V. 3.— Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. It is by faith that we understand that the worlds were made by the word of God. The heathen philosophers did not deny that God was the Creator of the world, but they supposed that creation consisted in reducing the form and order the matter of which all things were made. The idea of all being made out of nothing appears to have been an idea too vast for their comprehension. But by faith we understand that the things which are seen were not made of matter which had a previous existence. The formation of matter is described in the Scriptures, “In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth,” and then we have the account of their being reduced to order. The work of creation is so vast, bearing the impress of its divine author, and is so different from the works of man, that even the heathen are without excuse in not recognizing in it God's eternal power and Godhead. " The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork;" although there is no voice proceeding from the sun and moon, yet their line is gone to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world, and were it not for the determined enmity of fallen man against God, and that a deceived heart has turned them aside, all who behold the glories of creation would be led by the contemplation of them to their great Original; but they feed on ashes; a deceived heart hath turned them aside, and prevents them from seeing that, in supposing the earth to have been eternal, or produced by chance, there is a lie in their right hand.