♪ (Music playing) ♪ Good morning, class. Class: Good morning, Brother
Keith. Welcome everyone to Faith
School. I'm Keith Moore and this is the
place where we get our faith fed, we get our spirit becoming
stronger, and we learn how to be an overcomer. Faith is God's choice and will
for us. And we've saved you a seat right
here in the front. So, get your Bible, get you
something to take some notes on, come and sit down with us. We're going to pray together,
we're going to release faith, and we are going to come up
another step today, growing, becoming more like the Master
and pleasing to Him. "Father, in Jesus' name we all
agree together, everybody watching this, we agree and we
ask You for the anointing that teaches. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher
and our Guide and the Word of God is our Textbook. It is our complete, perfect,
authority concerning every thing. And we ask You, Lord, for
exactly what You know we need to see and hear and know today. Cause it to come into us just
the right way. We purpose not to be hearers
only but to be doers of it in Jesus' name. Amen." Thank You, Lord. If you would, turn in the
Scriptures to Hebrews the eleventh chapter and the first
verse. We began talking on Monday about
what faith is, and so we've already covered substantial
ground on that. We want to continue today. Hebrews 11:1 is a Scripture
definition of faith. It says, "Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen." Young's Literal translation
says, "Faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not
seen a conviction," and so we looked at these words
"confidence" and also "conviction." We saw concerning Abraham, who's
held up to us as a preeminent example of faith, the Bible said
that when God told him he'd be the father of many nations, that
he was not weak in faith and did not stagger; that's the same
word for "waver." He didn't stagger or waver at
what God told him through unbelief, but he was strong in
faith. He was fully persuaded, strong
in faith, giving glory to God. Fully persuaded that what God
had promised He was able to perform. So, you see in the language
describing Abraham, the very definition of faith. If you have faith in something,
faith in someone, you're not still making up your mind about
them or about it. You've made up your mind. You've considered what was told
you and what you've seen and understood, and you've come to a
conclusion that that person, that thing, is reliable, is
trustworthy, is dependable. I can trust it. I can rely on it. And you become persuaded. Brother Bosworth, we mentioned,
the author of the great book <u> Christ the Healer</u> , he had sai,
"Faith begins where the will of God is known," which is why you
can't continue to pray, "If it be Thy will," for everything and
be in faith about it. There are some things we don't
know what the will of God is, and there are times you need to
pray, "Lord, if it's Your will for me to do this, I'll do it. If not, show me what Your will
is." But we shouldn't pray, "If it be
Thy will," for somebody to be born again. That should be obvious to us
from the Scriptures. And there are many other things
that are just as obvious. God's will has already been
revealed if we will receive what the Word says about it. We will become persuaded, we'll
become convinced. Now, let's look at the verse
again, because there's much more in here describing what faith
is. He said, "Faith is of things
hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction." Here we see two words, or
phrases I should say, "hoped for" and "not seen." We saw its confidence and
conviction and persuasion, but about what? Specifically, faith has to do
with persuasion about two main areas: things that are not seen,
and things that are not yet. Not seen, not yet. "Why do you say not yet, Brother
Keith?" Because of that word "hope." Hope has to do with the future. Look with me in the Book of
Romans, if you would, please. Romans. It talks about things that are
not seen, and also things that are not yet. In Romans the eighth chapter,
Romans chapter 8 and verse 24. Romans 8:24 says, "We are saved
by hope," sometimes people might think, well, I thought it said
we're saved by faith? We are. Both are true, and where you
find one you'll find the other. And remember, faith is what? It's, "The substance of things
hoped for." So, if you find faith, there's
going to be hope involved as well. Hope, if you if you look it up
the definition, Strong's, Vines, those places, it means
"confident expectation." And you see that in this very
passage. Expectation; you're expecting. So he said we're, "Saved by
hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees,
why does he yet hope for?" I'm excited about today's
lesson. It is life-changing. When you get these principles,
it'll change the way you function and operate. Most of the world operates by
seeing, in the five physical senses, and the reasoning that's
connected to the senses. But the way God's called us to
live is by seeing the unseen and not being moved by the seen. Do you remember the Scripture
says, "We look not at those things that are seen but at the
things that are unseen, because the things that are seen are
temporal," or temporary, "but the things that are unseen they
are eternal." We talked yesterday about how
living by faith will make you so stable, and that's because your
focus, what you're looking at, is on things that don't change. Well, that makes you very
stable. I mean, if you're looking at the
same thing today that you were looking at yesterday, no matter
if your feelings changed, or if the report changed, what you're
looking at didn't change. And so you're not up, you're not
down, you're not high, you're not low, you're stable. He said-read again please in
Romans 8:25. Well, let me read the last
phrase of verse twenty-four again. "What a man sees, why does he
yet hope for it?" You're not expecting something
you already see. You expect things you don't see
