Believing Before Seeing
True faith counts on God and believes before it sees, trusting in His Word as the evidence of faith.
Charles E. Cowman preaches about the importance of having faith in God's promises in the present moment, emphasizing that God is always at work and meeting us in the now. He highlights the need to believe before seeing, trusting in God's Word alone as evidence of His faithfulness. Through examples from Joshua and the Psalmist, he encourages believers to maintain unwavering faith, even in the face of challenges and uncertainties, knowing that God's deliverance is on its way.
Text
"The land which I do give them, even the children of Israel" (Joshua 1:2).
God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. "When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them." Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW? --Joshua, by Simpson
True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God's Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God's Word.
The Psalmist says, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living" (Ps. 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord's answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.
If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall "laugh at impossibilities," we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.
Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. --Life of Praise
Sermon Outline
- God Speaks in the Present Moment
- The Test of Faith
- True Faith Counts on God
- Faith Sustains Us in Trying Places
- Faith speaks in the present moment
- God gives in the present moment
- Waiting for something is not believing
- Faith is the substance of things hoped for
- Believe before seeing
- God's Word is the evidence of faith
- Believing to see keeps us from fainting
- Faith grows and strengthens in testing
Key Quotes
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” — Charles E. Cowman
“When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them.” — Charles E. Cowman
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living” — Charles E. Cowman
Application Points
- Begin to praise God even now for the deliverance that is on its way to you.
- Lift up your head and trust that God is meeting you in the present moment.
- Believe that your prayers are already answered, and you shall have them.