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CHAPTER VII.

ON PERSONAL APPLICATION OF THE GOSPEL.

THE peculiar circumstances in which those are necessarily placed, who are dedicated to the Christian faith in their infancy, and acquire a gradual knowledge of their religion as their understanding opens, together with the various degrees of advantage or disadvantage possessed by various situation in respect to the correctness of this knowledge; these circumstances arising out of a NATIONAL faith impose a corresponding duty upon the preacher, which must be discharged with fidelity, discernment, and discretion.

Christianity, it will be acknowledged, in order to be individually available to salvation, must become a personal concern. As Tertullian justly observes, fiunt, non nascuntur

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Christiani." In the first ages, the open as

sumption of the Christian faith was, for the most part, a matter of long and serious consideration. It commonly took place at a time of life when the converts could both understand and ratify the covenant which reconciled them to God, and engaged them for the futureto obey a new law, and " put off the old man "with its deeds." They underwent, as catechumens, a long and strict probation. When they were convinced of the truth of the Christian doctrine, and had pledged themselves to the utmost of their power to live accordingly, they were directed to perform a solemn exercise of prayer and fasting for the forgiveness of past sins; and then, and not till then, they received baptism, and were pronounced regenerate. * Even in the third century, Origin acquaints us that the Christians were accustomed carefully to examine into the morals and dispositions of those who offered themselves; and admitted none, till they had given some evidences of a progress in virtue. † So serious * Justin. Apol. i. 79

† Origen. contr. Cels. 1. iii. 50.

was the obligation considered, and so strict the discipline preserved, that many who were persuaded of the truth of the Gospel, delayed the profession of it by baptism, as in this age men procrastinate repentance, because they could not prevail on themselves to resign those sinful habits, which they were well aware must be resigned by Christians. *

In the case of infant baptism, there are evidently no similar means of ascertaining the actual disposition. The benefit received is strictly gratuitous, or "of free grace." It is promised, however, to faith and obedience, presupposed in the recipient, and pledged in his name by the sponsors: whence it follows. that the blessing attached to the sacrament must fail, if the conditions fail in those who are capable of performing them: and that the faith and obedience must become actual and per

* See Wall on Infant Baptism, ch. x. and the passage of Gibbon alluded to in page 161. Tertullian says, in his Apologeticus, "Nemo in carceribus Christianus, nisi hoc tantum aut si et aliud, non jam Christianus.”

sonal, in those who arrive at mature age. It has not altered the nature of Christianity, that its external privileges are become national. Whoever, therefore, professed the hope of the Gospel, must individually embrace the doctrine of the Gospel: must consent as sincerely as the earliest converts, to refer whatever he does in word or deed to the glory of God: with the primitive humility of the Apostles must renounce all confidence in his own strength, and must look for salvation through Christ's death with as much personal gratitude as if Christ had suffered for him alone. Though in many cases it may be impossible, as was formerly acknowledged, for those who have been placed in covenant with God by baptism to state at what time and by what process the truths of the Gospel became an active principle in the mind, still it is undeniable that in all who attain the age of reason they must become so, or the covenant is made void and it is a definite and intelligible question whether they have actually taken this hold, or no. How the tree was nourished and

invigorated, and enabled to sustain the inclement seasons which opposed its early growth and strength, we may in vain inquire; but whether it bears fruit or not, and whether that fruit gives evidence of a sound stock, any one may examine either as to himself or others. Is the heart possessed of a sincere conviction of its own sinfulness and need of a Saviour: does it manifest its dependence on the Holy Spirit by an habitual intercourse with God through prayer: does it feel a practical sense of the great business of this life as a probation and preparation for eternity? These are infallible characters of faith: and though they will be found in different degrees in different individuals, no one should be satisfied with himself, and no one should suffer his congregation to be satisfied, till he can trace these characters in the heart.

But if such a frame of mind is indispensable to a Christian's reasonable hope, it is evident that a preacher can in no wise take it for granted that it exists in his hearers as the