Title: What Does It Mean to Walk by Faith? Meta: What does it mean to walk by faith? We want to know what the Bible says about it. But we also want to see if the Bible describes what the opposite of what walking by faith is. The Bible says that the opposite of walking by faith is walking by sight. Faith is living your life based on invisible realities that your physical senses can't apprehend. The Bible not only defines faith for us, but also gives real examples of men and women (a cloud of witnesses who are beckoning us on) who had to walk by faith and not by sight. Tags: faith,seeing,invisible,believer,Christian,Tim Conway,2 Corinthians 5:7 1 00:00:05,971 --> 00:00:10,701 "What does it mean to walk by faith? 2 00:00:10,701 --> 00:00:12,420 Can you also give practical examples 3 00:00:12,420 --> 00:00:16,550 of walking by faith and living by faith?" 4 00:00:16,550 --> 00:00:18,211 I mean, that's a good question. 5 00:00:18,211 --> 00:00:20,025 That's at the heart of Christianity. 6 00:00:20,025 --> 00:00:24,898 What does it mean to walk by faith? 7 00:00:24,898 --> 00:00:29,728 Well, what comes to my mind when I hear that 8 00:00:29,728 --> 00:00:33,007 is that there's actually a New Testament text 9 00:00:33,007 --> 00:00:36,232 that has exactly those words. 10 00:00:36,232 --> 00:00:41,624 You know where I'm thinking? 11 00:00:41,624 --> 00:00:44,339 2 Corinthians 5:7 12 00:00:44,339 --> 00:00:48,478 Somebody look that up. 13 00:00:48,478 --> 00:00:53,615 It's a very well known passage. 14 00:00:53,615 --> 00:00:58,639 Read it when you get there. 15 00:00:58,639 --> 00:01:00,367 2 Corinthians 5:7 16 00:01:00,367 --> 00:01:02,342 (v. 6) "So we are always of good courage. 17 00:01:02,342 --> 00:01:04,693 We know that while we are at home in the body, 18 00:01:04,693 --> 00:01:05,970 we are away from the Lord, 19 00:01:05,970 --> 00:01:08,495 for we walk by faith, not by sight." 20 00:01:08,495 --> 00:01:12,802 Tim: We walk by faith, not by sight. 21 00:01:12,802 --> 00:01:16,478 Now, I think anytime you want to look at 22 00:01:16,478 --> 00:01:18,435 what something is, 23 00:01:18,435 --> 00:01:23,014 it's always good to look at the opposite. 24 00:01:23,014 --> 00:01:24,851 Looking at the opposite of something 25 00:01:24,851 --> 00:01:27,124 can be very helpful if we know 26 00:01:27,124 --> 00:01:28,833 exactly what the opposite is. 27 00:01:28,833 --> 00:01:30,552 Sometimes we have an idea: 28 00:01:30,552 --> 00:01:31,843 Oh, that's the opposite. 29 00:01:31,843 --> 00:01:34,652 Well, sometimes it's not exactly the opposite. 30 00:01:34,652 --> 00:01:36,479 But what we know is this: 31 00:01:36,479 --> 00:01:41,397 We know from this text by inspired language 32 00:01:41,397 --> 00:01:43,780 what the opposite of walking by faith is. 33 00:01:43,780 --> 00:01:47,164 What's the opposite? 34 00:01:47,164 --> 00:01:49,667 Walking by sight. 35 00:01:49,667 --> 00:01:51,930 Ok, that's helpful. 36 00:01:51,930 --> 00:01:53,473 Walking by sight. 37 00:01:53,473 --> 00:01:55,404 Sight is what we can see. 38 00:01:55,404 --> 00:01:57,731 It's what we can feel. 39 00:01:57,731 --> 00:02:02,726 It's what the physical senses can pick up on. 40 00:02:02,726 --> 00:02:09,807 So we really walk by an organ 41 00:02:09,807 --> 00:02:14,645 that only regenerate people have. 42 00:02:14,645 --> 00:02:18,592 It's a spiritual organ. 43 00:02:18,592 --> 00:02:20,859 It's not the physical senses. 44 00:02:20,859 --> 00:02:24,399 That's not how we walk. 45 00:02:24,399 --> 00:02:28,065 So, if you go back right up before this; 46 00:02:28,065 --> 00:02:29,852 just let your eyes go back up to 47 00:02:29,852 --> 00:02:33,077 2 Corinthians 4:13. 48 00:02:33,077 --> 00:02:35,271 Somebody read that verse. 49 00:02:35,271 --> 00:02:47,076 Right there in context. 50 00:02:47,076 --> 00:02:52,508 Somebody read that. 51 00:02:52,508 --> 00:02:56,469 Don't be shy. 52 00:02:56,469 --> 00:02:59,563 2 Corinthians 4:13 53 00:02:59,563 --> 00:03:02,225 "We have the same spirit of faith 54 00:03:02,225 --> 00:03:05,177 according to what has been written, 55 00:03:05,177 --> 00:03:08,145 'I believed and so I spoke,' 56 00:03:08,145 --> 00:03:13,687 we also believe and so we speak." 57 00:03:13,687 --> 00:03:15,134 Tim: Is that right? 58 00:03:15,134 --> 00:03:21,044 Is that the verse I want? 59 00:03:21,044 --> 00:03:22,281 (from the room): 60 00:03:22,281 --> 00:03:24,017 I didn't know if you wanted v. 18? 61 00:03:24,017 --> 00:03:25,274 Tim: What's v. 18 say? 62 00:03:25,274 --> 00:03:28,414 "As we look not to the things that are seen, 63 00:03:28,414 --> 00:03:30,601 but at the things that are unseen. 64 00:03:30,601 --> 00:03:33,250 For the things that are seen are transient, 65 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:35,466 but the things that are unseen are eternal." 66 00:03:35,466 --> 00:03:37,349 Tim: Exactly. That's the text I meant. 67 00:03:37,349 --> 00:03:42,799 I've got a 3 on my page instead of an 8. 68 00:03:42,799 --> 00:03:47,203 We look not to things that are seen. 69 00:03:47,203 --> 00:03:48,849 You see, this keeps coming up. 70 00:03:48,849 --> 00:03:51,665 In fact, if you follow that idea through Scripture, 71 00:03:51,665 --> 00:03:53,938 you see it with regards to faith 72 00:03:53,938 --> 00:03:55,187 over and over, 73 00:03:55,187 --> 00:04:00,536 that sight versus faith. 