[BBC List] alarm - nature

[Mike Abendroth]

Alarm to the Unconverted

Joseph Alleine, 1671 

The NATURE of Conversion
 

I dare not leave you with your eyes half open, like him who saw 'men as
trees walking' [Mark 8:24]. The Word is profitable for doctrine as well as
reproof. And therefore, having thus far conducted you by the shelves and
rocks of so many dangerous mistakes, I would guide you at length into the
haven of truth.

Conversion then, in short, lies in the thorough change both of the heart and
life. I shall briefly describe it in its nature and causes.

1. The AUTHOR of conversion is the Spirit of God, and therefore it is called
'the sanctification of the Spirit' (2 Thess 2:13) and 'the renewing of the
Holy Spirit' (Titus 3:5). This does not exclude the other persons in the
Trinity, for the apostle teaches us to bless the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who 'has begotten us again unto a living hope' (1 Pet 1:3). And
Christ is said to 'give repentance unto Israel' (Acts 5:31); and is called
the 'everlasting Father' (Isa 9:6) and we His seed, and 'the children whom
God has given Him' (Heb 2:13). Yet this work is principally ascribed to the
Holy Spirit, and so we are said to be 'born of the Spirit' (John 3:5-6).

So then, conversion is a work above man's power. We are 'born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man-but of God' (John
1:13). Never think you can convert yourself. If ever you would be savingly
converted, you must despair of doing it in your own strength. It is a
resurrection from the dead (Eph 2:1), a new creation (Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10), a
work of absolute omnipotence (Eph 1:19). Are not these out of the reach of
human power? If you have no more than you had by your first birth-a good
nature, a meek and chaste temper etc.-you are a stranger to true conversion.
Conversion is a supernatural work.

2. The efficient CAUSE of conversion is both internal and external.

[1] The INTERNAL cause is free grace alone. 'Not by works of righteousness
which we have done-but of his mercy he saved us', and 'by the renewing of
the Holy Spirit' (Titus 3:5). 'Of his own will he begat us' (James 1:18). We
are chosen and called unto sanctification, not for it (Eph 1:4).

God finds nothing in man to turn His heart-but enough to turn His stomach;
He finds enough to provoke His loathing-but nothing to excite His love. Look
back upon yourself, O Christian! Reflect upon your swinish nature, your
filthy swill, your once beloved mire (2 Pet 2). Behold your slime and
corruption. Do not your own clothes abhor you? (Job 9:31). How then should
holiness and purity love you? Be astonished, O heavens, at this; be moved, O
earth. Who but must needs cry, Grace! Grace! (Zech 4:7). Hear and blush, you
children of the Most High God. O unthankful men, that free grace is no more
in your mouths, in your thoughts; no more adored, admired and commended by
such as you! One would think you should be doing nothing but praising and
admiring God wherever you are. How can you forget such grace, or pass it
over with a slight and formal mention? What but free grace could move God to
love you, unless enmity could do it, unless deformity could do it? How
affectionately Peter lifts up his hands, 'Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus, who in his abundant mercy has begotten us again.' [1 Pet
1:3] How feelingly does Paul magnify the free mercy of God in it, 'God who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, has quickened us
together with Christ. By grace are you saved' (Eph 2:4-5)!

[2] The EXTERNAL cause is the merit and intercession of the blessed Jesus.
He has obtained gifts for the rebellious (Psalm 68:18), and through Him it
is that God works in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight (Heb
13:21). Through Him are all spiritual blessings bestowed upon us in heavenly
places (Eph 1:3). He intercedes for the elect that believe not (John 17:20).
Every convert is the fruit of His travail. Never was an infant born into the
world with that difficulty which Christ endured for us. All the pains that
He suffered on the cross were our birth-pains. He is made sanctification to
us (1 Cor 1:30). He sanctified Himself, that is, set apart Himself as a
sacrifice, that we might be sanctified (John 17:19). We are sanctified
through the offering of His body once for all (Heb 10:10).

It is nothing, then, but the merit and intercession of Christ, that prevails
with God to bestow on us converting grace. If you are a new creature, you
know to whom you owe it; to Christ's pangs and prayers. The foal does not
more naturally run after the dam, nor the suckling to the bosom, than a
believer to Jesus Christ. And where else should you go? If any in the world
can show for your heart what Christ can, let them do it. Does Satan claim
you? Does the world court you? Does sin sue for your heart? Why, were these
crucified for you? O Christian, love and serve your Lord while you have a
being. 

3. The INSTRUMENT of conversion is personal and real.

[1] The PERSONAL instrument is the ministry. 'In Christ Jesus I have
begotten you through the gospel' (1 Cor 4:15). Christ's ministers are those
who are sent to open men's eyes, and to turn them to God (Acts 26:18). O
unthankful world! Little do you know what you are doing when you are
persecuting the messengers of the Lord. These are they whose business it is,
under Christ, to save you. Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? (Isa
37:23). These are the servants of the most high God that show unto you the
way of salvation (Acts 16:17), and do you requite them thus, O foolish and
unwise? (Deut 32:6). O sons of ingratitude, against whom do you sport
yourselves? These are the instruments that God uses to convert and save
sinners: and do you revile your physicians, and throw your pilots overboard?
'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.' [Luke 23:34]

[2] The REAL instrument is the Word. We are begotten by the word of truth.
It is this that enlightens the eye, that converts the soul (Psalm 19:7-8),
that makes us wise to salvation (2 Tim 3:15). This is the incorruptible seed
by which we are born again (1 Pet 1:23). If we are washed, it is by the Word
(Eph 5:26). If we are sanctified, it is through the truth (John 17:17). This
generates faith, and regenerates us (Rom 10:17; James 1:18).

