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Chapter 8
Crude and strange opinions are floating in men's minds on some points of doctrine and among others on the point of growth in grace as an essential part of true holiness. By some, it is totally denied. By others, it is explained away and pared down to nothing.
By thousands, it is misunderstood and consequently neglected. In a day like this, it is useful to look fairly in the face the whole subject of Christian growth. In considering this subject, there are three things which I wish to bring forward and establish.
1. The reality of religious growth. There is such a thing as growth in grace. 2. The marks of religious growth.
There are marks by which growth in grace may be known. 3. The means of religious growth. There are means that must be used by those who desire growth in grace.
I know not who you are into whose hands this paper may have fallen, but I am not ashamed to ask your best attention to its contents. Believe me, the subject is no mere matter of speculation and controversy. It is an eminently practical subject, if any, is in religion.
It is intimately and inseparably connected with the whole question of sanctification. It is a leading mark of true saints that they grow. The spiritual health and prosperity, the spiritual happiness and comfort of every true-hearted and holy Christian are intimately connected with the subject of spiritual growth.
1. The first point I propose to establish is this. There is such a thing as growth in grace. That any Christian should deny this proposition is at first sight a strange and melancholy thing, but it is fair to remember that man's understanding is fallen no less than his will.
Disagreements about doctrines are often nothing more than disagreements about the meaning of words. I try to hope that it is so in the present case. I try to believe that when I speak of growth in grace and maintain it, I mean one thing, while my brethren who deny it mean quite another.
Let me therefore clear the way by explaining what I mean. When I speak of growth in grace, I do not for a moment mean that a believer's interest in Christ can grow. I do not mean that he can grow in safety, acceptance with God, or security.
I do not mean that he can ever be more justified, more pardoned, more forgiven, more at peace with God than he is the first moment that he believes. I hold firmly that the justification of a believer is a finished, perfect, and complete work, and that the weakest saint, though he may not know and feel it, is as completely justified as the strongest. I hold firmly that our election, calling, and standing in Christ admit of no degrees, increase, or diminishing.
If anyone dreams that by growth in grace I mean growth in justification, he is utterly wide of the mark and utterly mistaken about the whole point I am considering. I would go to the stake, God helping me, for the glorious truth that in the matter of justification before God every believer is complete in Christ, Colossians 2.10. Nothing can be added to his justification from the moment he believes, and nothing taken away. When I speak of growth in grace, I only mean increase in the degree, size, strength, vigor, and power of the graces which the Holy Spirit plants in the believer's heart.
I hold that every one of those graces admits of growth, progress, and increase. I hold that repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, zeal, courage, and the like may be little or great, strong or weak, vigorous or feeble, and may vary greatly in the same man at different periods of his life. When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this, that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked.
He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart. He manifests more of it in his life. He is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace.
I leave it to others to describe such a man's condition by any words they please. For myself, I think the truest and best account of him is this. He is growing in grace.
One principal ground on which I build this doctrine of growth in grace is the plain language of scripture. If words in the Bible mean anything, there is such a thing as growth, and believers ought to be exhorted to grow. What says St. Paul? Your faith groweth exceedingly.
2 Thessalonians 1 3 We beseech you that ye increase more and more. 1 Thessalonians 4 10 Increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1 10 Having hope when your faith is increased.
2 Corinthians 10 15 The Lord make you to increase in love. 1 Thessalonians 3 12 That ye may grow up into him in all things. Ephesians 4 15 I pray that your love may abound more and more.
Philippians 1 9 We beseech you, as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 1 Thessalonians 4 1 What says St. Peter? Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. 1 Peter 2 2 Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3 18 I know not what others think of these texts. To me they seem to establish the doctrine for which I contend, and to be incapable of any other explanation. Growth in grace is taught in the Bible.
