Church of Christ Studies

Conversion

 

The subject I want to discuss tonight has been announced already, and it is the simple theme of conversion; and as I enter upon the investigation of it, I am sure I have the assistance in thought of this entire audience.

 

As a text, I call your attention to Acts 3:19, in which Peter said, concluding the sermon in the temple: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted [or turn again], that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

 

I need not tell you that Peter had gone up to the temple, prompted perhaps by a natural desire to tell the story, and also in obedience to Heaven's command to go into all the world. The very fact that he had wrought a miracle upon a lame man above forty years of age had increased the interest and doubtless gave him a better attention, a more riveted attention, than otherwise he might have had; and, concluding the wonderful discourse in which the primary facts of the gospel were emphasized, Peter said: "Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

 

This verse, if there were no others in the Bible, emphasizes the necessity of conversion. Why repent? Why turn again ? Note the necessity, the objective, and the reason— that your sins may be blotted out. It emphasizes, in this connection, that man is a sinful creature. It carries in the very announcement that he is condemned and unfitted to stand approved at the last great day. Therefore, with the conversion, this condition may be overcome; you may be rid of that which subjects you to wreck and ruin. Here is the suggestion: "Repent and turn away, that your sins may be blotted out." The blotting out of our sins is preparatory to the chief aim—the attainment of the eternal happiness of man.

 

Another scripture emphasizes the necessity of conversion.  It is in Matt. 18:1-3, where the disciples came to the Savior and said: "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, I think it would be hard to frame in any language a law more emphatic, more forcible, more prohibitive in its possibilities, than that which is therein said: "Except a man repent, and be converted, and become as a little child, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven."

 

Now, if God says you cannot, I have never been able to figure out how you can. Of course, if I had said this, I would try to devise some way to set it aside; but God just puts it in a plain, simple, positive way and declares: "Except a man be converted and become as a little child, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." Let no man, therefore, deceive himself by thinking that in some mysterious manner as yet unknown to him God will take him home to glory regardless of his being converted. That will not happen, because God said it must be otherwise. You must be converted and become as a little child. It does not look very consistent with the Savior's declaration, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven," that said child is conceived in sin, with a heart as black as midnight. Such is not characteristic of a little child. When Jesus made this comparison, he could not find a purer, holier, more spotless character; so he said to his disciples: "Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

 

Now, it makes no difference how much money we may have, it makes no difference how much learning may be ours, it does not matter what political office we may hold, we must be converted. God is no respecter of persons, classes, or castes of humanity. He simply puts the emphatic negation that absolutely no man can be saved except he be converted unto the gospel of the Son of God.

 

I have not attempted to address you upon any theme about which there are more differences than this one I have for study to-night. A very popular theory in many parts of the land and country is that conversion is wholly an act of God Almighty, that it is purely the Maker's transaction, and some scriptures are used in that connection as demonstrative of that idea. For instance, I have heard John 3:8 explained by suggesting that conversion is like the wind that "bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." You just know it happened, but don't know how or anything about it.

 

Well, there are others. I will have more to say on that as the meeting progresses; but suffice it to say now that if conversion were altogether a work of God, reducing man to nothing more than a mere machine, acted upon, with nothing to do concerning this, no will power, no effort of his own; if conversion be purely an act of Jehovah on man, and if God is no respecter of persons, he is under obligation to convert every man and woman on the face of the earth. Nothing would be consistent with the characteristics of Jehovah except universal salvation. To illustrate: If God Almighty, independent of a man's will and not consulting his intelligence and power, comes in a mysterious way and converts one man, why should he pass another up and not likewise convert him? "But man has nothing to do with it." "O. no!" Then, why did he take the one and refuse the other, since he is no respecter of persons? Ladies and gentlemen, that thought does not stand up in the light of common reasoning or ordinary consistency.

 

On the other hand, we are disposed to swing like a pendulum from one extreme to another. There may be such conception as this abroad in some other quarters: that God has nothing to do with it at all, that it is altogether man's work—wholly in his own hands. Why, friends, this is just as foreign to the truth as was the former. Such would be dishonoring to God and would be refusing to admit the power and efficacy that rest alone in him with reference to the cleansing of the souls of men.

 

But, as in general, the truth lies betwixt the two—namely, in conversion, God has his hand in it all; likewise man has a part; and as Paul said, in 1 Cor. 3:9, in this matter of salvation, "We are laborers together with God." There is nothing in a conversion unless it was begun, carried out, executed, and consummated as a result of God Almighty having a hand therein.

