ut farther. It means the same when
applied to growth in grace and character; getting power to grow
stronger in resisting evil and standing for the right; stronger to say
'Yes' and 'No'; stronger to discharge our duty, and to endure hardness
as good soldiers of Christ. Equally it means reaching out, stretching
farther, and extending our efforts to reach and help and bless.

The banyan tree of the East affords us an apt illustration in this
connexion. Its stem shoots up, its branches dip, touch the earth, and
take root, repeating the process of extension until a great area is
covered, and crowds may shelter beneath it. In like manner the extent
of one's influence may at first be small, and the circle affected by
our power be limited; but if it is wisely used and cultivated, it will
stretch and grow, reaching farther and farther, and touching new people
with new power and blessing.

You know the old preacher's reproach to the people who sang, 'Oh, for a
thousand tongues!' and yet would not use the one they each possessed to
witness for their Lord. I knew a man who wanted to go to China as a
missionary, who would not testify for Christ in the neighbourhood where
he lived. That meant declension, not growth. Growth comes by using the
grace, stretching out and reaching forth; the power increases by reason
of use.

3. Finally, there is _growth in the form of flowers and fruit_. God
no more intended His creatures to be barren and unfruitful in religion,
than He intended plants to fail in bloom and fruit. How perfectly clear
Jesus makes this in His Parable of the Vine and the Branches! Of the
branch which abideth in the Vine He says that when purged it shall
experience a certain progression. Observe the order, 'bear fruit--more
fruit--much fruit', and 'fruit which shall remain'. Let us ask
ourselves to which of these stages we have attained, and go on
earnestly to a fuller fruitfulness.

If I had space to speak of the various kinds of Nature's growth, I
should point out how some fruit is for human food, such as apples,
oranges, grain, and vegetables. Some blossoms are for beauty and
fragrance, and in other cases flowers and fruit appear to be chiefly
for seed purposes; but with almost every plant and tree the best
feature is its reproductive power; that is, fruit is produced whose
seed is in itself, and so multiplies its own kind.

Is not that what God wants with us? Beauty and grace and gratification,
certainly, for we mus