What It Means to See with the Eye of Faith

Jesus alluded to an expression used much today among Jesus followers: the eye of faith. We talk about seeing with 20–20 vision — spiritual vision that is. Holy Ghost vision. Seeing as God see’s not as the world see’s. An artist can paint the physical hands and feet of our Lord, but he cannot paint the healing power of those hands and the godly walk of those feet. [That takes the eye of faith] He can paint the outward suffering, but not the inward cause; the cursed tree, but not the curse of the law; the bearing of the cross, but not the bearing of the sins of His people; the cup of vinegar, but not the cup of wrath—the derision of His enemies and the forsaking of the Father. Where is the artist who can paint one hand of Christ nailed to the cross and the other hand claiming an inheritance of believers? Or who can paint our Lord bruising the serpent’s head, conquering sin, death and the grave? The artist can only portray blood and water flowing from Christ’s side, but he cannot paint what the eye of faith sees in that blood: salvation and pardon. That’s a good word for a good day on Planet Earth. What It Means to See with the Eye of Faith, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Seeing God’s promises with the eye of faith and knowing God is not a man that He should lie is the ticket to receiving anything from God.

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: What’s your God story of receiving an answer to prayer using the eye of faith? Please share your testimony in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the Gospel of John. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 48 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 43 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray.

Father God in the name that’s above every name the Name of Jesus, we ask you today to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. Open our eyes to see – we thank you for it in Jesus name, Amen.

The Eye of Faith: Seeing with Your Spirit

John 14:15–18 (ESV) — 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Okay, let’s break down what Jesus said here in verse seventeen about the Holy Spirit.
He made several eye opening statements.
First — the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit.
People of faith can but the world can’t.
That’s the bottom line.
There is a certain capacity for receiving that people of the world do not possess.
Do you wonder why?
Well, Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging — In verse seventeen, He tells us why this is so.
The world has a vision problem — they can’t see.
You need 20/20 spiritual vision to receive the Holy Spirit.
One must see with the eye of faith.
Number Two: The world has a relationship problem — that’s what Jesus said — they neither see Him nor know Him.
They can’t see and they don’t know.
That describes every person outside of Jesus.
Seeing and knowing is the ticket to receiving anything from God.
This piece of inspired info from the lips of Jesus should make you happy — Jesus just got through telling you how to receive anything from God.
There must be a relational knowing and you must see with the eye of faith.
In your thinking, put some emphasis on the ‘eye of faith’ because the ‘seeing’ here is not physical sight.
The way we know that’s so is simple: people saw Jesus physically, they were in the audience when the lame were healed and the blind received their sight and it still didn’t do them any good.
They may have had 20/20 physical vision — but they didn’t have 20/20 spiritual vision.
In fact, Jesus said they were legally blind.

Matthew 15:13–14 (ESV) — 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

The lack of the ‘eye of faith’ was predicted seven centuries before Jesus ever came on the scene.

John 12:36–38 (ESV) — 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

That’s Isaiah 53 and verse one.
Again, this ‘seeing’ is not physical.

The Eye of Faith: What It Means to See

And, with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘seeing’ here used by Jesus means to understand, to perceive, to recognize’ ¹.
This verb means to come to understand as the result of perception.
It refers to spiritual perception of the one sent by God, which is possible only to the believer ².

1 Corinthians 2:12–14 (ESV) — 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The word ‘sees’ is equivalent to ‘perceives.’
In the western world, perceives is a better word I think because it avoids the possibility of confusing it with natural sight.
Get it now — the world has no perception of the preciousness of the Holy Spirit as a Helper.
Because of their spiritual blind condition, the world is aware of any of the Spirit’s activities.
Now in a previous podcast, we talked about what those activities are when we looked at the definition of the word ‘Helper.’
We saw that the word ‘Helper’ has a wide range of meanings.
The Holy Spirit in His Helper ministry engages in intercession for the saints.
He mediates, encourages, strengthens, and consoles them.
We saw that the word ‘Helper’ literally means ‘one who comes to (our) side when called on’.
That means Helper means stands by.
The Holy Spirit stands by believers.

The Eye of Faith: Seeing the Holy Spirit as Stand By

His standby ministry was seen in the Apostle Paul’s life.

Acts 21:17–18 (ESV) — 17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

The elders at Jerusalem counseled Paul to take part of a Jewish ceremony that got Paul in a world of trouble.

