Our reading from God's word today is in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews chapter 11. We'll be starting at verse 1 to verse 7. Verse 1 to verse 7. So let us listen to the words of our majestic transcendent God of Scripture. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By 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 which are visible. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God but without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of righteousness, which is according to faith. Amen. You may be seated. Let's pray together. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. As we have arrived at this time and we've had your word, your word read, and now it is to be preached, we pray that you would peel back and remove any obstacles or barriers that might hinder our understanding of the word that has been read and now preached to us. We pray you would do this, O Lord, for your glory above all, but for the good of all who would hear, whether it's growth in grace or being raised from the dead in salvation. It is all under your sovereign care. And we know, most holy God, The creation groans, and even we ourselves groan, waiting for our adoption as sons and our redemption of our body. And we pray, O Lord, knowing that we hope for what is not seen. For why would we hope for something that is seen, but we hope for that which is unseen, and we eagerly wait for it? For we live by faith, not by sight. So may we be reminded of this as your scripture has told us, O Lord, and may you grant and bless the one preaching, that he might guide in a way that brings you the glory and the praise. And it would be good for all of your people in Jesus' name. Amen. Title of the sermon this morning, Faith's Testimony, Conviction of the Unseen. In the first verse, many of you have the first verse translated now faith, is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. As we look at this verse to begin with, we first of all consider the definition or understanding of faith itself. It's been understood really in the way that The word has been used in the book of Hebrews up to this point. You will recall the last week we saw how it says that we are in need of endurance and that our faith is something that should be the saving unto the saving of the soul. But the faith that would wilt under fire, the faith that would apostatize, the faith that is empty, Lacking content, objective content. All of this is a sham or is either hypocrisy or delusion on the part of those who claim to have it. And so as we look at faith, we say, well, okay, well, what exactly is faith? And many would have it very simply put and say, well, faith fundamentally boils down to these two elements. And that would be belief, that is to say the belief in the information, belief in the content. of that which is the gospel, that which is the truth about the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent, and the person and work of Christ, and the fulfillment of the gospel promises. And the other part would be the idea of trust, and trust having that attachment of the mind and heart and even soul to the things that are believed to the point that one realizes that Christ did not die just for people in general, that he died for you, that he died for me. That this gospel is a means unto salvation, not just for people in general, but for us. And so when you're looking at these matters, you see trust is the idea also of entrusting oneself unto. One could also say it must include that as well. Others would say, well, there's three Latin words, and it always sounds more important in Latin, doesn't it? You know, they say, and when you think of get our word, science, knowledge, and a belief in the knowledge or information that's required. And, uh, we see, uh, uh, fiduciary, you know, as the idea of trust or trustworthy. Well, what is the, so the census is that, uh, that aspect. that we talked about where we believe these things to be true. And that I so embrace it as this being true that it has a conviction that is deep, that runs to the very core of my being that we could just use the word certitude, I'm certain. And so when we put these things together, however these definitions are massaged, we end up coming up pretty close to what we end up with here in this one verse. And so let's think, to begin with this morning, of the idea of this faith that we're seeking to understand. Now, remember it says here, as was read for us this morning, that we saw that it was by this means whereby the elders, or that is to say the patriarchs, those who have gone before us long ago, this is the means whereby they received a good testimony. Now that is to say that they had a good testimony before God. Now a testimony is something, I remember I grew up in a church where people gave testimonies frequently. And frequently it was something that happened to them where it seemed like the Lord made it work out well or the Lord was glorified in it or something like that, all which is well and good. That's not the meaning of what we're getting at here. The word there is martyrios. Martyrios is the idea, you hear the word martyr in there, don't you? It is the idea of an official public testimony. And so when we're thinking here of a testimony that is like bearing testimony in a court of law, it is that kind of certainty. It is that kind of force that's behind it. And so let us look then at the words that are used here in your King James