All right, we remember this last
week having been here in the morning service. Now, faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. For by it the elders obtained
a good report. Now, verse 3, through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so
that things which are seen were not made of things that do appear. Now look at that again. By faith
we understand that the worlds, literally the ages, were framed
by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. We'll have to go to Genesis in
our study this morning. But let's begin by reminding
ourselves that a very great battle is raging in our public society
as to the origin of all things, the earth and man and such like. Now especially is this war being
waged in and through the educational system. It has been taken over
by secular progressives which take the side of evolution. Evolution, once called a theory,
once referred to as only a theory is now widely accepted as a fact
and is furthermore promoted as being scientific. We are told
that it is scientific, as the proponents claim that science
supports the process of evolution as accounting for the origin
and the existence of all things, including the human family. That mankind, they say, by a
scientific process, but unexplained by them, evoluted over millions
and millions of years, and that we actually came up from the
lower creature that preceded us Our nearest ancestors, they
say, being the apes and the monkey. So we're almost at the point
in America, we may be there already, I think, when a creationist,
one who believed in the creation account, would be not only shunned,
but laughed out of modern academia altogether. We see it happening
all the time. Thus it is that evolution, once
considered a heresy, once considered anti-God and anti-Christian,
has been able in our generation to come out of the closet and
be accepted as a legitimate belief in our day and time and have
a respected position among society and even being taught alongside
of creation and sometimes instead of creation. Let me reminisce
a bit. Some of you are not old enough.
But there was a time when the teacher might say to his or to
her class, I don't believe in evolution, but it's what's in
the textbook, it's what I have to teach, and it's how you have
to take a test and to answer it. And the student at the same
time, perhaps being influenced by their church or parents or
Christianity, The student would also say, I don't believe myself
in evolution, but to pass the test, I have to give the answer
that is written up in the textbook. Henry Morris, in his preface
to his book, The Twilight of Evolution, and he wrote a lot
about evolution and creation. But he wrote this, and it caught
my fancy, and I'm quoting, the evolutionary perspective has
captured the intellectual world and is rapidly overwhelming the
religious world as well, unquote. This in 1963, he wrote these
words in that book, yea, sad to say, It has won over some
religionists and some professing Christians. We'll consider more
about that later in our subject. Now let us consider, so where
does the Christian stand on the issue of creation and evolution? Or perhaps the question ought
to be, where should the Christian stand on the matter of creation
and evolution? What does the scripture have
to say about it? Is it an important issue? Is it something that we ought
to take a stand on? Is it worth a contention? Or it certainly is contentious. Some, even in religious circles,
are looking at it as if it were, quote, a peripheral issue and
not a main and a central one, as if it is only an issue out
on the fringes somewhere and not a central issue. It is out
on the border, and it's not that important that we make a contention
about it. We disagree with that, and we
do so upon two grounds. Number one, scripture many times
comes down on the side of creation. Scripture teaches us the created
world by God himself. And secondly, what a person believes
in about origin has a very strong influence upon the other aspects
of their life. It has the strongest influence
on their belief and on their practicing. It is the foundation
of their basic belief system. It is a major factor in their
worldview and how they view the world. So it makes all the difference
in the world. whether one believes that God
created our first parent or they ascended up from the monkeys
and from the apes. It is very important and makes
all the difference. So ere we venture further out
into this controversy, let us take the time to give a short
summary and a short definition of each position, summing up
their main points and then taking a look at them. First of all,
evolution. The teaching of evolution is
the theory, is the teaching, is the belief that all things,
cosmic and organic, that all forms of life evolved from earlier
forms of life by a very slow process known as Evolution assumes
the existence of matter. Evolution can't work without
