THE CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH

Text- Hebrews 11:7-40

Introduction

When studying about what faith is it is important that we remember that faith is not just agreeing with something found in the Bible.  In other words it is not just a head knowledge about something.  Anyone can have a head knowledge, but it takes more than this to have faith.  The Bible tells us that even demons have a knowledge about Christ, yet do they have faith?

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.  (NIV)

Faith is more than just agreeing with something found in the Bible, faith is submission to what we find in God’s word.  The reason why the demons are not going to heaven is because they do not submit themselves to what the Bible says.

A goat wanted more than anything else in the world to be a lion. He told himself that if he could learn to walk like a lion, talk like a lion, and go where lions go, he would be a lion.  So he practiced stalking through the jungle and tried to swish his stubby little tail majestically.  Then he sought to turn his pitiful little bleat into the deep, awesome roar of the king of beasts.  He worked and worked on it.  Finally he convinced himself that he really looked and sounded like a lion.  "Now," he said, "all I have to do to be a lion is go where lions go." So he marched into lion territory one day about lunchtime.  You can imagine what happened!

Sometimes people think that because they've learned to walk, talk, and act like Christians, they really are, but they really aren’t because they don’t have genuine faith.

Here in these verses we will look at some of the characteristics of genuine faith.  As God’s people we should try to exhibit these same characteristics in our lives today.