Scripture passage that we read this morning is Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. A chapter that records for us three parables of Christ, the lost sheep, the lost coin, as well as the lost son or the prodigal son, and three parables that demonstrate, too, the work of conversion in the child of God by the Spirit as the sinner repents of sin. Luke 15, beginning at verse 1, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. When he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Either what woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the peace which I had lost. Likewise I say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. And he said, a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will rise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him. and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his eldest son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. He said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. He was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid. that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this, thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad. For this thy brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found. We read God's Word thus far, and it's on the basis of that passage and many others, and really on the basis of all of Scripture that the catechism in Lords Day 33 instructs us concerning true conversion. Today we're going to consider the first three questions and answers of the Lords Day, 88, 89, and 90. Of how many parts doth the true conversion of man consist? Of two parts, of the mortification of the old and the quickening of the new man. What is the mortification of the old man? It is a sincere sorrow of heart that we have provoked God by our sins, and more and more to hate and flee from them. What is the quickening of the new man? It is a sincere joy of heart in God through Christ and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works. You will recall, beloved, from last Sunday that Lord's Day 32, the previous Lord's Day, spoke to us about the life of good works that characterizes a child of God. And that characterizes the child of God because the Spirit of Christ not only justifies the people of God, but also works mightily to sanctify us and to lead us in the life of good works. The previous Lord's Day, Lord's Day 32, also asked a question about conversion and mentioned this, that one must be converted. The question was, cannot they then be saved who, continuing in their wicked and ungrateful lives, are not converted to God? Can someone be saved who is not converted? And the answer is, by no means. For the Scripture declares that no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer, thief, covetous man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like shall inherit the kingdom of God. Or as Christ Himself said in Matthew 18 verse 3, this. Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. One must be converted. Without conversion, one is not saved. And if one is not saved, then he is not in the kingdom of God. And if he is not converted and not saved and not in the kingdom of God, then he cannot and will not do good works. And that leads into Lord's Day 33, the subject of which is true conversion. which is also the subject, as I indicated in Luke chapter 15, not the only subject, but it's a part of the parables that Christ spoke there when he points out and speaks of in verse seven, verse 15, sorry, verse 10, and then also verses 18 and 19 of repentance, turning from sin. and turning to God. And when he also speaks in the parable of the prodigal son of what characterizes a true confession of sin, namely that one confesses as the prodigal son did, I have sinned against heaven. I have sinned against God. Notice too, beloved, by way of introduction, the approach of Lord's Day 33 to the subject of conversion. The approach that the Lord's Day takes is in harmony with the catechism's theme of comfort, with a view to the child of God being comforted. The approach that the Lord's Day takes is that it speaks of conversion in such a way that each child of God can personally know that he or she is converted, and therefore in the kingdom of God. And that's done in this Lord's Day by its emphasis on the internal. You'll notice that when it speaks about conversion, it doesn't speak immediately about the external. It doesn't even emphasize the external, the actions, the life, the behavior, but it emphasizes the internal. Mortification of the old man is a sincere sorrow of heart, and the quickening of the new man is a sincere joy of heart. Those are the things that the child of God is able to see within himself. And when, because of the grace and Spirit of God that works those things in us, the Spirit working in us sincere sorrow of heart, and the Spirit working in us sincere joy of heart, when we see those things, experience those things, then we can know that we are converted and are in the kingdom of God. Consider then with me this morning true daily conversion. You will notice the character of conversion, and then the sincere sorrow over sin, and thirdly, sincere joy through Christ. As far as the character of conversion is concerned, I intend to mention three things. The first of those three things is this, that conversion is a radical change in a person. That's indicated by the terms that are used in the Lord's Day itself. When it says that conversion is mortification, and when it says that conversion is quickening, mortification refers to something being attacked, something being pushed down, being crushed. And it refers to fighting to put to death the old man of sin in us. That's a radical thing. And quickening refers to making something more alive, the stirring up and the activating of the new life that we have within us. That's a radical change. Conversion fundamentally is a radical internal change, a spiritual change, a change of heart, and a change of mind. It begins with a change of heart and mind that's evident from the parable of the prodigal son. In Luke 15 verses 17 and following, and