THE SUBSTANCE AND THE EVIDENCE
(As it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were. Romans 4:17.
God and Abraham must have had an interesting relationship. Abraham is called the friend of God, which means they had a very close communion. The Lord would come to feeble old Abraham and say, “Hello there, father of many nations,” as though that were God’s little nickname for him.
Abraham considered his body as good as dead, but God calls the things that are not as though they were. Why?
Reality comes from what God says, not from the appearance of things. If God says the moon is purple, believe me, the moon is purple. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4).
The arrogance of the human mind would exalt itself as a supreme court of all arbitration and decision and say, “I think it is such and so.” But whatever God says, that’s the way it is. “Well, it doesn’t look that way.” You can’t judge anything by appearances. What can you trust? Trust the Lord. Trust Him who calls the things that are not as though they were.
Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be. And without being weakened in faith (this didn’t weaken his faith) he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old) … Romans 4:18, 19.
Abraham wasn’t ignoring the facts. If he had been asked how he was doing, he would have said, I’m over a hundred years old now. I don’t get around as much as I used to. This old body of mine is just as good as dead.”
“What’s coming up in the future, Abraham?”
“I’m going to be a father.”
“Oh? Sarah’s pregnant?”
“No, but she’s going to be.”
… and the deadness of Sarah’s womb …
She doesn’t look so good either. Yet, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith.
Any morning you could have heard him in his prayers. He was becoming ferocious. He was waxing strong. Some of the servants probably listened to Abraham praying and thought, “Hmmm, getting old and talking foolish.”
But he was waxing stronger and stronger through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Wherefore also it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:19–22. God heard his prayers and was well pleased. He had laid out His purpose before Abraham, and Abraham believed it.
I’d like to call your attention to verse 17 again: God … calleth the things that are not, as though they were. Where will we learn the real walk of faith? How are we going to learn it?
It is essential that we listen over and over again to the prophecies, positioning ourselves in the place of fulfillment. The prophecies speak as though they were an accomplished fact. And for us to begin contending for God to execute them would be an expression of unbelief at this point.
Just because people have become intense in their prayer does not necessarily mean that they are praying with faith. They may be violently and deeply disturbed over some situation in which they want God to undertake for them, but if God has spoken a word, the intensity of that faith has to move in another direction, becoming a worship of the Lord, praise to God.
It becomes a contending with the adversary who stands in the way. But it never, never questions what God has said. It accepts His word as a valid and real fact, the only fact upon which we move.
God has a way of speaking things; then they happen. He calls things that are not as though they were. If He tells Abraham, A father of many nations have I made thee that word is a reality in the realm of the Spirit. He has made him a father of many nations even though he has no children. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
As we go on in the Scriptures, we find this happening again and again. The longer I live, the more complete, implicit faith I have in what God says in the Word.
As far as I am concerned you could take all the higher critics and these so-called brilliant expositors and commentators and throw all their teaching in the trash can, because it will do everything except build your faith.
When I read the Word of God, I want to believe it. Let me give you an illustration from a prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah 45:1 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him’ And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:2 “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.3 “I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.4 “For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name. I have given you a title of honor. Though you have not known Me.
Cyrus wasn’t even born until a hundred years after this.
5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;6 That amen may know from the rising to the setting of the sun. That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other 7 The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
I’m going to believe the Bible just as it is. If Isaiah bothers the critics by prophesying the name of the man who will be used for the restoration of the children of Israel from the land of exile a hundred years before he even exists, that’s all right. God calls the things that are not as though they were. You can count on it coming to pass exactly as God says.
Another illustration is the message of the angel of the Lord to Gideon: And the angel of the Lord came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. It was a plateau type of winepress, which means that it was back in a cool area, in a rocky shelter. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, Oh, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian: have not I sent thee? Judges 6:11–14.
I wouldn’t think of him as a man of valor. The minute the angel starts speaking, Gideon questions, “Where are the miracles our fathers talked about? Why has this happened to us?” That doesn’t sound like a mighty man of valor; it sounds like he’s full of doubts and rebellious questions. “Some God we’ve got, getting us into a mess like this.” “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” “He hasn’t been lately, not with me.
Man of valor? You’ve got me confused with someone else.” And he goes on to tell that his father’s house is the least in Manasseh (which wasn’t much of a tribe), and he is the least in his father’s house, way down on the bottom rung of the social ladder. Again God is calling things that are not as though they were.
The prophecies over us are every bit as surprising as the word of God in the Scriptures. We have been called a mighty army of the Lord. Hah, Us? When we look at the flesh, we could stagger in unbelief.
But when God says we’re an army, we’re an army! When we begin to accept God’s verdict of ourselves, that’s the day we’ll move in faith.
