There are, in many cases, shorter or longer periods of growth that precede the entrance into the life of victory. So far as God is concerned, the Life is a gift and not a growth, and it may be enjoyed at once by any Christian. But the Christian may gradually come to understand what are his privileges in Christ in the matter of victory over sin. Or he may not at once get to the bottom in the surrender of life to the Lord, and God will lead him on as quickly as he will go, to the place of complete surrender and complete faith. This gradual preparation before entering fully into victory must be distinguished from “growth in grace,” which goes on in a normal way only when the Christian _is_ abiding in Christ for victory. Growth in grace, in the Word of God, never means growth out of sin. There is no suggestion in the New Testament that a Christian is to grow gradually out of sin. Sin is always dealt with through the blood of Christ, and we need the Saviour every moment to keep us cleansed from sin and its defilement. But if it is the blood that cleanses us by grace we are not to eliminate sin gradually by our growth in grace. What is “Growth in Grace”? Growth in grace makes us more and more to conform to the likeness of our Lord Jesus. There is no perfection in his brethren on earth that can be compared to the measure of the stature of his fulness. By faith we receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is just the character of Christ produced in us by the new life of the Spirit. Every one of the nine graces which constitute the one fruit of the Spirit,――“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control,”――belongs to the Christian who is trusting Christ for victory. But in each of these graces he is to _abound more and more_. This is true growth in grace. One who by yielding his life to the mastery of Christ and by trusting his word, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” has received the fulness of the Spirit, may know very little about the Bible, or prayer, or Christian service. Day by day he learns more of the wondrous things out of the Word, learns better how to study it and use it in personal work; day by day he learns new secrets of prayer from the Word and by the diligent practice of prayer; and gradually he becomes a more efficient and expert laborer in the harvest. This is true growth in the knowledge of the Lord. When Invalids Grow