I've entitled the message for
this evening, Through Faith We Understand. And in reality, it's only through
faith that we understand. The writer of the Hebrew says
in verse three, 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 which do appear. Through faith, we
understand. Not through science, we understand. But through faith, we understand. I'm very thankful for science.
And I would not say anything against science. As a matter
of fact, When we ran out of electricity a few weeks ago for three days,
it seemed pure pleasure. Every time I turn a light on,
I feel the air conditioning. We wouldn't have any of that
without science. I am thankful for science, but I want us to
remember that science is the observation of things you can
see, empirical evidence, and theories are based on the data
observed, and science changes. Science changes. Theories are proved wrong by
new data. It's not by science we understand,
but it's by faith we understand. Now over the last several weeks,
I've listened to several messages on this verse by different men
preaching on this, and what these men, without exception, every
message I listened to, they attempted to use science to disprove non-biblical
views of creation and evolution and use the facts of the universe
they derive from science to prove the biblical account of creation. Like I heard one man say that
the Big Bang could not be true because the second law of thermodynamics
proves that That couldn't be so. Now, how many people here
know what the second law of thermodynamics is? Well, I looked it up, because
I didn't know, and it sure made sense. I could see where that
would disprove the theory of the Big Bang and so on, but that's
not why we don't believe in the Big Bang. We believe that God
created the heavens and the earth just as the Bible said, through
faith. we understand, not through science,
through faith. We understand that the worlds
were framed by the word of God. And when I heard these men, I
thought they didn't even read the verse they're preaching on.
They were going directly to science to try to prove Their point,
how science backs up scripture, I don't care about anything like
that, I really don't. All I care about is the word
of God. I believe everything in the word of God, and I don't
believe anything that's not in the word of God. Through faith,
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.
And the faith he is speaking of is saving faith. Look in verse 38 of chapter 10. Now the just shall live by faith. The just, the justified. Brother Lott, I love what the
scripture calls him, just Lott, righteous Lott, that righteous
man and his righteous soul. That's the way the Bible describes
this man. Now, if we didn't have the New
Testament, I guarantee you, if you read about Lot, you'd say
he couldn't be saved. I'd say that, but that's not what the
Bible says. It says just Lot, righteous Lot, with his righteous
soul. The just shall live, live before
God, the life of God in their soul. They shall live by faith. Faith. The, somebody says, well,
what's faith? Well, look what he says in verse
one. Now, faith, chapter 11, verse one. Now, faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Now, there's a good definition of faith. It's the substance
of things hoped for. Well, I have a hope that when
I stand before God, he'll say to me, Todd Knappert, Well done,
thou good and faithful servant. I'm going to hear those words. And I know this. Here's what
faith relies on. The reason I'm gonna hear those
words is because I am in Jesus Christ. And when he did well,
I did well. That's my only salvation. That's all of my salvation. That's what faith beholds. That's the evidence of things
hoped for, the substance the standing under of things not
seen. The just shall live by faith. Now, faith is not blind. Blind
faith. There's no such thing as blind
faith in the scriptural sense. We believe what God's Word says.
It's not blind. Now, atheism is blind. You talk
about a leap in the dark, and that's all it is. It's a leap
into the dark. It's unreasonable. It's irrational. It doesn't make any sense. It
is blind. It takes blind faith to be an
atheist. You know, you choose to be an
atheist not because science forces you to that conclusion. You choose
to be an atheist because you don't like the implications of
God. That's the only reason someone's an atheist. You don't choose
to believe. You believe because you have
no choice. You know God is. And you were born. Believing
God, in God, and the faith spoken of here, though, is not just
believing in God, it's saving faith. Through faith. That faith is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2, eight and nine says, for by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. And I know this, if you have
faith, you know the reason you have it is because He gave it
to you. There was a time when you didn't believe, and you do
now, and you know why you believe. He gave you that faith. He put
it in you. The just shall live by faith,
and it's only through faith, this God-given faith, that we
understand. You see, faith understands that
we're not the product of random chance. Faith understands that
we're not the product of evolution. Faith understands that. Faith
understands the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Now, you can believe in the existence
of God and believe in evolution. A lot of people do. But you can't
believe the Bible and believe evolution. It's utterly impossible. Evolution is anti-gospel. It's anti-Christ. And here's
what evolution says. Look how far we've come. Look at what progress we've made.
