A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 19, 1874,
BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians
5:17.
A FEW days ago I was preaching in Lancashire upon the putting away of
sin by our Lord Jesus and the consequent peace of conscience enjoyed by
the Believer. In the course of the sermon I related my own conversion,
with the view of showing that the simple act of looking to Jesus
brought peace to the soul. Now, the diocese of Manchester is presided
over by a bishop who has a deservedly high place in public esteem for
his zeal, industry and force of character. And, feeling that he did not
agree with me, he has very properly taken an opportunity to warn the
working men, whom he addressed, against drawing improper inferences
from my story. And he has done this in a manner so courteous that I
only wish all discussions were conducted in the same spirit.
The best return I can make for his courtesy is to enlarge upon the
subject and carefully guard his utterances from injurious inferences,
even as he has protected mine. The idea of controversy is not upon my
mind at all, nor have I any other feeling towards Bishop Fraser than
that which is honestly expressed in a hearty prayer that God may bless
him. But I am thinking of the many who will read his remarks who, I
trust, may afterwards read mine–and as the point is of the utmost
conceivable importance and deeply concerns the souls of our hearers–it
is well that neither should be misunderstood and that, by all means, a
Truth of God so vital should be brought into prominence. The bishop
does not doubt for a moment that my own conversion was correctly
described by me–and that like cases have occurred at other times–but
he fears lest others should suppose that they must be converted in
exactly the same manner.
In that fear I fully participate! It has always been a special point
with me to show that God's Spirit calls men to Jesus in different ways.
Some are drawn so gently that they scarcely know when the drawing
began. Others are so suddenly affected that their conversion stands out
with noonday clearness. Perhaps no two conversions are precisely alike
in detail. The means, the modes, the manifestations all vary greatly.
As our minds are not cast in the same mold, it may so happen that the
Truth of God which affects one is powerless upon another. The style of
address which influences your friend may be offensive to yourself–and
that which leads him to decide may only cause you to delay. "The wind
blows where it will." The Holy Spirit is called, "the free Spirit," and
in the diversity of His operations, that freeness is clearly seen.
Again and again have I warned you against imitating others in the
matter of conversion, lest you be found counterfeits, and it is well
when another voice unites with me in the warning. Yet in all true
conversions there are points of essential agreement–there must be in
all a penitent confession of sin and a looking to Jesus for the
forgiveness of it– and there must also be a real change of heart such
as shall affect the entire life. Where these essential points are not
to be found there is no genuine conversion! The bishop goes on to
remark upon Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and its description of the
burdened pilgrim and his finding rest at the Cross. The bishop mistakes
honest John, for he says that, "the pilgrim, having failed to get his
wife to take the same gloomy view of fleeing from the wrath to come,
and to accompany him in his flight, set out alone. There they had a man
who deserted his home and home duties, leaving them to take care of
themselves–but if a man stayed at home and his heart was right, he
would have been saved in the day of doom."
Surely allegory is not to be read in this fashion. John Bunyan never
meant to teach that any man should forsake his home and neglect his
family! No one ever charged him with doing so! In his imprisonment he
worked hard at tagging laces to support his family and his affection
for his poor blind child is well known. John Bunyan was no monk, but as
true a father, citizen and friend as ever lived. The passage is part of
an allegory and represents an awakened man as resolving to seek the
Savior, whether others would do so or not–a man alive to his own
condition and responsibility–and
therefore determined to pursue the right road, even if the nearest and
dearest refused to bear him company. It is not implied that he left the
company of his family in temporal things, for with these the allegory
has nothing to do! I feel sure the bishop knows too well the value of
decision of mind and of that strong resolve to be right which dares to
be singular, to say a word wittingly against one of the bravest of the
virtues.
The bishop continues, "The pilgrim went on his journey and at the sight
of the Cross, the great bundle, which was the burden of his past sins,
fell off his back. Falling down before the Cross, he thought of Him who
hung upon it, and of the great doctrine of Atonement, and the burden
dropped from his back, and he rose what is called 'a converted man.'"
