How to Deal with Conviction
“When Something Good Makes You Feel Bad”
Acts 2:36-41
Intro: Last week we talked about being under the influence (not of intoxicants, stimulants, or any illegal substance, but under the influence of the Holy Spirit). Peter was under the influence when he stood up to speak to the huge crowd of people who had gathered in reaction to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit used Peter to speak powerful words of truth which brought conviction to the listeners. How do you handle conviction? When you know you’ve done something wrong, and you feel that little twinge of guilt, what do you do with it? Do you ignore it? Do you let it get you down? Do you blame somebody else for the way you feel and excuse yourself?
-It is interesting to watch how children learn to deal with conviction. Some don’t deal with it very well, but then sometimes they aren’t taught how to deal with it. How we respond to feeling bad about our behavior is one of the most important lessons we can learn as a child. It doesn’t come natural, though. Just watch little kids. Nobody had to teach them how to lie. It comes naturally. The Bible tells us what we should do when something good makes us feel bad; there is one central thought I’d like to leave with you today:
Prop: The proper response to guilty feelings will help us live in right relationship w/ God.
Interrogative: What is the proper response when we know we are in the wrong?
TS: As we take a look at how Peter’s listeners responded when they were faced with their own sin and guilt, we will see at least 3 steps that can apply to our own lives.
I. Get Right
-Maybe you have heard people use this phrase before: “I’ve got to get right.” People who are addicted to drugs may use it to describe a drug-free state, when they are no longer under the influence of the drug. Get right and stay right.
-A contemporary Christian song surfaced several years ago, that said, “Get right or get left, for the Lord’s coming back for you.”
-Well, when Peter’s listeners heard the Spirit-inspired message, v.37 says they were cut to the heart. You know God’s word has a way of doing that to us. Hebrews 4:12 tells us 12”For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The sword of God’s word, when delivered in the power of the HS can cut to the heart. Jesus also said in John 16:8 “When [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” So, in Acts 2, the HS has just come and filled these believers, and Peter stands up under the influence of the HS and preaches a very convincing, powerful message.
-This message was so strong, that when the listeners were convicted by it, they asked, “What can we do about the way we have treated the Messiah? Is it too late? Did we miss our chance?”
-As we have already read, Peter had good news for them. The first thing he told them to do was repent. To repent means to turn around, to make a U-Turn. This shows a change of heart, a change of direction & a change of actions. Peter was telling them that they needed to turn away from their hard-hearted unbelief, and to turn to God, who had given them the Messiah. He told them to get right in their hearts.
-Maybe you have been confronted with your own sinfulness and failure sometime in the past. If you are a Christian, I know you have faced this. How do I know it? Because that is how we come to Christ. We come to realize how badly we have mistreated our Creator, and we repent. We turn away from all that is not pleasing to God. If you have not repented and turned away from all that is wrong, then you cannot call yourself a Christian until you do.
-What do we do when something good makes us feel bad? Well, according to Peter, we need to repent, because God is the One who is disturbing us, convicting us, and making us see our need to get right with Him!
-It is only when we make things right with God that we can say, “It is well with my soul.” Everything is okay, because my heart is right with God, and I’m trusting Him with my life.
-TS: Well, at the same time we are repenting and getting headed in the right direction, we also need to be cleansed. We cannot clean up our own lives enough to please God. We need Him to cleanse us.
II. Get Clean
-Ask God to forgive & cleanse you. This is a change in standing with God that puts us in His favor.
-Peter refers to water baptism here. Now water baptism is not what provides forgiveness or cleansing, although the idea of being washed in water does give us an illustration of what God does in our hearts when we repent and ask Him to cleanse us. In the first century, baptism was typically a sign of conversion to Judaism, normally reserved for pagans. Being baptized would have been offensive to Jews. Why? Because it would put them in the same category as pagans. It would indicate that they had not been living the way they should have been living. By calling for baptism, Peter is requiring a public, radical testimony of their conversion. This was not something done quietly that would go by unnoticed. Being baptized in the name of Jesus meant that they were becoming followers of Jesus the Messiah. They knew this would be a major break away from what they had known.
-Paul shows us in Romans that baptism is an identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The Bible tells us that forgiveness requires death. Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Shedding blood meant that something had to die. Well, we know that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin. That is why we say His blood washes away our sins. It is the same as saying that His death erases our sins, when we repent, confess, and ask Him to forgive us.
-Well, many of the Jews and proselytes who heard Peter on that day were convicted and felt bad about themselves. How did they deal with their own guilt? We read that at least 3000 of them dealt with it by doing exactly what Peter had told them to do. Get right- repent and turn away from your life of unbelief. Get clean- be baptized, identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus the Messiah, who is the only one who can take away our sins. You might be wondering, “How did they baptize 3000 people in one day?” Well, apparently the temple mount had many immersion pools where Jewish worshippers performed their ritual purification. There were a lot of wet worshippers that day, as they responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit by repenting and being baptized.
