with all his might. O, I would not in such a case attempt to take him out of God's hands, by telling him, "you must not be so much distressed; you are not so great a sinner as you imagine; you must not be discouraged; you must wait God's time, &c. &c. I would not thus thrust myself in between God and that rebel, for a thousand worlds. However great may be the agony of his mind, in view of the truth, in view of his inexcusable opposition and of the justice of God in his condemnation, he is still a rebel up to the moment of submission.

Your sympathies would, if indulged, lead you to sooth his troubled spirit; but you must not indulge them. It is your business, as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, to co-operate with the Spirit, by making the truth press harder and harder upon the sinner's conscience, till he yields. A parent may entreat you to comfort his child, and tell you that you will certainly drive him to despair, by dwelling upon his guilt and pressing him to immediate repentance. But this is a mistaken view of the case, unless it be, that you will make him despair of ever helping himself; and the sooner he can be driven to this, the better. Till he feels that, owing to the hardness and wickedness of his heart, there is no hope but in the mercy of God, he will not give up the contest. I believe it is a remark of President Edwards, that you never need be afraid of pressing the awakened sinner too hard, if it is a clear view of the truth which distresses him. Your finding him in great distress is no reason why you should comfort him. The time has not yet

come.

The consolations of the gospel are for the

penitent, not for the impenitent. That he feels as if he could not live under such agony, is no reason why you should not say that which will increase it. It indicates, that the hour of deliverance is at hand, i and the more faithful you are, the sooner it will

come.

I can truly say, that nothing rejoices me more in the midst of a revival, than to find sinners in great distress; and to be able, by presenting the naked truth to their minds, to increase that distress instead of alleviating it; and I never knew any one driven to despair, under judicious treatment of this sort. On the contrary, I have seen many, under the most searching and uncompromising appeals, driven from all their false refuges in a few hours, and "brought out of darkness into marvellous light." I believe that scores are led to embrace false hopes by being soothed and encouraged too soon, where one is permanently injured by being pushed too far.

As soon as the sinner has yielded, as soon as his heart is changed, and he is a true penitent, he is prepared for the consolations of the gospel, but not before. To offer them, while he is yet unsubdued, unreconciled to God, is "healing the hurt slightly." May God give you wisdom and grace to discover the crisis, and to deal faithfully with awakened sinners, "as one who must give account." A single case of genuine conversion is worth more than a thousand hopes, hastily taken up, before the stubborn will is subdued before the heart is really changed.

Sometimes you will meet with lingering cases of concern and enquiry, which will perplex you exceed

ingly. After you have conversed with the individual, time after time and week after week, till you have nothing more to offer, you will see that he is making no progress. He assents to everything you can say, and his speculative views are all correct, but there he is, without hope, and without having any reasonable ground of hope. He was one of the first to attend your enquiry meetings, and will probably be among the last, and what can you do? In general you will find, upon questioning this class of enquirers closely, that they are not so anxious as they suppose themselves to be. It is rather a morbid gloom that has settled down upon their minds, than anything else. Some have been roused from this dreamy state by being honestly told, that it is doubtful whether they have ever had any genuine conviction of sin, and by having the alarm sounded in their ears, as if they had not yet begun to enquire. In point of fact, their situation is more critical than that of many who are yet stupid around them, and if they cannot be startled, there seems to be no hope of their coming into the light and liberty of the gospel.

If you find, as you sometimes probably will, that an awakened sinner is leaning upon you for help, when there is no help but in God, and you have told him so a hundred times, and can give him no further instruction on that point, you must stand out of the way. You must withdraw for a season, till he feels that every prop has failed; that he is in the hands of infinite holiness and justice, and that no finite power in the universe can help him. I knew a lady of this class infinitely more alarmed by being

passed by in an enquiry meeting, than she had ever been by the most earnest and faithful appeals; and another, who had often been visited and had been lingering and looking to the minister for help, brought to the great decision by seeing him, when she expected he would call, repeatedly pass the house as if he had given her up and had no hopes of her conversion. Indeed, cases like these very often occur. I remember one of thrilling interest in this College. A student who had been religiously educated was awakened, and lingered in great distress for some time. I saw him often. He was always glad to meet me, and conversed with uncommon intelligence and freedom. These interviews were continued, till he clearly saw just what he must do, or perish. Still he lingered, and I became satisfied, that he was leaning upon me, a worn of the dust, was not conscious of it himself. for me in great agony of spirit, begging me to come as soon as I could, and tell him what he must do. I had seen him that very day and told him, as I had often done before. I could say no more if I went. He did not need instruction. He knew what he ought to do, but his proud heart wanted something to cling to. It was clear to me, that the Holy Spirit was bringing him to the point, and that human agency would rather interfere with the process, than help it forward. Instead of hastening to his room therefore, I sent him this mesages, "I would visit you with all my heart, my dear young friend, but I can do you no good. You are in the hands of God, and there I leave you.

though he probably

One night he sent

would not bow. He

What

he requires is perfectly reasonable. You know it is; and he never will give up his claim. You must cast yourself unconditionally upon his mercy, through Jesus Christ, or perish." This was a great disappointment, and increased the poor young man's distress exceedingly. He felt as if he was forsaken. The last prop on which he leaned had given way, and he scarcely expected to live till morning; but ere morning came, the struggle was over. He not only saw that God was on the throne, but rejoiced in it. A new song was put into his mouth, and he has long been a humble and zealous preacher of the gospel.

Be infinitely more anxious to have the work of conviction deep and thorough in the hearts of awakened sinners, and to witness the evidences of their true conversion, than to have them get hopes. The danger in most cases is, they will too soon hope they are born again. Hardly anything is more to be dreaded than a false hope. When an individual, who has been in deep distress, tells you that the load is gone and he has new views and feelings, instead of puting him down at once as a convert, remind him that there is great danger of self-deception. Exhort him to suspend his judgment, till he has time to examine himself, and faithfully to apply the tests of God's holy word. If he has really been renewed by the Holy Spirit, his living without a hope for a few days or weeks will not endanger his salvation; but encouraging him to think he is a christian upon a superficial experience may prove his eternal undoing.