This morning I want to deal with the passing nature of the
visible with the permanent nature of the eternal or the
invisible.
Now this was true, for instance, of the situation in which every
Jews found himself placed when he compared Judaism and the
temple with the call of Christ. The problem was that Judaism was
rooted in 1,500 years of truth, teaching, and tradition. It was
a vast, organized system of religion with adherents scattered
throughout the civilized world. They met in synagogues, they
observed the Sabbath, they kept the dietary laws, they made
annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem, they observed the feasts and
the Sabbaths, and the fasts. They paid their tithes and temple
taxes. They read their Bible. They bowed to every-growing
tradition of the so-called oral law, the tradition of the
elders. They anticipated the coming of a militant Messiah who
would break the power of Rome, make Jerusalem the capital of a
new world empire, and bring in the glorious golden age. It all
seemed so solid and real, especially the magnificent temple that
crowned Mount Moriah in gleaming gold and marble. These were the
things that were seen.
When the disciples tried to point out some of the wonders of
that temple to the Lord, He was not impressed. He saw beyond the
seen to the unseen. “Verily I say unto you,” “There shall not be
left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”
(Matthew 24:2).
A Jew that was confronted with Christianity had to face the fact
that Judaism was obsolete. Something God clearly proclaimed when
He tore asunder the temple veil, when Jesus died (Matthew
27:51). That monumental act signaled the end of an era. The
era of the seen. The era of altars and animal sacrifices and
temples and ordained priests and rituals and holy days and laws
written on tables of stone. But the Jews failed to recognize it.
All they could see was the temple still standing, the sacrifices
still being offered, the priest still functioning, the rules,
rituals, and regulations still being observed.
When a Jew was invited to become a Christian, he faced a
dilemma. Judaism with all its outward and visible forms, seemed
so real; Christianity seemed to be a religion of intangibles.
There was no great Cathedrals, no mass choirs, no robed priests,
no imposing ritual. The nearest thing to all that was a humble
table in some peasant’s cottage on which proposed bread and
wine. This was not enough. For 1,500 years they had seen great
temples, observed holy day, performed rituals; and now all they
could observe was some bread and wine on a table.
Moving from temporal; the seen, to the spiritual or the unseen,
the invisible: Christianity does not deal with types and
shadows; it proclaims a man called Jesus, who was totally
rejected by the Jewish religious establishment as a blasphemer.
Although, He had declared himself to be the Jewish Messiah and
the Son of God. He had reportedly performed many miracles and
unquestionably taught revolutionary truths of a higher order.
But, He had not come up to Jewish expectations and had certainly
not established the kind of kingdom the Jews had so long
anticipated. Worst of all, He had suffered death by crucifixion
and was anathema.
True, it was said that He was raised from the dead, but they did
not buy that. Christianity seemed unreal, and those who espoused
it to be living in some kind of a dream world. The Christians
met in holes and hideouts and had little, it seemed, to offer in
exchange for a centuries-old Judaism, other than lofty spiritual
principles and promises of rewards in the world to come. In
other words, the things that were seen, seemed much more
attractive, substantial, and enduring than the things that were
not seen. Yet Christianity was the real thing. Judaism was
illusionary. When you can see beyond the seen to the unseen you
are wise.
In our world, the same problem exists today. All that is seen is
temporal. Worldly possessions, worldly power, worldly positions
are all seen and temporal. Human philosophies break down when it
comes to the unseen and eternal. Their solutions to the problem
of sin and death are no more than vain and uninspired
speculations. The final answer to all our needs and questions is
Christ. And He now dwells among those things that are unseen and
eternal.
Christianity calls for a life-transforming step of faith to let
go of things seen and temporal, to lay hold of things not seen
but eternal. You must let go and let God. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. For by
it the elders obtained a good report.
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should receive for an inheritance obeyed.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and
was not found.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.
Church, it’s a faith venture. For we walk by faith and not by
sight (II Corinthians 5:7). Thomas walked by sight. He said,
“Unless I see the nail prints in His hands and thrust my fingers
in His side, I won’t believe.” Jesus said unto him, “You believe
because you have seen, but blessed are they that have not seen
and yet have believed.” (John
20:29)
The seen versus the unseen. It’s not in rituals, rules and
regulations. It’s not in stately temples, robed priests and
choirs. It’s in Him who was crucified, buried and rose.
Pastor, Rev. Dr. Cullian W. Hill