CONVERSION--VARIED PHENOMENA OR EXPERIENCE.
We have spoken of the meaning of this term, inquired into the
nature of the change, and noted its essential elements. We have also
learned that there are some who do not need it because they are in a
converted state, and that all who are not in such a state of Grace, do
need conversion, regardless of anything that may or may not have taken
place in the past.
We inquire now as to the agencies or means by which this change
is brought about. For it is a change which man can certainly not
effect by his own efforts. Of this change it can certainly be said
that it is "_not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the
Lord_." To have this change brought about in the heart, all need to
pray in the words of the Psalmist, Ps. lxxxv. 4, "_Turn us, O God of
our salvation;_" or as Ephraim in Jer. xxxi. 18, "_Turn thou me and I
shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God;_" or as Judah in
Lamentations, v. 21, "_Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be
turned_." It is God the Holy Ghost who must work this change in the
soul. This He does through His own life-giving Word. It is the office
of that Word, as the organ of the Holy Spirit, to bring about a
knowledge of sin, to awaken sorrow and contrition, and to make the
sinner hate and turn from his sin. That same Word then directs the
sinner to Him who came to save him from sin. It takes him to the
cross, it enables him to believe that his sins were all atoned for
there, and that, therefore, he is not condemned. In other words, the
Word of God awakens and constantly deepens true penitence. It also
begets and constantly increases true faith. Or, in one word, it
converts the sinner. Of this wonderful power and efficacy in the Word
we have already fully written, so that we need not enlarge upon this
again. To the Word, then, let the unconverted sinner go. Let him be
careful to put no barrier in the way of its influence. Let him permit
it to have free course, and it will do its own blessed work.
We desire now to notice and to call special attention to the
diversified phenomena and experiences incident to this change.
There are some, indeed, who will not admit that there are any
variations. They would measure all by the same standard, and that
standard often a very abnormal one. With some, the only standard is
their own distorted experience. In their pharisaic self-righteousness
they are ready to assert that every one whose experience does not in
every respect conform to their own is not converted. The writer has
frequently, in his pastoral work, met poor, downcast souls, who were
groping in the dark, bemoaning themselves, and living a cheerless
life, because they had been taught that, as they had not an experience
just like somebody else, they were not converted, and had neither part
nor lot in the kingdom of God. He has also met more than one who, by
just such vagaries and delusions, had been almost driven to unbelief
and despair. And what a relief it often is to such poor, benighted
ones, if they are not too far gone, to be led out of their vain
imaginings into the blessed light of God's truth.
We notice, first, that not all conversions are alike clearly
marked. Some are more strongly marked than others. There are greater
and less degrees of intensity in the change. The degree of intensity,
or depth of experience, may depend on several things. It may depend,
to, a certain extent, on the temperament of the individual. One person
is of a phlegmatic temperament; his mind is sluggish; his feelings are
not deep; he rarely becomes excited. Of a cool, calculating
disposition, he does everything deliberately and cautiously. He feels
the ground before him ere he takes a step. When God's Word comes to
such an one, it does not generally revolutionize him at once. He hears
it, carries it home, weighs it, ponders it, and wants to hear more.
Gradually, slowly, his mind is enlightened, his heart is interested,
his will is changed. In him the Word is likely to _grow as a seed_, or
operate _like leaven in meal_. There is seldom much excitement, and
little outward manifestation.
Another is of a sanguine temperament; he is impulsive, easily
aroused, and ready to jump at conclusions. When God's Word comes to
him, and is not opposed, it is more likely to take strong hold of him.
It may so alarm him, and take away his peace, that he may at once see
the depth of his guilt. Again, when Christ, His atonement and love for
guilty men, are presented, he may quickly lay hold of the hope set
before him in the Gospel, and rest on Christ. God's Word comes to him
_like a hammer that breaks the stony heart_. Both persons have
been led by the same Spirit, through the same Word. Both have repented
and believed, but each in his own way.
The degree of intensity may also depend on the former life of the
person.
One has wandered very far from his Father's house. He has wasted
his substance in riotous living. He has sunken very low in sin and
guilt. When God's Word comes to such an one, and shows him his
wretched state, when he _comes to himself_, his penitence is likely to
be deep and painful, and when he is enabled to believe, his faith will
probably be quite joyful, because he realizes the depth from which he
was drawn. God's Word has acted on him _like a fire_, burning deep
down into the conscience, consuming its dross.
