Latest / Simply Christ Podcast / Hebrews Part 34 - Simply Christ Bible Study

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Hebrews Part 34 - Simply Christ Bible Study · Simply Christ Podcast

0:05
Alrighty, we are ready to start. Welcome guys to our weekly Bible
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study where we inspect God's word and we let it transform our
0:14
lives. For the next hour, we're going
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to discuss the word in Hebrews chapter 10 specifically, and if
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anyone has any questions or comments, like always, you could
0:28
type in the chat there and listen to what we're state your
0:32
question or whatever. You'd be happy to answer that
0:35
best we can. You can introduce yourselves in
0:38
the chat if you would like tell us where you're from.
0:40
That'd be neat to see as well. Of course, we are live streaming
0:44
this on Facebook and YouTube like we always are.
0:47
Recordings and links to those places are visible and clickable
0:51
on our websites at the christministries.com.
0:55
Also a link to our podcast where we produce this a couple days
0:58
afterward in a podcast. And you can see that wherever
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your podcasts, wherever you listen to your podcasts there.
1:07
So tonight we are going to be in Hebrews Chapter 11 and we're
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going to start in verse one. Actually, we already discussed
1:19
that last week, but I we're going to run it start kind of
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into, into it there. Hey, welcome, Rodger.
1:25
Good to see you on here. And Nathan.
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So, but before we do that, I'll have, oh, let's see, Andrew,
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would you open up for the word of prayer?
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God would thank you for all that you provide for us.
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Thank you for the grace and mercy that we all need.
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Thank you for the blood. Thank you for the sacrifice and
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I preached that did a really good work, a perfect word
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bringing us a full redemption. And I pray that Tinnatus would
2:01
look at the subject of faith that we would bring out the true
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meaning of faith the way you intended, not the way we've been
2:10
taught, maybe necessarily, but the way exactly the way you
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intended it. Open our eyes to in between of
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faith in Jesus name, Amen. Say that that's right.
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Yeah, we thank you for the blood.
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I was reading a little article not really into.
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This I'm just. On how that a lot of the
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versions of the Bible besides the King James Version take out
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the aspect of the blood in a lot of verses throughout the New
2:38
Testament. And it is interesting to me that
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because we learned here in Hebrews how that is an important
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part, very important part of our salvation, how that all works.
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So just kind of side note. So last week, yeah, we were in
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the last part of 10 and we talked about how that the just
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shall live by faith, how that if any man draw back, he, God will
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have no pleasure in him. He said his soul would not have
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any pleasure in him, but then he says that we are not of those
3:12
that draw back unto perdition, but to them that believe to the
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saving of the soul. So we know that it is faith that
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keeps us connected to God and keeps us righteous to in a
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sense. I mean, there's more stuff
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involved, but our faith is a major part of that in what we
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believe. And then we talked in Chapter
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11, verse one. How about faith is the thing?
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It's the substance, It's the what was the word it used there?
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Try to remember what that was. Now let me look here it.
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Was. Confident boasting.
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Confident boasting that's right. It was exactly that so very good
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that was that was really good as the things we hope for the
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evidence of things not seen how that actually this.
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So without further ado, I will read verse one and two and we're
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mostly going to discuss verse 2 there.
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But so to get the context now, faith is a substance of things
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hoped for, the evidence of things not seen for by it.
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The elders obtained a good report and that obviously is
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faith. By faith, the elders obtained a
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good report and we're going to read.
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I don't know if there's a lot of discussion.
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I feel like that versus very self-explanatory as to what it
4:35
means. And but I'll open it up anyway
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if you guys 'cause it kind of rolls on.
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This is a story now. This is kind of a yeah, short
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stories or whatever recollection of how these guys were
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reconciled to God. Go ahead.
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Yeah, to me, they mean a lot, and they give me a ton of hope
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and assurance and confidence and understanding that there's
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actually a way that is pleasing to God.
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And then he gives us all these examples and I just like that
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faith is the substance of things hoped for and the others of
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things not seen for by it. The elders obtained a good
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report. So that faith that he's going to
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talk about or he's talking about is our, I can't think of the
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word either, but it's our, it's kind of like our, our ticket,
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our key way, our it's our lift it, it's our way.
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It's the way. And faith in what God has said
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and done is what gave these elders a good report.
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And so that gives me confidence that I can find out what God is
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saying about me and look at what he has done for me and I can say
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either believe it or not, I can go with it or not.
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And if I go with it and trust it, he calls that faith.
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I'm sure these elders didn't sit down and OK, I'm going to have
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faith that this works. No, they they know who promised,
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they know who spoke, and they decided that, you know, they're
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going to go with it regardless. And so that's gives me hope.
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When things go bad, when our life is a mess and believers are
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not believers, we do stupid stuff like I did last week.
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Yeah, I was telling Leon I lost my cool on my stupid game with
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our friends and family. Really stupid.
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Totally lost my cool. Very embarrassing.
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And so. But the good news is, is that
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there's mercy and grace and blood and all our sins.
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And if we put our faith in that and trust in that, that's what's
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going to matter. And that's what's going to
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that's what is going to give us a good report.
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It doesn't say here now our elders obtained a good report
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because they didn't look at porn, because they didn't get
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angry, because they didn't do this, because they didn't act.
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You know, they acted and responded and obeyed what God
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has put in place to deliver them, whether it was a boat,
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whether it was go out to another country.
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You know, we'll see all those stories that he's going to use
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here. And so, yeah, these two verses
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mean a lot to me. He gives us good examples how
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faith work. And so it's, it's a big deal to
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me. Right.
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Good stuff, Melvin. Yeah.
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So I've been thinking all week about the the fact that we we
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talked about last time about that the substance is the
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assurance of Christ. That word substance actually
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means assurance or confidence. And you know that that's really
8:15
a big deal to me. Like, you know, I never thought
8:19
about the fact that, you know, most times we read Hebrews 11,
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we started Hebrews 11/1, you know, and, and we we, we want to
8:27
discuss faith and, and that's what it's talking about.
