Message Notes
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Levels of Faith
Intro: Where You At?
(Ephesians 4:4-6) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all
I Timothy 4:13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
John 14:2 “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
1. Know: The porch
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Job 42:5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
2. Love: The Front room.
Revelations 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
3. Worship: The Living Room
Psalm 22:3 But you are holy, O you that inhabit the praises of Israel.
Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
4. Fear: The Dining Room
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
You can’t Serve the Lord with the Right heart until you learn to Fear the Lord in the Right Way.
5. Service: The Kitchen
Joshua 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Psalm 100:2 KJV Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 . Sacrifice: The Bedroom:
Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Mathew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
Mathew 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Conclusion: How Do I Progress?
Mathew 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
You will have to routinely take and pass three types of tests. The test of Mediocrity, the Test of Prosperity and the Test of Adversity.
James 1:2 ESV Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
Mediocrity: Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Prosperity: Deuteronomy 8:10-14 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Adversity: 1 peter 5:8-10 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Two Questions:
“Where you at?!”
What Test are you in right now?
