Hebrews 11:1-3
Faith is Believing in What We cannot See
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
1 Peter 1:3-12
Loving and Believing Without Seeing
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas After His Death
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 14:15-31
Jesus Promises His Disciples the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
John 16:1-15
Jesus Would Go Away and the Holy Spirit Would Come
1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
John 8:31-32
The Truth Shall Set You Free
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Acts 2:1-13
The Holy Spirit Comes at the Pentecost
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Acts 4:12
Salvation is Found in Jesus Alone
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Forty days after Jesus resurrected, He ascended into heaven...So now He is not physically present for us...He is two thousand years removed from us and in heaven...And sometimes this can be hard for us...It would be nice if He were physically right here beside us...It would be nice to see Him face to face as His Disciples did...It can be hard to believe in things that we cannot see...It can be just as hard to love Someone we cannot see...It can also sometimes be hard to trust someone we cannot see...But it can be done...
Jesus knows we can believe in Him, without Him being physically here with us...And we can be blessed by Him, when we believe in Him and have not seen Him or feel His Presence...He tells us of these things when His Disciple doubted that He could physically resurrect from His death...Thomas, one of His original Twelve Disciples, could not believe that His LORD and His God, could resurrect from His physical death...Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”...
And along those same lines of believing without seeing, St. Peter talks to us about believing, loving, and having faith without seeing Jesus in the flesh...St. Peter teaches us that in our sufferings and trials, we often go through these things to prove and improve the genuineness of our faith...A strong faith, is one that has been through much, and is of greater worth than gold and dollars...A strong faith will result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed to us...Because even though we may have not seen Him in the flesh, we still love Him...And even though we do not see Him now in the flesh now, we believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for we are receiving what He gives to us, which includes the salvation of our souls, which is the end result of one's faith...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved...
So we can love Jesus and still not see Him...And because we love Him, we can trust Him...And because we can love Him and trust Him, we can believe in Him and be filled with joy...Because having faith is this confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see -yet we still believe...And this is what the people of strong faith are commended for...Let us be reminded and think that just because Jesus is not physically present with us, this does not mean that He is absent from us...He has made this clear when He sent His Disciples the Holy Spirit...He clearly stated that He would not leave His Disciples alone or as orphans...He would send them an Advocate, a Helper, a Holy Spirit to be with them and to guide them...The Holy Spirit of Truth could not come until He ascended into heaven...Only after His ascension into heaven would His work become complete...Then the Holy Spirit would come, after His ascension and being back with His Father, the Holy Spirit would glorify Him completely...And this Advocate would guide His Disciples to the Truth...And His Truths would set them free...This Holy Spirit would receive information from Jesus and spiritually make it known to His Disciples...The Holy Spirit is their faith connection...And this faith connection is One they would not be able to see...The Holy Spirit would come to His Disciples on the first Pentecost after His death...Jesus would continue to speak to His Disciples through the Holy Spirit, as He did on the Day of the Pentecost...
So we can gain confidence in our faith, even though Jesus is not here the Person, but knowing He has sent us the indwelt Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is with us in our lives...The Advocate is a union with God, a belief in Him, and a trust in Him...The work of the Holy Spirit will be to bear witness on Jesus, and to remind us that He was on earth, He taught and did miracles on earth, died on the cross on earth, resurrected on earth, and then He returned to His Father...The Holy Spirit would glorify Jesus once He got back to heaven, back with His Father...And all that belongs to the Father belongs to Jesus...That is why Jesus said the Spirit would receive from Him what He would make known to the Disciples...
God's work in His followers is attributable to the Holy Spirit...We want to seek the Truth...We want to know the Truth...And we want to know the Truth, the kind of Truth that will set us free...And we are nudged along...Through His gentle nudging and guidance, we are being led to the Truth...Believing in Jesus means believing in Him without seeing Him, and that is faith...