Turning to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18, we'll begin reading at verse one of the chapter, Matthew 18 and the verse number one. Let's hear God's word. At the same time came the disciples on to Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child onto him and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whosoever shall receive one such little child in mine name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him than a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come. But woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or meand rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. Amen. And with the word open, let's just seek the Lord. In a word of prayer, loving Father, our gracious God, we rejoice in the opportunity to gather as a family around the open book again. We thank you for the place of public worship. Thank you for the desire, oh God, that's within our hearts to be here, to come to praise thee for all mercies received from my good and gracious hand. We have given our praise to Thee. We have given, O God, our finances to Thee. O God, now let us give our attention and our hearts to Thee as we come to sit under the preaching of Thy Word. Grant, O God, much help by the Spirit. as we declare that which thou hast given to us. Thou hast said that which thou hast told us in secret, we are to shout from the housetops. Grant, dear God, therefore enabling grace to preach the word, grant us unction that we might properly function. O God, hear in the pulpit, grant, O God, help and assistance, the guidance of God the Holy Spirit. And may, O God, our hearts be opened by the Lord, open our understanding, lift the scales from off our eyes, remove the veil, we pray, upon even the mind of the unconverted one. Lord, those that are maybe living in some false pretense of a profession of faith, We pray, O God, that honesty might be given, Lord, that the reality, O God, of their true state before Thee might be revealed as the Word of God is preached. So answer prayer, glorify Thy Son, Lord, grant signs following the preaching of the Word. We pray these are petitions and through our Savior's holy name. Amen. In our family worship over recent weeks, we have been dealing with the indispensable work of the Holy Spirit and the work of regeneration. Because in that work, we have found that the whole disposition, the entire inclination of the sinner's will is completely changed. God the Holy Spirit dispenses and imparts spiritual life to the sinner who is found dead in their trespasses and sins. As that work is being done internally, indiscernible to any human being, the call of the gospel continually comes externally to the ear of the sinner. But now things change. Because that sinner's well has been changed, because the sinner's well has now been inclined towards God and righteousness, that external call of the gospel now becomes the effectual call of the gospel, because the well has been changed, as I've said. The ears have been opened, the eyes of the understanding has been opened, their ears have been unstopped, that heart of stone has been replaced, by a heart of flesh, and now the sinner comes to apprehend and to appreciate the truth of God as it is found in the Word of God. And so what naturally follows on from the work of regeneration is the sinner's conversion. Conversion is the outcome, it is the fruit, it is the effect of a genuine work of God in regeneration. No sinner can be regenerated by the Spirit of God and then not subsequently be converted. Because as sure as day follows night and night follows day, the sinner who has been regenerated by the Spirit of God will be converted. Now we're going to think about this matter of conversion, what a glorious doctrine it is. We're going to think about all that is involved in a person's conversion, the marks of true conversion, what conversion is not and what it is. And that'll bring us to consider the great doctrines, the great truths, the great matters of biblical faith. and repentance. And so we're thinking about the next step, as it were. We've moved from regeneration, that which is done indiscernibly within the soul, the changing of the will, the mind, the heart, the opening of eyes and ears. We're moving out of that and we're moving into that realm where the sinner exercises faith in Christ. and they are enabled to repent of their sin and thereby are savingly united to the Lord Jesus Christ. So we're thinking about conversion over the next number of weeks. With this matter before us today, we want to think firstly about the meaning of conversion. We always like to define our terms what we speak of when we speak of conversion. Now, the word conversion is a word that is not unfamiliar to us. We use that word in our normal day-to-day living. We would use that word, it's affiliated word, convert it. When we speak about building projects, you think about it, when people, they renovate their homes, They talk about a garage or maybe a roof space or an attic. They speak of them being converted. They're being converted. There is a garage conversion taking place. It simply means that the garage that once housed a car, its usage is now being changed. It's being changed maybe into a kitchen or into an extra bedroom. So we would use that word conversion when we come to building projects. We speak about conversion when we speak about financial matters. When you plan to go on your summer holidays, if it's somewhere foreign, some holiday destination that's outside the United Kingdom, one of the most important things that you'll ever have to do is to get some sterling And it'll have to be converted into the currency of the country that you're going to go to. There's money conversion that takes place. We also use that word conversion when we think of measurements. Now the Europeans, they like to talk about kilometers and kilograms and liters and meters. But we in the United Kingdom, we would rather speak about miles and pounds and ounces