Mr. M’Cheyne entitles the examination of his heart and life "Reformation" and it commences thus:—­

“It is the duty of ministers in this day to begin the reformation of religion and manners with themselves, families, etc., with confession of past sin, earnest prayer for direction, grace, and full purpose of heart.  Mal. 3:3—­’He shall purify the sons of Levi.’  Ministers are probably laid aside for a time for this very purpose.

“1. Personal Reformation.

“I am persuaded that I shall obtain the highest amount of present happiness, I shall do most for God’s glory and the good of man, and I shall have the fullest reward in eternity, by maintaining a conscience always washed in Christ’s blood, by being filled with the Holy Spirit at all times, and by attaining the most entire likeness to Christ in mind, will, and heart, that is possible for a redeemed sinner to attain to in this world.

“I am persuaded that whenever any one from without, or my own heart from within, at any moment, or in any circumstances, contradicts this,—­if any one shall insinuate that it is not for my present and eternal happiness, and for God’s glory and my usefulness, to maintain a blood-washed conscience, to be entirely filled with the Spirit, and to be fully conformed to the image of Christ in all things,—­that is the voice of the devil, God’s enemy, the enemy of my soul and of all good—­the most foolish, wicked, and miserable of all the creatures.  See Prov. 9:17—­’Stolen waters are sweet.’

“1. To maintain a conscience void of offence, I am persuaded that I ought to confess my sins more.  I think I ought to confess sin the moment I see it to be sin; whether I am in company, or in study, or even preaching, the soul ought to cast a glance of abhorrence at the sin.  If I go on with the duty, leaving the sin unconfessed, I go on with a burdened conscience, and add sin to sin.  I think I ought at certain times of the day—­my best times,—­say, after breakfast and after tea,—­to confess solemnly the sins of the previous hours, and to seek their complete remission.

“I find that the devil often makes use of the confession of sin to stir up again the very sin confessed into new exercise, so that I am afraid to dwell upon the confession.  I must ask experienced Christians about this.  For the present, I think I should strive against this awful abuse of confession, whereby the devil seeks to frighten me away from confessing.  I ought to take all methods for seeing the vileness of my sins.  I ought to regard myself as a condemned branch of Adam,—­as partaker of a nature opposite to God from the womb (Ps. 51.),—­as having a heart full of all wickedness, which pollutes every thought, word, and action, during my whole life, from birth to death.  I ought to confess often the sins of my youth, like David and Paul,—­my sins before conversion, my sins since conversion,—­sins