Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

Is it the Law or is it the Cross?  Well my dear friend, may I humbly suggest, it is both!  What is the Law?  What is the Cross?  Well I'm talking about the message of the Gospel. A message that is not heard in it's entirety much these days. You see right now, in the year 2011, the message the disciples preached and died for has changed!  The message that Peter preached was the Law and the Cross!


Acts 2 (New Living Translation) Please read all of Acts 2, the following are the highlighted scriptures that I would like to emphasize.


Acts 2: 14, 22-24, 31-34, 36-40

 ¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.

²² “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene^[d] by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. ²⁴ But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 

 ²⁹ “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. ³⁰ But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. ³¹ David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave.³² “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. ³³ Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 
      
 ³⁶ “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
 ³⁷ Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
 ³⁸ Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles^[h]—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”⁴⁰ Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”

You see the message Peter preached was the Law...you are a sinner and He preached the Cross...repent of your sinfulness and receive the pardon Jesus died to give you!

And that is the message of the Gospel...Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary for Law Breakers...whom are you and I.  Unfortunately, many modern day preachers are not preaching this message!  What I hear doesn't even sound like what Peter said!  And isn't the Bible our example, our mirror, that we should look on at our reflection?  And after we have seen our reflection and see that it doesn't look like the mirror...well then what do we do?  Do we change the reflection or do we change the mirror???  Well, in today's society the mirror has been changed...the standard has been changed!  Todays Gospel is no longer "Wretched Sinners that so desperately need a a Savior!", but rather "Hurting and Problem Filled People who Need a Savior to Make their life Meaningful and Happy."  No where in Peter's message will you read that!!!  Over and over he points to the Law to reveal the sin in each of us and then he points to the penalty for that sin which is death.  He points to the one who paid for that sin...Jesus!  He points to the guilty one who received the pardon... us!  Finally he tells us what to do about it...repent and receive forgiveness!!! 

We as a created people are sinners!  We simply are!  That is why we fail, we hurt people, including our own spouses and children!  We lie and gossip!  We hate and then pretend that we love!  We steal and are never content!  How many of us are swimming in debt, just so we can have what everyone else has?  Is God the center of your life or is there something or someone else that you want more?  Have you rested on the truth of what Jesus has done for you on that Cross?  Well my friend, if you are guilty in any of these areas then you are guilty of them all...you are a Lawbreaker and your penalty is death!  It doesn't sound like a loving and kind message BUT it is!!  God loves us so much He is offering us a way out of our sinful condition!  In our shallow minds we think that love is... give me my dreams and material prosperity!  But the Lord says I want to give you something far greater...it's forgiveness that we so DESPERATELY need...so that we can really live!  Will you accept the payment made by Jesus Christ for you?  Will you humble yourself and repent and admit you are guilty and then receive the forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus offers!!  This is the message of the Gospel! This is the truth!  We need the Savior, I constantly need the Savior!  The more I read my Bible and get closer to the Lord, the more sin I see and the more sin I see, the more I need to repent and receive forgiveness!  It is a life long process but Jesus is faithful...lifelong!   

May I say, my friend, there are no similarities between the the first message of the Gospel that Peter preached and the Gospel Message of the 21st Century!  None!  One removes our burden and the other places a stronger one!  They are indeed two different messages...whom will you believe?

Come to Jesus!

Phileo,

Patsy