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And that's OK. But I never really put it
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together until we arrived here. You know, that all this time he
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was building up in, in chapters 9 and 10, he was building up to
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this, that's right, to, to what he's what we're looking at now.
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And I don't know that just that changed a lot of things about
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faith in in my eyes, you know, it made it much more, much
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bigger actually than what I thought before faith actually
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was. And so one of the things I
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wanted to point out is verse 2 there where it says for by it,
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the faith, the elders obtained a good report.
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You know, these elders, these elders means older people, older
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men that we're going to read about in the following verses.
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They were not perfect. They were just normal men like
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you and me. And so the simple fact is, is
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why they had a good report with God, obviously right with is
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because of their faith, because of their assurance in God and in
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and in Christ actually, even though Christ was not revealed
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yet at that point yet. But they believe by faith and
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Even so much more faith almost than what we have now because
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we've got the scriptures. We can see the whole thing laid
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out in front of us if we're willing to read it in the
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Scriptures. But so I just it encourages me
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when I think about that, that these elders that we're going to
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read about were normal men and they struggled with normal
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thing. They were not necessarily, you
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know, special individuals. They were just normal men and
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doing normal life, but they'd simply believed by faith that
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they're, they were looking for a better country, a better home.
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And they, they were their home was not here on this earth.
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And and that is how they lived and they lived with that in
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mind. And that calls them to act
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differently and to act and say. So yeah, good stuff.
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I was just real quick here. That word, the phrase obtained a
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good report is one word Greek and it's translated witness,
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fair record, fair witness, testify, be a witness or give
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testimony in the other places. So it gives you a pretty good
11:27
idea what a good report is, but go ahead there.
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Yeah, I was just thinking that this is one of those times that
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you read the word elder and it may seem intimidating.
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I liked what Melvin was saying because it's, it might seem
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intimidating, like the elders, the leaders of the Old
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Testament, the leaders of the church, That's the people that
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obtained a good report. But really all he's saying is,
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like Melvin said, it's just the people we're going to read
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about. And they were just normal guys.
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Really all they did more than anybody else was have confidence
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in God. That's really all they did.
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They were not some superhuman guy that that we can't attain to
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or that we can't hold the standard to.
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They were just regular guys that the thing that separated them
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from the world is that they had confidence in God.
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Now we all understand that in principle by saying if, if if I
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knew that both my front tires on my vehicle were the metal was
12:32
showing in them, I would probably not have the confidence
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take any curves at 70 miles an hour because I would think those
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babies might pop at any time. But we all have confidence in
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our tires or vehicle or whatever when we fly down the road and
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whip it around the curves. We're having confidence in that,
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right? I mean, that's, that's what it
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is. Well, in this case, these people
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had confidence in what God had said and they just acted upon
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the confidence that they had, right?
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I mean it like they literally just did it.
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And that's really that's why it is accessible to anybody is
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that's all it takes. It doesn't take it doesn't take
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extra wisdom. It doesn't take extra a person
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that has extra bravery or any kind of extra characteristic
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above and beyond the average guy.
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All it takes is just saying I'm going to have confidence in what
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God says and I'm going to act accordingly to that confidence.
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Like that's what you're going to see that all these people did is
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they acted in accordance with the confidence that they had in
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God to build the boat to leave Egypt to do whatever that was
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right. I mean that that's that's what
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he's and and just, I guess the other only other point I'd make
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is they obtained a good report and we've all heard and
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understood that God is a record keeper, right?
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I mean, everybody I had AI did a lesson one time called God is a
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God of books. And that was kind of one of my
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points was God is a recorder, right?
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And you either get a good record, good report or a bad.
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And it is the difference in those two things is not
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necessarily that you're good outweighed your bad deeds.
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That's what I used to think. I used to think as long as my
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good deeds outweighed my bad, that was a good report.
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But that's not really right. A good report is somebody that
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walks in faith compared to somebody that's going to get
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their all their bad deeds is going to show up on the record
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and mess the whole record up. That's the difference, right?
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I mean, that's, and, and I would say this, that this was a huge
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eye opener to me because this chapter proves that that's what
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God, even though the, the sins had not been atoned for till
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Christ came, that the common thing that God has looked for
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that was the difference between a, I guess you, I started to say
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a bad report, but just the reality of your report, just the
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reality of your report or a good report has always been the
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people that had faith and the people that did not, right.
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I mean, that's all. That's always been the case.
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He starts at Abel and goes forward like it's always been
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the case that the thing that separates people out in all of
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time is whether they believe and have confidence in God or not.
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I mean, that's always been the case.
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Right. Yeah.
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And it's not a, it's not talking about a better report.
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It's a good report, you know, Right.
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So, so it's either by faith or it isn't.
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You know, it's not like we, we, we would be, some of us would be
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able to produce a better report than others or a period of our
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life. We could provide a better report
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than we previously had or whatever.
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That's not what this is talking about.
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None of us could produce a good report.
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That good report is actually going to come because of our
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faith. That's the only way that it
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could be called good, right? I I lost my train of thought
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when I was speaking that I thought of laters.
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It's OK, I'll talk a little bit about it.
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So what I really like is he spent all this time and touched
16:20
on it just a little bit and that's why it reminded me is or
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maybe it was Nolan or both. He just got done telling us all
16:31
the significance of Christ versus any other thing that
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tried either atone or take it with sin or whatever
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significance of the priesthood, the significance of better than
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like, you know, remember all through these chapters we went
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through how So what to put our faith in.
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And so by now we should have a lot of confidence, a lot of
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faith build up in the blood and the sacrifice of Christ to the
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point where if we'd be in a situation like Abraham, I feel
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like we got more than Abraham did when he waited for 25 years
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and still believed at the end, he couldn't keep reading the
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same spot. Hey, God said, I'm going to, I'm
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going to be a father of a nation.