 

On the other hand, there has never been a genuine conversion unless man had a part in it. In John 3: 16, all three of the parties concerned in the case of conversion are represented. Now watch: "For God so loved the world [that is God's part], that he gave his only begotten Son [hence the Son has a part], that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life [that is man's part in it]."

 

But in another passage (Eph. 2:8, 9), wherein the two elements are brought to view—God's side, the Divine side, and the human side- Paul said: "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Salvation is the thought proclaimed. God had a part in perfecting, in revealing, in making it known; and hence it was prompted purely by his love, his mercy, and his grace; but man, standing as he was at the foot of the cross, must accept God's terms; and hence, on man's part, it is a matter of faith. It is by the grace of God and by the faith of man, and thus you have the principles of salvation in which both heaven and earth are equally interested and likewise have a part.

 

But let me suggest to you this thought in order that discouragement may never be ours. In the days of the Savior, and likewise in the days of the apostles, there were people who absolutely refused to be converted, for the Savior said in Matt. 13: 15: "This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and 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 heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them "

 

They refused when the matchless Son of God himself preached unto men and women by the thousands wherever audiences could be had, and beckoned unto the people time and again, and said unto them as he did to Jerusalem (Matt. 23: 37): "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" And unto the Jews he said (John 5:40): "And ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life."

 

My friends, if it should come to pass that at the last great day you and I should be turned away from the beautiful gate into the blackness of despair and the darkness that awaits, it will not be by virtue of the fact that God would not accept us, but because of the fact that we would not respond unto Heaven's call—that we would not turn and be converted, that God might blot out our sins and initiate us into the family of the First-born.

 

Now, with these statements, I call your attention to the next thought. The confusion, as it occurs to me, that exists in the world tonight is due to a failure to analyze the process by which such is to be brought about. There are three things characteristic of man that the subject of conversion contemplates.

 

First, I need to have my heart converted unto God. I tried to tell you yesterday afternoon just what the Bible had to say regarding that. That part of my nature that thinks, that reasons, that understands, that believes I need to have that converted so that instead of thinking in the wrong direction, instead of believing the wrong thing, instead of reasoning about the lustful affairs of the earth—I need that converted to believe in the Lord, to reason correctly with God in the right philosophy of life; and hence that part of my heart needs to be converted.

 

But my willpower likewise needs to be changed from the downward way, with my purposes, plans, designs, and schemes turned about and faced toward the higher and nobler, better and grander things of the earth. I need my affection, love, desire, confidence, trust—all of them changed and centered upon the right ideal and the proper conception of life and duty.

 

In addition to the change of heart, I must have my life, in its purpose, in its plan, in its intentions, in its tasks, also changed. I must abandon my former career wherein soever wrong and reverse the matter and let such a change result in a reformation of life.

 

In addition to that, I must have my state or relationship or attitude unto the government of God changed and be naturalized or adopted into God's family. I think, with these suggestions, you can appreciate better the facts of the gospel as well as the commandments thereof.

 

Suppose tonight, as a matter of illustration, that a citizen of a foreign country has learned of the beauties, advantages, and opportunities of our splendid land of America; that after having learned of such, after having gained by testimony, convicting and convincing, evidence of the superiority thereof, he decides and purposes in his heart to become an American citizen. The very fact that his resolution is formed, that his purpose is planned and centered—that does not of itself make him a citizen of the American country; but, in addition to that, he must renounce his allegiance unto the country in which he was and submit unto the law of naturalization; and not until the entire process is consummated has he the right to claim the protection of the "Stars and Stripes" and have "Old Glory" wave over him in defiance of all opposition.

 

Another illustration. A young woman thinks of one day being married to a young man. What is the first process therein ? It is first a change of affections from former surroundings and centering them upon him whose wife she expects to be. And when she has thus learned to love and believe him and put her trust and confidence in him, that does not mean she is his wife. There is another step. She must form a resolution to turn her back upon home, upon father and mother if need be. She will forsake the palatial residence and go with him to live in a log cabin if the circumstances demand such. That is her purpose and intention; and when she thus resolves to turn, she is not married; and were the young man to die, she would not be a beneficiary in his estate. Then, if she has that love, that faith, that trust, that confidence, and that determination to forsake all others, what next? There is one thing that must be said before the great State of Tennessee will recognize the marriage, and that is, there must be a ceremony by proper authorities; and until that, let come whatsoever may, there is no marriage, no wife, no beneficiary in the estate of the intended husband and no right to wear his name.

