HOW UNSEEN REALITIES WORK
1. Through faith we please God. Through faith we overcome. Through faith we possess God’s promises. Heb 6:12;11:6; I John 5:4
2. We can see that faith is extremely important. But, the question is — what is faith?
a. II Cor 5:7–This verse gives us insight into what faith is.
b. This verse contrasts faith and sight. That is because faith and sight are opposites.
3. To live by faith means to live your life based on unseen realities which have been revealed to us in the Bible.
a. The faith we live by is not an emotion. It is not great sincerity or depth of commitment to the Lord. Mark 10:28; 4:40
b. Faith involves action. The way you talk and act demonstrates that you are living by unseen realities.
4. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is sometimes called the faith hall of fame because it lists numerous OT saints commended by God for their faith.
a. Heb 11:1–The theme of the chapter is faith. The first verse tells us that faith has to do with unseen things.
b. As we read through the chapter, we see that these people based their actions, not on what they could see and feel, but, on unseen realities revealed to them by God’s word. v7,8,11,17-19,22-27
5. There is a realm beyond what we see — the unseen realm. II Cor 4:18
a. The seen realm is the work of the unseen God who spoke creation into existence with His word.
I Tim 1:17; Heb 11:3
b. The unseen created the seen, will outlast the seen, and can change the seen.
c. Not seen doesn’t mean not real. It means invisible, immaterial, spiritual.
6. Through the new birth, we become part of the unseen realm. Col 1:13; Luke 17:20,21
a. II Cor 5:6–If you could step out of your body right now, you would see that realm and your connection to it.
b. Or, if God pulled the veil back and permitted the unseen to be seen by our eyes, we would see how very real the unseen kingdom is. Luke 2:8-15; II Kings 6:13-23
7. We must get our picture or reality (of unseen things) from God’s word because:
a. What you see does not take into account the unseen facts of the kingdom to which you now belong.
b. What you see is temporary and subject to change.
c. All of your help, provision, and power in this life comes from that unseen realm. Eph 1:3;
Matt 6:33
8. Many Christians today are sincere, but weak, tossed about by the difficulties of life.
a. They live as mere, unchanged men. I Cor 3:3 (Amp)
b. The Bible calls Christians new creatures, more than conquerors who always triumph, people who can do all things, whose needs are met. God isn’t just talking. These things are real.
c. However, if you are going to benefit in this life from these things, you must walk by faith, by unseen realities.
9. In this lesson, we want to continue to talk about key things you must know about reality (as revealed in the Bible) if you are going to walk by faith.
1. When you were born again, the life and nature of God came into you. I John 5:11,12; II Pet 1:4
a. That life made you a literal, actual son or daughter of God. I John 3:2
b. You have the same life in you that Jesus had when He was on earth.
1. What ever is in that life is in you now.
2. That life is your position — a holy, righteous son. That life is your power. I Cor 1:30
2. Your identity now is that you are a spirit being who has the life and nature of God in you. John 3:3-6
a. You must learn to see yourself from that stand point. II Cor 5:16
b. You must begin to talk and act like what you are.
1. Col 1:12–You’ve been qualified for the kingdom through the new birth — so much so that you can step out of your body right into the presence of God.
2. Col 1:13–You’ve been taken out from under the authority of Satan (sin, sickness, and death).
3. Eph 1:3–You now have access to, are hooked up with, are a possessor of all the resources of the unseen kingdom. You have an inheritance. Col 1:12
a. And to give thanks to the Father who has made you fit to share the heritage of God’s people in the realm of light. (NEB)
b. Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the light. (Amp)
4. You need to learn to look to and depend on this unseen kingdom for your help and provision rather than on the kingdom which you see.
1. Every born again child of God has the privilege and the right to ask the Holy Spirit to come into Him. Luke 11:13
2. Jesus said that those who are born of the Spirit (new birth) also need to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit. John 4:14; 7:37-39; 14:17; 20:22; Acts 1:4
a. Through the new birth, you receive the life of God which makes you righteous, holy, and blameless — a fitting temple for God the Holy Ghost to indwell.
b. Through this second experience with the Holy Spirit (baptism, infilling, etc.), He indwells your spirit. God, the Greater One, comes to live in you. I John 4:4
3. The Holy Spirit is here to do in you and through you all that Christ did for you on the Cross. He now works in you. Phil 2:13; Heb 13:21
a. He is in you to unveil to you the realities of Jesus and His work on the Cross — show you unseen things. John 3:3; 16:13,14; I Cor 2:9-12
b. He is in you to bring the life of God in your spirit into your mind and body in fullness.
Eph 3:16,19; Rom 8:11
c. He is in you to bring the word of God to pass in the seen realm.
4. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work by acknowledging His presence and work. Philemon 6
a. We acknowledge what He has already done in us through the new birth.
b. We acknowledge what He is doing in us now that we are born again and indwelled by Him.
c. In other words, we become God inside minded.
1. Rom 10:9,10–This is how God works in our lives.
a. He gives us His word which tells us about unseen realties.
b. When we believe His word and speak it out He brings it to pass in our lives (gives us the experience).
c. Both of these elements are necessary to live by faith — heart persuasion and continual confession.
2. The mouth is the connecting factor between the seen and the unseen.
a. When the unseen God created the seen, He spoke words.
b. When Jesus was on earth, He brought unseen power on the scene by speaking.
c. Now, we must speak out unseen realities.
3. To live by faith, you must be fully persuaded of these unseen realities and then you must speak them out — even in (especially in) the face of contrary evidence from the seen realm. Rom 4:21; Heb 10:23
1. We often say things like this — I know the Lord is going to give me victory in this situation. I know I’ll defeat Satan in this situation.
a. But, those statements are incorrect. They are in the future tense.
b. Jesus already defeated Satan — once for all — through the Cross. Col 2:15
1. When Jesus triumphed over Satan in His resurrection victory you were with Him.
2. Jesus didn’t defeat Satan for Himself. He didn’t have to! He did it for you!
3. You already defeated Satan through your Substitute, Jesus, and therefore you are (now, present tense) a victor. Eph 1:22; Rom 8:37
2. We often say — I know the Lord is going to heal me. Once again, the tense is wrong.
a. When Jesus hung on the Cross, the Father put our sicknesses on Him and He took them, removed them. Isa 53:3-5;10
b. When Jesus rose from the dead for you as you, He and you were legally freed from every disease, legally healed. I Pet 2:24
c. When you were born again, healing went into effect in you, vitally. You are now healed.
d. God has not promised to heal you. He has promised to make His word good in your body — make the unseen seen.
3. There are all kinds of things that are already true about us because we are in union with Christ.
a. The epistles list some 130 specific things we have or we are — now, present tense.
b. To be in agreement with God, we must speak of them in present tense terms.
c. I am now…I now have…etc.
1. If we are going to experience all that God has provided for us, the unseen must be as real to us as the seen.
a. It takes time and effort to get to that point. We must go over these truths from God’s word (meditate on them) until the reality of them dawns on us.
b. What comes out of you in the crisis? We naturally gravitate toward what we see and feel, and it takes effort to get beyond that. John 11:39; Mark 4:38; Indian and gun story
2. Take your stand on God’s word and begin to confess what you really are and really have. Heb 10:23
3. Remember, the basis of all of this is the integrity and faithfulness of God — God, who cannot lie, who cannot deny Himself, who never fails to keep His word.
a. You are what God says you are.
b. You have what God says you have.
c. You can do what God says you can do.
4. Begin to talk and act like what you are (unseen realities) and sooner or later, you will seen the power of the unseen realm change your soul and body and your experience.