Let's turn back to Matthew chapter
18, and my text is verse 3, Matthew 18, 3. And Christ said, Verily I say
unto you, except you be converted, and become as little children,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now in my introduction, I want
to remove some difficulties in regard to this thing of conversion. And the first one is this, all
conversions are not alike. You must not seek another's experience. If you read the sixteenth chapter
of the book of Acts, you'll find three conversions, and all of
them quite different and yet all three of them soundly converted. First of all, there was Lydia,
the woman who came down by the riverside, seeking a group of
people who were worshiping God. And the Scripture says, as Paul
preached to them, God opened her heart to receive the gospel. God quietly opened the heart
of Lydia, and she was converted. But just a little while later,
Paul ran into a girl who was demon-possessed. He cast the
demons out of her. She had quite a powerful, unusual,
and radical experience, not like Lydia's at all. Lydia's was not
like hers, and yet both of them were converted. And then a little
later, when Paul was in jail, there was a jailer. who had gone
to sleep outside the cell, who was given charge, the charge
to keep Paul and the other prisoners. And God sent an earthquake and
shook the doors of the prison off their hinges, and this man,
fearing for his life because he was responsible for the prisoners,
came in and found all the prisoners still there. And he cried out
to Paul, what must I do to be saved? And Paul told him to believe
on Christ. Now his experience was not like
the girls, and hers was not like Lydia's, and Lydia's was not
like the jailer. But all three of them were converted. So all conversions are not alike. We must not compare experiences
and try to measure a person's faith by our experience, nor
our faith by his experience. All conversions are not alike. Now, the second thing. We must
not try to duplicate another person's experience. The means
which God uses and the manifestation of God's grace all differ. The Scripture says of the Holy
Spirit, the wind bloweth where it listeth." You hear the sound
thereof, but you cannot tell from whence it cometh. Even so
are they that are born of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
is a free spirit, and if I try to duplicate another person's
experience or another person's conversion, I might find that
mine is counterfeit. I try to duplicate his experience,
and I might find that I am pretending. His may be genuine. His may be
real. But if I try to match his, mine
may be counterfeit. So we must not try to duplicate
another person's conversion. However, all conversions have
their points of essential agreement. Every man who is converted, first
of all, will come to a knowledge of sin. A man will not be found
until he's lost. A man will not be saved until
he's a sinner. A man will not receive the grace
of God until he's guilty. Christ said he came to save that
which was lost. So in all conversions, whether
they are unusual or radical or powerful or whether they're quiet
like Lydia's, or whether there's some revelation of God's great
power and God's hand, all of them come to a knowledge of sin. All of them are able to say with
David, my sins are ever before me. And the second point of agreement
is this. There is a desire for salvation. No man is ever saved against
his will. God never saves a man whether
he wants to be saved or not. All who find the Lord seek the
Lord. All who receive grace and mercy
cry out for salvation. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. All who have failed hunger and
thirst for righteousness." And then the third point of agreement
is this. Not only is there a knowledge
of sin, and not only is there a genuine desire for forgiveness,
But there is a sincere faith in Christ Jesus, the Lord, and
in his saving work. God never saves people a different
way. Now, men may have a different
experience, but God saves them all the same way. He saves them
through the blood of his Son. He saves them through the sacrifice
of Christ. He saves them through the work
of the Redeemer. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. And Christ said, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. So while all conversions are
not alike, that is true, and while we must not try to duplicate
another person's experience, still all who are saved can say
that these three things are true. They know they're sinners, they
want to be saved, and they trust Christ and Christ alone to redeem
them. Not their experience, and not
even their faith, and not their religion, but their resting in,
trusting in, depending upon Christ Jesus the Lord. Now the fourth
thing, and this is important. I've established three things
First of all, all conversions are not alike. Secondly, we must
not try to duplicate another person's conversion. But all
of them have points of essential agreement. Now, this fourth point
is important. Listen to it. But conversion
to Christ is absolutely essential. It is absolutely necessary. Listen
to our text again. Our Lord said, Except ye be converted,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now that's pretty
clear. Except ye be converted, ye shall
not enter the kingdom of heaven. He said to Nicodemus, Except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Conversion is absolutely necessary. Absolutely necessary. Now then,
what is conversion? Well, first of all, conversion
is a radical change. Conversion is a radical change. If any man be in Christ, the
Scripture says, he is a new creature. He is a new creation. all things
are passed away. Behold, all things become new."
