WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.680 I looked up a word this morning because I wanted to make sure I was using it right. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.839 It's the word stagnate or stagnation. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:12.880 And what it means is to stop developing, growing, or progressing. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:20.000 And people, and what I've found through the years is people who stop asking questions stagnate. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:29.039 And people who stop answering questions and maybe just give rote answers and responses without really thinking about it, they tend to be stagnating. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:36.000 And so what we're doing this summer in our summer series is asking questions about things that have to do with the Christian life. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:51.359 And some of it is because some of you are new and have questions about things in the Christian life, and others because I'm not saying you're stagnating, but I'm saying I do when that happens, when I stop asking questions and dealing with even the basic things once again and remembering them. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:56.799 So some of these seem very basic, and some of them are just very, very profound. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:02.240 And so what we're looking at today is what is conversion anyway? 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:08.079 Now we've had that question from people, and some of you may have that question and wonder how do I explain that to someone? 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.680 So we're going to talk about that, and we're going to read Acts 2. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:22.319 And because it's Father's Day, and to honor all of your knees and hips, we're going to stay seated as we read Acts chapter 2. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:29.280 So please, in honor of God and his word, remain seated and comfortable, but give your ear to listening to the word. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:59.120 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing of wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:04.480 Now I know you all have a question about that at this point, and we're not going to talk about it this morning. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:08.800 So find me some other time, or better yet, go find Stephen Brooks. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:09.360 He would talk. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:32.560 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, and they were amazed and astonished, saying, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.599 And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? 00:02:37.919 --> 00:03:01.680 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocea, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.240 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, What does this mean? 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.560 But others, mocking, said, They are filled with new wine. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:24.240 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:30.479 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.759 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:48.560 And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:04:10.800 Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:18.079 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:21.360 Men of Israel, hear these words. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:43.439 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and power and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and for the knowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:51.360 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:05:00.079 For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:02.800 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:12.319 My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, the grave, or let your holy one seed corruption. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.199 You have made known to me the paths of life. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.639 You will make me full of gladness with your presence. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:29.519 Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the Patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:46.399 Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:50.399 This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:06:01.519 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:10.639 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:21.360 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:30.000 Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:49.439 And Peter said to them, 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, for the promises for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:56.399 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:03.279 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:18.319 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.920 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:28.720 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:39.120 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:45.519 And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.759 There are a lot of confusing things in this passage, but we're going to focus on just a few. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.079 So let me pray and ask God to bless us as we open this up and look at it more fully. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:10.399 Spiritual reality that we see with eyes of faith and we believe. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:15.120 And there are things that we experience, and there are some things we haven't yet experienced. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.879 For some of us in this room, we have not yet experienced conversion. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:20.000 For others of us, we have. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:27.759 But we want you to help us walk through this passage and help us to understand what that means and what that's about. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.959 Your role in it and our response to it. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.360 Would you bless us and would you be with us? 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:38.879 And Lord, I know that I'm handling holy things, things too marvelous and wonderful for me. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:50.159 So I pray that you would, by the power of your spirit, direct my words, my heart, my mind, and enable me to speak beyond my flesh. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:52.159 Bless us and be with us this morning. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.600 We pray in Christ's name. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:54.799 Amen. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.480 I was smoking pot the first time I heard the gospel. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:04.960 Now that's not about me. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.639 That's actually my favorite introduction to a testimony I've ever heard. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:10.159 But it was not about me. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:13.519 I was listening to a guy years ago, and that's how he began. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.799 And if you want to get somebody's attention, that's how you begin. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.279 Did I get your attention with that? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:21.759 No, mine's different than that. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:28.320 I grew up in church when and uh looking back, I would say that, you know, at that age, I would say I neither believed or disbelieved. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:30.000 It's just what my family did. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:34.799 So every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, we were there. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:43.200 And uh I really went because my parents made me, and then when I was getting into junior high and high school, I went because that's where my friends were. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:44.559 And so I wanted friends. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:49.279 I wasn't looking for Jesus, I wasn't looking for God, I was really looking for community. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.159 I was looking for friends, uh, peers. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.159 Uh but one summer they went to a Christian camp, and I went because that's where my friends went, and it was going to be a fun. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:59.919 There were lots of games we were going to play. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:11.440 And there was this one night, middle of the week, where there was this preacher who was preaching, and he said, uh, just as he was preaching, I find myself being drawn more and more into what he was saying. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:20.720 And he used this illustration that I wouldn't use because I don't think it fully captures what happened on the cross, but it rang true with me. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:30.639 And he said, I'm standing in the middle of the road, there's a car that's coming from me, and Jesus runs to where I ran to where I was, pushed me out of the way to save me while the car hits him. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:34.879 And so Jesus was killed while saving my life. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:45.120 And at that point, it was like that man up front was a PA system speaking from heaven to my soul, to my heart. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:57.360 And I walked away and had, I don't know if you've seen the movie Elf, but there's this moment where he goes out with Jovi the Elf, or you know, the girl who works in the department store, and he spins around and he says, and I'm in love, and I don't care who knows. 00:10:57.600 --> 00:10:59.120 And that was that night for me. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:10.960 And so everybody else went off to play games, and I went and found this quiet spot on the campus of North Greenville University, and I wept and said, He loves me. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.039 He loves me. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.960 And my heart was changed. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:16.639 That was my story. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.639 Other people have different stories. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:23.840 Uh, I remember reading several years ago about a student in the United States. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.399 She was she was born in China. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:36.879 Uh, she grew up in that school system, and the entire school system there that she grew up in was uh seeking to indoctrinate people into not just communism but into atheism. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:43.600 So everything she heard in society, everything she heard in school was saying, there is no God, there is no God, there is no God. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:12:01.440 And one night as a little girl, she stepped outside of her house in her village, went out into the middle of the field and looked up, and there there was, you know, there wasn't light pollution the way there is for us, and she looked up at the heavens and she said, There has to be something more to make all of this. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:06.879 So she knew there was something, someone that made all this. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:17.840 But it wasn't until she went to grad school in the United States and stepped on foot on the campus that she immediately met some Christians working at a booth who shared the gospel with her. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:19.840 In that moment, she believed. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.600 She knew this is the God that I knew existed, but I never knew who he was. 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:27.600 She was converted and brought. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:31.360 Now, there are various questions that people ask, you know. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.159 Hers were is, you know, people ask, is there a God? 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:34.960 How do I know him? 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:35.679 What is he like? 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.960 We have those questions. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:42.480 But we're not answering those kind of apologetic questions necessarily today. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:51.360 What we're dealing with is what happens when God steps in and there's a change in a person's life, a change that we call conversion. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:56.559 Conversion is a change in how we relate to God, which is through Jesus. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:03.840 It's not about coming to believe in the existence of a God, a theist, becoming a theist. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:09.120 It's not about becoming religious, and it's not about becoming moral. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:15.039 It is actually entering into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:25.440 And the first thing we have to say as we go through, as we begin this, is conversion is our response to God's initiating grace to us. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:30.240 It's a recognition of his heart towards us. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:40.399 And the place that we see most clearly God's heart towards us is in Jesus Christ Himself, because Jesus became human like us. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:46.399 He became a he took on human a human nature, and he didn't have to. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:53.440 And he lived a life of love in a very hostile world, and he didn't have to. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:01.600 And he took our sins in his body to the cross and he died for us, and he didn't have to. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:17.200 And he rose again from the dead to secure our uh justification, our righteousness for God, giving us his joint account so that his righteous status would become our righteous status, and he didn't have to. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:24.879 So he's shown us incredible love, incredible favor, incredible grace, and he didn't have to. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:31.440 Because he loves us. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:38.960 And Peter's whole sermon on the day of Pentecost is about that person, Jesus. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:47.759 That's the message of Jesus, is what had that amazing impact on these thousands of people that heard the message and saw these things. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:56.799 The message of the gospel is not about religion, it's not about morals, it's about the heart of Jesus and the centrality of Jesus and the redemptive work of God in the world. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:01.519 So Peter in his sermon, if you kind of remember back, I just read it, so hopefully you remember a little bit. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:10.720 Um, Peter in his sermon is telling us if you want to understand the Old Testament, you have to look to Jesus. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:17.440 So he gives this quote from the prophet Joel about this big event taking place and this redemptive work that God was going to do. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.960 And Peter's saying, that was fulfilled to you today at Pentecost. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:24.240 That prophecy from long ago, that was fulfilled today. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:30.799 This prophecy about being raised from the dead and his body not seen decay, that's not about King David. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.679 That's about Jesus. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.919 Jesus was attested by God through miracles as he lived his life on the world. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:42.159 God was saying, This is my son, he's the one that you should listen to. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:48.240 Jesus died on a cross, was raised again, and forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:58.080 So it's not about religion, and it's not about just bald theism, and it's not about becoming moral and a good person. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:02.399 It's about entering into this relationship with God through Jesus Christ. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:07.440 They did these people that were at Pentecost, they were already very religious. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.080 They were in town for a religious festival. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:11.519 They didn't need that. 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:13.759 Religion can't save. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.120 We we need Jesus. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:19.759 And we see this in Acts chapter 2, verse 21. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:29.519 This is from the prophet Joel, and it says, And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:31.120 That's pretty cool. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.360 But then later he says this, telling us what that name is. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:37.919 Acts 2, 37 to 38. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:40.559 Brothers, what shall we do? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:41.440 Verse 38. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:54.159 And Peter said to them, 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. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:02.320 For most people, this is where they enter in is through experiencing the forgiveness of their sins. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.880 All the walls come down between us and God. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:07.279 That was my elf moment. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:10.079 He loves me because he died for my sins. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:11.039 I understood that. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:21.519 And it's it's what it's it's not just what we come into it with, but it's once you enter the Christian life, oftentimes we struggle with legalism. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.240 And the reason we struggle with legalism is because we see that God is a very righteous God. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:35.839 And we have the sense that somehow, somehow, I'm supposed to live in obedience to Him, and we think that obedience is earning God's affection and God's favor. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:37.039 But it's not. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.240 That's not how it works. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:44.240 And when you think that about God, you point the finger at God and say, How could you be so stern? 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:45.599 How could you be so demanding? 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:46.960 How could you be so exacting? 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:49.680 That doesn't sound like love to me. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:18:01.839 And it leads us in our hearts not to like God and to be frightened of him, scared of him in an improper way. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.279 Martin Luther said it even more strongly than that. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.960 Martin Luther was a monk, and he was, you know, he's associated with the re the Reformation. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:17.440 Uh and our understanding of grace today largely came about by him recovering that doctrine of scripture. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:23.200 But before he understood what the Bible said about grace, he really did understand what the Bible said about God's holiness. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:27.039 And because he understood how holy God was, he actually said this. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:28.319 He wrote this at one point. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.759 He said, Love God. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.480 Sometimes I hate him. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:39.039 And I hate it, I hate him because his standards are so high. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.279 How do you meet the standards of a holy God? 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:55.599 But in the gospel of Jesus, Martin Luther began to realize that when God is holding forth these standards, he's wanting to hold forth something that we would look at them and say, I could never do that. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.920 So that we would look to God who says, I'm doing it for you in Jesus. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:07.759 So when Jesus was living life on the earth, he was living a perfectly acceptable life to the Father. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:20.480 And when we become a Christian, when we're converted and we hear the message of the gospel, truly, we realize God has given us the righteous life of Jesus. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.759 There's nothing that has to be done for God to accept me. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:33.519 I don't have to keep my nose clean, I don't have to attend anything, I don't have to do anything because Jesus has done it for me, and all God calls me to do is to believe Him. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:43.519 And then all the sins that I've committed in this life, every single one, is laid on, was laid on Jesus at the cross to pay for my sins. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:49.680 So there will be no sins of mine that I will be answerable for when I stand before the judgment seat of God. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:51.359 It will be Christ's record for me. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:53.119 We call it the great exchange. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:57.519 My sin goes to Jesus and his righteousness comes to me. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:11.279 And when Martin Luther recognized this, he said, when I began to see that there is a righteousness you receive by sheer faith, and I receive that righteousness, it was as if I walked through the gates of paradise. 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:13.039 It wasn't on me. 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.079 Jesus has accomplished that for me. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.119 And I walk through in the name and the righteousness of Jesus. 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:26.799 And it's at this point of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus where many people enter in and experience this change towards God. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:35.279 So it's not, I became a theist and I believe that there's a God, and it's not I became religious and I adopted religious practices like prayer. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.839 And it's not that I became more moral and stopped drinking and smoking and doing all those sorts of things. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:45.359 It's that I entered into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.640 And that brings a change in how we see and understand and ourselves and the world and the people around us. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:21:06.880 And the touch point, the touch point of this is where all this sinks in and we have our moment as you know, as a middle schooler listening to the gospel, it's at that point we call that conversion. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:15.680 Because there's a shift that takes place in our whole interior being, our whole inner being changes. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.839 Conversion brings us a deep holistic change. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.240 So faith is more than getting the fact straight. 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.480 That is, that's so important to get the fact straight. 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:25.680 It absolutely is. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:36.799 But the truth of a subject matters, but conversion is a change not just in what we think might be true, but what we embrace and love as a result of that. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:40.480 It's a change in our very nature, in our internal wiring. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:49.440 Something about us is severed, and the power of the old is broken, and it establishes something new. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:51.920 So, Acts 237. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:58.400 It says that when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.680 So he's cutting. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.759 The power of the old. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.720 And he's getting deep into their hearts and establishing something new for them. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:09.519 A new rationale for the way that they live. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.039 Some of you know the story of C.S. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:16.720 Lewis's conversion, how important the Inklings and J.R. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.559 Tolkien and others were to him, and him dealing with gospel truths. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:26.000 Do you know the story of his wife? 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:27.519 Joy Davidman? 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.119 Joy was before she and C. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:31.359 S. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:32.960 Lewis were married. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:34.559 She was an atheist. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:38.079 And this is what she said about her life then. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:48.640 She said there is only one final beauty to be on your feet, and only one ultimate ugliness to fall on your knees. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:53.599 She said she didn't need God, so she would stand on her own two feet. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:59.680 But there was this moment in her life where she was facing something that she couldn't face on her own. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.240 She didn't have the power to do with that. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:08.799 So when she felt alone and incapable of bringing about change, she suddenly felt the presence of God. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:21.279 And she said, All of my defenses, the walls of arrogance and cocksureness and self-love behind which I had hid from God, those all went down momentarily. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.799 And in that moment, God entered in. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.400 In other words, he cleaved her heart and he stepped into it. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:32.640 He cut her to the heart, just like he's doing here in Acts chapter 2. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:42.400 Once Joy came to believe that God was real, she realized that she had spent her life trying to deny the truth, to bar the doors of her life and keep God out. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:45.599 And this is what she said after she God came in. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:50.000 She said, I myself was more alive than I had ever been. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.079 It was like waking from sleep. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:55.119 I found myself on my knees praying. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.200 I think I must have been the world's most astonished atheist. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:04.559 So in Acts 2.37, it says, They were cut to the heart. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:07.920 And then they asked the question, What do we do? 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:11.920 And the first response is to repent. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:16.720 Now I've looked it up to see where the word conversion appears in my English Bibles. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.200 It doesn't really occur in the English Bible, the word. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:23.440 It's a theological term that we use to describe the change that's taking place inside of us. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.960 But most of the passages we would go to to talk about conversion use the word repent. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:32.559 In the Old Testament, it's the word shub, that's the Hebrew word. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:37.440 In the New Testament, there are two other words that talk about a change of mind and then a change in direction. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:39.359 That's how that works. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:48.319 And so when the Bible talks about conversion, it's talking about turning, returning, and coming back to God. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:25:02.559 So repentance means that I stop with the internal conversation that's negative about God, and instead I listen to what God's actually saying and I respond to him properly. 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.720 Okay, I've used ELF. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:07.440 I'm going to give you another movie illustration. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:10.000 I don't like those usually, but this one captured it. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:13.119 And because we're watching the other Bennett sister right now, I'm just saying. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:20.880 Okay, so some of you have read Pride and Prejudice or probably have seen the A E. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:22.880 Okay, it's Father's Day. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:26.640 Most of you fathers probably haven't seen Pride and Prejudice, but some of you may have. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:30.319 I have seen it a lot. 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:37.519 It was um it was Rebecca's birthday present every year for us to watch the entire miniseries for her birthday. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:40.880 So we have lots of lines memorized, et cetera, et cetera. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:46.400 So uh but in the book, there are the two primary uh people, characters, Mr. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.839 Darcy and does anybody know Mr. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:52.079 Darcy's middle his first name? 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:54.480 Fitzwilliam, thank you. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:55.119 That's good. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.759 So I still have my man card. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:58.400 I do. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.200 I have that um so Mr. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:03.039 Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:06.079 And when you when you start in, she's she wants to give Mr. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:12.079 Darcy a chance, but then there's some things that happen that she just doesn't understand how he could act the way that he acts. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:14.880 So in her mind, she paints him as a villain. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:19.119 There is so when people say negative things about him, she's quick to accept it. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:21.279 Oh, yeah, that's exactly what I've experienced. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:25.119 Or when he does something, she immediately attributes it to something bad. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:30.480 She's snarky with him, she is a little bit ugly towards him in ways that she's not towards other people. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:42.240 And she is shocked when he actually comes to her at one point and says, You must allow me to admit how ardently I admire and respect you. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.319 She's shocked by this. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:50.799 She cannot believe that this man actually likes her after he's been so ugly towards her in various ways and prideful and arrogant. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:56.559 And so she rebuffs his request to take her hand in marriage. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:27:02.240 She doesn't want anything to do with him at all based on what she thinks about him. 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:08.240 But later on, as it goes on, you realize she was not right about him, not completely. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:18.960 That is, she sees his interaction with other people, hears other people talking about the way he's dealt with them so generously and lovingly and kindly, how well respected and liked he is all over. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:26.720 And then there's this one thing that happens for her where he steps in as a hero and takes care of this family drama. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:31.920 He just takes it all on himself and functionally removes it for their family. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:38.160 And she finds in this whole thing that her heart is changing towards him. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:52.079 And so there's this moment where he is walking with her, uh kind of the situation set up for her in the walk with her, and he and they're having a good conversation, and he says functionally to her, My feelings have not changed. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:53.519 I still want to marry you. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:57.359 But if you don't want to marry me, I understand, and I'll just walk away and won't bring it up. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:01.440 If your feelings are what they were last year, then let me know. 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:07.119 And this is, and I quote, she says, Oh, my feelings. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:12.079 My feelings are, I'm ashamed to remember what I said then. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.200 My feelings are so different. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.599 In fact, they are quite the opposite. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:21.839 The opposite. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:23.759 That's repentance. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.720 It is, there's an internal polarity where I don't want anything to do with God. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:32.720 But when I see his love in Jesus Christ, I'm cut to the heart. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:35.039 And I believe and I repent. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:38.799 And I want him in my life more than my feelings are quite the opposite. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:43.599 Whatever I told myself about God before, I can't tell myself any longer. 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:50.319 He's not the tyrant up in space with his finger on the smite button waiting for me to mess up. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:57.200 He's the father of my soul, he's the lover of my soul, and he sent his son to pay for all of my sins. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:00.799 And then when that happens, when you repent and turn, your heart changes. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:04.079 This passage says that we come to believe. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:07.039 We trust that God has forgiven all of our sins in Christ. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:08.720 And then something else happens. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:16.640 Not only do we believe He died for me, but it creates a sense of new meaning and purpose and belonging and peace, hope, a connection. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:20.799 There's a change in our foundational loyalty, our foundational understanding. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:27.119 And we believe and find ourselves completely wrapping our minds and hearts around what his agenda is for our lives. 00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:30.000 I take on his mission and his purpose for me. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:37.839 And then he says in Acts 2, 38, that we are repent, that we repent, and we are baptized. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:42.559 Now, that means more than simply it's a symbol of having my sins washed away. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:45.519 It's a little bit more like the wedding ring that I wear. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:52.799 It's a symbol of being bound together with that woman for the whole of our lives. 00:29:53.359 --> 00:30:01.759 And baptism is a covenant sign of saying, I am bound with you happily for all of eternity. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:06.400 I am bound to you in my life, and I've dedicated my life to you. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:09.920 So that's conversion. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:26.000 And for a lot of us living in where we, where and when we live, uh we place a lot of emphasis on that initial moment where somebody comes to faith in Christ. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:28.960 And we keep, we talk about it and we talk about it and talk about it. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.400 And I can tell you that mine was very emotional. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:43.119 And I've had other emotional things since then, but I can remember that moment where all of it sunk in, and I just couldn't help but go away and sob with joy for what God had done for me. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:52.480 But I think for some of us we have a misunderstanding of that moment, of like, somehow I've got to get back to the emotions of that moment. 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:55.039 I've got to get back to that if you're a Christian. 00:30:55.200 --> 00:31:02.960 If you're not a Christian, then uh hopefully God will open your eyes and your heart to be able to experience that kind of movement towards Him. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:08.559 But for many of us, we kind of want to get back to those emotions. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:11.599 But you're probably not going to, and that's okay. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:16.000 Because functionally where you are is as good as when you first entered in. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:19.680 So I want you to imagine it's a hot day like today. 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:32.960 You're 10 years old, you run to jump in the pool, you do a cannonball, the best cannonball ever, and when you hit, it's that moment where all the water is displaced for just a moment. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:34.799 You can feel it if you've done it right. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:41.519 All the water is displaced for just a moment, and you can feel that, and then there's this cascade of water that shoots up into the air. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:42.240 It's perfect. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:44.240 Some of you are smiling, you know exactly. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:46.720 Some of you are thinking, I haven't done that for 60 years. 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:48.799 That's okay if you haven't done it in 60 years. 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:51.359 But you hit the water with a big splash. 00:31:51.680 --> 00:32:05.279 And at that age, you know, you might want to get out and go do that again, but I want you to imagine, for the sake of the illustration, that you stay in the pool and you're there for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, however long you stay in the pool, and you don't get out and recreate that. 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:13.440 Now, what's fascinating about that is at that moment where you jumped in is the moment of entrance, and you there's a change in your condition. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:17.359 I went from the hot sun into the cool, refreshing water. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:22.000 20 minutes later, you're still in the cool, refreshing water. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:23.440 That hasn't changed. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:28.240 You're still in the water, you're floating around, you're still wet. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:33.759 Some of you, me, I was converted when I was 13 or around then. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:34.960 I was young. 