The Great Commission.
by C. H. (Charles Henry) Mackintosh.
PART I.
The first chapter of first Thessalonians presents a very striking and beautiful picture of what we may truly call _genuine conversion_. We propose to study the picture in company with the reader. If we are not much mistaken, we shall find the study at once interesting and profitable. It will furnish an answer, distinct and clear, to the question which stands at the head of this article, namely, What is Conversion?
Nor is this by any means a small matter. It is well, in days like these, to have a divine answer to such a question. We hear a good deal now-a-days about cases of conversion; and we would heartily bless G.o.d for every soul truly converted to Him.
We need hardly say we believe in the absolute, the indispensable, the universal necessity of divine conversion. Let a man be what he may; be he Jew or Greek, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, Protestant or Roman Catholic; in short, whatever be his nationality, his ecclesiastical position, or his theological creed, he _must_ be converted, else he is on the broad and direct road to an everlasting h.e.l.l.
There is no one born a Christian, in the true sense of that word.
Neither can anyone be educated into Christianity. It is a fatal mistake, a deadly delusion, a deceit of the arch-enemy of souls, for anyone to think that he can be a Christian either by birth or education, or that he can be made a Christian by water baptism, or by any religious ceremony whatsoever. A man becomes a Christian only by being divinely converted. We would earnestly press on the attention of all whom it may concern, the urgent and absolute necessity in every case of true conversion to G.o.d.
This cannot be overlooked. It is the height of folly for anyone to attempt to ignore or to make light of it. For an immortal being--one who has a boundless eternity stretching away before him--to neglect the solemn question of his conversion, is the wildest fatuity of which anyone can possibly be guilty. In comparison with this most weighty subject, all other things dwindle into utter insignificance. The various objects that engage the thoughts and absorb the energies of men and women in the busy scene around us, are but as the small dust of the balance in comparison with this one grand, momentous question of the soul"s conversion to G.o.d. All the speculations of commercial life, all the schemes of money-making, the absorbing question of profitable investment, all the pursuits of the pleasure hunter--the theatre, the concert, the ball-room, the billiard-room, the card-table, the dice-box, the race-course, the hunting-ground, the drinking saloon--all the numberless and nameless things that the poor unsatisfied heart longs after, and grasps at--all are but as the vapor of the morning, the foam on the water, the smoke from the chimney-top, the withered leaf of autumn--all vanish away, and leave an aching void behind. The heart remains unsatisfied, the soul unsaved, because unconverted.
And what then? Ah, yes; what then! Tremendous question! What remains at the end of all this scene of commercial excitement, political strife and ambition, money-making and pleasure-hunting? Why, then the man has to face death! "It is appointed unto men once to die." There is no getting over this. There is no discharge in this war. All the wealth of the universe could not purchase one moment"s respite at the hand of the ruthless foe. All the medical skill which earth affords, all the fond solicitude of affectionate relatives and friends, all their tears, all their sighs, all their entreaties cannot stave off the dreaded moment, or cause the king of terrors to sheathe his terrible sword. Death cannot be disposed of by any art of man. The moment _must_ come when the link is to be snapped which connects the heart with all the fair and fascinating scenes of human life. Fondly loved friends, charming pursuits, coveted objects, all must be given up. A thousand worlds could not avert the stroke. Death must be looked at straight in the face. It is an awful mystery--a tremendous fact--a stern reality. It stands full in front of every unconverted man, woman, and child beneath the canopy of heaven; and it is merely a question of time--hours, days, months, or years,--when the boundary line must be crossed which separates time, with all its empty, vain, shadowy pursuits, from eternity with all its stupendous realities.
And what then? Let Scripture answer. Nothing else can. Men would fain reply according to their own vain notions. They would have us believe that after death comes annihilation. "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Empty conceit! Vain delusion! Foolish dream of the human imagination blinded by the G.o.d of this world! How could an immortal soul be annihilated? Man, in the garden of Eden, became the possessor of a never-dying spirit. "The Lord G.o.d breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a _living_ soul"--not a dying soul. The soul must live forever. Converted or unconverted, it has eternity before it. Oh, the overpowering weight of this consideration to every thoughtful spirit! No human mind can grasp its immensity. It is beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our belief.
Let us hearken to the voice of G.o.d. What does Scripture teach? One line of holy Scripture is quite sufficient to sweep away ten thousand arguments and theories of the human mind. Does death annihilate? Nay!
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
Mark these words, "_After this_ the judgment." And this applies only to those who die in their sins, only to unbelievers. For the Christian, judgment is pa.s.sed forever, as Scripture teaches in manifold places. It is important to note this, because men tell us that, inasmuch as there is eternal life only in Christ, therefore all who are out of Christ shall be annihilated.
