Faith Is: Believing When I Don't See It - a podcast by Lewis Marsh

Living By Faith In a Faithless World #1

Faith Is: Believing When I Don’t See It

By Louie Marsh, 11-14-2021

 

Faith Quotes

 

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.  - --Albert Einstein

Enthusiasm is nothing more or less than faith in action. --Henry Chester

All effort is in the last analysis sustained by the faith that it is worth making.  --Ordway Tead

You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it. --Samuel Butler

He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses much more, He who loses faith, loses all.  --Eleanor Roosevelt

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. --Helen Keller

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible. --Mary McLeod Bethune

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.  --St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. --Arthur C. Clarke

 

1) Faith Is…

 

“39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” “1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 10:39 – 11:1, ESV)

 

• BELIEVING as real fact what is not completely revealed to the senses.

Faith apprehends as a real fact what is not revealed to the senses. It rests on that fact, acts upon it, and is upheld by it in the face of all that seems to contradict it. Faith is a real seeing.

• Faith then is a way of SEEING all of life.

 

“13These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13, ESV)

 

“27By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27, ESV)

 

• BEING CONVINCED the unseen is really true.

 

Assurance gives the true idea. It is the firm grasp of faith on unseen fact.

The word often signifies a process of proof or demonstration. So von Soden: "a being convinced. Therefore not a rash, feebly-grounded hypothesis, a dream of hope, the child of a wish." NOT like a child’s belief in Santa Claus.

Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. -

Augustine

 

2) Faith is a way of VIEWING everything.

 

“2For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3By 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.” (Hebrews 11:2–3, ESV)

 

Literally – “were testified too”

God bore witness to them in the victory of their faith over all obstacles, and their characters and deeds as men of faith were recorded in Scripture. —Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

 

Faith is also a way of viewing all experience since it is the way in which believers see the universe (tous aionas, lit., “the ages,” also rendered “the universe” in 1:2) for what it is—a creation by God. – Bible Background Commentary

 

Faith gives believers confidence to see more clearly. Faith is like putting on…

• fisherman's sunglasses that remove much of the glare so that you can see the fish better. Faith enables you to perceive realities most people cannot because they can't see beneath the surface; they are blinded by the glare of sinful attractions.
• night-vision lenses that penetrate the darkness surrounding you, enabling you to identify enemies or see danger ahead. Faith enables you to follow God's clear leading, even though Satan attempts to deceive you and places pitfalls in your path.
• corrective lenses that compensate for weaknesses in your eyes. Faith corrects your perception so that God's teaching makes sense to you, and you can see his leading in your daily activities.

 

• Viewing & Living By Faith provides proof that God is REAL. (vs. 2)

 

3) Biblical Faith Means I understand that…

 

• There is one God who CREATED the universe.

Famed atheist sees evidence for God, cites recent discoveries

Antony Flew, a legendary British philosopher and atheist, has changed his mind about the existence of God in light of recent scientific evidence.

Flew -- a prolific author has argued against the existence of God and the claims of Christianity for more than 50 years.

Flew said he is now best described as a deist -- a person who believes God created the universe but is not actively involved in people's lives today.

"I don't believe in the God of any revelatory system, although I am open to that," Flew. But it seems to me that the case for ... [a] God who has the characteristics of power and also intelligence is now much stronger than it ever was before."

Flew credits his newfound belief in God to arguments from design such as those espoused by the "intelligent design" (ID) movement. "I think that the most impressive arguments for God's existence are those that are supported by recent scientific discoveries," Flew said. "... I think the argument to Intelligent Design is enormously stronger than it was when I first met it."

Although many atheists appeal to naturalistic evolution as a method by which the world could have come into existence apart from God, Charles Darwin himself acknowledged that the process of evolution requires a creator to start the process, Flew said.

"Darwin himself, in the fourteenth chapter of The Origin of Species, pointed out that his whole argument began with a being which already possessed reproductive powers," Flew said. "This is the creature the evolution of which a truly comprehensive theory of evolution must give some account. Darwin himself was well aware that he had not produced such an account."

While Flew said he does not believe in a God who is active in the lives of humans, he is "open to" the possibility of divine revelation. He also believes that Christians are intellectually justified in holding to their religion and that the resurrection of Jesus has more evidential support than any other reported miracle in history.

"The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion," Flew said. "It's outstandingly different in quality and quantity, I think, from the evidence offered for the occurrence of most other supposedly miraculous events."

Despite his belief in the existence of God, Flew said it is unlikely that he will ever become a Christian. The major evidence against the God of Christianity is the problem of evil, Flew said.

"The problem of evil is a problem ... for Christians," Flew said. "The thesis that the universe was created and is sustained by a Being of infinite power and goodness is flatly incompatible with the occurrence of massive undeniable and undenied evils in that universe."

Flew also argues that God does not have "any preferences ... about or any intentions concerning human behavior or about the eternal destinies of human beings."

 

God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. John 3:16 (GW)

 

• There is a PLAN & PURPOSE for my life

 

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

 

This means –

• I am SIGNIFICANT to God.

 

• Through Christ I can make an ETERNAL difference.

 

• There are no RANDOM EVENTS in my life.

 

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)

Further episodes of River Church Sermons

Further podcasts by Lewis Marsh

Website of Lewis Marsh