What is faith 2

WHAT IS FAITH 2 Based on Heb. 11
By Pastor Glenn Pease
The person of faith simply believes that there is more to reality than meets the
eye. This is not only the foundation of spiritual faith, but of secular faith as well.
Science in our day is advancing in knowledge constantly as to the unseen reality
in the physical world. They tell us that the earth is spinning on its axis at over
1000 miles per hour, and that earth is rotating around the sun at 66,000 miles
per hour. Get on a carnival ride going a mere fraction of that speed and you feel
it and see the movement all around you, but we have no perception of this
greater speed. We cannot go by senses, but accept these facts by faith that it is
real even when we cannot sense it.
Astronomers estimate that the gravitating mass of the universe is ten times
greater than what can be accounted for by what is visible. They have a number of
theories trying to explain all this unseen matter, but the fact is, for science, the
universe is filled with a vast ocean of the reality of the unseen. You cannot be a
scientist today and not believe in the unseen. One wrote, “Central to the humble
approach is the acknowledgment that the world as revealed to our senses is but an
infinitesimal fraction of all that exists. The power of science augments and extends
those senses, but even as scientists open up new vistas with their instruments, so
they discover that there may be yet more to the universe-perhaps vastly more-than
we ever imagined. The more they find, the more they find there is to find. Our
knowledge is like an island in a vast ocean of the unknown. The larger the island
becomes, the larger is the boundary with the unknown.”
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not
seen.” Heb. 11:1. ). John Wesley paraphrased this verse: "[Faith] is the power to
see into the world of spirits, into things invisible and eternal. It is the power to
understand those things which are not perceived by worldly senses." Faith is a
conviction about things that cannot be seen. Doubting Thomas was finally
convinced Jesus was alive when he saw him and touched him, but Jesus said to
him in John 20:29, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Believing without seeing is faith.
Just look at all that these people of faith in this chapter could not see. In verse 7
8oah is warned about things not yet seen. 8obody, including 8oah, could foresee
the disastrous flood that was coming. 8oah only saw it in his mind because be
believed God’s Word, and the result was that he was sure that it would come, and so
he obeyed God and built the ark. He saw the unseen flood by faith. It was invisible,
but it was real enough to him to motivate him to give a large portion of his life to get
the ark ready for its coming.
Peter says that we are all just like 8oah if we believe the plan of God. He writes
in II Peter 3 about the day of the Lord. In verses 11-14, “Since everything will be

destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy
and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That
day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will
melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new
heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you
are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at
peace with him.” If we have faith in these unseen promises of what will be, we will
respond by living a life that is pleasing to God. Faith sees what is coming and gets
ready for it, just as 8oah did.
Someone suggested that faith is like a mental telescope that enables us to see what
is out ahead. It is like being the only one on shore who has a telescope as they are
waiting for the ship to come it. With it you can see the ship when it is far out to sea
yet, but the others do not have this ability, for the naked eye has such limits. You
already know it is real and that it will soon be docking. You begin to move to the
end of the dock, for you want to be the first to greet the ship. The others just hope it
is coming, but they do not have the certainty that you do. By this tool you have a
greater assurance, for you see what they cannot see. Faith reaches into the future
like the telescope reaches out into space, and it sees what God has promised as being
real, and it then acts in a way that is consistent with what is seen and believed. The
more we really believe, the more we will demonstrate it by actions that conform to
such belief. If 8oah had not built the ark, he would not have been a man of faith
even if he believed the flood was coming, for faith without works is dead. True faith
always has a response of some kind to what it believes and sees.
Dr. Bruce Martin of Zion Baptist Church in Edmonton, Canada, had an experience
he used to illustrate faith. He writes, “Two weeks ago we were hiking in Jasper
National Park. We went on a hike called the Valley of the Five Lakes. The Day
Hikers Guide told us there were five lakes. The signs said there were five lakes.
We hiked and hiked. 8o lakes. But people coming the other way assured us the
lakes were there, just over the next ridge. It was that assurance of things hoped
for … we couldn’t see the lakes yet, but we knew they were there
(books/signs/people) … that kept us going! And there they were …. Emerald
green jewels sparkling in the morning light.” It was their faith in the unseen
being real that kept them going, and that is the point of Hebrews 11. These
Christians it was being written to needed to keep going with Jesus and not turn
back to Judaism, and they needed to do so by faith that Jesus was all He claimed
to be, and that He would do all He promised to do. They has signs and witnesses
of the lakes, and we have the signs of Scripture and the witnesses of the saints of
the past, and following this evidence in hope of fulfillment is faith. You keep
going even though you cannot yet see, for you are sure you will see. You are so
sure, in fact, that you are seeing the unseen.
In verse 8 Abraham is called to go a place God would give him as an inheritance,
but he did not know where he was going. He could not see where he was heading,