Not so says the word of G.o.d. There is judgment after death. And what will be the issue of the judgment? Again Scripture speaks in language as clear as it is solemn. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before G.o.d; and the books were opened; and another book, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, _according to their works_.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hades delivered up the dead which were in them; and _they were judged every man according to their works_.... This is the second death"--the lake of fire. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx.)
All this is as plain as words can make it. There is not the slightest ground for demur or difficulty. For all whose names are in the book of life there is no judgment at all. Those whose names are not in that book shall be judged according to their works. And what then?
Annihilation? Nay; but "the lake of fire;" and that forever and forever.
How overwhelming is the thought of this! An unconverted person, whoever and whatever he is, has death, judgment, and the lake of fire before him, and every throb of his pulse brings him nearer and nearer to those awful realities. It is not more sure that the sun shall rise, at a certain moment, to-morrow morning, than that the reader must, ere long, pa.s.s into eternity; and if his name is not in the book of life--if he is not converted--if he is not in Christ, he will a.s.suredly be judged according to his works, and the certain issue of that judgment will be the lake of fire, through the endless ages of eternity.
The reader may perhaps marvel at our dwelling at such length on this dreadful theme. He may feel disposed to ask, "Will this convert people?" If it does not convert them, it may lead them to see their need of conversion. It may lead them to see their imminent danger. It may induce them to flee from the wrath to come. Why did the blessed apostle reason with Felix on the subject of "judgment to come"? Surely that he might persuade him to turn from his evil ways and live. Why did our blessed Lord Himself so constantly press upon His hearers the solemn reality of eternity? Why did He so often speak of the deathless worm and the unquenchable fire? Surely it was for the purpose of rousing them to a sense of their danger, that they might flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them.
Are we wiser than He? Are we more tender? Have we found out some better mode of converting people? Are we to be afraid of pressing upon our readers or our hearers the same solemn theme which our Lord so pressed upon the men of His time? Are we to shrink from offending polite ears by the plain declaration that all who die unconverted must inevitably stand before the great white throne, and pa.s.s into the lake of fire? G.o.d forbid! It must not be. We solemnly call upon the unconverted reader to give his undivided attention to the all-important question of his soul"s salvation. Let nothing induce him to neglect it. Let neither cares, pleasures, nor duties so occupy him as to hide from his view the magnitude and deep seriousness of this matter. "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
O reader, if thou art unsaved, unconverted, let us earnestly entreat thee to ponder these things, and rouse thee to a sense of thy need of being savingly converted to G.o.d. This is the only way of entering His kingdom. So our Lord Christ distinctly tells us; and we trust you know this at least, that not one jot or t.i.ttle of His holy sayings can ever pa.s.s away. Heaven and earth shall pa.s.s away; but His word can never pa.s.s away. All the power of earth and h.e.l.l, men and devils, cannot make void the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Either of two things for thee--_conversion here, or eternal d.a.m.nation hereafter_.
Thus it stands, if we are to be guided by the word of G.o.d; and, in view of this, is it possible for us to be too earnest, too vehement, too importunate in urging upon every unconverted soul with whom we may come in contact, either with voice or pen, the indispensable necessity, this very moment, of fleeing from the wrath to come, fleeing to that blessed Saviour who died on the cross for our salvation; who stands with open arms to receive all who come; and who declares in His own sweet and precious grace, "HIM THAT COMETH UNTO ME, I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT?"
PART II.
In our previous paper, we have sought to set forth the absolute need, in every case, of conversion. Scripture establishes this point in such a way as to leave no possible ground of doubt for anyone who bows to its holy authority. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven" (Matt. xviii.
3).
This applies, in all its moral force and deep solemnity, to every son and daughter of fallen Adam. There is not so much as a solitary exception, throughout the thousand millions that people this globe.
Without conversion, there is--there can be no entrance into the Kingdom of G.o.d. Every unconverted soul is outside the Kingdom of G.o.d.
It matters not, in the smallest degree, who I am, or what I am; if I am unconverted, I am in "the kingdom of darkness," under the power of Satan, in my sins, and on the way to h.e.l.l.
I may be a person of blameless morals; of spotless reputation; a high professor of religion; a worker in the vineyard; a Sunday-school teacher; an office-bearer in some branch of the professing church; an ordained minister; a deacon, elder, pastor or bishop; a most charitable individual; a munificent donor to religious and benevolent inst.i.tutions; looked up to, sought after, and reverenced by all because of my personal worth and moral influence. I may be all this and more; I may be, and I may have, all that it is possible for a human being to be or to have, and yet be unconverted, and hence outside the Kingdom of G.o.d, and in the kingdom of Satan, in my guilt, and on the broad road that leads straight down to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
Such is the plain and obvious meaning and force of our Lord"s words in Matt. xviii. 3. There is no possibility of evading it. The words are as clear as a sunbeam. We cannot get over them. They bear down, with what we may truly call tremendous solemnity, upon every unconverted soul on the face of the earth. "Except ye be converted, ye _cannot_ enter the Kingdom of heaven." This applies, with equal force, to the degraded drunkard that rolls along the street, worse than a beast, and to the unconverted Good Templar or teetotaler who prides himself on his sobriety, and is perpetually boasting of the number of days, weeks, months, or years during which he has refrained from all intoxicating drink. They are both alike outside the Kingdom of G.o.d; both in their sins; both on the way to eternal destruction.