-TS: Well, what else happened that day? What other great thing happened as a result of something good making them feel so bad? Peter told them to Get Right, Get Clean, and as a result, you will Get Filled.
III. Get Filled
-"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.”
-Let me say first of all that in Luke’s writings, when he mentions the gift of the Holy Spirit, he is generally talking about a package deal. He is not necessarily talking about just one aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work, such as when He comes upon us with power. Luke’s references to the HS usually include both the indwelling Spirit, whom we receive at salvation, and the empowering Spirit, whom we receive when we are filled with the HS. There are not two different Holy Spirits, but there are multiple works of the same Spirit. So, why have I shared this with you? Here is the reason: When Peter said, "Repent and be baptized…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he was talking about both salvation and the infilling of the HS. See, the HS comes and lives within us when we call on the Lord. This is also called regeneration. Our human spirits receive new life from the HS. He gives us a new heart and changes us from the inside out. That is an awesome miracle that nobody should leave this world without.
-However, there is more to the work of the Holy Spirit. Some of it was seen on the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the HS and began to speak in other tongues as the HS gave them the ability. The empowering work of the Spirit was seen in Peter when he stood up to address this crowd. He had already been saved, and regenerated, because John 20:22 tells us the Jesus “breathed on [the disciples], and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” The disciples were saved and had the HS prior to this notorious Day of Pentecost; however, they had not yet received the power Jesus spoke of, because they had not been filled with the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost.
-So, in essence Peter was telling these Jewish listeners, “Repent and be baptized, receiving Jesus as your new Master. When you do this the Holy Spirit will come and live in you and will be poured out on you. Being baptized in the HS means receiving the full work of the HS. I need some of that! How about you? Get right! Get clean! Get filled!
-Let me use an illustration from physical science to give us some insight into the infilling of the HS. If you’ve ever done a speedometer check, then you are probably familiar with the formula for determining velocity or speed. When you take the distance traveled and divide it by the amount of time it took you to travel that distance, you end up with your velocity. If you were to drive for 1 hour exactly, you could check your odometer for the number of miles traveled to see how many miles per hour you averaged. Aren’t you glad you know that? A speedometer check is generally done by seeing how many seconds it takes you to drive one mile. If your speedometer is accurate, it should take you exactly 60 seconds to go 1 mile at 60 MPH. Anyway, that’s not important, but this is:
-See, the baptism in the HS produces a change in our spiritual velocity. Our spiritual velocity is the speed and effectiveness we need to go the distance in the amount of time we have left on this earth. The distance is how far we must go or how much needs to be done to reach our world with the gospel. One thing we cannot change is the distance. The task of reaching the lost is before us. It must be done. Jesus said, “This gospel must be preached to all nations…then the end will come.” So, what part of the formula is variable? What part can change? I’m happy to tell you that the power of the HS can increase our spiritual velocity! And if the spiritual velocity of the church increases, then the time it takes to go the distance of preaching the gospel to all nations will be shortened. Folks, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit! We need to stay filled with the Holy Spirit! The task before us is too huge – too monumental – without divine assistance. But we have that divine assistance promised to us! Jesus said, “You will receive power, after the HS comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in all the world.” The infilling of the HS is not a luxury for the ecstatic few! It is a necessity in order for the church to fulfill the Great Commission! Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit! Help us to be the people who are called by Your Name and empowered by Your Holy Spirit!
Conclusion: In closing, what should we do when something good makes us feel bad? Please don’t ignore it, hoping it will go away! The Holy Spirit is a wonderful gift from God. Part of His work includes making us feel sorrow for our sins and failures, so we will want to change. Do you need to see some change in areas of your life this morning? The HS can help you do anything God wants you to do! How do we cooperate with Him? First of all, we need to get right. We need to repent and turn away from whatever is not pleasing to the Lord Jesus. Second, we need to get clean, asking Jesus to give us a clean heart and a right attitude. Finally, we need to get filled with the Holy Spirit. He will give us the power to break free from bad habits. He will give us power to live a godly life in obedience to Christ. He will give us power to be effective witnesses of who Jesus is and what He can do in the life of an ordinary person.
-If the HS has been speaking to your heart this morning, I am praying that you will respond to Him. If you need to repent for things in your heart and life, will you take care of that today? When you ask God to forgive you, He is eager to do so and make you clean. If you do need to get right with God, would you raise your hand so I can pray with you? If you are ready to be clean from the stuff of this world, will you slip up your hand to show that you are turning to God?
-Maybe you need to be filled or refilled with the HS. Do you need more spiritual velocity and power in your life? If so, you are not alone. We all need more of the HS, whether we realize it or not. If you don’t ask the Lord to fill you, there’s a pretty good chance it won’t happen. However, if you are willing to ask, Jesus clearly said that the Father was eager and willing to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask Him. Read it in Matt. 7:11. If you need to be filled with the Spirit, would you come and begin to ask God to do it? Let’s give God the time He needs to do what is needed in our hearts today.
