Opened The Door of Faith Acts 14:27

Hebrews 11:1

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

Christ desires for us to have strong faith, what is even more amazing is that He creates, produces, and strengthens that faith with in us. Two ways He accomplishes this is through answering prayers and revealing scripture to us. This kind of faith convinces us that we will see things that we do not yet see, and we can hope for things that have not yet happened.

After Jesus had gone to the cross, suffered for our sin, and was buried, there were two men on a road going to a village called Emmaus. Let’s read their story together…

Luke 24:13-35

“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

 “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Jesus met these men right where they were, and through connection and conversation He changed their whole outlook. Verse 27 of this chapter says that Jesus started with Moses and all the prophets, spoke about each scripture that was a revelation about Him. What a conversation this must have been. It wasn’t until the two men ate with Jesus that their eyes were opened and they recognized who they had been speaking to. At which point Jesus vanished and the two men remembered how they felt as Jesus had spoken about the scripture and about Himself.

We can understand that these two men would have read and heard these scriptures before. It is even likely that they may have had some of these passages memorized, but Jesus opened their eyes and their mind to understand the scriptures deeper. He revealed to them that these scripture foretold of Himself. In turn their faith strengthened and they experienced an “Ah Ha” moment that they would never forget.

Our understanding of scripture will never be complete while we are here on Earth

There is always more to be revealed, because the scripture is living.

Hebrews 4:12 NIV

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Scripture is our direct source of knowledge and understanding of God. This is why reading scripture is not at all like reading a self help book or anything like reading a book of rules for us to follow. It is reading the will of God and reading the words that describe His character and His heart.

John 1:1 NIV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

To truly understand what we are reading it has to be revealed to us. Thankfully we have a Helper who does that very thing.

1 Corinthians 2:13 NIV

“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”

As we spend more time reading the scripture, not just with the intention of knowledge, but with the heartening on the Spirit to guide our understanding we align our will with God and we draw closer to the character of Christ. This also makes us more aware of God’s answers to our prayers.

Mark 11:22-26 NIV

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

We must have faith in God. Faith that He will do what He says He will do and faith that what He says He will do will always line up with scripture. We must live in that faith. Allowing patience to do it’s good work as we wait on answers from God because that strengthens our faith. We see through scripture evidence of what mighty things happened to those who stayed strong in the Faith.

Hebrews 11:4-40 NIV

“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.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,

even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”

Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets,

who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.

Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—

the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

After reading about all these people and their accounts of faith, I encourage you today to get alone and worship God. Ask Him to strengthen your faith. Listen to the song “Elohim”: by Bethel Music and Noah Paul Harrison ‧ 2025 and read the lyrics.

Trust that when you ask God, He will give you faith to see mountains move.