Acts 21:19–24 (ESV) — 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

Well, this plan was a miserable failure — a riot broke out.

Acts 21:30 (ESV) — 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

The riotous crowd just pounds the fire out of Paul until Roman soldiers rescue him.
Now, look at the courageous conviction of this man.
The crowd just beat the stew out of this guy and he still wants to witness to them.

Acts 21:39 (ESV) — 39 Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”

“I beg you!” — Paul is pleading to tell these people about Jesus.
He is so focused on his mission.
Does this describe you?
Would you go back and talk to the people that tore you to pieces?
Or would you say, ‘Man, get me up out of here — these people are crazy?’
Such courage.
So, Paul shares his testimony.

Acts 22:6–10 (ESV) — “As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’

So, Paul shares his testimony in his Jesus encounter on the Road to Damascus.
You know that’s all you should do.
Share what happened to you.
Don’t embellish — don’t add stuff — don’t think your testimony needs help because it isn’t spectacular as someone else’s.
Be a witness of God’s dealings with you.
And with that thought, here is the Testimony of the Day.

How I came to Jesus almost 48 years ago. I was a young cynical, thought I know it all, college student. Saw a guy reading his Bible in the college library. I said, I’m going to go mess with this guy. Well I didn’t mess with this guy — he messed with me. He shared how his mind was fried by using LSD and how he as a member of the military was jumping on beds in the barracks hollering that he was Jesus Christ. Mind totally blown on drugs. He reached into his pocket — pulled out his GPA score for the last semester — this was an electronic engineering school and the dude had 4.0 average. Jesus delivered his mind from LSD — God healed him and made him every bit whole. Well, that popped both my eyes open — we’re talking about seeing after all. But then he followed me up the stairs and said do you want to hear the topper? I said, ‘yes.’ He said last night I was praying and told the Lord I have been studying the Bible for one year and I’m ready to tell someone about you. Send someone to me — and in I walked. Man, when he said that something hit me in the top and went right down my back. Now, there’s more to this testimony but let’s leave it this for now — I have never been the same since.

That’s what happened to me.
Share what happened to you.
That’s what Paul did.
But, he gets to the point in his testimony where he communicates what the Lord told him relative to his calling.
The Lord tells Paul why he is alive on Planet Earth.
You should know why.
Realize that you’re not just a piece of driftwood being carried along by the streams of time.

Acts 22:21 (ESV) — 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

When the crowd heard the word ‘Gentiles’ — they went tee total nuts again?
The Romans got Paul out of there and kept him under arrest for his safety.
Because they didn’t understand why everyone was mad at Paul in the first place, they bring the Jewish religious hierarchy in.

Acts 22:30–23:1 (ESV) — 30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. 23:1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”

Paul is a witnessing for Jesus machine.
There’s no quit in him.
Well, that doesn’t go well either.

Acts 23:9–10 (ESV) — 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.

Now, this is why I went through all of this.
Do you remember what we were talking about? — the Holy Spirit is your standby.

Acts 23:11 (ESV) — 11 The following night [after all this stuff broke out] the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

The Lord ‘stood by Him!’
Take courage?
Why would the Lord say that to him?
Hasn’t Paul shown how bold he is?
You know that’s what the Greek word’ take courage’ means.
It means to be bold or to be confident about.³
This word is always a commandment in the Greek language.
It is never a suggestion.
Why would Paul need to take courage and be bold when he has already exhibited that trait in his preaching?
Well, just because things are working in one area doesn’t mean that they are working in all areas.
We can be bold in one area and not in another.
We can be confident that we are righteous before God and on our way to heaven and not be confident in God as our Provider.
You see — we all need a Helper.
Paul needed the standby ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Remember last week’s lesson – Jesus said, “I am going to pray to the Father and He will give you another Helper.”
Everybody needs a Helper.
Everyone needs standby help at some point.
Everyone needs help in some area of their walk.

The Eye of Faith and Another Example of Standby Help

Here is this same thing again.

Acts 27:1 (ESV) — 27:1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.

Paul is being transferred as a prisoner by ship so that he can appear before Caesar at Rome.
Along the way, the following occurs.

Acts 27:9–10 (ESV) — Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

Paul got a sense in his spirit that this was not going to be a good trip.
He received a perception, a Holy Spirit sense inside of him.
You see the rest of these men on board this ship did not perceive — the world does not see the Holy Spirit — they don’t know the Father.
Let’s see how this turned out.

