Levels of Faith In the Life of the Believer - Part 2

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, February 23rd. Genuine faith in God is born in a heart that trusts Him long before it's tested. The Unshakeable Faith series continues on today's podcast. We all operate on one of three levels of faith. And the longer you live, certainly the more faith you and I ought to have. And the higher up these levels we ought to go in our faith. But some people will stay all of their lives on the lowest level because, number one, maybe they don't even know that there are levels of faith. And secondly, too afraid to launch out, too fearful to trust God. And so what happens is you go through life and you miss His best because you never grow in your faith. What are these levels of faith? How do we distinguish between them? What does God say about them?

That's what I want us to consider primarily. So I want to give you, listen, I want to give you a level, then I'm going to give you a word so you can remember it. And the first level, listen, the first level in Scripture of faith is little faith. Little faith, and I want you to remember this, little faith is restless faith. Little faith is wrestling. Little faith, for example, is saying, I know he can, but I'm not sure he will. Little faith is struggling, struggling because it's a whole new perspective on the way we live. Little faith is hoping. Little faith is not sure. Little faith has almost no confidence. Little faith is always wavering. You remember what James said?

He did wavers like the winds of the sea, blowing hither and yon, tossed to and fro. He says, don't let that person think they're going to receive anything from God because God does not honor that kind of faith. Does this mean, watch this carefully, does this mean that God will never answer your prayers unless you reach the third level of faith? No, it doesn't mean that. It means that your lifestyle is going to change. It means that your relationship, it means that your request, it means that you're, you're fretting and your anxiety and your questions and your doubts are going to disappear. And God's going to do something absolutely fantastic in your life.

Why? Because He wants the best for you. He doesn't want us living on this particular level. But this is level one. Now, the truth is, if you stay there, then you don't expect God's best. That's not where, that's not where He wants you. He wants you moving up, which brings us, listen, to level number two.

So think about this. Level number two, we've moved from little faith now to great faith. Great faith is reaching faith. Great faith is not willing to stay on level one. Listen, great faith is not willing to stay in there where you labor and wrestle and you doubt and you fear and you're full of anxiety. Great faith is willing to reach out. It's reaching faith. It's reaching out to God beyond what you see, beyond what you feel, beyond what your critics say, beyond what your counselor says. That is, great faith is willing to believe God's Word simply because it is the Word of the living God.

Great faith sees God as a trustworthy, faithful God who will never fail you and never let you down. Now, let's look at a few Scriptures here because if you'll think about this whole issue of great faith, where does he talk about great faith? So let's go back to Matthew chapter eight for a moment. Matthew chapter eight and let's look at a few verses here. Let's look, if you will, at this fifth verse.

The centurion. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him imploring him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I'll come and heal him.

Man, that's a fantastic response. I'll come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I'm not worthy of you to come under my roof, but just say the Word and my servant will be healed. Can you say that? Lord Jesus, just say the Word. Just give me a verse of Scripture. Just speak to my heart. Just make it, just say the Word and my servant will be healed.

For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who were following, truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith within anyone in Israel. He was saying, you know, these Gentiles have more faith than you Israelites and your sons and daughters of Abraham. So he says, I'm not seeing such great faith.

Go to the ninth chapter, if you will. Let's start with verse eighteen. While he was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before him and said, My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.

Real faith. Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did his disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. Now listen to what she said, if I only touch his garment, I will get well. She could have said, if I can touch his garment, maybe I'll get well. If I can touch his garment, I hope I'll get well. If I touch his garment, it's possible he could heal me.

No, she said, listen, if I only touch his garment, I will get well. That's great faith. But Jesus turning and seeing her said, daughter, take courage, your faith has made you well. You see, great faith doesn't just struggle with a circumstance. Great faith says, yes, I will. I know that I will.

I can't see my way clear. Now, but he's on his way here to raise somebody from the dead. And this man also had great faith. He said, look, you come and lay your hand on her, she'll be raised.

