more beloved shall that man be of God. The highest communion is always attended with the highest love. But, fiftlily and lastly, the more holy any man is, the more actually ripe and fit for heaven that man is. A Christian at first conversion is but rough cast, but as holi- ness is increased, so he comes more and more every day to be prepared, polished, squared, and fitted for a full and glorious fruition of God in heaven. Job v. 26. Though the least degree of grace and holiness puts a man into a habitual preparedness and fittedness for heaven, yet it is only an eminency in grace and holiness that puts a man into an actual preparedness and fittedness for heaven. The richer in grace the riper for glory, the higher you are in holiness the fitter you are to enter into the joy of your Lord. Though the least drop or drachm of holiness is enough to keep a man from dropping into hell, yet it is only grown holiness that actually prepares and fits a man to go to heaven. Mat. xxv. 19-24. Now, doubtless, the more actually ripe and ready any man is for heaven, the more pleasure and delight God takes in him. The more the vessels of grace are fitted for glory, the more complacency God takes in them. When God set himself upon the creation of the world, in the close of every day's work, except the second, for which the opinions of the learned are various, God set to his seal, ' that it was good;' but w^hen he had perfected and com- pleted the whole creation, and cast an eye upon all together, then he concludes, ' that it was very good;' 'and God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good,' or ' extreme good,' so some, or ' very pleasant and delightful,' so others. Gen. i. The work of creation was KO curiously and gloriously framed, and so full of admirable rarities and varieties, that it raised delight and complacency in God himself : whereupon Augustine observes that even to every grace, yea, of the least degree of grace, he saith 'it is good;' but when he beholds the graces of his saints fresh and flourishing, your faith acted and strength- ened, your repentance daily renewed, your humility increased, &c., then he concludes that ' all is very good.' i 0 sirs, if the Lord Jesus Christ be so ravished with one of his spouse's eyes, and with one chain of her neck. Cant. iv. 9 : with the least drops or sips of grace, or with the least grains and drachms of grace and holiness, oh, how much more will great measures of grace and holiness take him and ravish him ! Well ! for a close of this argument, remember this, that as the sun shines hotter on some climates than it doth upon others, and as the dew falls more upon one place than another, and as the water overflows some pastures more than others, so God's love of complacency and de- light shines hotter and brighter upon some Christians than it does upon others ; and these I have shewed you to be such who are most eminent and excellent in grace and holiness. And thus much for this third motive. (4.) Fourthly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more your holiness is increased, the more the great God ivill he honoured and glorified, Mat. v. 16. Fruitfulness in holiness sets the weightiest crown of glory upon the head of God : John XV. 8, ' Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.' The more eminent any person is in holiness, the more clearly and con- vincingly he proclaims God before all the world to be a rich God, a
* Aug. in Gen. i. 31.
352 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
full God, a bountiful God, an overflowing good.i There is nothing that works men to admire God so much, and to exalt God so high, as a Christian's fruitfulness in holiness. Oh, how good must that God be, whose servants are so good, said the heathen ! Oh, how glorious in holiness must that God be, whose people are so holy! Look, as the thriving child is a credit to the nurse, and the rich servant an honour to his master, and a plentiful crop the praise of the husbandman, so that Christian that thrives in grace, that grows rich in holiness, is the greatest credit, and the highest honour, and the sweetest praise to God in the world. The tree in Alcinous's garden had always blossoms, buds, and ripe fruits, one under another. 0 sirs, those trees of righteousness that have not only the blossoms and buds of holiness upon them, but also the ripe fruits of holiness one under another, they are the greatest honour and glory to God in the world, Isa. Ixi. 3. What will men say when they shall behold your eminency in sanctity ? will they not say, certainly God is no hard master ; he never looks to reap where he does not sow, nor to gather where he does not straw, Mat. XXV. 24. Certainly he keeps a noble house ; his tables are richly spread, his cups overflow, he feeds, yea, he feasts his servants with the choicest rarities and varieties that heaven affords : witness their thriv- ing and flourishing estate in grace and holiness. And thus you see that the more your holiness is increased, the more highly the God of heaven will be exalted and magnified. But,