74 00:04:00,536 --> 00:04:03,028 Or, what is seen; what is invisible. 75 00:04:03,028 --> 00:04:06,021 That kind of terminology comes up. 76 00:04:06,021 --> 00:04:07,109 Think with me here. 77 00:04:07,109 --> 00:04:08,625 Romans 8. 78 00:04:08,625 --> 00:04:11,606 Now there we have hope, not faith, 79 00:04:11,606 --> 00:04:14,643 but that's a very similar word. 80 00:04:14,643 --> 00:04:19,887 What's the difference between hope and faith? 81 00:04:19,887 --> 00:04:21,905 Hope is future. 82 00:04:21,905 --> 00:04:25,205 And we often talk about faith 83 00:04:25,205 --> 00:04:28,795 in future things as faith just as well. 84 00:04:28,795 --> 00:04:31,042 We can talk about things in the future 85 00:04:31,042 --> 00:04:32,614 as though it's something 86 00:04:32,614 --> 00:04:33,870 we believe will happen, 87 00:04:33,870 --> 00:04:35,633 or we have faith is going to happen, 88 00:04:35,633 --> 00:04:37,527 or we can call it hope. 89 00:04:37,527 --> 00:04:39,211 We don't call hope something that 90 00:04:39,211 --> 00:04:40,816 we believe right now. 91 00:04:40,816 --> 00:04:43,156 Well, we may believe it now about the future. 92 00:04:43,156 --> 00:04:45,779 But we may believe things will be true 93 00:04:45,779 --> 00:04:48,295 right now and we don't call that hope 94 00:04:48,295 --> 00:04:50,027 because hope is always future. 95 00:04:50,027 --> 00:04:51,626 We can believe in things present. 96 00:04:51,626 --> 00:04:53,357 We can believe in things future. 97 00:04:53,357 --> 00:04:55,366 But hope is always future. 98 00:04:55,366 --> 00:04:58,708 But, listen to what the apostle says. 99 00:04:58,708 --> 00:05:01,164 Romans 8:24-25. 100 00:05:01,164 --> 00:05:04,806 Somebody have that? 101 00:05:04,806 --> 00:05:06,977 "For in this hope we were saved. 102 00:05:06,977 --> 00:05:08,824 Now hope that is seen is not hope..." 103 00:05:08,824 --> 00:05:11,238 Tim: Hope that is seen is not hope. 104 00:05:11,238 --> 00:05:13,484 Keep going. 105 00:05:13,484 --> 00:05:15,637 "For who hopes for what he sees? 106 00:05:15,637 --> 00:05:17,755 But if we hope for what we do not see, 107 00:05:17,755 --> 00:05:20,341 we wait for it with patience." 108 00:05:20,341 --> 00:05:21,996 Tim: You see, this is the idea. 109 00:05:21,996 --> 00:05:24,079 It's constantly the idea in Scripture. 110 00:05:24,079 --> 00:05:26,303 We don't walk by sight, 111 00:05:26,303 --> 00:05:27,633 we walk by faith. 112 00:05:27,633 --> 00:05:30,885 Hope - we don't see it. 113 00:05:30,885 --> 00:05:33,545 It's something that we have an expectation of, 114 00:05:33,545 --> 00:05:36,185 but we don't yet see the thing. 115 00:05:36,185 --> 00:05:41,712 Now, Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter. 116 00:05:41,712 --> 00:05:44,532 We have example after example after example. 117 00:05:44,532 --> 00:05:46,419 And one of the things that I want to 118 00:05:46,419 --> 00:05:49,163 jump out at you in Hebrews 11 119 00:05:49,163 --> 00:05:56,250 is how much this faith versus sight; 120 00:05:56,250 --> 00:05:57,858 that which isn't seen; 121 00:05:57,858 --> 00:05:59,827 that which is not yet possessed; 122 00:05:59,827 --> 00:06:01,548 that which is hoped for; 123 00:06:01,548 --> 00:06:04,050 that which is not yet attained; 124 00:06:04,050 --> 00:06:07,188 that which is right now invisible. 125 00:06:07,188 --> 00:06:09,547 How often this comes up, 126 00:06:09,547 --> 00:06:13,937 that faith is specifically said to be 127 00:06:13,937 --> 00:06:19,258 that which is placed in something 128 00:06:19,258 --> 00:06:22,800 that is yet unseen. 129 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,299 And in fact, it starts right at the beginning. 130 00:06:25,299 --> 00:06:30,531 Look at chapter 11:1. 131 00:06:30,531 --> 00:06:33,832 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for..." 132 00:06:33,832 --> 00:06:35,144 Isn't that interesting? 133 00:06:35,144 --> 00:06:37,021 To even define faith, 134 00:06:37,021 --> 00:06:39,458 the author of Hebrews brings the word "hope" in. 135 00:06:39,458 --> 00:06:41,479 We were just talking about the difference. 136 00:06:41,479 --> 00:06:42,805 But there's the idea. 137 00:06:42,805 --> 00:06:45,375 "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 138 00:06:45,375 --> 00:06:49,114 the conviction of things not seen." 139 00:06:49,114 --> 00:06:50,698 That's the idea behind faith. 140 00:06:50,698 --> 00:06:53,298 You say, what does it mean to walk by faith? 141 00:06:53,298 --> 00:06:56,515 It means I am making decisions 142 00:06:56,515 --> 00:07:02,121 in my life based on things 143 00:07:02,121 --> 00:07:07,394 that people cannot see with the physical eye. 144 00:07:07,394 --> 00:07:10,424 Even if it's a promise - 145 00:07:10,424 --> 00:07:12,937 what's the thing about a promise? 146 00:07:12,937 --> 00:07:15,026 A promise is not yet fulfilled. 147 00:07:15,026 --> 00:07:17,263 Or it's being fulfilled, but it's finality 148 00:07:17,263 --> 00:07:18,456 hasn't come yet. 149 00:07:18,456 --> 00:07:21,268 And so even in promise, 150 00:07:21,268 --> 00:07:23,195 the fulfillment of promise 151 00:07:23,195 --> 00:07:25,282 is a future expectation. 