The bishop is inclined to think that this story of Bunyan's conversion
has given a color to a great part of what is called Protestant Theology
in these days. He has noticed that a great number of our theological
ideas come, rather, from Milton, and "The Pilgrim's Progress," than
from the Bible, for he does not find a single case in the Bible at all
analogous to or resembling the case of John Bunyan. He then denies that
the case of the penitent thief is at all to the point, or even the
conversion of the Apostle Paul–and he bids his hearers remember that
it is, "better not to dream those dreams of conversion that might
happen to one and not to another."
Now, so far as Milton is concerned, the bishop is right, but I
challenge his statement with regard to Bunyan's, "Pilgrim," and differ
from him altogether in his judgment of Paul's conversion. He fears that
some may imagine a particular manner of conversion to be necessary, but
my fear is much greater, that from Bishop Fraser's words, far more will
infer that no conversion is necessary at all. My fear is not so much
that they should say, "I must be converted like John Bunyan," but that
they will whisper, "It is all an idle tale. The bishop means that we
have only to do our duty and be sober and honest, and all will be well,
whether we are converted or not."
Our text says that "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." And my
point is just this that any man who is united to Christ has experienced
a great change. I do not lay down hard and fast lines about how the
conversion is to be worked, but the imperative word is, "You must be
born again," and the exhortation speaks to all mankind, "Repent and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Even to this hour our
Lord says, "Verily I say unto you, except you are converted and become
as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven."
My line of discourse will be as follows–according to our text and many
other Scripture, a great change is needed in any man who would be
saved. Secondly, this great change is frequently very marked. And
thirdly, this change is recognizable by distinct signs.
I. IN ORDER TO HAVE TRUE SALVATION A RADICAL CHANGE IS NECESSARY. This
change is a thorough and sweeping one, and operates upon the nature,
heart and life of the convert. Human nature is the same to all men and
it will be idle to try to turn the edge of Scriptural quotations by
saying that they refer to the Jews or to the heathen, for at that rate
we shall have no Bible left us at all! The Bible is meant for mankind
and our text refers to any man, of any country and of any age. "If any
man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new."
We prove this point by reminding you, first, that everywhere in
Scripture men are divided into two classes, with a very sharp line of
distinction between them. Read in the Gospels and you shall find
continual mention of sheep lost and sheep found, guests refusing the
invitation and guests feasting at the table, the wise virgins and the
foolish, the sheep and the goats. In the Epistles we read of those who
are "dead in trespasses and sin," and of others to whom it is said,
"And you has He quickened," so that some are alive to God and others
are in their natural state of spiritual death. We find men spoken of as
being either in darkness or in light. And the phrase is used of "being
brought out of darkness into marvelous light." Some are spoken of as
having been formerly aliens and strangers and having been made fellow
citizens and brethren. We read of "children of God," in opposition to
"children of wrath."
We read of Believers who are not condemned and of those who are
condemned, already, because they have not believed. We read of those
who have "gone astray," and of those who have "returned to the shepherd
and bishop of their souls." We read of those who are "in the flesh and
cannot please God," and of those who are chosen and called and
justified–whom the whole universe is challenged to condemn. The
Apostle speaks of "us who are saved," as if there were some saved
while, upon others, "the wrath of God abides." "Enemies" are
continually placed in contrast with those who
are "reconciled to God by the death of His Son." There are those that
are "far off from God by wicked works," and those who are "made near by
the blood of Christ."
I could continue till I wearied you. The distinction between the two
classes runs through the whole of the Scriptures, but never do we find
a hint that there are some who are naturally good and do not need to be
removed from the one class into the other, or that there are persons
between the two who can afford to remain as they are. No, there must be
a Divine work making us new creatures and causing all things to become
new with us, or we shall die in our sins. The Word of God, besides so
continually describing two classes, very frequently and in forcible
expressions speaks of an inward change by which men are brought from
one state into the other. I hope I shall not weary you if I refer to a
considerable number of Scriptures, but it is best to go to the
Fountainhead at once.