The gospel says, look how far we've fallen and look how we
need the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, we understand. You know, I love the way the
Bible makes no attempt to prove the existence of God. Don't you
love that? He doesn't need our affirmation.
He's not trying to prove anything. He is. Whether me and you believe
it or not, He is, and we're born with that knowledge. Romans 1.20 says, the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen.
I'm being understood by the things that are made. Even His eternal
power and Godhead. Everybody born into this world
knows that God is eternal. Nobody made Him. They know He's
all powerful because He created the universe. The Godhead. Everyone is born with that knowledge. The Bible doesn't seek to prove
that He created the universe. He did. He did. Now, if you had asked most people
if they believe in God, if you'd go out into the community and
ask most people if they believe in God, most people would say,
yes, I do. Yes, I do. There are not that
many atheists. Most people believe in God or in the existence of
God. But if you'd ask people if you
believe God is as he says he is in his word, He that cometh to God must believe
that He is. He is as He says He is in His
Word. He's holy. He's of two pure eyes
to behold iniquity. He's absolutely sovereign. That means he controls everything
and everyone. He's even in control of the thoughts
that are going through your mind right now. He's completely sovereign
over the free and uncoerced actions of men. And He's the one who
saves. Salvation is of the Lord. This
is the God we're speaking of, the God of the Bible. The God
who sovereignly elected a people before time began. Not because
of any foreseen faith or merit in them, but simply because He
would. The God who actually redeemed
everybody Christ died for through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God who gives life. Do you believe in that God? No,
I don't believe in that God. Well, you might as well be an
atheist. There's not much difference between believing in a false
God and a weak God and an atheist. There's no difference between
the two of them, really. Neither one of them do anything. Neither
one of them are real. There's this God. This is the
only God. Now, by faith, we understand.
Only faith understands. If I don't have faith, I do not
have any understanding. By faith, we understand. By faith,
we perceive. By faith, we see. We see this
clearly and with convictions. By faith, we understand that
the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Now, this word,
Word, When it talks about the Word of God, this is not the
word Logos. This is the word Rima, which
means the spoken Word of God. The worlds were framed by the
spoken Word of God. Eleven times in Genesis chapter
one, we read this phrase, and God said, and it was so. The worlds were framed by The
Word of God, with nothing but His Word, with no pre-existing
matter to work with, God brought the universe into existence. But notice, probably you've thought
about this, did you notice it says, by faith we understand,
or through faith we understand the worlds, plural, were framed
by the Word of God? Now the word world's here. It's
not the word that's generally translated world, cosmos, or
however you pronounce it. I always get tripped trying to
pronounce Greek words, and I think, well, somebody's going to know
I didn't pronounce it right. And then I remember, it's a dead
language. Nobody will know. I've been corrected before. I
think, well, how do you know it's a dead language? But at any rate, the
word here is not cosmos. It's ion, the Hs. the ages. As a matter of fact, that might
be your reference in your Bible. Through faith, we understand
that the ages were framed by the word of God. That means forever. The forever
was framed by the word of God. The unbroken age, the perpetuity
of time, eternity, the world, the ages. all periods of time. This speaks of more than the
physical creation. It means every second, of every
hour, of every day, of every year, was framed by the Word
of God. From the beginning of time to
the end of time, every event that takes place, took place,
is presently taking place, and will take place, is all framed
by the Word of God. Framed means ordered, arranged,
made complete, put in order. That covers everything. Through
faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word
of God. He is before all things. He has
arranged all things. He's put them all in order. I
love that scripture in Colossians chapter one, where it says, he
is before all things, whatever it is, he's before it. By Him, all things consist. All things are held together
by Him. Oh, the glory, the excellency,
and the majesty of Jesus Christ. Through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. That's how we
know that the things which are seen were not made of things
that do appear. Now obviously, included in that
statement is all things material. The things that are made, the
things that are seen. I see you, you see me, we see
this building, we see outside, we see events, we see matter,
we, anything physical, That was not made by things which do appear,
that was made by God. God created the heavens and the
earth. He made everything. Living, non-living, the things that are
made, the things which are seen, are not made, the things which
appear. Really, if this is all I say,
I'm not really preaching the gospel. I love everything I've said.
