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This is a sermon given by Pastor Les on July 31, 2016 and it discusses baptism, communion and transformation as being three of the signs regarding conversion.
Written Excerpts:
Introduction:
There is a word in the Bible that is a very
important part to understanding the whole concept of salvation.
That is the word convert,
along with it various forms of usage – converteth,
converted, conversion, etc.
The word is a part of our everyday secular
vocabulary and the dictionary gives the following definitions and examples of
how the word can be used.
Convert - verb (used with object)
1. to change (something) into a different form or
properties; transmute; transform.
2. to cause to adopt a different religion, political
doctrine, opinion, etc.: to convert the
heathen.
3. to turn to another or a particular use or
purpose; divert from the original or intended use: They converted the study into a nursery for the baby.
4. to modify (something) so as to serve a different
function: to convert an automobile
factory to the manufacture of tanks.
5. to obtain an equivalent value for in an exchange
or calculation, as money or units of measurement: to convert bank notes into gold; to convert yards into meters.
6. Finance. To exchange voluntarily (a bond or
preferred stock) into another security, usually common stock, because of the
greater value of the latter.
7. to change in character; cause to turn from an
evil life to a righteous one: to convert
a criminal.
The Bible uses the term in a spiritual context in
various ways such as found in these passages:
Matthew
18:3 [Jesus] said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Acts
3:19 [Peter said] 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;
Acts
15:3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they
caused great joy unto all the brethren.
James
5:19-20 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one
convert him; 20 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.
As
we consider these and other references regarding conversion, we can see that it
is a word that basically describes the same thing we mean when we speak of salvation.
For
a little while this morning I want to talk to you about the topic of conversion
and how it is manifested in the life of a believer.
I. The
Meaning of Conversion.
As
you can see in the bulletin, the title of the message today is, “The Signs of
Conversion.” We are going to discuss those signs in just a moment, but first of
all I want to describe what conversion really means as used in the context of
Christian faith.
Author
and professor, Keith Drury, said this about conversion, “When we speak of the church seeing conversions, we mean something more
than witnessing the moment when a person prays to ‘receive Christ.’ We mean the
entire process of conversion. When a child is born, we record on the birth
certificate the first moment when he or she took a breath. But the mother and
father realize that the moment of birth is just one part of a much longer
process, including the discovery of pregnancy, nine months of expectation,
physical changes in the mother’s body, birth, naming, announcing, and
dedicating the child. Birth is a package deal. Likewise, spiritual conversion
is a total package. The process starts when God’s prevenient grace draws a person toward Christ and he or
she senses a growing conviction of
sin and need for God. Like a fetus, this conviction grows until the moment of new birth… the instant when God
forgives the person’s sin and the Holy Spirit enters in and regenerates the soul,
creating a new life.
The process of
conversion does not begin with the moment of regeneration, and it doesn’t end
there either.”
I
want you to especially notice two or three words or concepts that Professor
Drury mentioned, which also happen to be important biblical concepts.
A. God’s prevenient grace draws a
person.
John
6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw
him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John
12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
B. Senses a growing conviction of sin
and need.
John
16:8 And when he [i.e., the Holy Spirit] is come, he will reprove (NKJV, convict)
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Eventually,
there will come a time when the conviction grows to the point when the
unbeliever/sinner recognizes the need to repent and begins to do so. Repentance
means to have a complete reversal or change of mind/thinking. Conversion means
to have a complete change of life. My
observation is this: there are too many people trying to come to Christ without
ever having been convicted over their sin.
If
I never realize and recognize the horrible condition of sin in my life and the
judgment I deserve because of it, then I’ll never truly understand exactly what
Christ has done for me and offered to me. In
that case, “getting converted” or being “saved” means nothing more than deciding
to change political parties on my voter registration. (Oh, I guess I’ll become a Christian today.) I
can never experience a real conversion if I’ve never genuinely repented, and
I’ll never repent if I’ve never sensed genuine conviction about my condition
and my need.
When
an individual places his/her faith in Jesus Christ and is truly converted,
there are at least three outward signs that communicate that change to others.
II. The first sign is Christian Baptism.
I
am excited that we have the first baptism scheduled since I have been the
pastor here. I assume the responsibility/ blame for that. I should have been
more diligent to stress the importance of it.
What
is baptism all about anyway?
Well,
in the short explanation, it is an outward sign and testimony to the fact that
the baptismal candidate has been converted and is identifying with Jesus Christ
and His followers/disciples.
It
is a tangible way for the individual to say, “I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back, no turning back.”
(Keith Drury) While conversion can happen in
private as a result of personal evangelism, baptism is always public. It is the
sacrament ordained by Christ to make conversion a public matter… It is true, technically
speaking, that the new convert was saved when he or she “prayed the prayer” at
the altar or in [some other place]. But that person is publicly received into
the body of Christ when he or she submits to baptism….
Baptism is a public affair. There is no such thing
as secret discipleship. When people try to follow Jesus in secret, one of two
things eventually happens. Either their following of Jesus eliminates their
secrecy, or their secrecy eliminates their following of Christ. Baptism makes
conversion public.
Philip
the evangelist in Acts explained the Scriptures to the Ethiopian Eunuch. At the
end of their conversation, the Ethiopian requests to be baptized. Why? To
publicly, physically and outwardly demonstrate the inward conversion that had
just taken place in his life.
III. The second sign is Christian Communion.
Communion
is a sacrament just as baptism is. It is a physical and outward sign, as well
as baptism is.
We
have repeatedly noted what the emblems of communion represent – the broken body
and shed blood of Jesus Christ. We’ve tried to share a number of different
truths about communion over the past few years as we have shared communion
together.
One
thing I want to say today in regards to communion that I don’t think I have
ever said before, relates to this issue of conversion. If
baptism is the sign that conversion has happened, a new life in Christ has
begun, and I’ve been admitted into
the family of faith (the church), then I think we can view communion as a sign
that faith is still active.
The
person who partakes of communion is essentially testifying, “I’m still
believing in Jesus Christ and His shed blood for my sins. I am still a part of
the church as a follower of Jesus."
IV. The third sign is a life transformation.
Baptism
and communion are essential sacraments that every Christian believer should
practice. There is one other sign of conversion that is not a sacrament, but it
is no less necessary.
The
third sign of conversion is the transformation of one’s life after they have
put faith in Jesus Christ.
The
Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians and said, … if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor. 5:17)
New
attitudes; New behavior; New vocabulary; New affections; Making
amends/restitutions, etc. These are all traits that indicate transformation has taken place and is continuing to happen.
Conclusion:
Have
you been converted? Has there been a time in your life when you committed your
life to Christ and new spiritual life began? If
so, come to the Lord’s Table today and once again identify with the family of
God as we commune together.
Before
we share the elements, let us sing two verses of the hymn, I Will Sing of My Redeemer