Another has never wandered so far away. He has all along been
more or less under divine influence. Baptized in childhood, brought up
amid Christian restraints, he has at least observed the outward
obligations of religion, though he may not in the past have yielded
himself unreservedly unto Christ. When such an one does give himself
to God, his repentance may not be so marked, or his faith be so
demonstrative, but on this account the conversion is none the less
real. God's Word, at length, _opened his heart_, as the heart of
Lydia, the seller of purple, was opened.
We notice in the next place that there are differences in the
duration of the process. With some the process lasts longer than with
others. This fact is implied indeed in the variations noted above. On
one person the Word may make but a superficial impression at first. It
may be only a slight dissatisfaction with self. But with more light
and knowledge, the feeling of penitence is deepened. Longings for
something better are awakened. Yearnings and outcryings after
deliverance arise from the heart. There is then only a first timid
trembling look to Christ. Gradually, slowly, the faith is drawn out,
until the heart is enabled to cast itself on the Saviour and rest
trustingly there. It may be weeks, months, or even years, before that
penitent comes out into the clear sunlight of assurance and peace. In
all such cases it is "_first the blade, then the ear, and then the
full corn in the ear_."
On the other hand, we freely admit that there are sudden
conversions. God's word comes _as a hammer or as a fire_ (Jer.
xxiii. 29). It smites and burns until the sinner is brought low in the
dust. The heart is broken and becomes contrite, and ready to lay hold
of the Crucified One, as soon as He is presented. To this class,
generally, belong some of those noted above as of sanguine
temperament, and those who have fallen deeply into sin. Going to the
Word of God for examples of the two latter classes, we might mention
Zaccheus, Saul of Tarsus, the Philippian jailer, and the three
thousand on the day of Pentecost, as cases of sudden conversion--while
we might instance the disciples of Christ in general, as cases of slow
and gradual conversion. 1 Cor. xii. 6, "_There are diversities of
operation, but it is the same God which worketh all in all_."
From all this it follows that not every one can tell the exact
time when, and the place where, he was converted. True, some can.
Zaccheus, and the jailer, and Saul, and the three thousand, would
doubtless always remember and be able to tell about the time and place
and circumstances of their entrance into the kingdom. But could the
apostles of Jesus tell? Do we not read how slowly they were
enlightened; how, little by little, their errors had to be removed,
and the truth applied? They did not, in fact, become established in
the faith until after the resurrection.
And so it is with many, probably, indeed, with most of the very
best Christians in the church to-day. They cannot tell when they were
converted.
Neither is it necessary. On the Day of Judgment the question will
not be asked: "Where and when and how were you converted?" The
question will be, "Were you in a converted state, turned from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan to God?" No matter whether you
belonged to that favored class who kept their baptismal covenant
unbroken; or whether, after you had been a stranger and a foreigner
for a time, you were slowly, and through much doubt and, misgiving,
brought to penitence and faith; or whether you were suddenly brought
into the kingdom.
Can each one then tell whether he is at present in a converted
state or not? We answer unhesitatingly, Yes, to a certainty. The
inquirer need only look into his heart and see _how his sins affect
him_. Do his sins grieve him? Does he hate them? Does he earnestly
long and strive to be rid of them? Does he daily turn to Jesus Christ
for forgiveness and strength? If he can answer these questions in the
affirmative, he has the elements and evidences of conversion and the
new life. Though faith be weak, it is accepted. Though assurance at
times be dim, the vision of faith clouded, and faith itself almost
unconscious, it still saves; for it is not the assurance, but the
faith, that justifies.
But if, on the other hand, his sins do not trouble the sinner; if
they are as trifles to him; if they do not daily drive him to the
Cross, the elements and evidences of the new life are certainly
wanting. Such a person is in an unconverted state. And let not such an
one delude himself with the false idea that something, which he called
a change, had taken place at some time in the past. He can know
whether he is _now_ in the faith.
It is poor theology, it is altogether anti-scriptural, for a
Christian to go through the world singing plaintively:
"Tis a point I long to know;
Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I His, or am I not?"
He whose faith, reaching up out of a heart that mourns over and
hates sin, lays hold of Christ, even tremblingly, can say, "_I know
in whom I have believed_," "_I know that my Redeemer liveth_."
He can joyfully sing:
"I know that my Redeemer lives!
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead,
He lives, my ever-living Head.
"He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.
"He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives all blessings to impart.
"He lives, all glory to His Name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same;
Oh the sweet joy this sentence gives,
I know that my Redeemer lives!"