Acts 3:19-21 Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out… I. A CHANGE. A Scotch lassie, who heard Mr. Whitefield preach, was so impressed that she underwent a change of heart. When she presented herself before the Church to be admitted as a member, the deacon said to her, "My child, is your heart changed?" She replied, "Sir, I do not know whether it is my heart that is changed or the world, but I feel that something is changed; things are different now." When a man is "converted" he undergoes a change. Instead of being a servant of Satan, or living merely to please himself, he becomes a servant of God, and lives henceforth to try to please God. II. A SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE; not merely in name, but in reality. A certain clergyman was preaching to black people. One of the men seemed much impressed, and said he would be a Christian. So the clergyman baptized him, made the mark of the cross on his forehead, and called him by a new name — "Adam." A week or two afterwards the clergyman had reason to believe that this man was not doing as he ought, and amongst other things that he was not fasting on Fridays. Accordingly, one Friday, he went to the man's cabin, and, as he expected, smelt the savoury scent of roasting beef. The clergyman said, "Adam, you are breaking the law of the Church; you ought to be fasting; that is beef, not fish." The man replied, "Well, Master preacher, you cross me and call me a new name, and say I am Christian. So, massa, I take de beef and cross him, and put him in de water, and call him fish." That is about as great a change or conversion as one man can give another. No rite can convert a living soul. Conversion is a personal act between the soul and God. III. A CHANGE WITHIN WHICH TRANSFORMS THE OUTWARD LIFE. IV. AN ENDURING CHANGE. A man can get a new "rig-out" for about half-a-crown in Petticoat Lane. You can get a coat and vest for a shilling, a pair Of "unmentionables" for sixpence, a shirt for fourpence halfpenny, a collar and tie — such as they are, for a penny, a hat — what you call a "pot," for threepence, a pair of stockings also for threepence, and you may get a cane and a ring for a penny! And if you are good at bargaining, you may have a gold-like breast pin with a thing like a diamond thrown into the lot for good luck. While you are in the dark shop the whole thing looks moderately "respectable." The articles are not new certainly; nor second-hand; they are about tenth-hand. But when you walk out with your purchases on your back — well, you had better have a good-sized sheet of brown paper to wrap yourself in, for I suspect a decent gust of wind might blow them away altogether, or a shower of rain might dissolve them. The fact is the things are not substantial; they won't stand wear and tear. Man-made conversions are like those cast-off clothes — they are unsubstantial — they will not wear well. (W. Birch.) Parallel Verses KJV: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; |
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