If you're a believer, you agree with everything I've said. You
love this, this is who your God is, but this is not simply trying
to prove that God created the physical universe. Everybody's
born knowing that. And this is not the main point
of this statement, through faith we understand, that the worlds
were framed by the word of God. So that the things which are
seen were not made of things that do appear. Things that are seen. I see a man. I see a man who really believes
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I see a man who really
believes the Bible is the Word of God. I see some people like
that right now. I see a man who really believes
that Christ Jesus is all in salvation. He believes that. He believes
that Christ is all in his salvation. He can't stand to hear anything
that's contrary to that. It grates on his nerves. He's
offended by it. He can't stand anything that's
contrary to the gospel and what joy is in the countenance of
this man I see who really believes that all God requires of him
he has in Jesus Christ. Who really believes that in Christ
he's complete, lacking nothing. I see this man. He wasn't made by things that
do appear. I see a man who really believes
that salvation is all by grace. And he demonstrates that by preaching
it. He preaches what he says he believes. He doesn't dance around the truth.
He boldly proclaims the truth because he believes it. I love
that statement Paul made in Corinthians. We believe therefore we've spoken.
That's the spirit. of faith. I see a man who refuses
to hear anything else but salvation by grace. He really does look
to Christ only and comes out in his speech. You'll hear it. Listen to it. You'll hear it. This man believes Christ gets
all the glory and his salvation and he's gonna make sure I know
it too. He believes. You'll hear him say things like,
not into us, not into us, but into thy name give glory, for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. You'll hear him say things
like, Lord, if you will, you could make me clean. You'll hear him say things like,
God, be merciful to me, thee, sinner. You'll hear him right
with the thief. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom with Peter. He'll say right along with Peter,
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ. The Son
of the Living God. He's right there with the Syrophoenician
woman when the Lord tells her it's not right to take the children's
bread and to throw it to dogs. And he'll say, truth, Lord. She'll
say, truth, Lord. That's the truth. Yes, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
that fall from the master's table. I may be a dog, but I'm your
dog, and I'm totally dependent on any crumbs you send my way. These people all, without exception,
deny themselves. They take up their cross and
they follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You see them meeting where the
gospel is preached. You see they love the gospel.
You see their love to Christ, their love to one another. Who made these people? They weren't made by some clever
soul winner. They weren't made by some persuasive
preacher. They were not made of things
which do appear. This word made is often translated, it came to pass. It came to pass. God purposed
them. They came to pass. That's why
they are. John chapter 17, I in them and
down me that they might be made perfect in one. John 12, 1-12 says, To as many
as received Him, to them gave He the right to become, to be
made, made by Him, the sons of God, even to them that believe
on His name. Listen to this scripture, 1 Corinthians
1-30, But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us. This is God's work. He's made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, holiness,
and redemption. He's all those things to the
believer. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are made new. He's got a new history. He's
got a new motive. He's got a new man. Who made
him? He was not made by things which
do appear. Romans 3.19 says that we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law that every
mouth be stopped and all the world stand be made guilty before
God. That's the word. Ephesians 2,
13, you who are far off are made nigh. Made nigh by the blood
of Christ. Near, so near to God. Nearer I cannot be. In the person
of his dear son, I'm as near to God as he. You believe that? God made you. Dear, so dear to God. Dearer I cannot be, for in the
person of His dear Son, I'm as dear to God as He. Being justified by His grace,
we're made heirs. Hebrews 3.14 says we're made
partakers of Christ. 2 Peter 1.4 says we're made partakers
of the divine nature. The things you see. were not
made of things which do appear. I saw the martyr at the stake. The flames could not his courage
shake, nor death his soul appall. I asked him where his strength
was given. He looked triumphantly to heaven. and answered, Christ is all. The things which are seen, they were not made of things
which do appear. They were made by the living
God. Through faith, we understand. that the worlds were framed by
the word of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for this glorious gift of faith
that causes us to understand that nothing that is seen was
made by things which appear, but that everything was framed
by your word." Lord, cause us to be of that number. of whom you've
made your son to be, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. I have asked Drew, and this is
going to be our