I might stop here and say no more. The other ground, however, on which I build the doctrine of growth in grace is the ground of fact and experience. I ask any honest reader of the New Testament whether he cannot see degrees of grace in the New Testament saints whose histories are recorded as plainly as the sun at noonday.
I ask him whether he cannot see in the very same persons as great a difference between their faith and knowledge at one time and at another as between the same man's strength when he is an infant and when he is a grown-up man. I ask him whether the Scripture does not distinctly recognize this in the language it uses when it speaks of weak faith and strong faith and of Christians as newborn babes, little children, young men, and fathers. 1 Peter 2 verse 2 and 1 John 2 verses 12 through 14 I ask him above all whether his own observation of believers nowadays does not bring him to the same conclusion.
What true Christian would not confess that there is as much difference between the degree of his own faith and knowledge when he was first converted and his present attainments as there is between a sapling and a full-grown tree. His graces are the same in principle, but they have grown. I know not how these facts strike others.
To my eyes they seem to prove most unanswerably that growth in grace is a real thing. I feel almost ashamed to dwell so long upon this part of my subject. In fact, if any man means to say that the faith and hope and knowledge and holiness of a newly converted person are as strong as those of an old established believer and need no increase, it is a waste of time to argue further.
No doubt they are as real, but not so strong, as true, but not so vigorous, as much seeds of the spirit planting, but not yet so fruitful. And if anyone asks how they are to become stronger, I say it must be by the same process by which all things having life increase. They must grow.
And this is what I mean by growth in grace. Footnote. True grace is progressive, of a spreading, growing nature.
It is with grace as it is with light. First there is the daybreak. Then it shines brighter to the full noon day.
The saints are not only compared to stars for their light, but to trees for their growth. See Isaiah 61 verse 3 and Hosea 14 verse 5. A good Christian is not like Hezekiah's son that went backwards, nor Joshua's son that stood still, but is always advancing in holiness and increasing with the increase of God. A quote from Thomas Watson, minister of St. Stephen's Walbrook, 1660, from the Body of Divinity.
The end of the footnote. Let us turn away from the things I have been discussing to a more practical view of the great subject before us. I want men to look at growth in grace as a thing of infinite importance to the soul.
I believe, whatever others may think, that our best interests are concerned in the right view of the question, do we grow? A. Let us know then that growth in grace is the best evidence of spiritual health and prosperity. In a child, or a flower, or a tree, we are all aware that when there is no growth, there is something wrong. Healthy life in an animal or vegetable will always show itself by progress and increase.
It is just the same with our souls. If they are progressing and doing well, they will grow. Footnote.
The growth of grace is the best evidence of the truth of grace. Things that have not life will not grow. A picture will not grow.
A stake in a hedge will not grow. But a plant that has vegetative life will grow. The growing of grace shows it to be alive in the soul.
Thomas Watson, 1660. End of the footnote. B. Let us know furthermore that growth in grace is one way to be happy in our religion.
God has wisely linked together our comfort and our increase in holiness. He has graciously made it our interest to press on and aim high in our Christianity. There is a vast difference between the amount of sensible enjoyment which one believer has in his religion compared to another.
But you may be sure that ordinarily the man who feels the most joy and peace in believing and has the clearest witness of the Spirit in his heart is the man who grows. C. Let us know furthermore that growth in grace is one secret of usefulness to others. Our influence on others for good depends greatly on what they see in us.
The children of the world measure Christianity quite as much by their eyes as by their ears. The Christian who is always at a standstill to all appearances the same man with the same little faults and weaknesses and besetting sins and petty infirmities is seldom the Christian who does much good. The man who shakes and stirs minds and sets the world thinking is the believer who is continually improving and going forward.
Men think there is life in reality when they see growth. Another footnote. Christian, as ever you would stir up others to exalt the God of grace look to the exercise and improvement of your own graces.
