Marks of a True Conversion by George Whitefield.

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

I suppose I can take it for granted that all of you, among whom I am now about to preach the kingdom of God, are fully convinced that it is appointed for all men once to die and that you all really believe that after death comes the judgment, and that the consequences of that judgment will be that you are doomed to live in the darkness of hell or sin to live with the blessed God forever and ever.

I can also take it for granted that whatever you do in everyday life, that every one of you, though ever so wicked and forsaken, hopes to go, when he dies, to that place which the scriptures call heaven.

And I think, if I know anything of my own heart, my heart's desire, as well as my prayer to God for all of you is, that I may see you sitting down at the wedding banquet in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father.

But then, though we all hope to go to heaven when we die, Yet if we may judge by people's lives, and our Lord says that by their fruit you will recognize them, then I am afraid it will be found that millions, yes millions, who hope to go to this blessed place after death are not presently walking in that direction while they live.

Though many people call themselves Christians and would consider it an insult for anyone to doubt whether they were true Christians or not, Yet there are a great number who bear the name of Christ that do not know what real Christianity is.

If you ask many of these people on what are their hopes of heaven founded upon, they will tell you that they belong to this or to that denomination or other segments of Christians into which Christendom is now unhappily divided.

If you ask others on what foundation have they built their hope of heaven, they will tell you that they have been baptized, that their fathers and mothers presented them to the Lord Jesus Christ in their infancy, and though, instead of fighting under Christ's banner, they have been fighting against him almost ever since they were baptized, yet because they have been admitted to this particular church or to that church, and their names are on the membership rolls of that church, Therefore, they will make us believe that their names are also written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

But there are a great many who will not build their hopes of salvation upon such a rotten foundation as this.

Yet they are what we generally call negatively good people. That is, they live in such a way that their neighbors cannot say anything bad about them. They do not doubt that they will be happy when they die.

Yes, I have found that many do die, just as the scripture says. They have no struggles.

And if a person is what the world calls a moral man, if he does what is just and gives what the world calls love and mercy, is now and then good-natured, reaches out his hand to the poor, receives the Lord's Supper once or twice a year, and is outwardly sober and honest, the world looks upon such a person as a true Christian.

Likewise, there are many who do a lot of good things, a model of good works. They think that they will go to heaven.

But if you examine them, though they have Christ in their heads, they have no Christ in their hearts.

The Lord Jesus Christ knew this full well. He knew how desperately wicked and deceitful men's hearts were. He knew very well how many would go to hell after touching the very gates of heaven, how many would climb up to heaven's door and go so near as to knock on it. And yet after all that be dismissed with the voice of the Lord, I never knew you away from me, you evildoers.

Therefore, the Lord clearly tells us what great change must be produced in us and what must be done for us before we can have any secure hope of entering into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, he tells Nicodemus, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and of the spirit.

And of all the solemn declarations of our Lord, I mean with respect to this, perhaps the words of our text this evening are one of the most solemn. He said, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

These words, if you look back to the context, are plainly directed to the disciples, for we are told, at that time, the disciples came to Jesus. I think it is clear from other parts of Scripture that these disciples to whom our Lord addressed himself to at this time were already converted. If we take the words literally, they are applicable only to those that have already received some, though weak, faith in Christ.

Our Lord means that though they have already tasted the grace of God, Yet there was so much of the old man, so much indwelling sin and corruption yet remaining in their hearts, that unless they were more converted than they were, unless a greater change took place in their souls, they could give but very little evidence of their belonging to his kingdom, which was not to be set up in outward splendor, as they supposed, but was to be a spiritual kingdom, begun here, but completed in the future in the kingdom of God.

But though the words had a special reference to our Lord's disciples, yet our Lord makes similar declarations like this one in other places of scripture, especially in the discourse with Nicodemus. Therefore, I believe the words may be rightly applied to both saints and sinners.

And I assume there are two sorts of people here tonight. some who know Christ, and some of you that do not know him, some that are converted, and some that are strangers to conversion. I will endeavor to speak in such a way that if God is pleased to assist me and gives you an ability to hear and an obedient heart, then both saints and sinners may receive something from this sermon.