the assumption of the existence of pre-existing matter. And some there are on the side
of evolution who teach that there was a resident force in that
pre-existing matter, that it was a heated vapor mass or a
mist of some kind, and that in the very, very distant past indeed. And that innate force then set
in motion that matter and it went in different directions
and finally evolving into what we see and what we live on now. Now there are, of course, there
are, of course, not able to explain the existence of either the matter
or the force which is so vital to the process of evolution. Without it, it has no skids to
run upon. That's a summary of evolution. Now, as we look at creation,
it is that doctrine which teaches that all things, the heaven,
the earth, the sea, all things that are therein were created
by the eternal and invisible God, that He created the things
that are out of nothing, out of absolutely nothing, that creation
was not God arranging or rearranging any preexistent matter, but that
God, by the very word of his power, he called, he spoke, he
willed into existence those things that were pleasing unto him,
and that he created the first man from the dust of the earth
or the ground, and that from a rib of that man, according
to the scripture, he created a woman and brought her to be
the wife of Adam. Thus, the human family had a
common origin. Paul declares that in Acts chapter
17 and verse 26 when he said, He has made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth. All of
them descend, therefore, from a common stock and according
to that biblical rule of Genesis chapter 1, each one after their
kind. And at this point we make the
statement that there is no mixing, there is no mingling of the two
positions together. Evolution and creation cannot
be mingled together or be co-mingled. They are irreconcilable all of
the way. One cannot believe both in creation
and in evolution. And as Christians in our day,
we abhor the attempt of some to marry Christianity to evolution. This is indeed an unequal yoke. It is an illegitimate union and
such a cursed notion as that, to paraphrase another, cannot
be upheld and it cannot be maintained without attacking the inspiration
and the authority of the Holy Scripture. We have to set aside
the teaching of the Scripture to espouse in any form or any
degree evolution. The Church is the first and ought
to be the last bastion of defense for creation and against evolution. It is a major doctrine of Christianity
and a major doctrine of the Scripture. It is not to be taken lightly
and is something that we cannot give up and maintain our authority
in the Scripture. Can we be even more dogmatic
and say that no Christian could believe or no Christian should
believe in evolution? And as soon as God gives the
faith of His elect, as in Titus 1, 1 through 3, as soon as a
person is regenerate and they are called by the grace and the
Spirit of God They stagger not at the doctrine of creation as
it is set out in the scripture. Now, I said that we would have
to go to Genesis, and in the first verse of the first book
of the Bible, The Old Testament opens with a declaration of the
creation of the world. Now, genesis actually means beginning
or origin. The word or the name genesis. In the beginning. God created
the heaven and the earth. He created it out of nothing,
and it refutes the teaching of some that the unformed matter
of the world was already in existence when God created the world, and
that God shaped it and gave it a form and arranged it in the
order as he saw fit and best pleased him. But as Calvin wrote,
the word vavra, in the first chapter of Genesis, has the primary
meaning of to create. And Gil wrote, here it signifies
the bringing something into being out of nothing. So that in this
sense, creation then is a making a new thing out of something,
making a new thing to be something that never was before. Though he made Adam of the dust,
and he made Eve out of a rib. But in Genesis 1 and 1, the earth
is mentioned by name. God created the earth, the terrestrial
world in which we live, designed by God to be the habitation of
the human family. Psalm 115 and verse 16 the earth hath he given unto
the children of men. Then look at Genesis chapter
1 and verse 2. The earth that God made was without
form and void, and darkness, says Moses, was upon the face
of the deep. Now here I tread with fear and
trembling, because there are so many strange doctrines that
are drawn from these words, and it is easy to espouse one of
them and to err out of the way. For example, some, as Clarence
Larkin, taught that Genesis chapter 1 is a record of the restoration
of the earth. and not a record of the original
creation or what he called the pre-Adamite earth. He says the
manner of the original creation of the earth is not revealed
unto us in the scripture. And listen, if you can believe
