must be laid down that a man is but almost persuaded to be a Christian, who is not persuaded and wrought upon to give himself unto God in the steady and universal renunciation of all idols. Yet a man may go a great way in religious matters, who never yet attains to a true change of heart and choice of God.

Now here, waving the consideration of all such characters as have no tendency towards being Christians indeed, and therefore the cases of the careless sinner and the presuming formalist, who have never yet approached to being almost persuaded to be Christians, I remark,

First.-A man may have been exercised with great terrors of conscience, and dread of God's wrath, who was never persuaded to be a Christian. This was the case of that primitive reprobate Cain; under the sense of God's indignation inflicted upon his conscience, he cries out, My punishment is greater than I can bear."* A man may have a very hell in his conscience (witness the traitor Judas), who has not a spark of grace there. Such preparatory convictions of conscience, which often lead to a good issue under the guidance of the Spirit, people do often rest in and stop upon, and are never persuaded to be Christians. however much or long they have suffered under them.

So, Secondly.-A man may go further, and attain a clear and distinct knowledge of Gospel truths, and that there is no salvation but by the mercy of God through the merits of Jesus Christ, and yet not be persuaded to be a Christian. Balaam had great knowledge of God. And many will say at the judgment, Have we not prophesied in thy name?' which they could not have done without knowledge; to whom Christ will answer, Depart from me, I know you not."

Yea, Thirdly. There may be much emotion in the affections, when a man is but almost a Christian. There is that in spiritual things which is very apt to move us, especially when they are new, and more so when they are set forth in a moving manner. All they that saw Christ crucified smote on their breasts, but you do not hear any of them were converted till after the day of Pentecost. There may be affections of joy, as in those that received the word with joy, yet by-and-by in time of temptation fell away;' and in the Jews, who for a sca

* Gen. iv. 13.

son rejoiced to walk in the light of John's ministry, as was particularly the case of Herod, who heard him gladly, and did many things and there may be affections of sorrow about sin, as in Judas, of whom it is said that he repented himself;" and in Ahab, who, we are told, humbled himself and lay in sackcloth, and went softly; and in King Saul, who was greatly moved at David's repeated kindness in sparing his life, and said ‘I have sinned, return, my son David :' and yet with all this joy or sorrow there may be no good state.

Fourthly.-All this may be accompanied with an outward reformation; a man may for a time, longer or shorter, forsake the gross sins he before indulged himself in, and grow very orderly and decent, when yet he falls short of true Christianity. An awakened conscience will do much this way, and prudence may lend a hand to it; under the one and other an outward change may be wrought, when the heart remains in the old unconverted state. We read in St. Peter of such as having escaped the pollutions that were in the world, through lust were again entangled therein, and overcome:* and the whole family of Pharisees testify, that the outside may be made clean, when the heart is full of rottenness."

And, Fifthly.-A man may be so convinced that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and that there is somewhat so excellent in the ways of godliness beyond those of sin, as to be seriously wishing oftentimes that he were holy and godly, and to be taking up resolutions many times of renouncing the world. When the glories of Christianity are set before a man, he can hardly help wishing he were a Christian, and determining he will be no longer a slave to sin: but then, though there seem to be something of the will in this, yet there is no wholeness of heart in it, and it is but a sudden blaze that in an instant goes out. When such an one comes to question himself closely, and propose to himself a choice of God, and walking with him in his ways, in a rejection of all sin, especially the convenient pleasing bosom-sin, then the hypocrisy appears, he cannot consent to it, and the unsoundness of the double heart is made manifest.

So you see a man may go a great way, and yet fall short of

2 Pet. ii. 20.

being a Christian. And that he always doth, when his will is not, through divine grace, upon the persuasive arguments of the Gospel, steadily and universally determined to serve God. However awakened his conscience, and clear his light and knowledge; whatever touches of joy or sorrow he may have felt in his affections about spiritual things; however reformed, regular, and civil his outward conduct; and whatsoever seemingly good desires he may have, and firm resolutions he may make; yet being deficient in the main thing, namely, a will and heart determined and fixed upon God, he is as yet but almost persuaded to be a Christian. That Agrippa had gone the most of this length seems evident from the history before us; he had conscience it appears from these very words; for his knowledge St. Paul appeals to him; he was certainly much affected with what the Apostle had been representing; he wished he were a Christian, he said, Thou hast almost persuaded me to be one; but there it stopped. The Gospel argument pleaded strongly and there was an evident motion upon the heart; but he repressed the one and the other, and remained an almost Christian.

