Nov 25thDevotion Acts 2:36-41 The Truth Saves Part 4

Acts 2:36-41 – “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

“With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”  Peter warned his listeners to save themselves from the corrupt generation they lived in. In fact, he pleaded with them to save themselves.  He had already explained to them how to save themselves by faith in Jesus, now He pleaded with them to save themselves.  Peter could have mechanically and impassively delivered the message and cared little about the results.  He could have done the duty without the heart.  However Peter delivered the message with great passion.  He delivered the message with great love.  Peter cared and so he delivered the message with the love within him, with the love of God pouring out of him.  When people know we care and that we passionately believe, then they are more likely to listen.  If our voices, our lives, do not reveal a passion about what we believe in whom we believe in, then what will be related by us to others is that what we are conveying to them is not so grand, not so exciting, not so important.  People must see from our lives that we are passionate and committed to what we believe and then, perhaps, they will listen to the words that we share.  We must love with great passion He who first loved us. 

Family, please know, we need not have lived a perfect life in order to share our testimony.  No-one has.  Truly we want to live a life of Godly holiness, as we can, but none of us are perfect.  In fact, that very truth is what can help others to understand that we are saved by grace and so can they be.  See, though we never want to sin, the fact that we do and can still confidently state that we are going to heaven, is bewildering to those who don’t understand verses such as Ephesians 2:8-9 that confirm that we are saved not by any works we do, but only by the grace of God.  God forgives murderers, thieves and sexual sinners just as quickly, purely and easily as He forgave us.  So we can tell them with firm conviction that God can and will forgive everyone that comes to Him in humility and in repentance, just as He did for us.  A perfectly sinless life is what we all aspire to, but it is in the weakness of our flesh that to some our testimony shines brightest and is more relatable to them.  Though the Lord wants us to never sin, He can even use our sin to His glory.  Family, having sinned, any kind of sin, does not disqualify us from sharing our faith.  That is a lie from the enemy.  Certainly our testimony is that if God saved me, He can save you.     

World renowned Dr. James Dobson was asked by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to visit him in prison.  Knowing of Dahmer’s grisly past of murder and cannibalism, Dr. Dobson severely doubted the rumors of the conversion of Dahmer to Christ.  Dobson did not want to visit Dahmer, but felt compelled by God to do so.  Though Dr. Dobson had come not wanting to believe that this heinous murderer could have come to the Lord, by the time he left, Dr. Dobson was convinced that Jeffrey Dahmer had repented and been saved by Jesus Christ and was bound for heaven.  Many people, Christians and not, found this conclusion by Dr. Dobson reprehensible and impossible to believe.  When hearing of a heinous person coming to the Lord some people make statements such as “If God will have him in heaven then I don’t want to go there!”  How sad.  How unknowing that all of us are sinners (Romans 3:23) and that no-one gets to Heaven except by the grace of God through Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24-26).  Also, when one states that the blood of Christ is not strong enough to save the worst of us, we are calling the blood of Christ impotent and limited.  It is quite an offensive statement.  As John 3:16 states, Jesus came to save the world, which is filled with people who do evil.  Family, to a pure God, even our good deeds are filthy compared to Him (Isaiah 64:6).  The problem with thinking we are less of a sinner than anyone else is that our comparison of ourselves is erroneously horizontally compared to each other rather than comparing ourselves to God.  Next to the purity of God, the righteousness of all of us is putrid. Even past great men of God who have come into God’s presence fall on the ground and confess the impurity of themselves and all men.  Isaiah called himself and all people unclean before the eyes of the LORD Almighty (Isaiah 6:5).  Jesus said that only God is good (Mark 10:18).  Family, it is not a shame that God could forgive Jeffrey Dahmer, it shows the wondrous power of the blood of Jesus to save all, even those we consider most heinous.  Praise God! 

Peter called his generous perverse.  How much more so our generation?  Nowadays, being the last days, so often evil is called good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20, Romans 1:32, 2 Timothy 3:13).  Sin is normalized and the call to join in sin is pervasive in all societies, and the drumbeat of the call grows stronger.  Indeed, we must warn and plead all people to come out of sin and be saved.  All who have not come to Jesus to be saved remain condemned (John 3:18). 

“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”  And so, though the world thought that by killing the body of Jesus His message would be squashed, not long after His resurrection and ascension His message came back with great supernatural force.  The Holy Spirit filled the Lord’s disciples with powerful supernatural gifts and the Gospel message came back like a mighty flood to save three thousand people after Peter’s Holy Spirit inspired sermon.  Acts 17:6(KJV) states that in a short time the disciples of Christ, all disciples of Christ, are turning the world “upside down.”  A very interesting term as the world was upside down and the Christians were leading people to Christ at every turn, and so they were turning the upside down to be right-side up.  Praise God!  What the Jews did not understand is that the Holy Spirit was saving people though people.  Just as God planned. 

So the question we need to ask ourselves is “How are we allowing God to lead and empower us to turn our world, our spheres of influence, upside down?”  That is what we are called to do, not in our power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit working through us.  Praise God!  Let it be Lord!  Praise God!

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord!

 Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. 

 Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.