152 00:07:25,282 --> 00:07:29,200 And so, I'm living my life based on promises - 153 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,749 and it may be a promise for today - 154 00:07:31,749 --> 00:07:33,880 but where does that promise come from? 155 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,145 It comes from an unseen God. 156 00:07:36,145 --> 00:07:39,000 And so I'm basically believing a truth 157 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,571 that comes off this page, 158 00:07:40,571 --> 00:07:42,317 and I'm believing that there is 159 00:07:42,317 --> 00:07:46,161 an unseen God behind the promises 160 00:07:46,161 --> 00:07:47,339 in this book. 161 00:07:47,339 --> 00:07:49,592 And I'm willing to bet my life on it. 162 00:07:49,592 --> 00:07:51,504 I'm willing to bet my family on it. 163 00:07:51,504 --> 00:07:54,151 I'm willing to risk all, 164 00:07:54,151 --> 00:07:58,272 although I can't see the One that I'm trusting. 165 00:07:58,272 --> 00:08:05,639 I cannot see these promises being inspired. 166 00:08:05,639 --> 00:08:09,503 I can't even see that these promises were penned by Peter. 167 00:08:09,503 --> 00:08:11,475 Or Paul. 168 00:08:11,475 --> 00:08:12,571 Or Mark. 169 00:08:12,571 --> 00:08:14,952 I can't see that. 170 00:08:14,952 --> 00:08:19,999 I'm resting on promises that are in a book: 171 00:08:19,999 --> 00:08:23,414 faith. 172 00:08:23,414 --> 00:08:25,981 I mean, you think about how much we live by faith. 173 00:08:25,981 --> 00:08:27,842 And people challenge it all the time. 174 00:08:27,842 --> 00:08:29,538 You know the Muslims come along 175 00:08:29,538 --> 00:08:33,110 and they say that book's corrupted. 176 00:08:33,110 --> 00:08:35,904 I'm living on the faith that it's not. 177 00:08:35,904 --> 00:08:39,740 "Oh, the God of the Scriptures, that's not the true God." 178 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:42,390 "Not the God of Isaac. 179 00:08:42,390 --> 00:08:46,020 He's got to be the God of Ishmael." 180 00:08:46,020 --> 00:08:51,156 Or John 1:1 - "Jesus isn't God." 181 00:08:51,156 --> 00:08:53,013 I mean, there's all sorts of people 182 00:08:53,013 --> 00:08:55,911 that attack this book. 183 00:08:55,911 --> 00:08:57,299 We live on the faith that 184 00:08:57,299 --> 00:08:59,716 what's in this book is real, 185 00:08:59,716 --> 00:09:02,109 that it's true, 186 00:09:02,109 --> 00:09:05,102 and there is an infinite, unseen 187 00:09:05,102 --> 00:09:08,101 Almighty God who's backing up 188 00:09:08,101 --> 00:09:11,240 every single promise in this book. 189 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,885 And an unseen Christ. 190 00:09:13,885 --> 00:09:16,001 Peter speaks about an unseen Christ. 191 00:09:16,001 --> 00:09:20,529 Look how much this comes out of these verses. 192 00:09:20,529 --> 00:09:22,677 You see it right there in v. 1. 193 00:09:22,677 --> 00:09:24,609 Keep going. 194 00:09:24,609 --> 00:09:27,244 V. 3 "By faith, we understand that 195 00:09:27,244 --> 00:09:31,320 the universe was created by the Word of God." 196 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,354 See, you don't see God. 197 00:09:35,354 --> 00:09:38,632 You never heard God speak. 198 00:09:38,632 --> 00:09:40,805 You didn't watch the universe 199 00:09:40,805 --> 00:09:43,833 spring into existence. 200 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:44,985 And yet, what? 201 00:09:44,985 --> 00:09:47,072 "By faith, we understand that the universe 202 00:09:47,072 --> 00:09:48,789 was created by the Word of God." 203 00:09:48,789 --> 00:09:50,089 "So that..." here it is, 204 00:09:50,089 --> 00:09:53,982 "what is seen was not made out of things 205 00:09:53,982 --> 00:09:56,227 that are visible." 206 00:09:56,227 --> 00:09:58,772 You see, what's seen 207 00:09:58,772 --> 00:10:02,041 is made by the unseen. 208 00:10:02,041 --> 00:10:03,836 And you see where the faith is. 209 00:10:03,836 --> 00:10:06,570 The faith is resting on the God we can't see, 210 00:10:06,570 --> 00:10:08,348 and believing that all of this 211 00:10:08,348 --> 00:10:11,541 sprang into existence. 212 00:10:11,541 --> 00:10:14,115 Now, the thing about it all, 213 00:10:14,115 --> 00:10:18,084 is it's not just a fool's errand. 214 00:10:18,084 --> 00:10:21,711 Why? Romans 1 says, 215 00:10:21,711 --> 00:10:26,051 look, there's natural revelation in all of this. 216 00:10:26,051 --> 00:10:28,807 (incomplete thought) 217 00:10:28,807 --> 00:10:31,788 It's kind of like looking at a machine 218 00:10:31,788 --> 00:10:34,261 that somebody's built. 219 00:10:34,261 --> 00:10:37,891 We've got a few mechanical engineering students 220 00:10:37,891 --> 00:10:40,050 in our church who are going to UTSA 221 00:10:40,050 --> 00:10:42,234 and they're working on their senior project 222 00:10:42,234 --> 00:10:45,806 and they're trying to make an avocado pitter/peeler 223 00:10:45,806 --> 00:10:47,428 for HEB. 224 00:10:47,428 --> 00:10:49,572 You know, when they get that machine done, 225 00:10:49,572 --> 00:10:50,851 if you had looked at it, 226 00:10:50,851 --> 00:10:53,207 well, you can tell some things 227 00:10:53,207 --> 00:10:56,094 about the guys who made it. 228 00:10:56,094 --> 00:10:57,772 You can't tell everything. 