yet. He went on to say in verse
twenty-five, "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with
patience wait for it." Well, you can see the those two
elements here "not seen" and "not yet," with patience we wait
for it. It's not seen. You'll hear phrases that people
banter around and that are so widely heard and known and even
widely accepted that are so completely wrong. This is one of them: "Seeing is
believing... Oh, I'll believe it when I see
it," people say. "I'll believe it when I see it." No, you won't. It's too late to believe it when
you see it. Once you see, it's too late for
faith. Faith is only possible when it's
not seen and not yet. Can you see that, friend? It's the only possible, elsewise
we're not talking about faith, we're talking about what you
see, what you feel, what you're experiencing. Remember the Scripture says in 2
Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" he's
contrasting two entirely different ways of living and
functioning and operating. So, when people say, "Well, you
know, seeing is believing... When I see it, I'll believe it,"
they're revealing they don't have a clue what faith is. But that's why we saved him a
chair right here, to come on in and let's learn about what
faith-because no matter who you are, there was a time when you
knew zero about this, and no matter how much you've learned
as a child of God, you hadn't got it all. Not even close. We're learning, we're growing. Say it out loud: Faith is not
seen and not yet." And we could say it like this:
it is being fully persuaded concerning things that are not
seen. Being completely convinced and
fully persuaded about things that are not yet. Not seen, not yet. As soon as it's now, you see it,
no more faith. No place for faith now
concerning that. So, go with me please to the
Book of John, the twentieth chapter and the twenty-fourth. First John 20:24. We saw yesterday one of the
greatest examples you could ever talk about faith, in Abraham. Now we're going to see one of
the greatest examples of unbelief you could talk about,
and it is our brother the apostle, Thomas. Some have called him "doubting
Thomas," but you shouldn't do that, because in a few days
after this life you're going to see him, you'll meet him in
heaven, and you don't want to be calling him names. You want to be very nice and
respectful. Besides that, all of us-you
know, he had an episode here where he didn't respond in
faith. Have any of us ever had an
episode where we didn't respond in faith? Well, I don't want to be called
"doubting Keith." You don't want to be called
doubting whatever your name is, so we'll call him Brother
Thomas, and we'll say, "Brother, we understand. We've been there." But this was recorded for us so
that we recognize a serious mistake, in the Lord's eyes. In John 20:24, Jesus has been
raised from the dead and He-verse twenty-four says,
"Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with
them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore
said to Him, we have seen the Lord. But He said to them, except I
shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger
into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I
will not believe." There's so much revelation here. Could he have responded
differently than he did? Certainly. When they told him, "We've seen
the Lord!" what could he have said? Yeah, he could have said, "Glory
to God! You've seen the Lord? It's wonderful. Then He raised from the dead
just like He said He would." Right? It would have been a good faith
response and that would have pleased God. But, on this particular time,
Thomas wasn't having the best day, and he said, "Uh uh. No." And the reason I'm taking time
with this, you can learn the nature of unbelief. There may be different words
used, it may manifest in all kind of different situations,
but the nature of it will be the same always. It's negative. And you can also see it's
stubborn-unbelief is stubborn, it's obstinate. You can see a defiance. They're telling him, "We've seen
the Lord! He's raised! We just saw Him just X amount of
time ago!" And he says, "Uh uh, no. Unless I put my finger in where
those nails were, unless I put my hand where that spear was,
and I see Him and I can touch Him, I will not believe." Do you hear this? And so Hebrews calls unbelief
"evil." This is not something that a lot
of church-going people have seen. They wouldn't-"Well, unbelief is
not good, but I wouldn't call it evil." Well, the Bible does. The Bible calls it evil. Why? You can see it's more than just
saying, "I'm sorry. I don't believe." No, it's an unwillingness to
agree with truth. It's a stubbornness in the face
of reliable evidence. And of course, with God,
indisputable, unfailing evidence to say, "Yeah, I know He said
that, but unless I see it, and unless I feel it... Unless the report comes back and
says this... And unless the tests show
this... I will not believe." That is an unwillingness, that
is an obstinacy. That is a stubbornness, and it's
evil; it's a bad thing. No, when it comes to other
people, you shouldn't believe everything they tell you when it
comes to everything that happens in this world. But, when it comes to God, we
should have already made up our mind. If He says it, it's true. If He said it, I believe it. I choose. Instead of saying, "I will not
believe it," we should say, "I will believe it." And it reveals that faith is a
choice. It's an act of the will; a
choice. Because you'll hear people also
saying this. "I'm sorry, but you know, y'all
talk about, you know, you believe that Jesus raised from
the dead. You believe He's coming back at
the sound of a trumpet and the dead are going to rise. I'm sorry, I just can't believe
all that stuff," people say. Well, that's not true. It's not true that you can't
believe it. The truth is you've chosen not
to. You're unwilling to believe it. And maybe people don't realize
it, but 1 John talks about if you're unwilling to accept the