Conversion is a change. It is a radical change, and this
change operates on the nature, it operates on the heart, it
operates on the will, it operates on the affections, it operates
on the entire life of the Now, everywhere in the Scripture,
men are divided into two classes. I'm going to name some of these.
I could go on for thirty minutes naming these divisions. Everywhere
in the Word of God, people are divided into two classes. There
are the sheep and the goats. There's no middle ground. Christ
said He shall put the sheep on His right hand and the goats
on His left. In the Scripture there is the
narrow road and the broad road. There's no middle road. Christ
said that some are on the narrow road that leadeth to life and
some are on the broad road that leadeth to death. In the Scripture
we read about children of God and children of wrath. There's
no middle ground. In the Scripture we read about
believers and unbelievers. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not on the
Son hath not life. In the Scripture we read about
the flesh and the spirit. The flesh lusteth against the
spirit. The spirit warth against the
flesh. They which are born of that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit
is spirit. There's no middle ground. Either a man is flesh
or spirit. In the Scripture we read about
those who are made nigh by the blood of Christ and those who
are far off. But nowhere do we read in God's
Word of any middle ground, any place of indecision. Either they're
sheep or goats, either they're on the narrow road or the broad
road, either they're children of God or children of wrath.
Either they're believers or unbelievers, either they're in the flesh or
in the spirit. There is no middle ground. And
the Scriptures describe this great change which brings a person
from a lost state to a saved relationship, first of all, as
a birth. Turn to John, chapter one. John,
the first chapter, this great radical change is described as
a birth. He said in John 1 verse 12, But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,
not of blood, that is, not of family inheritance, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but they are born
of God. This conversion, first of all,
is a birth, and the birth is of God. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. This person who is converted,
this person who has gone through this radical, unusual change,
is born from above, born of the Spirit of God, born of the Word
of God, born of the power of God. Then secondly, it's called
a quickening. Turn to Ephesians, chapter 2.
In Ephesians, the second chapter, conversion is called a quickening
or a making alive. In Ephesians 2, verse 1, And
you hath he quickened who were dead, dead in trespasses and
sin. Verse 4, But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened, hath made us alive, raised us
up together with Christ, by grace are you saved." We were dead
to God, we were dead to righteousness, we were dead to holiness, but
God raised us with Christ. That's a radical change. And
then thirdly, in Galatians chapter 6, verse 15, right across the
page, this conversion is called a creation. A creation. In verse 15 of Galatians 6, For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, that is, obedience
to rituals and ceremonies and religion, nor uncircumcision. but a new creation. This new man is created in Christ
Jesus, and he's created in righteousness and true holiness. Now turn to
James chapter 1. This conversion is also called
a begetting, a begetting, God conceiving life. In James chapter
1, verse 18, listen, "...of his own will." of his own will, beget
he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures." This conversion is called a birth, it is called
a new creation, it is called a quickening, it is called a
begetting, and in other scriptures it is called a passing from death
to life. It is called passing from the
kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son. So it's a radical change, a new
person, a new life, and no one can claim salvation who is a
stranger to the meaning of these words. If this is what conversion
is, and I have experienced it, then I'll understand it. You
see what I'm saying? What is conversion? It's a new
birth. It's a new beginning. It's a
new creation. It's a new life. It's a passing
from death to life, from darkness to light, from the kingdom of
evil to the kingdom of God's dear Son. And if I have experienced
this conversion, then I'll know something of the meaning of these
terms. And if I do not understand the meaning of these words, it
ought to be evident to me that I haven't been converted. Now
then, secondly, and I want you to listen very carefully because
a lot of people have some difficulty with this second point. Conversion
is a change which must have a time of beginning and completion. It is a change which must have
a time of beginning and completion. Now, I'm saying that all conversions
are not alike. Please understand. I'm saying
that we must not try to duplicate another person's experience.
