The First Stage - The Stage of Salvation

The Ascending Side

We seek God because we are tired of sin, the world, ourselves, and the emptiness of life. The wages of sin and of the world were a bad conscience and a soul in darkness. We seek God and our sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus. We turn away from darkness, from sin, and from the world, and God receives us. The consciousness of having our sins forgiven fills us with the joy of salvation. Our life has suddenly changed.

Salvation produces love, and love produces care. Salvation results in a desire to see others saved. “Jesus has done so much for me, I must do something for Him in return” is usually one of the first thoughts of a newly saved person. We view everything in the light of the great joy of our heart, and we are very hopeful for the others’ salvation.

Our first joy is pure, and our desire is for the Lord.

Every force must be tested by resistance. As we progress, we will soon notice that man is a hard field of labor. We will soon become aware of opposition to the work, and life’s battles will produce a feeling of weakness in us. We become aware of our impotence.

The Descending Side

In the first stage we experience an ascending side in the first joy until we have reached the high point, at which time we become more aware of our impotence. At that point the descending side begins. The awareness of our impotence has a discouraging effect. The first joy will lose its strength; it will continue to fade away when our eyes are opened to the fact that we do not have complete victory over sin and our self-life with its assertive and varied demands. We realize that we should have victory over many things and that there are many things that we should have done, but we do not have the strength to follow the light. Day after day the same mistakes and inclinations assert themselves, and we go to God in prayer to receive forgiveness. God forgives gladly, even seven times seventy, just as Jesus taught His disciples to do to those who sinned against them.

Most believers live on this descending side of the first stage without ever making any further progress. On this stage they lead a life of sighing and complaining without complete victory. Their thoughts will often revert to those early days when joy like a river flooded their soul. Therefore they like to refer to this unforgettable time in their testimonies. Peace and joy are now quite variable. Feelings go up and down. Sometimes their joy will be quite evident, but they will quickly revert to their dry state, often falling into a state of apathy, believing that life cannot be otherwise. Generally speaking, their life gradually glides over into dead forms and daily devotions.

Some of these people cast themselves into intensive Christian work, which gives them a certain degree of joy and satisfaction. This encourages them, but therein lies a snare since it can give them a feeling of self-satisfaction and well-being. The inner, spiritual desire that should have found fulfillment through an inner growth and progress is now gradually vanishing, and the person becomes rooted in his current stage of development. He becomes satisfied and rich, and in his richness he is reluctant to tolerate a testimony that goes beyond his own life. He will often consider such testimonies to be pride.

God does not lead us into this descending side so we remain there, but He wants to lead us forward. He wants to teach us that we shall not only receive forgiveness for past committed sins, but also that we need power to live an overcoming life. However, just as He previously showed us the sins we had committed so that we received a longing for grace and redemption, He now wants to show us our impotence in order to awaken our desire and longing for power and victory. The way to the “higher plane” always leads through the “lower plane.” God wants to lead us not only to the place where we bemoan our condition and our impotence. Just as He had previously made sin alive to us, so now He wants to make our impotence real to us so that in this state He can create a desire in us for power from on high. However, only very few people reach the limits of their own impotence, for the words of Isaiah aptly describe the majority: “I will not give up. You found new strength in your hand; therefore you did not become weak.” Isa. 57:10.

It is difficult for a soul to forsake his own strength. As often as not, this battle is more intense than forsaking sin and being converted to God. It is difficult for him to realize that it is necessary for him to be “unclothed” before he can be “clothed.”

God leads a soul to the seemingly opposite way of his prayers. If he prays for grace, God shows him his sins; if he prays for power, his eyes are opened to his impotence; for a fullness of His life he gets to see the corruption and emptiness of his own life. Naomi led Ruth to a place of rest so that it might go well with her. But first Ruth had to go to the threshing floor, which is the place of cleansing. Ruth 3:1-2. Whenever God wants to lead us into a deeper rest and a greater blessing, He will first lead us to the threshing floor, in order to go through a deeper cleansing. In this place the chaff flies before our eyes so that it is difficult for us to see. It seems as if all we can see is sin and self-life whirling before our inner eye. It is as if we had received the opposite of what we prayed for, and that we have entered into darkness instead of light, and instead of receiving strength we lose our own strength. When the Samaritan woman asked Jesus for living water He pointed to her sinful life. She seemed to have received the opposite.

Each blessing is preceded by a deeper cleansing.

Many people in the first stage never make any progress because they are afraid of the threshing floor. They pray for God’s rich blessing and seemingly receive what they pray for. Quite often this causes them to become enemies of a higher spiritual life. The humiliation on the threshing floor is too great. It is obvious that the threshing floor—the cross—is an offense to many.

Those who stop in the first stage remain in their old state to their personal disadvantage. They exclude themselves from the growth they should be experiencing in Christ Jesus.

Often they will find consolation in an incorrect explanation of the Scriptures by seeking to adapt them to their own experiences. For example, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” However, this scripture speaks about a far more advanced stage, which we will speak about later on.

God works according to specific laws, and he who unreservedly submits to God will advance the quickest. God reveals His glory to babes. The one who willingly enters the threshing floor in the darkness of faith will mature in his own weakness to receive God’s power by faith. It was unbelief that was the greatest hindrance until now. By faith you let go of your own strength, and without seeing, cast yourself into God’s arms. Faith to receive God’s power is born in your heart at the very moment you cast away your own strength.