CHAPTER XII. CONVERSION. 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'-MATT. xviii. 3. B RIEFLY stated, conversion is a turning from sin unto God. Fallen man is estranged from God. He is in an abnormal state as regards his relationship to God, so that he needs a thorough spiritual revolution. The unconverted cannot walk in the way of God's commandments, and cannot enjoy the service of God. By the working of the Holy Spirit, God changes his heart. This change of heart is called 'regeneration,'* or the new birth. The change of life which results from the change of heart is called 'conversion.'† These two are as inseparably connected with each other as fire and warmth. There can be no real turning from sin to holiness without the new birth, nor can the new birth take place without a corresponding change in the life. Very frequently the term 'conversion 't is used in a more general sense, describing the change of man from the power of the Evil One to the service of God. It then embraces and presupposes the new birth as well. The cause and effect are spoken of as one. It is in this more general sense the Bible frequently uses it, as in the following texts: 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into * Regeneration from the Latin re, again, and genero, to beget, to bring forth. Hence the new birth. † Conversion from the Latin con, and verto, to turn. 'By baptism we are set, as it were, in the path; but at our conversion we actually begin to walk in it with our faces Zionwards.'-BISHOP OXENDEN. the kingdom of heaven.'* 'Repent ye, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.' 'Lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.' 'Their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.'|| Sinners shall be converted unto thee.'T The word 'quickened,' which, though not often used in general conversation, is frequently used in the Bible, has very much the same meaning as conversion. The Apostle says: 'You hath he quickened, who were dead in sins.'** It means 'made alive.' The state of those living 'without God' is that of spiritual death. They need regeneration, the new birth, which brings life. They are made alive, though once dead in sins.' 'This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.++ St. Paul says that 'she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.' Such an one needs the quickening influence of God's Holy Spirit. The desire to get to heaven is a very natural one. All have it more or less. But with most, if the desire were analyzed, it would be found to be simply a desire to escape hell, and not any love of holiness and the service of God. We must be 'born again' before we can truly love and enjoy God's service. Many find a sweet Sabbath of rest on earth very wearisome, how much more so would they find the eternal Sabbath above! Many are very much wearied with the society of God's children now. How much more so would they be if, as hereafter, they should have no other society! Of course, hereafter we shall all throw off that which pertains to the flesh and to human weakness, which makes Christians sometimes very unloveable. But that which is * Matt. xviii. 3. + Acts iii. 19. ** Eph. ii. I. il Psa. xix. 7. tt Luke xv. 24. Mark iv. 12. Christ-like will not be thrown off. It will be purified, and made more like Christ. Having made all the deductions we can for that which is of the human nature, and for that which is unloveable in the lives of Christians now, there are still many left who are living sweet, unselfish, Christ-like lives, but whose society is anything but appreciated by the world. Christ said to His disciples: 'If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.' But as there must be perfect harmony in heaven, our Saviour tells us that without conversion, none can enter therein. Now as one of the ostensible objects of religion is to land us safe in heaven at last, it becomes us all seriously to consider what genuine conversion is. It is too important a matter to leave undecided. We may profess and call ourselves Christians, we may most rigidly adhere to all the maxims and morals inculcated by Christianity, but without conversion all our religion is in vain; for except we 'be converted,' we 'shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' . Conversion is a very real thing, though possibly many who have passed through it are unable to define it in so many words. A housemaid was once asked what she meant by saying that she was converted. She thought for a moment, and then said: 'Well, I do not know, but since I have been converted, I always sweep under the mats.' Before her conversion she would only take the trouble of removing what was visible to the mistress's eye. Since her conversion, she had learnt to do her duty, 'not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the servant of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.' A Christian lady once told another lady that she had heard that her cook was converted. 'I do not know anything about that,' said the lady, 'but the other day she brought me a large sum of money to which she said she had calculated her † Eph. vi. 6. * John xv. 19. pilferings must have amounted during the time she had been in my service, and asked my forgiveness.' She only knew the practical results of her servant's conversion. Conversion is not refining, polishing, educating, or cultivating the intellectual and moral qualities of a man. Some may be naturally kind, gentle, amiable, and good-natured. Others may, by cultivating these very desirable qualities, possess them as fully as if they had been born with them. But that is not conversion. Man may do much for himself, and much for his fellow-creatures, by way of elevating them, but he cannot change the heart. Some have assumed that a little good is left in the human heart like seed, which, if well cared for, will grow, and produce fruit. However much we should like this to be true, it is not the case. The Bible distinctly says, 'The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.'† 'For out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.'+ An unseaworthy vessel may be painted over, and made to look like new, but that will not enable it to reach its destination. An unconverted man may cultivate moral qualities, and rise superior to grosser forms of sin, and appear all that is desirable, but that will not enable him to get to heaven at last. Man needs a thorough change of heart. Hence that collect for Ash-Wednesday, 'Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercies, perfect remission and forgiveness.' The natural heart being sinful and corrupt, needs to be re-created. 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.'§ 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within I Cor. ii. 14. † Jer. xvii. 9. Matt. xv. 19. § 2 Cor. v. 17. * you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.** This new birth affects everything in connection with a man, whether it be his affections, his pleasures, his money, his books, or his companions. He loves those for whom he once had a supreme contempt; he reads and enjoys books which once he thought very dry and uninteresting; he finds a pleasure in God's service, which was once a weariness to him; he finds money to spend in that service, which once was wasted on mere luxuries and appetite. His whole nature is changed, and yet he still remains the same man, and retains his individuality. I have met some, who I feel sure are truly humble believers, who doubt their standing in Christ, because they think they have never been converted. On inquiry, one finds that they expect conversion to come to them suddenly, in a form like an electric shock or an extraordinary manifestation, such as a vivid dream or vision. They have heard and read of strange events in the conversion of others; and because they have experienced nothing in their conversion that would even interest others, they at once doubt if they have ever been truly converted. Some certainly do pass through wonderful adventures at their conversion, but by far the majority of Christians experience changes more peaceful and unobserved. A conversion is none the less real because it has nothing sensational associated with it. Our peace of mind should not come from looking back upon a past conversion, but from realizing that now, at the present time, we are 'in Christ.' It is Christ's work, and not our conversion, that forms the groundwork of peace. If we are trusting to a past conversion, our very peace of mind is liable to be upset by insinuations as to whether that conversion at that time was real or not. Some have been surprised to find that, after their conversion, old corruptions are alive. They thought that all these would * Ezek. xxxvi. 26. |