they meet with much opposition, yea and the rather, because that they do grow. But as the torch by being beaten burns the better so the saints do by their oppositions, they grow stronger and stronger; as in Job xvii. "Upright men shall

be astonied at this," &c.; "the righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger." His opposition should make him grow more and more: when he is chidden from following Christ and the ordinances and the ways of Christ, he will cry so much the more," Jesus thou son of David, have mercy upon me." And if you look into Acts ix., you shall find that Paul did increase by the opposition he met withal: when he was much opposed by the Jews, it is said, verse 22., " But Saul increased the more in strength, and confirmed the Jews." He increased the more.

God hath a hand upon all the hands of opposition against his children; and it is so far from putting out their light, that it makes their light to grow brighter and brighter.

In the next place, the saints do not only increase and abound more and more, but they can do no other, they cannot but grow in grace; for so the promise is, "To him that hath shall be given and he shall have it in more abundance." Now the godly they have grace, and therefore upon that account of the promise, they shall have it in more abundance. And so in that place of Isaiah, "He that waiteth upon the Lord shall renew his strength, he shall mount up as with eagles' wings" there shall be an addition of strength unto him, he shall increase and abound yet more and more. In scripture phrase, grace it is called life: indeed it is our spiritual life. Now you find that all your sublunary lives, where they are there is growth: the plant or the tree it grows, because it hath life; and the beast grows, because he hath life. The sun, moon and stars, though they move apace, they do not grow; why? because they have no life: they have light, but no life, and so they grow not: but all the people of God they have a spiritual life, and so they will, and do and must, and cannot but grow. They make God himself their uttermost and their last end. What a man makes his last and his uttermost end, that he labours to grow up unto more and more; he never hath enough of it. Some men make riches their last and their uttermost end; and they never have enough. Some make God their end, and riches a means

to serve God; they can have enough: but when a man makes riches his last and his uttermost end, and never stints himself, he never thinks he hath enough. Now the children of God they make God himself their last and their uttermost end, his service and grace; and therefore they never have enough: they cannot have enough, but must labour to grow and increase and abound more and more.

And besides, they look upon grace, and growth and increase in grace, as their greatest excellencies. What a man looks upon as his excellency, that he doth much desire. Some place an excellency in fine gardens; and if they see a dainty flower in another's garden, they will never be at quiet till they have the like in their own garden, because therein they place an excellency. Now there are many increases in the world, wherein men place great excellency, and therein they labour to abound more and more. And now saith a godly creature, A rich man looks upon riches as his excellency, and therefore would yet have more; an honourable man looks upon credit as his excellency, and therefore he would have more; so do I look upon grace as my excellency, and therefore I must yet have more. Α godly man having once tasted of the sweetness that is in the ways of God, Oh, saith he, it is so sweet, I must yet have more; give me more of this; though I die for it, yet give me more of this. He doth grow, and he cannot but grow and abound yet more and more.

Aye but you will say to me, Then am I afraid that I never had any truth of grace, because I do not find that I do grow in grace; where there is truth, there will be growth, and there will be increasing; but as for me, I do not find any such growth and increase, and therefore I fear that I never had grace at all.

For answer: As a man may have grace and not know it, so he may have grace and not perceive it; his earnest desire of having more and more still, makes him forget what he hath.

The more grace one hath, the more he doth see sin; and the more a man sees his sin, the more his own grace will be hidden from his own eyes. Godly men do oftentimes measure themselves by metaphors; as sometimes we that are preachers of the word, we fall upon a scripture metaphor,

as where Christ is called a sun, a shield, or bread; and we run the metaphor off its legs, further than the Holy Ghost did intend: so sometimes we do. So it is with christians too: they fall upon a scripture metaphor, and they run it and themselves off their legs, beyond what the Holy Ghost doth intend. For example, increase of grace in scripture phrase is called a growth: now because a christian cannot find his own spiritual increase answerable to all outward growth, therefore he thinks that he doth not increase in grace: whereas there is a great deal of difference between a spiritual increase, and an outward growth, in many things. As now, a man's body grows, but all the parts of his body do not grow out of his head; but now in our spiritual growth it is so, as you read in Col. ii. 19: "And not holding the head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God." Why here our spiritual increase in all the members comes from the head; it is not so in our outward growth; all the members of our body do not grow out of our head; but in our spiritual growth it is so. And so many other differences might be given. But now because that christians do not find their spiritual increase every way answerable to an outward growth, therefore they call all into question many times, and say, Oh, I do not grow in grace, and so I have no grace at all. Celestial bodies, as the sun, moon, and stars, they move apace, and may run hundreds of miles in an hour, yet when you look upon them, they seem to be fixt, and you see no motion; but look now upon your terrestrial bodies, men or beasts, moving before you, you see them move. So now, when a man looks upon his increase in riches, he may perceive that; but when you cast your eyes upon those celestial bodies, saints, you will think they are fixt, and they move not at all: and so you will think sometimes concerning yourselves, that you do not move at all, and yet move, and stir, and increase, and abound more and more. So that I say, first, As a man may have grace, and not know it; so it is possible for a man to increase in grace and not perceive it.

