"What Is Faith?” Hebrews 11:1- 4

Listen as I tell you about a missionary named Hudson Taylor. “When Hudson Taylor first went to China, he was on a sailing vessel, and their vessel had come very close to the shore of cannibal islands because the ship was caught in a calm, and it was slowly drifting toward the shore …and the savages were eagerly anticipating a feast.

The captain came to Mr. Taylor and sought him to pray for the help of God. ‘I will,’ said Taylor, ‘provided you set your sails to catch the breeze.’ The Captain declined to make himself a laughing stock by unfurling the sails in a dead calm. Taylor said, ‘I will not undertake to pray for the vessel unless you will prepare the sails.’ And so it was done.

While he was in prayer, there was a knock at the door of his stateroom. “Who is there? Taylor ask” and the captains replied, ‘Are your still praying for wind?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well,’ said the captain ‘you better stop praying for we have more wind than we can manage.’” Hudson Taylor had faith in what was unseen as yet.

Another word describing what faith is, is “evidence” and it means “conviction.”

1Now faith is the sub stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This inward conviction enables the believer to believe things not yet seen, that God will do what he has promised.

That is the conviction that only faith can bring.

Listen as I read verse 4 again to do with Abels faith.

4By 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.

Even though Able is dead today his faith is still speaking out as we read about here from the Word of God.

Notice, 4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain

Rom. 10:17 says faith comes by hearing the word of God.

God revealed to Adam the only way back to Him was by a blood sacrifice, something must give its life, an animal had to be killed, its blood had to be shed in order for man to come back to Him, that was Gods way at that time, and it was pointing to the future when Jesus Christ would give His life, He would shed His Blood, He would become The Lamb of God.

This lamb sacrifice was made known to Able and Cain, god would receive no other offering, and it had to be Gods way. And God has not changed His mind or the way back to Him today.

John the Baptist said in John 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 3: 16-17 says 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Faith Caused Abel to Worship God (v. 4)

4By 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.

Adam had without a doubt told both his sons,” Able and Cain” the word of God, the way back to God.