John Wesley once said that the devil has given the church a substitute for faith, one that looks and sounds so much like faith that few people can tell the difference. Hope says, вЂњIвЂ™ll have it sometime.вЂќ Faith says, вЂњI have it now.вЂќ Head Faith vs. I hoped for physical strength to do the work that I knew must be done, and as I acted on GodвЂ™s Word my faith gave substance to that which I hoped for. Faith is giving substance to things hoped for.

We may say that we know GodвЂ™s Word is good, but we will never really know until we have acted on it and have reaped its results.

Although I was the weakest and skinniest one among that group of men, I was the last one to stay on the job. So I would pull myself out of bed each morning and go to work, gaining strength as I went along trusting in GodвЂ™s Word. You have to believe first, and then you will receive. Many people want to receive and then believe theyвЂ™ve got it. I never received any strength until I started to work. I acted upon the Word because I knew what faith was. The Bible says, вЂThe Lord is the strength of my life вЂ¦вЂ™ My life consists of the physical as well as the spiritual, and the Lord is the strength of my life.вЂќ If I had gone according to my feelings I wouldnвЂ™t have gotten out of bed. You know, two or three quit yesterday.вЂќ вЂњIf it wasnвЂ™t for the Lord I wouldnвЂ™t be here,вЂќ I would answer, вЂњfor you see, His strength is my strength. This was really hard work вЂ“ especially since I had been bedfast for sixteen months and at this time had been up only a few months.Д®very day the number of workers would be less and less, and each day someone would say to me, вЂњWell, I didnвЂ™t think youвЂ™d make it today. With another boy on the other side of the tree, together we would pull up these two-year-old trees to fill orders that had come in. I was able to get a job in a nursery helping to pull up peach trees. I needed work and, since this was during the depression, work was not easy to find. I learned an important lesson on faith shortly after I was raised up from the bed of affliction many years ago. Faith will say about itself everything that the Word says, for faith in God is simply faith in His Word. Faith says, вЂњThe Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?вЂќ (Psalm 27:1). You hope for physical strength to do the work that you must do.

Faith gives the assurance that you will have the money when you need it. Our text describes faith as вЂњthe evidence of things not seen.вЂќ For example, you hope for finances to meet the obligations that you have to pay. Faith, in other words, is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality. The above Scripture, however, is talking about a supernatural faith вЂ“ a faith that believes with the heart rather than believing what our physical senses may tell us. Everyone, saved and unsaved alike, has a natural, human faith. Central Truth: Faith is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality.ДЄ key verse in the study of faith is the familiar one found in Hebrews 11:1, вЂњNow faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.вЂќ MoffattвЂ™s translation of this verse reads, вЂњNow faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see.вЂќ Another translation says, вЂњFaith is giving substance to things hoped for.вЂќ Still another translation reads, вЂњFaith is the warranty deed, the thing for which we have finally hoped is at last ours.вЂќ Here God is telling us what faith is.

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