TEN EVIDENCES OF CONVERSION

Every boy or girl who begins a Christian life, or sincerely tries to do it, will want to know whether he has really found the Savior. Nobody can wish to be mistaken about a matter so important. A person traveling to a distant city, which he greatly desires to reach and make his future home, will desire to know that he is certainly on the right road. I often see poor and humble people get on the wrong train of cars, and they are carried out of the city and put off at the first station. They must make their way back as best they can, and start again. Such uncertainty is hard to bear, and in the concerns of the soul is very unsafe. I am trying to point boys and girls to the eternal city of God. It would be very wicked and cruel in me to purposely give you any wrong directions; and it would at last be a fatal thing for you to be mistaken in the matter. When Jesus was upon earth, he told the people that many would be mistaken. "Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:21-23). May God spare all that hear or read these lines from such a fate!

In this chapter I propose to point out ten evidences of a converted heart. By these you can determine whether you are a forgiven child of God. If you find you are not, then plead with God to save you, until he sends the witness of the Spirit into your heart, that you are God's child.

1. I will mention A FULL SURRENDER OF THE WILL to GOD. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." That means that God's will is to be done by us in our hearts, -- that is that we obey Cod. It means that our wills are to be so surrendered to God that we shall not knowingly choose to displease or disobey him. When we find out what our Father's wish is concerning us, our will should at once respond, "Blessed Father, I will obey; thy will be done." Now, this is not the state of a sinner's heart. He wishes always to do as he likes and have his own way without any regard to the will of God. But the child who has really accepted Jesus as his Savior can say with him, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:7). You will be quick to hear and to obey his holy command and will say with Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth" (I Sam. 3:9).

2. The removal of the burden of sin gradually or suddenly. When the blessed Savior was on earth, he often said to poor sinners who sought his help, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee" Luke 5:20). O what joy those words must have brought to the troubled heart! Now we need to have the same words spoken to us, but Jesus has gone to heaven and does not speak to us with the audible voice any more. But he says, "The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Somehow, when a boy gives himself away to Jesus and consecrates himself to the Lord, the blessed Holy Spirit will speak to his heart and cause him to know that God has accepted him and forgiven all his sins. He will find a blessed peace in his soul, a sweet rest of heart, because God is reconciled and is smiling upon him. Such was my experience when, as a little boy, I gave myself to Jesus.

3. There will be in the heart a love for Christians and for Jesus. You will find that, after you have accepted him, a love will spring up in your heart for your Savior. Because he has loved you and forgiven you and accepted you, you will love him more tenderly than ever before. And because you love him, you will also love all his friends, -- everybody else that loves him John, the beloved disciple, wrote: "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren." His love went out toward anybody that was converted, of any city or nation or race or color. All such were friends of his Savior, and for that reason he loved them. It will be just so with converted boys and girls. They will have a kindly interest in and a kindling affection for all who love their Lord. You will always be glad to hear that some other boy or girl has learned to love Jesus, and at once you will have a friendly feeling for them as your brother or sister in Christ Jesus.

4. You will have a new relish for the Word of God. The Psalmist said, "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy Word" (Ps. 119:16). If you were absent from home in a far-away foreign country, and should there receive a letter from your father, how eagerly you would open it and read it! Well, the Bible is a book of letters from your Heavenly Father to your heart. You will love the book for your Father's sake. Your heart will rejoice in all his promises. The story of his judgments will be "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb" (Ps. 19:10). You will drink in the wisdom of his counsel and delight in his commandments, because they are pure, enlightening the eyes" (Ps. 19:8). You will wish to know the story of his dealings with others and what are his gracious plans and wishes concerning you.

5. You will have pleasure in prayer. Prayer is talking with God. You always like to talk with those whom you love; and when you begin to really love your Heavenly Father and Jesus, your Savior, you will rejoice in the privilege of talking to him. The Psalmist said, "Seven times a day do I praise thee" (Ps. 119:164). It was certainly not too many times a day to thank and praise God for all his mercy and goodness and love. When we remember that Jesus died for us and saves us, and that God constantly takes care of us and gives us every blessing, and is willing to hear about all our sorrows and failures and longings and wants, we surely should delight to talk with our blessed God in prayer.

6.. Sin and sinful thoughts will cause pain. The Psalmist said, "Ye that love the Lord hate evil" (Ps. 97:10). It was sin that made it necessary for Jesus to come down from his throne in heaven to die for us. Sin still so hurts and grieves his heart that when we commit willful sin, it is like "crucifying the Son of God afresh." Who that loves Jesus can bear to do that? Who will willingly, purposely grieve any friend whom he sincerely loves? Much less should we wound the heart of one so kind and good and holy as God. A true child of God will more and more hate sin because it grieves his Heavenly Father and destroys those for whom he died. He will seem to hear the voice of God ringing in his ears: "O do not this abominable thing that I hate" (Jer. 44:4).

