Let's turn together to Romans 6, Romans 6, as we read together the first 14 verses of that chapter of Holy Scripture, Romans 6, if you will also turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to Lord's Day 33, page 45 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, page 45, Lord's Day 33. First of all, reading together Romans chapter 6, the first 14 verses as we give our attention to the Word of God. What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all. But the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. And then page 45 in the back of the Psalter, Hymn of the Lord's Day 33. As you can tell if you've looked in the bulletin under the sermon theme, that this morning is part one of a two-part sermon. And therefore, we will consider questions and answers 88 and 89 this morning, and the Lord willing next week, consider questions and answers 90 and 91. So, let's confess together what we believe with regard to the first two questions of Lord's Day 33. Question 88 asks us, What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things. The dying away of the old self and the coming to life of the new. What is the dying away of the old self? It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we consider together the gratitude or the thankfulness, For you recall, we are in that third section of the Catechism regarding gratitude or thankfulness to God for His redeeming love. As we consider together the gratitude or the thankfulness that the believer is to express or demonstrate to God for His redeeming love, it ought to make sense to us that one will only give or show thanksgiving to God when that one is headed in God's direction. You see, God's people are saved to serve. And it is only possible, only truly possible to serve another when you are in agreement. When you have a common goal. When you think alike. When you are one. And you see, apart from God, none of this is true. Apart from Him, one is going in the completely opposite direction. And therefore, a U-turn is desperately needed. And boys and girls, I trust that you know what a U-turn is. If you've seen the signs as you drive with your parents and you come to an intersection and there's a sign that it looks like an upside-down U from our vantage point, and it means to turn and go in the opposite direction. Either you may or you may not at that particular intersection do a U-turn. But that's what it is. It's to turn around and go in the opposite direction that you were going. And that's what conversion is. It's a U-turn. It is a change in direction. Now, the catechism simply speaks of conversion using the terms dying and living. And we know that that's just about as opposite as you can get. And Paul speaks about this in Romans 6, verse 11, when he speaks about it as being dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. And that means, congregation, that as believers, our lives are caught up with Christ. As Paul said, we live and move and have our being in God alone, And therefore, He determines what we do with and what we do in the here and now with regard to this life. He alone is to chart the believer's direction, and only God's direction, only God's direction, demonstrates gratitude to Him for such a great salvation. I preached to you this Word of God this morning. Genuine gratitude flows only from true conversion. Again, this morning, considering the objects of conversion and also the negative element of conversion. And then next week, the Lord willing, considering the positive element of conversion as well as the fruit of conversion. But the catechism points to the simple nature of conversion when it asks in question 88, What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Now, you know by now that I appreciate the older text of the Catechism more than I appreciate the one that we have in the back of our Psalter hymnal. And the same is true with regard to this particular question. Notice the way it's phrased in the older version. Of how many parts does true conversion or the turning of man to God consist? The turning of man to God. That's conversion. Very simply, the simple nature of conversion. And although we may not be able to fully understand how this takes place, yet conversion is not a complicated machine or a puzzle with all kinds of parts and pieces. It is that U-turn. It is that complete change of direction. Lamentations 3, verse 40 says, let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to God. You see, that change involves two things. The dying away of the old self or the old man and the coming to life of the new self or the new man. Now, as we consider this first point this morning, the objects of conversion, we want to consider also a couple of other things. And if you're taking notes, three things, three sub-points. Who needs to be converted? Whom are the converted, or who is the one who is converted? And what is converted? Now with regard to who needs to be converted, question 88 again speaks of man in general, that conversion is the turning of man to God, and the simple point being that all of mankind, every single last one, is in need of conversion. There is no one who does not need to be converted. And Paul points to this need as well when he says in Acts 17, verse 30, Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. There are absolutely no exceptions here. All people need to be converted. And