By Faith We Understand
Faith is the foundation for understanding and worship, and it begins in the heart.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that true understanding comes from the heart through faith, rather than from reason or intellect. He explains that once faith takes hold of the heart, it enables spiritual understanding and allows us to perceive divine truths. Murray encourages believers to recognize that the created order reveals God's presence rather than obscuring it, highlighting the importance of faith in worship and action.
Text
"By faith we understand". The seat of faith is not the understanding or the reason, but the heart. Once faith possesses and quickens the heart, it then acts through the understanding. Faith understands divine things; through faith we can have spiritual understanding. If our faith is to worship and work properly, it must truly learn this first lesson: the created order (Rom. 1:20), instead of being a veil which hides God, can become to us transparent with the light of his presence.
(Excerpted from The Promise of the Spirit by Andrew Murray, pg.65-66)
Sermon Outline
- The Seat of Faith
- The heart, not understanding or reason
- Faith quickens the heart
Key Quotes
“By faith we understand.” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- We must learn to see the created order as a transparent reflection of God's presence.
- Faith is the key to spiritual understanding and worship.
- Our hearts must be quickened by faith before we can truly understand divine things.