or New King James, some of it was read for us. You read in that first verse, now faith is the substance of things hoped for. Not to bore you with too much foreign languages, but just to give you hoopastasis is the Greek word that's used there. Hoopa is a preposition that's used here as a prefix that means underneath. Stasis is the idea of stand, so that which stands underneath. And so you can understand that would be something that has to do with foundational, is what we have there. And frequently, it's used for the idea of essence of being. Hupastasis is the idea of essence and being, what causes one in their essence to be whatever they are, the substance. And so, when we're thinking of faith as taking hold of that which is promised, now that's important. We're, in other words, talking about something that is real and solid, even though it's unseen. So in underlying what we're believing upon, the hope that we're trusting in and believing in, and the God in whom we trust, there's a substance. In other words, he is underlying it as foundational. In its essence, it's real, and it's solid that we believe in. Another thing that we can look at in terms of this is in thinking of foundational, it is to say that which is contained in this essence is that which is rooted in the eternal. If you look to remember in the first chapter of Hebrews, and I know it was a long time ago, but remember in verse three, it talks about Jesus Christ. And it says here, here is the one who is the very express image of God in his glory. and that he is the one through whom God made everything, but also here we see in verse 3 of that chapter it says that Jesus Christ, speaking of the Son still, he upholds all things by the word of his power. Think of all of that sentence, and that is precisely plugged into here of what it's getting at. The promises that are received are from him. And the word that we're trusting in is His. And the power to perform and to uphold is His. And so when it says that we have underlying or holding up or the foundation of all of our faith is that He is the one who underlies it all, who holds it in His hand by His power, His being, His essence. Oh, I love that. And so when we think of faith, it must be looking at the one in whom we are believing, the Holy Trinity, the Triune God. But there's a third aspect to it. And it is that idea that I've already shared in the other, lots of translations, both I think New American Standard as well as ESV and others have the way I mentioned it, that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. We'll come to that in a bit. But thinking of it then as confident assurance, that's what faith is. There's a certitude about it. Now when you think of hoped for, what do you envision in your mind? Let's contrast that. Too many think of some passive, wistful wish. I hope that'll be the case. And so when they're thinking of hope, they're thinking of something that is anything but certain, all right? That's not the point it's getting at. It's talking about hope as opposed to despair. It's talking about hope as opposed to that which is, you know, past, that's already gone. Hope has a future content to it. And so we're talking here about faith and the certitude. It is those things which are promised, that are in the future, and there is our ultimate reception of all that's been promised by God in Christ and sealed to us by the Spirit. And it is spoken in His Word that those promises are the hope that we have, no matter how hopeless, no matter how much travail and trouble and tribulation and pain and evil occurs here in this world. One who is sovereign over all things. and works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we have a certitude that it is in Him that what He has promised He will most certainly perform. And so let me give you an illustration of that. We covered this in Hebrews 6, but let's return there for a moment. In Hebrews chapter 6, it talks about the covenant promises that were made to Abraham. Remember the Lord gave Abraham four different times that he Well, he gave the covenant in chapter 12 of Genesis, and he expanded it a bit in chapter 15. And he gave the sign and seal of the covenant and the line that would be sanctified thereby in chapter 17. And then in verse 22, he gave a picture of how it would be performed in the history of redemption. And that's in the offering of his son Isaac, and how he received him back, in a way, as a resurrection. We'll talk about it in Hebrews later, but another time. But God gave him these promises, and you say, look at chapter 6, what did God do to give him the certainty? And you look here, you could make the beginning in verse 13, when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself. Saying, surely, I will bless, blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you. Verse 16, men indeed swear by one greater an oath for confirmation is for them an end of the dispute. Verse 17, thus God determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise, that would include you and me, the immutability, unchangeability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. We might have strong consolation. Now wait a minute, what's the second one? He said two things. It's impossible for God to lie. He's already told us what the other one is. He cannot change, immutable. So the God who gave the promise, he is unchangeable. By the way, you notice the difference between unchanging and unchangeable. God cannot change. He