When poor servants live in a family and see the faith and love and wisdom and patience and humility of a master shining like the stars in heaven it draws forth their hearts to bless the Lord that ever they came into such a family. When men's graces shine as Moses' face did when their life as one speaketh of Joseph's life is a very heaven sparkling with virtues as so many bright stars how much others are stirred up to glorify God and cry these are Christians indeed. These are an honor to their God a crown to their Christ and a credit to their gospel.
Oh, if they were all such we would be Christians too. Thomas Brooks, 1661 from the book Unsearchable Riches End of the footnote. D. Let us know furthermore that growth in grace pleases God.
It may seem a wonderful thing, no doubt that anything done by such creatures as we are can give pleasure to the Most High God but so it is. The Scripture speaks of walking so as to please God. The Scripture says there are sacrifices with which God is pleased.
1 Thessalonians 4.1 Hebrews 13.16 The husbandman loves to see the plants on which he has bestowed labor flourishing and bearing fruit. It cannot but disappoint and grieve him to see them stunted and standing still. Now what does our Lord himself say? I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman.
Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit so shall ye be my disciples. John 15 verses 1 and 8 The Lord takes pleasure in all his people but specially in those that grow. E. Let us know above all that growth in grace is not only a thing possible but a thing for which believers are accountable.
To tell an unconverted man dead in sins to grow in grace would doubtless be absurd. To tell a believer who is quickened and alive to God to grow is only summoning him to a plain scriptural duty. He has a new principle within him and it is a solemn duty not to quench it.
The breadth of growth robs him of privileges grieves the spirit and makes the chariot wheels of his soul move heavily. Whose fault is it I should like to know if a believer does not grow in grace? The fault I am sure cannot be laid on God. He delights to give more grace.
He hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. James 4 verse 6 and Psalm 35 verse 27 The fault no doubt is our own. We ourselves are to blame and none else if we do not grow.
Number 2 The second point I propose to establish is this There are marks by which growth in grace may be known. Let me take it for granted that we do not question the reality of growth in grace and its vast importance. So far so good.
But you now want to know how anyone may find out whether he is growing in grace or not. I answer that question in the first place by observing that we are very poor judges of our own condition and that bystanders often know us better than we know ourselves. But I answer further that there are undoubtedly certain great marks and signs of growth in grace and that wherever you see these marks you see a growing soul.
I will now proceed to place some of these marks before you in order. A. One mark of growth in grace is increased humility. The man whose soul is growing feels his own sinfulness and unworthiness more every year.
He is ready to say with Job I am vile and with Abraham I am dust and ashes and with Jacob I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies and with David I am a worm and with Isaiah I am a man of unclean lips and with Peter I am a sinful man O Lord The nearer he draws to God and the more he sees of God's holiness and perfection the more thoroughly is he sensible of his own countless imperfections. The further he journeys in the way to heaven the more he understands what St. Paul means when he says I am not already perfect I am not meet to be called an apostle I am less than the least of all saints I am chief of sinners Philippians 3.12 1 Corinthians 15.9 Ephesians 3.8 1 Timothy 1.15 The riper he is for glory the more, like the ripe corn he hangs down his head The brighter and clearer is his light the more he sees of the shortcomings and the infirmities of his own heart When first converted he would tell you he saw but little of them compared to what he sees now Would anyone know whether he is growing in grace Be sure that you look within for increased humility Footnote The right manner of growth is to grow less in one's own eyes I am a worm and no man Psalm 22.6 The sight of corruption and ignorance makes a Christian grow into a dislike of himself He doth vanish in his own eyes Job abhorred himself in the dust Job 42.6 This is good to grow out of conceit with oneself Thomas Watson 1660 End of the footnote Another mark of growth in grace is increased faith and love towards our Lord Jesus Christ The man whose soul is growing finds more in Christ to rest upon every year and rejoices more that he has such a Savior No doubt he saw much in him when he first believed His faith laid hold on the atonement of Christ and gave him hope But as he grows in grace he sees a thousand things in Christ of which at first he never dreamed His love and power His heart and his intentions His offices as substitute intercessor, priest, advocate physician, shepherd, and friend unfold themselves to a growing soul in an unspeakable manner In short, he discovers a suitableness in Christ to the wants of his soul of which the half was once not known to him Would anyone know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increased knowledge of Christ C Another mark of growth in grace is increased holiness of life and conversation The man whose soul is growing