Weekly Bible Study Series, Vol. 14, No. 32: 8 December 2013 Imonitie Christopher Imoisili, E-mail : imoisilic@hotmail.com For past issues and more, visit our Web Site: www.bibleresourcecentre.com FAITH TO WALK BY Today s Text: 2 Cor. 5:1-17 Extracts: For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight [2 Cor. 5: 1-7] In John Godfrey Saxe s (1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend, The blind men and the elephant, six men of Indostan went to see the elephant to know what the huge animal looked like. 1 The first one fell against the elephant s broad and sturdy side and exclaimed that the animal looked like a wall. The second felt the smooth and sharp tusk and concluded that the elephant looked like a spear. The third touched the trunk and held the view that the gigantic animal looked like a snake. The other three touched other parts of the animal and were convinced the elephant looked like a mighty plain (from the knee), a fan (ear) or a rope (swinging tail)! A conclusion from the story was that each of the blind men was partly right but all of them were wrong. Even if we were to aggregate the six partly right answers, we would still not have the true picture of an elephant. We know so because we have clear sight to see. That was what the six blind men lacked but badly needed. Like the blind men, we want to see eternity. But our naked eyes can only see what is visible and everything that is visible may not necessarily be true! In this week s Bible verses, Paul tells the Corinthian church that believers walk by faith and not by sight. So, if we do not want to be like the six blind men, we must walk by faith. What is that faith that is superior to sight, that we should walk by? That is what we shall attempt to answer in this week s interesting study. 1 John Godfrey Saxe, The blind men and the elephant http://www.noogenesis.com/pineapple/blind_men_elephant.html Weekly Bible Study Series, Vol. 14, 2013 I.C. Imoisili
2 1. Background: Faith as your eyes You may be quite familiar with the story of Joseph the dreamer. He was the favourite son of his aged father, Jacob. His father loved him so much that he made him a tunic of many colours [Gen. 37:3]. Joseph was a teenager when his father sent him to check on his brothers who were feeding their father s flock in Shechem. Some time thereafter, Joseph s brothers brought their father Joseph s blood-stained coat of many colours and said to him, We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son s tunic or not? Jacob recognised Joseph s coat and he exclaimed, It is my son s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt, Joseph is torn in pieces. The old man wept bitterly and could hardly be comforted [vv. 8-36]. More than a decade later, Joseph s same brothers who had gone to buy food from Egypt during a global famine gleefully told their father, Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. He did not believe them! Would you? But after hearing from them what Joseph had told them, and when he saw the carts that Joseph had sent to bring his father to him in Egypt, Jacob s spirit revived and he said, Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die [Gen. 45: 16-28]. Jacob had not seen Joseph for over a decade. As far as he was concerned, his favourite son was dead, killed presumably by wild animals. So, what was now the basis of his assertion, Joseph my son is still alive"? I will go and see him before I die? It is more than optimism. It is faith, which has been defined as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Heb. 11: 1]. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul says authoritatively, For we walk by faith, not by sight [2 Cor. 5: 7]. Elsewhere, Scripture tells us that the just shall live by his/her faith [Hab. 2: 4; Rom. 1: 17], and that without faith, no one can please God [Heb. 11: 6]. Therefore, the faith to walk by is more than will power or optimism. It is more than being religious or gullible. Faith is better than the eyes if you want to see far and right! Let us begin by paying attention to the following issues addressed in Paul s second letter to the Corinthians: a) People only see what they want to see! Paul writes, While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen [f]or the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal [2 Cor. 4: 18]. Paul is saying that believers should focus less on the temporal or transient and more on the permanent or eternal things. He uses the analogy of our earthly house, this tent to represent the human body and a building from God, not made with human hands to represent our heavenly home. 2
3 Believers should groan for and earnestly desire to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven [2 Cor. 5: 1-2]. No two people may see the same thing alike because they are looking for different things. In other words, people only see what they want to see. For example, five people may pass through a short stretch of narrow way but see (pay attention to) different things. The word of God says that God will keep in perfect peace the person whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him [Is. 26: 3]. So, when a person of faith looks, s(he) should see or focus on only the things of God. Take the example of Prophet Elisha and one of his servants when they were surrounded by a great Syrian army, with horses and chariots. The servant panicked and said to the prophet, Alas, my master! What shall we do? Fear made the servant see instant doom. But his master, a man of faith, told his servant, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. He prayed the LORD to open his servant s eyes that he may see. The LORD opened his eyes and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha [2 Kgs 6: 14-17].So, we can conclude that people should not see with their naked eyes if they want to see far. b) Therefore, you need more than eyes to see truth! Paul adds, For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life For we walk by faith, not by sight [2 Cor. 5: 4,7]. In other words, if you really want to know about the truth of life, you need to look with more than your naked eyes. Eyes can only see facts, that is, empirically verifiable phenomena- what you can see, feel, taste, smell or hear. But truth is much bigger than facts! For example, God, heaven and hell are real but you cannot prove them empirically. The word of God says, No one has seen God at any time [Jn 1: 18; 1 Jn 4: 12]. That is why we say, I believe in God. Here are more interesting facts about the limitations of the naked eye: 2 Eyes need light to see. That is why we can hardly see in the dark. Faith as eyes can see clearly because it uses the light of God. The Psalmist says, For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light [Ps. 36: 9]; What the naked eye can see may not necessarily be the truth; it could be a mirage or an optical illusion. For example, a plane may be flying at over 200 kilometres per hour but passengers sitting or sleeping comfortably inside that plane cannot feel that 2 Make faith your eye, Weekly Bible Lessons, Vol. 3 No. 4, 27 January, 2002; pp 2-3 ; http://www.bibleresourcecentre.com/volume_3/pdfs/makefaithyoureye.pdf 3
