who compelled me. All that we
call moral or immoral, virtuous or vicious, praiseworthy or blameworthy,
in our conduct, depends wholly upon the will. It begins in us and is
done by us. It is ours and we will answer for it. No man is to be blamed
or praised for that which he neither had power to do or avoid. This, in
harmony with the words _agent_ and _action_, is saying no more than that
a man is to be praised or blamed for actions done by himself and not by
another. It is the gospel rule, "that every man shall receive according
to that which he bath done; that every man shall give account of
_himself_ to God."

If the sinner is to blame for remaining in an unconverted state, then of
necessity conversion is his own voluntary act; a duty imperatively
enjoined upon him, in the performance of which he needs to be guided by
the knowledge of the right and the wrong, as much as in any other duty.
On the other hand, if it is a work wrought upon the man by a special
effort of the Holy Spirit, then the man is free from all responsibility
in the premises, for he will answer only for his _own work_.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of
life." Prov. iv, 23. "He taught me also, and said unto me: Let thine
heart retain my words; keep my commandments and live." Prov. iv, 4.
"Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way."
Prov. xxiii, 19.

"Man, with naught in charge, could betray no trust,
And if he fell, would fall because he must.
If love reward him, or vengeance strike,
His recompense in both would be unjust _alike_."

If the sinner is passive in his conversion he can claim no reward, for
it is the act of another. All action is the work of an agent, of a being
who acts. And every being who acts is the beginner of the motion which
constitutes the action. The bullet that kills the man, the explosion
that makes it fly, the sparkles from the cap which produce the
explosion, are not agents, all being equally passive; nor is it the
finger operating upon the trigger that begins the motion; that also is a
passive instrument; it is the mind giving to the finger direction and
energy which is the mover in this business, and as such, is, properly
speaking, the agent. But if we were super-naturally informed that the
mind thus exerted was made to do so by the mysterious and irresistible
impulse of a superior being, we should instantly declare _that being_
the agent, and the mind ir