cannot improve, and he cannot diminish. He is perfection in all of his attributes, in his being, his essence, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Those are important to know. And so as he gives his promise, he's unchangeable, and it's impossible for him to lie. Impossible for him to lie. Why? He is holy. Where? In his very essence. It's not just he chooses to act holy that day. He is unchangeably, in his being and essence and attributes, holy, righteous, and good. There's an attribute we don't give much, well, much print to, or speak about much, and that is the veracity of God. That God tells the truth. And so we're thinking here of God taking an oath based upon his own character, based upon his own being. Remember, God and God alone is the only one who is the I am, the self-existent one. The one whose existence depends only upon himself and none other. No one and nothing in all that exists, visible and invisible, you name it, can say that but God. And so he swore upon himself. And so we're looking here at God doing that. These immutable things, it says in verse 18, two immutable things, it's impossible for God to lie, that we have strong consolation. Now listen to the rest of it. Who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, how? Well look, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence before the veil, who would that be? The one in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen. That would be Jesus the Christ. He enters into the holiest of all, in other words, it says in verse 20, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, or in other words, King Priest. And so, beloved, when we think of certitude, please think in your heart and mind What or who could be more certain than Him? Any promise more certain, any hope more sure than what He's given us. And you see, that's what underlies, that is the foundation, what stands under the promises, the hope. It is the very being and essence and oath and covenant of God Himself. The substance, the assurance is him. And so when we look at certitude, at certainty that goes to the very core of our being, that is steadfast, unshakable in other words. We see it's certain, not just that what he promises is true and that he'll perform it for us in Christ through faith alone. But this is true also. Because our faith in Christ, it rightfully belongs to us. Think of that for a moment. All of you know for John 1, 12, and 13. I think I even mentioned it last week. And it's John preaching Christ. John the Baptist, it says, whoever, as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name. We think of what the New Testament and Romans, for example, or Galatians 4 talks about the spirit of adoption. What is adoption? Adoption was something where there was a legal embracing of someone and making them your own. All inheritance, rights, everything belonged to the heir, adopted. Well, God has united us in Christ, and so all the adoption rights, the hope that you and I have, are ours in Jesus Christ. And so think of this, beloved, as we think of the fourth element of what this word, hupostasis, means. It's used as a title deed. There's the right. the title deed as rightfully belonging to us in Christ. Now we all know it's through grace alone we cannot say I am righteous and deserve this. That's not at all what I'm saying, I'm going to come to that again in a minute, but it is to say in Christ, because we are in union with Him. Our sin is satisfied and paid in full at the cross, and the empty tomb is proof that God accepted it in our behalf. But Christ our substitute and Christ our representative, that we are declared in Him, justified, that is to say, righteous in Him, and not temporarily, but forevermore. And so when we think then of these title deed to these things. Our faith means that we are resting in the One in whom we inherit all things. It rightfully belongs. And so you and I, by faith, we accept this or we take this into our lives in faith, this hope, in anticipation that He will perform what He's promised, the heavenly blessings. In fact, you could even say, as John would make the point, that these blessings have commenced, they've started now. We could also see, as Paul said, that God has given us the Holy Spirit as the guarantee, as the down payment, as the earnest money. It's used in all three ways. It even uses a special word that is used for that, which is the inheritance rights, the Arabon, we've received. And the Holy Spirit indwelling within us, all of us indwelt by the Holy Spirit, He is the guarantee, not something He's given us, but God the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in us. He is the guarantee and the first fruits of the ultimate inheritance. There's our hope, beloved. Faith rests in this. Now faith is the hupostasis. the substance or the assurance of things hoped for, and furthermore, the conviction of things not seen. And when we think of this in faith, we need to stop for a moment, lest we misunderstand where we're headed with this. Faith itself is not a meritorious work or act. In other words, the faith is not that which has earned us anything. You notice the way I worded things. about our errors in Christ. And so our faith is that which rests and trusts in and it has this absolute attachment to Jesus Christ. There is our hope. There is what we rest in. It's in the grace of God. So in no way are we to look at this as somehow connected to our doing something. Our faith is somehow