And this woman said, if I can only touch his garment, I will be healed. How many times has God allowed you to be in a circumstance or situation and you were struggling and you could honestly say, if I can do so and so, I know this is what will happen. Because you see, oftentimes God gives us the solution to the problems you and I face. And then we don't take him up on it because we don't really believe that some things are that simple.

We don't really believe that if we do exactly what he says, this will happen. And because we're living down here, maybe it will, maybe it won't, wrestling, laboring, struggling faith, he wants us on the second level. What's the second level? The second level is God-oriented. The second level is God-focused. The second level does not watch circumstances, listen to other people. The second level, great faith moves in perseverance, will not give up, will not give in, will not shut down. No matter what, will remain pursuing that which you believe is the will of God for your life.

Where are you? Are you on level one? Oh my goodness, I hope so. Are you on level two?

Thank God. I've ceased to look at my circumstances and focused on Him. Glued and focused on the living God. You will not be focused on God if you're not focused on His Word. You get dust on your Bible, you're going to stay on level number one.

Your Bible ought to be open every day, reading God's Word. And you know what you're doing? Programming your mind to think the way God thinks.

And I say this often. You sit in front of a television set three, four, five, six, ten, twenty-five, thirty hours a week, listening to the world and letting them program your thinking to think you've got to do it, it's your resources, you do this, you do that. You know what'll happen? You'll think the way they think and you'll stay on level one. Level two is Christ-centered. Level two is God-oriented. Level two does not focus on circumstances. You said that about five times.

Right. You know why? Because that's what the devil wants to do, get you focused on your circumstances rather than on God. Level number one is what level? Little faith. And that's what kind of faith? Level number two is what kind of faith? Great faith. And great faith is what? Reaching faith.

All right. What's level number three? Level number three is perfect faith. Level three is resting faith. Not struggling and laboring, not reaching, resting faith. Perfect faith says it's a done deal. No more fretting, no more anxiety, no more worry, no more manipulation, no more trying to work it out, figure it out, make it happen. Perfect faith says it's a done deal with God.

And now what do I do? I wait to watch, listen, a divine promise become a reality in hand, so to speak. Perfect faith. You say, well, you know, I don't think it'll work for me. You don't think it'll work for you because you don't believe it'll work for you. Listen, you've been down here on level one so long, this is the only place you're comfortable.

Struggling, fretting, fuming, laboring. Level number two, you got a little bit over that. So now you're able to trust Him. What does He want us to live?

He wants us to live in such a beautiful relationship to Him. Listen, the anxiety is over. The struggle is over.

The laboring is over. Listen, is walking in the Spirit struggling, laboring and fretting and fuming and full of fear? Or is walking in the Spirit? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear God. Does that mean you'll have no problems?

No. Everything that God allows in our life that stretches us, everything He allows in our life that tests us, that moves our faith forward from level number one to level number three is a blessing from God. It's reaching the place in your relationship to Him and your prayers to Him that listen, the struggle and the laboring cease. No more anxiety. And you're beginning now, listen, to move to level number two.

God, here's what you said. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to believe you no matter what.

And level number three says, Father, thank You very much. Thank You that I don't have to fret over that. I don't have to manipulate anything. I mean, I'm just going to trust You. You said it. I believe it.

That's a done deal. For example, a simple example. God tells us to bring our tithes and offerings to Him. It is amazing to me the people who are still down here on level one, but suppose I lose my job. Suppose I have a need.

Suppose I have a big doctor bill. You know what? You're just asking for it. Don't bring up all that foolish stuff. In other words, if you really and truly are willing to trust Him, you don't have to go through that. Perfect faith says, God, here's what You said. As far as I'm concerned, You said it.

That's it. When a person struggles over, shall I tithe or shall I not? And then you come to the place, if you grow in your faith as you should, you know what happens? You just know that He's going to supply your need. You give your money.