gets more dominion over sin, the world, and the devil every year He becomes more careful about his temper his words and his actions He is more watchful over his conduct in every relation of life He strives more to be conformed to the image of Christ in all things and to follow him as his example as well as to trust in him as his savior He is not content with old attainments and former grace He forgets the things that are behind and reaches forth unto those things which are before making higher, upward, forward, onward His continual motto Philippians 3, 13 On earth he thirsts and longs to have a will more entirely in unison with God's will In heaven the chief thing that he looks for next to the presence of Christ is complete separation from all sin Would anyone know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increased holiness Footnote It is a sign of not growing in grace when we are less troubled about sin Time was when the least sin did grieve us as the least hair makes the eye weep But now we can digest sin without remorse Time was when a Christian was troubled if he neglected closet prayer Now he can omit family prayer Time was when vain thoughts did not trouble him Now he is not troubled for loose practices There is a sad declension in religion and grace is so far from growing that we can hardly perceive its faults to beat Thomas Watson, 1660 End of footnote D Another mark of growth in grace is increased spirituality of taste and mind The man whose soul is growing takes more interest in spiritual things every year He does not neglect his duty in the world He discharges faithfully, diligently and conscientiously every relation of life whether at home or abroad But the things he loves best are spiritual things The ways and fashions and amusements and recreations of the world have a continually decreasing place in his heart He does not condemn them as downright sinful nor say that those who have anything to do with them are going to hell He only feels that they have a constantly diminishing hold on his own affections and gradually seem smaller and more trifling in his eyes Spiritual companions spiritual occupations spiritual conversations appear of ever increasing value to him Would anyone know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increasing spirituality of taste Footnote If now you would be rich in graces look to your walking It is not the knowing soul nor the talking soul but the close walking soul the obedient soul that is rich Others may be rich in notions but none so rich in spiritual experience and in all holy and heavenly graces as close walking Christians Thomas Brooks, 1661 End of the footnote E Another mark of growth in grace is increase of charity The man whose soul is growing is more full of love every year of love to all men but especially of love towards the brethren His love will show itself actively in a growing disposition to do kindnesses to take troubles for others to be good natured to everybody to be generous, sympathizing thoughtful, tender hearted and considerate It will show itself passively in a growing disposition to be meek and patient toward all men to put up with provocation and not stand upon rights to bear and forbear much rather than quarrel A growing soul will try to put the best construction on other people's conduct and to believe all things and hope all things even to the end There is no surer mark of backsliding and falling off in grace than an increasing disposition to find fault pick holes and see weak points in others Would anyone know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increasing charity One more mark of growth in grace is increased zeal and diligence in trying to do good to souls The man who is really growing will take greater interest in the salvation of sinners every year missions at home and abroad efforts to increase religious light and diminish religious darkness All these things will every year have a greater place in his attention He will not become weary in well-doing because he does not see every effort succeed He will not care less for the progress of Christ's cause on earth as he grows older though he will learn to expect less He will just work on whatever the result may be giving, praying, preaching speaking, visiting according to his position and count his work its own reward One of the surest marks of spiritual decline is a decreased interest about the souls of others and the growth of Christ's kingdom Would anyone know whether he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increased concern about the salvation of souls Such are the most trustworthy marks of growth in grace Let us examine them carefully and consider what we know about them I can well believe that they will not please some professing Christians in the present day Those high-flying religionists whose only notion of Christianity is that of a state of perpetual joy and ecstasy who tell you that they have got far beyond the region of conflict and soul humiliation Such persons no doubt will regard the marks I have laid down as legal carnal and gendering to bondage I cannot help that I call no man master in these things I only wish my statements to be tried in the balance of scripture And I firmly believe that what I have said is not only scriptural but agreeable to the experience of the most eminent saints in every age Show me a man in whom the six marks I have mentioned can be found He is the man who can give a satisfactory answer to the question Do we grow? Number three The third and last thing I propose to consider is this The