that which earns us a reward. and it is a gift in fact okay I think we have in the bulletin today Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 for by grace now listen to the wording for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God we'll come back to that not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for a good work." And so when you're looking at chapter 2, verse 8 of Ephesians and 9, and you see the description that says, for by grace, now we know what grace means. How do we know? Because we've seen it a couple verses before in Ephesians 2, haven't we? Remember in Ephesians 2 it talks about our total depravity and total inability, both of them. It says we were all at one time dead in trespasses and sins. Remember this? We all walked according to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, now at work in the sons of disobedience. What were we doing? We were fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as a rest. Nothing in there would even slightly hint at the ability or deserving anything but condemnation. But then in the next verse it says, but God, who's rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us. Now listen to this, even while you were dead, He made you alive. Now notice what it says. He takes us who are in that dead state, totally unable. We've made the point before about regeneration, there are three. Illustrations, if you want to say that, are ways that it's described in the New Testament. They are, regeneration is that you have a new birth from above, or it is the fact that you're, like we have here, raised from the dead, or thirdly, it is a new creation. Now, whether one is born, or they're raised from the dead, or they're created, how much of it do we do? I don't see anything. We're acted upon. So God acts monergistically. Fancy word for saying he's the one who takes the initiative and he and his power and will and grace are that which cause it to be so. Let me go back to my verse 4 in Ephesians 2. But God who's rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even while you were dead he's made you alive. Now listen to the rest of it. For by grace You have been saved. It's defining grace for us. Yes, it's unmerited, demerited favor actually, but even more than that, God is doing what we cannot do for ourselves. Not only does he promise based upon his own being, and the hope is based and rooted in that, and Christ is the one through whom all of us is so, But he even takes us while we're dead and makes us alive, for by grace, in other words, he does that which we are powerless to do for ourselves. That's why in two verses later, in verse eight, he uses that word grace again, based upon that definition, for by grace, you have been saved through faith. The instrumental means, not formal cause. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that, the demonstrative pronoun that, pointing back to faith, not grace. That would be a tautology, redundant in other words. For by grace you've been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it, that is the faith, is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should pose. For we're his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. You see, are you telling me God is the one who causes us even to believe? Yes. It's all of grace. It's not God does his part and I do my part, or we meet in the middle, or it's a two-man saw. He has pulls on his end, I pull on my end. I've heard all of those things and all of them wrong. It's been given unto you, it says elsewhere in Philippians chapter 1, it's been given unto you to believe and also to suffer for his name's sake. Or Jesus, as he was saying in John 6, he says, no one can come unto me unless the Father calls him, draws him. He uses the word draw. And you say, oh, well, you see, that means woo. No, it doesn't. Words used a couple times in the New Testament that will illustrate what it means. One of those is the woman at the well, she was drawing water out of the well. She wasn't standing at the top wooing it up to the top, she put a bucket down and dragged it up. Draw. There's also used in the book of James where it says you have all these people that are powerful that are dragging you before the court. Same word. Jesus said, all those that the Father has given unto me will come unto me. And the ones who come I will by no means cast out. That's John 6, by the way, in case you wonder, verses 37 to 40. But 44 and 45 are important. It says, no one can come unto me unless the Father draw him. Beloved, all of this is not to get sidetracked, but it is to drive home the point. The problem is in the fall our hearts, our minds, our nature were corrupted and bent and distorted so that we're unable to do anything righteous, savingly. Oh, we can do noble things. We can save a baby from drowning. We can save someone from a burning building. All kinds of things. Don't misunderstand. It's not that we're as bad as we can possibly be, but it means every aspect of our being has been corrupted and enslaved to sin. There's the issue. And so believe is of grace. Yes, God regenerates us in order to our belief, not vice versa. And so a gift by His grace. Not in any sense a meritorious work. Faith is not that. It is Jesus who saves us, and he does it through the means of faith. Faith is not a power. Faith is receiving, like the hands of a beggar, if that helps. Well, let me go on with this definition of faith. It is the conviction of things not seen