THERE is a beautiful Old Testament witness to the path of the just, which declares that it is like the shining light, which shineth brighter and brighter to the perfect day. What a gracious testimony is this to progress in holiness, in meekness, in righteousness, in love, in all the excellencies of the divine life! When the dawn breaks and sheds its first faint rays over the gloom of night, it rises to conquer, to shine brighter and brighter, until the fullness of the glorious day has spread itself on hilltop and in valley, and has left no place whatever for the night. And thus does the Spirit anticipate perfect victory for the people of God.
In a kindred way the New Testament speaks of the believer becoming changed from glory to glory. Not, indeed, all the glory at once, yet every glory an occasion for a fresh glory. From glory to glory—that is, from one moral excellence to another, from resemblance to Christ to an increased resemblance. A little like Him, then a little more like Him. It is the gentle unfolding of the flower under the influence of the glory of the sun. The sun paints the white lily and the red rose, and as we behold the face of Jesus Christ, He writes upon our lives something of Himself. This is true holiness, and true spiritual expansion. Not our little schemes of what we should like to be, but the great and glorious purpose of God for us.
There is a charming variety in the excellency which is provided by Christ in His people. The individuality of each believer is maintained, and yet each resembles Christ. In human efforts to be holy there is a remarkable dullness! Some must needs wear an attire after the pattern of their ideal, others seek to assume the fashion of thought and experience of their religious guide. How unlike the variety and unity which is stamped upon the work of God.