Conviction is sent to kill the man, to break him in pieces, to bury him, to let him know his own corruption; and all this as a preliminary to his quickening and restoration. We must see the bones in the valley to be dead and dry, or we shall not hear the voice out of the excellent glory, saying, “Thus saith the Lord, ‘Ye dry bones live!’” May God in his mercy teach us what all this means, and may we all experience an old-fashioned conversion.
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The great work in conversion is not to make people better, so that they may come to God on a good footing, it is to strip them completely and lay them low, so that God may come to them when they are on a bad footing, or rather on no footing at all, but down in the dust at his feet.
These are precious, precious words, impeccably stated and worthy of committing to practical memory. They present a perfect explanation to the Christian of what salvation entails in the life of the saved.
So often it is that one gleans from the banter of certain Christians, while they discuss or contemplate the life(style) of a true brother or sister, that insufficient remarkable change has taken place in the visible life(style) of the subject, to yet regard them as reliably part of the Body. That is, of course, according to their own estimation and understanding of God’s purpose with each elect sheep. That is, additionally, an equally great challenge to the Church, to “get the call” right! Can they do so? Certainly and with ease. May they? When? That is far less clear.
In order for God to display to man the fathomless bounds of His Grace, He needs to use the lost, the reprobate, the willful sinners and the convicted sinners; failing which salvation would have no reason or right.
May God in his mercy teach us what all this means, and may we all experience an old-fashioned conversion.
Yes, Lord let it be so! Not by how we live according to the calculated reasoning and expectations of men, in the “here and now” frame of our momentary lives, relationships and limited understanding. But rather by leaving that all to the perfect judgement of God and the individual relationship between Jesus and His elect sheep.