and gallons and feet. And so whenever we're giving maybe a measurement in metric, we have to go to what is known as a conversion table. Or if you have a telephone now, you can have conversion apps. You type it in and it converts the old metric or the new metric measurement into the old imperial measurement that we're more maybe accustomed to. So we know what we mean when we speak about conversion in the normal run of things. And that is how the word conversion is used commonly today. But what is biblical conversion? Well, the best way I believe to supply an answer So that question is to see how the word or how the term is used in the word of God. Now surprisingly, the word conversion appears only once in the scriptures. You can turn to that. It's found in Acts chapter 15 and the verse number three. Paul and Barnabas are on their missionary travels and we're told concerning them in Acts 15 verse three, and being brought on their way by the church, They passed through Phinehas and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all brethren. The Greek word simply means a moral revolution. That's what it is. When a person is converted, there is a moral revolution that takes place within the soul. By nature, we are immoral. By nature, we love our sin, but when God converts a person, there is a revolution within whereby he imparts morality and he enables us to live morally acceptable lives in the sight of Almighty God. So as Paul and Barnabas make their way through these particular localities, they are enabled by God to speak and to report to the brethren existing in those localities how the Gentiles had come to faith in Jesus Christ, how they had turned from their idols to serve the living and true God. That's what conversion is. A turning from idols to serve the living and the true God. And so this is the only appearance of the word conversion. But there are other associated words Words like converted, or converts, or converting, they're also found in the Word of God, and they're found in both the Old and New Testaments, because conversion is not just something that happened after the day of Pentecost. Conversion was something that was evident in the lives of individuals in both the Old and the New Testament. Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 19, verse 7. He said, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. making wise the simple. Psalm 51 verse 13, Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Isaiah 1 verse 27, Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. The imparting of righteousness causes redemption, that brings men and women to a place of conversion. Matthew 18 verse 3, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. The words are Christ's. Acts 3 verse 19, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. One final reference found in James 5, 19 and 20, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one, convert him. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins." When we consider then these words along with the word conversion, we see that conversion involves a turning away from one thing and a turning on to another thing. Sinners by their sin nature have turned their back on God. But whenever they are converted, they turn again to God. Conversion is then a turning of the soul from error to truth, from sin to holiness, from works to grace, from Satan and on to God. Dr. Kearns defined conversion in the following simple way, a turning to God, a turning to God. He did amplify that definition. He said the conversion is the exercise of the new nature. subsequent to and because of regeneration in faith and repentance, the constituent parts of conversion. In other words, when a person is converted, they are exercising faith and repentance, and it is a result of the inner work that has already occurred by the Spirit of God. You see, conversion is the first spiritual activity. It's the first exercise, it's the first manifestation of a soul that has been regenerated by the Spirit of God, whereby the sinner ceases from their former way of living, a life that's marked by sin and unrighteousness, and they begin to live a new life, a life that is marked by holiness and righteousness. And that change is wrought and grounded and rooted in the work of regeneration. Because the sinner has been regenerated, because the will has been changed, because the eyes have been opened, the ears have been opened, because the heart has been changed, thereby the sinner is then enabled by the help of the Spirit of God to turn to God and be savingly united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there is a tendency. by some to get regeneration and conversion confused with each another. But they do differ somewhat. Let me highlight just three distinctions between the two that I hope will help you distinguish them from each another. And I say, firstly, the first distinction is that regeneration is the cause of conversion. I've said that already in the message. It's the cause of it, not the fruit. No regeneration must come first. If ever a sinner is to be converted, their heart must be regenerated by the Spirit of God. Regeneration always precedes conversion. Before a person is converted, they must be regenerated by the Spirit of God. You see, regeneration is the cause, conversion is the effect. Secondly, in regeneration man is entirely passive. That simply means that man does not and cannot do anything to regenerate their heart or their will, but God is entirely active in regeneration. He enlightens a mind, imparts new life, gives a will, that will a completely new inclination. However, in conversion, man no longer is passive, but rather he is active. because he repents of sin and he exercises faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and he is given that ability because the Spirit of God has regenerated him. That believing is only ever possible because the Spirit has already worked within the soul. The third distinction is that while regeneration is a once