Secondly, This strength of believers, which is the actings of the principle of grace and holiness in them, is subject unto decays. " Be watchful," saith Christ in the counsel he gives unto the church of Sardis, Rev. iii. 2, "and strengthen the things which remain, that are
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ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect before God." There was a decay in grace, a decay in spiritual strength, wherein their faith and love, in all the fruits of them, and works, were ready to die.
It would be worth the while, had 1 time, to consider the many ways whereby our spiritual strength and principle of grace, wherewith our natures are inlaid in our conversion unto God, are weakened. It is principally by our own negligence, by powerful corruptions and temp tations, by cares of the world and the business of it, by want of attend ing unto the frame of our hearts, and not keeping our own vineyard. There is spiritual strength. This spiritual strength is subject to decay.
Thirdly, How shall we renew this spiritual strength? how shall we increase it? It is greatly incumbent upon us to be daily increas ing our spiritual strength, to be renewing it, to be strengthening the things that are ready to die. All the losses we are at and troubles we meet with, they are all for want of well discharging this duty, because we do not take care to renew our spiritual strength. The way whereby it is to be done is by waiting upon God. Would you be strong, lively, vigorous, active Christians? would you have power to perform holy duties, to resist temptations, be fruitful in the world, be cheerful in yourselves? would you have corruptions die, and wither, and be prevailed against? You will say, ' We would have all these things/ Why, the way is plain ; — it is to wait upon God.
What is it to wait upon God? How is it that we may increase our spiritual strength by waiting upon God ?
There are three or four things in waiting upon God that make up waiting ; for it is a peculiar kind and work of faith that is called wait ing: and if you will read the Scriptures, you will find that there is not a duty or exercise of faith which hath greater or more precious promises annexed to it than this of waiting,
1. The first thing in waiting is looking unto God, eyeing of God. So David expresses it in the Psalms: "As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God/' God expresses it by " looking : " " Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth/' " In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee," saith David, " and will look up/'
Now, this looking unto God, which is the foundation of waiting, is the fixing of the soul towards God; as when we look upon a thing, we make it the object of our consideration, and bend our thoughts towards it. If we would wait upon God, we must be, in the actings of our faith, looking towards him; that is, we must con sider his goodness, the excellency of Christ, his promises, and his truth and faithfulness in them, and his power. We must be in the contemplation of these things if we intend to wait upon God.
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2. The second thing is patience in looking. Sometimes it is called " patient waiting/' waiting patiently for the Lord, not to faint, not to be weary. Many a one will cast a look towards God, but as quickly weary; this is not waiting. But he that will wait on God is to do it in patience, against all discouragements and oppositions that may arise from our own hearts and temptations. When God comes not in as we desire, nor such a progress is made as we would have, yet if we look unto God, that is patient waiting.
3. There is expectation too, and this is the life and soul of wait ing. Waiting is often expressed in the Scriptures by "silence:" " My soul is silent to God ;" which silence is a quiet waiting to hear what God will answer. It is a wondrous sorry waiting on God when we do not expect something from him. To come together in the performance of this or the like duties without expectation of re ceiving something from God, it is the way to go as we came, with out strength renewed or increased. We come to a duty and go from it at the same rate, when we have no expectation of receiving from God. Where there is no expectation, there is no waiting. Look to God with expectation to receive things suitable to what we expect, and then we shall see his infinite bounty and goodness. This is waiting on God.
The way wherein we exercise this grace is by prayer. I do not put it wholly upon it; for acting of faith, quiet submission of soul, constant looking up and expectation in a course of walking before God, make up a great part of this duty; but the solemn discharge of this duty is by prayer, wherein we act all these things. We ought to pray always, and to continue in prayer ; and we are the strangest kind of creatures upon the earth if we abide in this duty without ex pectation from God. A man that looks for nothing from God had best never pray more. In prayer we are to exercise this grace of waiting upon God. They that thus wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.