He began this work at once when he came. He set the apostles to preaching Jesus Christ, and the result of the first day’s preaching was—that three thousand souls were converted.
The conversion of the soul refers to the great change which takes place when a person becomes a Christian. The word conversion is only one of several words applied to this subject in the Scriptures. Sometimes it is called being quickened, or made alive; and at other times it is called being “born again.” This was the way in which our Saviour spoke of the great change we are now considering, in his interesting conversation with Nicodemus. And he spoke of the Holy Spirit as the One who is to work out this change in every case when he said—“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” St. John iii: 5. To be “born of the Spirit,” is the same as to be converted, or to have the heart changed, and to be made a new creature in Christ Jesus. Good people differ much in their opinions about what our Saviour means by “water” here. Some think it means the truth of God’s word, which is spoken of as the means employed in the conversion of souls; while others think that the word “water” here refers to baptism; but we cannot stop to argue the point now.
Some souls are converted, or born again, before they are old enough to understand the truth that God has taught us in his holy word. We have two cases of this kind mentioned in the Bible. One is the prophet Jeremiah, chap. i: 5, and the other John the Baptist, St. Luke i: 15. When it says of one of these that he was “sanctified;” and of the other that he was “filled with the Holy Ghost” from the time he was born, it means that the great change, of which we are now speaking, was made in them both, by the Holy Spirit, at that early time. And so it may be now with children, even while they are very young, especially if they have Christian parents to pray for them. But, if they are not converted, or born again, till they grow up to be boys and girls, or men and women, then the word or truth of God is that which the Holy Spirit makes use of in causing them to be converted, or born again. Here is an illustration of one, out of many ways, in which the Spirit does this:
“How a Christmas Card Saved a Soul.” There was a merchant in one of our large cities who had failed in business. He had lost everything that he had. He was not a Christian, and did not know where to go for comfort. His troubles and disappointments made him gloomy and sad. He saw no way in which he could get out of his troubles; and after thinking over them a long time, he finally made up his mind to go to the river and drown himself. He was not married, and had no family of his own; but there were a number of children in the house where he lived.
This happened on a Christmas day. The children had just come home from their Sunday-school festival. In passing through the entry, one of them dropped a beautifully illuminated card, with a text of scripture on it. As the poor man was going out on his sad errand, his eye rested on this card, lying on the entry floor. He stooped down and picked it up, and read on it these sweet words—“Casting all your care on him, for he careth for you.” I. Peter v: 7. Reading these words had a strange effect upon him. Instead of going out to drown himself, he went back to his room, got his Bible, found the passage there, and meditated on it. He thought of the great sin he had just been going to commit in taking away his own life. Then he thought of all his other sins. This filled him with great distress. The burden of his sins soon grew to be heavier than the burden of his losses and cares. He kneeled to pray. With many tears and cries he asked for the pardon of his sins and for grace to make him a Christian. His prayer was heard. His sins were pardoned. His burdens were lifted off. He became a Christian. He was converted by God’s blessing on that text of scripture. And it might truly be said of him that he was “born of water and of the Spirit.”
One part of the work which the Holy Spirit has to do for men is to convert them. And this is a fair illustration of one of the ways in which he does it.
But another part of the Spirit’s work is to—teach—men, as well as to convert them.
When Jesus was speaking to the disciples of the Spirit whom he promised to send, he said, “He shall teach you all things.” St. John xiv: 26. But, when our Lord spoke of the Spirit teaching us “all things,” he did not mean those things which we can find out ourselves by diligence in study. We do not need the help of the Holy Spirit to teach us spelling, or reading, or history, or geography. He meant “all things” about himself and the work he has done for our salvation. Sin has closed the eyes of our souls. It has made us blind to spiritual things. One part of the Spirit’s work is to open our eyes so that we may see. David was seeking the Spirit’s help in this matter when he offered the prayer, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” We may be very learned in the things that are taught in our schools and colleges. We may know a great deal about different languages; about botany, and chemistry, and mathematics, and astronomy, and other studies of that kind. But all this will not help us to understand the things taught in the Bible about Christ, and the way to heaven. The knowledge of other things is sometimes a hindrance, rather than a help, in trying to understand the Bible. In learning what is here taught, none but the Spirit of God can help us.