O you saints, how you should love the Word, for by this you have been
converted! You that have felt its renewing power, make much of it while you
live; be ever thankful for it. Tie it about your neck, write it upon your
hand, lay it in your bosom. When you go let it lead you, when you sleep let
it keep you, when you wake let it talk with you (Prov 6:21-22). Say with the
Psalmist, 'I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have quickened
me' (Psalm 119:93). You who are unconverted, read the Word with diligence;
flock to where it is powerfully preached. Pray for the coming of the Spirit
in the Word. Come from your knees to the sermon, and come from the sermon to
your knees. The sermon does not prosper-because it is not watered by prayers
and tears, nor covered by meditation.

4. The final END of conversion is man's salvation, and God's glory. We are
chosen through sanctification to salvation (2 Thess 2:13), called that we
might be glorified (Rom 8:30), but especially that God might be glorified
(Isa 60:21), that we should show forth His praises (1 Pet 2:9), and be
fruitful in good works (Col 1:10).

O Christian, do not forget the end of your calling. Let your light shine,
let your lamp burn, let your fruits be good and many and in season (Psalm
1:3). Let all your designs fall in with God's, that He may be magnified in
you (Phil 1:20).

5. The SUBJECT of conversion is the elect sinner-and that in all his parts
and powers, members and mind. Whom God predestinates, them only He calls
(Rom 8:30). None are drawn to Christ by their calling, nor come to Him by
believing-but His sheep, those whom the Father has given Him (John 6:37,44).
Effectual calling runs parallel with eternal election (2 Pet 1:10).

You begin at the wrong end if you first dispute about your election. Prove
your conversion, and then never doubt your election. If you cannot yet prove
it, set upon a present and thorough turning. Whatever God's purposes be,
which are secret, I am sure His promises are plain. How desperately do
rebels argue! 'If I am elected I shall be saved, do what I will. If not, I
shall be damned, do what I can.' Perverse sinner, will you begin where you
should end? Is not the word before you? What says it? 'Repent and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out.' 'If you mortify the deeds of
the body you shall live.' 'Believe and be saved' (Acts 3:19; Rom 8:13; Acts
16:31). What can be plainer? Do not stand still disputing about your
election-but set to repenting and believing. Cry to God for converting
grace. Revealed things belong to you; in these busy yourself. It is just, as
one well said, that they who will not feed on the plain food of the Word
should be choked with the bones. Whatever God's purposes may be, I am sure
His promises are true. Whatever the decrees of heaven may be, I am sure that
if I repent and believe, I shall be saved; and that if I do not repent, I
shall be damned. Is not this plain ground for you; and will you yet run upon
the rocks?

More particularly, this change of conversion extends to the whole man. A
carnal person may have some shreds of good morality-but he is never good
throughout the whole cloth. Conversion is not a repairing of the old
building; but it takes all down, and erects a new structure. It is not the
sewing on a patch of holiness; but with the true convert, holiness is woven
into all his powers, principles and practice. The sincere Christian is quite
a new fabric, from the foundation to the top-stone. He is a new man, a new
creature; all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17). Conversion is a deep work,
a heart work. It makes a new man in a new world. It extends to the whole
man, to the mind, to the members, to the motions of the whole life.

[1] The MIND.

Conversion turns the balance of the judgment, so that God and His glory
outweigh all carnal and worldly interests. It opens the eye of the mind, and
makes the scales of its native ignorance fall off, and turns men from
darkness to light. The man who before saw no danger in his condition, now
concludes himself lost and forever undone (Acts 2:37) except renewed by the
power of grace. He who formerly thought there was little hurt in sin, now
comes to see it to be the chief of evils. He sees the unreasonableness, the
unrighteousness, the deformity and the filthiness of sin; so that he is
affrighted with it, loathes it, dreads it, flees from it, and even abhors
himself for it (Rom 7:15; Job 42:6; Ezek 36:31). He who could see little sin
in himself, and could find no matter for confession, now sees the rottenness
of his heart, the desperate and deep pollution of his whole nature. He
cries, 'Unclean! Unclean! Lord, purge me with hyssop, wash me thoroughly,
create in me a clean heart.' He sees himself altogether filthy, corrupt both
root and branch (Psalm 14:3; Matt 7:17-18). He writes 'unclean' upon all his
parts, and powers, and performances (Isa 64:6; Rom 7:18). He discovers the
filthy corners that he was never aware of, and sees the blasphemy, and
theft, and murder, and adultery, that is in his heart, of which before he
was ignorant. Hitherto he saw no form nor loveliness in Christ, no beauty
that he should desire Him; but now he finds the Hidden Treasure, and will
sell all to buy this field. Christ is the Pearl he seeks.

Now, according to this new light, the man is of another mind, another
judgment, than he was before. Now God is all with him, he has none in heaven
nor in earth like Him; he truly prefers Him before all the world. His favor
is his life, the light of His countenance is more than corn and wine and oil
(the good that he formerly enquired after, and set his heart upon. Psalm
4:6-7). A hypocrite may come to yield a general assent that God is the chief
good; indeed, the wiser heathens, some few of them, have at least stumbled
upon this. But no hypocrite comes so far as to look upon God as the most
desirable and suitable good to him, and thereupon to acquiesce in Him. This
is the convert's voice: 'The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Whom have I
in heaven but you? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside you.
God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever' (Lam 3:24; Psalm
73:25-26).