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He couldn't go and talk to other brothers, brothers and sisters
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and say, you know what, you'd better keep believing because
17:24
remember, God promised. And so I think it's kind of
17:28
lousy how quickly, especially me, I kind of got like, man,
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what's going on? Like why, why isn't things more
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obvious or whatnot. And so it does me a lot of good
17:38
to know that Christians here in the book of Hebrews, he's
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telling us why we can have confidence in the blood,
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confidence in that one sacrifice and to what not put on faith.
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Then it simply says the law is not a faith in Romans, I
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believe. So I am so glad we're going to
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have a clear, clear, 100% clear direction and promise and a
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place to put our faith in that is sure it's steadfast.
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It's like an anger of the soul, he says.
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And that's what I wanted to really bring out that we need
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see that because we don't we start putting our faith in other
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things. And I don't have to mention the
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millions of other things we put our faith in that is not whole.
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And so, yeah, Jesus and his sacrifice is added into that,
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but it's not it's not you find very few that we only put our
18:36
faith in this sacrifice. So I want to drill that like you
18:41
need to know what God wants us to put our faith in.
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If if Noah would have put his faith in a wagon on the side
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that he probably wouldn't have done a good job with the boat.
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If he had an idea of a wagon in mind while he was doing the
19:00
boat, he would have put some sort of runners or wheels on his
19:04
boat. He wouldn't have pitched it
19:06
properly. He would, you know, he knew what
19:08
was coming. It was a flood.
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So he prepared for a flood. So that's I know what I want to
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point. Out.
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What Well, I would like to say one more thing before we move on
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to verse 2, because it's going to be a little different aspect
19:21
of faith. But if we we kind of said this
19:25
last week, but all these people all up till this point, we've
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said this over and over again that he's trying to get these
19:33
people to continue to believe and not go backwards right now,
19:37
go backwards and sacrifice. So when he says by it, the
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elders obtained a good report, what he's hoping to be able to
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say at the end of these individuals lives that he's
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writing to is, is that by faith, they never returned to the
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temple. By faith, they, they deserted
19:56
their families when the families was saying go, come back and
20:00
sacrifice with us. Like in other words, that that
20:02
would be the end goal of these people's lives is that by faith
20:06
they did such and such, they actually did such and such thing
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just like the people in the story did it.
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It's not going to be the same story for them.
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But they will have a story that they did this thing by faith.
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I mean, that's that's what Chapter 12 goes on to say, You
20:20
know, that he says he reflects on the great cloud of witnesses
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and says, let us lay aside every weight and the sandwich that so
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easily beset us. You know, in other words, he's
20:29
saying that that's what he's trying to get them to do is to
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have a good report, right? I mean, he's trying to get them
20:36
to have a good report. That's good stuff.
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We'll never get tired of hearing what what faith actually is.
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How that catalyst, you know, I mean, and we've been driving
20:51
towards this like like some of you said, like hold fast to that
20:55
profession of faith without wavering.
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It says let us draw deer with a true heart in full assurance of
21:01
faith. It says, it says don't draw back
21:05
to the perdition, but do believe to the saving of the soul.
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I mean, it's all this time. I mean, it should be pretty
21:10
clear, right? It's not that works, but what we
21:13
believe. Actually, that's going to
21:14
clarify. OK, Verse 3.
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Through faith, we understand, and this is an interesting verse
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anyway, through faith we understand that the world's were
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framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were
21:29
not made of things which do appear.
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I tell you why. If you read commentaries, you'll
21:33
get all kinds of stuff on this. Even worse, if you read the
21:36
Internet, you get all kinds of crazy ideas with this thing
21:40
here. But I I do believe it actually
21:43
goes back to the verse one where it where it says now faith is a
21:48
substance of things hoped for. It is the item that allows us to
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see things and understand things that otherwise would be
21:56
imperceptible. Go ahead and.
21:59
Yeah, I really like that verse. It debunks evolution.
22:03
Yeah. It debunks the idea that the
22:07
world was created millions and 1,000,000 billions of years ago.
22:13
I think it's a really cool verse.
22:15
I as far as like debating and stuff that's like evolution and
22:21
stuff like that. It's my favorite verse.
22:25
How cool is it and what would I just like going to get in a
22:28
little bit in in the mind of God?
22:31
Like what? What was it that he decided to
22:34
make an earth to make a world that looks different than what
22:39
it is or seems different than what it was and look at how many
22:46
people fall for it. They use science and they spent
22:53
millions and billions of dollars trying to figure out how old
22:56
some rockiest and God sitting up there saying that I made them
23:01
200 billion year old rock in one day.
23:08
You know, it's just comical. It's it's hilarious that God
23:13
literally gifts. He tells us in his word how this
23:16
is how this is. And we're down there digging
23:18
around trying to figure out how old these things are and
23:20
estimating the millions and billions of years.
23:23
And just like, for instance, like Adam, when he made Adam, if
23:29
you would have looked at his bone structure and the size of
23:32
his body, everybody would have said he's probably, you know, 20
23:36
years old or whatever. Like he's a full grown man.
23:38
But he made him in one, in one instant, like he made him even.
23:45
So, yeah, I like that verse. Yeah.
23:49
That's good. I like it that it says through
23:54
faith we understand that the world will frame.
23:58
So we reading through the public proverbs right now, our family
24:03
isn't you know, it's a lot about understanding and wisdom.
24:07
And I just like that it points that out that that by faith we
24:13
can understand that the world's were framed by the word of God.
24:17
See. So if if you go anywhere in
24:21
nature, like, I don't know, maybe a week or two ago we took
24:24
a bike ride out in the woods. And, and if you just stop in the
24:29
woods and you just sit down and you start examining the the
24:34
things around you to believe that that came from a bang, a
24:42
Big Bang makes a whole lot more. Faith.
24:46
Than to believe that there was a God that spoke that into
24:49
existence. Like I mean, or for instance,
24:52
like when when I went out to my daughter in South Dakota and and
24:57
hold held her weak old baby. You know, you look at a little
25:01
baby like that, that is so perfect and so little ears are
25:05
perfect. His little hands are perfect.
