6. That we may answer our many experiences. There is no man of any long standing in the profession of godliness but he hath many experiences of the bitterness of sin, when he hath been meddling with.
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forbidden fruit ; and of the vanity of the creature, when he hath doted upon it, and at length he findeth that there is a He in his right hand : Eccles. i. 14, ' I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity and vexation of spirit' Of the comfort of duty ; when done all things for God, there is a sweetness accompanieth it : Micah ii. 7, ' Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly ? * Of the help of God in his difficulties and straits : Ps. xlvi. 1, * God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' Of the truth of his promises : Ps. xviii. 30, ' As for God, his way is perfect ; the word of the Lord is tried ; he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.' Of answer of prayers: Ps. cxvi. 1, 2, 'I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplication ; because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.' Of the enterprises of Satan : 2 Cor. ii. 11, * Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.' Now to have all these experiences, and to be nothing improved and bettered, is very sad: Deut. xxix. 4, ' Yet the Lord hath not given them an heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, unto this day.' To be nothing better, nothing wiser, is an argument of spiritual stupidness and folly.
7. To answer all the means, and the care and cost that God hath been at with us and for us. God expecteth growth where he has afforded the means of growth in great plenty : Luke xiii. 7, ' He said to the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I came seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none ; cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ? ' It must be understood dejure, not de facto, of what God might expect, for God cannot be disappointed : ' Have I been thus long with you, and hast thou not known me ? ' John xiv. 9. It was a grief to Christ when they were not grown under the means of grace : Luke xii. 48, * Where much is given, much is required.' It is grie- vous to the Spirit of God when we are no better for all that is done to us.
Application.
1. As it is a privilege of the sincere christian whose heart is set heavenward, so it is for his encouragement : * They go from strength to strength,' If there be new troubles, there is new strength. Many are ready to faint in the valley of Baca, and think they shall never hold out. There is a continual supply : Kom. ii. 7, * To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life ; ' Luke viii. 15, ' The good ground bringeth forth fruit with patience.' They have present support, and shall have final deliverance : Ps. cxxxviii. 3, ' In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.' God gives a power to bear up your spirit in all your burdens. God is no Pharaoh ; you shall have strength with your work, strength with your trials, strength with your difficulties. A good man will not overburden his beast ; and God will give final deliverance ; your troublesome journey will not last long ; it will be over in a little time, and then you shall appear before God in Zion. There is rest : Eev. xiv. 13s ' That they may rest from their labours, and their works follow them.' In heaven you have nothing to do but to bless God, and praise God, and admire God to all eternity. Therefore be encouraged ;
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go in the strength of your present refreshings, and God will find new grace for you, while you continue upright with him.
2. As it is a duty.
Use 1. It showeth the folly of them who count an earnest pursuance of eternal life to be more than needs, and that a little holiness will serve the turn. Oh no ! A christian should always be growing and always improving, still pressing nearer and nearer towards the mark, going on from strength to strength. There is no nimium in holiness ; you cannot have too much holiness, or too much of the love of God, nor of the fear of God, nor of faith in him. There are many that come near and never enter : Luke xiii. 24, ' Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.' Certainly he that knoweth what was lost in Adam, and must be recovered in Christ, cannot think he can do enough or too much. How hard a matter is it to keep what we have ! Such is the vanity, lightness, and inconstancy of our hearts in good, and so furious are the assaults of sundry temptations, and so great is our impotency to resist them ; our proneness to turn from the ways of God so great ; so strong, subtle and assiduous are our spiritual adversaries ; so many are those difficulties, discouragements, diversions, and hindrances which we have to wrestle with and overcome in the way to heaven, that it concerneth us to give all diligence to advance in our christian course. Once more, there is so much promised, that certainly a man knoweth not what Christianity meaneth if he striveth not to be more holy. So exact is our rule, and strict, so holy is our God, so great are our obligations from all the means and providences of God, that such a vain conceit cannot possess the soul of a serious christian.