Oh, but I fear that I do not increase and abound more and more; for I do nothing now more for God than what I have done before, will some say. I pray now, and I did

pray before; I hear the word, and I did hear before; I read the Scripture in private, and I did read before; I examine mine own heart, and I did so before; I find no addition at all made to my spiritual condition; what I did before, that I do now; and therefore I fear that I am not grown in grace, and therefore that I never had any grace at all; for where there is truth, there will be growth.

For answer to this, you must know that growth in grace doth not always consist in doing of other works for the kind, but in doing the same works over and over again better than before. As now, when one learns to write, when a man hath attained to a great perfection in writing, he doth not make other letters than he made at first; he makes the same letters that he did, only he makes them better, and sets them closer. So now, in your growth and increase in grace, you must not think that you shall make other letters, or do other duties, but shall do the same duties now, and exercise the same grace now, as before; only you will set your duties and graces closer together, and you will do the work better than you did before.

But again it may argue more grace, to do the same work afterwards. Pray consider this: I say, it may sometimes argue more grace to do the same work afterwards. As for example: suppose a person be an old man, or an old woman, when this person was young he prayed it may be an hour or two hours in a day; now he is grown old, and his body is infirm and weak, to do the same thing now argues more grace now than before; and therefore if you look into Psalm xcii., you shall find that this is made the growing of those that are old, that they shall bring forth fruit still: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like the cedar in Lebanon," he shall grow. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the courts of our God." Well, and what shall he do when he is old? At verse 14: "They shall bring forth fruit in old age." He doth not say that they shall grow; but this bringing forth fruit still in old age is his growth: so that sometimes it may argue more grace to do the same work afterwards than before.

Oh, but yet some will say, I am afraid that I do not grow in grace, and so indeed that I never had any truth of grace;

for now I am much declined: at the first my heart it was mightily enlarged for God, and now it is straitened. Oh, what freedom once I had! I remember a time when I went to prayer, and wept, and mourned, and my heart broke and melted; but now my heart is exceeding cold, and very dead, and therefore I am even afraid that I am declined, and that I do not grow in grace, and so that I never had grace at all.

Give me leave to fix here a little, and to answer this objection, that I may speak a word of stay to those that are weary and troubled. And now as your objection arises, so shall my answer rise. Before, I said a man may grow in grace and not perceive it; now I speak further, a man may grow and increase in grace, and yet think he is much declined; a man may increase and yet think that he is much decreased. For, my beloved, sometimes, yea often, good people do measure themselves by that first affection which they had at their first turning to God; and then the change was specifical, and afterwards the change is gradual. When a man is first converted and turned to God, then he is turned from sin to God, from sin to grace, from the world to Christ: afterwards he doth not change from the world to Christ, but he changes from grace to grace, from glory to glory; it is but a gradual change afterwards; and therefore the change at the first being a specifical thing, his affections were high then. At our first conversion and turning to God, all things are span-new; and we are apt to be much affected with new things, and therefore the affections must needs be very much up and raised at the first, and when a man doth first convert and turn to God, and leave the world; God the Father doth as it were take the poor soul into his arms when it is a babe, and he doth bestow many desires upon it; and he gives out many encouragements, to weigh down those discouragements that the soul shall meet withal in parting with the world. But now afterwards, when a man is more able to go alone, possibly he doth not meet with these; now shall a man think therefore that all is naught, and that he hath no grace at all, because he doth not feel what he had then? Yet how often is this!

But besides, good people do mistake because of their ignorance, whereby they call that sin which is grace, and that grace which is sin. Thus I mean it is a great sin for a man