This change is often described as a birth. See the third chapter of the
Gospel of John, which is wonderfully clear and to the point, "Except a
man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." This birth is not
a birth by Baptism, for it is spoken of as accompanied by an
intelligent faith which receives the Lord Jesus. Turn to John 1:12, 13,
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believed on His name: which were born not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." So that Believers are "born again," and receive Christ through
faith–a regeneration imparted in infancy and lying dormant in
unbelievers is a fiction unknown to Holy Scripture!
In the third of John our Lord associates faith and regeneration in the
closest manner, declaring not only that we must be born again, but also
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. We must undergo a change quite as great as if we could return to
our native nothingness and could then come forth fresh from the hand of
the Great Creator. John tells us, in his first Epistle, 5:4, that,
"Whatever is born of God overcomes the world," and he adds, to show
that the new birth and faith go together, "This is the victory that
overcomes the world, even our faith." To the same effect is 1 John 5:1,
"Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Where there
is true faith, there is the new birth, and that term implies a change
beyond measure complete and radical.
In other places this change is described as a quickening. "And you has
He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph. 2:1). We are
said to be raised from the dead together with Christ and this is spoken
of as being a very wonderful display of Omnipotence. We read, (Eph.
1:19), of "the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who
according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in
the heavenly places." Regeneration is a very prodigy of Divine strength
and by no means a mere figment fabled to accompany a religious
ceremony. We find this change frequently described as a creation, as,
for instance, in our text, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature."
And this, also, is no mere formality, or an attendant upon a rite, for
we read in Galatians 6:15, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." No outward
rites, though ordained of God, Himself, effect any change upon the
heart of man–there must be a creating over again of the entire nature
by the Divine hand–we must be "created in Christ Jesus unto good
works" (Eph. 2:10), and we must have in us "the new man, which after
God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24). What a
wonderful change that must be which is first described as a birth, then
as a resurrection from the dead–and then as an absolute creation!
Paul, in Colossians 1:13, further speaks of God the Father, and says,
"Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us
into the kingdom of His dear Son." John calls it a "passing from death
unto life" (1 John 3:14), no doubt having in his mind that glorious
declaration of his Lord and Master–"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he
that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death
unto
life" (John 5:24).
Once more, as if to go to the extremity of forcible expression, Peter
speaks of our conversion and regeneration as our being "begotten
again." Hear the passage (1 Peter 1:3), "Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead." To the same purport speaks the Apostle James in
his first chapter, at the 18th verse–"Of His own will He begat us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His
creatures." My dear Friends, can you conceive of any language more
plainly descriptive of a most solemn change? If it is possible with the
human tongue to describe a change which is total, thorough, complete
and Divine, these words describe it! And if such a change is not
intended by
the language here used by the Holy Spirit, then I am unable to find any
meaning in the Bible–and its words are rather meant to bewilder than
to instruct, which God forbid we should think! My appeal is to you who
try to be content without regeneration and conversion–I beseech you,
do not be satisfied–for you never can be in Christ unless old things
are passed away with you and all things become new.
Further, the Scriptures speak of this great inner work as producing a
very wonderful change in the subject of it. Regeneration and
conversion–the one the secret cause and the other the first overt
effect–produce a great change in the character. Read Romans 6:17, "But
God be thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." Again at
verse 22, "Now being made free from sin, and become servants to God,
you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Mark
well the description the Apostle gives in Colossians 3:9, when, having
described the old nature and its sins, he says, "Lie not one to
another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; and
have put on the new man."
The Bible swarms with proof texts. The change of character in the
converted man is so great that, "they that are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24). And as there is a
change in character, so there is a change in feeling. The man had been
an enemy to God before, but when this change takes place he begins to
love God. Read Colossians 1:21, "And you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked worlds, yet now has He reconciled in
the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable
and unreprovable in His sight." This change from enmity to friendship
with God arises very much from a change of man's judicial state before
God. Before a man is converted he is condemned, but when he receives
spiritual life we read, "there is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit." This altogether changes his condition as to inward happiness.
"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through
Jesus Christ our Lord," which peace we never had before.