when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants." That shows a change of heart and a change of mind in that prodigal son. That's where conversion begins. And that change of heart and mind is a turning around of the heart and mind, the turning of the heart and the mind to a different direction within us. And specifically and most importantly, as is brought out also by the parable of the prodigal son, a change concerning where we are, where we stand in relation to God. The prodigal son said, I have sinned against heaven. He wasn't thinking about God before this. He wasn't thinking about heaven before this. He was thinking about earth. He was thinking about himself. His conversion involved a change, a turning around with regard to where he was in relation to God. Before one converts, he is looking and walking in a direction away from God, a direction toward other gods that other God usually is Himself. A direction toward the devil, a direction toward sin, and conversion involves a turning around from that, a turning away from all of that, and turning now toward God, seeking and longing after and speaking to and walking with God. Joel chapter 2 verse 12 speaks of conversion and Joel chapter 2 verse 12 says this, Turn ye even to me with all your heart and rend your heart and not your garments and turn unto the Lord your God. A change of heart. Not merely a change of garments, not merely a change of outward conduct, behavior, actions, words, but a change of heart. Turning to God with all your heart, Joel 2 says. Rending your heart before God and turning unto the Lord your God. A 180-degree internal change of direction in the heart, that's conversion. A change from love of sin to hatred of sin, a change from pride to humility, a change from being ungrateful to being thankful. A change from stubbornness to willingness, a change from hating God and others to loving God and others. Those are all matters of the heart and of the mind as it arises from the heart. A change of ideas, a change of purposes, a change of desires, and only then flowing out of that internal change, only then a change in life, a change of actions, and a change of behavior. Conversion then, first of all, is a radical change. Secondly, conversion is this, conversion is the work God in us, the work of God by His Spirit. There are some that maintain that while regeneration is very obviously the work of God's Spirit in us, conversion, they say, is really man's work. They argue that because God commands us in Scripture, be converted, and he does, he does. But they maintain because he does, that's something that we must do. And because God commands us to do it, that implies that we're able to do it. So that conversion is man's work. Why else would God command us to do it if it were not in our power to do it? And so they interpret the command of Scripture to be converted, even as Christ said that in Matthew 18.3, they interpret that to mean convert yourself, convert yourself. And I think we're all familiar enough with the history of our own churches in 1953 to know that the heretical statement was made and defended at that time concerning conversion, which was this, our act of conversion is a prerequisite to enter the kingdom of heaven. And two fundamental errors with that, that conversion is our act, our act, as if man converts himself. And then secondly, that that's a prerequisite, that's a condition for entering the kingdom of heaven. Again, that's how some wrongly, heretically, understand and explain conversion, as if conversion is the work of man. Now it's certainly the case when we are discussing conversion that we as believers are consciously involved in conversion. Conversion does not happen subconsciously. Conversion does not happen subconsciously like regeneration happens in us without our knowing. When it comes to conversion, the child of God is active. When it comes to conversion, the child of God is conscious of that work of conversion in him. When it comes to conversion, we have, as the catechism says, a sincere sorrow of heart. That's something that's part of our experience. And we have a sincere joy of heart in God through Christ. That's part of our experience and our activity of faith, but we do not convert ourselves. No one can convert himself, and in all of the history of the world and of mankind upon this earth, there is no one that has ever converted himself. No one has ever done that. Jeremiah 31, verses 18 and 19 state that very plainly. Jeremiah 31, 18 and 19, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, yea, even confounded. It starts with God always. Turn thou me, O God, and then, and then only shall I be turned. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit takes a hold of those who cannot turn. and who do not want to turn and turns them. They cannot turn and they do not want to turn because they have a sinful nature. They love sin. They love to be proud and selfish and to satisfy their lusts. They love to hate and to be disobedient and rebellious. God must take a hold of them and turn them. God must take a hold of us and turn us. He does that by His mighty, irresistible Spirit. Conversion is the work of God in us. And then thirdly, as to the character of conversion, we note this, that conversion is lifelong. It's expressed even in the theme for our sermon this morning, daily conversion. Conversion is a daily activity. Again, there is a common misconception that conversion happens just once in a believer. That conversion is a dramatic and dateable experience that the child of God has, and he knows exactly where he was, and he knows exactly when it happened, what date it was, and he knows exactly under what circumstances it happened, the things that brought about that radical conversion in his or her life. And following from that thinking is the idea that if you say you are a Christian, if you say you are a child of God, if you say you are a confessing believer, and even if you desire to partake of the Lord's Supper, you should be able to give an exact date and time when this conversion experience happened to you. That's really an erroneous understanding of