and for all act, conversion is not Conversion is a continual activity because we daily turn from sin and we daily exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we trust that we'll quantify what I've just said there. at the end of the message. I don't want you to misunderstand me. It isn't that we are saved time and time again and need to ask God to save us. But in a broad sense, we're looking at the term maybe in a broader sense when we take this thought, this distinction, there is that turning from sin. And there is that turning on to God on a daily basis. And in that kind of way, we are being converted day by day. And so these are three distinctions that will help us, I trust, see the difference between conversion and redemption. You see, in conversion, or in redemption, we are given a new nature. In conversion, that new nature is being exercised as we repent and exercise faith in Jesus Christ. What it is, it is a turning on to God. a turning from sin and a turning on to God. Secondly, think with me concerning the means of conversion. What agency does God use in conversion? Well, conversion is primarily the work of God the Holy Spirit. That's why we're dealing with these issues. We're still in the series of God the Holy Spirit. We're looking at what he does, how he applies redemption to our hearts. What is it that God does? Well, conversion is a work of God the Holy Spirit, just as regeneration is. The Holy Spirit converts the sinner by the effectual call. The call of the gospel becomes effectual to the sinner through the agency of God, the Holy Spirit, because it does so. Because then, or sorry, then the sinner is able to do something, exercise faith, and then to exhibit repentance for their sin. One preacher put it like this, the same divine spirit who cooperated with the Father and the Son in the work of creation, cooperates specially in the work of conversion. It is he who conveys life from Christ, the great fountain of life, into the hearts of men. He who moved upon the face of the waters before the wonderful works were spoken, let there be light, is he who moves over sinner's souls. and takes their natural darkness away. He can soften that which is hard. He can bend that which is stiff and stubborn. He can give eyes to the spiritually blind, ears to the spiritually deaf, tongues to the spiritually mute, feet to the spiritually lame, warmth to the spiritually cold, knowledge to the spiritually ignorant, and life to the spiritually dead. This is what the Spirit does, bringing a man or woman to turn from sin and exercise faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ. And although the sinner does repent and exercise faith, they are only enabled to do so because of the work of God the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that bestows the gifts of faith and repentance. These are gifts, gifts given by God. And as it were, the Spirit of God brings those gifts to the sinner, enabling them to understand that they are a sinner. To feel the conviction of sin upon the soul. And so when we trace conversion back, as it were, to its original source, when we look to its, as it were, causal agency, then we come to appreciate that conversion is primarily the work of God the Holy Spirit. It is He who converts the soul. Let us not understand that my faith or my repentance brings me into a right standing before God, but rather it is God that brings me to that place. It is the Spirit of God as He works upon the soul, as He brings me to the new birth, as I'm saved from my sin, as I'm given a new nature. It all goes back to God. All goes back to God. My brothers and sisters, when we understand that, We understand that our conversion is only possible because of the workings of God the Holy Spirit in the soul. Then we come to understand that it must be then an eternal work. This is a work of God. This is the work of an eternal God. This work of conversion is a work that is based and is produced by the eternal God, and it is an eternal work, and thereby it is a work that cannot be reversed. If God truly converts a person, That person is converted, saved, redeemed, born again, eternally. It's God who sees to our conversion. It is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. Therefore, if you're an individual who doubts your salvation, you need to remember that this is the case, that this is a work of God, and any work that God does is always a good work and will always find its full completion. He will perform that which He is appointed to do. He will work all things out and bring all things to their completed end. And so, as a doubting Christian, you need to rest upon the fact that every work that God does is a well-wrought work. If God has converted me, then I am saved. Because he that hath begun a good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He has done the work. It is not my repentance, it is not my faith, but it is God. It is God who has lifted me out of the deadness of my sin. It is God who has given me life. It is God who has given me a new nature. It is God who has given me the gifts of faith and repentance. It is God that has enabled me to embrace Jesus Christ as he is offered freely to me in the gospel. It is all of God. Salvation is off the Lord. He is author and finisher of our And so, if you doubt your salvation, you need to look away from yourself today. You need to look away from your flawed repentance. You need to look away from your faulty faith today. And you need to understand that it is God who has saved me. And if God has saved me, then this is an eternal work. And it is a work that can never be reversed. It is a work that can never be rescinded. And so we also come to understand, as I've said, no matter how flawed our repentance from sin was, how small or how weak our faith was when we first believed, it matters not. God has converted the soul, and that divine work is a good work, a well-wrought work, a finished work. God has worked within. There's a final point