I recently came across an old cassette tape that I haven’t heard in a very long time. I remember it well. It greatly blessed me every time I heard it. I have converted it to digital and it is posted here for your enjoyment. I suggest you turn up the volume, sit quietly and get ready to be blessed.

Rev. Bob miller

This is well worth reading. Received in an E-Mail. Written by Anonymous.

This verse is usually the jumping off point for a sermon or teaching on the subject of Faith. Faith is extremely important. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that our very salvation depends on it… “For by grace are you saved through Faith.” And further down in Hebrews chapter 11 we are told that, “without Faith it is impossible to please God.” So, very often we wish to echo the request of those who were closest to Jesus when in Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our Faith!”

At first glance it would seem that Jesus sidestepped the issue with His answer. (See verses 6-10 of Luke 17) He didn’t! What he did was to address their expectations. “Faith is the substance of things HOPED for.” Hope is the foundation of Faith. Without Hope, Faith can not exist!

So, what is Hope? Both the biblical and the dictionary definition of Hope are basically the same. Hope is, “The confident expectation of a future event.” A synonym of Hope is, Anticipation: To look forward to something with a confident desire. Hope does NOT mean what we think it means in every day usage! Often, when we are asked if we think a certain thing will happen, we respond by saying, “I hope so.” But, our voice is tinged with doubt. What we really mean is, I wish it would, but I’m not sure it will.

That is NOT true Hope! That is NOT biblical Hope! Hope is not an iffy, iffy, maybe, maybe something that we wish would happen but might not! Hope is confidence in a future event. It is, believing that something will happen even though it has not happened yet. Even though it may look as though it never will. And, having Hope is, being as CONFIDENT in an occurrence happening as if it had already taken place. Romans 4:18 says of Abraham that, “Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations.”” His own body, being old, argued against it ever happening. Never-the-less he confidently expected it because, God had promised it.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is called, “Our blessed HOPE.” He IS coming again! That is not iffy. That is not maybe. That is definite! You can count on it! It WILL happen. But, it is a future event. That is why it is called a HOPE. But, it is a Hope you can be confident in! You can bank your life on it! And, we are told to base our lives, our behavior, our actions on that Hope. How and why do we do that? By Faith! In that Hope! The Hope produces the Faith to act and live according to the Hope.

Many Christians are struggling to build Faith when they should be building Hope as a stepping stone to Faith.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you have to travel tomorrow, from your home to another city. And, suppose the best way to go, is by train. What do you do first? You will probably consult the time table or train schedule to find one that is convenient. The next morning you will set your alarm clock to awaken you in time to be ready. You will get up, get dressed and call a taxi to take you to the station. When the taxi comes, you will leave your house, get into the taxi and tell the driver to take you to the station.

Do you know how you will do all those things? By Faith! Faith in what? The train schedule. The time table. You read it and it said that a train will be at the station at such and such a time. You believed it. So, you are expecting a train to be there. If you weren’t expecting the train to be there you wouldn’t have called the taxi or done any of the other things you did to get to the station. So your confidence in the train schedule prompted you to act. You confidently expected a train. That’s why you went to the station. You would be a fool to go to the station if you weren’t expecting a train!

Many Christians are struggling for Faith. There are many teachings on how to obtain it or build it. Name it and Claim it, some say, is the way. The power is in the tongue… “You have to say what you believe to get it,” they say. So, although there is some truth there, they lead many astray because they miss a very important point.

Romans 10:17 tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” But, how does that work? It’s not a matter of memorizing. Though memorizing the Word of God can be a good thing. It’s not a matter of “Confessing” the Word. Though there are times when proclaiming God’s truth is indeed commendable. It’s simply a matter of putting as much confidence in the Word of God as you would in a train schedule. Let’s face it. The train schedule is often wrong. The Train may be late or may not show up at all. But, the Word of God is ALWAYS true! You can count on it! What God says will ALWAYS come to pass. In ISAIAH 46:11 God says, “Truly I have spoken, truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it!”

Build your expectations, your Hopes on the Word of God. What are you expecting God to do for you? Are you expecting Him to honor His Word? Your Faith is based on your expectations. If you expect nothing, that is what you will get. Faith is the substance of things HOPED for. It is also, “the evidence of things not seen.” When you leave for the station, you don’t yet see the train. Your expectations drive you on.

There is a marvelous example of this in Mark chapter two. Because a man’s friends “expected” Jesus to heal him, they carried him a long way. Then when they couldn’t get through the crowd, they went up on the roof and actually cut a hole in someone else’s house to lower him down to Jesus. And “Jesus saw their Faith.” What did he see? He saw what their expectations produced. Evidence. A hole in the roof. That was Faith! In action! And it became Hope fulfilled, when Jesus healed the man.

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