True it is that the one has been converted from drunkenness to sobriety--a _very great_ blessing indeed, in a moral and social point of view--but conversion from drunkenness to a temperance society is not conversion to G.o.d; it is not turning from darkness to light; it is not entering the Kingdom of G.o.d"s dear Son. There is just this difference between the two, that the teetotaler may be building upon his temperance, pluming himself upon his morality, and thus deceiving himself into the vain notion that he is all right, whereas, in reality, he is not. The drunkard is palpably and unmistakably wrong.
Everybody knows that no drunkard can inherit the Kingdom of G.o.d; but neither can an unconverted teetotaler. Both are outside. Conversion to G.o.d is absolutely indispensable for the one as well as the other; and the same may be said of all cla.s.ses, all grades, all shades, all castes and conditions of men under the sun. There is no difference as to this great question. It holds good as to all alike, be their outward character or social status what it may--"Except ye be converted, _ye cannot_ enter the Kingdom of heaven."
How important, then--yea, how momentous the question for each one, "_Am I converted?_" It is not possible for human language to set forth the magnitude and solemnity of this inquiry. For any one to think of going on, from day to day, and year to year, without a clear and thorough settlement of this most weighty question, can only be regarded as the most egregious folly of which a human being can be guilty. If a man were to leave his earthly affairs in an uncertain, unsettled condition, he would lay himself open to the charge of the grossest and most culpable neglect and carelessness. But what are the most urgent and weighty temporal affairs when compared with the salvation of the soul? All the concerns of time are but as the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, when compared with the interests of the immortal soul--the grand realities of eternity.
Hence it is, in the very highest degree, irrational for any one to rest for a single hour without a clear and settled a.s.surance that he is truly converted to G.o.d. A converted soul has crossed the boundary line that separates the saved from the unsaved--the children of light from the children of darkness--the Church of G.o.d from this present evil world. The converted soul has death and judgment behind him, and glory before. He can be as sure of heaven as though he were already there; indeed as a man in Christ he belongs there already. He has a t.i.tle without a blot, a prospect without a cloud. He knows Christ as his Saviour and Lord; G.o.d as his Father and Friend; the Holy Ghost as his blessed Comforter, Guide and Teacher; heaven as his bright and happy home. Oh! the unspeakable blessedness of being converted. Who can utter it? "Eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which G.o.d hath prepared for them that love Him. But G.o.d hath revealed them unto us [believers] by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of G.o.d" (1 Cor. ii. 9, 10).
And now let us inquire what this conversion is, whereof we speak.
Well, indeed, will it be for us to be divinely instructed as to this.
An error here will prove disastrous in proportion to the interests at stake.
Many are the mistaken notions in reference to conversion. Indeed we might conclude, from the very fact of the vast importance of the subject, that the great enemy of our souls and of the Christ of G.o.d would seek, in every possible way, to plunge us into error respecting it. If he cannot succeed in keeping people in utter carelessness as to the subject of conversion, he will endeavour to blind their eyes as to its true nature. If, for example, a person has been roused, by some means or other, to a sense of the utter vanity and unsatisfactoriness of worldly amus.e.m.e.nts, and the urgent necessity of a change of life, the arch-deceiver will seek to persuade such an one to become religious, to busy himself with ordinances, rites and ceremonies, to give up b.a.l.l.s and parties, theatres and concerts, drinking, gambling, hunting and horse-racing; in a word, to give up all sorts of gaiety and amus.e.m.e.nt, and engage in what is called a religious life, to be diligent in attending the public ordinances of religion, to read the Bible, say prayers, and give alms, to contribute to the support of the great religious and benevolent inst.i.tutions of the country.
Now, this is not conversion. A person may do all this, and yet be wholly unconverted. A religious devotee whose whole life is spent in vigils, fastings, prayers, self-mortifications and alms deeds, may be as thoroughly unconverted, as far from the Kingdom of G.o.d as the thoughtless pleasure hunter, whose whole life is spent in the pursuit of objects as worthless as the withered leaf or the faded flower. The two characters, no doubt, differ widely--as widely perhaps, as any two could differ. But they are both unconverted, both outside the blessed circle of G.o.d"s salvation, both in their sins. True, the one is engaged in "wicked works," and the other in "dead works;" they are both out of Christ; they are unsaved; they are on the way to hopeless, endless misery. The one, just as surely as the other, if not savingly converted, will find his portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.
