February 14

After that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.—1 Peter 5:10.

THE matter, or thing requested, in this prayer of the apostle, is expressed in divers brief words, Make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you; which though they be much of the same sense, yet are not superfluously multiplied, for they carry both the great importance of the thing, and the earnest desire in asking it. And though it be a little light and unsolid, to frame a different sense to each of them; yet I conceive they are not altogether without some profitable difference. The first—perfect, implies, more clearly than the rest, their advancement in victory over their remaining corruptions and infirmities, and their progress towards perfection. Stablish, hath more express reference to both the inward lightness and inconstancy that are natural to us, and the counterblasts of persecutions and temptations, outward oppositions; and it imports the curing of the one, and support against the other. Strengthen, has respect to the growth of their graces, especially the gaining of further measures of those graces wherein they are weakest and lowest. And settle, though it seems the same, and in substance is the same with the other word, stablish, yet it adds somewhat to it very worthy of consideration; for it signifies, to found or fix on a sure foundation, and so indeed, may have an aspect to him who is the foundation and strength of believers, on whom they built by faith, even Jesus Christ, in whom we have all, both victory over sin, and increase of grace, and establishment of spirit, and power to persevere against all difficulties and assaults. He is that corner foundation-stone laid in Zion, that they that build upon him may not be ashamed; that Rock that upholds the house founded on it, in the midst of all winds and storms.

These expressions have in them that which is primarily to be sought after by every Christian, perseverance and progress in grace. These two are here interwoven; for there be two words importing the one, and two the other, and they are interchangeably placed. This is often urged on Christians as their duty, and accordingly ought they to apply themselves to it, and use their highest diligence in it; not to take the beginning of Christianity for the end of it, to think it enough, if they are entered into the way of it, and to sit down upon the entry; but to walk on, to go from strength to strength, and even through the greatest difficulties and discouragements, to pass forward with unmoved stability and fixedness of mind. They ought to be aiming at perfection. It is true, we shall still fall exceedingly short of it; but the more we study it, the nearer shall we come to it; the higher we aim, the higher shall we shoot, though we shoot not so high as we aim.

It is an excellent life, and it is the proper life of a Christian, to be daily outstripping himself, to be spiritually wiser, holier, more heavenly-minded to-day than yesterday, and to-morrow, if it be added to his life, than to-day; every day loving the world less, and Christ more, than on the former, and gaining every day some further victory over his secret corruptions; having his passions more subdued and mortified, his desires in all temporal things more cool and indifferent, and in spiritual things more ardent; that miserable lightness of spirit cured, and his heart rendered more solid and fixed upon God, aspiring to more near communion with him, and laboring that particular graces may be made more lively and strong by often exercising and stirring them up; faith more confirmed and stayed, love more inflamed, composed meekness producing deeper humility. Oh, this were a worthy ambition indeed! You would have your estates growing, and your credit growing; how much rather should you seek to have your graces growing, and not be content with any thing you have attained to!