First, I will endeavor to show you in what respects we are to understand our Lord's assertion that we must change and become like little children. Secondly, I will speak to those who profess a little of this childlike disposition. Lastly, I will speak to you. You have no reason to think that this change has ever taken place in your souls.

and I will endeavor to show you what we are to understand by our Lord's saying, unless you change and become like little children. But before I speak to these points, it may be proper to present a couple of facts. I think that the words plainly imply that before you or I can have any well-grounded scriptural hope of being happy in a future state, there must be some great, some notable, and amazing change take place in our souls.

I believe that every adult person in this congregation will quickly confess that a great change has taken place in their bodies since they first came into the world and were infants sitting on their mother's knees. It is true, you have no more members than you had then, but oh, how they have been altered. Though you are in one respect the same as to the number of your limbs and as to the basic shape of your body, yet if a person that knew you when you were in your cradle and had not seen you for some years and then saw you again after you had grown up, then most likely he would not know you at all because you would be so changed, so different from what you were when you were a little one.

And as the words clearly imply that there has been a great change of our bodies since we were children, likewise, before we can go to heaven, there must also be as great a change upon our souls. Our souls in a physical sense are still the same. There is no theoretical change in them. But then, as for our disposition, habit and conduct, we must be completely changed and altered. That those who knew us in the past, when we were in a state of sin, and before we knew Christ, would today, as they became reacquainted with us, would see such a change in us, that they must stand amazed at it. Just as the person was at the physical changes of our bodies after not seeing us for some 20 years since our infancy.

I think it would be right to argue something further, because this text is the great stronghold of Arminians and others who believe in man's efforts to secure salvation. They learned from the devil to use scriptures to propagate bad doctrine. When the devil decided to tempt Jesus Christ, and Christ quoted scriptures in response to the temptations, then Satan did so too. Likewise, Arminians and others often quote scripture so that their wicked doctrine and beliefs can be swallowed easier. They are more than happy to persuade unwary and unstable souls that their false doctrines and beliefs are founded on the Word of God.

The doctrine of original sin is a doctrine written in such legible characters in the Word of God that anyone who reads the Bible can clearly see it. In addition, I think everything outside of us and everything within us clearly proclaims that we are fallen creatures. Even the heathens, who have had no other light but the dim light of unassisted reason, complained of this, for they felt the wound and discovered the disease, but were ignorant of the cause of it.

There are too many persons of those who have been baptized in the name of Christ that dare to speak against the doctrine of original sin. They are angry with those ill-natured ministers who paint man in such an evil way. They say, it cannot be that children come into the world with the guilt of Adam's sin on their souls. Why? Ask them to prove it from scripture and they will refer to this very text that we are looking at this evening where our Lord tells us, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Now their argument runs like this. It is implied in the words of this text that little children are innocent and that they come into the world like a mere blank piece of white paper. Otherwise, our Lord's argument is absurd. For He could never pretend to say that we must be converted into little children who have original sin. For that would make us become like wicked creatures. That would be no conversion at all.