229 00:10:57,772 --> 00:10:59,579 You can't even tell most everything. 230 00:10:59,579 --> 00:11:01,267 But you can tell some things. 231 00:11:01,267 --> 00:11:03,946 It's the same thing with the world 232 00:11:03,946 --> 00:11:05,394 and the creation around us. 233 00:11:05,394 --> 00:11:10,803 Scripture plainly tells us we can see realities. 234 00:11:10,803 --> 00:11:13,239 Psalm 19 right? 235 00:11:13,239 --> 00:11:15,147 Have you ever read that? 236 00:11:15,147 --> 00:11:17,044 How does it read? 237 00:11:17,044 --> 00:11:19,148 "The heavens declare the glory of God. 238 00:11:19,148 --> 00:11:22,342 and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 239 00:11:22,342 --> 00:11:25,138 Day to day pours out speech..." 240 00:11:25,138 --> 00:11:27,066 Tim: See, that's it right there. 241 00:11:27,066 --> 00:11:29,266 Day after day they utter speech. 242 00:11:29,266 --> 00:11:31,807 What's speaking? 243 00:11:31,807 --> 00:11:34,384 All of this. 244 00:11:34,384 --> 00:11:36,600 It's like you go out and look at those stars, 245 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,590 what Scripture says is it's speaking. 246 00:11:38,590 --> 00:11:39,747 What's it saying? 247 00:11:39,747 --> 00:11:41,336 It's saying, "there is a God." 248 00:11:41,336 --> 00:11:43,209 You can't see Him, but He's there. 249 00:11:43,209 --> 00:11:44,257 How do you know? 250 00:11:44,257 --> 00:11:46,667 Because you can see His handiwork. 251 00:11:46,667 --> 00:11:50,972 That didn't happen by accident. 252 00:11:50,972 --> 00:11:56,704 Who was debating? 253 00:11:56,704 --> 00:12:00,949 It was one of these 254 00:12:00,949 --> 00:12:03,705 intelligent design guys debating 255 00:12:03,705 --> 00:12:05,697 one of these atheist guys. 256 00:12:05,697 --> 00:12:10,961 And the intelligent design guy was saying 257 00:12:10,961 --> 00:12:12,886 there's so much order. 258 00:12:12,886 --> 00:12:18,243 There's so much intelligence in the design. 259 00:12:18,243 --> 00:12:21,822 And the atheist was saying, 260 00:12:21,822 --> 00:12:24,183 he just didn't see it. 261 00:12:24,183 --> 00:12:27,836 He thought things were just messed up. 262 00:12:27,836 --> 00:12:30,120 He's blind. That's the only way he can say that. 263 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,207 He's just absolutely blind. 264 00:12:32,207 --> 00:12:33,735 I mean, if you look around, 265 00:12:33,735 --> 00:12:35,371 you've heard me say it before, 266 00:12:35,371 --> 00:12:37,408 but I still marvel at it. 267 00:12:37,408 --> 00:12:39,467 A man and a woman can create a baby. 268 00:12:39,467 --> 00:12:41,986 That doesn't happen by accident. 269 00:12:41,986 --> 00:12:43,191 The human eyeball. 270 00:12:43,191 --> 00:12:50,660 How many designs in nature 271 00:12:50,660 --> 00:12:53,143 would not work if you removed 272 00:12:53,143 --> 00:12:57,011 one component like the eyeball. 273 00:12:57,011 --> 00:13:02,269 Or seriously, a worm becomes a butterfly? 274 00:13:02,269 --> 00:13:05,266 These things are miraculous. 275 00:13:05,266 --> 00:13:07,184 But there's people that are blind. 276 00:13:07,184 --> 00:13:09,043 And they can't see, because they don't 277 00:13:09,043 --> 00:13:10,830 have that spiritual organ that only 278 00:13:10,830 --> 00:13:12,331 the Spirit of God can give 279 00:13:12,331 --> 00:13:16,542 that causes us to see what isn't seen. 280 00:13:16,542 --> 00:13:18,287 Let's keep going here. 281 00:13:18,287 --> 00:13:23,226 V. 6 "Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. 282 00:13:23,226 --> 00:13:25,297 For whoever would draw near to God 283 00:13:25,297 --> 00:13:28,641 must believe that He is." 284 00:13:28,641 --> 00:13:30,259 That's basically what it says. 285 00:13:30,259 --> 00:13:31,714 "Exists" is the ESV. 286 00:13:31,714 --> 00:13:33,441 But that "He is." 287 00:13:33,441 --> 00:13:36,886 We must believe that He is. 288 00:13:36,886 --> 00:13:38,635 And see, we don't see Him. 289 00:13:38,635 --> 00:13:40,778 So we must believe that He is, 290 00:13:40,778 --> 00:13:43,631 that He exists though our eyes 291 00:13:43,631 --> 00:13:45,038 don't behold Him. 292 00:13:45,038 --> 00:13:46,341 And watch this. 293 00:13:46,341 --> 00:13:48,534 As you watch these men 294 00:13:48,534 --> 00:13:50,022 and women of the faith, 295 00:13:50,022 --> 00:13:54,549 just watch how often they get brought up 296 00:13:54,549 --> 00:13:59,202 not seeing the very thing 297 00:13:59,202 --> 00:14:02,094 that their faith is set on. 298 00:14:02,094 --> 00:14:06,062 Watch this. 299 00:14:06,062 --> 00:14:09,845 V. 7 "By faith, Noah, being warned by God 300 00:14:09,845 --> 00:14:13,346 concerning events as yet..." what? 301 00:14:13,346 --> 00:14:14,724 Unseen. There it is. 302 00:14:14,724 --> 00:14:16,798 It comes back to that all the time. 303 00:14:16,798 --> 00:14:20,670 Noah was building an ark. 304 00:14:20,670 --> 00:14:22,620 And I've heard John MacArthur say, 305 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:24,367 "Well, it never even rained before." 306 00:14:24,367 --> 00:14:26,194 I don't know that you can prove that. 307 00:14:26,194 --> 00:14:27,391 A lot of people say that. 308 00:14:27,391 --> 00:14:29,468 They say that fairly dogmatically. 