Gods husbandry

Urge your selves not to dally with-him, not to offer him a parcel of obedience, an halting goodness, but enlarge your desires and endeavours to the knowing and keeping of his whole will in all things. Let none objection, none inclination of flesh and blood, make you to give way to the sinfulness of your hearts in any thing, but still continue and persist to fight against the sins, which you cannot wholly subdue, and to mortify that by the spirit, whereof you cannot quite be rid. Provoke and animate your selves to the doing of these things: say within your selves, O that I could do so; Jong for grace and strength so ⟨p. 139⟩to do, and call upon thy self to be more and more careful of bearing fruit in this Vine.

Vrge your selues not to dally with-him, not to offer him a parcell of obedience, an halting goodnesse, but inlarge your desires and endeauors to the knowing and keeping of his whole will in all things. Let none obiection, none inclination of flesh and bloud, make you to giue way to the sinfulnesse of your hearts in any thing, but still continue and persist to fight against the sinnes, which you cannot wholly subdue, and to mortifie that by the spirit, whereof you cannot quite be rid. Prouoke and annimate your selues to the doing of these things: say within your selues, O that I could doe so; Iong for grace and strength so ⟨p. 139⟩to doe, and call vpon thy selfe to be more and more carefull of bearing fruite in this Vine.

The Vine it self is a most sappy and juyeefull Vine, abundantly stored with that heavenly verdure and moisture, that may serve to make the branches fruitful. The husbandman is no way defective, either in skill or pains; he is neither ignorant, nor heedless of any thing, that may further the branches in their fruitfulness. There is no want either on Gods part, or on Christs part, but all on ours. No man is unfruitful, but for lack of will and care to be so. I pray you be not wanting to your selves, but strive to be fruitful: for in this Vine, every branch might be fruitful, if he were not either wilful, or slothful, or both. But that mine exhortation may not be bootless, I shall direct you how you may do to be fruitful, and declare those things unto you, by the doing of which you shall be sure to attain power to live holily: and these directions shall be both so few, that you may remember them; and so easy, that you shall not need to complain of difficulty in performance.