You're offering every week and you know He's going to supply. Then you know what happens? You get on the top level.

You don't even think about it. It's a done deal. What's a done deal? If I obey God, God's going to bless me. And you can take it to any level you want to in your life.

Perfect faith says it's a done deal. Now let me give you a beautiful example in the Scripture back in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. Look at this for a moment. Twenty-second chapter of Genesis. And there are lots of examples, but this is so dramatic.

Look at this. Verse one of chapter twenty-two. Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, he said, here I am. He said, take now your son. Look at this, your only son for which you waited, for whom you waited a hundred years, whom you love, Isaac.

Go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning and settled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And he split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place in which God had told him. On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. Abraham said to his young men, now watch this carefully. Stay here with the donkey. I and the lad will go over there and we will worship and return to you.

Wait a minute. He said, I want you to go and sacrifice him. Abraham's faith through all these years of testing had reached the level that if God said, and he remembered what God said, remember he took him outside one night and he said, look at all those stars. Your descendants from the son I gave you, you will not be able to count them.

And he's just a young lad now. They'd be like the sands of the sea that come from this son that I'm going to give you. Told him that a long time ago. And now he's saying before this son's ever married, you take him and you offer him on the sacrifice to me.

You kill him for me. Laboring faith would never cut any wood and never saddle any donkeys. Great faith would have said, God, I know you're going to do it.

I don't know how you're going to do it. I'm not sure exactly what great faith would have done when he said, put him on the altar. Here's what perfect faith said. Perfect faith said, I and the lad will go over there and we will worship and return and that is offer the sacrifice and we are both coming back. It's exactly what that phrase is in Hebrew. We are going to worship and we are also coming back.

We will return. Perfect faith. You know what he was trusting in? What God had told him. Having watched God work in his life over and over and over again, he had no reason to doubt that even if he took his son's life, the promise of Almighty God that his descendants would be uncannable, innumerable. He was willing to trust God even if he killed him and raised him from the dead. He said, we're going to offer sacrifice. We're going to worship and we're coming back.

Think about this. It is an insult to God not to trust Him. You talk about sin, not to trust the living God for whom you and I could never give a single reason to doubt Him. The sovereign of the whole universe who has every single solitary thing under His absolute control, knows all things at all times and all circumstances, loves you unconditionally, never failed to keep a promise.

He is faithful. Can we not move from level one to make that a thing of the past in our life? To level two that that's where we live.

And then as these circumstances come along in life, we step up to level number three. God, you said it. I believe it. That settles it. It's a done deal. Now here's what you can look for. Satan will attack you with everything he's got. Oh, you think it's a done deal now.

Well, let me show you why it's not. Now watch this. If you're not careful, here's what he'll do. He'll throw some circumstances in front of you.

And that's what he wants you to focus on. Well, here's what you believe. But look at all the things that happen. How could you possibly believe that? Because my Father has your circumstances, Satan, under His control.

That's why I can believe it. I don't have to yield to your circumstances. Doesn't make any difference.

Think about this. Your health is affected. Your finances are affected.

Your relationships are affected. Your peace, your joy, your contentment, your courage. Every single aspect of your life is affected by your faith. He doesn't want you living, listen, in the rut of level one. He wants you walking on the highest level of your faith.

Perfect faith, why? He's my God and He could not fail me. Father, how grateful we are. You make some things so simple and we just do our best to make them difficult. And when I think about the millions and millions of people who live on level one, struggling, fretting, anxious, half sick, oh God, deliver them from that.

Would you motivate them by your love? Having listened to the truth, to decide I'm sick and tired of living on this level, I want God to raise me to level two. And then when the tests come, the challenges come, to recognize these challenges are steps to grow up our faith that we can walk on level three and enjoy our relationship with you on a level that is so exciting and so fulfilling and so much contentment, it's indescribable.

That's just because you're who you are, Father. And we say thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to part two of Levels of Faith in the Life of the Believer. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.