means that must be used by those who desire to grow in grace The words of St. James must never be forgotten Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights James 1 17 This is no doubt as true of growth in grace as it is of everything else It is the gift of God But still it must always be kept in mind that God is pleased to work by means God has ordained means as well as ends He that would grow in grace must use the means of growth Footnote Experience will tell every Christian that the more strictly and closely and constantly he walketh with God the stronger he groweth in duty Infused habits are advantaged by exercised As the fire that kindled the wood for sacrifices upon the altar first came down from heaven but then was to be kept alive by the care and labor of the priests So the habits of spiritual grace are indeed infused from God and must be maintained by daily influences from God yet with a concurrence also of our own labors in waiting upon God and exercising ourselves with godliness And the more a Christian doth so exercise himself the more strong he shall grow Callings on Providence 1678 End of the footnote This is a point I fear which is too much overlooked by believers Many admire growth in grace in others and wish that they themselves were like them but they seem to suppose that those who grow are what they are by some special gift or grant from God and that as this gift is not bestowed on themselves they must be content to sit still This is a grievous delusion and one against which I desire to testify with all my might I wish it to be distinctly understood that growth in grace is bound up with the use of means within the reach of all believers and that as a general rule growing souls are what they are because they use these means Let me ask the special attention of my readers while I try to set forth in order the means of growth Cast away forever the vain thought that if a believer does not grow in grace it is not his fault Settle it in your mind that a believer, a man quickened by the Spirit, is not a mere dead creature, but a being of mighty capacities and responsibilities Let the words of Solomon sink down into your heart The soul of the diligent shall be made fat Proverbs 13 verse 4 A One thing essential to growth in grace is diligence in the use of private means of grace By these I understand such means as a man must use by himself alone and no one can use for him I include under this head private prayer private reading of the scriptures and private meditation and self-examination The man who does not take pains about these three things must never expect to grow Here are the roots of true Christianity Wrong here a man is wrong all the way through Here is the whole reason why many professing Christians never seem to get on They are careless and slovenly about their private prayers They read their Bibles but little and with very little heartiness of spirit They give themselves no time for self-inquiry and quiet thought about the state of their souls It is useless to conceal from ourselves that the age we live in is full of peculiar dangers It is an age of great activity and of much hurry, bustle and excitement in religion Many are running to and fro no doubt and knowledge is increased Daniel 12 verse 4 Thousands are ready enough for public meetings sermon hearing or anything else in which there is sensations Few appear to remember the absolute necessity of making time to commune with our hearts and be still Psalm 4 verse 4 But without this there is seldom any deep spiritual prosperity I suspect that English Christians two hundred years ago read their Bibles more and were more frequently alone with God than they are in the present day Let us remember this point Private religion must receive our first attention if we wish our souls to grow B. Another thing which is essential to growth in grace is carefulness in the use of public means of grace By these I understand public means of grace and such means as a man has within his reach as a member of Christ's visible church Under this head I include the ordinances of regular Sunday worship the uniting with God's people in common prayer and praise the preaching of the word and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper I firmly believe that the manner in which these public means of grace are used has much to say to the prosperity of a believer's soul It is easy to use them in a cold and heartless way The very familiarity of them is apt to make us careless The regular return of the same voice and the same kind of words and the same ceremonies is likely to make us sleepy and callous and unfeeling Here is a snare into which too many professing Christians fall If we would grow we must be on our guard here Here is a matter in which the spirit is often grieved and saints take great damage Let us strive to use the old prayers and sing the old hymns and kneel at the old communion rail and hear the old truths preached with as much freshness and appetite as in the year we first believed It is a sign of bad health when a person loses relish for his food It is a sign of spiritual decline when we lose our appetite for means of grace Whatever we do about public means Let us always do it with our might Ecclesiastes 9.10 This is the way to grow C Another thing essential to growth in grace is watchfulness over our conduct in the very little matters of everyday life Our tempers Our tongues The discharge of our several relations of life Our employment of time Each and all must be vigilantly attended to if we wish our souls to prosper