that I want us to think about today, maybe a lengthier point, with regard to the matter of conversion, namely the various kinds of conversion. Did you know that the Bible does not always speak of conversion in the same sense as we would think of conversion? The theologian Louis Burckhoff identifies four different kinds of conversions that are set forth in the Word of God, and we want to close the message by looking at them today. First of all, there is what Birkhoff calls national conversion. National conversion. In the days of Moses and Joshua, in the days of the judges, like Samson and Gideon, in the days of the prophets, like Elijah and Elisha, you'll read that the children of Israel repeatedly turned their backs on Jehovah. After experiencing the divine displeasure of God and the judgment that befell them because of their departure from God, we find the nation doing something. We find them turning back to God. We find them repenting of their sin and returning on to the Lord. For example, such happened in the days of King Hezekiah, also in the days of King Josiah. Upon the preaching of Jonah to the city of Nineveh, we read that the Ninevites were said to have repented of their sin and they were subsequently spared the judgment of God. According to the theologian, those national conversions were merely of the nature of a moral reformation. There was no deep work done. It was a turning from sin. Now, he does acknowledge that there would have been among those people real, genuine, biblical conversions of individuals. But for the vast majority of those people, those turning away from sin and on to God fell short of what real, true conversion was. As a rule, those conversions, those turnings away from sin to God, were just merely superficial. You see, what happened was, they happened, those conversions, those turnings to God, they happened whenever there were godly leaders in the land. But what happens when those leaders die? You know what happens? The peg goes back to the mire. Because really no hard work was done. You'll find it repeated again, especially in the book of Judges. God raises up a deliverer. The people turn to God on hearing the message from God. For a number of years they walk with God. The leader dies. They go back to their sin. Another leader is raised. He preaches repentance and they turn and they live. merely religious life for a number of years, he dies, then they turn again away from God. And it seems to be a repeated cycle. It is really something that was merely superficial. They fell back into their old habits, after those godly and those pious men had died and had been promoted to glory, indicating that really no radical, no inward change had been truly wrought within the souls of those nations' citizens. God forbid that you would have such a conversion experience. God forbid that you would be like Pharaoh. Do you remember him? He said to Moses, I have sinned. When the heat was on, when the plagues were upon him, the flies and the lice and the locusts, he acknowledges what he had done. He had sinned against God. But whenever the plagues were gone, the pressure, as it were, was lifted. He went back to his old way of life again. And in him, and in Pharaoh, we see a microcosm of what happens at times within nations. There is, yes, it seems to be there's a turning back to God, a turning back to righteousness. But whenever time tells, really that conversion experience is seen to be merely but mere superficial and on the surface. There may be remorse for sin. Yes, that's true. but no true repentance, for repentance is a turning away completely from sin. And maybe you're an individual, and this is a type of your so-called conversion. The pressure was on. You needed to do something, maybe to see a face. You made some profession of faith, but where is it today? Where's your love for God today? Where's your love for his people and for his house? Where is it today? Is it a real and a genuine work? And so there would be, in the eyes of this man, there would be what is known as a national conversion experience. But then there is also, secondly, temporary conversion. Temporary conversion. Again, these are conversions that are not true. They do produce a kind of change for a period of time, and yet soon, when the pressure is on, when persecution comes, when it arises, when the price is found out to be what it is, to be a Christian, to taking up the cross and following daily after the Savior, that individual, they're seen no more among the people of God and among the family of God. We read of many types of conversions like this. You know the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke of it, and he spoke about those who receive the word in their hearts, they receive it with joy, but there's no root in them. They spring up for a while, but soon, Either the tares or the thorns come up and choke it, or the sun springs up and they wither away. Trials and persecutions and tribulations all come because of the gospel, and speedily those individuals, they're offended and they fall away. Such language the Savior uses to set forth this very conversion experience that we're thinking about today. Just a mere temporary conversion. People that are here today and gone tomorrow. And we find that within the Church of Jesus Christ. Those who would profess a profession of faith, but there's really no going on with God. There's really no change of heart. The desires are just the same. Really, their general trend of living is just as it was before. they came to Jesus Christ. Really, no reality of God within the soul. And it soon is, whenever trouble and temptation and trials come, well, they soon fall away. They hold not to the faith. They make shipwreck of the faith. We think of men that Paul mentions within his letters. Men like Himalayas and Alexander, it says, who made shipwreck concerning the faith, 1 Timothy 1, 19 and 20. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 17 and 18, he names two other individuals who concerning the truth, he said, have erred, saying that the resurrection is past and overthrow the faith of some. These were individuals who appeared to be saved and yet were shown in the long run to be unregenerate. unconverted people. The writer to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4 to 6, he speaks of those who fell away, who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift. who were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and tasted the good word of God and the powers of age to come." We're referring again to individuals who had never experienced the work of God within the soul. 1 John 2, verse 19 speaks of those who turned their backs upon the faithful. It says, and they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. It's evident that they're no longer... They were never a child of God. They had never been converted. Why? Because they never stayed the course. They never endured to the end. They abandoned the faith. Because, really, there was no saving faith within. Never at all. Such temporary conversions, yes, for a time they show and they have the appearance of some kind of true conversion, but at the end they're shown to be nothing but counterfeit experiences. And sadly, sadly, These types of conversions are prevalent within the Church of Jesus Christ today. People who have raised a hand during some gospel appeal, have said some sinner's prayer, have been told by a minister or evangelist that they've been saved, but today they just live habitually in their sin and are quite happy to do so. That's not true conversion. That's not a turning away from sin and a turning on to righteousness and on to godliness. And I ask you today, is that your type of conversion experience? Is there any reality of God within the soul? Is it your chief concern to live a life that glorifies God? Have you desires after God? Have you an appetite for the Word of God and for prayer? Do you love the Gospel? Are you concerned for the advancement of Christ's cause in this district and further afield? I believe these things will be evident to at least some degree if you've been genuinely converted. And if they are lacking, then I would doubt whether or not you are genuinely saved. I leave it between you and God to decipher whether or not you have been genuinely converted. The third kind of conversion is what is known as true conversion. True conversion is born out of godly sorrow for sin and leads to a life of devotion to Jesus Christ and to God. It is a change that is rooted in the work of regeneration, as I've said. And that work alters the entire nature of a person's life, the entire nature. They become new creatures in Christ Jesus. In true conversion, the regenerate sinner, through the grace of God, turns to God in true faith, in true repentance. The Word of God has many striking examples of that kind of conversion. Naaman in 2nd Kings 5. Manasseh in 2nd Chronicles 22. Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. The man born blind in John chapter 9. the woman of Samaria in John chapter 4, the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8, Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter 9, Lydia, the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16, and many, many others. Now no two conversions are precisely alike in detail. What I mean by that is with respect to the means, the modes, the manifestations of a person's conversion. Individuals are saved, sometimes in church, sometimes at home, sometimes in a field, sometimes in a car. Different means are used, whether it be the preaching of the word and from the pulpit, whether it be counsel from a Christian friend, whether it be a gospel track or a CD or a DVD. No two conversions are precisely alike, and yet, Mr. Spurgeon noted, in all true conversions, there are points of essential agreement. There must be an all. a penitent confession of sin, a looking to Jesus for the forgiveness of it, and there must also be a real change of heart, such as shall effect the entire life hereafter. Where these essential points are not found, Mr. Spurgeon said, there is no genuine conversion. a permanent heart over sin, a looking to Jesus for salvation, and a change of heart that radically changes the entire life hereafter. Those are the key ingredients, as it were, the common essentials when it comes to a person's conversion. So let me ask you, have you been converted? Have you experienced sorrow for sin? Has that sorrow for sin led you to the Christ of God? Let me ask you, have you experienced a change of heart that has led to a change of life? Today, have you peace with God? Do you love Christ, your Father, the Holy Spirit? Do you love your fellow man? Do you live in fellowship with God? Do you delight in His Word? Are you much in prayer? Is it your desire to die more and more unto sin and live more and more unto righteousness? These are personal, these are probing, these are searching, these are solemn questions that need your consideration today. Because remember, I want you to listen. Listen, if you're not converted, you are still in your sin. And if you die in your sin, where Christ is, you'll never be. This is how serious the matter is. Do not go into eternity on some mere profession of faith that has never changed the heart or the will and has made no impact upon your living. Don't die with some mere profession of faith. Make sure you die in Jesus Christ. Make sure you die as a genuine Christian, because if you die in your sin, you'll never be in God's heaven. You'll be in hell. You'll be in God's hell. And so this is an important matter. The fourth and the final kind of conversion is what Birkhoff would call a repeated conversion. Now don't misunderstand me. I do not mean, and he does not mean by a person being saved over and over again. When a person has been genuinely saved, they are eternally saved, and therefore there is no need for the salvation experience to be repeated again. Conversion, in the strictest sense, is