springs from repentance, and proves it sincere. Look at the passages of scripture above quoted, which exhibit the prominent traits of Christian character, and you will see that it is impossible to judge in an hour or a day, whether those traits belong to a particular person. How can he give evidence that he repents and believes, before he has time to show the operations and fruits of repentance and faith ?-or that he has the law of God written in his heart, before he shows by his actions that he is obedient? In order to make it manifest that he is humble, contrite, poor in spirit, meek, patient, forgiving, diligent in doing good, and fervent in prayer, he must have time, opportunities, occasions, trials. From the nature of the case, the evidence of piety must be gradual. A small degree of evidence may be exhibited the first day or hour of a man's religious life; and we may have a small degree of hope,-a hope proportionate to the degree of evidence. But it would be contrary to scripture, contrary to reason and sound judgment, and a sign of rashness, for us to make up our minds confidently respecting a person's conversion, or to speak confidently of it to others, when he has had opportunity to give but slight and dubious evidence of conversion. We must therefore check the spirit of impatience and haste; must guard against all excitements, inconsistent with reason; and must suspend our opinion, till he makes it appear by his life, that he has the marks of a Christian. Nothing can be more obvious, than that men will ordinarily be liable to mistake, if they take upon them to speak decisively as to the conversion of another person, or to judge decisively as to their own, on the ground of what may take place in a short time.

A man is suddenly waked up to the importance of religion. Seeing himself to be a sinner, under condemnation, he is distressed and agitated. But on hearing the messages of divine mercy, and the offers of free pardon, he is filled with inexpressible rapture, resolves to be a Christian, cries, "Glory to God," exults in the hope of heaven, and makes it his purpose to serve Christ. Now many at the present day look upon such appearances as satisfactory evidence of a saving change, and, without any qualification, speak of the person who exhibits them,

as converted. But is this according to truth? Is it agreeable to the dictates of Christian wisdom? What real evidence is there, that the person above described has been savingly converted? Does the evidence consist in the sudden waking up of the mind to the things of religion?—in the consciousness of guilt?-in fear, and distress, and agitation? We learn from the scriptures, that these things afford no conclusive evidence of conversion. Is evidence found in the rapturous joy which is excited by the offer of pardon, and by the hope of happiness in heaven? The slightest acquaintance with the nature of man teaches, and the word of God teaches more fully, that such joy is altogether equivocal, as it has in ten thousand instances sprung from a selfish and deluded heart, and may spring from the same source in the case before us. There is nothing of more dubious import, than the feeling and utterance of such rapturous joy.

But is not joy among the fruits of the Spirit? Yes, true joy is so. But we learn from the Bible, that there is a joy which is false, growing out of a deceived heart. We have to determine then, whether the joy which is excited in the individual before us, is true or false; and we must do this by a careful reference of the case to our infallible standard. We must endeavor to ascertain whether he has any spiritual knowledge of God, any conviction of ill-desert and vileness, any cordial hatred of sin, any faith in the Saviour; whether he is humble, and of a contrite spirit; whether he pants after holiness, denies himself, forgives and loves his enemies, is like Christ, and has respect to all the divine precepts. These, according to the Bible, are the main points. Any one of these is far more important, and ought to be far more insisted upon, as an evidence of regeneration, than the highest transports of joy.

Is the fact, that the individual referred to expresses a hope respecting himself, any decisive evidence of his conversion? We cannot admit this; because the scriptures teach us that there is a false hope, as well as a true. Instead therefore of pronouncing unhesitatingly and confidently that the person is converted, because he has a hope, we have to ascertain whether his hope is a true

Christian hope. And to do this, we must wait for the evidence of repentance, faith, love, and other characteristics of the believer, as described in the places above cited. And this again, will require time, and care, and patient observation, and a frequent suspension of our judgment. And how can any one, unless he is of an impatient, rash spirit, object to this mode of proceeding, considering that it is of no kind of importance in any respect, that we should form a judgment at once; and considering especially, that a judgment formed on mistaken grounds, whether in regard to ourselves or others, will stand for nothing at the last day, and will tend, more than almost any other cause, to injure and ruin the soul.