25:07
And I mean it, it takes it just takes way more faith to believe
25:13
that those things somehow came to be by somehow something like
25:17
whatever it you know, they try to make you believe by some
25:21
banger. All of a sudden it just appear.
25:23
No, it it did not. So yeah, I I'd really like this
25:28
verse too. So that the things which are
25:30
seeing were not made of things which do appear.
25:33
So in other words, it, it the things that are seeing were made
25:41
by a creator, by a living God, right?
25:45
Not some accident. Right.
25:48
Yeah, that's that's exactly right.
25:50
And or Melvin, I like that point that you made, you know it says.
25:58
They've got a lot of. Background noise through.
26:03
Faith, we understand that the world's were framed by the word
26:05
of God. You know, like there's we have
26:07
no other Ave. that allows us to understand that the word world
26:11
was framed by the word of God because we can't see it, we
26:15
can't hear it. You know, we can't taste it, we
26:17
can't touch it, but the only way that we can perceive that is by
26:20
faith. That is our that is our
26:23
perceptor of these realities that are true outside of our
26:28
fights. Anyway, I didn't mean to steer
26:30
your Thunder, but go ahead here. Oh no, that's fine.
26:34
There's a verse in Ecclesiastes 8 and verse 4 it says for the
26:39
word of A. King is.
26:41
There is power. And who shall say unto him, What
26:44
do us thou? And then it says in Luke 436 And
26:52
they were all amazed and spake among themselves saying what a
26:54
what a word is this. For with authority and power he
26:59
commandeth the unclean spirit, and they come out of him.
27:03
So I just read that to say this, if we don't live in this today.
27:09
But I guess his instances, the things like this could happen.
27:12
But if you lived in a country that there was a absolute king
27:16
like a monarch, just a king, all he has to do is say go slay
27:23
those people over woods been and it's done right get off.
27:29
He doesn't do anything. He just says go carry out this
27:33
thing and and it happens. OK, He just said that we through
27:38
faith, we understand that the world's were framed by the word
27:43
of God. Now I used to say I don't
27:47
understand the science of that, of that, but I believe that
27:53
happened. And I guess I would almost
27:55
change that to say and actually understand it like I don't,
28:00
because all there is to understand is that when God
28:04
says, let there, let the earth, you know, the water bring forth
28:10
the fish of the sea or whatever, that that word goes out and the
28:16
thing happens. It happens.
28:19
So I do understand that in other words, when like you all already
28:24
said, when everybody's trying to prove how did this come about or
28:27
what caused this thing to happen or how long did it take for this
28:30
thing to form or this thing to come out of it?
28:33
We understand that all God had to do was just say let there be
28:39
and there was right? It just half it just came into
28:43
be like and and we've all maybe seen something on TV or you
28:48
know, it's always just an illusion, but somebody,
28:50
somebody, you know abracadabra and pulls the rabbit out of the
28:54
hat. He makes something appear from
28:55
nothing. We understand the concept,
28:58
right. We know that's all fake and that
29:00
that's all just a trick of the sleigh of the hand or whatever.
29:04
But that's what God did. He just said let there be and
29:09
there was. So I do understand that.
29:12
Like I didn't understand how that the world's were framed by
29:15
nothing. They were just framed by the
29:17
power of His word. That's why I read that verse.
29:21
You know, it was, it's like the power of the King's voice.
29:23
He doesn't move a finger. He just says it and the thing
29:26
happens. Somebody carries it out.
29:28
Well, in this case God says the words and the words themselves
29:33
produce the thing, right? Did you agree with that?
29:36
The words produce the. Thing other.
29:40
Thing I'd like to point out Oh, sorry, go ahead I.
29:43
Was just going to say which points back to a very great
29:48
creator. There has never been another
29:50
being that has ever been able to do something like that, you
29:54
know, so it's, it's like this wheel, it just keeps getting
29:57
bigger and greater and grander, you know, as we believe this
30:00
stuff. Yeah, what?
30:03
I think it would be good to mention all that.
30:07
Most of the time in the Old Testament, he was really proud
30:10
to be recognized as the creator of all things.
30:14
He keeps mentioning it over and over every time he won a
30:16
victory, he wanted the people to know that I am the one that
30:19
created heaven and earth. I'm the one that created the
30:22
fouls. But he's just naming a whole
30:25
bunch of things that he made. And so I, it doesn't surprise
30:32
me. This is one of the first things
30:33
that he said by faith, you understand, you know, God is
30:38
very much wanting to be at the receiving end of the glory of
30:43
making this wonderful world. I mean, look at some like a
30:46
butterfly is made like some of the Rep reproduction things that
30:52
some of the critters on this planet is just insane.
30:57
What has to happen for them to reproduce insane and that stuff.
31:05
Ask God, an unbelievable atheist scientist to believe God, but
31:10
they ended up understanding that it has to be by faith for God.
31:15
So this happened. It had they had to come to that
31:18
because it was impossible, absolutely scientifically
31:22
impossible or something to reproduce to.
31:26
I mean, I forget what it is, but it, it, I mean, it is a miracle.
31:31
Like if we think the baby's a miracle, this is like, I forget
31:34
what it was, some kind of bug and things have to fly for
31:38
thousands of miles or something and find each other and then
31:41
they have to go disappear again. And maybe it was some kind of
31:44
fish. I don't remember what it was,
31:45
but it's insane. The travelling, it had to be
31:48
like serious travelling. And then the thing had to God's
31:54
proud. I don't even.
31:57
I I think that's something, but I think it's standard equipment
32:01
for a God that speaks worlds into existence, right?
32:04
I mean. And, and the understanding that
32:10
the world for framed by the world of God, word of God needs
32:14
to be the foundation of our faith.
32:16
I think that's why he's pointing this out here too, right?
32:19
He because in John one, it says in the beginning was the word
32:27
and the word was with God and the word was God.
32:30
And if you look up that word word, it's referring to Jesus.