somebody claiming to be and writing a Christian book to say, quote,
we have to fall back upon science, unquote, to find out about the
origin of the earth. One of the theories of science
is the nebular hypothesis, which takes us back to the theory of
those gaseous masses that were inexistent, that matter upon
which evolution turns and depends. And then Larkin writes this,
that by this nebular hypothesis theory, quote, the formation
of our solar system took thousands upon thousands of years, unquote. And then, when it had cooled
off sufficiently, said he, again he wonders with his pen, how
many millenniums must it have required for the earth to pass
from matter to a habitable state, unquote. Now such is Holbein's
view similar to this believe that some great catastrophe befell
the original earth, throwing it into the chaotic form that
is described in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2. However, sounder
expositors are of the opinion that verse 2 of Genesis 1 says
it was not yet in the form that it was to be. not in the form
that God wanted or did make it and that it is now. As for example,
as the old writer John Gill wrote, water and earth were not yet
separated one from the other and set apart and boundaries
put upon the sea. but they were mixed up together. And as the verse says, darkness
was upon the face of the deep. Then look what we read, and the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water. Now, you might
see it somewhere, and in some translation, the Spirit of God
moved, or the Spirit of God brooded, or the Spirit of God covered,
upon the unformed, watery dark. We read in Genesis 1 and 1, In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And our
text in Hebrews 11 and 3 said, Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God. We should notice,
Moses, in writing Genesis, is not giving us a scientific account
of creation. He does not write as a scientist. He says nothing at all about
carbon dating or atoms or molecules or gaseous masses. He is not
writing to us from a scientific standpoint. but is writing from
a religious standpoint, speaking to the faith of God's elect,
that God created the world. It's both a fact and a revelation. It is written by Moses as a matter
of fact, and as such is commended to our faith who believe in God,
as it is by faith that we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, not the written word of God in this place, but
his word of command, his word of power. We read again and again
in Genesis chapter 1, and God said, and God said, let there
be, and it was so, let there be light. and there was light. Let there
be a firmament, and there was a firmament. Let the waters under
the heaven be gathered together in one place, and it was so. Let the earth bring forth grass
and vegetation, and it was so. And so on in every individual
case. Listen to what the psalmist said,
Psalm 33. And verse 9, He spake, and it
was, He commanded, and it stood fast. Listen to that. He spake,
and it was, He commanded, and it stood fast. That old time
writer gave me the thought of the first thing the apostle in
Hebrews chapter 11 proposes as an exhortation for us to persevere
in the faith and the gospel and the worship of God. The first
thing that he sets out as an object of our faith is the power
of God in both the original creation of all things out of nothing,
but also His claiming and preserving them in their present state. We'll be coming back to this
thought shortly in our study. Now the question might come to
one's mind, how in Hebrews 11 is a reference to God's framing
the world by the word of his power, how is that suitable as
an exhortation to continue and to persevere in a profession
of Christ and of Christianity. After all, in Hebrews 11, all
of the other examples of faith concern the acts and the feats
of persons in particular, things done by the grace of faith that
dwell in them, each one of them acting in or acting out or acting
through faith. So let us consider this question. All the other examples of faith
in chapter 11 of Hebrews are related either to things present
or future in the case of those people. Something was done by
faith at the time or something was hoped for or expected by
faith in the future. It was expected, it was anticipated,
such examples fit the part of the description of faith in verse
1 of Hebrews 11, the substance of things hoped for, the confidence
of things not seen. Now while the example in Hebrews
11 and verse 3 concerning the framing of the world looks to
the past, and a long, long time in the past. And it, however,
fits the description in verse 1 of Hebrews 11, the evidence
or the conviction, the assurance of things not seen. And this perfectly is an example
of that. Now let us suck the sweet nectar
from this beautiful flower as concerning the framing of the
world's, by faith we understand, the manner of their being framed."
