05.02b Faith and Perception; Jonathan Edwards; Pastor Whitaker; The Book of Hebrews. Pastor Whitaker's sermon today was one of his best. It was on Hebrew 11:1:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I haven't time to do much analysis, so I'll just put notes here on the stories and references.

(1) I found a quote Pastor Whitaker used
here:

Ray Stedman quotes a former president of the Stanford Research Institute:

"Through the years I have struggled to gain a greater understanding of magnetism and electricity to help harness those forces for man's use. But I cannot even now give a lucid definition of magnetism or electricity, except to say that they are invisible forces which have real manifestations."



(2) You can take a test tube of pond water and see that it looks perfectly clear. But then if you put it under a microscope, you see lots of little animals inside. You need a new set of eyes to see the Protozoa. This reminds me of "Horton Hears a Who" too. And of the theology of Jonathan Edwards-- the idea that faith is like having a special sense perception, more than being an act of will or of intellect.

(3) Thoreau said, "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." A good quote for building thoughts on. I couldn't find the source easily.

(4) The word "substance" in the King James Hebrews 11:1 is "hypostasis" in Greek. See: Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for 'hupostasis (Strong's 5287) ' " . Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2002. 2 May 2004. for info on this interesting word, which in the King James Bible is translated by " confidence 2, confident 1, person 1, substance 1". Here are the five mentions, with word numbers:

2Cor 9:4 Lest 3381 haply 4458 if 1437 they of Macedonia 3110 come 2064 with 4862 me 1698, and 2532 find 2147 you 5209 unprepared 532, we 2249 (that 3363 0 we say 3004 not 3363, ye 5210) should be ashamed 2617 in 1722 this same 5026 confident 5287 boasting 2746.

2Cor 11:17 That which 3739 I speak 2980 , I speak 2980 [it] not 3756 after 2596 the Lord 2962, but 235 as 5613 it were foolishly 1722 877, in 1722 this 5026 confidence 5287 of boasting 2746.

Hebr 1:3 Who 3739 being 5607 the brightness 541 of [his] glory 1391, and 2532 the express image 5481 of his 846 person 5287, and 5037 upholding 5342 all things 3956 by the word 4487 of his 846 power 1411, when he had 4160 0 2512 0 by 1223 himself 1438 purged 4160 2512 our 2257 sins 266, sat down 2523 on 1722 the right hand 1188 of the Majesty 3172 on 1722 high 5308;

Hebr 3:14 For 1063 we are made 1096 partakers 3353 of Christ 5547, if 1437 4007 we hold 2722 the beginning 746 of our confidence 5287 stedfast 949 unto 3360 the end 5056;

Hebr 11:1 Now 1161 faith 4102 is 2076 the substance 5287 of things hoped for 1679 , the evidence 1650 of things 4229 not 3756 seen 991 .

[in full at 04.05.02b.htm]

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