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Page 38
CHAPTER XIX.
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.
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