3. Let it be impressed upon the mind of the new convert that much of his comfort and usefulness in the religious life will probably depend on the resolutions he forms, and the principles he adopts, at the beginning.

It is in religion as in every thing else — the first steps that are taken are usually the most decisive. The man who sets out well in any worldly enterprize, who carefully counts the cost, and engages in it with a prudence and zeal, and resolution, corresponding to its importance, we expect, in all ordinary cases, will succeed; and we calculate that the amount of his success will be very much in proportion to the discretion and energy which characterize his earliest efforts. On the other hand, let an individual engage in the same enterprize with but little reflection and zeal, and instead of making it, at the beginning, a commanding object, let him regard it as a matter to be taken up and laid aside as circumstances may seem to dictate, and you may expect with confidence that the end will be like the beginning; — little attempted, little accomplished. In like manner, suppose the young Christian to set out with a decided purpose formed in the strength of divine grace, to do the utmost in his power for the advancement of the Redeemer's cause; — suppose he adopt fixed principles for the regulation of his whole conduct, and begin with a firm resolution that he will never yield them up in any circumstances; and you may hope with good reason to see him holding on his way in the face of appalling obstacles, and exhibiting through life the character of a good soldier of Jesus Christ. But if he begin, satisfied with some general intentions to do his duty, and without any definite plan for the regulation of his conduct; if he adopt the principle of yielding improperly to circumstances, and endeavor to make a compromise with conscience for the neglect of duties that require great self-denial, rely on it, his course will, in all probability, be marked by little either of comfort or usefulness; and if he is saved at the last, it will be so as by fire. I acknowledge, indeed, that there are some cases in which an unpromising beginning is followed by an active and useful life; in which an early course of conformity to the world is terminated by means of some dispensation of providence, and is followed by a course of exemplary and devoted obedience; but in all ordinary cases, the man who adopts a low standard at the beginning, never rises to a more elevated one at any subsequent period.

Let the young convert, then, be admonished to begin the Christian life with such resolutions and principles, as will be likely to secure the greatest amount of activity and usefulness. Let him contemplate the importance of doing the utmost in his power for the honor of his Master, and the advancement of his cause, as well as of reaching the highest attainable degree of personal holiness; — let him determine that nothing shall divert him from the purpose of following Christ through bad as well as good report, and that in the strength of his grace, he will march on in his service in spite of any obstacles that may lie in his way — let him resolve that he will keep the eye of faith steadily fixed now upon the Saviour's cross, and now upon the crown of glory; — in short, let him form a plan of holy living that shall reach onward to his entrance into the abodes of light; and in these holy resolutions and purposes, I expect to find the germ of an actively useful and eminently happy life. I expect there will prove to have been that which will reflect an additional lustre on his immortal crown.

4. Let him be exhorted farther to draw all his religious opinions, and all his maxims of conduct, directly from God's word.

I know there are many human productions in which the doctrines of the gospel are stated and defended with great ability; and he would do himself injustice, as well as evince a criminal ingratitude for God's goodness, who should refuse to avail himself of them as helps towards building himself up in the most holy faith. But let them always be considered as subordinate to God's word; and let them be tried by it; and let whatever will not stand that test be thrown among the wood, and hay, and stubble. He who derives his views of religion from any uninspired works, however much of general excellence they may possess, will, of course, be liable to an admixture of error; and besides, even if he should chance to gather from them the uncorrupted truth, he could not have the same deep and powerful conviction of it, as if it had been drawn directly from the lively oracles. And how much less is God honored in the one case than in the other! How much less by believing the truth because we may have been taught it in our catechisms and confessions, than because it has beamed forth upon our own intellectual eye, from the very page on which the mind of the Spirit has been recorded!

I would say then to every one just entering on the Christian life — study the Bible for yourself. Study it with humility, diligence and prayer. What you find written there, believe; whatever is not written there is either not true or not important. And be not discouraged in your efforts to ascertain the truth for yourself, by the fact that the world is full of different opinions respecting it; — for the truth is clearly revealed; and besides, most of the disputes which exist among Christians relate rather to human philosophy than to the matter of God's word. Remember that God himself hath said that "the meek he will guide in judgment; the meek he will teach his way."

But it is not less important that the new convert should derive the rules of his conduct, than the principles of his faith, directly from the Bible. There are, indeed, many particular cases in which men may be called to act, in relation to which there are no express directions given in God's word; but there are general rules to be found there which admit of application to every possible case; and which an enlightened conscience will always know how to apply. Let the young Christian then be exhorted to study the Bible diligently as a rule of duty; to ascertain from God's own word what he would have him to do in the various conditions in which he is placed; and to refer every question of right and wrong which he is called practically to decide to this standard, and no other. Let his character be formed under this influence, and it cannot fail to rise in fair and goodly proportions. There will be in it a dignified stability which will secure it from the undue influence of circumstances. Its possessor will be enabled to act not only with rectitude, but with confidence and decision; and while he keeps a conscience void of offence, he will commend himself to the good will of his fellow men, and to the special favor of God. The current of public opinion not unfrequently sets in a wrong direction, and yet is exceedingly rapid and powerful; and he who attempts to resist, may be obliged to do it, at the expense of bearing a heavy load of obloquy; but he who makes God's word the rule of his conduct, will be able to do this notwithstanding; — to stand firm, even when the waves of opposition are rolling over him. Many a young Christian has been carried, by the influence of custom and example far into courses over which he has subsequently had just occasion to weep; when, by having adhered to the scriptural standard of duty, he would have kept a conscience void of offence, and prevented the occasion for bitter repentance.

