Conviction To Conversion!

 Acts 2:37 "Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart,and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,Men and brethren what shall we do"?

Peter's sermon was not a fine display of eloquence.Neither was it a very pathetic plea.It wasn't even a loud but empty cry of believe,believe,it was a simple, plain statement and a soberly earnest argument.Its power laid in the truthfulness of the speaker,his appeal to the scripture,the concurrence of his witnessing brothers,and his own evident faith in God's word.Above all the power was in the Holy Spirit who accompanied the truth in the word of God.To be cut to the heart is deadly,but to be pricked in the heart is saving.the truth of the gospel has often,by the power of the Holy spirit,produced life saving wounds to the hearts of all who hears it.

Conversion is the work of argument,for the judgment is gained by the truth.It is the work of conviction, for the awakened are pricked in their hearts.It is a work of inquiry, for they ask "what must we do to be saved".And lastly it is the work of comfort,for its subjects have received remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.Peter preaching was the strongest word in the first oration delievered in the defense of Christianity.The truth of God's word pricked the hearts of those that listened.It wasn't Peter,nor his hoop, not even his style, but the truth of God's word which pricked their hearts.Heart work must be God's work.Only the great heart-maker can be the great heart breaker.The Holy Spirit,the comforter came to convience the world of the truth of God's word.Does it seem strange that in convicting you of your sins,instead of comforting you, he covers you with shame,and confusion causing you to sink into un-utterable anquish and dismay?But in convicting us of sin, he does in fact prove to be a comforter.As we are comforted in the fact that Jesus died to save us from sin, and we can, through faith receive everlasting life.

Through the truth of God's word and the power of the Holy Spirit the message of a few, has lead to the salvation to many.Let us to once again put our trust in the truth of God's word, and the power of His Holy Spirit, and share with a lost world the good news of Jesus Christ the power of God to convict and convert.