Now, please note, it is by faith. It is by faith that we believe,
and yea, the writer says we understand. We understand. It is not by reason. It is not by education that we
understand. Because, please remember, even
though reason or natural revelation may give us an idea, because
a creation exists, there is a creator, as confirmed by such passages
as Psalms 19, 1-4. Have you ever read that? It's
wonderful. Romans 1, 18-21 concerns the
creation, and it gives a glimpse into the matter. An old Puritan
named Thomas Manton wrote, faith alone can unlock the mystery
of the world's creation and its order. Even if reason were to
conclude the world was created by God, it still cannot say with
certainty that it was created out of absolutely nothing, for
there is a saying Something cannot be made out of nothing. That's
where the reasoning of man hits a dead end. Something cannot
be made out of nothing. It is contrary to natural reasoning
to think that nothing can become something or that something can
be made out of nothing. But as I said before, faith staggers
not at that revelation in the Word of God that He made the
world and He made it out of nothing. Now, let's add another stone
to our building or to our foundation. The Apostle writes in Hebrews
11 and 3, by faith we understand. Now, let's underline that word
understand. Because there are several words
that we will find in the New Testament that are rendered,
understand, or understood somewhere in the New Testament. A.T. Robertson, in his book, Pictures
in the New Testament, calls this word understand, quote, the present
indicative of an old verb, unquote. That doesn't mean a thing to
most of us. But what it is is that it is
connected to the intellect. It means to have the mind exercise
and exercise unto truth. It means to comprehend, thus
here the word understand. It means to perceive and to think
and to be convinced. We understand by faith that God
framed the worlds by the Word of God. Now, by faith we understand,
for faith receives the divine revelation and accounts it to
be the truth of God. Faith understands the Scripture
is the Word of God. You remember an example? Abraham
believed God. and what things that man did. Faith receives the record without
staggering that in the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. Faith does not draw back from
this. It does not flinch. It does not
bat an eye when the scripture says to us in the beginning God
created the world. Now the first example which the
apostle gives in Hebrews 11 of the nature or the ability of
faith to believe and to comprehend spiritual things which as A.W. Pink wrote quote are high above
the reach of human reasoning unquote. While the origin of
creation presents a mystery which neither science nor philosophy
can unfold, yet that mystery opens up to faith, and by faith
we understand. And no, no, no. Faith is not
a leap in the dark, as some have described it. Faith is not like
jumping off a cliff blindfolded. like some speak about it. Faith
is not foolishness, not at all. Faith is also not, however, of
human origin. It is the grace of God. It is
the work and the gift of God. Faith is the result of an internal
work of God's Spirit. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, it is the
gift of God. Colossians 2 and 12, it is the
operation of God. Hebrews 12 and verse 2, Jesus
is called the author and finisher of our faith. I don't know why
I brought that verse up. That needs a study all by itself. But as concerns creation, faith
has as its object the divine revelation that is set forth
in God's blessed and inspired and eternal word beginning with
Genesis 1 and verse 1. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. Faith ascends unto the revelation. Faith, as one described it, is
an intelligible persuasion of the truth and the wisdom of God
and of God's Word and what it said, that it is true, so that
faith accounts what Scripture says about creation and every
other matter as true and faithful. The Word of God said it, that
settled it, we believe it. Now, let's consider something
that is pertinent to the matter of evolution as we move along,
and that it has. Like many religions, evolution
can wear two faces. Evolution has two faces by which
it might wear or present itself. One, it has an atheistic face,
an anti-God face that it wears, that there is no God, that all
these things are the product of evolution. But secondly, and
I'm sad to say it, it has a, quote, Christian, unquote, base
that it sometimes well wears also, and is embraced in some
churches that answer to Christian. There are some today that have
espoused, in part, the doctrine or the teaching of evolution.
And this is called theistic evolution, if you're not familiar with it,
or you might hear the term progressive creation might be used by some. Those that hold these views will
allow that God may have created the world by a process of evolution,
not instantly but over a period of time. Secondly, they are willing
to concede that the days mentioned in Genesis chapter one are not
24-hour days, day and night, but they are long indefinite
periods of time. That's how some squeeze it in. This they do in order that they
might reconcile in their mind science and Scripture. They defer
to what's said scientific data supporting the antiquity of the
earth. We counter with Exodus chapter
20 and verse 11. In six days the Lord made heaven
and earth and the sea and all that in them is and rested the
seventh day. Again in Exodus 31 and verse
17, in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, by which is
meant not six indefinite periods of time, for in each passage
it is in relationship to the seventh day, or the Sabbath day,
which was not an indefinite period of time, for a Sabbath was from
evening to evening according to Leviticus 23 and verse 32. Yea, they are traitors to the
faith of God who espouse theistic evolution. Now, in reading the
Scripture, and especially the Old Testament, we ought to be
struck with two very prominent ways that God was praised, was
honored, and was glorified by the people. When wanting or needing
to exalt or honor or glorify God, it was often done in one
of two ways throughout the Old Testament, when desiring to demonstrate
the power of God Almighty. Number one, at first and for
a long time, was to honor, glorify Him as the deliverer from Egyptian
bondage. that it was God, the Lord, who
led them out. And this is what he said in Exodus
20 and verse 2, I am the Lord thy God, which brought you up
out of the land of Egypt. That's repeated again and again.
