Four Different Kinds Of Faith (Which Kind Does God Want You To Have?)

Probably it is:

• Because someone invited them to attend

• Because they were bored and had nothing better to do

• Because some like to be part of large crowd

But one thing we all agree on is that football players are not known for their academics.

Illus: Did you hear they have new postage stamps depicting the University of South Carolina football team? The post office recalled them because the fans couldn’t figure out which side to spit on

Illus: A reporter asked the coach at the University of Clemson "Is there any truth to the rumor that your new quarterback is dumb?"

• The coach replies, "Well, he makes straight A's."

• The reporter, suitably impressed, says, "Wonderful!"

• "But," says the coach, "His B's are kind of crooked."

Illus: I am told that college football players are assigned numbers to wear on their shirts based on their SAT scores.

Generally, there are the two groups of people you find at a football game:

• Those who are there because they love football

• Those who are there for other reasons

You find the same thing in church:

• There are those who are there because they love the Lord

• There are those who are there for different reasons

But it is always exciting to find people in church because they have personally come to know the Lord Jesus, and they believe in what this Bible teaches.

Illus: Two gentlemen were traveling on a plane and were seated next to each other.

• One turned to the other and asked, “What do you do?” The gentleman replied: "I am a minister."

• "Oh," said the first man. “I don’t believe in this religious stuff. It’s for kids, you know. ‘Jesus Loves Me This I know, for the Bible tells me so....’"

• The minister politely laughed and asked the other man what he did for a living.

• He said, "I am an astronomer."

• The minister said, “Oh I don’t believe in that stuff. It’s for kids, you know, ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star...."

At the risk of sounding somewhat country, I want you to know I REALLY BELIEVE IN THE STUFF the Bible teaches!

I literally eat, breathe and believe in this stuff! I believe everything this Bible teaches…everything!!!

We call this belief in the Christian life FAITH.

Either you have it or you do not!

HOW DO YOU RECEIVE FAITH?

It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. The more I allow the Holy Spirit to operate in my life, the more faith I will possess.

What is FAITH?

Faith is a number of things. For example, there are FOUR different kinds of faith and you possess one of them –

There is….

I. SIMPLE FAITH

Faith is not wishful thinking.

We all do a lot of wishful thinking!

Illus: A couple came upon a wishing well one day.

• The husband leaned over and made a wish and threw in a penny.

• The wife decided to make a wish, too! But she leaned over too far, fell into the well, and was yelling and screaming because she was all wet.

The husband was stunned for a while, but then smiled and said, "This stuff really works!"

Faith is not WISHFUL THINKING!

WHAT IS WISHFUL THINKING IN THE BIBLE?

Wishful thinking is the act of forming beliefs based on what is pleasing to the person instead of on evidence or reality.

Illus: A Child might wish to believe there is no school tomorrow, but that doesn't change the facts.

The problem with wishful thinking is that the person and his feelings become the basis of his supposition.

For example, when Isaiah called on Israel to change, they refused.

He said "For this are a rebellious people”.

They only wish to hear things that made them feel good.

When Jeremiah was telling everyone that God had determined to wipe out Jerusalem, most people didn't wish to hear his message.

They preferred false teachers who told them everything was fine.

We read in Jeremiah 5: 31 "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?"

Such a problem continues to this day. II Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths".

What I wish is irrelevant. I must school myself to seek the truth, even when it may be painful.

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”