The F Word

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-12

Introduction

• I don’t want you to be uncomfortable; I’m not going to talk about anything crude.
• The F-word I am referring to is FAITH. Did you think I meant something else?
• FAITH is a word that is becoming more and more taboo in our culture.
• And sadly, we need faith now more than ever.
• Our world is becoming crazier and more unstable by the day.
• What can we count on anymore? What are the constants in life?
• God is the only constant in this world and faith in Him is what we can count on.
• FAITH is slipping away, but the OTHER F word is steadily gaining in popularity.
• That vulgar slang word that used to be taboo in our culture is now everywhere.
• Last week on vacation, Leslie and I were eating dinner and an old guy at the next table kept dropping the F-word over and over. And I don’t mean “faith.”
• There was a time when I would have angrily confronted the man if my wife and daughters were exposed to that, but times have changed.
• He was at a table with an older woman and another even older man.
• What has happened to our world where this F-word is more and more accepted while the other F-word, FAITH, is increasingly pushed down and marginalized?
• There was a time in America when people openly shared their faith.
• How do we put the F-word, FAITH, back in its proper place in our world?

1. What is faith?
2. How can we show faith?
3. Why do we need faith?

1. What is faith?

• The best definition of faith is the one we read in Hebrews today:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

• We don’t know who the author of Hebrews was even though many thought it was Paul.
• The purpose of the Epistle is to reinforce the Jewish heritage as fulfilled by Jesus.
• There were many at the time of its writing who were casting doubt about Jesus as the Messiah.
• Hebrews relies heavily on connecting Old Testament references to the life of Jesus.
• In chapter one alone 5 different Psalms, Samuel, Chronicles, and Deuteronomy are quoted.
• Chapter two quotes two more Psalms and Isaiah.
• Chapter 3 adds another Psalm and the book of Numbers.
• And so goes the whole book eventually including additional Psalms, Genesis, Exodus, Jeremiah, Habbakuk, Proverbs, and Haggai.
• All with the intention of building a strong case for the legitimacy of Christ as fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripture describing the coming Messiah.
• Everything hinges on the connection between the Hebrew faith and the faith that Jesus fulfilled that tradition of who the Messiah would be.
• Faith is at the root of everything because before you can have faith in the stories, first you have to have faith in what? The BIBLE.
• Have you personally seen Isaiah to ask him about his prophecies? NO
• Have you personally talked to David about what he was writing in his Psalms? NO
• You have to believe their words have been accurately preserved so you can see them.
• And it all starts by having faith that the book is accurate and true.
• God fills in the blanks for the believer by giving us the Holy Spirit to interpret the Bible.
• Do you believe there is enough oxygen in the air around you for you to breathe? Why?
• Can you see the oxygen in the air? You have confidence and assurance it’s there.
• Do you believe that when you stand up you won’t float up to the ceiling? Why?
• Can you see the gravity that holds you down? You have confidence and assurance it’s there.
• Can you see the electricity that goes through the wires that makes the lights work?
• This is faith. This is believing in the invisible; having confidence and assurance it’s there
• There are instruments for measuring the amount of oxygen in the air.
• If you step on a scale you can certainly see the results of gravity.
• If you touch the wrong wires, you will surely know that electricity is real.
• The Bible is the proof and the evidence that what is unseen really exists.
• Faith starts by having confidence and assurance that it is true and accurate.

2. How can we show faith?

• If what is missing in our society is faith, how can we put it back?
• We must be strong enough to put that confidence and assurance into practice.
• The writer of Hebrews gives several examples of putting faith into practice.
• Abel brought God a better offering than Cain.
• It’s not about competition; it’s about giving to God what God wants from us.
• Each of us has unique talents and gifts, but most of all, we have time.
• Enoch was also commended as one who pleased God.
• Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, trusted in God and built an ark.
• These are examples of people living out their faith in God in ways that others can see.
• How we live our lives and what we do with our time teaches others about faith in God.
• We have made Biltmore a family that is obedient to God’s will even though we don’t always know exactly what that will is.
• God shows us His will by sending us messages and then reinforcing our good behavior.
• God wants us to give to this community and the more we give, the more He gives us.
• Do we know where the money is going to come from? NO, but God provides.
• Do we know where the clothes are coming from? NO, but God provides.
• Do we know where the workers are going to come from? NO, but God provides.
• We just put together a budget for next year that is ambitious, but we have faith in God.
• We have spent a fortune restoring and repairing this beautiful building because we have faith that it will be needed for the next 100 years because God will provide.
• So many things in our world are crumbling down around us.
• We are returning to the wild west with people feeling like they need to carry guns.
• Church attendance is dying out as people have lost faith and trust.
• Even pastors and priests are dying out under the pressures of a general lack of faith.
• Meanwhile, the other F word is gaining in strength and people are just giving up.
• Depression, anxiety, despair, and suicide are on the rise as FAITH is on the decline.
• President Biden addressed the nation on television the other night.
• I agree with his statement that evil and hatred are on the rise in our world.
• He pointed to Hamas attacking Israel and Putin’s Russia attacking the Ukraine as examples.
• But we know that it’s not really the Hamas or Putin that is behind evil. Who is it?
• The Bible is clear about all that we see unfolding around us in this world.
• Is it the “end times?” Who knows.  Even Jesus doesn’t know.
• Does it really matter? Do we need to see it to know that evil is increasing?
• I think we can have faith that evil is on the rise and hatred is on the rise.

3. Why do we need faith?

• Faith is what is missing in our culture. As faith retreats, evil and hatred gain ground.
• One F-word is being replaced with another F-word.
• Remember that the letter to the Hebrews was targeted to Hebrew people in their own language.
• Even though it was translated in Koine Greek for the New Testament, it was originally written in Hebrew.
• Hebrew people had complete faith in the Scripture we now know as the Old Testament.
• The letter appeals to their faith as the basis for extending that faith to accept Jesus.
• The letter uses the patriarch of all the Hebrew people as an example of faith:

By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

And so, from this one man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

• It is by faith that the Jewish people were created by God as His chosen people.
• And it is by faith that they will prevail again in Israel in the face of evil and hatred.
• We need faith because it is by faith in God through Jesus Christ that we have overcome sin and death no matter what this world throws at us.
• As Jesus told the Jews who had believed in him in John 8:32:

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• The truth is faith in the Bible and faith in Jesus Christ.