32:35
And the same was in the beginning with God, and all
32:38
things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything
32:42
made that was made. There he is.
32:46
That claims that pretty well. What?
32:50
Else I was going to say that when it says the world's were
32:52
framed by the word of God, I always thought about, you know,
32:55
you'd say, is that a wood framed house?
32:58
Is that a metal framed building? Like, you know, what is it that
33:01
what is the structure of that house?
33:04
What is it that it's made-up? And you and in this case the
33:07
world's are framed. They are made.
33:09
They are put together. The structure of it is the word
33:13
of God, right? It's not, it's not previously
33:17
existing materials. It is the word of God is what
33:20
framed the world's, you know, like that is the thing that
33:24
that's the thing he started with was his word, not some other
33:27
material. Yeah, and listen to this verse.
33:31
And He is before all things, and by him all things consist.
33:37
There you go. I mean.
33:39
We haven't even mentioned the galaxies yet.
33:41
We haven't mentioned the temperatures and all the things
33:43
that have to work for the temperature not to be off.
33:46
Like if if anything would get off a little bit, everything
33:49
would just explode, literally. Yeah, if the sun was a little
33:53
closer to the Earth. We'd.
33:55
You know, we'd be dead, we'd burn off.
33:58
So we live on a on a circle or a ball.
34:03
The framing of it is God's word. If that would ever leave, it
34:07
would collapse. Just like.
34:09
Build house. If you'd take the sticks away,
34:11
it would collapse. You think the magnetic force
34:14
would leave like that holds the earth together?
34:18
It would probably just like. Whatever the word of God.
34:21
Actually, now that would be a big thing.
34:23
Yeah, big crash. All right next deal OK verse 4
34:30
by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
34:35
Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous
34:40
God testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead yet speaketh
34:47
there's that said for by it the elders obtained a good report.
34:52
Well, here it is obtained witness that he was righteous
34:56
safe language there and. Yeah, there's about the only
35:02
thing I know to say on this verse.
35:05
You know, we can, we can either just read the story and
35:09
understand that God looked at Abel and said, you know what,
35:13
What he brought and his his concept of bringing an offering
35:19
was acceptable and Cain's wasn't.
35:22
Or we can try to figure out why Abel's was acceptable and Cain's
35:27
wasn't. It doesn't necessarily tell us
35:31
why, except for the fact that God didn't tell Cain.
35:39
Hey, look, why is, you know, we could tell he's angry and it's
35:44
like, you know, basically gave him a chance and said, you know
35:46
what? He didn't basically repent.
35:49
You can go do the right thing, but if not, you know, sin, laugh
35:54
at the door or whatever. Forget exactly how it's written,
35:56
but my personal belief is that whether Abel was watching his
36:03
parents when they were supposed to surely die and God covered
36:08
them in someone else's skin or atonement and there was
36:12
bloodshed, 2 animals died or harbor mates.
36:15
And so my assumption is that Abel understood sacrifice and an
36:23
offering that is satisfying, pleasing, well, pleasing to God.
36:27
He didn't bring his own righteousness.
36:28
He didn't bring the fruit of his own labor, so to speak, as in
36:33
that will please God. He brought he didn't bring the
36:37
fruit of his labor. And the fact that in the absence
36:40
of the fact that he raised the land, I'm sure it was his, He
36:44
didn't go steal somebody else's or if he got 1, he probably paid
36:47
for it. So at the end of the day, it's
36:49
the work of his labor, just like Cain, but it wasn't in that
36:53
context of earning God's favor or being pleasing based on his
36:59
work. It wasn't the fact that there
37:00
was blood that is supposed to speak better things than his own
37:06
work, which all Cain was able to produce with his work, the fruit
37:10
of his work. And even though the I can make
37:15
that Abel brought fruit of his work, but I don't think he
37:18
brought it in the context of his work, his physical own work
37:24
being the thing that pleases God.
37:26
I think he knew that blood, that offering of blood, innocent
37:32
blood of the Lamb, is what it's going to be pleasing to God.
37:36
Right. I know that's that's a common
37:39
common idea. I don't know if it's necessarily
37:41
supportable by scripture or not. But I don't either.
37:43
That's why I said it the way it is.
37:45
Yeah, absolutely. That would go ahead.
37:47
Yeah, it just says in our Genesis that God had respect on
37:51
Abel's offering and he did not have respect on Cain's.
37:57
So yeah, the Bible, Bible doesn't really say necessarily
38:01
why. I don't know if it does.
38:05
Does the latter part of this verse give us any idea?
38:08
Like what it what is he saying there where he says God in the
38:12
end of verse four, he says God testifying of his gifts and by
38:17
it he being dead yet speaking. I'm not sure I was trying to
38:22
look what that could mean. I didn't study that before and
38:25
should have maybe, but I'm not. You sure what he?
38:27
Says, referring to the Abel's blood still speaking.
38:31
OK, remember how the blood cried out?
38:34
Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK.
38:35
Yeah, that makes sense. As far as why, why one was
38:44
accepted and the other one wasn't.
38:45
In Jude verse 11 there's an interesting verse.
38:49
It says there woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of
38:52
Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and
39:00
in the gainsay of Core. So there was definitely.
39:06
Yeah. He just.
39:08
I mean, it almost looks there, as if greed, you know, or his
39:12
lack of bringing a sufficient sacrifice, maybe.
39:15
I don't know, Aaron. I don't mean to cut you off.
39:19
No, I actually think that I think you can take this verse
39:23
and see that it was the fact that he brought blood and Cain.
39:27
Maybe it's because of his greediness.
39:29
Maybe it's because of his lack of willingness to do what he
39:34
knew was right. Whatever, I don't know on Cain's
39:36
part was in his mind. But read the verse, think about
39:39
it. He says by faith, Abel, now
39:41
listen to this, offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice,
39:47
right? In other words, the sacrifice
39:48
itself, the thing that he did by faith was offer a better
39:53
sacrifice. It wasn't really anything to do
39:56
with his heart. Like I've I've heard that and I
39:58
don't really think that's right. I don't think it had anything to
40:00
do with his heart. I mean, other than the fact that
40:02
he knew to do right and did it. I don't think it was the like
40:06
I've heard people say it was that Cain came with a good
40:09
attitude. And I mean, Abel came with a
40:12
good attitude and Cain didn't. I don't think that's right.