conversion. Now we don't deny that some are converted in that dramatic way. There are even biblical examples of that. The thief on the cross. The apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. The prodigal son in the parable that we read in Luke 15. And it can still happen today that some are converted later in life and they have a radical, dramatic conversion, a datable conversion. Quite often that's the case in mission work on the mission field. But among us, we would say that's not common. Most of us, if not all of us, would say we were converted from childhood. We don't remember not being saved and converted. So conversion is a daily experience and activity. Conversion is a daily experience and activity because the normal Christian life for the child of God is a life in which you and I have a daily and a lifelong struggle with sin. It's normal for believers to experience what the Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 7, where he says, verse 16, first of all, For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do." And then in verse 21, I would do good, when I would do good, evil is present with me. And that because of the old man of sin, which is mentioned here in this Lord's Day too. It is normal for the child of God to have that lifelong daily struggle with temptation and sin. And it's exactly because of that, that conversion is a daily experience for the child of God. And so we don't say, when were you converted? That's not the question, that's not the issue. But the question and the issue is this, are you converting? Are you converting every day? Are you converting every time you face that struggle with temptation and you fall into sin and you commit transgressions against God? It's constant, it's daily because the Holy Spirit is turning us every day from sin to God. and turning us in such a way, as the catechism says, that we more and more hate sins and more and more flee from sins. Daily, ongoing conversion. And even if someone has a dramatic and a datable conversion, because we can't rule that out altogether, there are some who have that, but even for them, The critical, the important thing is daily conversion from that point on in their lives. Every day the child of God prays, turn thou me and I shall be turned. The Lord's Day, you'll notice, is detailed about the different parts of conversion. The first part of conversion is this, the mortification of the old man. And the Catechism asks, what is that? What is the mortification of the old man? The answer, it is a sincere sorrow of heart that we have provoked. God by our sins and more and more to hate and flee from them. That's the first characteristic of true conversion. Sincere sorrow of heart. There is, implied by that of course, there is insincere sorrow. And 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10 mentions that. 2 Corinthians 7, 10 mentions the sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the ungodly. It's insincere sorrow. And it's insincere sorrow because the sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the ungodly is merely horizontal in its character. Horizontal. The sorrow of the world, the sorrow of the ungodly is a sorrow that arises from a man who has sinned simply being concerned about other men and women. And in his or her concern merely about other men and women, the main concern is self. Self, horizontal. Insincere sorrow is a sorrow in which one is sorrowful over sin simply because he or she has disappointed himself or disappointed others. I expected better of myself. Others expected better of me. I've failed myself. I've failed others. He or she feels sorry for himself. I wish I hadn't done these things. I wish I hadn't done them because now look at the trouble I have to experience and I brought upon myself. The sorrow of the world is self-centered. The sorrow of the world is simply regret, regret. And we can often sinfully and wrongly have that kind of sorrow over sin too, only that kind of sorrow. And 2 Corinthians 7.10 says this to us, that's a sorrow that needs to be repented of. In other words, that kind of sorrow is a sin, and that kind of sorrow needs to be confessed and turned from. That's the sorrow of the world, an insincere sorrow, but a sincere sorrow is not horizontal. Sincere sorrow is vertical. As the Catechism says, this is sincere sorrow. I have provoked God by my sins. Now when we sin, we certainly hurt people. We hurt them terribly, we give wounds that they may have to live with the rest of their lives. We ruin and we destroy relationships when we sit against each other. We create a lot of damage, we do. But what is much more serious is what we do to God when we sit. The truly converted child of God looks up and considers the God, the holy God in heaven, and the truly converted child of God is grieved, troubled, burdened because he or she has offended and provoked God by the sin. True conversion is to say what David did. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and David murdered her husband Uriah the Hittite. David sinned against Bathsheba, and David sinned against Uriah. And David sinned against the whole nation of Israel. That is, he sinned against the church. He sinned against every member of the church in the Old Testament. But in Psalm 51 verse 4, when David was led to confess his sin, he said this, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. And that too is what the prodigal son said. First of all in verse 18, I have sinned against heaven. And then again in verse 21, Father, I have sinned against heaven. He does add, and in thy sight, because he understood that after confessing his sin against God, he must also admit and confess his sin against his Father, against those on earth. But first, I have sinned against heaven. And correctly he understood that that must be confessed first because that's what makes sin serious. And that's what makes our sins so grievous and terrible too. The child of God who is by the Spirit humbled, truly converted, and has sincere sorrow of heart through that work of the Spirit, has a heavy heart because he has been unfaithful to God, to God who