Well I have a title today for those taking notes – ‘Seeing Him Who Is Invisible’ and we’re going to take this from something familiar – Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 27. I want to primarily hone on that, but of course this is the faith chapter for the patriarchs and the saints of the past – how they walked and by the same principle how we walk today as-well. ‘ Seeing Him Who Is Invisible. ‘
Hebrews 11:27
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
That principle of how we walk is exactly still the same today and it doesn’t change. God doesn’t change and His Word does not change, and you are today here seeking the One who outwardly is invisible, and that of course is the huge problem and controversy of the Christian faith.
” I will believe in God if you show me “
” I will believe in God if He reveals Himself “
” I will believe in God if you do that miracle “
They said exactly the same to Jesus
” We’ll believe – come down from that cross “
And so we are in a sense a laughing stock because we believe in something that is invisible outwardly to the eye. And that principle that one walks by is no different. They were even laughing and jeering at Noah building the ark – seeing by faith. And that is what must motivate us because if we do not see God who is the ultimate to our faith you are not going to stand, you are not going to endure in this walk.
That is why many go back – because they are not really seeing the Lord. They are seeing religion, or they’re seeing a denomination, or they are seeing a minister, or they are seeing an organisation but they aren’t seeing the King of kings and the Lord of Lords and it is absolutely essential that your eyes are fixed the same as Moses upon the Lord.
Now that might seem a bit elementary but through the years it is so easy to start to look at something else, and that’s the problem. Moses had a vision of God, that is why he endured and he stayed with it. Unless you have a vision of God you are not really going to understand what this is all about – even what this walk is about. …
Habakkuk 2:2,3
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
That is the principle that every saint walks by and all the patriarchs and Moses, including himself [Habakkuk]. Now the idea of ‘to tarry’ is where we also get this idea of patience, it implies ‘one who is strong’ – able to withstand all assaults and trials. That is what you tarry [for], that is the patience – why we wait, so that though it tarries (and it will come) in the meantime there are trials and there is overcoming in this life, which of course sounds familiar.
It means – (‘one who tarries – waits’) that you’re able to overcome all assaults, all trials because ‘nothing will overwhelm me’, ‘nothing will destroy me’, ‘nothing will separate me from the love of God’. This of course was what the apostle Paul was giving out in Romans 7 and Romans 8 – ‘nothing will separate us from the love of God’- here again is the same idea.
The vision of God is the source of patience. Our patience is our vision
– that’s the source of what it’s all about. As you are waiting that is what clarifies and will show more of the vision – waiting. Now don’t try and work that one out mentally in your mind because that doesn’t make sense does it, but that is the very means of how God gets us to see – by waiting.
It’s in our waiting, our tarrying, that we actually see – we learn to see. Now only God can do all of that, man can’t do that sort of thing – the vision is the source of patience because it gives us God’s inspiration, it gives us God’s power, it ministers to us through the Holy Spirit.
So our waiting actually works in that endurance, that inspiration, that power – everything that is needed to run the race. That is the inspiration, we draw that from the Holy Spirit. That’s why many go back, that’s why many don’t endure, that’s why many don’t stay with it – because they’re not seeing God – they haven’t the vision, they’re looking at other things and there are myriads of things that we can look at, one of which ..the biggest one ..looking at self instead of God, and that is where of course the cross comes in.
The cross is good news – the central part of the Gospel because it keeps your eyes looking to God. You’ve got to look to God who inspires us, who strengthens us, who keeps us in this walk, ie the
vision because without it you perish – that’s the whole point you see, and it’s ministered to us by the Holy Spirit.
What does the book of James have to say, James chapter 5 verses 7 to 9
James 5:7-9
Be Patient and Persevering
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
‘..Establish your hearts..’ In other words we grow bolder we wax stronger in the faith … … …
“
9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!