Conversion turns the bias of the WILL both as to means and end. The
intentions of the will are altered. Now the man has new ends and designs. He
now intends God above all, and desires and designs nothing in all the world,
so much as that Christ may be magnified in him. He counts himself more happy
in this than in all that the earth could yield, that he may be serviceable
to Christ, and bring Him glory. This is the mark he aims at, that the name
of Jesus may be great in the world.

Reader, do you read this without asking yourself whether it be thus with
you? Pause a while, and examine yourself.

The CHOICE is also changed. He pitches upon God as his blessedness, and upon
Christ and holiness as means to bring him to God. He chooses Jesus for his
Lord. He is not merely forced to Christ by the storm, nor does he take
Christ for bare necessity-but he comes freely. His choice is not made in a
fright, as with the terrified conscience, or the dying sinner-who will
seemingly do anything for Christ-but only takes Christ rather than hell. He
deliberately resolves that Christ is his best choice, and would rather have
Him than all the good of this world, might he enjoy it while he would (Phil
1:23). Again, he takes holiness for his path; he does not out of mere
necessity submit to it-but he likes it and loves it. 'I have chosen the way
of your precepts' (Psalm 119:173). He takes God's testimonies not as his
bondage-but his heritage; yes, heritage forever. He counts them not his
burden-but his bliss; not his cords-but his cordials (1 John 5:3; Psalm
119:14,16,47). He does not only bear-but takes up Christ's yoke. He takes
not holiness as the stomach does the loathed medicine, which a man will take
rather than die-but as the hungry man does his beloved food. No time passes
so sweetly with him, when he is himself, as that which he spends in the
exercises of holiness. These are both his nutriment and element, the desire
of his eyes and the joy of his heart.

Put it to your conscience whether you are the man. O happy man, if this be
your case! But see that you are thorough and impartial in the search.

Conversion turns the bent of the AFFECTIONS. These all run in a new channel.
The Jordan is now driven back, and the water runs upwards against its
natural course. Christ is his hope. This is his prize. Here his eye is: here
his heart. He is content to cast all overboard, as the merchant in the storm
about to perish-so he may but keep this jewel.

The first of his desires is not after gold-but grace. He hungers for it, he
seeks it as silver, he digs for it as for hidden treasure. He had rather be
gracious than great. He had rather be the holiest man on earth than the most
learned, the most famous, the most prosperous. While carnal, he said, 'O if
I were but in great esteem, rolling in wealth, and swimming in pleasure; if
my debts were paid, and I and mine provided for, then I would be a happy
man.' But now the tune is changed. 'Oh!' says the convert, 'if I had but my
corruptions subdued, if I had such a measure of grace, and fellowship with
God, though I were poor and despised-I would not care, I would account
myself a blessed man.' Reader, is this the language of your soul?

His JOYS are changed. He rejoices in the way of God's testimonies as much as
in all riches. He delights in the law of the Lord, in which he once had
little savor. He has no such joy as in the thoughts of Christ, the enjoyment
of His company, the prosperity of His people.

His CARES are quite altered. He was once set for the world, and any scrap of
spare time was enough for his soul. Now his cry is, 'What must I do to be
saved?' (Acts 16:30). His great concern is how to secure his soul. O how he
would bless you, if you could but put him out of doubt concerning this!

His FEARS are not so much of suffering-as of sinning. Once he was afraid of
nothing so much as the loss of his estate or reputation; nothing sounded so
terrible to him as pain, or poverty, or disgrace. Now these are little to
him, in comparison with God's dishonor or displeasure. How warily does he
walk, lest he should tread upon a snare! He looks in front, and behind: he
has his eye upon his heart, and is often casting it over his shoulder, lest
he should be overtaken with sin. It kills his heart to think of losing God's
favor; this he dreads as his only undoing. No thought pains him so much as
to think of parting with Christ.

His LOVE runs in a new course. 'My Love was crucified', says Ignatius, that
is, my Christ. 'This is my beloved', says the spouse (Song 5:16). How often
does Augustine pour his love upon Christ! He can find no words sweet enough.
'Let me see You, O Light of my eyes. Come, O Joy of my spirit; Let me behold
You, O Gladness of my heart. Let me love You, O Life of my soul. Appear unto
me, O my great delight, my sweet comfort, O my God, my life, and the whole
glory of my soul. Let me find You, O Desire of my heart; let me hold You, O
Love of my soul. Let me embrace You, O Heavenly Bridegroom. Let me possess
You.'

His SORROWS have now a new vent (2 Cor 7:9-10). The view of his sins, the
sight of Christ crucified-which could scarcely stir him before, now how much
do they affect his heart!

His hatred boils, his anger burns against sin. He has no patience with
himself; he calls himself fool, and beast; and thinks any name too good for
himself, when his indignation is stirred up against sin (Psalm 73:22; Prov
30:2). He could once wallow in it with much pleasure; now he loathes the
thought of returning to it as much as of licking up the filthiest vomit!

Commune then with your own heart, and attend to the general current of your
affections, whether they be towards God in Christ above all other concerns.
Indeed, sudden and strong motions of the affections are often found in
hypocrites, especially where the natural temperament is warm. And
contrariwise, the sanctified themselves are often without conscious stirring
of the affections, where the temperament is more slow, dry, and dull. The
great inquiry is, whether the judgment and will are steadily determined for
God above all other good, real or apparent. If so, and if the affections do
sincerely follow their choice and conduct, though it be not so strongly and
feelingly as is to be desired, there is no doubt but the change is saving.

[2] The MEMBERS.