but he could see in his mind the ultimate future of being in a city that God has built.
He could not see how God could make him a great nation when he was old and his
wife was beyond childbearing age, but he believed God’s promise that it would be
so. It is a paradox, for he could not see it, and yet he saw it, and believed and acted
on that belief. Faith is a paradox, for it sees what it cannot see. It has a vision of the
unseen. God says it will be so, and so even though it seems impossible that it can be
so, it is believed on the basis of God’s saying it, and so it is seen by faith in His
Word. Abraham could not see how he could sacrifice his son and still have the
promise fulfilled that through that son he would father a great host of people. He
reasoned that God must plan to raise him from the dead, and so he went ahead in
faith to obey what did not make sense. His faith saw God’s faithfulness, and believe
He would keep His promise, even though he could not see how. This is what it means
to walk in faith and not by sight. This is the adventure we all take when we follow
Christ, for it is walking into the unknown every day, and it is only by faith that we
see the future as being as bright as the promises of God.
Abraham has a greater attachment to the unseen than to the seen. He could see
his son and the awful fact of making him a sacrifice, but he had a stronger vision of
the unseen promise of God. The visible and invisible were in conflict and he had to
choose. By faith he chose the invisible and unseen. The visible is so transitory. The
things we treasure can wear out, be lost, burned, damaged, and stolen. That is why
Jesus taught so strongly not to get attached to things. In Matt. 6:19-21 Jesus said,
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy,
and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus is saying that
you are only a person of faith if your treasures are of the invisible sort and not
merely of the visible kind. The visible can all be lost, but the invisible are permanent
and will be a part of eternity. Abraham chose the invisible and became a hero of the
faith. He looked at what was unseen as the highest value, and trusting and pleasing
and obeying God was at the top of his list of such values. He heard the call of God
that James G. Clark wrote about it poetry.
I saw the mountains stand
Silent, wonderful and grand,
Looking out across the land
When the golden light was falling
On distant dome and spire,
And I heard a low voice calling,
“Come up higher, come up higher;
From the lowlands and the mire,
From the mist of earth-desire,
From the fain pursuit of pelf,
From attitude of self,
Come up higher, come up higher.”