And has not this been the case of others as well as Agrippa? Say, my friends, have none of you under the ministry of the word found your consciences greatly alarmed, the light of the Gospel breaking in upon you, your affections warm, your wishes earnest, your resolutions running high; in a word, almost persuaded to be Christians; and yet but almost persuaded; alas! to this day not prevailed upon to forsake all and follow Christ? What a pity, you say, that one so near the kingdom of God as Agrippa should stop short! What a pity, say I, this should be your case! and yet it is, many of you know it is. Ah, that it were otherwise! would to God that all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as was the Apostle!

But, Thirdly. You will say what made Agrippa stop, when he was so very near being a Christian? Alas, sirs! the very same things that have hindered you, the love of the world, and of the things of it. Conscience pleaded hard for his owning Christ; but he was a great man, his interest, honour, ease, and reputation, pleaded harder. He saw before his eyes what his owning Christ must bring him to; he knew the Apostle's only

crime was heartily embracing Christianity, and should he run himself into a like wretched condition with this criminal by embracing it? He had no heart to this, he will be no Christian on these terms; conscience must yield, for he will not lose his honour, character, and worldly ease. So he smooths over the matter, pays St. Paul a compliment, agrees that he had done nothing worthy of death, or even of bonds; yet, to save himself from the suspicion of being a favourer of Christianity, does not drop a word of his being set at liberty (though that was entirely in the governor's power, and was but justice to an innocent man); and, to keep fair with the Jews, refers him to the judg ment of Cæsar. Here you see his heart; he was a time-server, a man of the world, who at bottom had not the least heart toward God, but would make conscience truckle to convenience. Could he be more than almost persuaded to be a Christian, while he was under this worldly bias ? Had he given way to the convictions of his own mind and the secret workings of divine grace-instead of quenching, had he closed in with them, and at once made an honest profession of the truth of Christianity, as he then saw it, without hearkening to worldly considerations he had been a Christian indeed. Here you see then what stops many, who are brought under concern for their souls, and, under the hearing of the Gospel are secretly moved to close in with it, from receiving it: they will not, they cannot, endure to think of parting with their worldly reputation, interest, or ease; they will not buy Christ so dear; they dismiss conscience for the time with a promise that when they have a more convenient season they will call for it again.

Let this therefore be noted as a most certain yet tremendous truth, that all, who in the manner described have been almost persuaded to be Christians, and never wrought upon to be really so, have been hindered by the love of sin, by some worldly lust which they would not part with, or some carnal indulgence which they were determined to gratify. Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life," says our Lord to the Pharisees. Why would they not? What! because they wanted means of conviction that he was the Christ? No, but because they would not; for, if they did, they must give up their worldly

* John v. 40.

honour, interest, ease, and reputation. It is the same case with many of you, my dear friends; you will not come to Christ. It is not through want of conviction that there is salvation in none other, but, because, if you do, you shall be laughed at, reproached, have your names cast out, perhaps suffer a little in your interests, or be forced to deny yourselves a course of life you have been long accustomed to. For these reasons you have many a time hitherto resisted the Gospel-offer, when it has been brought home to your ears and your consciences; and for the same miserable reasons I fear you will still persist in the same unhappy conduct. You see you cannot be Christians indeed unless you give up your hearts to God upon his Gospel-invitation and secret motion. This you have not yet done. Will you do it now? Or will you not come to Christ for life? With your eyes open, will you desperately stand out still, and prefer the world (a mere nothing!) to the living God? How inexcusable must you then be in your own consciences! or how will you answer it to your souls in another world? I would gladly prevail with you to go one step further than Agrippa; and, in that view, to lay it seriously to heart whether there be anything but despair out of Christ, and whether there be not infinitely more than we can desire in him. Consult your Bibles; see if any man ever went to heaven but in the way of renouncing the devil, the world, and the flesh; and, if not, make this day one vigorous effort for liberty and glory.

The only further use I would make of this subject is, that, since the very life of Christianity consists in giving up the heart to God in a steady and universal choice of him and his ways, and seeing also there are so many ways wherein we may stop short of this self-denying determination, let me express my wish that we may all carefully examine ourselves whether we are brought sincerely to it: if we are not, that we may diligently seek it; and, if we are, that we may diligently improve it and that all of us may go beyond this Agrippa, and be not only almost, but altogether, Christians.

THE END.