These members which before were the instruments of sin-are now become the
holy utensils of Christ's living temple. He who before dishonored his body,
now possesses his vessel in sanctification and honor, in temperance,
chastity, and sobriety, and dedicates it to the Lord.

The EYE, which was once a wandering eye, a wanton eye, a haughty, a covetous
eye-is now employed, as Mary's, in weeping over its sins, in beholding God
in His works, in reading His Word, or in looking for objects of mercy and
opportunities for His service.

The EAR, which was once open to Satan's call, and which did relish nothing
so much as filthy, or at least frothy talk, and the laughter of fools-is now
bored to the door of Christ's house, and open to His disciples. It says,
'Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.' [1 Sam 3:10] It waits for His words
as the rain, and relishes them more than the appointed food (Job 23:12),
more than the honey and the honeycomb (Psalm 19:10).

The HEAD, which was full of worldly designs-is now filled with other
matters, and set on the study of God's will, and the man employs his head,
not so much about his gain-as about his duty. The thoughts and cares that
fill his head are, principally, how he may please God and flee sin.

His HEART, which was a sty of filthy lusts-is now become an altar of
incense, where the fire of divine love is ever kept burning, and from which
the daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, and the sweet incense of holy
desires, ejaculations and prayers, are continually ascending.

The MOUTH is become a well of life; his tongue as choice silver, and his
lips feed many. Now the salt of grace has seasoned his speech, has eaten out
the corruption (Col 4:6), and cleansed the man from his filthy conversation,
flattery, boasting, railing, lying, swearing, backbiting--which once came
like flashes proceeding from the hell which was in the heart (James 3:6).
The throat, that once was an open sepulcher, now sends forth the sweet
breath of prayer and holy discourse, and the man speaks in another tongue,
in the language of Canaan, and is never so well as when talking of God and
Christ, and the matters of another world. His mouth brings forth wisdom; his
tongue is become the silver trumpet of his Maker's praise, his glory and the
best member that he has.

Now here you will find the hypocrite sadly deficient. He speaks, it may be,
like an angel-but he has a covetous eye, or the gain of unrighteousness is
in his hand. His hand is white-but his heart is full of rottenness (Matt
23:27), full of unmortified cares, a very oven of lust, a shop of pride, the
seat of malice. It may be, with Nebuchadnezzar's image, he has a golden
head-a great deal of knowledge; but he has feet of clay-his affections are
worldly, he minds earthly things, and his way and walk are sensual and
carnal. The work is not thorough with him.

[3] The LIFE and PRACTICE.

The new man takes a new course (Eph 2:2-3). His conversation is in heaven
(Phil 3:20). No sooner does Christ call by effectual grace but he
straightway becomes a follower of Him. When God has given the new heart, and
written His law in his mind-he henceforth walks in His statutes and keeps
His judgments.

Though sin may dwell in him-truly a wearisome and unwelcome guest-yet it has
no more dominion over him. He has his fruit unto holiness, and though he
makes many a blot-yet the law and life of Jesus is what he looks at as his
pattern, and he has an unfeigned respect to all God's commandments. He makes
conscience even of little sins and little duties. His very infirmities which
he cannot help, though he would, are his soul's burden, and are like dust in
a man's eye, which though but little-is not a little troublesome. (O man, do
you read this, and never stop to examine yourself?) 

The sincere convert is not one man at church-and another at home. He is not
a saint on his knees-and a cheat in his shop. He will not tithe mint and
cummin, and neglect mercy and judgment, and the weightier matters of the
law. He does not pretend piety-and neglect morality. But he turns from all
his sins and keeps all God's statutes, though not perfectly, except in
desire and endeavor-yet sincerely, not allowing himself in the breach of
any. Now he delights in the Word, and sets himself to prayer, and opens his
hand and draws out his soul to the hungry. He breaks off his sins by
righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor (Dan 4:27).
He has a good conscience willing in all things to live honestly (Heb 13:18),
and to keep without offence towards God and men.

Here again you find the unsoundness of many, who take themselves for good
Christians. They are partial in the law (Mal 2:9), and take up the cheap and
easy duties of religion-but they do not go through with the whole work. They
are as a cake half-baked and half-raw. It may be, you find them exact in
their words, punctual in their dealings-but then they do not exercise
themselves unto godliness; and as for examining themselves and governing
their hearts, to this they are strangers. You may see them duly at church;
but follow them to their families, and there you shall see little but the
world minded. Or if they have family duties, follow them to their closets,
and there you shall find their souls are little looked after. It may be that
they seem religious-but they do not bridle their tongues, and so all their
religion is vain (James 1:26). It may be they come to closet and family
prayer; but follow them to their shops, and there you find them in the habit
of lying, or some fashionable way of deceit. Thus the hypocrite is not
thorough in his obedience. 

6. The OBJECTS from which we turn in conversion are, sin, Satan, the world,
and our own righteousness.

[1] We turn from SIN. When a man is converted, he is forever at enmity with
sin; yes, with all sin-but most of all with his own sins, and especially
with his bosom sin. Sin is now the object of his indignation. His sin swells
his sorrows. It is sin which pierces him and wounds him; he feels it like a
thorn in his side, like a splinter in his eye. He groans and struggles under
it, and not formally-but feelingly cries out, 'O wretched man!' [Rom 7:24]
He is not impatient of any burden-so much as of his sin. If God should give
him his choice, he would choose any affliction so he might be rid of sin; he
feels it like the cutting gravel in his shoes, pricking and paining him as
he goes.