309 00:14:29,468 --> 00:14:31,364 I don't know that you can prove that. 310 00:14:31,364 --> 00:14:33,325 But I guarantee you this, 311 00:14:33,325 --> 00:14:34,931 he'd never seen a flood 312 00:14:34,931 --> 00:14:36,498 that covered the earth before, 313 00:14:36,498 --> 00:14:37,954 whether he'd seen rain or not, 314 00:14:37,954 --> 00:14:39,808 I guess we could debate about that. 315 00:14:39,808 --> 00:14:42,377 But he's being told the whole earth 316 00:14:42,377 --> 00:14:44,499 is going to flood. 317 00:14:44,499 --> 00:14:46,769 He's never seen that before. 318 00:14:46,769 --> 00:14:48,600 Can you imagine? 319 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,602 How long did he build that ark? 320 00:14:51,602 --> 00:14:53,414 A hundred years. 321 00:14:53,414 --> 00:14:56,020 Can you imagine 100 years you're building that ark? 322 00:14:56,020 --> 00:14:58,843 You think it ever crossed his mind? 323 00:14:58,843 --> 00:15:00,572 Maybe his faith was like Abraham's. 324 00:15:00,572 --> 00:15:03,668 He just never wavered. 325 00:15:03,668 --> 00:15:05,919 But think about Abraham. 326 00:15:05,919 --> 00:15:07,467 About this time next year, 327 00:15:07,467 --> 00:15:10,792 Sarah's going to give birth. 328 00:15:10,792 --> 00:15:13,946 And what does it specifically say 329 00:15:13,946 --> 00:15:18,079 there in Romans 4? 330 00:15:18,079 --> 00:15:23,086 About his faith? 331 00:15:23,086 --> 00:15:24,815 It didn't waver. 332 00:15:24,815 --> 00:15:26,486 Here he is 100 years old. 333 00:15:26,486 --> 00:15:27,862 His wife is 90 years old. 334 00:15:27,862 --> 00:15:29,956 She's beyond child-bearing. 335 00:15:29,956 --> 00:15:31,878 The whole thing seems impossible. 336 00:15:31,878 --> 00:15:33,719 And the thing is he doesn't even have 337 00:15:33,719 --> 00:15:36,180 his own child yet; his own heir 338 00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:38,720 according to God's promise. 339 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,900 And God's telling him to change his name 340 00:15:40,900 --> 00:15:43,661 from Abram to Abraham. 341 00:15:43,661 --> 00:15:45,566 Like you're not only going to be 342 00:15:45,566 --> 00:15:46,712 the father of many, 343 00:15:46,712 --> 00:15:50,313 you're going to be the father of multitudes. 344 00:15:50,313 --> 00:16:01,979 And he's saying I've got this foreigner in my family. 345 00:16:01,979 --> 00:16:03,225 But you see it here. 346 00:16:03,225 --> 00:16:04,465 He didn't see it. 347 00:16:04,465 --> 00:16:06,394 V. 8 "By faith, Abraham obeyed 348 00:16:06,394 --> 00:16:08,638 when he was called to go out to a place 349 00:16:08,638 --> 00:16:10,680 that he was to receive as an inheritance. 350 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,168 He went out..." here it is, 351 00:16:12,168 --> 00:16:14,894 "not knowing where he was going." 352 00:16:14,894 --> 00:16:16,570 So, he doesn't see it. 353 00:16:16,570 --> 00:16:19,197 He's been promised an inheritance. 354 00:16:19,197 --> 00:16:20,950 He hasn't seen it. 355 00:16:20,950 --> 00:16:23,136 But out he goes. 356 00:16:23,136 --> 00:16:25,471 "By faith, he went to live in the land of promise 357 00:16:25,471 --> 00:16:27,439 as in a foreign land, living in tents." 358 00:16:27,439 --> 00:16:30,643 Isaac, Jacob, heirs with him. Same promise. He was looking forward. 359 00:16:30,643 --> 00:16:31,626 Now, here it is. 360 00:16:31,626 --> 00:16:33,143 "The city that has foundations 361 00:16:33,143 --> 00:16:34,896 whose designer and builder is God." 362 00:16:34,896 --> 00:16:38,101 He's looking forward to a city that he doesn't see. 363 00:16:38,101 --> 00:16:39,155 He doesn't see it. 364 00:16:39,155 --> 00:16:41,746 He's looking for it, but he doesn't see it. 365 00:16:41,746 --> 00:16:44,367 "By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, 366 00:16:44,367 --> 00:16:46,116 even when she was past the age, 367 00:16:46,116 --> 00:16:47,696 since she considered Him faithful 368 00:16:47,696 --> 00:16:48,885 who had promised." 369 00:16:48,885 --> 00:16:50,527 But there it is. What did she see? 370 00:16:50,527 --> 00:16:52,558 She saw an old woman. 371 00:16:52,558 --> 00:16:54,025 She saw an old woman who had 372 00:16:54,025 --> 00:16:57,134 reached menopause undoubtedly. 373 00:16:57,134 --> 00:17:00,431 No ability to have kids. 374 00:17:00,431 --> 00:17:02,074 She laughed when she heard 375 00:17:02,074 --> 00:17:03,871 that she was going to have a child. 376 00:17:03,871 --> 00:17:05,938 Why? Because it seemed ridiculous. 377 00:17:05,938 --> 00:17:09,146 She was way beyond that age. 378 00:17:09,146 --> 00:17:10,417 And you see it. V. 12. 379 00:17:10,417 --> 00:17:12,960 "Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, 380 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:14,255 were born descendents. 381 00:17:14,255 --> 00:17:15,829 As many as the stars of heaven; 382 00:17:15,829 --> 00:17:17,735 as innumerable as the grains of sand..." 383 00:17:17,735 --> 00:17:18,935 "They all died in faith, 384 00:17:18,935 --> 00:17:20,952 not having received the things promised. 