"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the Atonement." O Brothers and Sisters,
conversion makes a most mighty difference in us, indeed, or else what
did Christ mean when He said, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest"? Does He, after all, give us no
rest? Is the man who comes to Jesus just as restless and as devoid of
peace as before? God forbid! Does not Jesus say that when we drink of
the water which He gives to us we shall never thirst again? What? And
are we to be told that there is never a time when we leave off
thirsting, never a time when that Living Water becomes in us a well of
water, springing up unto everlasting life? Our own experience refutes
the suggestion!
Does not Paul say in Hebrews 4:3, "We which have believed do enter into
rest"? Our condition before God, our moral tone, our nature, our state
of mind are made, by conversion, totally different from what they were
before. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new." Why, Beloved, instead of supposing that we can do without
conversion, the Scriptures represent this as being the grand blessing
of the Covenant of Grace! What did the Lord say by His servant
Jeremiah? "This shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel; after these days, says the Lord, I will put My Law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people" (Jer. 31:33). This passage Paul quotes in
Hebrews 10:16, not as obsolete, but as fulfilled in Believers!
And what has the Lord said by Ezekiel? Listen to the gracious passage,
and see what a grand blessing conversion is–"A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh; and I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My
statutes; and you shall keep My judgments and do them" (Eze. 36:26,
27). Is not this the blessing of the Gospel by which we realize all the
rest? Is not this the great work of the Holy Spirit by which we know
the Father and the Son? And is not this necessary to make us in accord
with future glory? "He that sat upon the Throne said, Behold, I make
all things new"
(Rev. 21:5).
There is to be a new Heaven and a new earth, for the first Heaven and
the first earth shall pass away. And can we believe that the old carnal
nature is to enter into the new creation? Is that which is born of the
flesh to enter into the spiritual kingdom? It can never be! No, a
change as wonderful as that which will pass over this world when Christ
shall re-create it must pass over each one of us, if it is not so
already. In a word, if we are in Christ Jesus we are new creatures, old
things are passed away! Behold, all things are become new! Do you know
anything about this? I trust that a great number of you have
experienced it and are showing it in your lives, but I fear some are
ignorant of it. Let those who are
unconverted never rest till they have believed in Christ and have a new
heart created and a right spirit bestowed. Lay it well to heart that a
change must come over you which you cannot work in yourselves, but
which must be worked by Divine power.
There is this for your comfort, that Jesus Christ has promised this
blessing to all who receive Him, for He gives them power to become the
sons of God.
II. Secondly, I now remark that THIS CHANGE IS FREQUENTLY VERY MARKED
AS TO ITS TIME AND CIRCUMSTANCES. Many souls truly born of God could
not lay their finger upon any date and say, "At such a time I passed
from death unto life." There was such a time, however, though they may
not be able to fix upon it. The act of conversion is often, as to many
of its circumstances, so surrounded by preceding works of restraining
Grace that it appears to be a very gradual thing. The rising of the Sun
of Righteousness in the soul is comparable to the dawning of day, with
a gray light, at first, and a gradual increase to a noonday splendor.
Yet, as there is a time when the sun rises, so is there a time of new
birth. If a dead man were restored to life, he might not be able to say
exactly when life began, but there is such a moment. There must be a
time when a man ceases to be an unbeliever and becomes a believer in
Jesus. I do not assert that it is necessary for us to know the day, but
there is such a time.
In many cases, however, the very day and hour and place are fully known
and we might expect this, first, from many other works of God. How very
particular God is about the time of creation! "The evening and the
morning were the first day." "God said, 'Let there be light'–and
months afterwards there came a little gray dawning and a solitary
star." "Oh no!" you say, "You are quoting from imagination!" Yes, I am.
The Scripture has it, "God said, Let there be light: and there was
light." Immediate work is God's method of creating! All through the six
days' work He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.
There is generally a likeness between one act of God and another–and
if in the old creation the fiat did it all–it does seem likely upon
the very face of things that in the new creation the fiat of the
eternal Word should be equally quick and powerful in its working.