Before conversion he had light thoughts of sin. He cherished it in his
bosom, as Uriah his lamb; he nourished it up, and it grew up together with
him; it did eat, as it were, of his own plate, and drank of his own cup, and
lay in his bosom, and was to him as a sweet daughter. But when God opens his
eyes by conversion, he throws it away with abhorrence, as a man would a
loathsome toad, which in the dark he had hugged fast in his bosom, and
thought it had been some pretty and harmless bird. When a man is savingly
changed, he is deeply convinced not only of the danger but the defilement of
sin; and O, how earnest is he with God to be purified! He loathes himself
for his sins. He runs to Christ, and casts himself into the fountain set
open for him and for uncleanness. If he falls into sin, what a stir is there
to get all clean again! He has no rest until he flees to the Word, and
washes and rubs and rinses in the infinite fountain, laboring to cleanse
himself from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit.

The sound convert is heartily engaged against sin. He struggles with it, he
wars against it; he is too often foiled-but he will never yield the cause,
nor lay down the weapons, while he has breath in his body. He will make no
peace; he will give no quarter. He can forgive his other enemies, he can
pity them and pray for them; but here he is implacable, here he is set upon
their extermination. He hunts as it were for the precious life; his eye
shall not pity, his hand shall not spare, though it be a right hand or a
right eye. Be it a gainful sin, most delightful to his nature or the support
of his esteem with worldly friends-yet he will rather throw his gain down
into the gutter, see his credit fail, or the flower of his pleasure wither
in his hand-than he will allow himself in any known way of sin. He will
grant no indulgence, he will give no toleration. He draws upon sin wherever
he meets it, and frowns upon it with this unwelcome salute, 'Have I found
you, O my enemy!'

Reader, has conscience been at work while you have been looking over these
lines? Have you pondered these things in your heart? Have you searched the
book within, to see if these things are so? If not, read it again, and make
your conscience speak, whether or not it is thus with you.

Have you crucified your flesh with its affections and lusts; and not only
confessed-but forsaken your sins, all sin in your fervent desires, and the
ordinary practice of every deliberate and wilful sin in your life? If not,
you are yet unconverted. Does not conscience fly in your face as you read,
and tell you that you live in a way of lying for your advantage? that you
use deceit in your calling? that there is some way of secret sin that you
live in? Why then, do not deceive yourself. 'You are in the gall of
bitterness and the bond of iniquity.' [Acts 8:23]

Does your unbridled tongue, your indulgence of appetite, your wicked
company, your neglect of prayer, of reading and hearing the Word, now
witness against you, and say, 'We are your works, and we will follow you'?
Or, if I have not hit you right, does not the monitor within tell you, there
is such and such a way that you know to be evil, that yet for some carnal
respect you tolerate in yourself? If this be the case, you are to this day
unregenerate, and must be changed or condemned.

[2] We turn from SATAN. Conversion binds the strong man, spoils his armor,
casts out his goods, and turns men from the power of Satan unto God. Before,
the devil could no sooner hold up his finger to the sinner to call him to
his wicked company, sinful games, and filthy delights-but immediately he
followed, 'like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a
noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life' (Prov 7:22-23). No sooner could
Satan bid him lie-but immediately he had it on his tongue. No sooner could
Satan offer a filthy object-but he was overcome with lust. If the devil
says, 'Away with these family duties', be sure they shall be rarely
performed in his house. If the devil says, 'Away with this strictness, this
preciseness' he will keep far enough from it. If he tells him, 'There is no
need of these secret-duties', he will go from day to day and scarcely
perform them. But after he is converted he serves another Master, and takes
quite another course; he goes and comes at Christ's bidding. Satan may
sometimes catch his foot in a trap-but he will no longer be a willing
captive. He watches against the snares and baits of Satan, and studies to be
acquainted with his devices. He is very suspicious of his plots, and is very
jealous in what comes across him, lest Satan should have some design upon
him. He wrestles against principalities and powers; he entertains the
messenger of Satan as men do the messenger of death. He keeps his eye upon
his enemy, and watches in his duties, lest Satan should get an advantage.

[3] We turn from the WORLD. Before a man has true faith, he is overcome by
the world. He either bows down to mammon, or idolizes his reputation, or is
a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. Here is the root of man's
misery by the fall. He is turned aside to the creature, and gives that
esteem, confidence and affection to the creature-which is due to God alone.

O miserable man, what a deformed monster has sin made you! God made you a
little lower than the angels; sin has made you little better than the
devils! Sin has made you a monster that has his head and his heart where his
feet should be--and his feet kicking against heaven--and everything out of
place. The world which was formed to

serve you--now rules you! The deceitful harlot has bewitched you with her
enchantments--and made you bow down and serve her!

But converting grace sets all in order again, and puts God on the throne,
and the world at his footstool; Christ in the heart, and the world under the
feet. 'I am crucified to the world, and the world to me' (Gal 6:14). Before
this change, all the cry was 'Who will show us any worldly good?' but now he
prays, 'Lord, lift you up the light of your countenance upon me', and take
the corn and wine whoever will (Psalm 4:6-7). Before, his heart's delight
and content were in the world; then the song was, 'Soul, take your ease-eat,
drink, and be merry! You have much goods laid up for many years.' [Luke
12:19] But now all this is withered, and there is no loveliness, that we
should desire it; and he tunes up with the sweet psalmist of Israel, 'The
Lord is the portion of my inheritance; the lines are fallen to me in a fair
place, and I have a goodly heritage.' [Psalm 16:5-6] Nothing else can make
him content. He has written vanity and vexation upon all his worldly
enjoyments, and loss and dross upon all human excellencies. He has life and
immortality now in pursuit. He pants for grace and glory, and has an
incorruptible crown in view. His heart is set to seek the Lord. He first
seeks the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and religion is no longer a
casual matter with him-but his main care. Before, the world had the sway
with him. He would do more for gain than godliness-more to please his friend
or his flesh, than the God that made him; and God must stand by until the
world was first served. But now all must stand by; he hates father and
mother, and life, and all, in comparison of Christ.