385 00:17:20,952 --> 00:17:23,483 Having seen them and greeted them from afar." 386 00:17:23,483 --> 00:17:24,914 Now that's interesting. 387 00:17:24,914 --> 00:17:26,733 They saw them from afar, 388 00:17:26,733 --> 00:17:29,067 which means that they didn't actually see them. 389 00:17:29,067 --> 00:17:30,495 You know what that seeing is. 390 00:17:30,495 --> 00:17:32,396 That's faith. 391 00:17:32,396 --> 00:17:34,443 That's not seeing with physical eyes. 392 00:17:34,443 --> 00:17:35,655 That's seeing by faith. 393 00:17:35,655 --> 00:17:37,950 They didn't see with the physical eye. 394 00:17:37,950 --> 00:17:41,703 But they did see with the eye of faith. 395 00:17:41,703 --> 00:17:43,482 And that's how we're living. 396 00:17:43,482 --> 00:17:46,471 We see things in the future. 397 00:17:46,471 --> 00:17:48,457 That's what living by faith is. 398 00:17:48,457 --> 00:17:51,554 Living by faith is I believe God 399 00:17:51,554 --> 00:17:53,213 has called me to go out there. 400 00:17:53,213 --> 00:17:54,545 I haven't seen that land. 401 00:17:54,545 --> 00:17:57,231 I don't know what it's going to be like when I get there. 402 00:17:57,231 --> 00:17:58,436 I'm looking for a city 403 00:17:58,436 --> 00:17:59,522 that has foundations, 404 00:17:59,522 --> 00:18:00,697 not like the ones here - 405 00:18:00,697 --> 00:18:02,080 their foundations crumble. 406 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:03,874 He's talking about real foundations. 407 00:18:03,874 --> 00:18:04,884 Everlasting. 408 00:18:04,884 --> 00:18:06,311 He's looking for it. 409 00:18:06,311 --> 00:18:07,465 That's how you live. 410 00:18:07,465 --> 00:18:10,621 You live in light of an unseen God, 411 00:18:10,621 --> 00:18:12,115 an unseen Christ. 412 00:18:12,115 --> 00:18:14,591 We love in light of the unseen Christ. 413 00:18:14,591 --> 00:18:16,873 Having not seen Him, you love Him, 414 00:18:16,873 --> 00:18:17,740 Peter said. 415 00:18:17,740 --> 00:18:18,908 We haven't seen Christ. 416 00:18:18,908 --> 00:18:19,974 Isn't that amazing? 417 00:18:19,974 --> 00:18:23,243 Isn't it amazing that - think about this - 418 00:18:23,243 --> 00:18:25,922 you sing songs 419 00:18:25,922 --> 00:18:27,720 and your heart is filled 420 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,454 with gladness and thanksgiving, 421 00:18:30,454 --> 00:18:34,784 appreciation and love towards Christ. 422 00:18:34,784 --> 00:18:36,142 Isn't that amazing? 423 00:18:36,142 --> 00:18:37,815 You feel love for Christ 424 00:18:37,815 --> 00:18:39,932 and you actually keep His commandments, 425 00:18:39,932 --> 00:18:43,084 feeling love for Him. 426 00:18:43,084 --> 00:18:45,787 Have you ever met Him? 427 00:18:45,787 --> 00:18:48,252 Not in person. 428 00:18:48,252 --> 00:18:50,093 Have you ever set your eyes on Him? 429 00:18:50,093 --> 00:18:50,866 Nope. 430 00:18:50,866 --> 00:18:53,777 You've got people that will tell you He doesn't even exist. 431 00:18:53,777 --> 00:18:56,669 He never existed. He's a figment of somebody's imagination. 432 00:18:56,669 --> 00:18:59,238 Or, maybe He was a historical figure, 433 00:18:59,238 --> 00:19:00,684 but He certainly wasn't God. 434 00:19:00,684 --> 00:19:02,337 He certainly didn't die on a cross 435 00:19:02,337 --> 00:19:03,548 to atone for our sins. 436 00:19:03,548 --> 00:19:05,159 And yet, isn't it amazing? 437 00:19:05,159 --> 00:19:07,259 We've never met Him. We've never seen Him. 438 00:19:07,259 --> 00:19:09,517 We've never talked to Him personally 439 00:19:09,517 --> 00:19:12,433 with our physical mouths; 440 00:19:12,433 --> 00:19:14,866 we've never seen Him with our physical eyes. 441 00:19:14,866 --> 00:19:18,638 We've never heard His voice with our physical ears. 442 00:19:18,638 --> 00:19:20,506 And the amazing thing is, 443 00:19:20,506 --> 00:19:22,825 we believe that He died on a cross, 444 00:19:22,825 --> 00:19:25,915 and we're willing to throw all in 445 00:19:25,915 --> 00:19:30,831 and risk our eternal souls on that reality. 446 00:19:30,831 --> 00:19:35,027 And that's faith. 447 00:19:35,027 --> 00:19:36,863 You keep going. 448 00:19:36,863 --> 00:19:39,336 Let's see. I had some others marked out here. 449 00:19:39,336 --> 00:19:40,629 Where were we? 450 00:19:40,629 --> 00:19:44,683 Go to v. 24. 451 00:19:44,683 --> 00:19:47,049 "By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, 452 00:19:47,049 --> 00:19:49,716 refused to be called [the son of] Pharaoh's daughter." 453 00:19:49,716 --> 00:19:52,026 Now, you know what's interesting about that? 454 00:19:52,026 --> 00:19:54,572 He saw firsthand the benefits 455 00:19:54,572 --> 00:19:57,710 of being [the son of] Pharaoh's daughter. 456 00:19:57,710 --> 00:20:00,609 See, he saw. 457 00:20:00,609 --> 00:20:02,228 "Choosing rather to be mistreated 458 00:20:02,228 --> 00:20:03,334 with the people of God, 459 00:20:03,334 --> 00:20:05,355 than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." 460 00:20:05,355 --> 00:20:06,708 You know what's interesting? 461 00:20:06,708 --> 00:20:09,288 He undoubtedly saw the harems. 462 00:20:09,288 --> 00:20:13,748 Why? He was a palace guy. 463 00:20:13,748 --> 00:20:18,138 He saw the benefits of being 464 00:20:18,138 --> 00:20:20,747 in the ruling class in Egypt. 