SPIRITUAL PROGRESSION
by Pastor Jim May
In the life of every truly “born again” Child of God, there should be a process underway be which we are brought into a place of maturity in Christ. What we were yesterday is no more, what we are today is ever changing, and what we shall be tomorrow, by the grace of God, will be far better than we are now. God’s purpose in the life of a Christian is to fulfill His own Word in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Our Father in Heaven desires us to become more and more like He is. Every day, when we wake up in the morning to continue our journey through life, we should be in a constant state of growing and changing into the very image of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
This Spiritual Progression is very evident in the lives of those who are allowing the Word of God and the Holy Ghost to change them, day-by-day, into the man or woman of God that God intends for them to be.
The old man – the one who once cursed God, or at best, ignored God’s very existence, and cared nothing for the things of the Spirit - that old man that once was me, no longer exists.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
In the place of that “old man”, that “nature of sin” there exists a new creation, a new man, a new heart, a new spirit, a new purpose in life, and a new promise of an eternal life. If you are truly “born again”, you no longer desire the things of this world for now your vision is lifted from this earthly realm to gaze upon the glorious realms of Heaven and the wonders of God’s grace.
You can’t see them with your eyes of flesh. You can’t reach out and touch them with your hands. You can’t taste them with your mouth. But nevertheless we know that all of the promises of God are true and we can “see” them through eyes of faith, we can “handle” them through faith, and we can “taste” the goodness of God’s wonderful promises through faith.
In Hebrews Chapter 11 we have a wonderful list of so many of the “heroes of the faith” that have passed through this life before us.
Noah - built an ark and saved his whole family, and became the father to every human being alive today. Through Noah’s faith we all have the chance to be an heir to God’s promise.
Abraham - when he was called, left all that he knew, didn’t know where he was going, and because of his faith, we all now look for a city whose builder and maker is God.
Moses - refused the wealth, fame, power and pleasures of sin for a season, that the world had to offer and chose to suffer affliction with the people of God. He considered that living a life for Christ, a life that would not be accepted by the world, was far better than the treasures in Egypt.
I don’t have time to tell you about so many more of the heroes like Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and all of the prophets - through faith conquered the devil and those nations who served the devil, worked the works of righteousness, saw God’s miraculous power again and again, and stopped the mouths of lions,
All of the heroes of the faith won great victories. Some saw their work for the Lord flourish while on the earth but there were many who never saw the rewards of their service in this life, for they had to endure the hatred of the world. The world will hate anyone and anything that will remind them of their need for a Savior.
Some endured trials of cruelty. They were mocked, scourged, thrown into prison, stoned, cut into pieces, and forced to endure temptations that were beyond the power of mortal man to resist. Many more were stoned and killed by the sword. They were forced to wander about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; hiding in the deserts, mountains and caves while they were hunted down like animals by a world that hated them.
But the Bible says that all of them, through faith, believed that God had something so grand, and so wonderful waiting on the other side of death, that whatever they had to do to get there was worth it.
Every one of these “heroes of the faith” saw God’s promise of an eternal reward and they were willing to forsake all that this world had to offer, hold on to God’s promise at all costs, and walk in the path that God had placed before them, even when that path led to a life of absolute sacrifice.
And today we have people who won’t even get into the car on a beautiful Sunday morning, drive 10 minutes to get to the church, and spend one hour in worship to God with other Believers. Yet they claim to still have the same faith, and love the same God, and serve the same Lord as these heroes I have just mentioned. Can you see anything wrong with this picture?
God is still choosing men and women who will be “heroes of the faith” today. Just because the Bible has been written and no more is being added to it doesn’t mean that God has stopped building heroes of the faith.
Paul, in speaking to the Corinthian Christians, said in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
What does that mean to you and I? It means this –we are “living epistles” of the Word of God. The deeds that we do, the life that we live and the faith that we hold on to as we serve the Lord are not being recorded in stone, or on a piece of paper to be added to the pages of the Bible. But our faith, and our life of sacrifice unto the Lord, is being recorded. It’s being recorded in the heart and mind of everyone we meet. All of our friends, family, co-workers and even strangers we pass along the way, are taking note of our faith and our works for the Kingdom of God. In addition, your works are being chronicled in the books of Heaven where, one day, we will stand before God and answer for those works.
I want to hold on to the promises of God and grow in grace, mature in the faith, so that one day, when I stand before God, I will have only “works of righteousness” under my name. Do I hear anyone saying AMEN to that?
Job 17:9, "The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger."
If you are maturing in Christ, your life should be showing some Spiritual Progression. Every day that you live you should become stronger and stronger in the faith. The closer we come to the end of this life, the brighter our vision should be of the glorious promise that we can see by faith because our faith is stronger. The farther down the road we have walked with Jesus the more we should know that we have too much to gain to give up now for we have already tasted of His grace and mercy, we have already seen many of His promises come true, and we know, by faith, that none of His promises will ever fail.
If you are truly born again, and your life is in Christ, you will stay anchored in Jesus and sail through the storms of life with your eyes ever on the prize at the end and no temptation will keep you from reaching that prize.
Psalms 84:7, "They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God."