We get overwhelmed, not so much by ego as by a sense of inadequacy—that’s the greater problem for most of us. we use to look at ourselves and say, “You’re not much.”
But now we come in the name of the Lord and say, “I am what God says I am. I will be and do what God says I am to be and to do. There is not going to be any wavering in my heart.”
That’s why the recent prophecies I have been given were all so positive, declaring the thing as already existing. We call things that are not as though they were, and amazingly, some of them have come into view. They’re invisible to us in the sense realm, but they become very real to us in our spirits. And because of that we appropriate them; we speak them into existence.
Many people still have the idea that faith is a mental exercise, but … faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. One translation reads, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen,” but that’s not enough; it still makes it a mental attitude.
The literal Greek reads, “Faith is the giving substance to the thing hoped for, the evidence (or test) of things not seen.” What does that mean to you?
God is calling things that are not as though they were. When God speaks, it has reality because His words are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). For God to declare something is to give it substance in the spirit right then. It’s born in the desire of His heart; it’s born in His mind. He says, “Let there be,” and it comes forth. That’s all He has to do.
All God has to do for you is to give you a word. That’s why we’re going to emphasize a great deal the flow of prophecy over individuals in a personal flow of divine revelation, speaking the word of the Lord over people’s hearts, because that is what will create the end-time army and the gifts and ministries. Paul said to Timothy, “Call to mind the gifts that were given to you by the laying on of hands and prophecy” (II Timothy 1:6). Hands were laid on him, prophecy was spoken, and it came into being. We’re going to see the same thing happen, again and again. When you ask for ministry don’t dwell on the negative problems. Say, “I want a word from God. I want a ministry; I want an open door. I want God to declare something.” Then stand and rejoice and believe God for it and watch it come into view. When God says this is it, it means this is it!
Faith is the substance of the thing hoped for. Consider how a young couple gets married and begins to talk and plan for a family. The baby they want has no substance; it begins by the desire, the thought and the love in their own hearts and minds. Eventually it comes into its own existence.
The thing that God wants you to have comes by a word; you have the desire and find yourself given to it and believing it. It has substance in your spirit before you’re ever able to see it or handle it in a physical way. You’ll dream your dreams, young men, as Joel prophesied. But as you dream your dreams and rejoice in the Lord, one day you’ll realize you’re not dreaming!
The world will say we’re foolish, but we’re walking in what God has said. “Say no more in your heart, ‘Tomorrow, tomorrow.’ Say no more in your heart, ‘A day yet to come.’ But say in your heart, ‘Today is the day …’ ” We are in it. You can’t believe it? You’ll have to believe it!
We’re going to be partakers of the patience of Jesus. He, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet (rejoicing, glorifying God). For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:12–14.
Jesus isn’t worried about anything because the Father has committed everything to Him—every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess (Philippians 2:10, 11).
All the blaspheming sons of Belial aren’t even bothering Him a bit; they’re all going to be down on their knees before Him, not in salvation, but adoring and worshiping Him. Every one of them! It’s done as far as the Lord is concerned.
And what do we do? We have to be seated with Him in the heavenly places. Come on, move right up to the throne with Him! We’re heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:17).
What the Lord has accomplished, what He has won, is ours too. “Well, I don’t see it.” Of course you don’t see it, but you have it! Faith is the substance of the thing hoped for; it’s the evidence of the thing not seen. You know God has given you words and promises. Will you claim the reality of them?
I am through praying for healing or for anything else because I believe I already have it. God will take care of the symptoms, every one of them.
In the early days of camp meetings there was a lot of emphasis on receiving things by faith. Smith Wigglesworth, the champion of that line of teaching, would say, “I’m not moved by anything I hear; I’m not moved by anything I see; I’m only moved by what God says.” That was the key. You couldn’t disturb him or upset him about anything.
People got hold of that idea in those days. A man came to one of those camp meetings, who had a large goiter on his neck. He was prayed for, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he believed he had been healed. He got up in a service after service testifying, “Thank God for my healing. I had this goiter condition for many years. Praise God, He’s healed it.”
Of course, it was still hanging there, with all the symptoms. The minister in charge of the camp meeting came over to him and said, “You’ll have to stop this. You’re making people stumble, saying you’re healed when the goiter is still there.
We don’t want you to testify anymore until the symptom is gone.” That evening the man prayed, “Lord, I know You healed me, but the symptom is bothering these people. Take it away, Lord.” And the Lord caused it to disappear.
In one version of the book of Jonah, he prays to be delivered from lying symptoms. That’s something we all need. Those symptoms are lies. Don’t believe them. They are evidence of nothing. They’re the fabric out of which the lies of Satan are created. You cannot waver, you cannot doubt. When God says something, you must accept it absolutely.