Isaac, Jacob and Joseph all made provisions for a future they could not see,
but which they believed would be because of the promise of God. Moses chose to
endure unbelievable hardship with the people of God rather than enjoy the
luxury of what he could have had in Egypt because, as verse 27 says, “…he saw
him who is invisible.” He could not see all that he would have to suffer by being
obedient to God’s call, but he saw God and was committed to His Word. The
bottom line of faith is its ability to see the unseen. It is blind in that it does not
see why, or how, or when God is going to fulfill His promise, but it sees clearly
that He will fulfill it, and so it cooperates with God’s Word and providence
completely. Faith sees in the mind what it cannot see with the eyes. Faith sees the
invisible. “Faith is like radar that sees through the fog—the reality of things at a
distance that the human eye cannot see.” - Corrie Ten Boom (Tramp For the
Lord).
Jonathan McLeod has given us an interesting insight into providence. He writes,
“Providence. The word comes from the Latin, providentia. Pro means “before”
or “ahead of time”; videntia is from videre, meaning “to see,” from which we get
our word “video.” Put them together, and you have “seeing ahead of time,”
which is what God does. He sees the events of life ahead of time—something,
which we, of course, can never do. We’re great at history. Our hindsight is
almost always 20/20. But were lousy at prophecy, that is, the specifics of the
future. Stop and think. We have no clue as to what will happen one minute from
now; we have no idea what’s going to happen next. But our God, in His
providence, is continually, constantly, and confidently at work. Someone has
defined providence this way: The Hand behind the headlines.”
It is because people of faith believe in the God who sees all ahead of time that
they see the wisdom of obeying all that He reveals about the future. That is the
essence of the faith we see in this great faith chapter. Each person of faith was
confident in the promise of God. They could actually get visions of the glorious
future that God had waiting for them. They were not caught up to heaven like the
Apostle John to actually get a tour of the heavenly city, but in their minds they
believed in it, and this vision of the ultimate destination of the faithful motivated
them to follow the leading of God no matter how hard it was, or how long it took.
They never gave up hope, even when it looked hopeless, for they could see the
unseen reality of what God had promised. Their faithful commitment is to be the
example that we follow, and chapter 12 goes on to say that we are to run the race of
life as they did with perseverance with our eyes fixed on Jesus. He is the greatest
example of faith, and if we keep our eyes on Him we will be able to perpetually see
the unseen, and be motivated to obedience whatever the cost.
The unseen becomes the focus in the life of the person of faith. We worship God
in spirit and in truth, for He is unseen, and not an idol that we bow to. All of the
fruits of the Spirit are unseen virtues that are to be priorities in our life. Love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are not
visible but invisible realities, and the person of faith can see just how vital these are
to being what God expects His children to be in the world. It is seeing these unseen

realities and their importance that enables the person of faith to be light and salt in
the world, and to overcome the world. Each of the persons of faith in this chapter
had to overcome a world of doubt and disbelief. Many never did see the promise of
God come true, and they suffered terribly from the hatred of the world. But the one
thing they all had in common is that they saw a God they could trust, even when
they could not make sense of what they had to endure. Because of this vision of God
they never gave up. They could see the unseen in their minds and hearts, and that
enabled them to endure what they saw with their eyes. They believed what A. M.
Overton wrote in the poem called He Maketh 8o Mistake.
My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache
But in my soul I’m glad I know,
He maketh no mistake.
My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.
Tho’ night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break,
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.
There’s so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight’s far too dim;
But come what may, I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.
For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He’ll make,
Through all the way, tho’ dark to me,
He made not one mistake.
It was this certainty and assurance that enabled Jesus to endure the cross. In 12:2
we read that it was the joy He saw ahead that gave Him the strength to face the
cross and not come down when He had the power to do so. He never gave up, but
stuck it through the end because He could see the unseen that nobody else could see.
All that others could see what suffering, sorrow and death, but Jesus could see the
eternal joy of heaven with saints out of every tribe, tongue and nation praising Him
as the Lamb of God, whose sacrifice made it possible for them to enjoy eternal life in
God’s eternal city. It was not the visible nails that held Jesus to that cross. It was the
unseen joy in God’s plan of salvation. It was, as someone wrote, the unseen nails of
love of man, and loyalty to God that held Jesus there. Like all the faithful before
Him, He could see the promise of God fulfilled, and with this vision of the unseen He