40:14
I think it plainly says that was a more excellent sacrifice, like
40:19
the thing that he brought. He did by faith, right?
40:22
I mean, think about the verse. Think about what we're going to
40:24
read on. What did he do because of his
40:27
confidence in God, Because all he would have had to heard,
40:31
think about this. All he has to hear is the
40:34
retelling of the story that God put Adam and Eve in the garden.
40:37
He said the day you eat of that tree, you will surely die.
40:41
OK? The day that they ate of it, God
40:43
did not kill them, but he did kill something to clothe him
40:47
with, right? He did kill some animal in order
40:50
to put their that animals hides on them.
40:53
So something did die that day. So Abel, I don't think Abel has
40:58
a written law of God, but he has a story that is told of
41:02
creation, of what his parents did, how that when they did not,
41:08
when they fell out of faith with God, that God did kill something
41:12
in their place. So I do think it actually points
41:14
directly to the sacrifice itself.
41:17
And like I said, he did that by faith, whereas Cain failed to do
41:21
it by faith. And and what you pointed out
41:23
there, Melvin, and in the verse, I think assures us of that
41:26
because the first of it says a more excellent sacrifice by
41:30
which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying
41:34
of his what gifts right what he gave.
41:38
So it is pointing directly to the sacrifice because Hebrews
41:42
just told us that back in what was it Chapter 9 or 10.
41:47
He says without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
41:49
So that was always the case. Like you could say that that was
41:54
in the beginning when sin showed up, bloodshed showed up.
41:59
That has always been the case. So I do think it is pointing
42:02
directly to the sacrifice. And that's and like I said,
42:07
that's what he did by faith that tame failed to be by faith.
42:11
He said something has to die in my place.
42:15
That's what Abraham or that's what Abel knew.
42:18
Something has to die. There has to be some bloodshed.
42:21
And Cain said, Nah, I think it's good enough just to offer what I
42:24
have at hand. I think it's all, I think it's
42:27
good enough to offer what I have put my sweat into or my, you
42:32
know, efforts into or whatever. He tried to offer something that
42:36
was not the right, literally the right sacrifice.
42:40
So I I do think it did pertains. Directly to sacrifice that and
42:44
that goes beautifully with what it says there.
42:46
Jude point to as greed. You know, he didn't want the
42:49
expense of having to go by or do something with an animal.
42:54
He wanted to give something that he could freely pick from the
42:56
earth, you know, a farmer or whatever.
42:59
But he would have had access to livestock the same way that his
43:03
brother did. That would have not been an
43:04
issue at all had he chose to do that.
43:07
So yeah. That's kind of what I was trying
43:10
to say as well. And so Abel had his confidence
43:16
in his faith in, not in his work of raising a lamb, not in his
43:26
labor. He wasn't looking for some kind
43:28
of reward. Cain was thinking that he's
43:32
going to get some kind of a reward when God sees all the
43:35
effort he put in. So that is really cool when you
43:40
understand the gospel. The gospel is so much that way
43:45
that a lot of us come to God like Cain.
43:49
We really do. And oh, sorry, I'm sorry.
43:54
I was just going to say there is another verse.
43:56
In fact there's only three times that Cain has mentioned in the
44:00
New Testament and the other one is first John 3 and verse 12.
44:05
He says not as Cain who was of that wicked 1 and slew his
44:09
brother and wherefore slew he him.
44:12
Like why did he do it? Because his own works were evil
44:17
and his brothers righteous, right?
44:20
The thing that he brought, he brought the things that he did
44:24
when he was bringing that was evil and his brother was
44:27
bringing a right. I mean, it's what just said and
44:29
more excellent it was it was a righteous thing.
44:32
So here again, I'm only speculating, but it seems to me
44:36
like it would be reasonable to say that they they, because if
44:40
you go back and read the Genesis story, it says that they was in
44:42
the field together and Paine and Abel talked together.
44:46
Remember that like they're in the field together and they talk
44:49
together. I think it's reasonable to think
44:51
that Abel's like, brother, why did you not bring, I mean, why
44:56
are you aggravated at God? I mean, you know that you needed
44:59
to bring blood to him. And then Cain, because of his
45:03
works being evil and Abel's righteous slew, slays his
45:07
brother. So I can't prove that that
45:10
happened, but I know that they talked and it says he's that
45:13
Cain root rose up and slew his brother.
45:15
So they were talking about something right when he slew
45:19
him. So like I said, I just think
45:21
that's interesting. But.
45:22
Yeah. What, what I think is really
45:24
important, what you alluded to is that we understand it was 2
45:27
sinners that were asked, 2 undone people that were asked to
45:34
bring an offering. And the one understood that it's
45:40
not of his own work. And he brought blood, innocent
45:45
blood. And the other one is like, you
45:47
know what, I'm going to please him, I'm going to do it.
45:52
And the other one had relied on someone, something that he
45:55
couldn't do. Yeah.
45:58
And that's. Roger, you're cracking us all
45:59
up. I was.
46:01
Trying to figure out what I said that was funny.
46:03
No, it's. Small here listen you're.
46:06
Laughing about the shaft. Yeah, Roger.
46:09
He's from Tennis Kentucky. Oh, you.
46:12
You. Spoiled it.
46:13
I was. I was.
46:14
Aaron was typing. Oh.
46:16
OK, yeah, I see that now. It's always.
46:19
Thunder. That's just kind of funny
46:21
because yeah, it's pretty obvious that he didn't grow up
46:24
in Iowa. Oh, wait a minute, Aaron, you.
46:30
Used to have called me a hillbilly too.
46:33
I should have been Eastern Kentucky there.