But, my dear friends, this is to make Jesus Christ speak what He never intended and what cannot be deduced from His words. The fact that little children are guilty I mean that they are conceived and born in sin is plain from the whole tenor of the Bible. David was a man after God's own heart. Yet David says, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Jeremiah, speaking of the heart of man, says the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. God's servants unanimously declare, all have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. And I appeal to any of you that are mothers and fathers. Don't you discern original sin and corruption in your own children as soon as they come into the world and as they grow up? Don't you discover self-will and an aversion to goodness What is the reason your children are so reluctant to receive instruction? Isn't it because they bring hostility into the world with them? A hatred against a good and gracious God? So then, my friends, it is evident from Scripture and observation that children are born in sin, and consequently they are children of wrath. And for my part, I think that the death of every child is a plain proof of original sin. Sickness and death came into the world by sin, and it does not seem consistent with God's goodness and justice to let a little child be sick or die unless Adam's first sin was imputed to him. If anyone charges God with injustice for imputing Adam's sin to a little child, then look, we have received a second Adam to bring our children to him. Therefore, when our Lord says, unless you change and become like little children, we are not to understand that our Lord would insinuate that little children are perfectly innocent, but only in a comparative and rational sense. Little children are innocent when compared with grown people. But take them as they are, and as they come into the world, and you will see that they have hearts that are sensual, and minds that are carnal. And I mention this with the greatest concern, because I truly believe, unless parents are convinced of this, they will never take proper care of their children's education. If parents were convinced that children's hearts were as bad as they are, You would never be fond of letting them go to dances, the theater, and other places of entertainment, where the natural tendency is to debauch their minds and make them the children of the devil. If parents were convinced of this, I believe they would pray more for their children and would not make it a mere matter of form. And I believe if they were really convinced that their children were conceived in sin, they would always pray a prayer. They would always pray a prayer before their children were born, which I have heard that a good Christian woman always prayed for her yet unborn children. She always prayed, Lord Jesus, let me never bear a child for hell or for the devil. Oh, we should fear. We should fear that thousands of children will appear at the great day of judgment before God, and in the presence of angels and men will say, Father and Mother, next to the wickedness of my own heart, I owe my damnation to your bad education of me. Now friends, having presented these two facts, I will now proceed to show you in what sense we are really to understand the words, the words that we must change and become like little children. The evangelist tells us, at that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? These disciples had accepted the common prevailing notion that the Lord Jesus Christ was to be an earthly prince. They dreamed of nothing but being ministers of state, of sitting on Christ's right hand in his kingdom and lording it over God's people. They thought themselves qualified for state offices, as generally ignorant people are apt to conceive of themselves. Well, they say, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Which of us will have the chief management of the public affairs? A bold question for a few poor fishermen. who scarcely knew how to drag their nets to shore, much less how to govern a kingdom. Therefore, our Lord in the second verse, to mortify them, calls a little child and had him stand among them. This action was as much as if our Lord had said to them, poor creatures, your imaginations are very lofty. You dispute who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I will make this little child preach to you, or I will preach to you by him. Truly I say to you, I who am truth itself, I know in what manner my subjects are to enter into my kingdom. I say to you, you are so far from being in a right temperament for my kingdom, that unless you change and become like this little child, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Unless you are, comparatively speaking, changed and no longer enamored with the world, no longer enamored with crowns and scepters and kingdoms and earthly things, as this poor little child I have in my hand, then, unless you change, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So what our Lord is really speaking about is not the innocence of little children, If you consider the relationship they stand in with God and as they are in themselves when brought into the world, but what our Lord means is that in regard to our ambitions and worldly lust, we must, in this sense, become like little children. Is there a little boy or girl in this congregation tonight? Ask the poor little child, the ones that can barely speak. Ask them about a crown. a scepter or a kingdom. You will find that the little creature has no opinion about it. Give a little boy or a little girl a small thing to play with and they will leave the world to other people. Now in this sense we must change and become like little children. That is, we must be willing to let go of the world, comparatively speaking. Let go of the world like a little child does. Do not mistake what I am saying. I am not going to persuade you to shut up your shops or leave your business. I am not going to persuade you that if you will be true Christians, you must become hermits and retire out of the world. You cannot leave your wicked hearts behind you when you leave the world. For I find when I am alone, my wicked heart has followed me. Go where I will. No, the religion of Jesus is a social religion. But though Jesus Christ does not call us to leave the world, to shut up our shops, and leave our children to be provided for by miracles, yet this must be said to the honor of Christianity. If we are really changed, we will no longer be enamored with the world. Though we are engaged in it and are obliged to work for our children, though we are obliged to follow trades and merchandise and to be of service to our nation, yet if we are real Christians, we will not be tied to the world. Though I will not pretend to say that all real Christians have attained to the same degree of spiritual mindedness, this is the primary meaning of these words. that we must be changed and become like little children. Nevertheless, I suppose the words could be understood in other ways. When our