George Whitefield, the great 18th century evangelist, spoke these words at a funeral service:
Do you think any farmer would have a crop of corn next year unless he plowed now? You may as well expect a crop of corn on unplowed ground as a crop of grace until the soul is convinced of its being undone without a Savior. That is the reason we have so many mushroom converts, so many persons that are always happy, happy, happy, and never were miserable. Why? Because their stony ground is not plowed up; they have not got a conviction of the law. They fall away. That makes me so cautious now, which I was not 30 years ago, of dubbing converts too soon. Now I wait a little, and see if people bring forth fruit; for there are so many blossoms which March winds blow away that I cannot believe they are converts till I see fruit brought forth.