46:35
Sorry. Yeah, I forgot that.
46:37
Roger that. You grew up in Alabama.
46:38
That's that's cool. I didn't know that you came from
46:41
the S Ridgeland. So yeah, it's cool.
46:43
One of the thoughts that I had as you were sharing with that,
46:47
Andrew was that, you know, so the fact is that if we're trying
46:53
to like if it's not by faith, if we're trying it like the verse
46:58
that we're going to get to here to shorten it says by faith,
47:01
it's impossible to peace God. So if it if it is not from
47:04
faith, by faith, then it is a word, right.
47:09
So Cain was trying to bring forth his sacrifice by words and
47:15
not he doesn't say that Cain had faith.
47:18
You know, it doesn't. The Bible doesn't say that.
47:19
It just said Abel by faith, not tame.
47:23
So if it's not by faith. This is just a side note, but I
47:27
just thought about this. I don't know.
47:31
I'm not sure that either one of them was asked to.
47:34
Like I'm not saying they weren't, but I don't know if
47:37
they were asked to you. Or if they're true.
47:40
You know what I mean, like because, like I've heard Mike
47:43
Pearl say this, that you look at these Indians that are in these
47:48
wild, you know, never been around anybody tribes and
47:52
they're all doing these dances and maybe, you know, like
47:57
cutting ourselves or or doing whatever, drinking some kind of
48:00
blood or whatever. They they are doing that out of
48:05
guilt. Kindly, You know, like I know
48:07
you've heard that story that he told us about that guy ripping
48:09
the the savages ripping ripping the fish hook out of their out
48:14
of their chest there and no women thinking I'm, you know,
48:16
like they have appease the gods. So like everybody knows that I
48:22
guess naturally that they have sin and guilt.
48:25
So I, I don't know. I'm not saying that they weren't
48:27
asked to do that, but I don't know that they were either.
48:30
But you know. That they were in Janice, and as
48:32
it says in Genesis 4/3, it says 2 and three.
48:39
And again she buried his brother Abel, And Abel was a keeper of
48:41
the sheep, but came with the till of the ground.
48:43
And then it says, And any process of time it came to pass,
48:48
that came brought of the through the ground, and offering unto
48:51
the Lord and Abel. Brought the first things of his
48:53
flock. Yeah.
48:55
So yeah, that's. That's a good discussion.
48:59
Is it faith? Were they asked to?
49:00
Were they, was it voluntary? They, they, they just, you know,
49:04
a do or Abel do that his life required a sacrifice, you know,
49:10
and did his life accordingly. I did want to touch on the last
49:15
part of it. Melvin.
49:16
You mentioned not being sure then I don't know.
49:20
Was it Andrew or somebody said something about the blood of his
49:22
brother, But I would I would differ there a little bit.
49:25
Maybe I maybe I'm wrong, but it says God testifying of his gifts
49:30
and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
49:34
I think that's his testimony that lives on.
49:36
It's actually Abel's testimony that's living on even though he
49:40
he died. OK, because, because.
49:43
I could be wrong maybe. Maybe it is referring back to
49:46
Cain Cade's testimony, but usually that would be called a
49:49
testimony, right? Or is it?
49:51
I'm not sure. What are your opinions on that?
49:54
Well, I think whoever said that said that it was kind of
49:57
referenced in that verse where it says that Christ's blood
50:00
speaketh better things than the blood of Abel's, which I agree
50:04
with. I think that Abel's blood was
50:06
crying out. I mean, that's what he says to
50:08
Cain. That's what God says to Cain is
50:09
I hear his blood crying from the earth.
50:12
So I think that's true. But I agree with you, Leon, that
50:16
I think when he says this, it's like it's like what he says in
50:21
the beginning of chapter 12, seeing where capacitus, great
50:24
cloud of witnesses, they're all speaking, right?
50:27
They're all speaking to us by faith.
50:30
Their testimony is living on. So I would, I would say in the
50:34
context of this, I agree that it's probably their testimony
50:38
because it says, think about the, the way it's worded, God
50:41
testifying of his gifts and it is by it.
50:45
I think it's the God testifying. He still speaks, yeah.
50:50
That's what made me think that, yeah, yeah.
50:53
That's what put me on that track and that goes with that.
50:58
A testimony is not in effect till the testator dies, you
51:01
know. So so like that.
51:02
Testimony actually only becomes effective and that's talking
51:05
about Christ, but it's still, it would be continuous with what
51:08
we're saying. Yeah, yeah.
51:10
But but I totally agree that whoever said that that that's,
51:13
that is true that Abel's blood was crying out for vengeance or
51:19
for justice or whatever you want to say, whereas Christ's blood
51:23
cries out and offers mercy and forgiveness.
51:27
You know, that's what what that other verse says.
51:29
So you know. Well, that's good.
51:31
That's why I like a Bible study. That's that's good stuff.
51:35
All right, let's see, we got 9 minutes.
51:37
Let's read verse 5. By faith, Enoch was translated
51:40
that he should not see death and was not found because God has
51:44
translated him for before his translation, that he had this
51:48
testimony that he pleased God. Anything to add to that, Andrew?
51:55
Because I mean, a lot of these are going to be, it's the same,
51:59
the same story by different people's lives, you know?
52:03
Not really. I just again, like I was saying
52:06
in the beginning, how? How appreciate if I am of these
52:11
stories to make it not feel so hard to attain or like you're
52:16
we're distant or God is holding us, holding something up to so
52:21
high and we're jumping. We can't even come close to
52:24
touching it and he's like, well, you need to jump higher.
52:27
I'm glad that He has provided a thing that we can put our faith
52:33
in and it's sure and he tells us what not to do.
52:38
It's hard. It's not easy.
52:41
It's the hardest thing to do is to not work and believe.
52:45
It's the hardest thing to do is when you mess up to not feel
52:49
like you need to do something about it.
52:52
But when your faith and understanding is in the full
52:57
work of Christ, you're not going to do anything else to try to
53:03
find peace and forgiveness again, It's done.