in many translations. The conviction The conviction, this word here is one that's very strongly connected to the concept of being absolutely convinced, persuaded. One that has a depth to it and a power to it that means that it goes in the very core of my being unshakable. And so one is completely convinced they have this absolute conviction that this is so. In other words, faith is not something that is weak, but it's something that's dynamic. Faith is something that is lively in us. And what do I mean by that? What I mean by that is it has such a dynamic quality to it that it's not a complacent thing. It's not one of those things that takes it because someone told us and said, I guess I gotta trust somebody, I'll take their word for it. That's the opposite of this conviction. This is something that has the power to impel us to risk everything for it. Because you see, we have this conviction, but notice of things unseen. And it uses this idea of things unseen. God's promised it, but we've not yet seen it. You think of the heavenly realities. and a Christian having the conviction of these things, we walk by faith, not by sight. And so as we look at this idea of faith, what's involved in this conviction and that sort of thing, let's look then at the text again. Now faith is the substance or the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. By it the elders obtained a good testimony. Verse three, for by faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made from the things which are visible. So now we're getting down to the point of the basics, of the starting point, and that is the idea of creation. The universe from beginning to end is a result of God's spontaneous will. Maybe that's a good way to put it. When God created the heavens and the earth we have a record of it, and it's written in the book that is before us, and you all know this, and that's in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. And when we look at the way God created all things, it says here in verse 3 that he created that which is visible out of that which is invisible. Nothing visible was used to put it. In other words, there was not some stuff, this cosmic stuff that God had to use to work with. He needed something to work with, you and I. Well, we can't do this because we're not God, right? And so when we are going to make something, we are going to do something, then we are dependent upon having something to go with. We've got some people here that work in the trades, people that work in the building supplies, and that kind of thing. And they know people always are showing up because they need stuff to make it from. But when we're talking about creation, we're seeing that God created all things out of nothing by the word of his power. Remember that one three verse, that Christ upholds, the Son upholds all things by the word of his power. It makes the point of saying that in John 1, for example, that all things are made through him. He was the agent of creation. Colossians 1, all things visible and invisible, thrones, principalities, powers, all these things were created through him and for him. And so when you're looking at the creation that was done by God, this is the starting point of faith. Notice where it brings us. If we cannot believe that God by His Word and by His power performed what He decreed and desired to do, how can we believe that He has given His Word and it's true and that He can perform it in the future? You see where I'm going? That's why the Bible always brings us to the God who is the sovereign, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, everlasting God. who by his word brought things into existence. You think of the infinite wisdom of God, whether it is something that is subatomic or something that is in the outer stretches that we're just now being able to finally get a picture of, of a dot out there on the end of the universe as we know it. And there's so many who say, well, there can't be a God who could do all that. It's just too big. Well, we found the limits of their faith, didn't we? But isn't it interesting, that is what God calls us to believe first in this text. When you start, when you open your Bible, do you immediately open your Bible to Romans? Or do you open it to Ephesians? Or do you open it, you know, to some other New Testament text? Or maybe you even open it to, well, it doesn't matter, even in the New Testament, the same thing. But my point here is, as you look into the order of things in the books of Moses, those first five books of the Bible, the very first book is a book of origins, is a book of beginnings. Even the title of it, taken from the Septuagint, is a word that means beginning. And it even opens with that, in the beginning. Beloved, it says in the Gospel of John, the opening verse two, in the beginning was the word. The word was there is one of those tenses that we don't have very much in English. It's called an imperfect, and that is the idea. He was and he was continuing to be. In other words, it's in the past, a continuous tense in the past, carrying off with effect into the future even at times. He was and was continuing to be. in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the same was in the beginning with God. And where does it go right from there? Now this is the gospel. This is basic in the New Testament, is it not? Where does it go from there? And nothing that was made was made apart from Him. And he goes on to talk about this. He