has loved us, and to God who has given us so much. Confession of sin is not simply this, children. And children, you do confess your sins, you must confess your sins, but your confession of sin is not simply saying sorry to your parents because you got caught and now you're in trouble. And for us as adults, likewise, our confession of sin is not simply that we're sorrowful because of the shame that sin has brought upon us and the consequences that result from sin, and now others are unhappy with us or even angry with us because of sins that we have committed. But the confession of sin is this, I've sinned against God. I've sinned against the God who loves me and the God who is good to me, and that grieves my heart." And flowing from that, and in close connection with that, is that the child of God more and more hates and flees from sin. not clinging to the sin, but mortifying the old man, putting sin to death, with every sin and temptation saying what Joseph did when he was tempted in Egypt, far from home, no one watching, could commit a sin and as it were get away with it. beautiful woman was offering him the pleasures of sin with her, and he said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? And then he fled, too. He fled. The child of God flees from temptations and sin. Flees from the temptations that can be found on the Internet. Flees from the temptations that the ungodly set before us. How can we consider any sin to be enjoyable and nice and fun if it provokes God? And so true conversion involves the mortification of the old man of sin. When we see those things in ourselves, that's evidence of daily conversion, evidence that is of the Spirit's work in us, evidence of our being saved and in the kingdom of God. There is also that positive aspect to true conversion mentioned in question and answer 90, namely the quickening of the new man. The quickening of the new man, the catechism tells us, is especially this, this is a sincere joy of heart in God through Christ. One who flees from sin, who modifies the old man, flees to Christ, believes and trusts in him for pardon. And one who does that, believes and trusts in Christ for pardon, for pardon for the sins that he or she has committed and which he or she now confesses to God, that one experiences joy. That's the counterpart, as the catechism explains all of this, the counterpart to sorrow in heart or sorrow of heart mentioned in answer 89. So that sorrow of heart over sin now is replaced with joy of heart. True sorrow, namely that you say and you confess by God's grace, I have provoked God by my sins, leads to true joy. I am forgiven. And so this Lord's Day speaks of our joy as Christians. Now it can seem sometimes to be very difficult to be joyful, if not impossible we might say. There is so much in life that is disheartening, things that dampen our joy, that make us very sorrowful. Life can seem very negative. countless struggles and troubles of daily life, a long list of things that dampen our joy and make us sad. And at the top of that long list of things is our sin, our daily sins, because of which especially this life is a valley of tears. But in spite of that, the converted believer is able to have and does have joy, happiness. And that joy is not earthly joy, that joy is not found in earthly things, that joy is not found in pleasure or success, that joy is not found in drugs and alcohol, because supposedly they can block out the sorrows for a while. There's no joy in that, but just greater sorrow and greater sin. The joy is not earthly, but heavenly joy. As the catechism puts it, it is joy in God through Christ. God is the source of this joy. Christ is the source of this joy. And this joy arises and this joy grows in the heart of the child of God when the Spirit shows us how gracious God is to us in Christ. The joy that arises from the child of God knowing and confessing, God has forgiven me. He has forgiven me. How could He do so? How could He do so after what I've done to Him through my sins? But He has. He has. My sins have not changed God. My sins have not changed God's love for me in Christ. My sins have not canceled out my election by God. My sins have not erased the work of Christ for me. God has forgiven me, and he has forgiven an unimaginably great debt, and that is reason for great joy. And so we rejoice as those who have been forgiven. And it's true, the forgiven sinner might not be exuberant, because though forgiven, we may still be dealing with the consequences of sin. And though forgiven, we fall into sin again. But we of all people can be joyful. The happiest in all the world, in fact, the only ones, who can be truly joyful. Joy being prominent by the grace of God in the heart, first of all, and then in the life of the saved, forgiven child of God. And that joy of heart also produces fruit. The fruit is, as the Catechism mentions, the life of obedience, living according to the will of God in all good works, doing what pleases God, our God and Father, and what we desire to do and strive to do out of thankfulness to Him. We do it with delight. And that Lord willing we will consider in more detail next Lord's Day when we consider question and answer 91 about what are good works. This then is true conversion. This is what Christ by His Spirit works in those whom He saves. And so may we pray every day that God would work this in us. Turn, though me, and I shall be turned. Turned to have daily sorrow over sin, and turned to experience daily joy in God through Christ, and turned to praise God more and more for His grace. May God work true daily conversion in every one of us. Amen. Faithful God and Father, we thank Thee that we may learn about this part of Thy work of salvation in us. May it serve to instruct us, not only, but also to comfort us and to make us realize, too, the gravity of sin so that we seek Thee, we seek Christ, and are overwhelmed even with the wonder of thy grace to us in him, and realize we have reason, reason beyond measure, for great joy and gladness of heart, and joy in our lives. Bless us by this word, through the work of thy spirit, in Christ's name, amen.