Faithful: Profiles of Faith #1

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

1 Corinthians 10:11 NIV

“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”

Genesis 4:1-8 NIV

“But the person who is righteous will live his life by trusting, and if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” However, we are not the kind who shrink back and are destroyed; on the contrary, we keep trusting and thus preserve our lives!” 

Hebrews 10:38-39 CJB

If I am listening to Abel’s voice, I will know that…

1. My BACKGROUND is not a BARRIER to saving faith

“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.” 

Genesis 4:1-2 NIV

2. Not all kinds of faith are SAVING faith.

* Was Cain a believer in God? ___ Yes ___ No

“My brothers and sisters, what good is it if people say they have faith but do nothing to show it? Claiming to have faith can’t save anyone, can it?”

James 2:14 CEB

“Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete.”

James 2:21-22 NLT

“Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” 

Hebrews 3:16-19 NIV

3. Not all kinds of gifts are PLEASING to God.

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”

Genesis 4:3-5 NIV

* Three components of an acceptable offering to God:

- The PRIORITY of my offering: 1st or 2nd?

- The QUALITY of my offering: Best or the Rest?

- The MOTIVATION behind my offering: Adoration or Obligation?

4. The kind of faith I HAVE determines the kind of gift I GIVE.

“We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.”

1 John 3:12 NLT

““Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” 

Malachi 3:8-10 NIV

5. Repentance is a CHOICE and my path to ACCEPTABLE faith.

“but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”” 

Genesis 4:5-7 NIV