[Biblemat] A) CUT TO THE HEART

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Friday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here
is an article from my files:

CUT TO THE HEART

     Much of the preaching today is designed not to disturb,
certainly not to offend, but more to entertain and to create a
sense of security and self-satisfaction.  Under these circum-
stances a sinner may hear such sermons week after week and each time leave 
the building with a bouyant feeling of good relationship with God.  However 
elated he may be, the
fact remains that he is still a sinner, lost, and without the 
cleansing blood of Christ.

     We want to notice the preaching that was done by the in-
spired apostles of Christ, preaching that exceedingly troubled
cities and turned the world upside down (Acts 16:20; 17:6).

Acceptance: -- This takes us to the first gospel sermon, the one Peter 
preached on the day of Pentecost following the cru-
cifixion of Christ (Acts 2).

     First, by quoting Old Testament scripture Peter establish-
ed the fact that the apostles were preaching the Word of God
and that which was taking place that day was in fulfilment of
these prophecies (vss. 17-21,25-28,34,35).

     Second, Peter straightforwardly showed the people that
they were guilty of sin, grievous sin.  "Men of Israel, hear 
these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, 
wonders, and signs which God did through
Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know -- Him, being
delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and
put to death..." (vss. 22,23).

     Third, the results were fourfold:  1. The people "were cut
to the heart."  Peter further said to them, "Therefore let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both 
Lord and Christ.  Now when
they heard this they were cut to the heart..." (vss. 36,37).
These were the people who only a few days before had cried
out, "Let Him be crucified!...His blood be upon us and on our
children" (Matt. 27:23-25).  Instead of asking for Jesus, One
Who had come to bless and to save, they had asked for a murderer to be 
released into their society.  Little wonder they
were stricken with remorse when they came face to face with
such dreadful guilt.

     2. Now concerned, and in realization of such guilt, they asked, "Men and 
brethren, what shall we do?" (vs. 37).  Speaking as the Spirit gave him 
utterance (vs. 4), Peter answ-
ered, "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus 
Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (vs. 38).

     3. Many of them gladly accepted Peter's answer to their
question.  "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that 
day about three thousand souls were add-
ed to them" (vs. 41).  People who are cut to the heart by the
Word of God and thereby recognize and admit their sins are
not prone to quibble and procrastinate.  They are the ones
who have the attitude, "Speak, Lord for Your servant hears."
They are the ones who gladly obey.

     4. Having been baptized in the name of Christ, these peop-
le worshiped, rejoiced, shared.  "And they continued steadfas-
tly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of
bread and prayers.  Then fear came upon every soul, and 
many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in com-
mon, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as any 
one had need.  So continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they 
ate their food with gladness and simpli-
city of heart, praising God and having favor with all the peop-
le.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were
being saved" (Acts 2:42-47).

     The preaching of the gospel in its purity and power, and 
the lives of these people who obeyed, must have made a pro-
found impression upon other people.  Though three thousand
obeyed the gospel on the day of Pentecost, others obeyed 
day by day, and soon "the number of men came to be about
five thousand" (Acts 4:4).  The church continued to grow phe-
nomenally.  "Then the Word of God spread, and the number
of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great
many of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7).

Rejection: -- Though the lives of many were changed for good
by the strong preaching of the apostles, there also were many who rose up to 
oppose this good work.  When those on
Pentecost heard the Word, and were cut to the heart, they
accepted the truth and obeyed.  It is evident that as result they were a 
happy people.  They praised God and had favor
with all the people (Acts 2:47).

     Sometime later when Stephen preached to the people in
Jerusalem, they also were "cut to the heart."  However, their
attitude was entirely different.  Instead of gladly receiving the 
Word, in fury they turned upon the preacher.  They "gnashed
at him with their teeth...Then they cried out with a loud voice,
stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they
cast him out of the city and stoned him..." (Acts 7:54-58).

     The three thousand on the day of Pentecost "cut to the
heart" obeyed to the saving of their souls.  Those later "cut
to the heart" by the preaching of Stephen chose rather to kill
the preacher.  Such a course did not keep the gospel from
being preached.  Only a few years after this Paul said that
the gospel had been preached in every nation under heaven
(Col. 1:23).

     Killing the preacher does not destroy the power of truth.
It does mean that those who gnashed upon Stephen with their teeth and killed 
him, unless they turned to and obeyed
the gospel, will spend an eternity separated from God, endlessly "weeping and 
gnashing their teeth" (Matt. 25:30).

     The mob murdered Stephen.  Herod had James put to death (Acts 12).  
Other Christians suffered martyrdom.  Acts
of violence, however, turned out to be exercizes of futility.
When one Christian fell under persecution many others closed the gap.  Like 
the stone in Nebuchadnezzar's dream
(depicting the church) it "became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35).

     When cut to the heart by truth, killing the preacher only
adds sin to sin.  Why not destroy the man of sin in the heart
by obeying the gospel, as did the three thousand on the day
of Pentecost?   ------  Billy Norris in Gospel Guide, Sept. 1995.   </HTML>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.biblematters.net/pipermail/biblemat/attachments/20070511/5b87afe9/attachment-0001.html