not just to any old thing, but only to Jesus Christ. And the reason for this is simple. And that's because there is no salvation apart from conversion that is apart from being converted to Christ. Question and answer 87, which we considered a couple of weeks ago, reflecting the teaching of Scripture, made it clear that those who continue in their wicked and ungrateful lives and do not turn to God, that they cannot be saved. Jesus said there is no other way to the Father except through Him. And the Bible says that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. You see, it's not just the visibly worst of sinners that need conversion. Sometimes I think we're tempted to think that those who do really bad things or really stupid things or who commit really heinous sins, well, they really need to be converted. It's not just them. All really need to be converted. But then who are those who are actually converted? A congregation, those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Those buried with Him in His death and raised with Him in newness of life. And that newness of life is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Now a simple definition of a conversion is this. It is that conscious act by which the regenerate person turns to God in repentance and faith. That conscious act. Notice who are converted? Those who are regenerated. Only those who have been given a new heart, those in whom the Holy Spirit plants that imperishable seed of regeneration, only they turn to God. Yes, all people need conversion, but only those who have been born again, brought from death to life, as Paul says in Ephesians 2, only they are converted. Because again, we know that one who is dead cannot even open his eyes. to see the right way. Only those in whom God applies His salvation actually change direction. Conversion, again, is a conscious act in which the believer cooperates with the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is something that is unconscious to the believer. It is a change in the inner being. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that He does His work upon us, a work that He does in us. Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us in which we participate. But regeneration comes first and conversion comes next. In 1 John 2, verse 29, we read, If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Now notice, the practice of righteousness is not the cause of our new birth. Our new birth is not born out of our practice of righteousness, but one practices righteousness simply because that one has been born again. Now as Christians, we don't know exactly when God gave us new spiritual birth, but we do know that without it, we would have no desire to turn to God in repentance and faith. We would have no desire to bow our heads in prayer before God, trusting Him that He alone will hear us and help us, we would have no desire to open His Word. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit places the seed germ of new life in us. And that new life must then grow and develop. And by conversion, that new life that has been laid in the depth of the heart becomes apparent. It becomes visible to all, even to you and me. See, conversion is the necessary fruit of regeneration. And again, we may not know exactly when we were converted either, like Paul did. He knew. But the Holy Spirit, you see, makes it conscious to us so that at some point in time we become aware that He has been at work in our hearts and lives. Again, of course, it's different for different people. For those who grew up in the church in a Christian family and who were taught the faith all their life, It's most likely a more gradual process of coming to understand their conversion. For others, it is more instantaneous, like Paul. But for each one, we come to the point where we can confidently sing, I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew. He moved my soul to seek Him seeking me. It begins with the work of God. As answer 86 explains, converted people are those who are renewed after Christ's own image. They are new people. They are different people. Those who turn to God and no longer live according to their own will, but they live according to the will of God. Well then, as we consider the objects of conversion, we must also then consider the objective of conversion. What is it that must be converted? What is it that must be turned to God? Well, very simply, the whole man. The whole man must be turned to God. Paul speaks of that new life in comparison to the old self, and that means complete change. And by whole man, we mean not only the outer man, which is visible for each one of us to see, but also the inner man, that which is visible only to God. Not only must our activities be in agreement with His command, but also our will. All that is within us must change direction. Not only what we do must be in the same direction as God, but also how we do it must be conformed to the image of God. Our motives, desires, and intentions must also be in agreement with the will of God. In the New Testament, the Greek words for repent have the idea of the turning of the mind or the change of the will. a complete turning, complete change, and that must be reflected in our walk. You see, beloved, God requires our heart. He requires our innermost being. True conversion is first of all a change of heart, which is