“Urge your soul with the necessity of the means: ‘Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God’ (Rom. 10:17). Without grace I cannot be saved; without the word I cannot have grace. Reason thus within yourselves, that you may awaken the soul to a greater conscience of waiting upon God in the word. It is true: divine grace does all, He begets us; but remember, it is by ‘the word of truth.’ The influences of the heavens make fruitful seasons, but yet ploughing is necessary. It is one of the sophisms of this age to urge the Spirit’s efficacy as a plea for the neglect of the means.”
—Thomas Manton, Practical Exposition on the Epistle of James, 49
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