Look at the acts of God in the Person of Christ when He was here among
men. The water turns at once to wine, the fig tree immediately withers
away, the loaves and fishes are at once multiplied in the hands of the
disciples. Miracles of healing were, as a rule, instantaneous. In one
instance the Lord puts clay on the blind man's eyes and sends him to
wash–but lengthen the operation as much as you like–it is still very
briefly summed up in, "I washed and do see." Yonder paralytic man is
lying on his bed. Jesus says to him, "Take up your bed and walk," and
he does so at once! The leprosy was cured with a touch, devils fled at
a word, ears were unstopped instantly and withered limbs restored. He
spoke to the waves and the winds and they were calm at once!
And as to the resurrections which Christ worked, which are His acted
parables of regeneration, they were all instantaneous. Jesus took the
little girl by the hand and said, "Talitha cumi." She opened her eyes
and sat up. He bade the bier stand still on which was the young man. He
said–"Young man, I say unto you, arise"–and he arose straightway.
Even the carcass of Lazarus, which had begun to corrupt, yielded at
once to His word. He did but say, "Lazarus, come forth," and there was
Lazarus! As the Master worked on men's bodies, so does He constantly
work upon men's souls! And it is according to analogy to expect that
His works will be instantaneous. Such they constantly are, for are they
not daily before us?
We might also look for many instances of vividness if we consider the
work itself. If it is worthy to be called a resurrection, there must
manifestly be a time in which the dead man ceases to be dead and
becomes alive. Take the opposite process of dying–we commonly say that
such a man was long in dying. That is a popular description, but
strictly speaking, the actual death must be instantaneous. There is a
time in which there is breath in the body and another time in which
there is none. So must it be in the reception of life! That life may
seem to come by slow degrees into the soul, but it cannot really be
so–there must be an instant up to which there was no life and beyond
which life began. Is not that self-evident? Isn't it wonderful that
that instant should fix itself on the memory and in many cases be the
most prominent fact in a man's whole history? It is called a creation.
Now creation is necessarily a work which happens in an instant, for a
thing either is or is not. There is no intervening space between
non-existence and existence. There is the sharpest conceivable line
between that which is not and that which is. So in the new creation
there must be a time when Divine Grace is not received and a time when
renewing it is, and we may naturally expect that in so grand a work
there would be, in many cases, a marked boundary
line at which the work begins. But, Brothers and Sisters, we need not
talk of what we might expect–let us look at the facts. What are the
facts about the conversions mentioned in Scripture? We hear much of
educational processes which supersede conversion, but they are among
the many inventions unknown to Apostolic history.
The bishop tells us that he does not find a single case in the Bible at
all resembling the case of John Bunyan. It is very curious how very
differently we read. I at once turn to Paul, but the bishop says he is
not a case in point, for he did not feel the burden of sin fall off his
back. I cannot guess how the bishop knows what Paul endured during his
three days' blindness, but my own notion, gathered from Paul's, after
saying and doing, is very different. The man was one moment an opponent
of Christ and the next moment was crying, "Who are You, Lord?" For
three days he was blind and fasted. Was he not, then, feeling the power
of the Law, and casting away his own righteousness? And when Ananias
came to tell him more fully the Gospel and to bid him arise and be
baptized, was there no removal of sin? Did he remain as before?
There are two things spoken of–he was to be baptized, and also to
receive another and spiritual washing–was the first real and not the
second? The Apostle always speaks of the whole thing as if he had cast
away his own righteousness and counted it but dung to lay hold on
Christ. And he continually glories in having peace with God, though he
did not claim perfection in the flesh. He had not attained perfection,
but he had attained salvation! He calls himself the chief of sinners,
but this was as a retrospect–surely Bishop Fraser does not really mean
to insinuate that the great Apostle still remained the chief of
sinners? If so, I must say the morality of his teaching is not such as
one would expect from him.