then reflected in our actions. Isaiah 55 or 7 speaks of both of these when it says, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him. Again, conversion is both external and internal. Now boys and girls, maybe the illustration of a watch or a clock will help you to understand this. When the hands on your watch no longer work, that means that the inner works, that which you cannot see, the inner works of the watch are broken. Those inside works of the watch are the heart of the watch. Yet the outside of the watch is also important because the hands of the watch tell you and me the time that the heart of the watch is keeping. And therefore, a watch without hands is no good. And in the same way, therefore, with the Christian, the inner change of disposition and the outward change of conduct of life are necessary in true conversion. They go together. They must be together. But in addition to the conversion of the whole man, we must not overlook the fact that the whole length and breadth of one's life is to be converted. When we talk about the breadth of life, we mean everything that that life encompasses. Everything that is a part of that life. For example, we mean that repentance is to be from all wickedness. It's not just select or a selection of sins. But the believer must not willfully continue in any sin. And that's why we are called to self-examination and also why we must pray as the psalmist did for God's examination of us. He says in Psalm 139, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. In other words, show me, O Lord, the secret sins that I still secretly delight in. Bring them to my mind that I might repent of them and confess them and run away from them. You see, it's not sin that we are to hide in our hearts, but it is the Word of God that we are to hide in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. Again, Paul says in chapter 6, verses 12 and 13, Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. And offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. Now, this breadth of life also includes every area of life. Conversion must affect our personal and our public life. Our life at church, at home, at work, at play, at school. There is no room, you see, for a Christian to be a bad employee or a lazy worker or a dishonest businessman or a cheating student. There's no room for that. All that is is evidence of false conversion. As one commentator said, the conversion that is really worth its name influences every relationship in life. It makes us new persons in every place where the Lord has set us, Home and school, office and factory experience the blessed effects of it. Do you understand that? Everyone with whom we have contact and everything we do as God's people is to experience the blessed effects of the conversion we enjoy. But conversion is also for the length of days. And very simply, that means that no period of life may be withdrawn from the Lord. The new man is new inside and out, here and there from this day forward. Not one part of life is ours to keep for ourselves. And young people, that means that you must not say, a relationship with God? Oh, I'll worry about that later when I'm a little bit older. Now today is the day, not tomorrow. You see, if you can confess in confidence to a friend that you are a Christian, that you love the Lord Jesus Christ, that you know He died for your sins, and if you can stand in the company of God's people and profess in truth the words of the Apostles' Creed, for example, then you have no reason not to publicly commit your life to Christ. To say, yes, I believe by God's grace, and I want to be a part of His church. You see, if you can confess these things, you have no excuse for not joining publicly the church of Jesus Christ. Genuine gratitude flows only from true conversion of the whole life of God's people. And the objects, that is those who are truly converted, are those who, as Paul says in Ephesians 1, those who are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, predestined to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Those who are given new life in Christ are those for whom He said it is finished. But now then, how does this new life, how does this converted life become real? The Catechism mentions the elements of conversion. Notice again, 88. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion? Two things. The dying away of the old self and the coming to life of the new. The dying away of the old self is the negative element of conversion and describes that which the believer must turn away from. And the coming to life of the new man is the positive element of conversion and then, of course, describes what the believer must turn to. These two elements, they are the two elements of the genuine conversion of the child of God. And again, next week, Lord willing, we'll consider the positive element, but today we finish with the negative element. Notice question and answer 89. What is the dying away of the old self? It is to be genuinely sorry for sin, to hate it more and more, and to run away from it. And we're dealing here with repentance. Repentance is to do an about-face, boys and girls. That's a complete turn from one direction to the other, as we've been saying. Not a partial turn. Simply to turn away is still in your peripheral vision. But a complete turn. Turn your back on it. A complete change. And with