never repeated. However, those who have experienced conversion may fall, may feel in their Christian life. But if they do, the new life within will re-again or reassert itself again that will eventually cause that person to return to God with a penitent heart. You see, there are people in this province and they would say to you on the door that I'm a backslider. They would say that I was once saved and I have now backslidden. But I believe that if a person is a genuine backslider, that there will be a time when that new nature that is still present within the soul will re-again reassert itself and bring that person back to God. and back to the cross, and back to the people of God. They will be found again worshiping God with the people of God. And so when we speak of a repeated conversion, we're speaking about those Bible incidences where an already converted person, after a temporary lapse into sin, turns back to God. Now, we have examples of that, both in the Old and New Testament. King David, he was truly converted, and yet he turns back to God. He was, we would say, or we would term converted. But we think of Peter. I think the words of Christ to Peter, I trust, will help us to understand What we mean by this, remember what the Savior said to Peter, how he warned him, how he instructed him there in Luke chapter 22, verse 31, 22. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. So faith is there. And then Christ says, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. It doesn't mean whenever you're saved again, Doesn't mean that whenever you fall into sin that you have to ask God to save you again. That's been done. He's talking about a, what's conversion? A turning to God. And whenever a person falls into sin, what they need to do is they need to turn back to God. For they have turned away from Him and they have turned to sin. Albert Barnes says, a person is regenerated but once at the beginning of their Christian life, but they may be converted as often as they fall into sin. Converted in the sense that they leave their sin and they return to God. That's what conversion is. A turning from sin and a turning on to God. So we think of conversion as we think of this type of conversion in a broader sense of the word. It's us turning back to God. It's being restored. That's the word that we use. In our generation, we speak about a person being restored, but Jesus Christ, speaking to Peter, he speaks about him being converted, being converted again. Not saved again, but returning to God again, because there has been a departure from God. And maybe there's someone here today In four weeks, months, maybe years, you have been wandering further and further away from the Lord. You need to be converted, restored today. Today is the day that you need to return to your first love. How do you do that? You simply follow the counsel of Revelation 2 verse 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works, and he will receive you, and he will restore unto you the years that the locusts have eaten." What is conversion? It is a turning to God. Who is it that brings us to the place of conversion? Who is it that converts us? It is God, the Holy Spirit. What kinds of conversions are there? National, Contemporary. True. Repeat it. What conversion experience have you? Is it true conversion? If it's not, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. He will save you. He is willing. He is able. Doubt no more. May God convert you and change the usage of your life, that life that you have used for self and sin, that the whole conversion experience will cause you to use now that life to serve Him and to glorify your God, which is in heaven. May God be pleased to convert sinners, and backsliders in this house today. Let's bow our heads in prayer, please. Maybe God has been speaking to you and troubling you about spiritual things, and you would have to say, preacher, I really do not think that I have been converted. I was reading just the example or an illustration this morning about a preacher who was asked by one of his congregation to preach on that little verse. Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. And as he preached, he started to ask some questions to the congregation. When were you converted? And then he started to think, when was I converted? And then he asked, how were you converted? And then he started to think, how was I converted? And as he preached that message, it dawned on him, as a parish preacher, it dawned on him that he wasn't even converted himself. And he came to Jesus Christ at that moment of time, and it says that his ministry was changed, radically changed. When were you converted? When were you saved? Has it been evident that there has been a change of life in heart? Oh, may God help us to all search our hearts today. And if you need help with these matters, then speak to us at the door as you leave this house. Remember, if you're not converted, you're in your sin. And if you die in your sins, where Christ is, you'll never be. Our loving Father, our gracious God in heaven, we pray, O God, that by thy Spirit that thou will show to every heart, whether or not we have been genuinely converted. Whether or not a change has been wrought within the soul, oh, help us to understand. Oh, grant, Father, an understanding heart and mind. Grant, dear God, honesty of heart. And if, dear God, there be those here, and maybe for years they have lived in sin, secretly and privately, and have never really truly repented, never truly come to Christ, never known what it is to become a partaker of the divine nature, we ask by thy Holy Spirit that thou will cause them to be honest with themselves, and may they seek after thee, and may, O God, they find the joy of peace through believing as they turn from sin and as they turn on to God. Answer prayer. Be glorified, we ask. Through the preaching of the Word, we offer our petitions in and through our Savior's precious and holy and wonderful name. Amen and amen.