THE LADDER OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS
Faith
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
(Hebrew 11:1)
The follower of Christ must have faith abiding in the heart; for
without this it is impossible to please God. Faith is the hand that
takes hold of infinite help; it is the medium by which the renewed heart is made to beat in unison with the heart of Christ
And Faith Paul considered it as fight
12 Fight the good fight* of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
(1 Timothy 6:12)
And Every soldier before joining a fight must have Armours
Also faith as fight has them written in Ephesians 6:14-18
Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you
come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting
life.
The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you
cannot overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of
an unsanctified heart, and an unwillingness to submit to the control
of God.
The heavenly intelligences will work with the human agent who seeks with determined faith that perfection of character which will reach out to perfection in action.
VIRTUE
Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter.
``A noble all-round character is not inherited.
It does not come to us by accident.``
A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ.
God gives the
talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with self.
Conflict after conflict must be waged
against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves
closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected.
Controlling the Appetites and Passions.
“Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul,” is the
language of the apostle Peter (1 Peter 2:11). Many regard this text as
a warning against licentiousness only, but it has a broader meaning.
It forbids every injurious gratification of appetite or passion.
Let none who profess godliness regard with indifference the health ofthe body, and flatter themselves that intemperance is no sin, and will not affect their spirituality.
A close sympathy exists between the
physical and the moral nature.
Any habit which does not promote health degrades the higher and nobler faculties.
Wrong habits of eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action.
Indulgence
of appetite strengthens the animal propensities,giving them the ascendancy over the mental and spiritual powers.
Key verse
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue ; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance ; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness *brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you , and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:5-8)
Knowledge
On the ladder of Christian Progress
There's another step called knowledge.
Knowledge of what?
Knowledge of Holly Scriptures
Is it important?
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple"
Psalm 119:130
Temperance
On the ladder of Christian , there's another stage called
Temperance
So Why temperance?
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,and in your spirit, which are God's.
(1 Corinthians 6:19,20)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
(Romans 12:1)
Why it is important?
The Knowledge of God’s Will
Our salvation depends upon our knowledge of God’s will as it
is contained in His Word.
Never cease asking and searching for
truth. You need to know your duty. You need to know what you
must do to be saved. And it is God’s will that you shall know what
He has said to you.
But you must exercise faith. As you search the Scriptures, you must believe that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek him.
O search the Bible with a heart hungry for spiritual food!
There are many among professed Christians today who would
decide that Daniel was too particular, and would pronounce him
narrow and bigoted.
They consider the matter of eating and drinking as of too little consequence to require such a decided stand—one
involving the probable sacrifice of every earthly advantage.
```Butthose who reason thus will find in the day of judgment that they
turned from God’s express requirements and set up their own opinion
as a standard of right and wrong.```
```They will find that what seemed
to them unimportant was not so regarded of God.```
God's requirements should be sacredly obeyed.
Those who accept and obey one of His
precepts because it is convenient to do so, while they reject another
because its observance would require a sacrifice, lower the standard
of right and by their example lead others to lightly regard the holy
law of God. “Thus saith the Lord” is to be our rule in all things.
PATIENCE
This is another stage of the ladder of Christian Progress after temperance
So why patience is also important in Christian Progress?
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
(James 1:3,4)
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
(James 5:10,11)
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
(Hebrew 10:36)
Here is a course by which we may be assured that we shall never fall . Those who are thus working upon the plan of addition
in obtaining the Christian graces, have the assurance that God will work upon the plan of multiplication in granting them the gifts of His Spirit.
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;
and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to
temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these
things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These words are full of instruction, and strike the keynote of
victory. The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of
Christian progress, every step of which represents advancement in
the knowledge of God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no
standstill.
Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are
saved by climbing round after round, mounting step after step, to
the height of Christ’s ideal for us.
Thus He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
AA page 357
Let peace from Lord abides in your heart and Holly ghost help us to climb round after round.
GODLINESS
Another stage on the ladder of Christian Progress after Patience is godliness
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come .
(1 Timothy 4:8)
Godliness is the character every christian must have
In words, deeds , and even in worshipping our almighty father
Do not have so little reverence for the house and worship of God
as to communicate with one another during the sermon.
If those
who commit this fault could see the angels of God looking upon
them and marking their doings, they would be filled with shame and
abhorrence of themselves.
God wants attentive hearers. It was while
men slept, that the enemy sowed tares.
```Nothing that is sacred, nothing that pertains to the worship of
God, should be treated with carelessness and indifference.```
A mind that is intent upon
having the prize, upon securing heaven, will reject with firm, determined purpose every attempt at wit and jest concerning religious things.
BROTHERLY KINDNESS
This is another stage of the ladder of Christian Progress after godliness
About this stage bible says
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Romans 12:10
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed and in truth.
( 1 JOHN 317,18)
CHARITY
This is the last stage of the ladder of Christian Progress after brotherly kindness
So why charity?
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1John 4:7
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
(1 John 3 10,15)
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
(1John 4:20,21)
In your association with others, put yourself in their place. Enter
into their feelings, their difficulties, their disappointments, their joys,and their sorrows.
Identify yourself with them, and then do to them
as, were you to exchange places with them, you would wish themto deal with you.
This is the true rule of honesty. It is another
expression of the law “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” And
it is the substance of the teaching of the prophets. *It is a principle of heaven, and will be developed in all who are fitted for its holy companionship.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
(1 Peter 1: 22)
"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;
and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to
temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these
things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
These words are full of instruction, and strike the keynote of
victory. The apostle presents before the believers the ladder of
Christian progress, every step of which represents advancement in
the knowledge of God, and in the climbing of which there is to be no
standstill.
Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and charity are the rounds of the ladder. We are
saved by climbing round after round,mounting step after step , to
the height of Christ’s ideal for us.
Thus He is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
Let peace from Lord abides in your heart and Holly ghost help us to climb round after round.
In Jesus name
Amen