" Such
conduct would not only be exceedingly wicked, but extremely foolish. It
would be the surest way to confirm the doubts of the churches, and make
them feel, that in treating you coldly, they had acted wisely. The
surest way to gain the confidence of the Church, is not to care too much
about it. If you show that you are satisfied with the favor of God, and
with your own sweet consciousness of the happy change you have
experienced, everything else will come in its season. Goodness will draw
after it the reputation of goodness. The shadow will follow the
substance. And whether it does or not, your duty is to be resigned and
cheerful. A man that has really been converted from infidelity to
Christianity, will be so happy, and will feel so thankful for the
blessed change, if he appreciates it as he ought, that he will hardly
care whether he has the favor and confidence of his brethren or not.
There is no intimation that the returned Prodigal looked black at his
father, and threatened to go back again into the far country, because
his elder brother refused to join in his welcome home. The probability
is, that he felt so ashamed of his sin and folly, so overpowered with
the tenderness of his father, and so happy to find himself at home
again, that he never inquired whether other people were satisfied or
not.
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