DAD'S RAMBLINGS - CUT TO THE HEART

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – CUTTO THE HEART

"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one 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. For the promise is to you and to you children, and to all who are afar off, as man as the Lord our God will call.' " (Acts 2:37:39)

In this first sermon that Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he laid out the biblical basis for the understanding that Jesus was the promised Messiah. But the sermon comes to a climax when Peter pinned the Jews to the wall with the fact that the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus. Peter said, " 'whom you crucified." They were guilty. There was no way to avoid this.

When they heard this, they were "cut to the heart," that is, their conscience was pricked so much that they responded with the question, "What shall we do?"

There was only one solution to the piercing of their conscience, and Peter had that solution: repentance. There is only one answer to the troubled conscience and that is repentance. There is no other balm or salve for the wounded conscience.

When my conscience "cuts me to the heart," I can try to bury the pain with excuses, or I can go to God in contrition and repent. He is the One who can heal the wounded conscience.

Oh, the grace of God that heals the stab of my conscience. He can heal and restore and cleanse the conscience when I come to Him and confess my sin. As the Scripture says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). That is the only answer for being "cut to the heart."

Love, Dad