existed before creation. And by his word he caused it to be so. And so it says, by 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 which are visible. I don't care how many telescopes we send into space and they discover more and more and more. I only know this, he made it. And what's more, he sustains it. And furthermore, he didn't have to go to Home Depot to get the supplies. But he created it all by his word and power. Beloved, when we have a faith that can grapple with that, then we have a faith. That's dangerous. You see, this has been a belief that's, and is, it has been an ancient world even, by the way, but it's a belief that is dangerous to a secular world. It is absolutely contrary to those who are human, think that human knowledge, you know what science means, I told you, scientia, science is the idea of knowledge, that we think that knowledge, the ultimate knowledge that we can have is human. The fallen, finite human knowledge. Think of it for a moment. We have all these scientists that have gone through an enormous amount of education. I'm not belittling it, believe me. brilliance of these people in doing the mathematics that I lose, I would just faint in trying to do it. And the physics that's involved, and you think of all the calculations and the computers that we've got all working on things, and after all of these things, finally, they can discover what was made subatomically and begin to understand it. Look how long it took for them to figure out DNA. Well, we didn't have the instrumentality. Well, why not? You know all things, right? My point, I'm being, well, not a little sarcastic, a lot. Because how arrogant for humans to think that everything must pass muster to our decrees, instead of bowing before the one who is creator and sustainer of heaven and earth in worship. and believe. And so, beloved, this is a dangerous belief that threatens a secular, naturalistic, and many other labels I could put out there, world. Because, you see, these cannot both be true. Either it is a naturalistic evolutionary origin, and matter, and energy, and other things go together, and that's what the cause that caused themselves to be. Fascinating, that's a lot of faith. Or God, the one who's revealed himself in the scriptures, did. And so, beloved, when we talk about faith, I urge us all to come to where it brings us here in this text. Say by faith, in verse three, we understand. You know what the word for understand is? I'll tell you in two weeks. But it's the idea, well our time's up and I'm gonna be gone. But it is the idea of to fully comprehend but only so full as faith would say, I rest in thee. Beloved, he says it in his word. The same word that has the power to create is the word that is revealed to us is truth. Remember that veracity, that attribute of God that's not given much voice these days. that God tells that which is absolutely true. And so if we are to believe what he says is absolutely true, then it is to say they're wrong. And he's right. It's fascinating to me, the atrocities that have been done historically, the tyranny that's come about. when one veers away from God the Creator and all things and goes into an impersonal approach to existence and how one can say people are just objects and not created in the image of God, et cetera. And it lies at the root of much of what is evil in our world today. And so, beloved, faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. That which underlies it, it's foundational. And the conviction, the title deed of those things that are not seen. How's your faith today? How deep is that conviction? Well, beloved, I pray that it grows in all of us. Next time I'd like to talk to you a little bit about that hope, if I may. There's so much in the scripture that talks about hope that we should have and never be hopeless. So there's something you can investigate. So next time we come together, you're prepared more. May God richly bless His Word, and may the truth of His being, His promises, and His Word underlie our certitude, focused on Jesus Christ, the person, the fullness of Godhead in bodily form, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's bow in prayer, shall we? O Father, as you have said and have written in your word, the earth is yours, O Lord, the world and everything in it. And so may we, O righteous Father, trust in you at all times, for you are our rock and our salvation. You are the one in whom our hope rests, the anchor within the veil, that anchor. One side says faith, one side says hope. anchored in Christ, the rock of our salvation. And so we praise you and thank you that you would so work out throughout history your grace and kindness to sinners like us. And so we praise you and thank you, knowing that it is zero, anything that we have done, but it is absolutely everything. As you have created all things that were described, we constantly find further and further Spaces, places in the space realm seems to be never ending. So it is with how you have granted us faith. It is completely you. And so we praise you for it, knowing that we might rest in you as a baby rests in the arms of a mother, a brand new newborn baby. May we picture that as we go forth from this place, knowing that you are a God of justice that has fallen on Christ, that you could grant us your grace in him. And so it is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now receive the benediction of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.