4 top speed. But when we walk by faith, we can see far; we can see invisible things. For example, long before the invention of the telescope and sophisticated space equipments, scientists held the position that the earth was flat and was the centre of the universe. Yet, Prophet Isaiah with his dim eyes saw God sitting above the circle of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers [Is. 40: 22]. While scientists are still searching for life in other planets, Isaiah heard God say that He is the LORD who formed the earth. He did not create it in vain but formed it to be inhabited [Is. 45: 18; cf Prov. 8: 31]. From the foregoing, it follows that believers that know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits [Dan. 11: 32]. They make it their aim, whether in flesh or in spirit, to be pleasing to God, knowing that they will one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ [2 Cor. 5: 9-10]. Only those who walk by faith, not by sight, can operate at that level. What does it take for us to attain that goal? 2. Faith to walk by As we had seen earlier, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [Heb. 11: 1]. Faith is thus a combination of the present or visible (substance, evidence), the future (hoped for) and the invisible (not seen). It thus makes up for the limitations of the naked eye which can only see the present and the visible. So, by what faith should we walk? Productive (fail-safe) faith is based on the following principles: a) Let God first tell you what to do or expect The future may be unknown or unknowable. It may be risky or uncertain. Yet, we are under pressure to take certain steps today that have significant consequences in the future. It then makes good sense for you to let God first tell you what to do or expect before you take your very first step since He knows the end from the beginning [Is. 46:10]. The word of God says, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths [Prov. 3: 5-6]. Take the case of Jeremiah the prophet that suffered great persecution from his people for daring to give them the word of God not to resist going into exile in Babylon. He was beaten and imprisoned but he stuck to the message of surrender to the Babylonians. Then, one day, the word of God came to him to go and buy from Shallum, his uncle, a field in the country of Benjamin, Judah, because Houses and fields shall be possessed again in this land. He did as he was told [Jer. 32: 1-15]. You can imagine what 4
5 a person using his/her natural senses could have done at a time that most people would be running away for safety from the besieged country. Another well-known example was when Paul and other prisoners were being taken to Rome. Their ship ran into a storm and all hope that any lives could be saved was lost. In the midst of despair and hopelessness, Paul stood before the crew and fellow prisoners and said, I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you. Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me [Acts 27: 14-25]. Knowing how it will all end helps you to deal with your present challenges. How do you know that God is speaking to you? 3 He makes Himself known directly, or through His prophets, by visions, dreams or face to face, plainly or figuratively [Num. 12: 6-8]. For example, Archangel Gabriel appeared to virgin Mary to inform her that God had favoured her to be the mother of the Messiah, Jesus [Lk 1: 26-33]. But it was in a dream that an angel of God told her espoused husband, Joseph, of the same event [Matt. 1: 19-21]. God has in these days poured of His Spirit on all flesh to prophesy, dream dreams and see visions [Joel 2: 28]. So, call God while His word is near you in your mouth and in your heart [Rom. 10: 8]. b) It is your choice to accept or reject His invitation The next major step to take is to do exactly what God has asked you to do in order to get to where He has directed (or is waiting for) you. What you are required to do may fly in the face of logic or commonsense or even your faith. For example, God that told Moses in the Ten Commandments not to make himself a carved image of anything in heaven, on earth or under the earth [Ex. 20: 4] was the same God that commanded him, when the children of Israel were bitten by snakes, to make a fiery (brazen) serpent and set it on a pole and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live [Num. 21: 5-9]. Can you know God s word better than God Himself? At Paul s first missionary journey to Corinth, he was severely opposed by the Jews who blasphemed the Lord. Paul felt so bad that he shook his garments and said to them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. However, that night, the Lord spoke to him, saying, Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep 3 How do I know that God is speaking to me? Weekly bible Study Series, Vol. 1 No. 2: 1 July 2000; http://www.bibleresourcecentre.com/volume_1/pdfs/howgodspeakstous.pdf 5
6 silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city. Paul wound up spending a year and six months there [Acts 18:1-11]! So, whether you are going to stay, fight or run depends on what God has asked you to do. Let go and let God should be your guide. c) Don t take anything for granted! That God asked you to come to point B from A does not mean that He has told you ALL that you should do there. You must continue to go back to Him whenever you are about to do anything that is outside of your present mandate. To do otherwise is presumption. For example, it was God that permitted David to go to Keilah to save the people from the hands of the Philistines. As soon as he had achieved that purpose, word came to King Saul that his enemy was in the walled city of Keilah, within his easy reach. A presumptuous person would remain there, claiming that no weapons fashioned against him would prosper! But Paul went back to God in prayer and He told him to run [1 Sam. 23: 1-12]. So, do not take anything for granted. Go step by step and let God lead your way step by step. In summary, the faith to walk by is God-led. You must be in Christ. You are now a new creation. Your old ways of walking in flesh have passed away; behold, all things have become new [2 Cor. 5: 17]. It will not be easy but nothing good comes easy. The road to success is forever under construction, especially the one to eternity in heaven! That is Paul s message for us in this week s study. 3. Conclusion: Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith! God has an only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. As many as have so received Him, Jesus has given them the right to become children of God, His Father [Jn 1: 12]. We are thus God s children only by adoption [Rom. 8: 14-17]. We are to look on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith [Heb.12: 2]. Therefore, unless the exercise of our faith is anchored on our acceptance of Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, we cannot see far for, without Him, we can do nothing [Jn 15:5]. When Stephen was about to be stoned to death, he looked steadfastly toward heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus on the right hand of God. Therefore, at the point of death, he was able by faith to say, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge [Acts 7:55-60]. Always remember: Satan rules the world but never allow him to rule your heart or your head. Be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world. Walk by faith in Him until that day that He calls you to appear before His judgment seat. 6