I have said that time is necessary. The very nature of the rule above exhibited makes this evident. For how can the rule be applied to any one, as a test of character, except as his character is made visible by his conduct? If we were omniscient, we could look directly into the heart, see all the secret springs of action, and pass sentence upon the character at once, without any danger of mistake. But as we can know men only by their fruits, we must wait for the fruits to appear. When we see blossoms upon a tree, we may hope for fruit, and may hope that the fruit will be good, and thus prove the tree to be good. But before we can actually judge as to the goodness of the tree, we must see and examine the fruit; and to do this, we must take time. Without time, it is impossible to determine, that any one has a character which answers to the requisitions of God's holy word.

As to the individual above introduced, there is one more inquiry. Is it a satisfactory evidence of his conversion, that he resolves to be a Christian, or that it is his purpose henceforth to act on the Lord's side? Answer. If his resolution springs from right motives, and is sincere and pious, it is one sign of conversion; though not one which is most frequently insisted upon in the word of God. But how shall we know at once, that his resolution or purpose is sincere and pious? How can he give us evidence of this, but by acting out the Christian temper, and by showing that his character agrees, in some good measure, with the infallible rule of judgment, above presented from the word of God? Suppose, what is often

a fact, that he who says, it is his purpose to be a Christian, manifests no conviction of the evil of sin, or of the desperate wickedness of his heart, no humility, no self-abhorrence, no contriteness of spirit, no readiness to make confession, no sense of his own weakness and insufficiency, and no cordial reliance on the grace of Christ. Is he still to be regarded as a Christian, because he says he resolves to be one? Or his resolution appears in all respects as we should wish, serious, humble, pious, the fruit of a renewed heart; but after a while, his excitement passes away, and he manifests the same heart as before. He shows that he loves the world, and that religion is not his element. Is that purpose which he

suppose

formed to be a Christian still to be viewed as an evidence of conversion? No. Such a purpose and resolution may be made a thousand times over, and with great apparent seriousness, but without any true love to God in the heart, or any holy fruits in the life. So that the great question is not, whether a man in any way resolves to be a Christian, but how he resolves. What is the state of mind from which his purpose springs, and what influence has it on his life? To determine whether his resolution is any evidence of piety, we must bring both him and his resolution to the sure test. Has he the traits of character which are so plainly delineated in the places above selected? To answer this question properly, is not the business of a moment. And if any one does answer it in a moment, he may quickly see reason to reverse his answer. Or if not, it may still be reversed at the judgment day.

Finally; it is perfectly manifest, that great care and caution are necessary, if we would form a judgment respecting the conversion of sinners, according to the rule of God's word. But this care and caution should be joined with great affection and tenderness, and with a disposition to encourage all that is right, and to hope well of all who begin to attend in earnest to the one thing needful. So far as they appear to love the truth, and to be of a penitent, humble, and docile spirit, we should think favorably of them, and heartily thank God for his goodness; still remembering, that as we cannot search the heart, we must know them by their fruits, and must

wait to see what the fruits are. This mode of forming a judgment, whether respecting ourselves or others, is attended with obvious advantages, without any disadvantages. If a man is truly converted, it will be no injury to him to suspend his judgment awhile as to his own state, and to wait till he has opportunity to see what his habitual feelings and actions are. It will do him no hurt, but probably much good, for his friends to wait awhile, to see whether he lives like a Christian. It will do no hurt to a revival of religion, but will father be an evidence that the revival is the work of God, to have it universally understood and deeply felt, that the heart is deceitful above all things, and that no man can expect to come to a decision agreeable to the rule of God's word, either respecting his own character, or the character of others, without some opportunity for the application of the rule, and the trial of character. This principle, well fixed in the mind, would promote watchfulness, self-inquiry, prayer, and a diligent endeavor to know and do God's will, among those who are setting out in a religious course. It would make them jealous over one another, and especially over themselves, with a godly jealousy. It would fix in their minds the important sentiment, that religion is no sudden start, no excitement of animal feeling, no fire quickly kindled and quickly extinguished, but a sanctified disposition of heart, an active, holy, and durable principle, influencing the life. And the natural consequence of this sentiment would be, that they would indulge and express no more confidence that they have religion, than they would be warranted to do by its fruits, appearing in their conduct. Making the word of God the only standard of religion, and of religious character, would be the direct way to detect hypocrisy, to prevent delusion, to discourage false, enthusiastic affections, and to preserve order and purity in the church. And it would have the peculiar effect to render Christians sensible of their insufficiency for the work to which they are called, and of their constant need of divine aid, and would produce in them a cordial reliance on the grace of God. If we set up a religion which varies essentially from the scripture rule,-a religion which consists in the stirring of the passions, or in the efforts of mere self-love, and which comes within