Cut to the Heart
Pastor Greg Tabor
June 6, 2004
Ridgeway Assembly of God
Introduction
Turn to Acts 2:37-41 and let’s look at a passage together. On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up and preached his first sermon.
Read:Acts 2:37-41 NIV
At the conclusion of the main address, it describes the people as being “cut to the heart.” The NASB says “pierced to the heart.” This phrase describes the conviction they felt from the Holy Spirit as the message was being preached. The message had been driven in deep and affected them so much that they asked the apostles, “what shall we do?” I don’t think this question was asked calmly, for the text clearly shows that they were affected deeply by the sermon. I’m sure there was desperation in their voice. What was Peter’s reply? ‘Repent.’
What is Repentance?
Repentance can have several meanings, but in our context this morning it basically means a turning away from sin and, at the same time, a turning to God. For instance, Dwight L. Moody illustrates that a “Man is born with his face turned away from God. When he truly repents, he is turned right round toward God; he leaves his old life.”
Repentance should not be confused with feelings of guilt or remorse. Read what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 NIV.
“[Godly sorrow] manifests itself by repentance and the experience of divine grace” (see NIV Study Bible notes on 2 Cor. 7:10. p.1770).
The famous evangelist Billy Graham put it this way:
“If your sorrow is because of certain consequences that have come on your family because of your sin, this is remorse, not true repentance. If, on the other hand, you are grieved because you also sinned against God and his holy laws, then you are on the right road.” -- BILLY GRAHAM
Why does man need to repent?
If I went to the Hickory Ridge Mall and set up a booth in the center of the mall and asked people walking by, “Do you consider yourself a ‘good’ person?,” don’t you think the majority of people would say they think they are? I mean, most of the folks would say ‘I’ve never hurt anyone,’ ‘I’ve never killed anyone,’ ‘I go to church,’ ‘I pay my taxes,’ etc., etc. The standards for each person’s concept of ‘good’ would fluctuate. Then if I turned around and said let’s say we both agree, whether or not we actually do, just hypothetically, that the standard is God’s Law, the essence of which is the 10 Commandments. “Then, if God were to judge you on the basis of how well you followed His 10 Commandments how would you do?” Most people would still say pretty ‘good.’ So we’d have to get a little more specific with them. Let me prove my point by asking you some of the questions we could ask them: Has anyone in the house ever lied? What does that make you? A liar. Has anyone ever stolen anything? Something as small as a pen? Copied something copyrighted? What does that make you? A thief. Jesus, expounding on the 7th commandment, and showing that sin is not just external but an internal reality, said that anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Has anyone in here ever lusted at a member of the opposite sex? What does that make you? An adulterer. By your own admission you are a lying, thieving, adulterer. You are in bad shape my friend, and we only dealt with three commandments! (Preacher’s Note: Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron with thewayofthemaster.com use this approach in their witnessing techniques; also Andy Stanley has a great little book called: "How good is good enough?" that I think is excellent!)
Unfortunately, people think they are good enough and will one day be okay in the judgment. It’s an “all dogs go to heaven” mentality for mankind. But the prophet Isaiah did not use flowery words when he said that our righteousness is as filthy rags compared to God’s righteousness (see Isaiah 64:6). And I just proved to you that ‘good’ people don’t measure up to God’s standard. In fact, most people in this room are familiar with the verse, Romans 3:23 NIV, that tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Even those who think they can get to heaven on their own merits will feel the door shut in their face when they hear the words written by Paul to the Galatian churches in Galatians 2:21 NLT: “if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.” If trying to be ‘good enough’ is ‘good enough,’ then the cross would have been bypassed, because it would have been unnecessary. The simple truth is that God never gave His Law as a means of salvation. He knew man could not be ‘good’ enough to win His approval. No, He gave His Law for another purpose.