the dying away of the old self, the walking in the wrong direction stops and the turnaround to the proper direction takes place. The Catechism teaches three aspects of this. Genuine sorrow for sin, hatred for sin, and running away from sin. Notice again that the heart is emphasized. It begins in the heart with sorrow and hatred. Yet, that outward break with sin must also be there because one cannot and will not flee from something without hating it or being sorry for it. But first there is to be genuine sorrow for our sins. Again, please allow me to refer to the previous version of the Catechism which talks about a heartfelt sorrow that we have provoked God by our sins. See what it includes? You see, a sincere sorrow of heart recognizes, first of all, who has been offended. And that is God Himself, as we considered last week's Sunday evening. All sin is ultimately against God and His holiness. Genuine sorrow cries out with David in Psalm 51 against you. You only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. And this sorrow, you see, is because we have provoked and insulted and offended God by our sin. And this sorrow must come not just from the lips, but it must come from the heart before it passes the lips. You see, David also says in that same psalm, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. You see, true sorrow does not try to shift the guilt and the blame to someone or something else, but true sorrow takes responsibility for self. The regenerated and converted sinner is conscious of guilt and is not just sorry for his sinful actions, but is sorry for his whole sinful existence. And beloved, true sorrow for sin becomes deeper every day the more that we learn to know our sinful nature, But the comfort here is that one who is truly sorry for provoking God by his sin is not to doubt his conversion. Because this sorrow is a necessary part of the life of conversion. This godly sorrow is already an expression of gratitude to God. You see, the truth is that the unconverted are not sorry. There may be sorrow for getting caught. I can tell you stories, but I won't. There may be sorrow because of the consequences, the punishment for getting caught, but not sorrow that blames self for provoking God. Cain and Judas Iscariot, they both knew sorrow for sin. But you see, the sorrow that they experienced caused them to run away from God. Whereas true, genuine sorrow for sin causes one to flee to God. Even as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 10, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. And then there's hating sin. This naturally follows from a genuine sorrow. But hating sin is so much more than just refraining from or not participating in sin. And that's because it is possible to refrain from sin without hating it. But it is hardly possible to hate sin and not refrain from it. Of course, we know that we do continue to sin. But I trust you see the difference. But actually, refraining from and running from sin follows from first hating it. Hating sin is a clear evidence of conversion. And that's because conversion is a radical turnabout to love what we used to hate. To hate what we used to love. And when that love for sin, which is a natural part of the old self, when that love for sin is turned into hate for sin through the regenerating and converting power of the Holy Spirit, that is true or genuine conversion. Again, by nature, we love sin, don't we? Our own continual struggle with sin, as Romans 7 makes clear, It is evidence of this. We often do what we don't want to do. We don't do what we do want to do. And the world is also evidence of this as so many visibly delight and take pleasure in sin as well as to downplay sin. Again, as we considered last week. For example, there is a calloused attitude toward premarital or extramarital sex. As well, living together out of or before marriage is a smart way to go. After all, how can you really know that you're going to get along if you don't do that? Same-sex relationships are quickly gaining equal status as marriages between a man and a woman. And most of all, it seems that no one is responsible for their own actions anymore. Society says that there is no such thing as sin. Maybe mistakes, lapses in moral judgment, insanity, but sin? No. No. And let's be honest, we must also confess on the one hand that it is difficult to hate the sin that looks nice and attractive and gives us a certain amount of pleasure. It's hard to hate that sin. Well, on the other hand, it's not so difficult to hate the sin which hurts us in some way or even costs us a sacrifice, maybe even our lives. As well, it is not so difficult to hate sin in others when we feel like we are in a nice judgmental mood. Oh, they shouldn't be doing that. That's bad. But it's difficult to hate sin, maybe even the same sin in ourselves. But beloved, we are to hate all sin. It's interesting to me that the law of God for His people is love. Yet here we must hate. Psalm 97, verse 10 says, You who love the Lord, hate evil. That's what you are to do. And in Proverbs 8, verse 13, it says, The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. To hate sin is proper for one who is born again according to the will of God. And to truly hate something means to have an absolute intolerance for it. To do away with it. it means to not be able to endure it, but instead to loathe it and want to