53:08
And I want that testimony. I want the testimony that when I
53:11
die that people said he was, He might have been a nut, He might
53:15
have done stupid stuff, but he had his faith and security was
53:19
in Christ and nothing else. That's how I want to go.
53:23
Amen. Yeah, I just again encourage
53:27
there that he just says by faith he's not done to say by
53:32
something he did or by perfect he was, or you know what kind of
53:36
a mighty man he was or a man of God he was even necessary.
53:40
Just says that by faith Enoch was translated that he should
53:45
not see death and was and was not found because God had
53:50
translated him for before his translation, he had this
53:56
testimony that he pleased God. And so I'm just encouraged that,
54:01
like you were saying, Andrew, that that I don't have to have
54:05
it all figured out or I don't have to be perfect or, or have
54:10
to do things a certain way necessarily all the time to
54:17
please God is having faith in his sacrificing his only
54:23
begotten son to die for me for my sins on the cross.
54:27
And I can rest in that. But I just that's just really
54:32
encouraging. And it just, it's kind of
54:35
interesting to me that I'm not sure why God translated Enoch
54:41
like that. But honestly, it was poor
54:45
testimony for Dog's glory, obviously.
54:49
Yeah, go ahead. I confess I really don't know a
54:53
lot about there's. There's not a lot written about
54:56
it, but go ahead there. Well, I was just going to say
54:59
that this is because this is very common in the people that I
55:05
was raised around to scoff and laugh at the idea of God.
55:13
Just rapped whether you like the word rapture or not calling
55:17
people up, but I think that that's one of the greatest
55:21
things that we can learn from this right here is there was a
55:25
time this guy and Elijah that God actually just sucked him up.
55:32
I mean just pulled him out of this world, right?
55:35
I mean the he act. That's that's the point of this
55:37
story is that he's walking with God and he is, I would say, I
55:45
guess I would say this, I would be confident in saying that
55:49
Enoch had great faith. You know, we would say faith is,
55:57
is is measurable in the unlike believing is you either do it or
56:01
you don't. Whereas faith could be weak, it
56:04
can be great, it can be right. So I would feel confident in
56:08
saying that Enoch did have great faith because he had a great
56:11
testimony. The Bible says back here in
56:13
Genesis that Enoch walked with God, right?
56:16
So he is, he is, he has such confidence in God that he is
56:21
that his walk, like his conduct is the way he walked was way
56:26
different than everybody else. I do, I feel confident in saying
56:31
I feel like he did have a different walk than a lot of
56:34
people had. But it was not that the walk
56:38
came first and then he grew in faith.
56:41
He had great faith. And that's what you're going to
56:44
see with all these people is because of their faith, they did
56:48
such and such a thing, right? It is the substance of things.
56:51
Hopefully it's what came out of it's like I said earlier about
56:54
the car, you're never going to if you have no confidence in
56:58
your tires on your car, you're not going to whip it around the
57:00
curve 70 mile an hour. You don't have the confidence to
57:03
do that. So we we do do we do do things
57:09
by confidence. There is things that comes out
57:11
of our confidence. And that's exactly what all
57:14
these stories are going to have that same pattern that such and
57:17
such person through their confidence in God did such and
57:22
such thing. Now the first.
57:24
Several are all going to be. Right.
57:26
The first several are all going to be in the positive light.
57:29
They accomplished, they gave up, they did this, they did that.
57:34
But you get to the half of, I can't remember what verse it is.
57:39
You get to verse 36 and it's not positive anymore, right?
57:46
These people are not accomplishing anything.
57:48
They are giving their lives. They are being cut in half.
57:52
They are, you know, like it's bad things that happened then,
57:56
but they went into that thing in the same way that the people
58:00
accomplish good things. They were able to stand there
58:03
and be stoned or stand there and be cut in half because of what
58:07
they, the confidence they hadn't got right.
58:09
So it didn't come out with a great outcome, but they did this
58:13
thing or that thing because of what they the confidence that
58:17
they had got. Right, that's right.
58:21
I got a kick out. I just went and looked there
58:24
quick at Genesis 5 where it talks about Enoch and this is
58:27
what it says verse 22, three of four in Genesis. 5.
58:31
And you don't walk with God after he begat Methuselah 300
58:35
years and begat sons and daughters and all the days of
58:38
Enoch. Were. 360 and five years and it
58:43
says and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took
58:47
him. Well, let me say this, I think
58:52
this is interesting you read it and I'd never heard it till I
58:56
heard you read it. It says an Enoch walk with God,
58:59
300 years, right? So in other words, you know, we
59:04
would say we would gloat over the fact that Abraham went 20
59:09
some years without ever receiving promise.
59:12
But that's actually he's putting a number on, right?
59:14
He walked 300 years with God. That is, he held confidence in
59:20
God for 300 years. I mean, I'm not saying there
59:22
ain't other people that didn't live just as long, but I think
59:25
that's interesting. That is the way it reads.
59:28
It walked with God. 365, to be exact.
59:33
That's an interesting number too, isn't it?
59:37
Yeah, yeah. All right.
59:38
Hey, that's good stuff. I'm going to.
59:39
We'll stop here. I like that next verse going to
59:43
reiterate. It's going to pause at these
59:45
stories here real quick and give us a short reiteration of what
59:49
this is all about. So anyway, I will.
59:54
We'll cut her off there. So anyway, thanks for being
59:58
here. As we conclude today's study.
1:00:00
I remember Hebrews 11 is what I say every single week.
1:00:03
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
1:00:05
things not seen. It's been our verse that we're
1:00:09
talking about, and we just did. So may your faith reveal
1:00:12
biblical truths more clearly that your physical eyes can.
1:00:15
Proceed the things before you and join us next Monday as we
1:00:18
continue to look at God's Word through the substance of faith.
1:00:21
God bless you guys. Thanks for your time.
1:00:23
Have a great week and. We'll see you next week.
1:00:25
Thank you much.