the conviction of things not seen

Moving Forward by Faith

The Conviction Of Things Not Seen

Hebrews 11:1-3


John 20:25

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”


John 20:29

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”


Hebrews 111 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.


I. Faith reaches beyond what we can see.

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.


The word hope has a wide semantic range of meaning.


G.K. Chesterton on hopeHope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...


G.K. Chesterton on hopeAs long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.


What is the relationship between hope and faith in this

passage?

•Hebrew parallelism?•Hope is a desire. •Faith is an intensifier.


II. Faith receives God’s highest commendation.

2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

The Greek verb translated commended, contains the word “martyr” in it.


5 ways in which “Little

Faith” is evident

William Dyrness

Little Faith is…

1. Seen in undue care But if God so clothes the grass of the

field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Matthew 6:30.

2. Seen in fearHe replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked

the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Matthew 8:26

Little Faith is…

3. Seen in doubtJesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew14:31

Little Faith is…

4. Seen in wrong thinkingBut Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among

yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

Matthew 16:8

Little Faith is…

5. Seen in failureHe said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

Little Faith is…


Inwardly Fashioned“I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil.”

Dr. E. Stanley Jones


I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath—these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely—these are my native air.



A John Hopkins University doctor says, “We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.” But I, who am simple of mind, think I know;



We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.”



III. Faith is rooted in God’s proven ability to make something out of nothing.3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.


Paul Davies

“There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature's numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming.”

George Green-stein

“As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency - or, rather, Agency - must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?”

Fred Hoyle

A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.


Conclusion

“Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.”

Augustine

the conviction of things not seen

Spiritual

little faith

faith hebrews

faith john

native land faith

machinery of life faith

hope hope

word hope

conviction of things