banish it from my life. Get away. This is to be our attitude towards sin, beloved, because this is God's attitude towards sin. And to truly hate sin means that everything about it fills me with disgust and everything within me rises up in opposition against it. Does that describe your attitude towards sin? Does that describe my attitude towards sin? We need to consider this. We must confess that all too often there are sins that we bow to and we secretly hang on to. And indeed, we are to be convicted because of that. Yet, we must not lose hope. Because we are to more and more hate and run from sin. It's a lifelong process. Our comfort is that we will not drag it along to heaven. Praise God. And the more we learn to know the miserable, horrible nature of sin, the more that we desire by God's grace for the sin to become less and less. Congregation through conversion belongs to those only for whom Jesus Christ died on the cross. And the more we reflect upon the cross of Jesus and understand such a great salvation, That along with that, the more we understand the hideousness of sin and its consequences, and the more we understand all of this, the more we understand what Jesus did for His people, the more our sorrow for sin and our hatred for that sin grows. And the more we will desire to run away from that sin. That's where the heart is to lead. The internal break with sin is to guide us to an external break. And this break must be very, very real instead of looking for sin and standing as close to the line of sin as one can. Saying, I'm okay, and I'm not stepping on the line. I'm not stepping over. But instead of doing that, believers are called to turn their back on it and run away from it. Because as I heard a few times when I was young, if you play with fire, Sooner or later, you will get burned. When it comes to sin, our attitude is not to be to play on the border of sin, figuring that then everything is okay, I'm safe. God's people are to turn and run as fast as we can, seeking safety far away from it. We are called to turn our back on sin. The psalmist says, depart from evil. You know what it means to depart? It means to go, go away. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Paul says again in verses 12 and 14, Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace. You see, running away from sin is not being a coward. Boys and girls, you need to know this. When someone calls you a chicken or a coward for not taking a dare or doing something that you should not be doing. It doesn't matter what they say. You're not a coward. Instead, you want to know what you are? You're a hero. Because that is the real heroism of faith. Running away from sin is then running to God, which we will consider next week the Lord willing. That's the task of the faithful new man. From sorrow to hatred to running from sin, that's conversion. You see, the turn has been made. But you know, this isn't always so easy. It's often difficult. Because after going in the direction of sin, once that turn has been made, you see, one must go back. And often that is through the same dangerous territory facing the same temptations that were given into before. Yet the difference? On the way back, we are not alone. It is the Holy Spirit of God that renews and strengthens the believer for the return trip. Apart from repentance and faith, it is apart from conversion, there is no hope for those who continue in their wicked and ungrateful lives. The path they take is broad, leading only to hell. but for those who are redeemed by Christ as they travel that narrow road leading to life they do so empowered by the Holy Spirit and they walk with confidence because as 1 John 4 verse 4 says you are of God little children and have overcome them because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world people of God this attitude of heart towards sin is to be reflected throughout the whole length and breadth and depth of the life of the converted. The dying of the old man, which is opposed to God, the dying of the old man is an expression of genuine gratitude to God for the free gift of new life. And may God see in our attitude towards sin. May He see thankfulness to Him. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, what a powerful truth. What a blessed truth. And You have given it to us in such language that is easy to understand. Of what is our need. And we thank You for the new birth that You have given to us as Your people. We thank You for the new desires that You've given to us. Desires which include looking differently at sin than apart from Christ. Having a sorrow for our sin. Hating it. Desiring to run away from it. Father, we know there are times when we would like to run headlong into sin. Let us not do that. Restrain us by the power of your Holy Spirit. And may it be more and more every day that we run to you. Give us strength to stand firm, to be obedient, to be more faithful subjects of the Most High God. We pray, Father, if there is one or any here who have not yet turned to you in repentance and faith, that you would indeed work in their hearts as well, powerfully by your Holy Spirit. Give to them as well the knowledge that they need to have and also these things which are involved in true conversion. Continue to build your church, O Lord. Prepare your people for the day of Christ Jesus. In His name alone we pray these things. Amen.