People have a tendency to be gripers, complainers, and murmurers because they are affected by symptoms. They’re affected by circumstances and surrounding conditions more than they should be. The children of Israel walked right into the dealings of God because they murmured. They came out of Egypt with all the promises (“I’ve given you the land …”—Joshua 1:3) and instead of rejoicing in that, they grumbled. The Lord slew some of them. He kept knocking them down until finally they whined and prayed a little, but the tendency to murmur and complain was still in their hearts.
God deliver us from that, and make us a people who can worship the Lord and rejoice in the Lord because of the words that God has given us and the provision He’s made for us. This becomes a basis of real faith.
We do not worship to reach God; we worship because God has reached us. We worship because God has met us. God gave us a word. It lighted upon us, and we became worshipers. This is a great factor of faith as far as our hearts are concerned.
God calls those things that are not as though they were. Don’t be upset at the prophecies. Fantastic things are being prophesied, but that’s the way fantastic things come about. Someone is moved upon in the Spirit and he prophesies them.
“Ah, but I know many things that haven’t been fulfilled.” Yes, there are many things; but you’ll also have to admit that you’re unbelieving at times. Sometimes you do come up strong to believe, but faith must be a continuous activity of your spirit, not something that surges up twice a month or twice a year.
Faith claims and believes what God has said and what He has given. Faith is a continuous activity that rests in God and, like Abraham, does not waver.
As the years went on, it looked like Abraham and Sarah had reached the sunset of their lives, but Abraham still believed God and rested in the promise. God met him every morning, saying, “Hello there, father of many nations.”
“How are You, Lord? It was a good night, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, it was a good night.” And they walked and they talked. They had some beautiful talks. As they walked at night, the Lord would say, “Can you count all those stars up there?”
“No, Lord, I can’t count them.”
“Remember, that’s the way your seed will be—as the stars of the heavens.”
In the morning the Lord would greet old Abraham and say, “Let’s take another walk.” Why is it that people always delight in walking with God? It’s a wonderful activity.
And as they walked out in the morning sun along the shore, He said, “Abraham, father of many nations, My friend, can you count the sands? That’s how numerous your seed will be.”
“Lord, that’s a mighty wonderful thing to know.”
Can you see Abraham in his faith? He wavered not through unbelief. The promise didn’t stagger him; he couldn’t be shaken. God surely must have delighted in that. “Abraham, don’t you ever get shook up at some of the things I say?”
“No, Lord, I like to hear them.”
“Are you going to believe them?”
“Yes, I’m going to believe them.”
“Why do you believe them, Abraham?”
“Because I love You. I’ll believe what You say about me.”
A young man who is self-conscious or has an inferiority complex keeps beating himself down whenever he speaks. He needs a good little wife who will build him up continually, telling him what a great guy he is. Then he will have to believe it, or else he’ll have to say to her, “No, I don’t love you.”
When love declares something about you, you must believe it—that’s what makes it so. As two lovers hold hands, he looks at her and says, “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world.” “Oh, no I’m not really. You’re just saying that.” If she is wise, she will say, “If you say so.”
It’s time for you to believe what the One who loves you so much has said about you. Don’t challenge His love. Because He loves you, He said it—and that makes it so. And because you love Him, you believe it.
You don’t believe because your ego tells you to believe it; neither do you reject it because you’re overwhelmed with your own sense of inadequacy. Put both of them aside; be neither self-assertive nor self-conscious. The old man has been crucified with Christ.
Faith says, “Yes, Lord, I am what You declare me to be.” Believe in who you are, because it is entirely by the grace of God. You wouldn’t be that if God hadn’t declared it, nor would you be that if you didn’t accept it.
Do you find that the axe has been laid to the root of your unbelief? God is dealing with you to walk in something more than you’ve ever walked in before. Don’t sing the blues and say, “Look at what I am.” Look to God and say, “Lord, what am I?”
Lord, tell me what to believe about myself. Tell me what You’ve done for me. I’ll try not to evaluate my assets on a natural plane. But tell me, Lord, how rich I am. Tell me again that I’m Your heir, an heir of God and joint heir with Christ. Tell me again, Lord, what You’ve given me, all things that pertain to life and godliness.
Oh, God, tell me again that I’m not a beggar, but a dearly beloved son. Tell me again, Lord, what the blood has done for me. Show me again, once more, how the veil was rent from top to bottom so that I can have access to You. Tell me about it. Let Your Spirit whisper to me because I’m going to believe what You say. I’m going to believe what You have done. I’m going to believe in what You have made me to be. Speak it again, Lord, those things that are not. Call them forth as though they are, and we will rejoice together that they exist. And they’ll come forth in the name of the Lord.