Living in the Invisibles (Part 1): How to See the Unseen in Christ

Okay, that’s a song. Sometimes write it out, but I was hoping you could write it down here so we can see: we’re going to see, we will be seen, and in the months to come we will be saying we are seeing the eternal King.

I’m going to read Hebrews, and I’m going to give you a passage of Scripture that I want to be able to walk in here 100 years from now, in St. Cloud, and say, “Upon what verse of Scripture did you build?” And I want somebody around to say, “On this one.” I hope some of you will take this and carve it in wood or print it and frame it in your homes. This is where we’re going to take our stand. Just do this real quick. That’ll help me. I’m going to try this. Hebrews 11. I’m going to read this. I may comment on it, and then I’m going to ask Mike to read it because he has a far more accurate version than I do.

To the brothers and sisters who will hear this message, maybe you’ll come and live in St. Cloud someday. You should be so lucky. You ask them upon what passage of Scripture was the foundation laid.

It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word so that what can be seen was made out of that which cannot be seen. Go ahead, read that. That’s verse 11:3.

Audience: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. So that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Verse 13. It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a long way off, they saw them and welcomed them and openly admitted that they were foreigners and refugees on this earth. The writer says here, and Paul said elsewhere, that these people and these things happened for your sake, because you are the fulfillment of what they saw. I’m going to read it again. It was in faith that all these persons died. They did not receive the things God had promised, but from a distance they saw them…I think I’ll stop there. Brother Mike, if you’ll read it. Audience: All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that there were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Okay, just read the first part again, would you? Audience: All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance.

It says they saw them. Audience: Yes. But having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance.

Alright, does anybody have anything besides what I’ve got and what Mike has got? Okay. Audience: All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.

Okay, I want you to write something down here, and I want you to write down what that says. The brothers and sisters who lived long ago could see the future, could see the work of God, and could see us. Okay. What was Romans 8:24 again? Brother, would you read that again before I do what I’m about to do here? Audience: For by hope, we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. But why does one also hope for what he sees?

Excuse me while I look up another verse. Here’s the verse I’m giving you. We’ve read it, but I’m going to interpolate it a little bit. It is Hebrews 11:3. “It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.” Now saints, here’s where we’re going to take our stand, and maybe this is what we should write down. By faith, we who gather in St. Cloud are going to see the unseen. We who gather here in St. Cloud are, by faith, going to see the unseen.

I want to talk about this verse just a little bit. It would just not seem possible that that fixture hanging on the wall there, or this basket here, could be made out of invisible things. Surely the reverse is true: that invisible things are made out of physical things. If we burned the basket, we would have taken that which is visible and turned it into that which is invisible because this has mass, and we would turn it into something that does not have mass, but it is inconceivable that things that have no mass whatsoever make those things which have mass. I don’t understand that, but there’s one thing I can understand: that makes the invisible far, far, far, far more important than what we can see. That’s where we’re going to take our stand. That we are not going to look at things the way they appear. We’re going to look at them the way they are. I wouldn’t mind it if you wrote that down because this is sort of special. We are not going to look at things the way they appear; we’re going to look at things the way they are. Now, I want you to remember that our forefathers could see what was not seen. Our forefathers had nothing compared to what we’ve got. I think that once you finish that, it’ll be enough writing, but we may start most of our meetings just this way. Okay, put down your pen. I don’t want to see you writing anymore, because I want to make sure you’re listening to me.