Experience should be something personal. What you have not experienced cannot be called experience. If scriptural teachings and doctrines are not experienced personally by us, they have nothing to do with us. The teaching remains a teaching and the doctrine remains a doctrine. Experience is a matter of life; it is not an idea. Mental thoughts can provide man with many beautiful notions. However, only experience can provide man with a well-developed human life.
It is very unfortunate that the believers’ mental life is more advanced than their experiential life. In regard to our real spiritual condition as Christians, we do not possess what we think but only what we have experienced. Some Christians have no deep experience in the Lord themselves. They do not have novel ideals or an ideal human life; nevertheless, they are very good imitators. One cannot say that they have no heart for spiritual teachings; on the contrary, they are full of interest in spiritual teachings and are very attentive to them. Their heart very much admires the experience of others in the Lord. Although they do not have much fellowship with the Lord, they appreciate the fellowship that others have with the Lord. Although they do not have a burning love or intimate affection for the Lord, they delight in the expression and words of love by others to the Lord. Although they do not have a strong faith in the Lord that would cause them to pray unceasingly to Him and receive numerous miraculous and wonderful answers to their prayers from God, they wholeheartedly praise and admire this kind of spiritual experience. They end up with many pretensions because their hearts are so drawn to these things.
Before these Christians believed in the Lord and were regenerated, they must have been outgoing, fond of fame, emotional, and greedy for vainglory. After being regenerated and saved, these Christians greatly desire to rapidly advance in their spiritual progress in order that they may be known as spiritual giants and obtain a great name and glory. We cannot say that their whole intention is to gain vainglory and reputation. As a matter of fact, they are not behind others in their spiritual pursuit. However, in the hidden part of their heart, to a greater or lesser extent, there secretly remains the motivation of self-glory. This motive, for the most part, is responsible for their seeking heart and strength. However, few of them fulfill their aspiration.
Spiritual progress is made one step at a time. It is like taking a journey. Those who progress spiritually simply serve the Lord faithfully; they do not take the wrong way; they do not turn back; they are not obstinate, and they obey fully. Therefore, they are able to finish the long journey in the shortest period of time. Those who want to rapidly advance try to double the speed of their progress by their own strength and methods, without realizing that there is no short cut in spiritual progress! As a matter of fact, these believers have more difficulty advancing than believers who are apparently slow. The slow believers apparently miss something, and the hasty ones apparently gain something. Actually, neither kind have gained anything. A slow believer realizes the activity of his sinful nature and his many failures. When these failures repeatedly occur, he loses heart and thinks that he will never attain to maturity in spiritual life and that he can never overcome. This is not entirely correct. It is comparatively easy for God to deal with a slow believer and cause him to go on. However, hasty believers are most difficult for God to deal with. In reality they are as troubled by their flesh as slow believers. Many times they are even more troubled. They fail often, yet their nature makes it hard for them to admit their mistakes and failures before men. Their vain hearts are fervent, yet their daily failures make it hard for them to be boastful. When they fail, they grieve over the glory they have lost before man more than the sin they have committed. Although their “outward hearts” will not admit that they are greedy for vainglory, their “inward hearts” are constantly clinging to vainglory. Because they are vainglorious, they devote their attention to outward appearance, and because they devote their attention to outward appearance, they fall into hypocrisy.
Their flesh and sinful nature often rebel against them and constantly cause them to fall. But this does not make them humble (except when their failures are known by men). Since they have no real spiritual experience and their motive is not pure and right, they borrow the spiritual experiences of others and take them as their own. They secretly acquaint themselves with other people’s spiritual messages and, at an opportune time, take one or two statements from them in order to gain a reputation for eloquence and spiritual depth. Little do they realize that what they say does not appear to originate from their manner of life! Their words and their living are not compatible with each other! They imitate the intimate talk others have with the Lord and adopt it as their own. Little do they realize that their spirit and expression, while they are talking, do not match their words. They also have a wide collection of quotations from famous saints with observations about the world and seemingly everything. When an opportunity comes, they apply these quotations one by one. Little do they care that their heart inwardly accuses them of their hypocrisy! These believers often hear of many experiences of answered prayer, and they try to manufacture the same kind of experience in order to be admired by others! Little do they realize that their own hearts are doubting if God will answer their prayer. They hear others praise and thank God in their suffering, and they imitate the praises to God by lifting up their voice when in similar suffering. Yet they only have a praising mouth without a praising heart. This is not acceptable to God. Even more frequently, they adopt spiritual words that they hear in the prayers of others, loving thoughts expressed to the Lord from the hearts of others, and the burning enthusiasm for saving souls poured out from the hearts of others. Their failure lies in the fact that even though they pray such words, their hearts do not respond (except for occasional emotional sentiments), and they have no desire for such things.
Sometimes we hear others minister the deep teachings of spiritual life. Because of a preacher’s thorough elucidation, we clearly understand in our mind what has been said. At such times there is a great danger that we may think that what we understand is also our experience. Little do we realize that at critical moments, we may still be found unfaithful in following the preacher’s teaching and in working together with the Lord. Everything that we have not experienced is not ours. What we understand only belongs to others. We still have nothing!
Borrowed spiritual experience leads to self-pride and haughtiness. It leads us to think that we have reached the very highest realm. We are greedy for vainglory which only corrupts us spiritually. Borrowed spiritual experience cannot help us to advance spiritually; on the contrary, it will be an absolute hindrance to our spiritual advance. Pride and vainglory are sufficient to cause a fatal blow to the saints. It is not worth it to bring loss upon ourselves. On that day when we are before the judgment seat of Christ, all “borrowed things” will be made manifest. Not one false thing will remain covered before the judgment seat. May we be willing to be instructed. May we be more humble and not assume that we already know. Rather, may we be faithful before the Lord to ask ourselves, “Have I attained to this stage yet?”