pressed on to do the will of God for His life. This is the goal and purpose for every
one of us as believers. Fix your eyes on Jesus; set your affections on things above,
and press on for the prize that awaits all who walk with Jesus in a faith that sees the
unseen, as I express it in poetry.
It was not the metal nails
That held Jesus on that cross.
It was faith in One who never fails,
And who never suffers loss.
He had no hate for any
Who made this suffering so unfair.
It was His love for many
That kept Jesus hanging there.
He saw what others could not see
Because their eyes were blind.
He saw what was to finally be,
And joy filled His heart and mind.
Those who only see the visible
Have too narrow of a scope.
You must see the invisible
To live and die with joy and hope.
If it was worth the cross for Jesus because He saw the end result of His sacrifice,
then it follows that if we believe Him, we can also have joy no matter what life
brings, for we will be a part of that eternal joy that enabled Him to endure and
never give up. That is the danger of those who lack faith in the unseen. They do not
have the hope that keeps them going when it gets hard to be faithful to the path of
following Jesus. It is the vision of the unseen that motivates those who are faithful,
and that is what faith is all about.
We see that the mind, or intellect, is involved in faith. We need to know what
Jesus has done and promised in order to believe and trust Him. This is the kind of
faith we practice all the time in daily life. We go to a doctor and when he examines
us we have faith that he knows what he is talking about when he says we have an
infection. He then scribbles something out on a piece of paper that we take to a
druggist and he reads it by some magic power he has to decipher these chicken
scratching marks, and he give us some pills. We swallow them in faith that this
whole process will make us better. This is living by faith, but it is based on the
evidence that the doctor and druggist have degrees and experience that gives us
assurance that they know what they are doing, and that they care about us getting
well. We can see ourselves getting well because we follow what they advise us to do.
Faith in Jesus follows the same pattern. We hear Him promise to forgive our sins
and raise us from the dead to be with Him in His Father’s house. We believe Him,
and so we live in obedience to Him, for we see the glorious future of heaven as real

and sure, because we know He would not lie to us. We trust Him, and so we live in
obedience to Him and His teaching, for we see the unseen as our ultimate goal.
The problem faith fights is the reality of how the present world of sense is so in
contrast to the future hope. We suffer and go through times of such adversity that
our senses are overwhelmed by what is seen and felt. The unseen hope tends to lose
its impact when we are assaulted by the visible and senses that are painfully real.
The senses are demanding our attention so fiercely that we become blind to the
unseen and unfelt reality of our hope. Heaven, in other words, is hard to imagine
when we are feeling the pains of hell. This is where faith is really tested, and that is
why the end of this chapter tells of the many saints of the past who had to go
through hell on earth. They had to live in terrible times of suffering. They were
tortured and killed even, and yet they are commended for their faith, for they never
gave up their hope, but went on living in obedience to God, for they believed that in
the end they would have God’s best, even though they lost all in this life. True faith
never gives up on God’s promises. The eyes can see only problems and suffering of
all kinds, but the eye of faith can still see the unseen hope of heaven and eternal life,
and so it never gives up pursuing that hope. Jesus went through hell for us, because
He saw the heaven it would provide for us. His faith in the future, and vision of the
unseen, gave Him joy in His greatest pain and sorrow.
There are times in most all of our lives when we need the encouragement that the
servant with Elisha needed when the city was surrounded with enemy forces ready
to destroy them. He asked the prophet what they should do, for it looked hopeless
and he felt helpless. The prophet responds in II Kings 6:16-17, “Don’t be afraid,
those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed,
“O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the
servant, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around
Elisha.”
We are seldom to never in this situation, but the point is, the unseen forces of
God are always near, and if it is in God’s plan to rescue us, we can be assured that
He can and will, just as He did the three cast into the fiery furnace. But if He does
not, we can be assured that He will take us to be with Himself, which Paul said is
even far better. In other words, if we really believe in the unseen and trust the
promises of God, we can never lose. We are on the right side, and we will always be
the winners when we are committed to the reality of the unseen world that has
motivated God’s people all through history to press on regardless of the cost. We are
all soldiers in either the army that marches to the drums of the visible, or to the
army that marches to the drums of the invisible. If it is the invisible that is your
motivation and guide, and you see the unseen as your greatest hope, then you are a
member of the army of faith.

What is faith 2

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