Lord says we must change and become like little children, I suppose he also means that we must be aware of our weaknesses, comparatively speaking, like a little child is. Everyone looks upon a little child as a poor, weak creature. as one that ought to go to school and learn a new lesson every day, and as one who is simple and innocent without any craftiness, having not learned the abominable art of hiding one's feelings or intentions. Now, in this sense, I believe we are to understand from the words of the text that little children are aware of their weakness. They must be led by the hand. we must take hold of them or they will fall. Likewise, if we are converted and changed, if the grace of God is really in our hearts, then my dear friends, despite what we may have once thought of ourselves, whatever our former high exalted imaginations were, yet we will now be aware of our weakness. We will no longer say, I am rich, I have acquired great wealth, and do not need a thing. We will be inwardly poor. We will feel that we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. And like the little child that gives its hand to be guided by a parent, so also those who are truly converted and are real Christians will give up their heart their understandings, their wills, their affections to be guided by the word, to be guided by providence and the spirit of the Lord. It is for this reason that the apostle speaking of the sons of God says, those who are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. And as little children look upon themselves as uneducated creatures, so also must those that are converted and changed look upon themselves as untaught also. That's why John, speaking to Christians, calls them little children. I write to you, little children. And Christ's flock is called a little flock, not only because it is little in number, but also because those who are members of his flock are indeed little in their own eyes. Therefore, that great man, the great apostle of the Gentiles, that spiritual father of so many thousands of souls, that man who, in the opinion of Dr. Goodwin, is the nearest example of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, that chosen vessel, the apostle Paul, when he speaks of himself says, although I am less than the least of all of God's people, this grace was given to me to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Perhaps some of you, when you read these words, will be apt to think that Paul did not speak the truth, that he did not really feel what he said. because you judge Paul's heart by your own proud hearts. But the more you grow in the grace of God, and the more you become partakers of the divine life, the more you will see your own selfishness and wickedness, and become less in your own eyes. Thus, Mr. Flavel, in his book called Husbandry Spiritualized, compares young Christians to green corn. which before it is ripe, shoots up very high, but there is little strength in it, whereas an old Christian is like ripe corn. It does not lift up its head very much, but then it is more weighty and fit to be cut down and put into the farmer's barn. Young Christians are also like little streams. You know little streams are shallow, yet they make great noise. But an old Christian does not make much noise. He goes on sweetly, like a deep river sliding into the ocean. And as a little child is looked upon as a harmless creature and generally speaks the truth, so if we are converted and changed and become like little children, we will be completely honest as well as harmless. What did our dear Redeemer say when he saw Nathanael? As though it was a rare sight, he gazed upon Nathanael and would have others to gaze upon him. Here is a true Israelite, he said. And we ask him, what makes him that? And Jesus answers, in whom is no guile or craftiness. Do not mistake what I am saying. I am not saying that Christians ought not to be prudent. They ought always to pray to God for prudence, otherwise they may follow the delusions of the devil, and by their lack of prudence, they may wrongfully touch the ark of God. It was the grieving of a great man who said, God has given me many gifts, but God has not given me prudence. Therefore, when I say a Christian must be without guile, I do not mean he should expose himself and lie open to everyone's assault. We should pray for the wisdom of a serpent, though we will generally learn this wisdom by our blunders and gullibility. And we must grow some in Christianity before we realize our lack of caution. A person really converted can say, I wish there was a window in my chest. that everyone may see the uprightness of my heart and my intentions. And though there is too much of the old man in us, yet if we are really converted and changed, there will be no cleverness in us and we will be harmless. And that is the reason why the poor Christian is too often imposed upon. He judges other people by himself. Having an honest heart, he thinks everyone is as honest as himself, and therefore is preyed upon by everyone. I wish I could say more on each of these points, for they are very important truths. And now I have something to say by way of personal application. Allow me, therefore, with the utmost tenderness and at the same time with faithfulness, to call upon you, my dear friends. My text is introduced in an awful manner, with the words, I tell you the truth. And what Jesus said then, he now says to you, to me, and to as many who sit under a preached gospel, and to as many as our Lord God will call, let me exhort you to see whether you are converted, whether such a great and almighty change has taken place in your souls. As I told you before, so I tell you again, you all hope to go to heaven. And I pray to God Almighty, you may all be there someday. When I see a congregation such as this, if my heart is in the proper frame, I feel myself ready to lay down my life, to be instrumental only to save one soul. It makes my heart bleed within me. It makes me sometimes most unwilling to preach, lest that word that I hope will do good may increase the damnation of anyone through their own unbelief. Allow me to deal faithfully with your souls. I have your death warrant in my hand. Christ has said it. Jesus will stand on it. It is like the laws of the Medes and Persians. It cannot be altered. Listen to me, man. Listen to me, woman. He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Lord Jesus Christ says. I tell you the truth. Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Though this is Saturday night and you are now preparing for Sunday, For all you know, you may never live to see Sunday. You have had dreadful proofs of this lately. A woman died only yesterday. A man died the day before. Another was killed by something that fell from a house. And it may be that within the next 24 hours, many of you may be carried into the unalterable state of eternity. Now then, for the sake of God, for the sake of your own soul, if you have a heart that longs to dwell with God and cannot bear the thought of dwelling in everlasting burning and torment, before I go any further, silently say one prayer or say amen to the prayer I would put in your mouth. Lord, search me and try me. Lord, examine my heart and let my conscience speak O Lord, let me know whether I am converted or not. What do you say, my dear listeners? What do you say, my fellow sinners? What do you say, my guilty brethren? Has God, by His blessed Spirit, produced such a change in your hearts? I do not ask you whether God has made you angels. That I know will never be. I only ask you whether you have any well-grounded hope to think that God has made you new creatures in Christ Jesus and has so renewed and changed your natures that you can say, I humbly hope that the habitual attitude and tendency of my mind and my heart is to be free from wickedness. I have a husband or I have a wife. I also have children. I keep a shop. I take care of my business and my employees. But I love those creatures for God's sake and do everything for Christ. And if God was now to call me away, according to the habitual attitude of my mind, I can say, Lord, I am ready. And however much I love those creatures, I hope I can say, whom have I in heaven but you? Whom have I in heaven, O my God and my dear Redeemer, that I desire in comparison of you? Can you thank God for the creatures and say at the same time, these are not my Christ? I speak in plain language. You know my way of preaching. I do not want to play the orator. I do not want to be counted a scholar. I want only to speak so that I may reach poor people's hearts. What do you say, my dear listeners? Are you aware of your weakness? Do you feel that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked by nature? Do you give up your hearts, your affections, your wills, your understanding to be guided by the Spirit of God as a little child gives up its hand to be guided by its parent? Are you little in your own eyes? Do you think humbly of yourselves? And do you want to learn something new every day? A great many of you have not been showing the affection you one time had for Christ. Therefore, you are giving up all your evidences of being a Christian and making a way for the devil to come into your heart. You are not drawn near to God as you used to be Therefore you conclude that you have no grace at all. But if the Lord Jesus Christ has emptied you and humbled you, and if he is allowing you to see and know that you are nothing, though you are not growing upward, you are growing downward. And though you do not have much joy, yet your heart is emptying to be more abundantly replenished in time. Can any of you understand what I am saying? Then give God thanks and take comfort in it. If you are converted and have become like a little child, I welcome you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ into God's dear family. I welcome you in the name of the dear Redeemer into the company of God's children. Oh, you dear souls, though the world sees nothing in you, Though there is no outward physical difference between you and others, yet I look upon you in another light, as the sons and daughters of kings. In the name of God, I wish every one of you joy from my soul, you sons and daughters of the King of kings. Will you not from this time forward exercise a childlike spirit? Will not such a thought melt down your heart when I tell you that the great God, who might have thrown you into hell for your secret sins, that nobody knew but God in your own souls, and who might have damned you thousands and thousands of times, that this great and loving God has thrown the cloak of his love over you? His voice has said, let that man, Let that woman live, for I have found a ransom. Oh, will you not cry out, why me, Lord, why me? If King George were to send for one of your sons, and you were told that he was to become his adopted son, how highly honored would you think your child to be? What great condescension! Was it for Pharaoh's daughter to pick up the little baby Moses, a poor child exposed in an ark of papyrus, and raise him up as her own child? But what is that happiness in comparison to yours, who just the other day was a child of the devil, but now by converting grace have become a child of God? Are you converted? Have you become like a little child? Then what must you do? My dear listeners, be obedient to God. Remember God is your father. And as every one of you must know what a dreadful cross it is to have a wicked disobedient child. If you do not want your children to be disobedient to you, for the sake of Christ, do not be disobedient to your heavenly father. If God is your father, obey him. If God is your father, serve him. Love him with all your heart. Love him with all your might, with all your soul and with all your strength. If God is your father, flee from everything that may displease him and walk worthy of that God who has called you into his kingdom and glory. If you are converted and have become like little children, then behave like little children. Little children long for the breast, and with it will be contented. Are you newborn babes in Christ? Then desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word that you may grow. You are sons and daughters of the King, and you have a refined taste. You must have the doctrines of grace and blessed be God that you live in a country where the pure spiritual word is so clearly preached. Are you children? Then grow in grace and in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Have you any children that do not grow? Don't you grieve for these children and cry over them? Don't you say, my child will never be fit for anything in the world? Well, if it grieves you to see a child that will not grow, how much must it grieve the heart of Christ to see you grow so little? Will you always be children? Will you always be learning the first principles of Christianity and never press forward towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? God forbid. Let the language of your heart be, Lord Jesus, help me to grow. Help me to learn more. Teach me to live so that my progress may be known to all. Are you God's children? Are you converted? And have you become like little children? Then deal with God as your little children deal with you. As soon as they want anything, or if anybody hurts them, they run directly to their parent. Well, are you God's children? Does the devil trouble you? Does the world trouble you? Go tell your father about it. Go directly and complain to God. Perhaps you may say, I cannot speak fine words. But do any of you expect fine words from your children? If they come crying and can only speak half words, doesn't your heart yearn over them? And has not God shown more compassion towards you? If you can only make signs to Him, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. Therefore, I pray that you will go to your heavenly Father, saying, Abba, Father, Satan troubles me. The world troubles me. My own brothers and sisters are angry with me. Heavenly Father, plead my cause." The Lord will then speak for you in some way or another.

