A55752:243
Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity…
Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity and duty of Gods children by the late Reverend and Faithful Minister of Jesus Christ, John Preston ...Riches of mercy to men in misery, or, Certain excellent treatises concerning the dignity and duty of Gods children by the late Reverend and Faithfull Minister of Jesus Christ, John Preston ...
London: printed by J.T., 1658
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The third Rule if you would have means effectual, 1Then you must be constant in the use of the means; for what is the reason there is so little thriving in grace, that men remain cripples in grace, but because they use the means of grace but by fits and halves; That is they are not constant in a good course of life, they are still off and on: they shoot sometimes short, and at other times they hit the mark, That is they come seldom unto the means: Now and then they pray, and now and then they use the Communion of Saints; Now this inconstancy disableth the faculty, and weakens it, And therefore it is impossible you should thrive in grace except you be constant. The Apostle James calls them unstable men; That is let these never think to receive strength in the inner man till they come to more constancy in good. Therefore labour to be constant in Prayer, in hearing, in Meditation, in the Sacrament, and in conference, which if you be not: you will not grow strong in the Inward man.
The third Rule if you would have means effectual, 1Then you must be constant in the use of the means; for what is the reason there is so little thriving in grace, that men remain cripples in grace, but because they use the means of grace but by fits and halfes; That is they are not constant in a good course of life, they are still off and on: they shoot sometimes short, and at other times they hit the mark, That is they come seldom unto the means: Now and then they pray, and now and then they use the Communion of Saints; Now this inconstancie disableth the facultie, and weakens it, And therefore it is impossible you should thrive in grace except you be constant. The Apostle Iames calls them unstable men; That is let these never think to receive strength in the inner man till they come to more constancie in good. Therefore labour to be constant in Prayer, in hearing, in Meditation, in the Sacrament, and in conference, which if you be not: you will not grow strong in the Inward man.
- 13. Rule.