5. Away then with all desponding thoughts. To undertake vigorously, and rely confidently on the divine assistance, is more than half the conquest: _Let us arise and be doing, and the Lord will be with us_¹. It is true, religion in the souls of men is the immediate work of God, and all our natural endeavours can neither produce it alone, nor merit those supernatural aids by which it must be wrought. The Holy Ghost must come upon us, and the power of the Highest overshadow us, before that holy thing can be begotten, and Christ formed in us. But yet we must not expect that this work should be done without any endeavours of our own; we must not lie loitering in the ditch, and wait till omnipotence pull us thence; no, no, we must bestir ourselves, and actuate these powers which we have already received. We must put forth ourselves to our utmost capacities, and then _our labour shall not be vain in the Lord_². All the art and industry of man cannot form the smallest herb, or make a stalk of corn to grow in the field. It is the energy of nature, and the influences of heaven, which produce this effect. It is God _who causeth the grass to grow, and herb for the service of man_³; and yet nobody will say that the labours of the husbandman are useless or unnecessary. So likewise the human soul is immediately created by God; it is he who both formeth and enliveneth the child, and yet he hath appointed the marriage-bed as the ordinary means for the propagation of mankind: and so, though there must intervene a stroke of omnipotence to effect this mighty change in our souls; yet ought we to do what we can, that we may be more ready to receive the seeds of grace and the dew of heaven. It is true, God hath been found of some who sought him not; he hath cast himself in their way who were quite out of his; he hath laid hold upon them, and stopt their course on a sudden; for so was St. _Paul_ converted in his journey to _Damascus_. But certainly this is not God’s ordinary method of dealing with men: though he hath not tied himself to means, yet he hath tied us to the use of them; and we have never more reason to expect the divine assistance, than when we are doing our utmost endeavours. It shall therefore be my next work to shew what course we may take for attaining that blessed temper I have described. ¹ 1 Chronicles xxii. 16. ² 1 Corinthians xv. 58. ³ Psalms civ. 14. _We must shun all manner of sin._