 

Now, all of us understand that. We are a unit with respect "hereunto. Did you know that in the Bible, under the figure of marriage, the idea of conversion is presented? Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, came to earth and courted and wooed and sought the love, the confidence, the trust, and the esteem of lost and ruined humanity. Having appealed to them in the tenderest strains, he persuaded many of the sons and daughters of men to center their affections upon him. But that does not mean marriage to Christ yet. That is simply the first step, the first process. Then these same characters decide to abandon all else, to turn their backs upon the world. But the mere fact that they so decide does not make them children of God or the bride of Christ. After this, prompted by love, affection, trust, and confidence, God says you must march out under the bending blue, where orange blossoms indeed kiss the brow of beauty, and let the ceremony contained in the great commission (Matt. 28: 19) be said that changes your state or relationship and makes you a beneficiary of his will and gives you a right to wear his name. If the marriage relationship pictured in the Bible is not like the one thus described, then it is a misfit, and it is an illustration that fails to illustrate.

 

I need not tell you that in the gospel plan of salvation there are three things that correspond to those parts. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is that by which a man's heart is converted to-night. Repentance is that by which a man's life is changed; and, short of repentance, no salvation, no conversion. Short of the fact that a man's faith leads him to change his life, there is no hope for him. Just as, therefore, faith comes to purify and change the heart, as repentance comes to purify and change the life, there is a marriage ceremony, given just one time in the Bible, in the name—not of Tennessee, though great is our State; nor in the name of Solomon, David, Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, Paul, or Peter; but in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—to change the state. When that ceremony is completed, then, indeed, is one a beneficiary of His estate. Then the man has a change, not only of heart, but of life and of relationship, and has a right to claim a part of heaven's inheritance and the right to take upon himself the name of Him whose he has become; and if he will thereafter live as a faithful, consecrated wife ought to, at last, when heaven's home is adorned and all things made ready, Christ will come to touch his bride and bid her come home to joys and bliss eternal.

 

But there are different kinds of conversions. That word does not carry with it any special way or direction in which the matter is to be done. No man was ever converted to one thing but that at the same time he was compelled to turn from the other. I cannot go toward this side of the auditorium but that I turn from that side, and vice versa; and hence, if it were not for the fact that man had gone away from God, there would be no need of talking about a man's being converted back to God. If a man had never turned in the wrong direction, there would be no occasion for suggesting that he turn and face about in the opposite direction.

 

I call your attention to the first pair in God's paradise of the long ago, as Grandfather Adam and Grandmother Eve stood in their innocent state and guiltless condition on the plane of justification. They were fit company for Divine association, and with them God loved to mix and mingle. Now, as a matter of fact, all of us are aware that in the course of time they became subjected unto death and to consequences that took them out of the paradise of God, with the door barred behind them. They were made to grope their way down the darkened aisles of time, and, so far as they knew, without one ray of hope even in the distant future to chine upon them or to give them encouragement.

 

Now, what were the steps taken in man's fall? In man's conversion from God, just what happened? Well, first of all, I suggest to you that there appeared a preacher on the scene; and, therefore, you can eliminate from your mind the idea that he was converted from God by direct process. That was not the fact in the case. But the first thing that happened in man's downward course was that a preacher, "galvanized into respectability," appeared upon the scene in the form of a serpent—the devil, if you please there in the garden of Eden, with the grandmother of mankind. What was the first thing that was done? As a matter of fact, that character commenced to preach unto her a doctrine and proclaim a message unto that woman that by and by allured her, caught her ear, and gained her attention. But what did he preach? If you will allow me to say it as it is, he preached unto her a He. But be it remembered that a He preached and believed has exactly the same effect upon one's feelings as if it were the truth. He merely said unto her: "In the day that you eat of the fruit of a certain tree you shall not die. God has said that you shall, but that is not so; you shall not." Well, all right. Now what? The next step was, very unfortunately, that Grandmother Eve believed what the preacher said, and thus yielded assent and recognition unto the truthfulness thereof.

 

But the very minute that she believed that statement God did not damn her. He did not drive her out of his presence upon the doctrine of faith and faith only. But what then? In addition to her having believed a He, then what? The Bible says that she put forth her hand and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and gave also unto her husband, and he did eat; and as she (1) heard, (2) believed, and (3) obeyed, she became guilty in God's sight and was disinherited and driven out; and that is the process. Watch that just here with these steps. Step No. 1, she believed a He; step No. 2, she obeyed a He; step No. 3, she became guilty; step No. 4, God drove her out and closed the gates of paradise behind her and put a flaming sword there as a signal and a guard, lest man should put forth his hand, eat of the tree of life, and live forever.

 

And now, as a result of disobedience, death universally reigns upon all the posterity of that accursed pair; and, as Paul declared in Eph. 2: 12: "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."