Well then, pause a little, and look within. Does not this concern you? You
pretend to be for Christ-but does not the world sway you? Do you not take
more real delight and contentment in the world than in Him? Do you not find
yourself more at ease when the world is in your mind and you are surrounded
with carnal delights, than when retired to prayer and meditation in your
room, or attending upon God's Word and worship? There is no surer evidence
of an unconverted state than to have the things of the world uppermost in
our aim, love and estimation.

With the sound convert, Christ has the supremacy. How dear is His name to
him! How precious is His favor! The name of Jesus is engraved on his heart.
Honor is but air, and laughter is but madness, and mammon is fallen like
Dagon before the ark, with hands and head broken-when once Christ is
savingly revealed. Here is the pearl of great price to the true convert;
here is his treasure; here is his hope. This is his glory, 'My beloved is
mine, and I am his.' [Song 2:16] O, it is sweeter to him to be able to say,
'Christ is mine!', than if he could say, 'The kingdom is mine; the Indies
are mine.'

[4] We turn from our own RIGHTEOUSNESS. Before conversion, man seeks to
cover himself with his own fig-leaves, and to make himself acceptable with
God, by his own duties. He is apt to trust in himself, and set up his own
righteousness, and to reckon his pennies for gold, and not to submit to the
righteousness of God. But conversion changes his mind; now he counts his own
righteousness as filthy rags. He casts it off, as a man would the verminous
tatters of a nasty beggar. Now he is brought to poverty of spirit, complains
of and condemns himself; and all his inventory is, 'I am poor, and
miserable, and wretched, and blind, and naked!' [Rev 3:17]. He sees a world
of iniquity in his holy things, and calls his once-idolized righteousness
but filth and loss; and would not for a thousand worlds be found in it! 

Now he begins to set a high price upon Christ's righteousness. He sees the
need of Christ in every duty, to justify his person and sanctify his
performances; he cannot live without Him; he cannot pray without Him. Christ
must go with him, or else he cannot come into the presence of God; he leans
upon Christ, and so bows himself in the house of his God. He sets himself
down for a lost undone man without Him; his life is hid in Christ, as the
root of a tree spreads in the earth for stability and nourishment. Before,
the gospel of Christ was a stale and tasteless thing; but now-how sweet is
Christ! Augustine could not relish his once-admired Cicero, because he could
not find in his writings the name of Christ. How emphatically he cries, 'O
most sweet, most loving, most kind, most dear, most precious, most desired,
most lovely, most fair!' all in a breath, when he speaks of and to Christ.
In a word, the voice of the convert is, with the martyr, 'None but Christ!'

7. The OBJECT to which we turn in conversion is-God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit-whom the true convert takes as his all-sufficient and eternal
blessedness. A man is never truly sanctified until his heart be truly set
upon God above all things, as his portion and chief good. These are the
natural breathings of a believer's heart: 'You are my portion.' 'My soul
shall make her boast in the Lord.' 'My expectation is from him; he alone is
my rock and salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge,
is in God' (Psalm 119:57; Psalm 34:2; Psalm 62).

Would you be certain whether you are converted or not? Now let your soul and
all that is within you attend. Have you taken God for your happiness? Where
does the desire of your heart lie? What is the source of your greatest
satisfaction? Come, then, and with Abraham lift up your eyes eastward, and
westward, and northward, and southward, and look around you; what is it that
you would have to make you happy? If God should give you your choice, as He
did to Solomon, or should say to you, as Ahasuerus to Esther, 'What is your
petition, and what is your request, and it shall be granted you?' [Esther
5:6] what would you ask? Go into the gardens of pleasure, and gather all the
fragrant flowers there-would these satisfy you? Go to the treasures of
mammon; suppose you may carry away as much as you desire. Go to the towers,
to the trophies of honor. What do you think of being a man of renown, and
having a name like the name of the great men of the earth? Would any of
these, would all of these satisfy you, and make you to count yourself happy?
If so, then certainly you are carnal and unconverted. 

If not, go farther; wade into the divine excellencies, the store of His
mercies, the hiding of His power, the unfathomable depths of His
all-sufficiency. Does this suit you best and please you most? Do you say,
'It is good to be here. Here will I pitch, here will I live and die'? Will
you let all the world go rather than this? Then it is well between God and
you: happy are you, O man-happy are you that ever you were born. If God can
make you happy, you must be happy; for you have taken the Lord to be your
God. Do you say to Christ as He to us, 'Your Father shall be my Father, and
your God my God'? Here is the turning point. "Whom do I have in heaven but
You? And I desire nothing on earth but You. My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26 

An unsound convert never takes up his rest in God; but converting grace does
the work, and so cures the fatal misery of the fall, by turning the heart
from its idols-to the living God. Now the soul says, 'Lord, where shall I
go? You have the words of eternal life.' [John 6:68] Here he centers, here
he settles. It is the entrance of heaven to him; he sees his interest in
God. When he discovers this, he says, 'Return unto your rest, O my soul, for
the Lord has dealt bountifully with you' (Psalm 116:7). And he is even ready
to breathe out Simeon's song, 'Lord, now let you your servant depart in
peace' [Luke 2:29]; and says with Jacob, when his old heart revived at the
welcome tidings, 'It is enough!' (Gen 45:28). When he sees he has a God in
covenant to go to, this is all his salvation, and all his desire (2 Sam
23:5).