We all know that we will face the trials, the storms and the temptations to turn away from God. Life is filled with all of these things and there is no escaping them. But, none of these things should stop us on our journey. They should not become stumbling blocks to keep us from becoming a hero of the faith, but stepping stones to help us grow stronger and stronger each time we overcome them.
As we are drawing nearer and nearer to the end of our journey through this pilgrim land, and we have our eyes set on Heaven, let us not forget that the journey to Heaven is shorter now than it was yesterday and we have too much to lose to turn back. The gates of the New Jerusalem are almost in sight.
By faith, we can already see the glow of the Light of God over the city. I can walk out on a dark night and see the glow of the lights of Baton Rouge and sometimes even New Orleans in the sky. By faith, I know that Heaven is just as real as those cities I see with my eyes and I must go on. I can’t stop now. I can’t take any more detours. The “Way” is open through Christ. The “Road to Heaven” is open wide and construction has already been completed. There are no stop signs, just green lights ahead, and the traffic on this road is really light. Let’s put the pedal to the metal and forge ahead toward that Heavenly city. We have so much to gain and nothing to lose!
Have you ever been on a long trip? After you have traveled for many miles, you grow weary of traveling. But as you approach your destination, whether you are traveling to visit with a loved one, or a place of fun and relaxation at a vacation spot, the closer you get the more excited you become and you just can’t wait to get there. Have you ever felt like jumping out of the car, or coming off the plane and kissing the ground because you have finally arrived? My friend, that is nothing compared to the excitement we should feel because we are almost “home” with the Lord!
Psalms 92:12, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon."
Those who are born again and progressing spiritually through life will have a beauty about them that the world doesn’t quite understand. Their lives will be an example of honesty, love, caring and sharing. Their heart will be filled with love and compassion for all men. Their spirit will exemplify God’s grace and mercy. Their speech will be filled with God’s praise and with encouraging words for their fellowman.
They may not be the “beautiful people” of the world. Their pictures most likely will not appear on magazines that proclaim their beauty. But their beauty will be a thing to behold. It will be a beauty of the heart, the mind, the soul and the spirit, and that beauty will make even the most unattractive countenance of flesh appear beautiful to everyone they meet. The beauty of this world is only on the surface, but the beauty is deep and complete for those who are beautiful in the faith. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and when people look at the beauty of the heart, feeling the love of God that is coming from within the heart of a born again Child of God, then they will forget what the exterior looks like.
A palm tree grows slowly, but steadily, from century to century, uninfluenced changes in seasons like other trees. It does not flourish more than it should in winter’s continual rain, nor does it droop during the dry summer and burning sun. Things that people hang on it won’t make a Palm tree fall over. It can stand most strong, stormy winds that try to blow it over. It just keeps standing there, looking calmly down upon the world below, and patiently yielding its fruit from generation to generation.
Let us take a lesson from the Palm tree and just stand steady, and live for Jesus no matter what comes, steadily bearing fruit, and continuing to make more and more spiritual progression in our journey through life.
Proverbs 4:18, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
As the light of the Gospel takes root in us and continues to grow, we should be growing more and more in Christ. We are ever growing into a place of “perfection” in Christ. Day by day there should be a process of sanctification where our lives are becoming more and more and more like Jesus. That’s all a part of Spiritual Progression.
1 Timothy 4:15, "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all."
We are to not let a day go by without meditating upon God’s Word, meditating upon where God has brought from and mostly, meditation upon where God is taking us next. What is God’s will for my life? Where do you want me to go now Lord? What do you want me to do next? Lord, show me the way, lead my steps and guide me onward in your will.
Every one of us should have the attitude where we say, “Lord, I give my self to you, completely, and without reservation. I have no great plans of my own that I want to fulfill for I have surrendered my vision to you and taken your vision instead. All of my time, all of my talents, and all of my dreams are wrapped up in doing your will Jesus.”
I don’t care about wealth of this world. I renounce the pleasures of sin. I seek not the fame of men. I care not whether my reputation in the earth is ever one of being a great scholar or a great speaker or of someone who has accomplished some great worldly work.
I only want to be successful in the eyes of my Father in Heaven. If I am successful there, then I am successful period, no matter what the world may think.
When I go on vacation, I do my best to be the same as I am at home. That’s called integrity. But I really don’t care so much what those strangers think of me. Their thoughts of who I am, or what I am, or why I do what I do, really don’t matter much at all. It only matter what God thinks first, and secondly, what those who really know me think. I live my life for God and for those who are always a part of my life, my family and friends, here at church and on the job. It is those who I can have a great impact upon, not the strangers in another city. Likewise, I am not concerned about what this world thinks, or what the people of this world think, because this world is not my home. I’m a stranger, a traveler, a pilgrim, on a journey toward home. My home is in Heaven, not here. My Father is there waiting and I just can’t wait to get there.
Is your life showing Spiritual Progression? Are you getting stronger in the faith every day? Is your life becoming more and more like Jesus? Is your heart growing more excited about Heaven? Let us examine ourselves and make sure that we are progressing in Christ. Let’s make sure that we are really “in the faith”. God is still making heroes. Will you be one of them?