Life is made up of days and days of hours and the little things of every hour are never so little as to be beneath the care of a Christian When a tree begins to decay at root or heart the mischief is first seen at the extreme end of the little branches He that despises little things says an uninspired writer shall fall by little and little That witness is true Let others despise us if they like and call us precise and over careful Let us patiently hold on our way remembering that we serve a precise God that our Lord's example is to be copied in the least things as well as the greatest and that we must take up our cross daily and hourly rather than sin We must aim to have a Christianity which, like the sap of a tree runs through every twig and leaf of our character and sanctifies all This is one way to grow Another thing which is essential to growth in grace is caution about the company we keep and the friendships we form Nothing perhaps affects a man's character more than the company he keeps We catch the ways and tone of those we live and talk with and unhappily get harmed far more easily than good Disease is infectious but health is not Now if a professing Christian deliberately chooses to be intimate with those who are not friends of God and who cling to the world his soul is sure to take harm It is hard enough to serve Christ under any circumstances in such a world as this but it is doubly hard to do it if we are friends of the thoughtless and ungodly Mistakes in friendship or marriage engagements are the whole reason why some have entirely ceased to grow Evil communications corrupt good manners The friendship of the world is enmity with God 1 Corinthians 15.33 and James 4.4 Let us seek friends that will stir us up about our prayers, our Bible reading and our employment of time about our souls, our salvation and the world to come Who can tell the good that a friend's word in season may do or the harm that it may stop This is one way to grow Footnote Let them be thy choicest companions that have made Christ their chiefest companion Do not so much eye the outsides of men as their inside Look most to their internal worth Many persons have their eyes upon the external garb of a professor But give me a Christian that minds the internal worth of persons that makes such as are most filled with the fullness of God his choicest and chiefest companions Thomas Brooks 1661 End of the footnote E. There is one more thing which is absolutely essential to growth in grace and that is regular and habitual communion with the Lord Jesus In saying this, let no one suppose for a minute that I am referring to the Lord's Supper I mean nothing of the kind I mean that daily habit of intercourse between the believer and his Savior which can only be carried on by faith, prayer and meditation It is a habit I fear of which many believers know little A man may be a believer and have his feet on the rock and yet live far below his privileges It is possible to have union with Christ and yet to have little, if any, communion with him But for all that there is such a thing The names and offices of Christ as laid down in scripture appear to me to show unmistakably that this communion between the saint and his Savior is not a mere fancy, but a real, true thing Between the bridegroom and his bride, between the head and his members, between the physician and his patients between the advocate and his clients between the shepherd and his sheep, between the master and his scholars, there is evidently implied a habit of familiar intercourse, of daily application for things needed of daily pouring out and unburdening our hearts and minds Such a habit of dealing with Christ is clearly something more than a vague, general trust in the work that Christ did for sinners It is getting close to him and laying hold on him with confidence as a loving, personal friend This is what I mean by communion Now I believe that no man will ever grow in grace who does not know something experimentally of the habit of communion We must not be content with a general orthodox knowledge that justification is by faith and not by works, that we put our trust in Christ We must go further than this We must seek to have personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus and to deal with him as a man deals with a loving friend We must realize what it is to turn to him first in every need to talk to him about every difficulty to consult him about every step, to spread before him all our sorrows to get him to share in all our joys to do all as in his sight and to go through every day leaning and looking to him This is the way that Saint Paul lived The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God To me to live is Christ Galatians 2.20 and Philippians 1.21 It is ignorance of this way of living that makes so many see no beauty in the book of canticles But it is the man who lives in this way, who keeps up constant communion with Christ This is the man I say emphatically whose soul will grow I leave the subject of growth and grace here. Far more might be said about it if time permitted But I have said enough I hope to convince my readers that the subject is one of vast importance Let me wind up with some practical applications Number one This book may fall into the hands of some who know nothing whatever about growth and grace They have little or no concern about religion A little proper Sunday church going or chapel going makes up the sum and substance of their Christianity They are without spiritual life and of course they cannot at present grow.