Some have said that Paul's case is a special and solitary one. But this
is an error, for he says, himself, that Jesus Christ in him showed
forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on Him to life everlasting (1 Tim. 1:15, 16). That which is a
pattern is not a special case. Though the Lord does not always work to
a pattern in details, yet the case of Paul suddenly converted is the
pattern, rather than the exception. Let us look at other instances. A
Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water. Christ speaks to her.
She is converted and goes away to tell the men of the city. Is not that
a case of sudden conversion? Zaccheus is in a tree–he is a rich
publican, and a sinner. Jesus cries, "Zaccheus, make haste and come
down." He comes down, receives Jesus into his house, and proves his
salvation by his works. Is not that a sudden conversion?
Matthew sits at the receipt of custom, another publican and sinner.
Jesus says, "Follow Me." He rises and follows Jesus. Is not that a
sudden conversion? Three thousand persons gather at Pentecost. Peter
preaches to them and tells them that Jesus, whom they had murdered, was
really the Christ of God. They are pricked in the heart! They believe
and are baptized on the same day. Have we not here 3,000 sudden
conversions? Sudden enough to prove my point. Further on, the jailer
has gone to his bed, having fastened Paul and Silas in the stocks. His
prisoners pray and sing praises unto God. There is an earthquake. The
jailer in alarm cries, "What must I do to be saved?" He believes in
Jesus, then and there, and is baptized with his believing household.
Are not these "at all analogous to John Bunyan's pilgrim" and his
losing his load? It really seems to me as if it would be much more
difficult to find a gradual conversion in Scripture than a sudden one,
for here they come, one another, men and women brought to Jesus Christ
who knew Him not before, in whom the Scripture is fulfilled–"I am
found of them that sought Me not."
Furthermore, we need not go back to Scripture for this. The matter of
the conversion of souls is one about which I feel it a weariness to
argue, because these wonders of Divine Grace happen daily before our
eyes. It is like trying to prove that the sun rises in the morning. By
the space of 20 years there has certainly never occurred to me a single
week, and I might with truthfulness say scarcely a solitary day, in
which I have not heard of persons being converted by the simple
preaching of the Gospel either here or elsewhere when I have borne
witness for Christ. And these conversions have been in far the greater
majority of instances very clear and well-defined.
Sometimes the children of godly parents who have been long hearing the
Word are converted, and in them the inward change is as marked as if
they had never heard the Gospel before! Infidels become Believers!
Romanists forsake their priests! Harlots become chaste, drunks leave
their cups and, what is equally remarkable, Pharisees leave their
self-righteous pride and come as sinners to Jesus! Why, if this were
the proper time and place, I might say to you now assembled, "Brothers
and Sisters, you who have experienced a great change and know that you
have experienced it, and can tell how it came about, stand up"–and you
would rise in numbers like a host and declare–"Thus and thus, God met
with us under the preaching of His Truth, and thus did He turn us from
darkness to marvelous light." I would to
God that every man that hears me this day had received such a distinct
conversion that it would be so plain to him that he was a new creature
that he could no more doubt it than he can doubt his existence!
III. Thirdly, THIS CHANGE IS RECOGNIZABLE BY CERTAIN SIGNS. It has been
supposed by some that the
moment a man is converted he thinks himself perfect. It is not so among
us, for we question the conversion of any man who thinks himself
perfect. It is thought by others that a converted man must be
henceforth free from all doubts. I wish it were so. Unhappily, although
there is faith in us, unbelief is there, also. Some dream that the
converted man has nothing more to seek for–but we don't teach that–a
man who is alive unto God has greater needs than ever. Conversion is
the beginning of a lifelong conflict–it is the first blow in a warfare
which will never end till we are in Glory.
In every case of conversion there are these following signs. There is
always a sense of sin. No man, rest assured, ever found peace with God
without first repenting of sin and knowing it to be an evil thing. The
horrors which some have felt are not essential, but a full confession
of sin before God–and an acknowledgment of our guilt–is absolutely
required. "The whole," says Christ, "have no need of a physician, but
they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous but sinners to
repentance." Christ does not heal those who are not sick! He never
clothes those who are not naked, nor enriches those who are not poor.
