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The age of mystery is the age of faith — Heb. 11:1, 6; Rev. 10:7; 1 Tim. 3:9:
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God’s mysteries are known by faith; for this reason the age of mystery is also the age of faith — Rev. 10:7.
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Faith is a substantiating ability by which we substantiate, give substance to, the things not seen or hoped for — Heb. 11:1:
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Faith assures us of the things not seen, convincing us of what we do not see; therefore, it is the evidence, the proof, of things not seen — v. 1.
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We do not regard, or look at, the things which are seen but the things which are not seen — 2 Cor. 4:18.
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The Christian life is a life of things unseen, and the Lord’s recovery is to recover His church from things seen to things unseen — Rom. 8:24-25; Heb. 11:27; 1 Pet. 1:8; Gal. 6:10.
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Faith is the unique way for God to carry out His New Testament economy with man — Heb. 11:6:
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God’s economy is in faith — a matter initiated and developed in the sphere and element of faith; without faith we cannot realize God’s economy — 1 Tim. 1:4.
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Faith is the unique requirement for people to contact God in His New Testament economy — Heb. 11:1, 6; 1 Tim. 1:4.
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God’s requirement for us related to everything in the New Testament economy is faith — Rom. 1:16-17; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17; Mark 11:22; Luke 18:8.
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Genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to become our ability to believe in Him; after the Lord Jesus has been infused into us, He spontaneously becomes our faith — Rom. 3:26.
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Through faith in Christ Jesus, we are brought into an organic union with Christ; in this organic union we experience Christ and live Christ — Gal. 2:16, 20; John 14:17; Eph. 3:17.
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In the Body “God has apportioned to each a measure of faith”; therefore, we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think “but to think so as to be sober-minded” — Rom. 12:3.
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Faith is the divine requirement for the overcomers to meet Christ in His triumphant return and to receive the reward of the kingdom — Luke 18:8; 2 Tim. 4:7c-8a; Heb. 10:35, 39.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the substantiation of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.2 Cor. 4:18 Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
In the whole universe there are two categories of things: the visible things and the invisible things (Col. 1:16). According to history and according to the real situation of the universe, the unseen things control the seen things. For instance, the visible part of our being, our body, is not the controlling factor of our being. Rather, the invisible part, the part that cannot be seen, is the controlling factor. We are controlled not by our body but by something within that is invisible yet real. Furthermore, our destiny, our future, is not according to the things that are seen but according to the unseen things. God is invisible (v. 15; 1 Tim. 1:17), and the entire universe is under His control (Psa. 103:19; Dan. 4:26). If we consider human history in light of the Bible, we will realize that all human history is controlled and directed not by visible things or by visible persons but by Someone who cannot be seen (Acts 17:26). (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, p. 89)
Today’s Reading
Only the Bible, the book of books, tells us of the unseen things….Those who are wise regard the invisible things, the things that are unseen and yet are revealed in the Bible (2 Cor. 4:18). The believers in Christ have never seen God, yet they believe in Him and love Him because the Bible reveals Him (1 Pet. 1:8). Likewise, we have never seen eternal life or our spirit, but we believe in these unseen things because the Bible reveals them to us.The Christian life is a life not of seen things but of unseen things. Anything that belongs to the Christian life is invisible. The degradation of the church is due to the fact that Christians have moved from the unseen things to the seen things, whereas the Lord’s recovery is the recovery of His church from the seen things to the unseen things. When we care only for things that are seen, we are fallen. But when we care for the living God by walking according to our mingled spirit (Rom. 8:4), both of which are unseen, we are being recovered to the normal Christian life and church life.
In order to regard the visible things, we do not need faith.... To walk by faith means that we regard the invisible things. In the church life we are walking not by sight, by appearance, but by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). We know that we are saved through faith (Eph. 2:8). This faith causes us to experience the divine birth with the divine life. When we were regenerated, the divine life, something invisible to the natural senses, was imparted into us. As a result of this impartation of life, we became brothers and sisters in the Lord. Even though neither the divine birth nor the divine life can be seen, we have an ability within that is able to substantiate the divine life in one another. This substantiating ability that is able to sense the invisible divine life within us is faith (Heb. 11:1).
Faith is not according to our feeling. Faith is the divine element infused into our being by the Spirit through the word of God. When the divine element is infused into us through a vision received from the word of the Bible, from a printed message, or from our spirit, something will spontaneously rise up within us to believe whatever God says. This is faith.
We all need to learn to open ourselves to God, His word, His speaking, and His vision. Then His Spirit will put a seal upon His word and will transfuse the divine element into our being as our believing ability. This is faith, the substantiation of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 3, pp. 90-91, 93-94)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” chs. 7-11; CWWL, 1978, vol. 1, “Basic Training,” ch. 1