Boo!<. IV. 457 3 . \Ve grow when rhe fruits and duties we perform grow more ripe, •nore f;Jiritual, and more t? the honour ofCbrd 1t may be we pray not more, nor longer than fometimes we ufed ; lt may be our pra 1 ers have not m?re Wit, or memot y,. t~an fame– times they bad ; yet they are more favoury, more fpmtual, and moreto Chnft •. honour thanfometimes they were; Now we mufl know rha~ one flwrr prayertput up 1n fa1th, With a broken heart, and ayming at the honour of Clmfl, argues more of growcth m gr2ce, than prayers of aday long, and never foeloquent, without the like qualifications. In eve– ry duty we fl 1 ould look at th~ir ends, and a¥mes ; fot: ifwe debafe our feJ,,·es in the fenfe ofour own vile'nefs, and emptme.fs, and mabt!~ry , and1f we ayme at God s, honour, and. power, and praife, and glory, it is a good fign ofgrowth ; we call this fpirirual part of duty, when it is from God, atld through God, and to God. . . . Eph.4. ' 5· 4 , vVe growwhen we are 1.nore rooted 111 Clmll; fo the Apoflle defcnbs 1t, a growmg "P 1 wrohim irt Ail things. Tlm IS Scripture phrafe; growth ofgrace IS ufually exprdTed by growing intoClmlt,but grow mg;racc, an~ m the k_nowledg ofottrLord and?av.our Je- [~~< clwift.' As i( to grow tn grace without h1m, wer~ notlung, as mdeed tt IS not. Piu- 2 Per. 3· 18. Jofophers, moral men, and others may grow in venues, bur not in Chrifl. Come then, fearch, and try whether we,are more rooted in Chrifl: when a young plant is new fer, the roots are a[mall depth in the earth, one may pull th~m up whith his haMd ; but as the tree f!Jooteth up in height, foit flrikes the root deeper and deeper downward, that no force ran movei <; fo it iswith us, we have not for degree fo ~rm and near a conjunCtion with Chrifl, at our firfl union; but the more we !tve With lum, ltke good trees fpreadir.o in the fight of all men, and bringing forth the fruits of righceoufnefs, the more we co':ne eo root downward~by a more firm faith and firm confidence, Our union is anfwerable to chat which unicech us; now at the firfl, faith is but weak, like a fmoaking wick, or a poor bruifed reed, but.whiles faith is drawing the Spirit away from ChriA:, the more it exercifeth, the more tt 1s flrengthened; even .as mbabes, their powers every day, at firA: are feeble, but the more they feed and exewfe by fo much the more they put fonh their ftrength in all their operations: time was, that Peru's faith was fo weak, that at che voice of a Damofel, Peter was fl1aken, but by walking while in Chri!l he was fo rooted, that nither threatnings, whippings, imprifonment, conventings before great powers. Mr any other thing·~ould /hake him : you may object, if we are not at firfl rooted m Chnfl, a weak fa1th may be qmte overthrown, we may then fall away ; r~·ue, if we be not rooted in any m~nner; bu~ this we are at our ~rfl fetting into Chnf! by fatth ; only tillS I fpeak of IS of an lugher degree of rooung, which dorh noc only flmt out falling away; bur very 013king and tottering, in a good mea- . fute ; furely rhis i• not the ftare of every believer 1 no, no, it is only the condition of fuch, who have long walked in Chrift, and are ·grown in grace, ho1inefs, vivification. 0 my foul , try now the growth ofchy vivification @y thefe few figns . art thou led on eo the exercife ofnew graces, adding grace to grace I doll thou find new degrees of the felf fame grace ? is rhy love more hot, thy faith more firm ? all thy boughs more laden and filled with tl~e fruits of righteoufnefs? ar~ all ~hy duty<> more f~iritual? are thy ends more ratfe.d to ayme a.t God, to fancbfie htm, and to' debafe thy ~elf I art thou mor,e ro~ted m Chnfll .m all thy dutte., graces and gracious att– mgs, ~afl thou lea~n t habitual to fay,. I /we, yet not I, but Chrift /ivetf; in me ?doll: thou 1merefl Chrt!l: more and more 10 all thou doll ?doft thou know and affect Chrift more and more? Oh when would ~n ambitious courtie.r be weary of being graced by hiS Pnnce? when would a worldhng be weary ofhavmg the world come in,upon him? why OwuldA: thou 0 my foul be weary ofinfinuating thy felf by faith and alfetlion in– to c.hrrfl; come, fearch, try; it may be little winds have formerly 01aken thee, but fo tt ts,.that mfenfibly, and thou knowefl not how, thy root is flruck lower and lower in– ~o Clmfl, and uow thou art not fo foon 01aken wirh every wind ; furely thy hope IS well-grounded ; tholJ. halh part in Chrifl's re[urrettion ; it is thine, even thine. SECT.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=