Acts 27:13–19 (ESV) — 13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

These guys are in a super bad way.
I mean the ship is going down.

20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

Now, what’s your opinion here.
Don’t you think that the Lord knows that this ship is in trouble?
Don’t you think that the Father knows who is onboard this ship?
Doesn’t the Father God know that his son Paul [beloved now are we the sons of God – that’s 1 John 3:2] is among the passengers?
Well of course He knows.
That’s why He is coming to help!

The Eye of Faith: Taking Heart and Believing

Acts 27:23–26 (ESV) — 23 For this very night there stood before me [there it is!]

… an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”

‘There stood by me this night’ — that’s the standby ministry of the Holy Spirit.
“But,” you may say, “It was an angel that appeared and said, Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.”
If it was an angel that appeared, where is the Holy Spirit?
Okay — the act of seeing an angel is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
This manifestation is called Discerning of Spirits and it is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Or, in other words, the Holy Spirit shows that He is there with you — that is standing by you in one of nine ways.
You will find this list of nine in First Corinthians twelve.
So the Holy Spirit stood by Paul becoming a helper to Paul by allowing him to see the angel who had a message of encouragement for him.
The Holy Spirit is your helper because everyone needs help at some point in their walk.
This Holy Helper comes by your side.
Isn’t this wonderful?
He is already on the inside of you yet, He comes by your side in manifestation.
Now when He comes to our side, He is coming with purpose.
The Holy Spirit is coming to do something.
He’s coming to advocate or act as your attorney.
The Holy Spirit is coming to intercede for you according to the will of God. — that’s Romans 8.
What else does the Holy Spirit do when He comes alongside of you?
He’s coming to mediate — encourage — console — or strengthen.
Now, your response to His Help is vital.
Don’t miss it here.

So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

When He helps, when He encourages, when He speaks with that still small voice in your heart, you must have faith in God — you must believe what He is saying!
If He whispers in your heart that things are going to be okay — then you know what — you must believe that it’s going to be okay.
You see, no Word from God ever fails
No Word from God is wasted language.
The best thing you can do is to agree with Him.
The worst thing you can do is to wonder how He is going to do it.
If you recall, this is what got Zechariah in trouble.

Luke 1:11–13 (ESV) — 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

After this, more even information comes from the angel to Zechariah.
You are welcome to go read the account.
If you read down and home in on verse eighteen, you will see the point

18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

The question ‘How shall I know this’ was asked doubting.
How shall I know this? — i.e. give me a sign.
You don’t need proof — God’s Word is proof — God’s Word is the evidence.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.
You want to believe what the Lord is speaking to your heart.
See yourself with what God told you using the ‘eye of faith.’
Don’t negate the Holy Spirit’s help ministry with negativity.
Surely don’t trust your feelings more than the encouragement that He is speaking to your heart.

Eye of Faith: A Vision Problem

Jesus said the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because it neither sees him nor knows him.
There is physical and spiritual sight.
The world cannot receive Him because they have a vision problem.
The principle is plain — ‘you cannot receive what you cannot see.’
Some want to see proof with their natural eyes.
The eye of faith is never natural.
The world, you know that slice of humanity that lives as if there is no God, says ‘show me and I will believe.’

John 4:48 (ESV) — 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

Jesus says, ‘Believe me and I will show you.’

John 11:40 (ESV) — 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Now, Father God thank you for the spirit of seeing and knowing. Thank you for the faith life and your Word that feeds it and makes it strong. We give you all the praise for it in Jesus Name, Amen.

What It Means to See with the Eye of Faith
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

Looking for A Few Good Disciples, Can You Help?

__________
References:

Louw Nida ↩
BAGD ↩
A Greek English Lexicon of the Septuagint ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

What It Means to See with the Eye of Faith

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Twenty-Eight

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the Gospel of John. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

The Eye of Faith: Seeing with Your Spirit

The Eye of Faith: What It Means to See

The Eye of Faith: Seeing the Holy Spirit as Stand By

The Eye of Faith and Another Example of Standby Help

The Eye of Faith: Taking Heart and Believing

Eye of Faith: A Vision Problem

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the Gospel of John. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

The Eye of Faith: Seeing with Your Spirit

The Eye of Faith: What It Means to See

The Eye of Faith: Seeing the Holy Spirit as Stand By

The Eye of Faith and Another Example of Standby Help

The Eye of Faith: Taking Heart and Believing

Eye of Faith: A Vision Problem

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