So what is the purpose of the Law? Galatians 3:19 NIV says, “What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” Romans 7:7 NIV says, “Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.” In a nutshell, the Law exposes sin. Galatians 3:23 NIV tells us that we are “held prisoners by the law.” The Law points out your sin and condemns you allowing no way of escape. But even though the Law cannot save you, it does show us our desperate need for a Savior. Galatians 3:24 NIV says, “the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” By looking at God’s Law we see our sinfulness and thus see our need for a Savior. John MacArthur, Jr. explains it this way:
“Unless men realize they are living in violation of God’s law and therefore stand under His divine judgment, they will see no reason to be saved. Grace is meaningless to a person who feels no inadequacy or need of help. He sees no purpose in being saved if he does not realize he is lost. He sees no need of forgiveness by God if he does not know he has offended God. He sees no need to seek God’s mercy if he is unaware he is under God’s wrath.” (MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary: Galatians)
So when you are sharing the Gospel with someone who feels they don’t need a Savior, share God’s standards with them in His Law so that they’ll see their life doesn’t add up. They’ll also see the impossibility of trying to be ‘good enough.’ They’ll recognize that their sins have offended a holy God and they’ll be ‘cut to the heart.’ Then they’ll see their need for a Savior because they can’t save themselves. Once they recognize their need for a Savior, they’ll be ready for Acts 4:12 NIV, which states, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” And then they’ll be ready to do what Paul told the Ephesian elders was the crux of his message, “turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21 NIV). When someone comes to Christ to receive Him as Savior they must admit they are a sinner and choose to turn away from that sinful life.
What is the result of true heartfelt repentance?
Let me first say that true repentance produces true change. If there is no change, I question whether there was repentance. I like what David Wilkerson, Pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, said following the 9/11 disasters:
“We have moments of silence and we call that repentance. We see politicians on the steps of the government buildings singing ‘God Bless America’ and we call that turning back to God. We applaud the NFL for a moment of silence at half time. And we call that a spiritual experience. And is that all that is going to come out of it? One moment of silence and back to painted faces and back to chugging beer?”
In his defense to King Agrippa, the apostle Paul stated, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds”(Acts 26:20 NIV). I’ve seen too many people come down to an altar to get relief from the weight of the guilt of their lives, only to get up and live no different. Like. We’ve had people ‘saved’ this year that were here for a week and we never heard from them again. They probably felt guilt or remorse for the moment, but not true repentance. Listen, when you come to God for salvation, you are turning your back on your former lifestyle and are bowing to Him as Lord of your life.
Let me give you an example of folks that proved their repentance by their deeds. In Acts 19 some Jewish men had tried to exorcise a demon from a man by using the name of Jesus. They had no relationship with Jesus and were using His name like some kind of spell or mere formula. The demoniac acknowledged knowing Jesus and Paul, but not them. That was because they had no relationship with Jesus. The demoniac beat them so badly that they left naked and bleeding. This affected the locals. Listen to the passage Acts 19:17-19 NIV.
The realization of who Jesus was brought about a change in these people’s lives. They realized they were dealing with a Holy God, not one of their local pagan deities. They now “openly confessed their evil deeds.” And some of these folks burned their old incantation scrolls and paraphernalia. The value of this was given in drachma’s, a silver coin worth about a day’s wages. Wow!
Conclusion
So what is the point of this message?
I first want everyone in this place to recognize your own sinfulness before a Holy God. It is only when you recognize your need of a Savior that you will truly make the choice to reach out for Him and turn from your sins and accept His salvation.
Secondly, I want to open the altars this morning for us to practice what we’ve been talking about this morning.
If you are not a Christian, you’ve been given the realistic state of your life before God and you are being called this morning to repent before God and receive His Son Jesus Christ as Savior of your life and Lord over your life. You’ve been cut to the heart and you are asking “What shall we do?” Romans 10:13 NIV tells us “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” In all reality, God owes you and I nothing. We could repent all day long and God could choose to turn a deaf ear, except for the fact that He has chosen to pardon the one that comes in true repentance and turns from sin and in turn puts his faith in Christ. If you’ll get real with God, He’ll save you this morning. And not only will He save you from your sins and give you a relationship with Him, but He will also give you the Gift of the Holy Spirit which will give you power, just like that video we watched said.
If you are a Christian, you’ve been given a reminder of who you were without Christ. Ephesians 2:12b NIV “without hope and without God in the world.” But I’m also giving you a reminder of who you became when you repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NIV says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV says, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Perhaps you’ve forgotten this and just needed a reminder. Or perhaps you’re living in sin and you need to repent. You’ve gotten away from your first love. Quit making excuses for your actions and quit blaming parents, environment and everything else. Listen, John Bunyan put it this way: “The difference between true and false repentance lies in this: the man who truly repents cries out against his heart; but the other, as Eve, against the serpent, or something else.” You do what you do because of your own free choice. But listen to this nugget of hope: 1 John 1:9 NIV says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Many of you too are living the Christian life without the power God promised the disciples. Do you think you are better than them? You need to ask God to fill you full of His Spirit this morning! Others of you need a refilling this morning. Don’t wait till next month, we need Him today!
Come to the altars. Those who are choosing to repent and put their faith in Christ need to come to my right. Those Christians who want to come and repent of sin in their life need to come to my left. Those who desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit, come front and center.
