Self-Examination

Though it is to be supposed that yon have already often brought yourself to this test, it becomes you yet more deeply to scratinize your experience before going to the table of our Lord. And how greatly do you need the aid of the Holy Spirit in this work! It should be your maxim, that no marks of evidence are of the slightest value which arc not clearly laid down in the Word of God. Many such tests have been invented. You

* 1 Cor. 11: 28.

should next be aware that the great difficulty is not in laying down marks, but in identifying these in yourself. Volumes have been written on this single subject. One undoubted fruit of the Spirit, in the heart, standing out bright and undeniable, is just ground of belief that the soul is regenerate. But we are prone to mistake, sometimes in our own favour, and sometimes against our hopes. Observe carefully, therefore, that in the helps now to be given, it is not pretended that the topic is exhausted; it is rather a specimen of the manner in which the inquiry may be conducted.