Don't try to have another person's experience. That's what's wrong
with giving testimonies and when we give them, giving our experience
and trying to force or coerce another person to have our experience. But I do know this. In conversion,
a man must be a sinner to be saved. He's got to recognize
his guilt. He's got to seek the Lord. And
he's got to trust Christ. There are no two or three ways
of salvation. God saves men by Christ and Christ
alone. And I know that conversion is
a radical change. because it's described in the
Scripture as being a new life, a new person, a new creation,
a new birth, a new family. Now then, if a man is converted,
there is a time when this work begins, and there's a time when
this work is completed. Now, many people, truly converted
and truly born of may not be able to lay their finger on the
time and the place when they were converted. You understand
what I'm saying? But there was such a time. There
was such a time. Many people born of God may not
be able to lay their finger on the time when they were regenerated,
or the time when they were converted, or the time and place when they
came to a real saving knowledge of Christ. But there was such
a time. There's a time when a person
becomes a believer. There's a time when a man passes
from death unto life. Now, the rising of the sun may
be gradual, but there's a time when the sun comes up. There's
a time when darkness gives way to light. Brother Barnard said to a young
woman one time, Are you a Christian? She said, Yes. He said, How long
have you been a Christian? She said, I've always been a
Christian. He said, That's too long. You haven't always been
a Christian. That's one of the problems with
this thing of sprinkling infants. That's one of the dangers of
it. taking for granted that a child is in the covenant, taking for
granted that a child is in the kingdom of God, taking for granted
that a child is in the family of God, taking for granted that
a child is under some protective custody, and they grow up in
the church. And they never have an experience
with Christ. They never come to see themselves
sinners. They never come to receive Christ
consciously and intelligently and willingly. They never have
a conversion experience. They're never converted. They're
educated into the family of God. And no man is educated into the
family of God. We're born into the family of
God. I read from the Scripture what conversion was. It's a birth. There was a time when you were
born. It is a quickening. There was a time when you were
dead and a time when you were raised. It is a new creation. There was a time when God spoke
life where there was no life, and God gave faith where there
was no faith, and God gave repentance where there was no repentance.
It's a passing from death to life. Nowhere in the Scripture
does it say anybody is educated into the family of God. Nowhere
is conversion described as a gradual process from infancy to maturity. Now, if a dead man is raised,
he may not be able to pinpoint the time when life began. But
there was a time. Isn't that right? If a man is dead and he's raised
from the dead, he may not be able to tell you, Lazarus may
not be able to tell you when life first surged through his
dead bone. But there was a time when life
came. If we're new creatures in Christ, we may not be able
to tell you that time when God said, Let there be light. Let
there be a rumbling where things were dead. Let there be a knowledge
of God where there was no knowledge of God, but there was a time
when that came. If we have believed on Christ
with our hearts, there was a time when we believed. There was a
time when we didn't believe, and there was a time when we
did believe. There's got to be. There was a time when I haven't
always known that two and two was four. There was a day when
I learned it was four. And if I have confessed Christ
with my mouth, there was a time when I confessed Him. Now, the Scripture says, if we
confess with our mouth Jesus to be Lord and believe in our
hearts God raised Him from the dead, we'll be saved. There was
a time when I believed that, and there was a time when I confessed
that. Or I'm not converted. I may not
be able to take you back to the place and to the pinpoint of
the moment and lay my finger upon the day, but my friends,
if I'm converted, there was a time when Christ became my Lord. Isn't that right? It has to be. And if I have really seen Christ
as my substitute on the cross, as my Redeemer from sin, as my
reconciler to God, if I have committed my soul to him," there
was a time when that took place. Look at all the conversions in
the New Testament. Read them. The Bible is our rule
book, our guide, faith and practice, the Samaritan woman. She came
to that well unbelieving. She left a believer. Zacchaeus
climbed that tree curiously seeking the Lord. He came down with eyes
of faith. Matthew sat down at the receipt
of customs, his mind on material things alone. Christ came by
and said, Matthew, follow me. He left there his eye on spiritual
things. Three thousand people gathered
at Pentecost and heard the Apostle Peter preach, and they were baptized
that same day. They were converted. Saul of
Tarsus left Jerusalem on the road to Damascus, hating Christ,
cursing Christ, and came back praising Christ. The Ethiopian
eunuch, while he had gone to Jerusalem to worship, he had
gone to Jerusalem seeking the Lord, he nevertheless had not
seen him. until Philip opened the Scriptures
and preached Christ to him, and that day he was converted, the
jailer of Philippi. There was a time when he came
to a knowledge of Christ. Now, these people knew that they
had fully trusted and fully believed on the Son of God. They committed
themselves to Him. They were converted. Turn to
Luke, chapter 22. Luke, the twenty-second chapter.
Listen to this. And the Lord Jesus said in verse
31 to the Apostle Peter, the Lord said, Simon, behold, Satan
hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But
I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not. And when you
are converted, strengthen your brethren. When you are converted.
