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Good weekend to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends.
“Conviction” is a significant word, isn’t it? Have you ever been convicted of something so powerfully that it changed your life? Yesterday I left you in chaotic Jerusalem, with a huge crowd of people mesmerized by the disciple Peter and a brief but very powerful message he spontaneously gave which explained the miracle of Pentecost to those stunned Jews who had come running from all directions, ‘amazed and perplexed’ by what they heard and saw! (Acts 2:12)
Peter’s stunning message concluded with this declaration: “Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: Almighty God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36) Its meaning was abundantly clear to this huge crowd of Jews, most of whom were pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the Jewish “Shavuot” Festival, also known as Pentecost. The long-awaited Jewish Messiah was declared by Peter, and proven by God, to be this Jesus of Nazareth and they had crucified HIM!
Furthermore, Peter declared God had proclaimed this Messiah Jesus to be Lord over all things and over everyone. Peter had declared that when resurrected Jesus had ascended to heaven, He was seated on His throne of glory in the position of all authority at the right hand of Almighty, Eternal, Holy God. And from that place of supremacy, Jesus had sent the Holy Spirit of God to Jerusalem to anoint these followers of Jesus who were speaking the Gospel and glory of God in languages unknown to them but known to these pilgrims. (Acts 2:7-12)
Suddenly a deep ‘Conviction of the Soul’ spread through this huge crowd. What do I mean by a ‘Conviction of the Soul’? Have you ever been convicted, deep in your soul, by the Holy Spirit of God? It means their long-held beliefs, their spiritual assumptions, their theological constructs were shaken to the core and found to be untrue, unreliable, unverifiable!! Their thinking about God, about sin, about forgiveness, about acceptance and accountability before God must change radically! Jesus was God incarnate, God’s living TRUTH had been among them, and they had refused Him, rejected Him, abused and mocked and killed Him! (Luke 18:31-33)
Oh, their conviction of the mind was staggering, and then it moved to conviction of the heart! Jesus had loved them, healed their sick, given sight to their blind, fed them when hungry and been kind to their widows, orphans and poor. God incarnate had humbled Himself to serve them and help them, yet they had laughed at Him, maligned Him, denied and betrayed Him, abandoned Him and even declared Him demonically influenced! (John 8:48-59) Oh their hearts were torn within them, their shame and grief nearly overwhelming. Jesus is Supreme Lord overall and ultimate Judge and they would one day stand face to face with Him. Oh my, the conviction that bored deep into their soul!
And so, they cried out in anguish. The record says: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and cried out to Peter and the other apostles: ‘Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37) ‘Conviction of the soul’ is a big deal my friends but sadly, increasingly people will do anything to avoid it, excuse it, blame others and run away from it. But for those few who lean into it, realizing it is God loving them and drawing them to Himself and to deliverance, they cry out to God for help! That’s what happened here, at least to many of them in this crowd in Jerusalem on this day of “Shavuot”, Pentecost.
Peter was led by the Holy Spirit to shout a clear, powerful response which has resounded around the world in the centuries since, to any and every person who finds themselves in this same ‘Conviction of the Soul”: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38,39) Peter’s words are clear aren’t they, my friends?
REPENT... it means declare the truth about yourself! You have been living a lie.
You have turned your back on God and trusted more in yourself. You have elevated your soul above God by declaring your truth and values to be more important than God’s truth and God’s values. Repent means you reject that selfish, self-reliant, prideful path and you turn toward God declaring His truth to be true and His values to be right and declaring Jesus to be the only one you trust your life to, the only one who can save you from your sin bondage and sin condemnation! Repent means you invite God to save you, to apply the full payment of Jesus’s atonement death to your sin debt and you invite God to draw you close to Himself, transforming you into a new person, reconciled to Holy God, adopted into His family!
Then you RECEIVE the forgiving, saving, reconciling, adopting work of God in your life.
As God does His life transforming work in you, you will be ‘born again’ by the Spirit of God, a ‘new creation in Christ’! (John 3:3-7; 2 Cor. 5:17) No longer condemned by your sin (Romans 8:1) and assured that your eternal destiny is now confirmed to be spent with Jesus! (John 5:24)
And Peter challenged those present, who were experiencing this radical spiritual revival, to then step forward and be publicly baptized! It gave them the opportunity to publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord over every part of their lives! You and I are urged to follow the very same path, when you sense the deep ‘conviction of your soul’ and the draw of the Holy Spirit! So, I have a question…for each and all of us. Has this experience ever happened to you? How did you respond to your soul conviction of the Holy Spirit of God?
In Jerusalem that chaotic, glorious, ‘Shavuot’ day, the record says: “Those who accepted Peter’s message were baptized and about 3000 were added to their number that day!” (Acts 2:40,41) The convicting work of the Holy Spirit had moved like never before in that great city Jerusalem and a movement of the Holy Spirit of God began which continues to our day no matter where you live in the world!
This was the launch of what Jesus had promised His disciples a few months before when they stood in the mayhem of Caesarea Philippi surrounded by people lighting incense and worshiping man carved idols. Jesus had said: “Upon this rock (TRUTH) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail.” (Matt. 16:18) Here in Jerusalem the powerful truth about Jesus had convicted 3000 people and Jesus birthed HIS Church!
May I ask, are you part of this Holy Spirit led ‘Jesus movement’ which began that “Shavuot” day in Jerusalem about 2000 years ago? This weekend will you be gathering with other Christ followers to declare again that HE is your Savior and Lord? Will your children and grandchildren do the same, wherever they are scattered around the world and will they do so because they learned of Jesus through you!?
Oh my, let’s worship Jesus right now, my friends, with this glorious song and I’ll meet you here again tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Acts 2:36-41.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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