Are you converted and have you become like little children? Have you entered into God's family? then assure yourselves that your Heavenly Father will chase in you now and then. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined, and everyone undergoes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

It is recorded of Latimer that in the house where he came to lodge, he overheard the master of the house say, I thank God I never had a cross to bear in my life. Oh, said Latimer, then I will not stay here. I believe this is not a child of God, for when he has prayed for great humility, when he has prayed for great faith, when he has prayed for great love, when he has prayed for all the graces of the Spirit, do you know when he prayed all these prayers that he did not also pray Lord, send me great trials. For how is it possible to know he has great faith, humility, and love unless God puts him into great trials that he may know whether he has them or not?

I mention this because a great many of the children of God, and I am sure it has been a temptation to me many times when I have been under God's rod of discipline, A great many of the children of God, when they have great trials, think God is giving up on them, God is giving them over.

If therefore you are God's children, if you are converted and have become like little children, do not expect that God will be like a foolish parent. No, he is a jealous God. He loves his children too much to spare his rod. How did he correct Miriam? How did He correct Moses? How has God in all the ages corrected His dear children?

Therefore, if you are converted and have become like little children, and if God has taken away a child, or God has taken away your living, if God allows friends to forsake you, and if you are forsaken as it were by both God and man, say this, Lord, I thank you. I am a perverse child. For God, you would not strike me so often and so hard. My friends, do not blame your Heavenly Father, but blame yourselves. He is a loving God and a tender Father. He suffers with us in all of our sufferings.

Therefore, when God spoke to Moses, He spoke out of the bush as much as to say, Moses, this bush represents my people. As this bush is burning with fire, so are my children to burn with affliction. But I am in the bush. If the bush burns, I will burn with it. I will be with them in the furnace. I will be with them in the water. And though the water flows over them, it will not overwhelm them.

