb because obviously they were not clothed with their own skins.

God made coats of skin, obviously from an animal.

So God was the first 1 that demonstrated, look Adam, Eve, because you sinned, because you disobeyed me and ate the fruit I told you not to eat, He had to go and kill an animal and cover them with the skin of this animal.

In essence, teaching us all about righteousness.

02 The Faith of Enoch

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time that we have together.

Thank you Lord that we can come and study together this evening.

Thank you Lord for seeing us safely through a new week, this past week.

Thank you for your watch care over us And thank you for the many blessings Lord and if we're struggling with seeing your goodness in this past week I pray that you jog our memory even now as we're studying that not only will you remember of your goodness But we'll also see your goodness through your word as well.

So bless us tonight as we study together.

Lord, please may your presence be with us.

We pray in Jesus' name we pray and ask, Amen.

Let's follow along in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6.

We are studying the faith of Enoch today.

The Bible says this, By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Look, we don't really know that much about the life of Enoch.

Not much detail is given about him even in the Old Testament in Genesis there.

But there is 1 thing that stands out in this passage that we just read here in Hebrews chapter 11 and is that Enoch, he pleased God.

Maybe that's not even a detail that you were familiar with before but Enoch is famously known for being the man that walked straight into heaven.

Let's turn our Bibles to Genesis chapter 5, 23 and 24.

And all the days of Enoch were 360 and 5 years.

And Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.

Look, Enoch was the first 1 to walk straight into heaven.

He was the first human being from our planet Earth to walk right into heaven and he pleased God.

He longed for God to come soon and take everybody home.

He represents the group of people at the end of time that will go to heaven without ever seeing death.

There are 2 people in the Bible that actually represent that.

But in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, let's turn the Bibles there, shall we?

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, there is this group of people that will see Jesus come with their own eyes, they themselves will not experience mortal death.

1 Thessalonians 4 verse 15 the Bible says, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

But then, verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord those which are alive and remain at the second coming of the Lord those are the ones that are represented here in the life of Enoch this evening.

So friends, look, what we wanna do as we study the life of Enoch and his faith, the faith of Enoch really, we're gonna go through some details here that we find in Hebrews 11 and verse 5.

Look, what is described of Enoch before God translated him?

Yes, he lived by faith and we'll look at that in a minute, but what does it mean to please God?

Because this is the detail that stands out about Enoch.

Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

So if you want to abound more and more, what do you have to do?

But what is put together with pleasing God here in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 1.

So pleasing God is connected with something we do.

So it's not just, I love you God, and we please Him and that's it.

What are these actions that the Bible talks about?

Let's look at another verse that talks about pleasing God.

The Bible says, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

So what sort of actions do we connect this with in 1 John, it is what?

So friends, if we want to please God, we will be commandment keepers.

Now look, before you think I'm talking about righteousness by works again, I've got to say this every time it comes up.

Do you remember when Peter walked on water?

We've looked at this illustration before.

And the 10 Commandments, before they were given in stone, they were spoken by God.

And so really, the 10 Commandments are 10 promises.

The very power to keep the 10 commandments is found in the 10 Commandments.

And so if you put the 10 Commandments in your heart and mind, you will begin to keep the 10 Commandments.

It was the very word of God that enables us to keep it.

Romans chapter 8, let's turn the Bibles there.

What does the Bible say here about pleasing God?

The Bible says this, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

If we are in the flesh, now surely it's not talking about our flesh, right?

No, it's not talking about that, friends.

When it talks about the flesh, let's allow the Bible to interpret what that flesh is.

Let's go to Galatians chapter 5 verses 19 to 21.

Because those that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Galatians chapter 5 starting in verse 19.

The Bible says, Now the works of the flesh are manifest.

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, seditions, strife, seditions, heresies, this is a long list isn't it?

Verse 21, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like, of the which I tell you before as I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Those that are in the flesh, they do the works of the flesh.

So can you understand whether you are in the flesh or not?

03 The Faith of Noah

Father in heaven, thank you for gathering us here this evening.

Thank you for seeing us safely throughout this past week.

Thank you Lord for your watch care over us and as we're now coming to study together, we ask for your blessing, we ask for your leading, we ask for your guidance And especially as we study about this character Noah that probably to all of us is so familiar.

Help us Lord to again see fresh truth and its application to us this evening.

Please, guide us with your Spirit as our earnest plea and prayer, for we pray in Jesus' name.

So, tell me when your Bible is to Hebrews chapter 11.