Is this the case with you? Have you experienced this? If so, then 'blessed
are you of the Lord'. God has been at work with you; He has laid hold of
your heart by the power of converting grace, or else you could never have
done this.

More particularly, in conversion-

[1] We turn to CHRIST, the only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5).
His work is to bring us to God (1 Pet 3:18). He is the way to the Father
(John 14:6), the only plank on which we may escape, the only door by which
we may enter (John 10:9). Conversion brings the soul to Christ to accept Him
as the only means of life, as the only way, the only name given under
heaven. He does not look for salvation in any other but Him; he throws
himself on Christ alone.

'Here', says the convinced sinner, 'I will venture; and if I perish, I
perish; if I die, I will die here. But, Lord, do not let me perish under the
eye of Your mercy. Entreat me not to leave You, or to return from following
after You. Here I will throw myself; if You slay me, I will not go from Your
door.'

Thus the poor soul ventures on Christ and resolvedly adheres to Him. Before
conversion, the man made light of Christ; he minded his farm, friends,
pleasures, more than Christ; now, Christ is to him as his necessary food,
his daily bread, the life of his heart, the staff of his life. His great
desire is, that Christ may be magnified in him. His heart once said, as they
to the spouse, 'What is your beloved more than another?' (Song 5:9). He
found more sweetness in his merry company, wicked games, earthly delights,
than in Christ. He took religion for a fancy, and the talk of great
enjoyments for an idle dream; but now to him to live is Christ. Now he says,
'But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all
things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ!' Philippians 3:7-8 

ALL of Christ is accepted by the sincere convert. He loves not only the
wages-but the work of Christ; not only the benefits-but the burden of
Christ. He is willing not only to tread out the corn-but to draw under the
yoke. He takes up the commands of Christ, yes, the cross of Christ.

The unsound convert takes Christ by halves. He is all for the salvation of
Christ-but he is not for sanctification. He is for the privileges-but does
not appropriate the person of Christ. He divides the offices and benefits of
Christ. This is an error in the foundation. Whoever loves life, let him
beware here. It is an undoing mistake, of which you have been often warned,
and yet none is more common. Jesus is a sweet Name-but men do not love the
Lord Jesus in sincerity. They will not have Him as God offers, 'to be a
Prince and a Savior' (Acts 5:31). They divide what God has joined, the King
who rules-and the Priest who saves. They will not accept the salvation of
Christ as He intends it; they divide it here. Every man's vote is for
salvation from suffering-but they do not desire to be saved from sinning.
They would have their lives saved-but still would have their lusts. Indeed,
many divide here again; they would be content to have some of their sins
destroyed-but they cannot leave the lap of Delilah, or divorce the beloved
Herodias. They cannot be cruel to the right eye or right hand. 

O be infinitely careful here; your soul depends upon it. The sound convert
takes a whole Christ, and takes Him for all intents and purposes, without
exceptions, without limitations, without reserve. He is willing to have
Christ upon any terms; he is willing to have the dominion of Christ as well
as deliverance by Christ. He says with Paul, 'Lord, what will you have me to
do?' [Acts 9:6] Anything, Lord! He gives Christ the blank page-to write down
His own conditions.

[2] We turn to the laws, ordinances, and ways of Christ. The heart which
once was set against these, and could not endure the strictness of these
bonds, the severity of these ways-now falls in love with them, and chooses
them as its rule and guide forever.

Four things, I observe, God works in every sound convert, with reference to
the laws and ways of Christ, by which you may come to know your state, if
you will be faithful to your own souls. Therefore, keep your eyes upon your
hearts as you go along.

(i) The judgment is brought to approve of them and to subscribe to them as
most righteous and most reasonable. The mind is brought to like the ways of
God; and the corrupt prejudices that were once against them as unreasonable
and intolerable, are now removed. The understanding assents to them all as
holy, just, and good (Rom 7:12). How is David taken up with the excellencies
of God's laws! How does he expatiate on their praises, both from their
inherent qualities and admirable effects! (Psalm 19:8-10, etc.).

There is a twofold judgment of the understanding, the absolute and the
comparative. The absolute judgment is when a man thinks such a course best
in general-but not for him, or not under his present circumstances. Now, a
godly man's judgment is for the ways of God, and that not only the
absolute-but comparative judgment. He thinks them not only the best in
general-but best for him! He looks upon the rules of piety not only as
tolerable-but desirable; yes, more desirable than gold, fine gold; yes, much
fine gold.

His judgment is fully determined that it is best to be holy, that it is best
to be strict, that it is in itself the most eligible course, and that it is
for him the wisest and most rational and desirable choice. Hear the godly
man's judgment; 'I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right; I love your
commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold; I esteem all your precepts
concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way' (Psalm
119:127-128). Mark, he approves of all that God requires-and disapproves of
all that He forbids. 'Righteous, O Lord, and upright are your judgments.
Your testimonies that you have commanded are righteous and very faithful.
Your word is true from the beginning, and everyone of your righteous
judgments endures forever' (Psalm 119:138, 160). See how readily and fully
he subscribes; he declares his assent and consent to it, and all and
everything contained therein.

(ii) The desire of the heart is to know the whole mind of Christ. He would
not have one sin undiscovered, nor be ignorant of one duty required. It is
the natural and earnest breathing of a sanctified heart: 'Lord, if there be
any way of wickedness in me-please reveal it. What I know not-teach me. If I
have done iniquity-I will do it no more.' The unsound convert is willingly
ignorant, he does not love to come to the light. He is willing to keep such
and such a sin, and therefore is averse to know it to be a sin-so will not
let in the light at that window. Now, the gracious heart is willing to know
the whole latitude and compass of his Maker's law. He receives with all
acceptance the Word which convinces him of any duty that he knew not, or
minded not before, or which uncovers any sin that lay hidden before.

