Both Adam and Eve believed the gospel. Adam believed and called his wife's name "Living"; Eve believed and called her son "acquired," thinking that she had acquired what God had promised. Adam and Eve certainly must have preached the gospel to their children, telling Cain and Abel how they had been created by God, how they had been charged by God not to eat of the tree of knowledge, how they had disobeyed God and had eaten of that tree, how they were in fear and trembling as they awaited the sentence of death, and how God came in to preach the gospel by promising them that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. Furthermore, Adam and Eve must also have told them how they had stood naked in the presence of God and how God had slain some lambs as sacrifices, using the skins to make robes to cover their nakedness that they could stand before God and have fellowship with Him. I am convinced that Adam and Eve preached this gospel to their children. Evidence of this is found in Hebrews 11:4 which says, "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." According to the Bible, faith comes from hearing the word that is preached (Rom. 10:17, 14). Since Abel had such faith, exercised this faith, and offered a sacrifice to God in accordance with this faith, he must have heard the preaching of the glad tidings from his parents. Out of that word he received faith. He did not present his sacrifice according to his own opinion or learning, and his offering was not his own invention. He presented his offering by faith according to the words preached by his parents.

The father, Adam, the mother, Eve, and the second child, Abel, believed the gospel. We, the saved ones, are not the firstborn. The firstborn perished (Exo. 12:29), and the second born were saved by believing. We who believe are the second child. Praise the Lord that we are the second boys, the second children. Adam was a good father, taking the lead in believing the gospel. I hope that all the fathers reading this message will be leaders in believing the gospel. Eve, a good wife and mother, was also a believer, following her believing husband and opening the way for her child to believe. Therefore, in Genesis 4 we have a believing father, a believing mother, and a believing child. Look at this family—they all believed in the same gospel. When people have asked me if Adam and Eve were saved, I have said, "Why not? If you are saved, then certainly they were saved as well. In fact, they were saved much earlier than you were." Adam and Eve were pioneers in believing the gospel. Adam cut the way, Eve paved the way, and Abel walked on the way. Now we are followers of Abel. I wish that every father would be an Adam, every mother an Eve, and all the children Abels. The first family on the earth was a gospel family, a family of believers.

Abel himself was an extraordinary believer. Although you have read the Bible for years, perhaps you have never noticed Abel's occupation. He was a "feeder of sheep" (Gen. 4:2, Heb.). During Abel's time sheep were of no use for man's eating, since, before the flood, man was only permitted to eat vegetables (Gen. 1:29). Only after the flood did God ordain that man eat meat as well as herbs (Gen. 9:3). Therefore, as Abel was feeding the sheep he was not working for food to live on. It seems that Cain was more clever; he was more practical than Abel and "was a server of the ground" (Gen. 4:2, Heb.). Cain might have said to his brother, "Abel, what you are doing is impractical. What is the use of raising sheep? Look at what I'm doing. I am serving the land because the land will produce food for my living. How can you earn a living simply by feeding sheep? All you can get is the skin to cover you, but you have nothing to live on." If we enter into the thought of Genesis 4:2, we shall see that Abel was not working for his living, but for God's satisfaction. Abel did not care about his own satisfaction; he cared for God's. Cain, on the contrary, did not care for God's satisfaction; he only cared for earning a living for himself.

Genesis 4:2 tells us of two flesh brothers: the first served the ground, and the second fed the sheep. The earth produced food for man, while the sheep were used primarily as offerings for God. Thus, we see that Cain served the earth and Abel served God. I have a question to address to all who are reading this message: Are you feeding the sheep or are you serving the earth, the world? If we are living for the Lord, everything we do is feeding the sheep. However, if we do not serve the Lord, everything we do is serving the earth. There are only two categories of people—the servers of the world and the feeders of sheep for God. What are you? All the worldly people serve the earth diligently and earnestly, not caring at all for God. All fallen human beings are servers of the ground and are slaves to the earth. Are you such a server, such a slave? The people who serve the earth think that we, the feeders of sheep for God, are crazy. When they learn that we meet continually, when they see us reading the Bible and fellowshipping with one another, when they hear us singing and praising the Lord all the time they wonder what kind of people we are. We are sheep feeders. Day and night we are feeding the sheep. Do not say that you teach school or work at your business. You are feeding sheep for God. We are Abels, people who are more concerned with feeding the sheep for God than with merely earning a living. Do not say that the leading brothers in the church are the only ones who feed the sheep and that the other brothers and sisters must care for their employment, profession, and business. Apparently, you are working at your job or studying in school; actually you are feeding the sheep for God. Your employment or education is secondary; feeding the sheep is primary. The main aspect of our living is caring for God's satisfaction. We are not servers of the earth; we are feeders of the sheep for God.

Abel fed the sheep with the sole purpose of providing offerings for God. Thus, Abel served God absolutely. Everything you do should be for the purpose of serving God. You should not do anything for any other reason. We are serving God, feeding the sheep that we may have offerings to present to Him. Everything must be for this purpose. Since Abel was such a person, he was an extraordinary believer. He not only believed in the gospel, but practiced the gospel and lived for it.

When Eve gave birth to Cain she was excited and declared, "I have acquired a man, Jehovah." Probably after not too long a time she was disappointed and said, "That was not Jehovah. That was just a naughty boy." Furthermore, Cain did not hearken to her word. Therefore, when Eve gave birth to a second boy, she named him Abel, which means "vanity," like the vanishing of a breath. At the birth of the first child she was enthusiastic and shouted, "I have acquired"; at the birth of the second she was disappointed and said, "vanity." When Abel was born Eve merely said, "It is vanity." The thought here is very significant. We are vanity; yet we are feeders of the sheep. We are nothing and nobodies, but we are feeders of the sheep for God. I find it difficult to answer people when they ask me about my profession. A number of times I have replied, "It is hard for me to say. In a sense I am nobody. In another sense I am wonderful." On the one hand I am nobody, vanity; on the other hand I am a wonderful person doing the wonderful job of feeding the sheep for God. Nothing is more wonderful than the work of feeding the sheep for God. This is Abel. By birth we are people of vanity. If we do not feed the sheep for God, all that we are and do is "vanity of vanities" (Eccl. 1:2). Praise the Lord that in the midst of vanities we are feeding sheep for God's satisfaction. Hence, we are no longer vanity; we are doing a wonderful work for satisfying God.