Spiritual progress

  Scripture Reading: Luke 14:26-27, 33

  Every Christian should have spiritual progress, but what is spiritual progress? How can one progress spiritually? What are the manifestations of a Christian making good spiritual progress? This is a big question, and we cannot cover everything here. We can merely treat it very briefly. According to the record of the Bible and the experience of the saints, spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us. God is Spirit, and if the Spirit of God dwells in us, we are in the spirit (Rom. 8:9). Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us. Suppose the element of God was a hundred units at the time we were saved. If we have made any progress in spiritual matters, then the element of God has increased in us. If the element of God in us becomes two or three hundred units, it means that we have made some spiritual progress.

  In the beginning when God created man, He made man His vessel. The eternal purpose of God is to enter into man, to mingle Himself with man so that man may be full of Him. The failure of Adam and Eve was that they did not allow God to fulfill this purpose. On the contrary, they were alienated from God. What does it mean to be alienated from God? It means that man does not yield the proper place within himself to God. What does it mean to not yield the proper place to God? It means certain things within have occupied a person’s being. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God’s command did not occupy them; rather, they were occupied with how the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food, how it was pleasing to the eyes, and how it enabled man to have wisdom. These usurped the place of God in them. As a result they fell. As long as there is one thing, one event, or one person that takes possession of you, you have fallen from the presence of God.

  We should ask ourselves what our condition today is. From the day we were saved until now, how many things, events, and people are still occupying us and depriving God of His rightful place? We need to consider ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, if God’s Spirit opens our eyes a little from within, we will immediately see that many items within our whole being are occupying the place that belongs to God alone.

  A brother once said that man’s heart is like sticky gum; it sticks to anything that comes across its way, whether it is clothing or a table. Sometimes we are stuck to an easy life, and at other times, we are attached to personal ambition. Once we are attached to something, we cannot love God properly anymore. We attach ourselves not only to what we have, but also to what we do not have. We can become attached to our difficulty, imagination, or vainglory. No matter what our heart is attached to, as long as there is one thing usurping God’s place in us, we have fallen. Whenever God’s place in us is usurped, we become fallen people. A person may have been saved for ten years. During the first five years he may have done well, but during the next five years there was something in his heart usurping the place of God, and he became fallen. Although he continued to come to meetings, pray, and serve God, inwardly he has fallen. Brothers and sisters, God’s goal is for man to become His vessel. As long as we are occupied by something other than God, and as long as we do not yield the proper place to God, we are fallen.

  A brother may say that another brother loves his son too much and that his son has usurped God’s place, but that his own son has not usurped God’s place because his son is not that lovable. Actually, both are wrong. If your son is too lovable, he may usurp God’s place. If he is not very lovable, he can also usurp God’s place. You may fail to love God because your son is too lovable, and you may not love God because your son is not lovable. Whether or not something is occupying God’s place in you is judged by whether you love God.

  Therefore, it is very easy to find the meaning of spiritual progress and the ways and means to spiritual progress. We have mentioned the positive aspect of spiritual progress, which is the increase of the element of God in us. Now let us look at the negative aspect of spiritual progress. Spiritual progress on the negative side is the shedding of certain things from us, that is, from our inner being. As soon as something is shed from us, we have spiritual progress. When something that usurps God’s place is shed from us, we have spiritual progress.

  Suppose a person is preoccupied by his excessive talking. Every time you meet him, he incessantly talks like a chatter box that never shuts its lid. He never stops talking. If this man wants to make any spiritual progress, his excessive talking must be removed. Real progress for him will occur when his excessive talking stops. Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God in us. It is also the removal of things other than God within us. We must not think that we can make progress by simply attending a meeting, hearing a message, or understanding a message. Spiritual progress for us is not only addition but also subtraction. Having eight or ten messages in us is not progress; it can well be a hindrance. Spiritual progress is the increase of the element of God and the removal of everything else. Brothers and sisters, what is spiritual progress? Is it listening to a few messages? No. When we listen to a message, the message reaches our mind, but this is not progress. When something is removed from us there is progress. If something is removed from us, we have progress. If God’s element increases in us, we have progress.

  Many Christians are delivered from the pleasures of sin as soon as they are saved. Yet it is not enough to be free from sin alone. Spiritual progress is being free from everything that usurps the place of God. Brothers and sisters, we must not only be clean but also pure; we should not be occupied by anything other than God. Whenever God’s work removes something from us other than God, we have spiritual progress. We must continually ask ourselves whether we are shedding things. We must remember that if nothing is removed from us, we have no spiritual progress. If nothing has been cast off from us for a month or a year, we have had no progress during that month or year. Brothers and sisters, spiritual progress on the positive side means the increase of the element of God, and on the negative side, it means the decrease of ourselves. A Christian who makes great progress is one who decreases daily. Today he may see that vanity has no place in him, and he decreases. Two days later, he may see that pride has no place in him, and he decreases some more. After the fifth day, he may see that gossip has no place in him, and he decreases still more. After seven days, he may see that his impatience should not have any place in him, and he will decrease some more. Some people find it very difficult to remove the love of money from themselves. Others find it very difficult to remove their temper. Still others find it very difficult to remove their lethargy. Some things can only be dropped a little at a time. They may need ten years before they are completely dropped. This dropping is a kind of dying. Dying to money means dropping money; dying to temper means dropping our temper. On the positive side, spiritual progress means the increase of God’s element within us. On the negative side, it means the dropping of many things from within us little by little.

  How can these things be dropped? Simply put, the love of God first operates within a saved person. When this person is constrained by God’s love, his heart turns towards God, and the Spirit of God is then given a chance to work and operate within him. When this happens, he is enlightened and sees something. Once he sees something, the Holy Spirit intensifies His work. The believer will obey the Spirit, and something will drop from him. One day God’s love will inexplicably constrain you, and your heart will be turned to God, and you will say, “O God, I love You.” When this happens, the Holy Spirit enlightens you. Once the Holy Spirit enlightens you, something is seen. Once you see something, the Holy Spirit intensifies His work, and you will immediately obey and say amen. This obedience results in something falling off. The degree to which things fall off will be the degree of your spiritual progress. The Lord said to the disciples, “Everyone of you who does not forsake all his own possessions cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). Some people forsake all things, only to pick them up again shortly. When the Lord Jesus spoke of forsaking all, He meant for it to be accomplished by the Spirit in us. Consequently, the work of the cross can only be executed by the Holy Spirit in us, and only then will things drop off. How does the Holy Spirit execute the work of the cross? As long as our heart is open towards the Lord, the Spirit will execute the work of the cross in us. On the cross the Lord Jesus stripped away everything for us already. Now the execution of this stripping work by the Holy Spirit is based on the degree to which our heart is turned towards God.

  We must reiterate that spiritual progress on the positive side is the increase of the element of God, and on the negative side it is the decrease of things usurping God’s place. The extent of this decrease depends on the degree to which our heart is turned towards God. How we wish that something would be removed from us daily! This is dying daily. Whenever we do not find anything dropping off, our progress has stopped.