The Things Which Are Seen Are Temporal
The sermon emphasizes the importance of trusting God alone and looking away from human strength to experience God's work in our lives.
Greek Word Studies for aid_number 35894 delves into the concept of stubbornness, describing it as a callous, hard, and obstinate attitude that resists change and remains unreceptive. The sermon emphasizes how stubbornness can lead to a hard and impenitent heart, as seen in Paul's description of unsaved 'religious' individuals. Drawing from biblical examples like Moses praying for Israel, the message warns about the dangers of persistently hardening one's heart against God's call and command, leading to irreversible enslavement. The spiritual analogy is made between arteriosclerosis and the hardening of one's heart, highlighting the eternal consequences of refusing to repent and believe in Jesus.
Text
How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water, he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim; but he cannot do both. if the bird is going to fly it must keep away from the fences and the trees and trust to its buoyant wings. If it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying. God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead and then take God for the whole work.
When he looked away from himself and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform.
This is what God is teaching us. He has to withhold encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His work real in fact as well as faith. Let us look only to Him today to do what/ He will choose in the way He will choose.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Snare of the Things That Are Seen
- A. The need to trust God alone
- B. The danger of relying on human strength
- II. The Necessity of Trusting in the Unseen
- A. Abraham's experience of trusting God
- B. The importance of looking away from self
- III. The Process of Learning to Trust
- A. Withholding encouraging results
- B. The role of faith in making God's work real
Key Quotes
“If Peter is to walk on the water, he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim; but he cannot do both.” — A.B. Simpson
“When he looked away from himself and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform.” — A.B. Simpson
“Let us look only to Him today to do what/ He will choose in the way He will choose.” — A.B. Simpson
Application Points
- We must learn to trust God alone and not rely on human strength to achieve our goals.
- Looking away from self and trusting God is the key to experiencing God's work in our lives.
- Faith makes God's work real in fact as well as faith.