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I deny that they are gathered in his [Christ's] name who, casting aside God's commandment that forbids anything to be added or taken away from his Word, ordain anything according to their own decision; who, not content with the oracles of Scripture, that is, the sole rule of perfect wisdom, concoct some novelty out of their own heads. Surely, since Christ promised that he would be present not in all councils whatsoever but laid down a special mark by which a true and lawful one might be distinguished from the rest, it behooves us never to neglect this distinction.
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Labels: councils, truth, wisdom, word

Allein, Joseph. An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners in a Serious Treatise. You can find it and download it in pdf format for free. Or if you insist on a hard copy, Banner of Truth has published it as A Sure Guide to Heaven

O ye saints, how should ye love the word ? for by this you have been converted : O ye sinners, how should you ply the word ? for by this you must be converted : no other ordinary means but this. You that have felt its renewing power, make much of it while you live ; be forever thankful for it : tie it about your necks, write it upon your hands, lay it in your bosoms, Prov 6:21-22. When you go, let it lead you ; when you sleep, let it keep you ; when you wake, let it talk with you : Say with holy David, I will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast quickened me, Psa 119:93. You that are unconverted, read the word with diligence, flock to it where powerfully preached, fill the porches, as the multitude of the impotent, blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water, John 5:3. Pray for the coming of the Spirit in the word. Come off thy knees to the sermon ; and come to thy knees from the sermon. The seed doth not prosper, because not watered by prayers and tears, nor covered by meditation.

Labels: conversion, meditation, ordinary means, prayer, puritan, sermons, word