Are you one of these people? If you are you are in a pitiable condition Years are slipping away and time is flying. Graveyards are filling up and families are thinning Death and judgment are getting nearer to us all. And yet you live like one asleep about your soul.
What madness? What folly? What suicide can be worse than this? Awake before it be too late. Awake and arise from the dead and live to God Turn to him who is sitting at the right hand of God to be your savior and friend Turn to Christ and cry mightily to him about your soul. There is yet hope.
He that called Lazarus from the grave is not changed He that commanded the widow's son at Nain to arise from his bier can do miracles yet for your soul. Seek him at once. Seek Christ if you would not be lost forever.
Do not stand still talking and meaning and intending and wishing and hoping. Seek Christ that you may live and that living you may grow. Number two.
This book may fall into the hands of some who ought to know something of growth in grace but at present know nothing at all They have made little or no progress since they were first converted. They seem to have settled on their leave. Zephaniah 1.12 They go on from year to year content with old grace, old experience, old knowledge old faith, old measure of attainment, old religious expressions, old set phrases.
Like the Gibeonites their bread is always moldy and their shoes are patched and clouded They never appear to get on Are you one of these people? If you are, you are living far below your privileges and responsibilities It is high time to examine yourself. If you have reason to hope that you are a true believer and yet do not grow in grace there must be a fault and a serious fault somewhere. It cannot be the will of God that your soul should stand still.
He giveth more grace. He takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servants James 4.6 and Psalm 35.27 It cannot be for your own happiness or usefulness that your soul should stand still Without growth you will never rejoice in the Lord. Philippians 4.4. Without growth you will never do good to others Surely this want of growth is a serious matter.
It should rise in you great searchings of heart. There must be some secret thing. Job 15.11. There must be some cause Take the advice I give you.
Resolve this very day that you will find out the reason of your stand still condition Probe with a faithful and firm hand every corner of your soul. Search from one end of the camp to the other till you find out the Achan who is weakening your hands. Begin with an application to the Lord Jesus Christ the great physician of souls and ask him to heal the secret ailment within you whatever it may be Begin as if you had never applied to him before and ask for grace to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye.
But never never be content if your soul does not grow. For your peace sake, for your usefulness sake, for the honor of your maker's cause, resolve to find out the reason why Number three. This book may fall into the hands of some who are really growing in grace but are not aware of it and will not allow it.
Their very growth is the reason why they do not see their growth. Their continual increase in humility prevents them from feeling that they get on Footnote Christians may be growing when they think they do not grow. There is that make of himself poor yet he is rich.
Proverbs 13 7. The sight that Christians have of their defects in grace and their thirst after great measures of grace makes them think they do not grow. He who covets a great estate because he hath not so much as he desires thinks himself poor. Thomas Watson 1660 Souls may be rich in grace and yet not know it nor perceive it.
The child is heir to a crown or a great estate but knows it not. Moses' face did shine and others saw it but he perceived it not. So many a precious soul is rich in grace and others see it and know it and bless God for it and yet the poor soul perceives it not.
Sometimes this arises from the soul's strong desires of spiritual riches. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available free and for sale in audio, video and printed formats.
Our many free resources as well as our complete mail order catalog contain thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions.
There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.