(iii) The free and resolved choice of the will is for the ways of Christ,
before all the pleasures of sin and prosperities of the world. His consent
is not extorted by some extremity of anguish, nor is it only a sudden and
hasty resolve-but he is deliberately purposed, and comes freely to the
choice. True, the flesh will rebel-yet the prevailing part of his will is
for Christ's laws and government, so that he takes them up not as his toil
or burden-but as his bliss. While the unsanctified person goes in Christ's
ways as in chains and fetters-the true convert does it heartily, and counts
Christ's laws his liberty. He delights in the beauties of holiness, and has
this inseparable mark- he had rather, if he might have his choice, live a
strict and holy life, than the most prosperous and flourishing worldly life.


'There went with Saul a band of men whose hearts God had touched' (1 Sam
10:26). When God touches the hearts of His chosen, they presently follow
Christ, and, though drawn, do freely run after Him, and willingly devote
themselves to the service of the Lord, seeking Him with their whole desire.
Fear has its uses; but this is not the mainspring of motion with a
sanctified heart. Christ does not control His subjects by force-but is King
of a willing people. They are, through His grace, freely devoted to His
service. They serve out of choice, not as slaves-but as the son or spouse,
from a spring of love and a loyal mind. In a word, the laws of Christ are
the convert's love, delight, and continual study.

(iv) The bent of his course is directed to keep God's statutes. It is the
daily care of his life to walk with God. He seeks great things, he has noble
designs, though he falls too short. He aims at nothing less than perfection;
he desires it, he reaches after it; he would not rest in any degree of
grace, until he were quite rid of sin, and perfected in holiness (Phil
3:11-14).

Here the hypocrite's rottenness may be discovered. He desires holiness, as
one well said, only as a bridge to heaven, and inquires earnestly what is
the least that will serve his turn; and if he can get but so much as may
bring him to heaven, this is all he cares for. But the sound convert desires
holiness for holiness' sake, and not merely for heaven's sake. He would not
be satisfied with so much holiness as might save him from hell-but desires
the highest degree. Yet desires are not enough. What is your way and your
course? Are the drift and scope of your life altered? Is holiness your
pursuit, and piety your business? If not, you fall short of sound
conversion.

And is this which we have described, the conversion which is of absolute
necessity to salvation? Then be informed-that strait is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leads unto life-that there are few that find it-that there
is need of divine power savingly to convert a sinner to Jesus Christ.

Again, be exhorted, O man, to examine yourself. What does conscience say?
Does it begin to accuse? Does it not pierce you as you go? Is this your
judgment, and this your choice, and this your way, that we have described?
If so, then it is well. But does your heart condemn you, and tell you of a
certain sin you are living in against your conscience? Does it not tell you
there is such and such a secret way of wickedness that you wish to pursue;
such and such a duty that you make no conscience of?

Does not conscience carry you to your closet, and tell you how seldom prayer
and Scripture reading are performed there? Does it not carry you to your
family, and show you the charge of God, and the souls of your children who
are neglected there? Does not conscience lead you to your shop, your trade,
and tell you of some iniquity there? Does it not carry you to the
public-house, or the private club, and blame you for the loose company you
keep there, the precious time which you misspend there, the talents which
you waste there? Does it not carry you into your secret chamber, and read
there your condemnation?

O conscience! do your duty. In the name of the living God, I command
you-discharge your office. Lay hold upon this sinner, fall upon him, arrest
him, apprehend him, undeceive him. What! will you flatter and soothe him
while he lives in his sins? Awake, O conscience! What do you mean, O
sleeper? What! have you no reproof in your mouth? What! shall this soul die
in his careless neglect of God and of eternity, and you altogether remain
silent? What! shall he go on still in his trespasses, and yet have peace?
Oh, rouse yourself, and do your work. Now let the preacher in your bosom
speak. Cry aloud, and spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet. Let not
the blood of his soul be required at your hands.

 

Thanks.

 

For the King's honor,

 

Charis,

 

Mike Abendroth

 

 <http://www.bbcchurch.org> www.bbcchurch.org

 

Ephesians 3:21 auvtw/| h` do,xa evn th/| evkklhsi,a| 

 

2 Tim 1:2b  "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord."

 

"Faith is not our physician; it only brings us to the Physician ... Faith is
not our saviour. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on
Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us, and gave itself for us;
that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died and rose again for
our sins.  It is a sin-bearer that we need, and our faith cannot be a
sin-bearer. Faith can expiate no guilt; can accomplish no propitiation; can
pay no penalty; can wash away no stain; can provide no righteousness. It
brings us to the cross, . but in itself it has no merit and no virtue.
Faith is not Christ, nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood, nor
the sacrifice; . Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between
itself and the cross. It is the acknowledgment that the cross alone saves,
and that it saves alone. Faith adds nothing to the cross, nor to its healing
virtue. It owns the fulness, and sufficiency, and suitableness of the work
done there, and bids the toiling spirit cease from its labours and enter
into rest. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see
the glorious spectacle of all things done, and to accept this completion
without a misgiving as to its efficacy. It listens to the "It is finished!"
of the Sin-bearer, and says, "Amen."   

NOT FAITH, BUT CHRIST 

by Horatius Bonar 
(1808-1889) 

 

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