465 00:20:20,747 --> 00:20:22,722 He saw it with his own eyes. 466 00:20:22,722 --> 00:20:24,924 But you know what's amazing? 467 00:20:24,924 --> 00:20:30,756 He swapped it for something he couldn't see. 468 00:20:30,756 --> 00:20:33,574 That's faith. 469 00:20:33,574 --> 00:20:36,593 "He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth 470 00:20:36,593 --> 00:20:38,276 than the treasures of Egypt." 471 00:20:38,276 --> 00:20:39,706 Imagine that. 472 00:20:39,706 --> 00:20:42,737 He swapped the treasures of Egypt 473 00:20:42,737 --> 00:20:44,671 for the treasures of Christ. 474 00:20:44,671 --> 00:20:49,284 One he sees. One he doesn't see. 475 00:20:49,284 --> 00:20:54,327 That's walking by faith. 476 00:20:54,327 --> 00:20:56,595 Look at v. 27. 477 00:20:56,595 --> 00:20:58,048 "By faith, he left Egypt 478 00:20:58,048 --> 00:21:00,184 not being afraid of the anger of the king, 479 00:21:00,184 --> 00:21:02,359 for he endured (you see it again) 480 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:07,026 as seeing Him who is invisible." 481 00:21:07,026 --> 00:21:11,724 How do you see Him who is invisible? 482 00:21:11,724 --> 00:21:14,005 By faith. 483 00:21:14,005 --> 00:21:15,403 It keeps coming up. 484 00:21:15,403 --> 00:21:19,566 The idea of what you can see. 485 00:21:19,566 --> 00:21:20,986 It keeps coming up. 486 00:21:20,986 --> 00:21:25,402 How about 11:35? 487 00:21:25,402 --> 00:21:27,921 "Women received back their dead by resurrection. 488 00:21:27,921 --> 00:21:31,561 Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, 489 00:21:31,561 --> 00:21:34,470 so that they might rise again to a better life." 490 00:21:34,470 --> 00:21:35,956 And here's the thing. 491 00:21:35,956 --> 00:21:39,704 When you're being tortured, you feel it. 492 00:21:39,704 --> 00:21:42,397 See, this is the test of faith. 493 00:21:42,397 --> 00:21:45,803 Can you imagine being tortured? 494 00:21:45,803 --> 00:21:47,696 Can you imagine being tortured 495 00:21:47,696 --> 00:21:54,606 and you're told if you recant, they'll stop? 496 00:21:54,606 --> 00:21:58,204 You know why you continue to endure that? 497 00:21:58,204 --> 00:22:03,390 Because your expectation of what you can't see is that great. 498 00:22:03,390 --> 00:22:07,231 And your knowledge of what it is 499 00:22:07,231 --> 00:22:09,981 to turn your back on Christ and refuse Him; 500 00:22:09,981 --> 00:22:13,493 what the eternal consequences of that are 501 00:22:13,493 --> 00:22:16,520 are greater than the suffering and the pain 502 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,110 that you're enduring. 503 00:22:19,110 --> 00:22:22,378 (incomplete thought) 504 00:22:22,378 --> 00:22:24,254 How about 12:1-2? 505 00:22:24,254 --> 00:22:26,078 "Therefore, since we're surrounded by 506 00:22:26,078 --> 00:22:27,989 so great a cloud of witnesses..." 507 00:22:27,989 --> 00:22:29,584 Listen to those witnesses. 508 00:22:29,584 --> 00:22:31,459 Those guys walked by faith. 509 00:22:31,459 --> 00:22:32,952 Those are the witnesses 510 00:22:32,952 --> 00:22:34,616 and they beckon us on. 511 00:22:34,616 --> 00:22:36,887 "Let us also lay aside every weight 512 00:22:36,887 --> 00:22:38,434 and sin which clings so easily. 513 00:22:38,434 --> 00:22:40,067 Let us run with endurance the race 514 00:22:40,067 --> 00:22:41,911 that is set before us, 515 00:22:41,911 --> 00:22:43,769 looking to Jesus..." 516 00:22:43,769 --> 00:22:45,380 Isn't that interesting? 517 00:22:45,380 --> 00:22:48,263 Looking to someone you can't see. 518 00:22:48,263 --> 00:22:50,371 "...the Founder and Perfecter of our faith," 519 00:22:50,371 --> 00:22:51,381 this is interesting - 520 00:22:51,381 --> 00:22:54,081 "Who for the joy that was set before Him 521 00:22:54,081 --> 00:22:55,488 endured the cross." 522 00:22:55,488 --> 00:22:57,776 You know what's interesting about that? 523 00:22:57,776 --> 00:22:59,741 He didn't yet possess that joy. 524 00:22:59,741 --> 00:23:02,272 He didn't yet have it. 525 00:23:02,272 --> 00:23:03,422 It was a promise. 526 00:23:03,422 --> 00:23:04,523 It was future. 527 00:23:04,523 --> 00:23:08,415 And yet He endured the suffering. 528 00:23:08,415 --> 00:23:17,403 So, that's basically it. 529 00:23:17,403 --> 00:23:19,380 That's what it is to walk by faith. 530 00:23:19,380 --> 00:23:23,325 It's that whole idea of living in light 531 00:23:23,325 --> 00:23:26,374 of things we don't yet see. 532 00:23:26,374 --> 00:23:28,618 How does that happen? 533 00:23:28,618 --> 00:23:31,225 It's supernatural. 534 00:23:31,225 --> 00:23:32,938 It is. 535 00:23:32,938 --> 00:23:35,523 What did I think when I was lost? 536 00:23:35,523 --> 00:23:38,514 I was mystical about this book. 537 00:23:38,514 --> 00:23:40,522 I thought it almost like had magic powers. 538 00:23:40,522 --> 00:23:42,689 Like it could ward off spirits, 539 00:23:42,689 --> 00:23:45,008 much like the vampire movies 540 00:23:45,008 --> 00:23:47,344 and the cross. 541 00:23:47,344 --> 00:23:49,139 I looked at the Bible like that. 542 00:23:49,139 --> 00:23:50,358 I never read it. 543 00:23:50,358 --> 00:23:53,199 I remember, in my lost days, 544 00:23:53,199 --> 00:23:55,461 opening up Revelation and just thinking, 545 00:23:55,461 --> 00:23:58,365 whoa, I don't know what that is. 546 00:23:58,365 --> 00:24:01,166 But just leaving it on my dresser - 547 00:24:01,166 --> 00:24:03,003 it's the same dresser I have upstairs 548 00:24:03,003 --> 00:24:04,543 in my bedroom right now. 549 00:24:04,543 --> 00:24:07,010 I would leave that Bible there. 