Are you God's children? Are you converted and have you become like little children? Then don't you long to go home and see your father? Oh, happy are they that have made it home before you. Happy are they that are up in heaven. Happy are they who have ascended above this field of conflict.

I do not know what you may think of it, But since I heard that some whose hearts God was pleased to work on are gone to glory, I am sometimes filled with grief that God is not pleased to let me go home too. How can you stand to see so much coldness among God's people? Who can but desire to be forever with the Lord? Thanks be to God, the time is coming soon. Thanks be to God, he will come and will not delay. Do not be impatient. God in his own time will bring you home. And though you may be poor now, though some of you may be barely surviving, yet do not fret. A God and the gospel of Christ with brown bread are great riches. In your father's house there is bread enough and plenty to spare. Though you are now tormented, yet in time you will be comforted. The angels will look upon it as an honor to bring you to Abraham's bosom, though you are nothing but a Lazarus here on earth. I only mention one thing more, and that is, if you are converted and have become like little children, then for the sake of God, be careful of doing what little children do. Children are very apt to quarrel with one another. Oh, love one another. He that lives in love lives in God and God in him. Joseph knew that his brothers were in danger of arguing with one another. Therefore, when he left them, he said, don't quarrel on the way. You are all children of the same father. You are all going to the same place. Why should you differ? The world has enough against us. The devil has enough against us. without our quarreling with each other. Oh, walk in love. If I could preach no more, if I was not able to hold out to the end of this sermon, I would say as John did when he was grown old and could not preach, little children, love one another. If you are God's children, then love one another. There is nothing that grieves me more than the differences among God's people. Oh, speed up that time when we will either go to heaven or never quarrel anymore. I wish I could speak to all of you with this comfortable language, but my master tells me I must not give dogs what is sacred, nor throw my pearls to pigs. Therefore, though I have been speaking comfortably, Yet what I have been saying, especially in this latter part of the sermon, belongs to children. It is the children's bread. It belongs to God's people. If any of you are graceless, Christless, unconverted creatures, I charge you not to touch it. I fence it in the name of God. Here is a flaming sword turning every way to keep you from this bread of life until you have turned to Christ, until you have turned to Jesus Christ. And therefore, since I suppose many of you are unconverted and graceless, I tell you, go home. Go into your closets and kneel down with your stubborn hearts before God. If you have not done so before, let this be the night. or do not wait till you go home. Begin now while standing here. Pray to God and let the language of your heart be, Lord, convert me. Lord, make me a little child. Lord Jesus, do not let me be banished from your kingdom. My dear friends, there's a great deal more implied in the words than is expressed When Christ says, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven, it is the same as saying, you will certainly go to hell. You will certainly be damned and dwell in the blackness of darkness forever. You will go where the worm does not die and where the fire is not quenched. May the Lord God impress it upon your souls. May an arrow dipped in the blood of Christ Reach every unconverted sinner's heart. May God fulfill the text to every one of your souls. It is He alone that can do it. If you confess your sins and leave them and lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God will be given to you. If you will go and say, change me, O God, change me. You do not know what changes God may make in you. If I thought that my preaching would change you, if I thought that arguments would induce you to come, then I would continue my sermon until midnight. Now some of you hate me without cause. I pray to God that everyone in this congregation was as much concerned for himself as I presently feel myself concerned for him. Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears. I would weep day and night for the unconverted, graceless, wicked, and adulterous generation. Precious souls, for the sake of God, think what will become of you when you die, if you die without being converted. If you leave this earth without the wedding garment, God will strike you speechless, and you will be banished from his presence forever and ever. I know you cannot live with everlasting burnings and torments. Look, I will show you a way of escape. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. It is His Spirit that must convert you. Come to Christ and you will have it. And may God, for Christ's sake, give it to every one of you and convert you, that we may all meet, never depart again, in His heavenly kingdom. Even so, Lord Jesus, amen and amen.