<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Acts 2;37-39<div><br></div><div><b>37. &nbsp;Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”</b></div><div><b>38. &nbsp;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 shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.</b></div><div><b>39. &nbsp;For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.”</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;There is no ‘self-esteem’ in repentance.</div><div><br></div><div>Repentance is first of all the&nbsp;‘gift of God’ given&nbsp;into our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits, by our Lord Jesus through the Word,</div><div>&nbsp; <i>“The God of our Fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. &nbsp;God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, <u>to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.”</u></i></div><div>(Acts 5;30&amp;31)</div><div><br></div><div>Repentance is not a one time event in our lives, but rather a life-long ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>It is a&nbsp;holy, just, and godly fear which recognizes that we are well&nbsp;deserving of God’s eternal wrath because of our stubborn, willful, stupid, selfish, irresponsible, foolish&nbsp;rejection,&nbsp;and rebellion against&nbsp;his kingdom’s rule of&nbsp;love over and in us. &nbsp;God’s gift of repentance to us is a&nbsp;burning shame in us which takes its’ heat from the fires of hell. &nbsp;This aspect of repentance terrifies us as we justly need to be terrified.</div><div><br></div><div>But, true repentance is not just fear and shame. &nbsp;It is a yearning desire to be different than we are. &nbsp;It is the soul seeking escape from the prison of selfishness which completely&nbsp;dominates our very being.</div><div><br></div><div>Those who had just heard&nbsp;Peter’s Pentecostal Sermon were already experiencing&nbsp;&nbsp;the beginnings of the gift of repentance because they&nbsp;in terror&nbsp;cried out, <i>“What shall we do?!” &nbsp;&nbsp;</i><span>They were desperate for deliverance and&nbsp;</span><span>hope. &nbsp;When Peter answered, <i>“Repent”&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;they were encouraged, it gave them hope, for they were indeed already repenting!</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Now comes the great Gospel of God, the opening of the prison door of sinful-selfishness, Peter says,&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><i>“Be baptized every one of you&nbsp;in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” &nbsp;</i>The Jews understood baptism as not simply a washing away of sin, but a death and a birth. &nbsp;To be baptize “<u>in the name of Jesus”</u>&nbsp;meant to be baptized <u>into Jesus!</u>&nbsp; It was and is to this day, God’s own ‘Witness Protection Plan’ a&nbsp;new identity is being given, but first the old must be destroyed. &nbsp;This is not a fake death, it is a real death, Jesus’ own death for us to share in.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Our old identity with only selfishness and sin&nbsp;in its’ nature, is killed,&nbsp;left behind, washed away with</span><span>&nbsp;the waters of baptism. It is a cleansing from all self and&nbsp;sin. &nbsp;Going into and under&nbsp;</span><span>the waters of baptism is truly escaping from our prison of selfishness. &nbsp;It is a dying to the old&nbsp;</span><span>self. &nbsp;Paul says it best, <i>“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ, have been baptized into his death? &nbsp;We were buried therefore by baptism into death.” &nbsp;</i>(Romans 6;3&amp;4a)</span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span>Such a death is a wonderful and precious thing, it is our only&nbsp;escape from where we have been, trapped&nbsp;in&nbsp;our prison of self. &nbsp;Dying with Christ means dying to sin and self. &nbsp;Being joined into Christ’s&nbsp;death we yield up, surrender, and&nbsp;reject our own satanic lordship over ourselves. &nbsp;We renounce our claim to be our own little god, the ruler of our soul. &nbsp;</span><span>We&nbsp;</span><span>let go of everything our selfish desires cling to. &nbsp;We no longer claim a right to live our lives as we think best. &nbsp;We gladly, thankfully,&nbsp;</span><span>condemn our selfish sovereignty, and are emptied. &nbsp;The ‘house’ must be cleared our before it can be sanitized by the holy&nbsp;blood of Jesus.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Finally, amazingly,&nbsp;Peter says, <i>“….<u>and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.</u>” </i>!!!</span></div><div><span>This gift of God deserves another day to address. &nbsp;We will return to it tomorrow.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, by your grace increase our understanding and embracing of who we were but by faith&nbsp;are no longer. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray. &nbsp;Amen</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,&nbsp;</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b><br></b><br><br><a href="https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Acts 2;37-39
37.  Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”38.  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 shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.39.  For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
                                     There is no ‘self-esteem’ in repentance.
Repentance is first of all the ‘gift of God’ given into our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits, by our Lord Jesus through the Word,  “The God of our Fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.”(Acts 5;30&31)
Repentance is not a one time event in our lives, but rather a life-long ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.  
It is a holy, just, and godly fear which recognizes that we are well deserving of God’s eternal wrath because of our stubborn, willful, stupid, selfish, irresponsible, foolish rejection, and rebellion against his kingdom’s rule of love over and in us.  God’s gift of repentance to us is a burning shame in us which takes its’ heat from the fires of hell.  This aspect of repentance terrifies us as we justly need to be terrified.
But, true repentance is not just fear and shame.  It is a yearning desire to be different than we are.  It is the soul seeking escape from the prison of selfishness which completely dominates our very being.
Those who had just heard Peter’s Pentecostal Sermon were already experiencing  the beginnings of the gift of repentance because they in terror cried out, “What shall we do?!”   They were desperate for deliverance and hope.  When Peter answered, “Repent”  they were encouraged, it gave them hope, for they were indeed already repenting!
Now comes the great Gospel of God, the opening of the prison door of sinful-selfishness, Peter says, “Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”  The Jews understood baptism as not simply a washing away of sin, but a death and a birth.  To be baptize “in the name of Jesus” meant to be baptized into Jesus!  It was and is to this day, God’s own ‘Witness Protection Plan’ a new identity is being given, but first the old must be destroyed.  This is not a fake death, it is a real death, Jesus’ own death for us to share in.
Our old identity with only selfishness and sin in its’ nature, is killed, left behind, washed away with the waters of baptism. It is a cleansing from all self and sin.  Going into and under the waters of baptism is truly escaping from our prison of selfishness.  It is a dying to the old self.  Paul says it best, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ, have been baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore by baptism into death.”  (Romans 6;3&4a)
Such a death is a wonderful and precious thing, it is our only escape from where we have been, trapped in our prison of self.  Dying with Christ means dying to sin and self.  Being joined into Christ’s death we yield up, surrender, and reject our own satanic lordship over ourselves.  We renounce our claim to be our own little god, the ruler of our soul.  We let go of everything our selfish desires cling to.  We no longer claim a right to live our lives as we think best.  We gladly, thankfully, condemn our selfish sovereignty, and are emptied.  The ‘house’ must be cleared our before it can be sanitized by the holy blood of Jesus.
Finally, amazingly, Peter says, “….and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” !!!This gift of God deserves another day to address.  We will return to it tomorrow.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, by your grace increase our understanding and embracing of who we were but by faith are no longer.  In Jesus we pray.  Amen
Love, Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”







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