There will be a day, Peter. There will be a time. You may
be in a state of confusion right now. You may be in a state of
uncertainty and doubt and fear. There'll be a time when you'll
deny that you know me, a state of wondering. But you're going
to be converted, and when you are, strengthen your brethren. Now then, the third thing. Conversion
is a change which is recognizable by certain signs. Now some people
say when a man is converted he is then perfect. I wish it were
so. But perfect people are the hardest
people in the world to get along with. And I always doubt the
conversion of people who say they're perfect. It's just not
so. Some say that when a man is converted
from then on he'll be free from any doubt. He won't doubt his
salvation. He won't doubt his interest in
Christ. He won't doubt God's mercy to
him. I wish that was so too, but it's
not. Some say that when a man is converted, then the way of
life becomes easy. It's like this comedian out of
New Orleans who says it's fun being saved. Not always it's
not. I wish it were so, but it's not
so. Conversion is the beginning of a lifelong conflict. Conversion,
somebody said, is the first blow in a warfare that will not end
until you're in glory. The way is rough, it's not smooth. The way is difficult, it's not
easy. There's a conflict, there's a
race, there's a warfare. But in all conversions we have
these signs. We're not perfect, we want to
be. We have our doubts and our fears and our difficulties. In fact, actually, a truly saved
man has more conflict than one who is unsaved, because he not
only has a conflict with the natural world, but he has conflicts
in the spiritual realm as well. But in conversion, there are
these signs. First of all, A man who is converted
becomes a servant of God. Paul called himself a bondslave
of Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans chapter 6. In
the 6th chapter of Romans, verse 17. Now listen to this, Romans
6, 17. A man who is converted is a servant
of God. In Romans 6, 17. But God be thanked
You were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you, being then
made free from sin. You became the servants of God,
the servants of righteousness. Secondly, when a man is converted,
he not only becomes a servant of God, But there's a change
in his attitude and a change in his character. The Scripture
says, If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
accursed when Jesus comes. A man who is converted loves
Christ. He loves Christ, he loves his
Word, he loves his people. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. You can't carry hatred in your
heart and have God in your heart, because God is love. And in Him
there is no darkness, and in Him there is no hatred. And a
man who is converted is a man who loves God and loves his brethren. He loves the people of this world.
You can't hate people and love God. And then conversion brings
peace. It brings spiritual rest. Christ
said, Coming to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I'll
give you rest. We who believe in Christ have
entered into His rest. Christ said, My peace I give
unto you, not as the world giveth, give I you. Let not your heart
be troubled, and neither let it be afraid. In conversion,
Christ and His glory becomes our first love and our first
motive. If any man love the world, the
love of God's not in him. If any man come to me, let him
hate his mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, and yea,
his own life. That doesn't mean we're to hate
these people, but in regard to our relationship with Christ,
they're second. He's first. His glory, his kingdom,
his praise, his word, these are first with us. In conversion,
a man's principles are changed. He lived for himself, now he
lives for God. His motives are changed. Whatever righteousness he did,
he did it to merit heaven. Now he does it because he loves
God. His objects in life are changed. He lived for the flesh, now he
lives for the glory of God. His companions are changed. He
enjoyed evil men, now he walks with the redeemed. His fears
are changed. He once feared men, now he fears
God. And his hopes are changed. He
looks for a city, he looks for a city made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Yes, when a man is converted,
there is a change. Isaiah said it's a change of
masters, it's a change of mind, it's a change of manners. Let
the wicked forsake his way and his thoughts, and let him return
unto the Lord and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Let us pray. Our Father, be our teacher. Send
our Holy Spirit to quicken these dead hearts and, O blind eyes,
and be our teacher in these mysteries of the gospel. Reveal Christ
to our hearts, O God, that we might be converted, that we might
be in Christ a new creature, that we might be delivered from
darkness to light, from the kingdom of evil to the kingdom of God's
dear Son. Set our affections on things
above. Reveal unto us the true values
of life, not only this life, but the life which is to come.
Speak to the hearts of our people in this hour. Make thy word to
be effectual to their understanding. Thy word will not return unto
thee void. We know that. We are confident
of that. It shall accomplish that whereunto thou hast sent
it. But may thy word be the message of Christ and the glorious gospel
of free grace. Be not death upon death, but
life upon life in this hour. Let us not be able to get away
from the words of our Lord, but plant them deep within our hearts.
O Lord, let thy word be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto
our path, and hide it in our hearts, that we might not sin
against thee. In the name of Christ our Lord
we pray. Amen.