Pastor (Dr) E. O. Abina
GOFAMINT
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, “and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, “whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began…”Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”(Acts 3:19-21, 24-26).
Greatest and Crown of all Blessings! Everyone would be excited to know that blessing so as to get it. It may be so or not far away from you, only you might not recognize it as the greatest of all blessings. This greatest of all blessings cannot be bought with money, position, education, social status and all of that. This greatest blessing can only be found and be offered by only one Being – JESUS. The greatest and Crown of all blessings I am talking about is the forgiveness of our sins through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose again the third day for our justification. This process always results to the salvation of our souls and ushers the repentant and believing sinner to the family of God. Jesus Himself, without mincing words said emphatically: “I am the way, the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Believe it or not, Jesus meant what He said, no matter what human reasoning or opinion may say. The Scripture of this message was the words spoken by the Apostle Peter on the day he miraculously healed a man who was born lame from his mother’s womb. When the lame man begged for alms while Peter and John were going to the temple to pray, hoping to get something from them. “Then Peter said: “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you; “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). The man rose up and began to walk not only walking, he was leaping and praising God – he even entered the temple (verse 8), that is what faith in the resurrected Jesus can do and much more. When the Jews saw what had happened, they were full of wonder and amazement, it was then another opportunity for Peter to preach the gospel which he did and part of his word is what is recorded above as the text of this message.
What Peter was telling the people in essence was, though the healing of the lame man was a miraculous blessing that no ordinary man can do but there is still another blessing that surpasses that healing, and that is the remission of our sins through genuine faith in Jesus which results in salvation. He asked the people to repent and be converted. To convert means to turn, that is the sinner should not only change his/her mind and attitude but should turn away from sin entirely.
The Apostle Peter calls salvation the “end of your faith” receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your soul (I Pet 1:9, read also verses 10-12). Salvation is deliverance from sin, the power of sin and the penalty of sin. If you are yet to get saved, this is the time for you to do that. No matter who you are in life, or what you may have attained in life, if you are not saved, it is a wasted life that is not worth living. Every sinner remains condemned before God. But the moment the sinner turns from his/her sins and accepts Jesus Christ as his/her personal Saviour, the status and story of the life of that person change and the name of the individual will be written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev 21:27).
Today is the day of your salvation. Listen to what Jesus is saying to you now: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev 3:20). I would like you to say this simple prayer if you want to be saved now: “Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sinful life, I repent and turn to you today, I believe that You died for my sins and rose again the third day. Please forgive my sins and save my soul and let my name be written in your Book of life, Come into my heart and be there forever”. Amen.
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