What does the chair illustration say about what faith is?
The chair illustration shows that faith is trusting something to hold you without first inspecting it. A chair must be faithful to support you, just as Christ is faithful. Faith rests on His faithfulness and what He has done, not on how much we love Him.
Les explains the chair illustration by pointing out that when people came into the room, not one of them analyzed or inspected the chair to see if it would hold them. They were practically putting their lives on the line, yet they did not examine it. Their faith in that chair was that it would hold them. If you place your faith in the chair, then the chair has to be faithful. If the chair is not faithful, you would go to the floor, but it is there and holding you. That is faith. Les applies this same way to Christ: Christ has claimed to have done everything that is necessary, and Les put his faith in that. Someday in the eternal abode, God will not say it was not what it seemed; He will say the blood of Christ is faithful. He is faithful, and that is why we can trust Him. Les says this is what Paul is driving at: it is through the faithfulness, his faith in the One who is faithful to keep us, because He loved me and gave Himself for me. Les also notes that it is not how much we love Him, but how much He has loved us, which answers the question of whether one loves God enough or has enough faith.