Leviticus 26 and 13, Psalms 81 and verse 10. In Joshua 24 and
verse 17. In Judges 2 and verse 1. 1 Samuel 12 and verse 6, in Acts
7 verse 36 and Acts 13 and verse 17. This was the greatest work
of God done in behalf of the nation of Israel, much as we
are reminded today of God's great work in saving us. to glorify God in the Old Testament,
to honor Him, it was to glorify Him as the Creator of all things. This is found so frequently in
the psalm. For example, Psalm 115 and verse
15, the psalmist reminds Israel, You bless of the Lord which made
heaven and earth. Psalm 121 and verse 2, My help
comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth. We'll now go
there to Psalm 124 and verse 8. 134 and verse 3 and 146 and
verse 6. 2 Kings 19 and 15. Hezekiah prayed to the one who
made heaven and earth. When Hezekiah was deep and devout
in prayer, He called upon the Maker of heaven and earth. Again, in 2 Chronicles 2 and
verse 12, Huram blessed the God of Israel that made heaven and
earth. In Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse
6, the Levites led the people to bless the Lord your God has
made heaven, the heaven of heaven, with all their hosts all that
therein, the sea and all therein, and thou preserveth them all."
Nehemiah 9 and verse 6. In Acts 2 and 24, are you surprised
to find the disciples under their first great barrage of heavy
persecution blessed God which made the heaven and the earth
and the sea and that all that in them is. In Acts 14 and 15
you will find Paul and Barnabas refusing to be exalted as gods,
refusing to have men bow down unto them, saying, Turn to the
living God, which made heaven and earth and the sea and all
things therein. You see it again in Acts 17 and
verse 24. So the disciple and apostle preached
that God was the maker of the heaven and of the earth. What higher power is there that
can be ascribed unto God? And what greater insult can be
done to God's honor and God's word? What greater slight can
be given unto the God of heaven than evolution. For the ultimate
end of creation is the glory of God, Revelation 4 and verse
11. For thou hast made all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. A godless society
is an evil society. It is being shown that the acceptance
of evolution on a very broad scale leads to many, many evils,
particularly in regard to human life. For example, abortion in
our day and time. So if the belief is no God, no
soul, no judgment, no heaven, no hell, and such like, than
what is there to fear. I will say it again. I still
maintain that we will see in our American society legalized
euthanasia. Maybe not in our lifetime, but
it is upon the horizon. It is being mentioned. It is
being practiced in some places in the world even now. And the
more godless we become, the more dangerous and the more violent,
the cheaper is life viewed and many other evils that come out
of evolution. Already in our day and time,
whales and fish and snakes and birds and wolves are better protected
than our unborn babies in the womb. I wonder how many of you
have heard of a trial going on right now up north. An abortion
provider, quote unquote, is on trial because some babies he
intended to abort were born alive and simply their heads were punched
in the back and their spinal cords were cut. Perfectly healthy
otherwise babies are murdered. This man is on trial. And one
witness after another has come forward to testify of the cold,
unabashed murder that took place in that abortion mill. Evolutionists, some of them,
worship nature. Mother Earth, for example. We have Earth Day. And by some,
animals are put upon the same level with human beings, except
the rascals don't pay taxes. Evolution carried to its extreme
is totally anti-Christian and yet the liberal wing of several
denominations have espoused it. Methodists, Episcopals, some
Presbyterians, some Baptists. I read in one of Henry Mars'
books this week that Pope Pius XII in an encyclical letter in
1950 called Humani said this, the teaching of evolution
is permitted in the church provided that the moral and spiritual
character of man is still recognized as a divine creation, unquote. And my mind thought, my goodness,
how can these ever be reconciled one to another? My prediction,
brothers and sisters, it will only get worse. And that's why
Genesis is so important. That's why Genesis is so opposed
and rejected by liberals and by modernists in the churches
today and by higher critics. That's why it is so rejected. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth.