Created from Nothing (Hebrews 11:3) - KCC Worship Service

Kootenai Church

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November 8, 2021

Created from Nothing (Hebrews 11:3) - KCC Worship Service

00:00: me. My Redeemer's love will lead me through the deepest valley.
00:15: He will shepherd me and guide me. He will ever keep me near.
00:28: Deeper than the seas, higher than the mountains.
00:48: Stronger than the rushing wind.
00:54: Shattering the power of sin. Yours is all.
01:04: I'll grow sweeter as eternity draws near.
01:42: I'll enjoy his love forever. At his throne for endless years.
01:54: My Redeemer's love will build me on the day
02:02: I see his face. And forever sing his praise.
02:15: And forever sing his praise.
02:22: And forever sing his praise. And forever sing his praise.
03:44: Jesus. When the battles are done.
04:23: We shall see our Savior. Shining like the sun.
04:35: Every tear he will shed. Every shadow will flee.
04:46: Chosen Christ Jesus. Will be made.
04:57: Will be made. Come Lord Jesus.
05:10: Listen to creation roar. Jesus. Come and take your people.
05:24: Holy tongue will praise him.
05:42: Ever sing
06:08: Lord Jesus. Listen to creation roar.
06:19: Jesus. Come and take your people.
06:37: Mercy in Jesus.
07:16: Jesus. Will satisfy our soul.
07:28: Jesus. Listen to creation roar.
07:39: Jesus. Come and take your people.
07:54: Come and take your people. No list of sins
08:31: I have not done. No list of urges
08:36: I pursue. No list of woes I place with you.
08:48: Oh God. No one.
09:33: A single one. Dances Jesus like.
09:41: My Jesus dead. No separation from.
10:39: Merciful. I just dance with Jesus like.
10:51: My Jesus dead. Our mouths were open graves.
11:37: Full of broken vows we made. Our hearts ran wild.
11:46: Our tongues could not beat. Our sins had concealed.
12:01: Your law has now revealed. Our guilt was great.
12:10: Our bitter fate was sealed. Our only bids and fools.
12:49: You draw us to the truth. For your own being snooze.
13:12: You have restored.
13:37: Gave us hope when there was none before. Cast away our guilt.
13:54: So when our days are through. Our hope will rest in you.
14:05: For we can trust your promises are true.
14:13: It's you.
14:26: It's you. It's you.
14:38: It's you. It's you.
15:23: Grace and peace. Oh how can this be?
15:30: Lawbreakers and thieves. For the worthless the least.
15:38: You have said that our judgment is dead.
15:45: All eternity without hope. Amazing mystery.
16:01: Amazing mystery. That your grace has come to me.
16:07: Grace and peace.
16:24: Oh how can this be? The matchless king of all.
16:32: Paid the blood price for me. Slaughtered.
16:40: What atonement you break. The vilest sinner's heart can be cleansed.
16:49: Can be free. Amazing mystery.
16:59: What an amazing mystery. That your grace has come to me.
17:06: Oh how can this be?
17:44: That songs of gratefulness ever rise, never cease.
17:57: As a saint my heart is satisfied in the riches of Christ.
20:21: And good morning and welcome to Kootenai Church. We're so glad that you made it here this morning. Would you please stand as we sing praise to the
20:28: Lord the almighty. Praise to the
20:37: Lord the almighty the king of creation.
20:44: Oh my soul praise him for he is my health and salvation.
20:52: All ye who hear now to his temple draw near.
20:59: Praise him in glad adoration. Praise to the
21:11: Lord who o 'er all things so wondrously reigneth.
21:18: Shelters me under his wings ye so gently sustaineth.
21:25: Hast thou not seen how thy desires e 'er have been granted in what he ordaineth?
21:42: Praise to the Lord who doth prosper thy work and defend thee.
21:51: Surely his goodness and mercy e 'er daily attend thee.
21:59: Ponder anew what the almighty can do if with his love ye be friendly.
22:16: Praise to the Lord who let all that is in me adore him.
22:24: All that hath life and breath come now with praises before him.
22:31: Let the amen sound from his people again.
22:39: Gladly forever adore him. Eternal God, unchanging, mysterious and unknown.
23:21: Your boundless love unveiling, grace and mercy shown.
23:31: Bright seraphim in ceaseless light around your glorious throne.
23:42: They raise their voices day and night in praise to you alone.
23:54: Hallelujah! Glory be to our great
24:01: God. Hallelujah!
24:07: Glory be to our great God. Lord, we are weak and frail, helpless in the storm.
24:26: Surround us with your angels, hold us in your arms.
24:35: Our cold and ruthless enemy, his pleasure is our harm.
24:45: Rise up, O Lord, and he will flee before our sovereign
24:54: God. Hallelujah! Glory be to our great
25:04: God. Let every creature in the sea and every flying bird.
25:28: Let every mountain, every field and valley of the earth.
25:38: Let all the moons and all the stars in all the universe.
25:48: Sing praises to the living God who rules them by his rule.
25:57: Hallelujah! Glory be to our great
26:06: God. Hallelujah!
26:32: Glory be to our great God. Lord of all creation, of water, earth and sky.
27:06: The heavens are your tabernacle. Glory to the
27:13: Lord on high. God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy.
27:27: The universe declares your majesty. You are holy, holy.
27:39: Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of heaven and earth.
27:51: Early in the morning, I will celebrate the light.
28:01: And when I stumble in the darkness, I will call your name by night.
28:11: God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy.
28:22: The universe declares your majesty. You are holy, holy.
28:33: Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of heaven and earth.
28:44: Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth.
29:03: God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy.
29:13: The universe declares your majesty. You are holy, holy.
29:23: Lord of heaven and earth.
29:30: Lord of heaven and earth. Genesis chapter one.
30:10: Shouldn't take you that long to find it, right? I'm still here. Genesis one.
30:18: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
30:25: Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
30:32: God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
30:39: And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.
30:48: God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so.
30:55: God called the expanse heaven, and there was evening, and there was morning, a second day. Then God said,
31:02: Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters he called seas, and God saw that it was good.
31:12: Then God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed on them, and it was so.
31:22: The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them after their kind, and God saw that it was good.
31:31: There was evening, and there was morning, a third day. Then God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and it was so.
31:48: God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He made the stars also.
31:55: God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth and to govern the day and the night and to separate the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good.
32:04: There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day. Then God said, Let the waters team with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.
32:15: God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind, and God saw that it was good.
32:26: God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas and let the birds multiply on the earth.
32:33: There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day. Then God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so.
32:44: God made the beasts of the earth after their kind and the cattle after their kind and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind, and God saw that it was good.
32:53: Then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
33:05: God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them.
33:11: God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
33:22: Then God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed.
33:30: It shall be food for you. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life,
33:37: I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
33:44: And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads.
33:56: Our Father, you are our creator, and for that reason we owe you everything that we are and everything that we have.
34:04: You have spoken all things into existence just as we have read here in your word, and you have a purpose and a design in all of creation, and ours is that we might glorify and honor you.
34:15: And we thank you that you have revealed to us the truth about the origin of the universe from your word, for without that we would be lost in darkness, not knowing why we are here or what we are to be about, but because your word has revealed truth to us, we can know our purpose and we can know what it is that you expect of us.
34:32: And so we ask that you would today unite our hearts in love and worship to you, that we may fulfill the purpose for which you have created us in your image, that we may bear that image and that we may shine forth and be a testimony of what the creator looks like and of your nature and your character, and that we may demonstrate that in our worship, in our words, in the meditation of our hearts.
34:51: We pray that you would be glorified through our time, through the preaching of your word and we pray upon your great person and your great glory.
34:58: We ask it in Christ's name. We were ruined in our sin
35:14: We were guilty and undone When your love reached out with sovereign hands
35:24: And beckoned us to come You sought out the wanderers
35:33: You made the prodigals of old With a lavish feast you welcomed us
35:43: For you made us your own You have loved us like you love your son
35:58: We are heirs with Christ bought by his blood
36:08: Oh how great the love that we've been shown
36:17: We're your children now You've made us your own
36:27: We are strangers to the world But no strangers to your throne
36:36: We draw near you now with confidence
36:41: For all our fears are gone When Christ the
36:48: King returns We'll meet saints we've never known
36:54: And forever we will be amazed
37:00: That you made us your own You have loved us like you love your son
37:15: We are heirs with Christ bought by his blood
37:23: Oh how great the love that we've been shown
37:34: We're your children now You've made us your own
37:42: You have loved us like you love your son
37:52: We are heirs with Christ bought by his blood
38:01: Oh how great the love that we've been shown
38:11: We're your children now You've made us your own
38:20: We're your children now You've made us your own
38:57: But he was pierced through for our transgressions He was crushed for our iniquities
39:03: The chastening for our well -being fell upon him And by his scourging we are healed
39:09: All of us like sheep have gone astray Each of us has turned to his own way
39:15: But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him Oh didst see the dawn of the darkest day
39:37: Christ on the road to Calvary Tried by sinful men, torn and beaten then
39:53: Nailed to our cross of wood
39:59: This the power of the cross
40:07: Christ became sin for us
40:14: Took the blame Bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross
40:31: Oh didst see the pain written on your face
40:38: Bearing the awesome weight of sin
40:45: Every bitter thought, every evil deed
40:53: Grounding your bloodstained brow
40:58: This the power of the cross
41:05: Christ became sin for us
41:13: Took the blame Bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross
41:28: Now the daylight flees Now the ground beneath Waits as its maker bows his head
41:43: Curtain torn in two Dead are raised to life
41:50: Finish the victory cry
41:56: This the power of the cross
42:03: Christ became sin for us
42:10: Took the blame Bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross
42:26: Oh to see my name written in the wounds
42:34: For through your suffering I am free
42:42: Death is crushed to death Life is mine to live
42:48: Walk through your selfless love
42:55: This the power of the cross
43:02: Son of God, slain for us
43:09: What a love What a cost
43:14: We stand forgiven at the cross
43:21: This the power of the cross
43:29: Son of God, slain for us
43:36: What a love What a cost
43:41: We stand forgiven at the cross
43:50: You may be seated. And now please turn to Hebrews chapter 11.
44:09: Hebrews chapter 11 and we're going to read together the first seven verses. Hebrews 11
44:17: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for The conviction of things not seen For by it the men of old gained approval
44:24: By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God So that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible
44:32: By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain Through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous
44:38: God testifying about his gifts And through faith though he is dead he still speaks
44:44: By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death And he was not found because God took him up For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God And without faith it is impossible to please him
44:56: For he who comes to God must believe that he is And that he is a rewarder of those who seek him
45:02: By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen In reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household
45:09: By which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness Which is according to faith
45:14: Let's pray together Lord we hope today in understanding your word
45:21: We pray that you would use your word to increase and bolster our faith To encourage us in the truth
45:29: To give us the confidence that we need in things that we have not seen So that we may live in the midst of a hostile world
45:35: We pray that our time here today would be well serving to you Well serving to us that it may edify and equip your people
45:43: And it may glorify your great name So we pray your blessing on this time And for us to understand it to that end we ask in Christ's name
45:51: Amen Well there's a challenge that I'm facing As I'm preaching through Hebrews chapter 11
45:57: I shouldn't say that I'm facing it Actually all of you are facing it because Though I'm preaching you're along for the ride
46:02: So whatever is challenging me is going to be a challenge to you as well But the challenge is this It is knowing how far to trace the
46:10: Old Testament references That we find in Hebrews chapter 11 And going back to those references
46:15: How deep do we dive down that rabbit hole as it were You may have noticed as we've gone through Hebrews The book of Hebrews that every time that there is a citation from the
46:24: Old Testament We've taken the time to go back to that Old Testament citation And see how the original author and the original audience would have understood that And then to transport that forward into the
46:33: New Testament context So that we can see what the New Testament author was meaning When he made reference to those
46:38: Old Testament texts Trying to be faithful to the author's intended meaning And the original audience's understanding of that text and its context
46:46: That's a very essential element of what we have been doing And we've done it with some frequency in the book of Hebrews Because Hebrews of course is loaded with Old Testament references
46:55: When you get to Hebrews chapter 11 It is just one long list of Old Testament characters
47:00: And events and places and things And illusions that are going to draw us back into the
47:06: Old Testament So the challenge is As we go back and look at some of those characters Which we have to understand some of the things going around those characters
47:13: To understand what the author of Hebrews is trying to teach us through them The challenge is going to be how far down that rabbit hole do we go
47:22: Because I could take Abel and Enoch and Noah And do a little biographical sermon series on each one of those men
47:29: And so at what point does At what point would this cease to be a study of Hebrews 11
47:36: And become just a series of biographical messages Of Old Testament characters who happen to be mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11
47:43: Do you know what I mean? So it's going to be very difficult for me to keep my foot in both of those worlds as it were And I don't even know exactly what this is going to look like in the weeks ahead
47:51: I'm hoping to figure out what this is going to look like in the weeks ahead really soon But as of right now I'm not exactly sure how
47:58: I'm going to try and strike that balance And we'll just maybe figure it out as we go But this dilemma is something that we face
48:04: Even as we get to the very first example of faith that we have in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God So that what is seen is not made out of things which are visible
48:15: Now you may not realize it at first But there is a little mini -series of sermons
48:20: A little mini -series of issues there that we can unpack in those verses You may not realize it at first glance
48:25: But there is an apologetic argument that's being offered there Particularly, and by apologetic we're talking about the defense of the
48:32: Christian faith There is a philosophy of apologetics that is presented in verse 3 It is actually presupposed, that's why we call it presuppositional apologetics
48:41: But there is a whole methodology there that's sort of packed into that verse It would take a good lengthy sermon to unpack that It is by faith that we understand these things
48:49: That's a presuppositional approach to truth It presupposes certain things are true There's also something in those verses about epistemology
48:57: Do you know what epistemology is? Epistemology is the study of knowledge Particularly how we know what we know
49:03: How do we know what is true? Can truth be known? And how do we know truth? Is truth discovered by the human intellect?
49:10: Is truth something that exists outside of us? Is truth something that we make up? How do we know that what we know, we know we actually know?
49:18: Do you know that? Or what you know, do you simply presume it? Do you assume it? Is it an opinion or is it fact?
49:24: Is there anything that is actually true? And what makes something true? And what makes us able to know that we know what is true?
49:31: A hundred years ago, we knew certain things were true And in the last hundred years, there's dozens and dozens of those things
49:38: That we now know were not true And we know now that what they knew, they didn't really know So that's what epistemology is
49:45: How is it that I know that all of creation came into being? Was I there? How can
49:51: I know what is true? And am I justified in what I think that I know?
49:57: That's the study of epistemology There's also here a lot of detail about the doctrine of creation itself
50:03: That would be worthy of an entire series of messages Those are just the various rabbit holes that I'm tempted to chase this morning
50:09: I'm not going to chase any one of them very far We're really going to focus this morning
50:14: And we're not returning back to verse 3 But we're really going to focus this morning just on what verse 3 teaches about faith itself
50:19: The role that faith plays in helping us to know things that we have not seen And we're going to unpack here this morning
50:26: What we understand by faith about the agent of creation and his agency Namely God and his power
50:31: That is the agent of creation, the one who created it And how he created it, by the word of his power We're going to look at that And then we're going to look at the nature of creation itself
50:38: That what we see, that which we see in creation Was not made out of things which already appeared
50:44: By faith we understand these things So that's our outline this morning Before we get to that, I'm going to chase a couple of these other rabbit holes
50:50: Just to sort of set the table for when we actually get into this verse It's very interesting how the author introduces the list of examples of faith
50:59: He starts in verse 3, not by pointing to an Old Testament example He takes us back to the Old Testament, to creation
51:04: But the illustration or example that he gives Is actually an illustration or example of faith that you and I have
51:11: It's we who have this faith We understand that by the word of God All of creation, all of the worlds
51:17: All of the universe and the cosmos All of it was formed and prepared It's God's word who did that And we know this by faith
51:24: Now his reason for referring to our faith His purpose in doing that Is not to suggest that you and I have earned our place
51:31: Amongst the list of heroes that we find in Hebrews 11
51:36: By virtue of our faith in the God of creation His point is simply to say That the type of faith that he is describing
51:42: With all of these other characters from Hebrews chapter 11 Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc
51:48: That kind of faith is not some unique faith It's not some special faith
51:53: Granted, given, empowered Just to a super select group of spiritual people You look at those heroes
52:00: And you think those men are heroic men Abraham, Moses, Noah, Enoch, Abel Those are great men
52:05: They must have had some super special secret faith That the rest of us do not have They must have achieved some extra level
52:13: Some next plane That the rest of us are excluded from that special plane
52:18: And the author's answer is no The faith that these men had It's the very same faith that allows you To begin reading at Genesis 1 -1
52:25: And say, I believe that That's the faith It's the same faith If you can read Genesis 1 -1 and say
52:31: I believe that in the beginnings God created the heavens and the earth Just as he has described it in the first verse
52:36: Of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible If you have faith to believe that That kind of faith
52:42: The trust in that kind of unseen thing Is a faith of the same quality Is the same substance
52:50: As the faith of Moses Who said, I'm willing to turn my back On all the treasures of Egypt For the sake that I might have
52:56: Christ Or the messianic hope that is to come It's the same faith that Abraham had When God said to him, leave the family
53:02: Leave your land And go to a land that I'm going to give to you And your descendants It's the same faith So the point in looping us into this
53:09: Is not to say that these men It is to remind us that these men Your faith may be stronger
53:20: Your faith may be weaker Your faith may be equal to these men But it is the same kind of faith
53:25: He's not appealing to us To have some extra special level Of trust in God That is available only to a select few
53:34: He's taking us back to the beginning Because this really is a perfect example Of what faith is He is asking us
53:41: Or actually he's telling us That we believe when we embrace The doctrine of creation That we acquired at the very beginning
53:50: It's the same faith that saves us It's the same faith that sustains us It's the same faith that pleases
53:56: God It's that faith If you have that kind of faith The kind of faith that accepts
54:01: God at His word Regarding things that you have never seen And you were not present for And you do not witness
54:07: And cannot be repeated And cannot be tested in a laboratory If you will believe what God says Concerning those things
54:13: That is the kind of faith that pleases God It's not reading your
54:20: Bible And understanding it And knowing it And embracing it Unless you have it
54:25: Does that make sense? It goes right back to the very beginning It's verse 1 This is foundational This is elemental
54:31: We believe and accept the testimony of Scripture Concerning the creation of the world And this is the very kind of faith
54:37: That he is talking about The one who does not believe this This is a difference between the creationist
54:51: And the naturalist The creationist and the evolutionist You see both of us are convinced of things That we have never seen
54:57: I am convinced of something that I have never seen I am convinced that the God who is described in Scripture Spoke the entire universe and all of the cosmos
55:04: Into existence roughly 6 ,000 years ago And He did all of this in 6 literal 24 hour days
55:09: And then rested on the 7th And that everything following that Is literal history Just as it is laid out and spelled out in the book of Genesis That I am convinced of Can I repeat that?
55:20: Nope I mean I can't repeat the experiment or the act I can repeat what I just said But I can't repeat the experiment or the act
55:26: It's unrepeatable And I've never seen it I wasn't a witness to those things But I am absolutely convinced that that is true
55:35: The naturalist, the atheist, the evolutionist Is utterly convinced of things he has never seen
55:40: He has never seen an ape turn into a man But he is convinced that it happened He has never been able to repeat that process
55:48: But he is convinced that it happened He is not able to duplicate it And make it again
55:53: He was not there to witness it He is accepting at face value The word or testimony of other things
55:59: Be it a scientist or Darwin Or a science paper or a science teacher
56:04: Or whatever it is He is embracing and accepting all of that On the basis of faith He believes the testimony or word of another
56:12: Concerning things that he has not seen That is what our faith in the creation Or the creator is
56:18: It is a belief in something That we have not seen But we are believing and trusting
56:23: In the word of one who is reliable Who was there Who did witness it Who could repeat it
56:29: Who in some sense in the future Will repeat that very thing And we are trusting his testimony
56:35: We are both accepting these things at face value The creationist and the naturalist We don't have different sets of evidence
56:41: We have presuppositions that we bring to the table In other words there is not a bucket And the goal is to fill those buckets up With as much evidence as we can
56:51: There is no such thing There is just evidence You see we all live in the same creation don't we The atheist, the evolutionist, the creationist
56:58: The naturalist, the materialist, the supernaturalist And the immaterialist We all live in the same creation
57:04: We all observe the same thing The same stars, the same dirt, the same fossils The same processes, the same natural laws
57:09: The same laws of logic We all have access to the same things We just bring different presuppositions to the table
57:18: We all know God And that everything leapt into existence Out of nothing, that there was nothing And then suddenly there was everything
57:24: Exploding and expanding And that all of that according to natural laws And processes all organized itself
57:30: And information came from nothing Order and design came from nothing And that there is really no purpose or teleos
57:35: In any of this But that it all exists and it all functions as it does And it is going nowhere And eventually it is all going to burn out
57:41: We are all going to suffer and die from ultimate heat And we are all going to burn down Into one principle point of nothingness
57:51: And then the whole process will start itself all over again That is the presupposition So then they take that I mean that was a long presupposition, wasn't it?
57:58: But they take that, that is their framework And then all of the evidence they plug it into that And they say here how we interpret all the evidence
58:04: In light of that I begin with different presuppositions The atheist evolutionists have their presuppositions That is things that they presuppose
58:10: Bringing it to the table You do too You identify them
58:18: And examine the presuppositions To see if they are justified So as a creationist I have a certain set of presuppositions
58:24: I presuppose that God exists And that he has spoken And that he was there And that he created everything
58:29: And that it bears his mark And that he has a purpose and intelligence And that all of these things exist
58:35: Because God has a purpose for all of them And that you and I are created in the image of God That is my presupposition Now I take all the evidence that we have
58:48: And now the game is played And there is no way of avoiding that And I am not going to belabor the point here But I just want to point out
58:54: There is nothing in science that contradicts creation Nothing That should be patently obvious to us
59:02: Since we have had two spring conferences One with Paul Taylor and one with Jason Lyle There is nothing in science
59:08: That contradicts creation It cannot Now scientism contradicts creation
59:16: Scientism is different Scientism is a religion It is a faith
59:22: It is a presuppositional approach to evidence That has certain presuppositions Materialistically speaking That begins with God doesn't exist
59:28: And all the other things I just spelled out for you a few minutes ago That is scientism Scientism is a rationalistic approach to truth
59:35: It is part of the progressive Atheistic Secular God -hating philosophy of the age
59:43: The spirit of the age That now dominates everything Scientismists I could say that some scientists are materialists
59:51: But some scientismists Is a lot funner to say Try it, not now but later on Scientismists Some science are scientismists
59:59: That is that they have adopted the religion of scientism And one of the challenging things in our age particularly
01:00:04: Is knowing how it is that we distinguish When somebody is speaking to us
01:00:09: How it is that we distinguish Between what is science and what is scientism There are certain things that science can say
01:00:16: And tell us But scientism Is a whole philosophy that is often grouped with that And so then they will say things like We just need to believe the science
01:00:24: Or the science is settled Believe the science The word science is used as a dog whistle
01:00:31: A trap A trap door to the belly of hell itself I would say That word comes loaded with all this baggage
01:00:39: That is attached to it By which they sneak into us All of the presuppositions of the spirit of the age
01:00:44: And all of the atheistic, secularistic And denying truths of creation
01:00:50: That we know to be true Science becomes the Trojan horse By which all of that is snuck into us
01:00:55: And they say believe the science Just believe the science Well, that is usually something that is screeched
01:01:01: By the high priests and priestesses Of the secular progressive religion Spirit of the age And they say that And what they mean by that is
01:01:09: Embrace whatever god -hating, secular, progressive Atheistic narrative
01:01:14: That is currently being belched up Whatever that is And it will change tomorrow You need to believe it and you need to accept it
01:01:20: Because that is the narrative That is what they mean by that Distinguish between science and scientism
01:01:26: There is nothing in creation That is contradictory to science I said I wasn't going to belabor that I guess that is what it looks like When I don't belabor something
01:01:34: Now in a sense these are all connected To the list of heroes that we have In Hebrews chapter 11
01:01:39: The kind of faith that we have We did not see his power
01:01:49: We did not hear those words But we believe the testimony That he has handed down to us Because he was there and he wrote
01:01:54: And communicated to us exactly how he did it We must rely upon scripture To tell us those things
01:02:00: And by faith we understand that those things are true Because human philosophy cannot tell me Anything about creation
01:02:05: Human philosophy cannot tell me why I exist Human philosophy cannot tell me How everything came to be
01:02:11: Human philosophy cannot tell me Knowing where it came from Or even why we're here
01:02:20: Then we wonder why would anybody Even listen to a philosopher If they can't answer any of those questions But they can't
01:02:25: Philosophy can't tell me anything About the God who created it It can't tell me anything about How I am not related to that God who created it
01:02:32: Or how I can be related to that God who created it It can't tell me anything about How God created anything Philosophy is unable to do any of that Human reason cannot tell you anything
01:02:47: It can demonstrate to me According to Romans chapter 1 Human reason can tell me that there is a God Because we know that from nothing, nothing comes
01:02:55: So human reason can tell me that there is a God Human reason can tell me that Every effect has a cause
01:03:01: And that whatever caused This effect known as the universe Must be greater than the universe
01:03:07: Outside of the universe And more powerful than the universe And older than the universe Human reason can tell me all of that But human reason cannot tell me
01:03:17: That his name is Yahweh And that he loves me And that he sent his son to die on a cross And that I am a sinner and that I violated his law
01:03:23: Human reason can't give me any of that information So philosophy is unable to answer any of those questions
01:03:28: Human reason is unable to answer any of those questions Science cannot tell me how things were created Science can tell me what exists
01:03:35: Science can tell me how the things that exist Relate to one another Science can tell me what will happen To the things that exist
01:03:41: If I want to make them not exist Science can tell me all of those things By faith
01:03:50: We know all of this By faith we know how God created We know why he created
01:03:55: We know what our role is in creation What he expects of us Why we were created We know our destiny
01:04:00: We can understand creation We can understand its fallen state We can look at creation now And by faith because we accept
01:04:06: God's word Genesis 1, 2, and 3 3 being the fall of creation After it was created perfect Because we understand that We know exactly why it is
01:04:14: That there is sin, disease, death, destruction And deterioration in the world that exists Why everything that we read about in Genesis 1
01:04:21: Which God said is good and very good Why we look around now and we say This doesn't look good or very good We know those truths because We have embraced by faith the testimony of scripture
01:04:30: Which describes to us exactly Why it is that these things are so Why they are the way that they are By faith we understand who this creator is
01:04:40: These are the most important truths In all of creation And these truths are inaccessible to those
01:04:45: Who rely upon philosophy, human reason Or human intellect or science Because none of those disciplines
01:04:51: Can tell me the ultimate meaning Of any of these things You and I, we because we embrace
01:04:57: By faith the testimony of scripture We stand in the light of truth of these things Those who reject the testimony of scripture
01:05:03: And begin with human reason, philosophy, or science They stand in darkness And they do not understand these things
01:05:10: To us, who are in Jesus Christ Who embrace God's word by faith To us, the mysteries of creation
01:05:17: Have been revealed The ultimate purpose The ultimate design, the ultimate aim What happened in the past What is going on now in the present
01:05:24: And what will ultimately happen in the future All of that has been revealed to us We know these things We know things that the most intelligent
01:05:32: And educated philosophers on the planet Have never hoped to be able to understand They admit that they cannot understand
01:05:40: Because we're smarter Because we have a better education You have more degrees on the shelf Than the other guy
01:05:45: Is it your staggering intellect Is it your good looks What is it that allows you to know these things
01:05:51: That philosophers and scientists and kings Have never understood It's because it's been revealed to you
01:05:56: And when you embrace by faith What has been revealed to you Then you know and understand truths
01:06:02: That they cannot even begin to apprehend Stephen Hawking, brilliant man
01:06:12: He died in moral, intellectual, Spiritual, ethical darkness
01:06:18: There are ten year olds in this congregation Who know more about the important issues of life Than Stephen Hawking could ever grasp
01:06:26: Ten year olds Now I'm not saying there are ten year olds In this congregation Who know more than Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking knows more about the functioning
01:06:35: Of an atom or a ray of light Than all of us put together in this room He knows more about all of those things
01:06:40: There's no ten year old in here Whose training, whose knowledge base Is equal to Stephen Hawking But Stephen Hawking can tell you
01:06:48: How an atom works A ten year old can tell you Why the atom exists Because God created it
01:06:54: I need to know what the ten year old knows And not what Stephen Hawking knows It's not that what he knows is not valuable to us
01:07:00: It's not that what he knows Does not advance human condition Or human flourishing or any of that But it's that by faith
01:07:10: We understand Now when we say by faith And I'm getting to the text itself
01:07:16: But still chasing a couple of rabbit holes Listen be patient with me Because each of these could be whole sermons
01:07:21: But they're not These are just like snippets or reviews of sermons That I had in my mind all week long Faith doesn't make these things true
01:07:29: Understand that When we say by faith we understand it What we're not saying is By faith these things become true for me
01:07:35: In some subjective sense Well then that's true for you
01:07:41: But that's not what's true for me What's true for me is something different So you believe that by faith Therefore it becomes true for you
01:07:48: No we're saying that these things are objectively true And the only way that we can understand them
01:07:53: Is by accepting and embracing divine revelation And my faith does not make something That is untrue true
01:07:58: My faith allows me to know and understand As true that which is true Do you understand the difference between those two things?
01:08:05: My faith doesn't make it true My faith doesn't There's a
01:08:10: Bible that says That you embrace something by faith And it becomes your own lived experience Or your own lived experience becomes what you know as true
01:08:16: And if you have lived this experience Then that's true I was listening to a podcast this last week Where it was an unbeliever who was being interviewed
01:08:23: And she twice mentioned the lived experience First this is my lived experience And then second this is the lived experience of someone else
01:08:28: Lived experience Is there ever a stupider phrase ever invented In the course of human history Than the phrase lived experience
01:08:40: Is there ever any other kind of experience Other than lived experience Did you experience World War I or II Did you experience the Civil War But you just didn't live through it
01:08:46: But I experienced it No you see the phrase lived experience Is supposed to put whatever they belch up as true
01:08:53: As unassailable So it becomes sola experientia Nothing else matters Not sola scriptura
01:08:58: Not scola fide Nothing else It's sola experientia I can't question anything you say
01:09:12: Because that's your lived experience Therefore it is above critique Or above analysis or whatever it is No we're not saying that by faith
01:09:19: These things become our lived experience Or our unlived experience Or any other stupid colloquialism That people want to drum up We're saying that by faith
01:09:25: We understand that these things are true Because they are true And they would be true if I never existed
01:09:32: And if I never had faith They would be true even if I never had faith
01:09:40: They would still be true Because that truth is true Regardless of me the subject It is objectively true
01:09:46: Therefore it is outside of me These things are true We don't make them true by our faith
01:09:52: We understand the truthfulness of them By faith That's different Faith becomes the eyes through which
01:09:57: I see That which is unseen And I don't make it true I understand that it's true But I don't make it visible
01:10:10: Yes that is a philosophical apologetic Presuppositional scientific statement That's being made there
01:10:16: A statement about the agent of creation As well as the nature of creation So now let's dive into verse 3
01:10:21: And we will get through all of verse 3 today I promise I have to tell you that at the beginning Because you might be thinking
01:10:27: Well there's two things there That's going to be next week No we're going to get through all of verse 3 today It is by faith that we understand That a collection of worlds
01:10:41: Or a collection of planets Or even our galaxy Or even just the universe Is far more than just matter itself
01:10:46: In fact the ESV and the NIV Translate that as universe By faith the universe was prepared
01:10:53: Or made by the word of God So they translate that word I own as universe And that's getting closer to it Because it does involve not just all that is matter
01:11:02: All that is physical And all that exists But it involves actually far more than that Which is the physical matter
01:11:11: So for instance sometimes this word Is translated in scripture as time As era, duration, eternity
01:11:18: Beginning of time, ancient time Forever and ever I had three forevers there
01:11:24: It was hard to keep a comma between them Forever and forever and ever Sometimes this word is translated in that way
01:11:29: It is referring not just to What exists that we see But I own refers to everything that exists
01:11:36: And everything that goes on with what exists It is an all encompassing word So in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2
01:11:42: When the author says In these last days God has spoken to us in his son Whom he has appointed heir of all things
01:11:48: Through whom also he made the world That's the word that's used there, the world He's not just referring to this planet
01:11:54: He's referring to everything This then is the universe It is space It is time itself
01:12:00: It is everything in time It's not just the world or all the world
01:12:05: But it is the galaxies It is the entire universe The space in which it is hung
01:12:12: See God didn't just create things To fill space that was there forever
01:12:18: He stretched out the space And created the space And then put everything in that space Can you even comprehend how magnificent that is?
01:12:30: You know how many light years it is From here to the nearest galaxy? I don't know off the top of my head
01:12:36: But it's lots, it's a big number Light years Miles per hour
01:12:41: Miles per second Hundreds of thousands of miles per second It's an enormous accomplishment
01:12:47: It's the space and everything in it He created the laws of logic Time itself, the laws of nature
01:12:54: And the physical laws, the scientific laws The laws of physics These are all derived from him It is impossible to understand why any of these things exist
01:13:02: And why anything exists rather than nothing existing It's impossible to understand any of that Or even begin to comprehend it
01:13:08: Or even begin to discuss it And that he created it According to scripture
01:13:13: You have to begin with that presupposition This word describes not just the physical universe But the operation of the physical universe
01:13:20: It is the idea of what he communicated Back in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 When he says Christ upholds all things
01:13:25: By the word of his power And upholding all things By the word of his power Doesn't mean that he keeps everything intact
01:13:31: So that it doesn't just go out of existence But the idea is that he carries along He upholds all things
01:13:41: From A to Z to its appointed goal He created it all And he carries it all along Bears it all so that he carries it to its appointed end
01:13:49: There is a goal that is in view In everything he has created And he is faithfully by the word of his power Carrying us toward that ultimate goal
01:13:55: That's the idea So that everything then will glorify him And display his nature And will bless and benefit those who are his
01:14:03: Christ the sovereign creator Didn't just show up on the scene one day And see a bunch of unorganized matter I'll put a bunch of this together
01:14:12: Make a star here Put a bunch of this together Make a galaxy there Put a bunch of this together And make a nebula And if I do this right
01:14:18: Maybe I can create some living beings That's not how it worked He created the space
01:14:24: And then he filled the space With all of his creation And he did all of this by the word of his power Just spoke it into existence
01:14:30: Before the moment described in Genesis 1 That's what it's all about It's nothing
01:14:44: Before Genesis 1 there were no molecules There was no water There was no dust There was not an atom There was not a particle
01:14:50: There was not an electron There was not even space And there was no time
01:14:56: And he spoke it all into existence He prepared the universe and the ages And the administration of all of his creation
01:15:02: All of it ordained by his word The orchestration of it The timing of it
01:15:11: The end, the beginning He has appointed everything that is in between And he upholds it all and carries it all along by his word
01:15:17: The word prepared means to make something orderly Or to set it in order By faith we understand that the worlds, the universe
01:15:23: All that exists and everything in it As well as the processes that organize it And structure it and direct it All of that was prepared
01:15:29: And that word prepared means to make something orderly To set something in order for a purpose
01:15:35: So that that purpose would accomplish something To make it adequate To the purpose
01:15:42: So we're describing here not just a God Who decided he was going to speak a bunch of matter Into existence and then see where this would take us
01:15:48: As if he had no idea What the directed process was going to be He didn't speak everything into existence
01:15:53: And then say I think I'll see if I can do my best With this creation that I'm making That was not it at all He spoke all of it into creation
01:15:59: Having a purpose and end, a telos in mind So that the goal was already predetermined
01:16:05: And established by him He's not guessing and learning He's doing the best that he can
01:16:12: With all of creation It has a goal and an end This I know, not because I'm smarter than anybody else
01:16:17: But because I accept and embrace by faith The testimony of scripture And so therefore I know this I know what
01:16:23: Stephen Hawking never knew He died not knowing this Why do I know it? Am I smarter than Hawking?
01:16:29: No, oh no, not even close But it's been revealed to us, hasn't it
01:16:34: In the pages of scripture And so by faith we understand this That we're not just accepting
01:16:42: The existence of some nebulous Nondescript higher power That exists above all of us
01:16:48: That may or may not have accomplished Everything in scripture that he says he did That may or may not have happened According to Genesis 1, 2 and 3
01:16:54: May or may not be ruling over it today May or may not be able to be known It's just a higher power Whatever you want to embrace
01:17:00: That makes you feel good That's not what we're talking about We're talking about believing the testimony of scripture That has no progress or anything of purpose
01:17:13: In what has been created Because they can't See, you and I can look at the design
01:17:18: And the intellect and the wisdom And the skill of what has been wrought And put together in front of us You and I can sit and we can look out at all of nature
01:17:25: And we can honor and glorify God And give him thanks and rejoice in who he is Because of what he has made
01:17:31: Knowing that what exists today Is not even hardly a shadow of what existed In the original creation before It was ruined by sin and destroyed by the flood
01:17:41: And we can acknowledge the design The beauty, the wisdom, the intellect Behind all of this creation And we can see as we look at human history
01:17:47: The order of events And we can see God unfolding his plan and his purposes We can look into the lives of Abraham and Noah And Moses and the judges
01:17:55: And the events surrounding the crucifixion And the expansion of the church throughout church history We can look at all of human history
01:18:01: And we can see telos, design, intellect, intentionality Behind all of it And we can see where it is going
01:18:06: Because he has told us where it's going On schedule
01:18:12: Just as he has determined that it should It's all falling apart on schedule We can see all of that But the unbeliever without faith understands none of that The unbeliever looks at the news and says
01:18:21: Man, this is, I wish I could explain this The unbeliever looks at human history And to him, to them
01:18:27: It is just a collection of random Meat muscles in motion Colliding off of one another in history
01:18:34: There's no purpose, there's no plan There's no story, there's nothing to accept or embrace There's nothing to be honorable in all of it
01:18:41: It's just a random collection of chemical reactions And molecules in motion That's all that they can see We can see things that Stephen Hawking was never able to see
01:18:48: And I would argue to you, I'd postulate to you That they are the most important things That there is for anybody to see
01:18:54: And we understand them We understand them by faith He describes to us here the agency of this creation
01:19:00: The power behind all of it It is the word of God This is the reason why anything exists And nothing does not exist
01:19:06: Let me say that in a better way Can the philosopher tell you
01:19:12: Why something exists rather than nothing? He can't tell you that Scientists can't tell you that But we know why something exists rather than nothing
01:19:19: Because God spoke it into power God spoke it into existence by his power Just as described in Genesis chapter 1
01:19:26: Then God said, let there be light And there was light Then God said, let the waters be separated And it was so Then God said, let the stars fill the heavens
01:19:34: And it was so Then God said, let the earth bring forth living plants And it was so In Genesis chapter 1 we read of God saying this
01:19:44: God said, then God said, and it was so Why? Because all of creation and everything that he speaks
01:19:49: Into existence must come into existence And so just matter of factly Moses the author of Genesis just says
01:19:54: God said this and it happened exactly as God said And he said it was good And then this happened just exactly as God said
01:19:59: And then God said this and it came to be That's the true account of the origin of all things In the creation of the universe
01:20:05: Psalm 33 verse 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made Psalm 148 verse 4 -5
01:20:12: Praise him highest heavens And the waters that are above the heavens Let them praise the name of the Lord For he commanded and they were created
01:20:18: It is simply the voice of God The power of his word he created And it happened and it appeared
01:20:23: And it came out of nothing and it stood fast By faith we understand this And by faith we must embrace this
01:20:30: Because this is the true account of the origin Of the heavens and the earth I'm always disturbed when I hear people
01:20:35: Talking about how things came into being In the creation account
01:20:42: What they will do instead is say Well you know everything exists But I kind of think that God might have done it this way Or I kind of think that it's possible
01:20:48: For God to have done this Or it seems reasonable to me That God would have probably done this And well it seems reasonable to you
01:20:54: But here's what we don't do Faith does not take the word of God And subject it to our fallen intellect
01:21:00: And our darkened minds And say this is how I think God might have done it God has not left that up to us to determine
01:21:11: And embrace that or reject it Those are your options Those are your only two options
01:21:17: God has revealed to us how he did it So it doesn't matter what you think About how he did it
01:21:23: Not at all It doesn't matter how you might think He might have done a better job of it It's irrelevant
01:21:29: He has described to us exactly how he did it We weren't there Nobody was there
01:21:36: Faith is embracing the things that we cannot see And this is the theme of the very next phrase Now listen
01:21:43: If you have embraced and understood That certain things are true Even though you have never seen them in the past By that same faith you can embrace and understand
01:21:50: That certain things are true and will be true Regarding things unseen in the future This is the connection
01:21:55: I want you to see He is taking us back to those things which are past And he's saying you embrace this You understand this by faith
01:22:01: By faith you have insight into all these things We're taking the same faith And we're just Rather than looking back here
01:22:07: We're just turning around with the same faith And we're looking to what God has already said Regarding things that are future God has said things that are regarding things past And God has said things and made promises
01:22:16: Regarding things future And the faith that embraces that Simply turns around and embraces the other And says if I can believe that a
01:22:22: God Who spoke all of the universe into existence Did it once I can believe that at some point
01:22:28: God is going to recreate a new heavens And that allows me to put my hope
01:22:36: And my faith in an unseen thing That is yet in the future I was not there for the one in the past And I have not yet lived the experience
01:22:46: Of the one in the future But I believe both of them by faith And embrace both of them And I am as convinced of the one
01:22:52: As I am of the other Utterly and totally convinced I was not there to see God create
01:22:58: Adam out of dust But I do know by faith That that happened Exactly as it is recorded in Genesis chapter 2
01:23:05: And I believe that and I know that Further I can look forward and realize That from dust I came
01:23:10: To dust I will return And there will come a point Where by his word he simply says Come forth and everybody comes forth
01:23:17: In resurrected bodies out of the dust From dust he made Adam To dust we shall return And ultimately we shall be resurrected out of the dust
01:23:25: The faith that looks back and says I embrace the testimony of God creating man Out of dust I embrace that in a resurrected body
01:23:36: Which he is going to raise out of the dust It's the same faith that looks both directions I was not there for the flood
01:23:42: I didn't see the flood I see all the evidence of the flood All the way around us But I embrace by a matter of faith
01:23:47: I understand the truth about what happened In Genesis 6, 7, 8 and 9 I embrace that by faith And I know that God judged the world by water
01:23:55: I also then turn around I look the other direction I say by faith I know that in the future All of that Those will become our lived experience
01:24:08: That's the last time I'm using that phrase Those are going to become our lived experience At some point But right now everything that I know
01:24:14: Happened in the past by faith I can turn with that same faith It's that same trust
01:24:20: Accepting God at his word And I can embrace what I know is going to happen And come in the future And what we are looking for in the future
01:24:26: Is yet to us unseen Just like the things in the past are unseen In the nature of creation
01:24:37: There are two ways that the phrase Is going to be understood Because I talked about lived experiences
01:24:42: Now I have to speed it up a little bit There are two ways that that phrase Has been understood First, some have suggested that what the author
01:24:49: Is describing there is the fact that Everything that we see which is visible Is really composed of things that we cannot see That are invisible to the naked eye
01:24:56: And by that we're talking about molecules, cells, atoms Electrons, neutrons, protons, all of that good stuff That makes up who you are
01:25:05: There is no reflection of atoms, electrons Nobody is seeing that Your eyesight is not that good But you understand that everything that has been created
01:25:11: That you do see is composed of things Particles that you cannot see In fact scientists now tell us And this is science not scientism
01:25:17: Scientists now tell us that probably 90 % of the universe Is composed of dark matter
01:25:22: Jason Lyle talked a little bit about this At his conference I believe Dark matter, I was just reading an article About dark matter by Faulkner Last name is
01:25:33: Faulkner The dark matter that exists is invisible to us We know that it's there
01:25:39: We see the effects of it But only about 10 % of what's been created Is actually visible to our eye Is that what the author is describing here?
01:25:47: That that which is seen visible to us Is made up of those things which are unseen I don't think that that's what he's describing And I'll tell you why
01:25:53: I do not believe that the author is describing The atomic structure of the universe Because I don't think that the author was sitting there
01:25:58: Writing the book of Hebrews Contemplating the atomic structure of the universe So if the
01:26:07: Holy Spirit had that in his mind When he wrote that I don't know that I'll have to ask the Holy Spirit when I get there
01:26:12: If that's what he was intending But I do think that it is the second interpretation Of this verse that is most accurate
01:26:18: And that is that those things which do exist Were not formed from some pre -existing material
01:26:24: He created it out of nothing That's the point It is made up Everything that we see
01:26:33: Came into being out of nothing One of the things that One of the ways in which we bear the image of God As his creatures
01:26:41: Is we like to create things, don't we? We like our efforts and our work to be creative We like to invent, we like to create
01:26:47: We like to construct, we like to do things Like to see the fruit of our hands See things that we have done The product of our labor and of our work
01:26:54: We enjoy that, we enjoy seeing that Everything that you've ever created You've created from something that already existed
01:27:00: When God created the universe He created it out of nothing Everything else existed
01:27:06: He spoke and it came into existence That is the power of his word That's what the author is saying Everything that we have seen
01:27:12: The things which are seen Were not made out of things which were visible Again, God did not show up on the scene Take a bunch of pre -existing matter
01:27:19: That had always existed And begin to form it into something else His act of creation is described in Genesis 1
01:27:24: When God showed up on the scene There was no scene He had to create the scene That is impossible
01:27:37: That is impossible to comprehend, isn't it? It's irrational To the pagan
01:27:44: It's unscientific to the pagan Because the pagan would say Well, out of nothing, nothing comes Oh yeah? Well then where did everything come from?
01:27:49: Oh, nothing That's what they say So all of this is irrational It seems unscientific, counterintuitive
01:27:56: Outside of our experience And that is, quite frankly, the point But we know that these things are true
01:28:05: Because we understand and know these things We don't make them true by our faith We understand them as true by our faith
01:28:13: Because they are true Even if we didn't have faith And even if we didn't exist at all So what does it mean then?
01:28:20: What is the author's point here In bringing up the creation of the world? He is simply saying to those to whom he is writing
01:28:26: The faith that he is going to describe With the rest of these Old Testament examples That faith is the very same faith
01:28:33: That you have when you look at Scripture And say, I will embrace the testimony Of this unseen God And accept what
01:28:39: He has said Even though I was not there, I do not see it I believe Him Because you and I are confronted with Things, decisions
01:28:49: Uncertain futures And promises regarding the future That we cannot see We cannot embrace now
01:28:55: But these are the unseen things These are the things yet to come The same faith that embraces the one
01:29:00: Turns around and embraces the other And says, perhaps we can accept
01:29:06: God's word in Scripture regarding things future And if we have accepted God's word In Scripture regarding things future
01:29:11: That is the faith by which we endure The hostilities of a hateful world Remember, we are right on the heels
01:29:17: Of that warning passage Don't get over that What is it that allows me to endure A great conflict of sufferings
01:29:22: Tribulations, temptations, trials Affliction, imprisonment Suffering with those who are afflicted
01:29:29: The seizure of my property And to face a hostile world that hates me
01:29:37: Thinks I'm ridiculous Thinks that I'm insane for believing the things that I do And wants me to not exist How do we step into a world like that And testify to the glory of this creator
01:29:46: It's by faith A special super next level faith Nope, the same faith that says
01:29:51: I can embrace what God says in His word Even though I was not there And I believe in a God I cannot see
01:29:57: And by faith I know that God Because I have a firm conviction Regarding things
01:30:03: I have not seen That God enables us to live In a hostile world
01:30:08: And to endure a great conflict of sufferings We are looking forward To a world ahead of us
01:30:16: The same faith That believes that God is powerful enough To speak everything into existence
01:30:22: Is able to believe Him That one day He is going to recreate The new heavens and the new earth See, if the word of God is powerful enough
01:30:28: To create everything out of nothing Then the word of God is powerful enough To sustain me and to keep me
01:30:33: And to preserve me Through everything that is to come That's the point If I believe that I can certainly believe
01:30:39: Him for the future Whatever it may hold I can believe Him for the future And it is looking to that Really one of the things we remember
01:30:47: When we celebrate the Lord's Supper And I'm going to conclude that here I have no transition other than A clunky and awkward one
01:30:54: To get to the Lord's Supper A new heavens and a new earth
01:31:03: And a kingdom that the Lord Jesus will establish And when we observe communion We are recognizing and remembering
01:31:09: The sacrifice that has Sealed His word to us In the new covenant That we are going to inherit and enjoy
01:31:16: The blessings of that new kingdom And that new creation Those are promised to us
01:31:22: In the new covenant Those are secured to us Through the person of Christ And as we reflect upon His death
01:31:31: We will drink with Him in the kingdom Because there is coming a time When we will gather around His table All of us
01:31:37: We will gather around Him and His table And we will enjoy The benefits and the blessings Of a new creation with Him We look forward to that Recognizing that it is only because Of His death on the cross
01:31:47: And His resurrection three days later That any of us are able to Enter into eternal life And enjoy the blessings of that new creation
01:32:01: We believe them and we are assured of them And convinced of them Because Christ has promised them And we believe
01:32:07: Him That what He said He is not going to eat and drink of these things again Until He eats and drinks with us in the kingdom
01:32:12: So we are looking forward to that As we reflect upon the death of our Lord We want to do so with pure hearts
01:32:20: With repentant hearts We don't want to do so in an impure Or unworthy fashion Scripture warns us against that So we will take a few moments here
01:32:31: To observe the elements Let's bow our heads for a moment Our most gracious God You have created us for Your own purposes and glory
01:32:59: And You have intended that we might know You And You have brought us near by Your grace And by the power of Your Spirit You have done the work of regenerating us
01:33:06: And opening our eyes that we may behold The glory of Christ and see our own sin You have caused us to see our broken and fallen state
01:33:13: That we have violated Your law That we have sinned against You And that we deserve Your wrath You have made all of that known to us
01:33:23: We thank You for that We thank You that You have provided for us The forgiveness that we need The righteousness that You demand
01:33:29: Through Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ We praise You for sending the Lord Jesus Into this world to live a perfect life
01:33:36: And then to die on the cross In the place of any and all who will believe We thank You that His death is sufficient
01:33:42: To atone for our sin We confess to You God Our iniquity and our unworthiness To partake of this supper together
01:33:50: We are unworthy in ourselves But we confess to You, Lord Jesus Christ That You have made us righteous
01:33:57: That we have found Your approval Not because we are good Or not because we have done anything good But entirely on the basis of faith
01:34:03: So we love You and we thank You For this precious and perfect provision That meets our need
01:34:08: And delivers us from our sin And delivers us from the wrath to come And this provision that secures for us
01:34:15: Everlastingly our place in heaven And secures us and keeps us for that reward
01:34:21: We confess these things to You And also our love, our affection And our thanks to You In the name of Christ our
01:34:28: Savior In whom we stand and through whom we pray Amen Will the ushers come forward
01:34:34: And help serve the elements Let's pray before we partake
01:34:56: Father, You prepared a body for Your Son And He came and lived a perfect life In that body and then offered it
01:35:02: As a sacrifice for our sins We thank You for that And we thank You for the sacrifice
01:35:08: That it was to live a perfect life And to be credited not just with forgiveness
01:35:13: But with righteousness That You've imputed our sin to Him for that And we are recognizing that And acknowledging that And pray
01:35:20: Your blessing upon this And the meditation of our hearts now In Christ's name On the night in which
01:38:01: He was betrayed Our Lord took the bread And when He had broke it He said, take, eat, this is My body Which is broken for you Do this in remembrance of Me In the same manner also
01:41:32: And we thank You so much For the privilege Of being able to come into the house of the
01:41:37: Lord And to be able to gather around this table To remember You The price that You paid
01:41:43: For us to be here To be able to come in And hear the
01:41:48: Word of God preached boldly To be able to enjoy The fellowship of the saints
01:41:54: And just gather around Lord, what a blessing And we just thank You for that Go before us,
01:41:59: Lord, this week And help us to glorify You With everything that we say and do In Jesus' name, amen
01:42:09: Would you please stand? Bear my blame
01:42:49: Born a cross He took my sin
01:43:01: By His death
01:43:06: I live again Holy God In love became
01:43:27: Perfect man to save Born a cross
01:43:44: He took my sin
01:43:52: By His death I live again
01:44:03: By His death I live again
01:44:15: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ And the love of God And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all
01:44:21: You are dismissed Christ the mighty
01:47:59: Maker Died for sin
01:48:06: Just like I hide My blushing face
01:48:13: While His dear cross Appears It is always with me
01:48:30: The drops of grief
01:48:38: Can never repay The debt He once owed