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:37.519 But I've been wet ever since then. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:40.720 I've still been in Christ ever since then. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:42.240 That does not change. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:46.160 I don't need to repeat what happened so long ago. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:48.000 I don't need to keep recreating that in my mind. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:53.200 I need to have that big emotional rush that took place 40 years ago. 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:58.400 Because I'm in the water and I've been swimming and I'm with Jesus now. 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:04.960 So conversion is not to be equated with that big emotional experience. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:12.079 In fact, for some people who are Christians, they may never have had that big emotional experience. 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:20.559 Since the frontier revival movement, we put a huge emphasis on that moment where people jump into the water. 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.440 That's great. 00:33:21.519 --> 00:33:23.920 I love that when people come to faith in Jesus for the first time. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.000 I've been there when people do that. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:32.960 But for some people, there's no big cannonball into the water. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:35.279 They just kind of ease into it. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:36.799 And that's okay. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:41.279 This is from Abraham Kuiper, who is a Dutch theologian. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:34:03.119 He said, as the conversion of many people has taken place almost without observation, which often happens in the quieter walks of Christian life, and the conversion of a few only who at first wandered off is incisive, like that of an Augustine, such also is the case here. 00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:14.800 For the most part, this witness works gradually and unobserved, and only in exceptional cases is it as lightning that suddenly flames through the skies. 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:26.880 So if you're somebody who didn't grow up in the church, like the girl who was in China that I talked about, she may have had come here and heard about Jesus for the first time, and it was like lightning in the sky. 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:29.119 I'm encountering God for the first time. 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:33.599 But then there are other people who may have grown up in the church their whole lives. 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:39.280 And they don't, they'll say, I don't remember a day when I didn't know Jesus as Lord and Savior. 00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:46.400 They may not have this big jump into the water with the big cannonball moment and have all these emotions come with it. 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:48.639 Which one of those is better? 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:55.039 To have the big cannonball moment or to grow up in a covenant family where you hear the gospel your whole life? 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:57.119 Yes, it depends on who you ask. 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:03.519 Several years ago, I had two students, I almost said their names, but I'm not going to, just in case they listened to this ever. 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:06.480 I did their wedding. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:08.239 They had started dating. 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:12.960 She, her dad was a pastor, so she grew up in the church. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:16.880 She came to Christ at some young age, she doesn't quite remember when. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:19.679 She always believed in Jesus. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.320 He grew up not in the church. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:24.000 He was a baseball player. 00:35:24.480 --> 00:35:26.320 He did a lot of bad things in high school. 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:29.360 His world was baseball and girls. 00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:38.000 And so when he came to Clemson University and was involved with our campus ministry and came to faith in Christ, he had different baggage than the girl he would eventually marry. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:44.400 And I remember doing premarital counseling with the two of them, and they're both sobbing. 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:49.119 And the reason they're sobbing is because they wanted the other person's story. 00:35:49.360 --> 00:36:04.320 She wanted his story because, in her mind, he understood God's grace in a way that she never did, because he had a closet full of skeletons, things he had done, but he understood what it meant to be really forgiven for really bad things in his life. 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:15.039 He wanted her story, where he had grown up in a Christian family, had never done anything bad, and he didn't have these memories of things that he wished he could forget. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:17.440 So which one of those is better? 00:36:17.760 --> 00:36:18.639 I don't know. 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:24.639 But it was God's plan for them to go to have the story that they had. 00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:37.599 Another issue that we find with conversion is the idea that we think conversion just immediately fixes all the broken things in our lives. 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:41.360 If I become a Christian, then I'm not going to struggle anymore. 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:43.840 That's not true either. 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:48.639 Those of you who have walked with Christ for a long time, you know we're still tempted. 00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:50.400 We still fall into sin. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:53.039 It can be a hard thing. 00:36:53.280 --> 00:37:00.719 I remember I was sitting in one of my seminary classes, and I think one of my professor told the story. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:02.800 It wasn't him, but it was somebody else. 00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:05.280 And there was a student sitting in the class. 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:07.119 They were talking about the struggle with sin. 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:17.360 And one of the students asked this godly 86-year-old seminary professor, Professor, when does the struggle with lust end? 00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:28.719