or fellowship with the good
among his fellow-men, and for submission to Christian discipline. He can
become good and great and happy only by faith in God and Christ, by
self-denial, by good society, by careful moral and religious culture,
and by constant prayer and dependence on God. I now no longer say, "I
will be a _man_;" but, "Let me be a Christian." I no longer say, "I will
be all that my nature, working unchecked, will make me;" but, "Let me
be all that Christ and Christianity can make me. Let me check all
tempers at variance with the mind of Christ; and all tendencies at
variance with His precepts. Let the mouth of that fearful abyss which
lies deep down in my nature be closed, and let the infernal fires that
smoulder there be utterly smothered; and let the love of God and the
love of man reign in me, producing a life of Christ-like piety and
beneficence. Let all I have and all I am be a sacrifice to God in
Christ, and used in the cause of truth and righteousness for the welfare
of mankind."

The enemy of man has many devices. In my case, as in the case of so many
others, he transformed himself into "an angel of light." He did not say,
"Give up your work: forsake Christ; desert His Church; indulge your
appetites; give yourself to selfish, sensual pleasure; free yourself
from religious restraint, from moral control, from scruples of
conscience, and live for gain, or fame, or power." On the contrary; his
counsel was, "Perfect your creed; perfect your knowledge; reform the
Church; expose its corruptions; reform the ministry; expose its errors;
go back to the simplicity of Christ; return to the order of the ancient
Church; pay no regard to prevailing sentiments, or to established
customs; begin anew. Resolve on perfection; it is attainable; be content
with nothing less. Assert your rights. Be true. Prove all things; hold
fast to what is good, but cast away whatever you find to be evil. Call
no one master but Christ; and what Christ requires, ask no one but
yourself. Be true to your own conscience. God has called you to restore
the Church to its purity, to its simplicity, to its ancient power. Be
faithful, and fear no opposition. Free inquiry must lead to truth, and
truth is infinitely desirable. Assail error; assail men's inventions;
spare nothing but what is of God. It is God's own work you are doing; it
is the world's salvation for which you are laboring; and God's own
Spirit will guide you, and His power will keep