You then who may be called to counsel those who are just setting out in the Christian life, should charge them by a regard to their comfort, their character, their usefulness, to have nothing to do with any other standard of conduct than that which they find in the Bible. Let them be exhorted to adhere to this, even though it should subject them to the greatest temporal inconvenience. Let them determine that they will regulate by it the whole conduct of their lives; — not only what may seem to them their most important, but also their least important actions. When they have settled the question, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" then, and only then, are they prepared to act with freedom and confidence; in a manner that is fitted to keep peace in their consciences, and to bring down upon them the blessing of God.

5. Let the young convert be admonished to ascertain, as soon as possible, his besetting sin; and to guard against it with the utmost caution.

It is true of every Christian that there is some one sin to which he is more inclined than any other: what that sin will be in any particular case, may depend on the previous moral habits of the individual, or on the circumstances in which he is placed, or on some original infirmity or obliquity of constitution; for as bodily disease is most likely to seat itself in the part which is originally the weakest, so the depravity of the heart usually concentrates its energies in some passion or appetite which is marked by the greatest degree of natural perverseness. He, therefore, who ascertains in his own case what this sin is, and who regards it as the most formidable enemy to be encountered in his conflict, and succeeds in gaining a victory over it, accomplishes much in the way of his sanctification. He who neglects to guard against the besetting sin, while he takes care to avoid sins to which he is not specially inclined, acts as unwise a part as a general who should attack from some scattered and unimportant part of a hostile army, while, without any effort at resistance, he should suffer the main body to move toward his ranks, and open upon them in a fierce discharge of artillery.

There is no difficulty in ascertaining the sin in any given case, provided there is a faithful use of the means which God has put within our power: nevertheless, from a neglect of these means, there is no doubt a lamentable degree of ignorance on this subject. Let the young Christian then be exhorted to watch closely all the tendencies of his mind; — to observe on what forbidden objects his affections most readily fasten; — in what manner his thoughts are occupied when his mind is most at leisure and subject to the least restraint; and what circumstances and occasions operate most powerfully upon him in the way of temptation; and the result cannot fail to be, that he will know what is the sin which most easily besets him. And when he knows it, he is prepared to guard against it. This he must do by keeping a watchful eye upon that particular part of his moral nature in which this sin has its operation; by avoiding, as much as possible, those objects and occasions which are likely to furnish temptations to it; or if called into scenes of temptation in the providence of God, by placing a double guard at the vulnerable point; by earnest prayer for grace to be enabled to gain the victory; and by cultivating, in a high degree, general spirituality of character. As the indulgence of the besetting sin, whatever it may be, is unfavorable to the growth of all Christian affections, so the general culture of these affections, the abounding in all the virtues and graces of the gospel, is the most certain means of destruction to the besetting sin. It can never flourish in a soil which is habitually watered with heavenly grace.

6. Impress the young convert with the danger of the least departure from duty; — of taking the first step in the way of spiritual decline.

It rarely happens that an individual becomes a great backslider at once: on the contrary, it is usually the work of time, and generally has a small and almost imperceptible beginning. When the first step is taken, there is probably, in most cases, an intention not to take another — certainly not to go far; but it is a law of our moral constitution that one step renders the next easier; and hence the facility with which we form our habits, especially evil habits. The young convert, upon the mount of Christian enjoyment, is able to form but an inadequate idea of the conflicts of the religious life; he realizes then, much less than in subsequent parts of his course, the need of constant watchfulness against temptation; and this lack of vigilance throws open the doors of the heart, and not unfrequently the tempter has planted himself there, and begun his work, before any danger has been apprehended. And the soul which was just now burning with ecstacy, wakes to the fact that not only its joys are rapidly upon the wane, but that its desires are becoming earthly, and its impression of invisible things feeble and inconstant.

Caution the young Christian then, against the least allowed violation of duty. Admonish him that, if he enter on such a course, he can never know where it will end. Point him to examples of those who have taken the first step with a firm purpose never to take another, who have nevertheless continued to backslide, until there was scarcely the semblance of Christian character remaining. Let him understand that no degree of joy, or even of a spirituality, which he can possess on earth, can be any security against his losing his evidences and his comforts, and sinking into a state of the most chilling spiritual indifference. And if, at any time, he find that he has actually begun to wander, let him know that he has the best reason to be alarmed, and that every hour that he continues his wanderings, he is making work for bitter repentance, and bringing a dark cloud over his religious prospects.

Go to the next installment:
Treatment Due to Young Converts: Part III