550 00:24:07,010 --> 00:24:08,860 Like it was going to ward off spirits 551 00:24:08,860 --> 00:24:10,375 out of my bedroom or something 552 00:24:10,375 --> 00:24:16,246 when I was going through college. 553 00:24:16,246 --> 00:24:20,303 Once I got saved, 554 00:24:20,303 --> 00:24:23,048 I had such a confidence in my soul 555 00:24:23,048 --> 00:24:26,026 that this book is true. 556 00:24:26,026 --> 00:24:29,465 And such a sense of the reality of Christ, 557 00:24:29,465 --> 00:24:30,535 but more than that. 558 00:24:30,535 --> 00:24:32,772 More than just a sense of Him. 559 00:24:32,772 --> 00:24:35,312 It's like Peter says, we love - 560 00:24:35,312 --> 00:24:39,573 having not seen Him, we love Him. 561 00:24:39,573 --> 00:24:41,053 That's amazing. 562 00:24:41,053 --> 00:24:44,684 Isn't it amazing that something actually happens 563 00:24:44,684 --> 00:24:48,988 in a person when they're saved? 564 00:24:48,988 --> 00:24:51,663 Not just that they love Christ, 565 00:24:51,663 --> 00:24:56,399 but that they love Christ more than their own life. 566 00:24:56,399 --> 00:24:57,685 More than mother or father, 567 00:24:57,685 --> 00:25:01,290 more than husband or wife. 568 00:25:01,290 --> 00:25:04,709 That's supernatural. 569 00:25:04,709 --> 00:25:06,896 That's supernatural. Think about that. 570 00:25:06,896 --> 00:25:11,431 Think about if you came down 571 00:25:11,431 --> 00:25:13,145 from that upper room. 572 00:25:13,145 --> 00:25:15,873 You're one of the 120. 573 00:25:15,873 --> 00:25:18,418 Ok, we're going to try to turn the world upside down. 574 00:25:18,418 --> 00:25:20,181 We're going to try to get everybody 575 00:25:20,181 --> 00:25:22,765 to become followers of Jesus. 576 00:25:22,765 --> 00:25:25,798 Oh yeah? Who is He? 577 00:25:25,798 --> 00:25:27,583 He was a Jew. From where? 578 00:25:27,583 --> 00:25:32,678 Nazareth. 579 00:25:32,678 --> 00:25:38,637 Oh, we thought He was coming from Bethlehem. 580 00:25:38,637 --> 00:25:40,206 What did He do? 581 00:25:40,206 --> 00:25:42,902 Did He overthrow Rome? 582 00:25:42,902 --> 00:25:46,132 Well, no, and they actually killed Him on a cross. 583 00:25:46,132 --> 00:25:47,939 They killed the Messiah on a cross? 584 00:25:47,939 --> 00:25:52,233 Yeah, but He rose three days later. 585 00:25:52,233 --> 00:25:54,864 He did? Where is He? 586 00:25:54,864 --> 00:25:56,996 Well, you see, we can't show Him to you 587 00:25:56,996 --> 00:25:58,657 because after 40 days He ascended 588 00:25:58,657 --> 00:26:01,316 up to the right hand of God. 589 00:26:01,316 --> 00:26:03,569 I mean, imagine, coming down, 590 00:26:03,569 --> 00:26:05,196 making up something like that. 591 00:26:05,196 --> 00:26:08,194 And you're going to go and try to convince everybody. 592 00:26:08,194 --> 00:26:10,107 You know what? The only way that message 593 00:26:10,107 --> 00:26:12,058 turns the world upside down? 594 00:26:12,058 --> 00:26:14,331 If there is such reality that through 595 00:26:14,331 --> 00:26:16,270 the preaching of the Gospel, 596 00:26:16,270 --> 00:26:18,546 power is unleashed whereby people 597 00:26:18,546 --> 00:26:22,808 actually become possessed of a faith like this 598 00:26:22,808 --> 00:26:26,821 that sees beyond what can be seen, 599 00:26:26,821 --> 00:26:31,656 and lays hold on realities beyond the veil. 600 00:26:31,656 --> 00:26:34,382 And it's real. It's true. 601 00:26:34,382 --> 00:26:36,897 I feel it. I feel those realities 602 00:26:36,897 --> 00:26:39,422 burning in my soul and in my life 603 00:26:39,422 --> 00:26:42,913 every single day since I've been saved. 604 00:26:42,913 --> 00:26:52,130 I am not going to forsake 605 00:26:52,130 --> 00:26:55,795 the unseen realities for what I can see 606 00:26:55,795 --> 00:26:59,569 with these eyes. 607 00:26:59,569 --> 00:27:01,337 And that's the testimony 608 00:27:01,337 --> 00:27:05,388 of all these people listed in Hebrews 11. 609 00:27:05,388 --> 00:27:07,066 That's what it is to walk by faith. 610 00:27:07,066 --> 00:27:08,627 If anybody wants to know, 611 00:27:08,627 --> 00:27:10,313 what is it to walk by faith? 612 00:27:10,313 --> 00:27:12,656 All you have to do is follow God's people 613 00:27:12,656 --> 00:27:14,116 through the Scriptures. 614 00:27:14,116 --> 00:27:15,885 That's all the author of Hebrews did. 615 00:27:15,885 --> 00:27:17,835 He just thought about the Old Testament, 616 00:27:17,835 --> 00:27:20,692 and he said, well, there was this guy, and there was this guy and this guy, 617 00:27:20,692 --> 00:27:22,694 and there's this woman and this woman. 618 00:27:22,694 --> 00:27:24,470 Just look at the way they walked. 619 00:27:24,470 --> 00:27:28,063 People of faith always walk the same way. 620 00:27:28,063 --> 00:27:29,693 What way is that? 621 00:27:29,693 --> 00:27:32,795 In the direction of something unseen. 622 00:27:32,795 --> 00:27:36,722 Always. 623 00:27:36,722 --> 00:27:41,308 Anything else we need to say about that?