Again, conversion is not a turning from one religious system to another. A man may turn from Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, or Popery, to Protestantism, and yet be wholly unconverted. No doubt, looked at from a social, moral, or intellectual standpoint, it is much better to be a Protestant than a Mahometan; but as regards our present thesis, they are both on one common platform, both unconverted. Of one, just as truly as the other, it can be said, unless he is converted, he cannot enter the Kingdom of G.o.d. Conversion is not joining a religious system, be that system ever so pure, ever so sound, ever so orthodox. A man may be a member of the most respectable religious body in Christendom, and yet be an unconverted, unsaved man, on his way to eternal perdition.
So also as to the theological creeds. A man may subscribe to any of the great standards of religious belief, the Thirty-nine Articles, the Westminster Confession, John Wesley"s Sermons, Fox and Barclay, or any other creed, and yet be wholly unconverted, dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, and on his way to that place where a single ray of hope can never break in upon the awful gloom of eternity.
Of what use, we may lawfully inquire, is a religious system or a theological creed to a man who has not a single spark of divine life?
Systems and creeds cannot quicken, cannot save, cannot give eternal life. A man may work on in religious machinery like a horse in a mill, going round and round, from one year"s end to another, leaving off just where he began, in a dreary monotony of dead works. What is it all worth? what does it all come to? where does it all end? _Death!_ Yes; and what then? Ah! that is the question. Would to G.o.d the weight and seriousness of this question were more fully realized!
But further, Christianity itself, in all its full-orbed light, may be embraced as a system of religious belief. A person may be intellectually delighted--almost entranced with the glorious doctrines of grace, a full, free gospel, salvation without works, justification by faith; in short, all that goes to make up our glorious New Testament Christianity. A person may profess to believe and delight in this; he may even become a powerful writer in defence of Christian doctrine, an earnest eloquent preacher of the gospel. All this may be true, and yet the man be wholly unconverted, dead in trespa.s.ses and sins, hardened, deceived and destroyed by his very familiarity with the precious truths of the gospel--truths that have never gone beyond the region of his understanding--never reached his conscience, never touched his heart, never converted his soul.
This is about the most appalling case of all. Nothing can be more awful, more terrible, than the case of a man professing to believe and delight in, yea, actually preaching the gospel of G.o.d, and teaching all the grand characteristic truths of Christianity, and yet wholly unconverted, unsaved, and on his way to an eternity of ineffable misery--misery which must needs be intensified to the very highest degree, by the remembrance of the fact that he once professed to believe, and actually undertook to preach the most glorious tidings that ever fell on mortal ears.
O! reader, whoever thou art, do, we entreat of thee, give thy fixed attention to these things. Rest not, for one hour, until thou art a.s.sured of thy genuine, unmistakable conversion to G.o.d.
PART III.
Having thus far seen the absolute necessity, in every case, of conversion, and having, in some measure, sought to point out what conversion is _not_, we have now to inquire what it _is_. And here we must keep close to the veritable teaching of holy Scripture. We can accept nothing less, nothing different. It is greatly to be feared that very much of what pa.s.ses, now-a-days, for conversion is not conversion at all. Many so-called cases of conversion are published and talked of, which cannot stand the test of the word of G.o.d. Many profess to be converted, and are accredited as such, who prove to be merely stony-ground hearers. There is no depth of spiritual work in the heart, no real action of the truth of G.o.d on the conscience, no thorough breaking with the world. It may be the feelings are wrought upon by human influence, and certain evangelical sentiments take possession of the mind; but _self_ is not judged; there is a clinging to earth and nature; a lack of that deep-toned earnestness and genuine reality which so remarkably characterize the conversions recorded in the New Testament, and for which we may always look where the work of conversion is divine. We do not here attempt to account for all these superficial cases; we merely refer to them in order that all who are engaged in the blessed work of evangelization may be led to consider the matter in the light of holy Scripture, and to see how far their own mode of working may call for holy correction. It may be there is too much of the merely human element in our work. We do not leave the Spirit of G.o.d to act. We are deficient in faith, in the power and efficacy of the simple work of Christ itself. There may be too much effort to work on the feelings, too much of the emotional and the sensational. Perhaps, too, in our desire to reach results--a desire which may be right enough in itself--we are too ready to accredit and announce, as cases of conversion, many which, alas! are merely ephemeral.
Will this lessen our earnestness? The very reverse; it will intensify our earnestness immensely. We shall be more earnest in pleading with G.o.d in secret, and in pleading with our fellows in public.