' 2 Pet. iii. 18 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1, and xiii. 11 ; Col. ii. 7; Heb. vi. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 6ff; Judo 10. * Charles the Fifth had this for his motto, Ulterius, Go on further.
360 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
in the sky, nor a stone in the centre, nor a bullet in a gun, which is always equal ; but holiness is like to the seed, which, being sown in the furrows of the earth, first springs up into a blade, and then into an ear, and then into ripe corn, Mat. xiii. 23 ; Mark iv. 28. Holiness is like to the waters in Ezekiel's sanctuary, that rise by degrees, Ezek. xlvii. 3 4. First, it rose to the ankles, then to the knees, then to the loins, and then to a mighty river that could not be passed over. Holiness is like to the house of David, that grew stronger and stronger, 2 Sam. iii. 1 ; and Uke to the cedars of Lebanon, that grew greater and greater, Hosea xiv. 6, 7. 0 Christians, there are none that are so strongly obliged to go on from faith to faith, and from strength to strength, and from holiness to holiness, as you are, Rom. i. 17. Oh ! you must labour to be filled up to the brim with holiness. Col. i. 13, and ii. 7. Oh ! you must strive to equalise the first three of David's worthies, 1 Chron. xi. 21. Oh ! you must endeavour to be like the brethren of Gideon, every one resembling the children of a king, Judges viii. 18. Oh that you could all say as Elihu once did, ' I am full of matter, my belly is as wine which hath no vent ; it is ready to burst like new bottles,' Job xxxii. 18, 19. 0 my brethren, to be as full of holiness as new bottles are full of wine, or as the moon is full of light, or as the black clouds are full of rain, or as nurses' breasts are full of milk, is the greatest happiness in this world. 0 sirs ! there are no persons on earth that are engaged to love the Lord with such a vehement love as you, nor to trust in the Lord with such an inflamed faith as you, nor to hope in the Lord with such a raised hope as you, nor to delight in the Lord with such ravishing delights as you, nor to long after the Lord with such earnest longings as you, nor to fear before the Lord with so great a trembling as you, nor to be so zealous for God with such a burning zeal as you, nor to mourn before the Lord with so great a mourning as you, nor to hate all things that are contrary to the nature of God, the being of God, the command of God, and the glory of God, with such a deadly hatred as you. Well, remember this, viz., it is no little sin for any Christian to sit down satisfied under a little measure of holiness, considering the many and the great obligations that lies upon him to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. But,
(11.) Eleventhly, To provoke you to labour after higher degrees of holiness, consider that the more holiness any man attains to, the more hold, courageous, resolute, masculine, and heroic that man will he for God and godlin£ss, 2 Cor. i. 8-12. Holiness ennobles the heart, it raises the heart ; and the higher the springs of holiness riseth in the heart, the higher it raiseth the heart, and the more it steels the heart for God and godliness. The more holiness any man has, the more resolutely he will set himself against sin, and the more divinely he will scorn the world, and the more courageously he will trample upon temptations, and the more heroic he will be under all his aflaiictions. Men of greatest holiness have been men of greatest boldness ; witness Nehemiah. the three children, Daniel, and all the holy prophets and apostles : Prov. xxviii. 1, ' The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion,' yea, as a young lion, as the Hebrew has it, "1^323, that is in his hot blood and fears no colours, and that is
Heb. XII. 14] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 361