Father's Son that He has sent, then you're calling Him a liar,
and that you're not accepting what He's given you for
redemption and salvation. It's-can you see how unbelief is
evil? It's an extremely bad thing. It's not just, "I'm sorry, I
can't believe that," no, it's unwillingness, obstinacy. And I know Thomas wasn't
thinking all that. You know he wasn't in Faith
School with us today. We've got the benefit of seeing
all this side of it. But why did the Spirit of God
have this recorded? Because the Bible tells us most
of what Jesus said and did and what happened with them was not
recorded, so these things that hand-picked by the Holy Spirit,
is because they apply to everybody, every season and
generation in time. So, what lesson are we getting
from it today? He said, "Unless I see, unless I
touch, I will not believe." Come on, let's say the opposite
of this right now. Let's say: "I will believe." When it comes to God, and His
Word, and His things, not saying I will not believe, I will
believe. Well, verse twenty-six. "After eight days again His
disciples were within, Thomas with them: and then came Jesus,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, peace be
unto you." Glory to God. So, this is after He's raised
from the dead and He's standing there. They're seeing Him. Aren't we glad to know, you
know, other founders of religions different from
Christianity and all that, you can go and they'll show you
where the tomb of the founder is. Well-where the body of the
founder is. You can't find the body of our
Founder. He's been raised from the dead,
hallelujah, and He's coming again. But He said verse twenty-seven,
He said, "Thomas, come here. Reach your finger here. Give me your finger. Come here, put it right here. Put it right here in this hole. Put it in the print of the
nails. Give me your hand. No, come on, come on, give me
your hand. Put it right here. You feel that? You know, there's also such
revelation here. Even though Jesus' body is
resurrected and glorified, it still has the marks from the
crucifixion. They are signs of honor. They are a reminder of what He
did for us. And He said, "Take your hand,
put it right there in My side." So, Thomas is standing almost
nose-to-nose with Him. He has to be right there with
Him. So does he see Him? Oh, he sees Him now. He sees Him. He feels Him. And so, that's what people will
say. You know, "Well, that, yeah. If I saw it, I'd believe too." Yeah, but is that good or bad? According to Jesus, it's not
good. He said, "Don't be faithless but
believing." So we see now that Thomas'
insistence on seeing it before he believes it, on feeling it
before he believes it, on having physical proof, Jesus calls it
being faithless. Faithless. Because like we've seen in
Hebrews, what does faith deal with? That which is not seen and not
yet. If it's seen, it can't be faith. If it's already happened, it
can't be faith. It has to be not seen and not
yet. And so He says, "Don't be
faithless," and verse twenty-eight, "Thomas answered
and said, my Lord and my God." He's finally convinced. And Jesus said to him, "Thomas,
because you have seen Me, you have believed: blessed are they
that," what? "Have not seen, and yet have
believed." He said, okay, you see Me, you
touch Me, so you finally say okay, I believe You were raised
from the dead. But is that the God- kind of
faith? Well, no. I mean he's standing there
looking at Him, touching Him, and so the blessing is not there
when you're demanding to see and feel. Blessed, are they that believe
when they don't see. Oh, friends, the Bible said that
Abraham, he was strong in faith. "He was fully persuaded that
what God had promised, He's a able to perform," he was strong
in faith glorifying God. When you see it, when you feel
it, it's all over. You're just responding to things
that have already happened. You didn't trust anybody, you
didn't honor anybody. But when it doesn't, you don't
see it yet, when in this realm it hasn't happened yet, when you
don't feel it, you don't see it, and yet you say, "I believe it." That's what Abraham did when God
took him out, had him look up in the night sky-and I believe on
that night with God talking to him it was probably a - no, it
was an exceptionally clear night, God would have seen to
that. And so man, the sky was just
full of stars. I mean you could just see stars
everywhere, and Abraham's already older, and yet God tells
him, "I've made you the father of many nations. You're going to have as many
children as all these stars," that hadn't happened. They didn't have one child
between - you know, he and Sarai. It was not seen, it was not yet,
but Abraham looked at that and said, "I believe it. I believe it," and it pleased
God. It pleased God so much that He
imputed it to him for righteousness. He called him His covenant
friend. It honored Him for him to
require nothing: no seeing, no feeling, no so-called physical
evidence. Just if you say it, I believe
it. Can you see how that honors the
Father? The Father then takes that that
you have personally, you know, affirmed that you call Him
faithful. You personally are saying,
"I trust You. I don't have to see anything,
I don't have to feel anything. If You say it, that's it,
I believe it." That honors God. This thing of, "I don't care,
you know, unless I see it, unless I-you know, I won't
believe it unless I see it, and feel it," that's disrespectful. That's saying, "Your Word is
nothing to me. I know You said it, but that
don't mean-I have to see the results before I..." There's no trust involved. There's no faith at all involved
in that. So He told Thomas, He said,
"Because you've seen Me," in other words now you decided
okay, I believe, I've seen. "Blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet believe." Are we the ones that even though
we've not seen we believe? Hallelujah. That we honor God, and we trust
Him? Come on, say it out loud:
"I don't have to see. I don't have to feel. I'm strong in faith, glorifying
God." Hallelujah!
