Worship From the Heart – Abel - Treasures of Faith - Week 2 Day 1

TODAY'S TREASURE

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:4 [also see Genesis 4:1–16]

Transcript

Worship From the Heart – Abel

Faith Principle #2: Biblical faith produces right worship.

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:4 [also see Genesis 4:1–16]

Dear Friends,

Last week, I introduced you to our dear friend, David. Several years after Mark’s death, God used David to sear into our souls a vivid image of the privilege of corporate worship within our covenant community (i.e., our circle of believing Christian friends) as described in Hebrews 10:25: 

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

God gave our church the gift of thirty-seven–year-old David Saadeh, a man who had an indescribable thirst for intimacy with Christ and a longing to encourage others. We grieved with his family when they learned he had terminal brain cancer. Although David mourned the fact that he would soon say goodbye to his wife and young children, his visitors always left his presence feeling more connected to heaven.

Near death, blind, unable to stand, and barely able to move his arms, David insisted on sitting in his wheelchair near the front of the church for worship. One Sunday, we began to sing the following words:

Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing

Power and majesty, praise to the King; 

Mountains bow down and the seas will roar 

at the sound of Your name.

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, 

Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand;

Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

Our friend’s impending death made us keenly aware of the great cloud of witnesses surrounding us (Hebrews 12:1). We were weeping freely as we contemplated the day we would join all of heaven in praise to our God when, out of the corner of our eyes, we saw movement. David was struggling to rise from his wheelchair so that he could stand and lift his arms toward heaven. He told his wife, “I can’t sing this song sitting down. I must stand up.” Others began to weep as they realized his once healthy body would not obey. Seeing his struggle and knowing his determined heart, a man on either side of him—one an elder, the other David’s doctor—helped David to stand, raising his arms for him so that he could freely worship his God. In tears, the rest of the congregation rose to its feet. We sang with one voice and heart while the music swelled in loud continuous praise to God for His promises.

Like Aaron and Hur, who held up Moses’ arms (Exodus 17:8–13), these two men strengthened David in his feebleness and helped him display his absolute devotion to God. Members of the Body were able to encourage one another with God’s truth as together they anticipated David’s “Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25) and witnessed a picture of our hope that special Sabbath.

That day, the church, the Body of Christ, reflected heartfelt worship overflowing with encouragement. David, our friend and brother, died just a few weeks later. His memorial service was an exclamation point for his earlier affirmation that the sovereign Giver of Life can be trusted, even in the face of certain death.

Our view of the meaning of worship was forever changed by the life of our dear friend, David. Though removed from this earth, David’s faith still speaks. 

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Like the different colors of an emerging rainbow, the various aspects of this definition of faith radiate from each of the living examples of faithful men and women found in Hebrews 11, people who, one by one, experienced a hope that became a reality.

Having told us what faith is, the writer of Hebrews intentionally chooses flesh and  blood illustrations of faith that would encourage his struggling readers. How strange it is, then, that this writer chose to encourage these believers to persevere in following God by highlighting the life of a man who was actually murdered as a result of his faithfulness.

Persecution had already caused some in the Hebrew congregation to distance themselves from the covenant community. Those who remained continued to be treated unjustly (Hebrews 10:32–34). Yet the writer of Hebrews urged these distressed believers to continue meeting together, the very thing that would likely cause them trouble. They were to worship both privately and corporately (vv. 19–25).

Then again, what better place to begin a description of faith than with a man noted for his worship?

“By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Hebrews 11:4

Friends, when you leave your church service, what makes you “feel good”? Do you measure success by how the music made you feel, whether the preacher kept you engaged, the lights were on or the lights were turned down low, or someone spoke to you? The writer of Hebrews challenges us to consider how our “worship” reflects our faith. Let’s listen closely as Abel, though dead, shows us how to worship.

Treasured by Him,

Sharon

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

Prepare your heart to hear the Lord speak to you through this dead man, Abel. Read Genesis 4 with pen and pad in hand. Ask the Lord to open your heart to what genuine worship looks like for you.

MORE…

Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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