He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!” Acts 2:40
All through these passages today, we are seeing common themes. Prayer, fasting confessing sins, repentance, a revival and a returning to God. In Nehemiah it says, “the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God, their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God.”
Then in Acts 2 the disciples were obeying Jesus by waiting in the city for the promised power from on high.
I love Peter’s boldness. He stands up, in the power of the Holy Spirit and preaches an on-fire word! Then, this verse really struck me. “He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!” Acts 2:40
He was speaking like a man throwing a liferaft to a drowning person. Or like someone offering a parachute to a plane about to crash. Where is the urgency for the gospel in the church today? Are we trapped in the mindset of this sick and stupid culture, or do we love in a kingdom culture? Do we give up too easily? Or are we like Peter who urges people over and over.
They say the average convert has had 12 gospel encounters before they convert. How many of us could be the number 12 but we miss the opportunity? Paul says in Colossians 4:5-6 “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone”
Lord, We need another Pentecost, every day! Pour out your Holy Spirit, make us bold, send us out as harvesters! In Jesus name. Amen.