True conversion always has in it a humbling sense of the need of Divine
Grace.
It is also always attended with simple, true and real faith in Jesus
Christ. In fact, that is the king's own mark and without it nothing is
of any worth. "Like as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." And that passage is put
side by side with, "you must be born again," in the same address, by
the same Savior, to the same inquirer! Therefore we gather that faith
is the mark of the new birth, and where it is, there the Spirit has
changed the heart of man–but where it is not, men are still, "dead in
trespasses and sin."
Conversion may be known, next, by this fact, that it changes the whole
man. It changes the principle upon which he lives. He lived for
self–now he lives for God. He did right because he was afraid of
punishment if he did wrong–but now he shuns evil because he hates it.
He did right because he hoped to merit Heaven, but now no such selfish
motive sways him–he knows that he is saved and he does right out of
gratitude to God! His objects in life are changed–he lived for gain,
or worldly honor–now he lives for the Glory of God! His comforts are
changed–the pleasures of the world and sin are nothing to him–he
finds his comfort in the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the
Holy Spirit. His desires are changed–that which he once panted and
pined for, he is now content to do without. And that which he once
despised, he now longs after as the hart pants after the water brooks.
His fears are different–he no longer fears man, but fears his God. His
hopes are also altered. His expectations fly beyond the stars–
"He looks for a city which hands have not piled. He pants for a country
by sin undefiled."
The man has begun a new life. A convert once said, "Either the world is
altered or else I am." Everything seems new! The very faces of our
children look different to us, for we regard them under a new aspect,
viewing them as heirs of immortality! We view our friends from a
different standpoint. Our very business seems altered. Even taking down
the shutters in the morning is done by the husband in a different
spirit, and the children are put to bed by the mother in another mood.
We learn to sanctify the hammer and the plow by serving the Lord with
them! We feel that the things which are seen are shadows–and the
things which we hear are but voices out of dreamland. But the unseen is
substantial and that which mortal ears hear not is the Truth of God.
Faith has become to us "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen." I may go on to talk about this, but none will
understand me except those who have experienced it–so let not those
who have not experienced it say it is not true. How do they know? How
can a man bear witness to what he has not seen? What is the value of
testimony from a man who begins by saying, "I know nothing about it"?
If a credible witness declares that he knows such a thing to have
happened, it would be easy to find 50 persons who can say that they did
not see it, but their evidence goes for nothing. Here are men of
position, quite as keen in business and able to judge between fact and
fiction as other men–they tell you solemnly that they have,
themselves, experienced a wonderful, thorough and total change of
nature. Surely if their honest testimony would be taken in any court of
law it ought to be taken in this case! Brethren, I pray that
we may know what this change is, and if we do know it, I again pray
that we may so live that others may see the result of it upon our
characters and inquire what it means. The phenomena of conversion are
the standing miracles of the Church.
"Greater things than these shall you do," said Christ, "because I go to
My Father." And these are some of the greater things which the power of
the Holy Spirit still performs. This day the dead are raised, blind
eyes are opened and the lame are made to walk. The spiritual miracle is
greater than the physical one. These spiritual miracles show that Jesus
lives and puts life and power into the Gospel. Tell me of a ministry
which never reclaims the drunk, never calls back the thief to honesty,
never pulls down the self-righteous and makes him confess his
sin–that, in a word, never transforms its hearers–and I am sure that
such a ministry is not worth the time which men spend in listening to
it! Woe unto the man who at the last shall confess to a ministry
fruitless in conversions!
If the Gospel does not convert men, do not believe in it! But if it
does, it is its own evidence and must be believed. It may be to some of
you a stumbling block, and to others foolishness, but unto those who
believe, it is the power of God unto salvation, saving them from sin!
Beloved Hearers, may we all meet in Heaven! But to meet in Heaven we
must all be renewed, for inside yonder gates of pearl none can enter
but those who are new creatures in Christ Jesus our Lord. God bless
you, for Christ's sake. Amen.
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–John 3. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN
HYMN BOOK"–175, 448, 603.
__________________________________________________________________