Let's go to Hebrews chapter 11 and We're going to be reading verse 7 about Noah.

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Look, the Bible says here that Noah, he was warned of God of things not seen as yet.

You see, there were 2 things in fact and maybe even 3 but there were there were some things were leading up to the flood there were some things that he had never seen.

First, let's go in our Bibles to Genesis chapter 2, okay?

Genesis chapter 2, what had Noah never seen before?

So the world has never been flooded before and it had never rained.

God caused mist to come up from the ground.

So, when God came to Noah and said, look, I'm going to make it rain upon the earth, He had never seen rain before.

Let's go in our Bible to Genesis chapter 9.

This is when Noah comes out of the boat after the flood, okay?

And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations.

I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth and it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth and the bow shall be seen in the cloud and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh and the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all the flesh.

You see, when Noah came out God says I'm gonna make you a promise Noah.

Every time you see a rainbow, just remember, I'm not gonna destroy the world anymore by a flood.

You see, the last time Noah saw it, the flood came.

And so, if he had seen a rainbow before, which is a mixture of what?

If he had seen it before, the flood came, God could not use that as a token, as a promise, because God, the last time I saw a rainbow, the flood came, you see?

So God, He came up with something quote-unquote new and the rainbow was new because the the what?

So, it was very clear that when God comes to Noah at the very beginning and warns him of things not seen as yet, the very first thing that God warns him is rain.

He had never seen rain before And neither had he seen a flood as well, which was caused by the rain.

But look, what was it that moved Noah to go and build the ark?

He wasn't afraid in a sense, but look, the ark at that time was probably the biggest thing that he'd ever built.

He never had to build anything of such size before.

But in Hebrews 11 verse 7, when you go back to our original text, it says here that it was faith that moved him.

This is the very thing that pushed him and drove him to go and build this boat of immense proportions that was probably a blueprint given directly from God.

And of course, the choice of materials to use as well.

God comes and says, Noah, I'm going to destroy the world by a flood.

And remember, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.

You got to remember this verse throughout this whole faith study because really this is the foundation of everything that we'll be looking at, especially when it comes to faith because this is all about faith.

So, God comes to Noah and speaks to him His Word.

Faith comes by hearing, hearing by God's Word.

In this case, it is directly from God's mouth.

Now, maybe that was not the first thing he says.

Maybe he comes to Noah and God says, Noah, look, this world has gotten really wicked.

My spirit will not always strive with man.

And God continues and says, Noah, I'm going to send a flood to destroy the world.

Well, what do you think Noah's response would be?

Well, you see, I'm going to get the water and it's going to cover a whole earth.

And only those that as I give the instruction and listen to you, they're gonna be saved.

Well God, how are you gonna get water to cover the whole earth?

Because Noah had never seen rain before, right?

Well, you see, Noah, I'm going to send water from above and it's going to come down and it's going to flood the whole earth.

And of course, he's probably going to send jets of water from beneath and pushing up and from above and below and it's going to cover the whole earth again.

It's going to send it back to its original form like before I created anything.

And then God says, Noah, as a result, I want you to build a boat.

If he said, God, I don't know what rain is, I don't know how you're going to do it, no way, you got to prove it to me first before I do it.

If he never believed God about what rain was, because you see, In the Bible, it never says, Noah stand aside, let me show you what rain is about, okay?

And he sends water coming, gushing down off in the distance.

He never proved in a sense to Noah what a flood was, what was rain or water gushing out from the beneath as well.

05 The Faith of Sarah

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time that we have to come and study together.

Thank you for this opportunity that we have to be able to congregate together.

And even though we're online Lord, I know that your spirit is with us because there's more than 2 or 3 gathered here this evening And so we're asking for your presence Lord We're asking for a blessing of the Holy Spirit to come and teach us and to lead us and guide us as we study about faith again For we pray in Jesus name Amen, I like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11.

For those that don't know, we're going through Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter, and we are looking at the faith of Sarah.

Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and I'm reading from verse 11 and 12.

The Bible says this, Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Therefore sprang there even of 1, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable." So, look, there is this, in the middle of Abraham's faith story, it does seem to take a cut and look at Sarah because it says, through faith also, Sarah herself receives strength to conceive seed.

So look, let's go back to the original story in the Old Testament to understand about Sarah's faith.

Let's turn the Bibles to Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis chapter 15, and we've looked at this previously, but we're going to look at it again.

Genesis chapter 15, we're starting in verse 1.

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.

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