 

And that is the condition, my friends, that prevails tonight with reference to every man that has put forth his hand and violated the commands of Almighty God. By virtue of our own sin, our own iniquity, we have separated between us and our God and he has hid his face from us. And it is said: "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins ;" and: "Ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come." Hence, man must be converted—turn again, reverse the steps.

 

Starting now, as he does, not on the plane of justification, but on the plane of condemnation, what is the natural, the simple, and the reasonable manner? Just simple to retrace your steps. It is just as far back up the line as it was down. There are as many steps back to the plane from whence they came as there were down to condemnation, wreck and ruin. But the process must be reversed; and hence, commencing now just where Adam by transgression landed, and taking man as he is, meeting conditions and circumstances, not as they might be, but as they are, let us retrace our path, assured of the fact that man must be converted or there is no heaven for him.

 

Now what? God provides the scheme of salvation, and orders the apostles, prompted by love, to commence with man as he is and lead him back to the state or the plane from which he fell. What is the first step? Exactly like that one up yonder—preach or teach. Hence, the Savior said: "They shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and bath learned of the Father, cometh unto me'"

 

But what to preach? The devil commenced by preaching a lie. Let gospel preachers now begin by preaching the truth, for it is the truth that makes us free and that makes us stand in the presence of God justified. But that is not all. Just as they back there believed the He, just so men now must take the first step and believe the truth. Hence, he is marching backward and upward toward the plane from which the first pair descended; and remember that the very minute that Grandmother Eve believed, she was not driven out of the garden. Upon what basis, then, do you think that the Lord commanded that the sinner retrace the steps, believing that God will open wide the gates and bid him step back into the garden of Eden? It took more than faith to damn him. It takes more than faith to save him—a faith perfected by obedience.

 

Therefore, in addition to man's believing the truth, God says: "Sir, I want you to obey the truth." Hence the second thought of the gospel plan of salvation. Take that. Then what? After you have believed the truth and obeyed it, God says: "I will pardon your sins." When the first pair believed and obeyed it, they became guilty. When we reverse the steps, believe and obey it, God Almighty pardons us.

 

The next step is, they became guilty in God's sight and were driven out. We accept the terms of salvation in the reverse, in the conversion, the turning again, and are adopted into the family of God, from which the first pair wandered in the long ago.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, mark you, a change of heart, or a conversion of heart, and pardon of sin do not have their origin in the same place. Repentance of all sins and the remission of sins occur in two different places. Change of heart takes place in the mind of man here upon earth; pardon takes place in the mind of God above, in heaven. Repentance and turning are acts of the individual; blotting out of sins, an act of God.

 

I doubt not in the penitentiary of our State there are those that really have had a change of heart. They would give ten thousand worlds, they honestly think to-night, for another opportunity of liberty. They have shed tears over their wretched state and mad act accomplished; they have bowed down in repentance. But that is not forgiveness out yonder eight or ten miles west of the city; pardon takes place up here on Capitol Hill, in the mind of an entirely different person altogether, and there is no earthly way for that prisoner yonder to know by what takes place within himself what is in the mind of Governor Taylor. He cannot prove by the way he feels just how Governor Taylor is feeling on the proposition. There is repentance yonder, there must be a change of heart, there must be submission, but on Capitol Hill is the place of forgiveness. And what evidence can that man that is pardoned have except by Governor Taylor communicating the information ? And when the note or the runner is brought, it is a matter of faith in the Governor that he has really been pardoned. He passes into liberty and freedom, walking by faith.

 

Just so I believe the gospel here in Nashville tonight, I repent of my sins, I walk down into the water, and in the name of the sacred Three, I am buried like unto that of the Son of God, arising fully resolved to walk in newness of life. Then what? I have God's word for it that from the courts of glory, from the realms of bliss Divine, he has pardoned my sins. Hence I walk by faith, not by sight. I walk by faith, not by feeling, because my feelings are deceptive and God's word fails not. The heavens may pass away, the rocks may become a molten mass, but the word of God endureth forever and forever. The foundation of God, therefore, stands sure. And when thus I submit to heaven's terms and become converted to God, to Christ, I know as much as it is humanly possible that all my sins have been wiped out; and if I will but continue faithful, at last God will be pleased to lead me up the glittering strand and into the sunlight of his matchless presence.

 

I ask to-night, as in a moment we will stand and sing, are there those of you that will be converted? Do you believe the gospel with your whole heart? If so, I would not have you change that otherwise. Are you fully persuaded to reform your way of living and direct your life in harmony with the commands and the principles of the word of Jesus Christ? Will you submit to his terms? If so, there will be a complete conversion on your part and you will be able to read your title clear to mansions in the skies.