May - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

Lydia’s Conversion 147
sieged with John Knox in the Castle at St Andrews. His Confession of Faith
or Treatise on Justification by Faith was composed in Rouen and revised by
Knox in the galleys. It was not published until 1584. It is an account of “how
the troubled man should seek refuge at his God”, and after expounding the
doctrine of justification he goes on to practical considerations. Knox provided
some chapter descriptions and one of these is: “The devilish doctrine of
pestilent Papistical priests”. In one chapter there is a fairly full denunciation
of Romanism, including “the superstitious worshipping of saints; going on
pilgrimage; purging in purgatory; hallowing of water or other elements;
foundation of masses to public or private idolatry . . . forbidding of marriage
in the Church of God; and abominable abuses of the whole Christian religion
by the shaven, oincted or smeared priests, bishops, monks and friars, having
only their vocation of man and by man”. Again, it was evidently separation
rather than reform from within that was in mind. The whole Roman system
was seen to be rotten.
Lydia’s Conversion 1
James Buchanan
ommon to all the cases of conversion in Scripture is this important point:
Cthe direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the mind of every true convert
to the Christian faith – by way of applying the truth. This point deserves our
most serious consideration. Christ Himself specially referred to the agency
of the Spirit in one of His last addresses to His disciples before He died. By
comparing His words with other passages of Scripture, we learn that there
were two very different ways in which the Spirit would act to carry into effect
His great plan.
The one is external, and affects the senses; the other is internal, and spiritual.
We read of “the manifestation of the Spirit which is given to every man
to profit withal”; and we read of the indwelling of the Spirit in the hearts of
true believers. In other words, the dispensation of the gospel is called the
“ministration of the Spirit”, for two distinct reasons: first, on account of
the miraculous gifts which were granted to the apostles and first converts;
second, on account of the enlightening, converting and sanctifying grace
which rendered the gospel effectual for their salvation.
There is a wide difference between the two. They differ in their nature,
their use and their effects. The one is an appropriate evidence, a divine
1 Reprinted with editing, from the “Illustrative Cases of Conversion” in The Office and
Work of the Holy Spirit. It is based on Acts 16:13-15.