7. A true Christian will work for the salvation of others. The beloved apostle John tells us that, when Andrew found Jesus, the first thing he did was to hunt up Peter and tell him: "We have found the Christ, and he brought him to Jesus" (John 1:40-42). How natural it was! Of course he loved his brother Peter, and when he himself had found anything so precious as salvation, he would naturally want some one else to have the great blessing. Who should that person be, if not his own brother? So the boy or girl who really finds Jesus will at once think of some brother or sister or friend to whom he will wish to impart the glad news and whom he will try to bring to Jesus.

8. A true Christian will obey all the commandments of God. The night before he died, Jesus said to his disciples, "If ye love me, keep my commandments," as if that was an invariable and infallible test of love. And is it not true? How easy and natural, and how delightful it is to try to please those whom we love! And when that being is our King and our God, nothing is more appropriate or natural in a forgiven heart than the wish to obey. Any parent is deeply grieved by the disobedience of a child, and the child knows it. But God is our Heavenly Father, and disobedience grieves him, and we know it. If we sincerely love him, we will not lightly disobey.

9.If Christ comes into our hearts, we will feel humble in his sight. The great apostle Paul said that he dwelt among the Ephesians, "serving the Lord with all humility of mind" (Acts 20:19). St. Paul was the greatest man on earth, yet he had a humble mind, simply because he had Jesus in his heart. The Savior himself, though he made all the shining worlds and suns that glitter in the nightly sky and was enthroned above all angels and powers of the heavenly world, yet "he humbled himself" to become a babe in a manger and a toiling carpenter and a man of sorrows for our sakes, and at last suffered himself to be nailed upon the cross (Phil. 2:5-8). Whoever is really touched with the Christ-life will crucify that haughty pride that wounds and grieves others, and will begin to be humble and meek and lowly in heart (Mat. 11:29).

10. The converted boy or girl will have a growing desire to be like Christ. We all like to imitate those whom we admire and love. The little boy imitates his big brother or. his father. The girl imitates her mother or schoolteacher or some lady whom she greatly admires. This is a natural prompting of the mind. Now, when the boy or girl comes to Christ for salvation and gets in touch with his Savior, he will naturally wish to imitate Jesus. That will be the law of his life. And the snore we think about it, the more we will discover that Jesus is holy, and to be like him we must be holy, too. And so the struggle and the longing and the hunger for holiness will begin, and we shall feel with Paul that "We should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Eph. 1:4).

I have given you now ten evidences of conversion by which you may test your lives. A little girl living in Montreal wrote to a minister the following letter:

"DEAR MR. H.: You asked me to tell you how I felt after I became a Christian. I have many proofs that I love Jesus. In the first place, something tells me that Christ has washed all my sins away, and I feel so happy! But I don't think that I am a Christian merely because I am happy, for I know that I am to work for Christ and not expect to live for myself; that I must be self-denying, for Christ has said, 'He that loveth me, let him take up his cross and follow me.' Now that I have become a Christian, I have always had a desire that all my little friends should love the Savior. I always try to find out those who do not love Jesus and direct them to the Lamb of God. I am now thinking of joining the Church, and hope, not only to be a member of Christ's Church on earth, but in heaven. I would ask you to remember

"Your little friend,

"LILY."

Another child wrote:

"DEAR FRIEND: I went to your first children's meeting and came home and asked Jesus for a new heart. I think now, I have found Jesus. I wish you knew how happy I feel. I hope that a good many children will find the Savior who died on the cross to save us sinners. It is real easy to find the Savior. When I am alone sometimes, I will pray to the dear Savior. I pray night and morning, and I like to pray to my dear Savior. How can anybody help loving him who was so kind to us? What a happy thing it is to be one of Christ's children! I hope I shall always lead a Christian life. Good-bye. From MARGIE."

You can see from these letters just such evidence as I have pointed out, that the girls had given themselves to Christ.. I felt all these when a child myself. I felt and knew that my sins were forgiven. I loved my Bible and prayer and Christians, and I tried to lead others to Jesus, and I hated sin and tried to follow Jesus in a life of holiness. By such evidence you can know that you are forgiven and have become a renewed child of. God.

 QUESTIONS

1. Are there ways by which we may know we are converted?
2. Is it dangerous to be mistaken about it?
3. Is a true Christian's will surrendered to God?
4. Does Christ take away the burden of sin?
5. Does the convert have a new love for Jesus and others?
6. Does he pray more than before?
7. Does sin cause pain? Does he hate it?
8. Will a convert seek the salvation of others?
9. Does a true convert neglect God's commands?
10. Is a true convert as proud as ever?
11. Will he strive to be like Jesus?
12. Have you these evidences that you are converted?

Sing, "There is sunshine in my soul today;" also, "Love found me."