Discerning the Voice of God: Does it Bring Conviction? • Acts 2:32-41
By Becky Brown
It’s the first third of the first century AD. The broken seal of the Roman government on that empty garden tomb had long ago crumbled in the Jerusalem sun. The rolling stone was still stuck uphill where the angel left it. That open, cavernous gravesite had probably been explored by many inquisitive souls since Passover.
Jesus was alive! No one could deny it now, not even ROME.
For forty days since Passover, Jesus had walked among them and eaten with them and given flesh and blood proof that He had conquered that grave. He had walked up the hill of Calvary carrying His own cross. He had been carried (as a dead man must be) from that cross to that grave.
The True Passover Lamb had given His life for the salvation of the whole world. Three days later, He walked out of that grave as He had promised.
Ten days earlier just prior to the Feast of Pentecost, Jesus had spoken His final commands to His followers and then in the sight of many witnesses, He had been lifted up to His rightful place with His Father. As He ascended, the followers of Jesus began what would become ten days of prayer together. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given in a miraculous display of fire and wind.
Peter and everyone else in the place heard the voice of God speaking through the Holy Spirit in their own language, their “taught by their own mother” heart language. This amazing miracle, coupled with the power of the Resurrection, emboldened the early believers to action.
A crusty fisherman from Bethsaida now became a bold evangelist. Peter stood and preached a masterful, Master-filled message. Three thousand (3,000!) people responded in faith that day. At his next message, five thousand (5,000!) would be saved. The Holy Spirit came to bring peace and conviction.
In Acts 2:14-40, we see the text of Peter’s first message. Peter reminds the listeners as well as us today that we are hearing these truths from the eyewitness accounts of disciples (learners at the feet of Jesus) who became apostles (those sent out with a message from Jesus).
Peter reminds them of the life, death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus by using the witness of the prophet Joel and Messianic passages of prophecy found in the Psalms. His message declared that Jesus is the True Son of God descended from the tribe of Judah through King David.
In verse 32, Peter reveals that the Word of God Himself is now seated at the right hand of God. From John 1:1, we know that Jesus is the Word of God. No question about that. God is revealed as Creator in Genesis. Jesus is revealed as Savior in the Gospels.
In John 14 and 16, Jesus prepared the disciples for the coming of One just like Himself. The Holy Spirit came to dwell with believers on the day of Pentecost. As Peter preached his message in his native language, listeners understood it in theirs!
The Holy Spirit is the Voice of God Who speaks to us in our hearts. He is fully God. God sent Jesus. As promised, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be “Christ in us the hope of glory.” In the power and strength of the Holy Spirit, God now sends believers to a lost world.
God uses the Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us. His unmistakable voice is heard in the way He is used to convict us and draw us back toward the Father Who loves us and the Savior Who gave His life for us.
When you “hear” conviction in situations you are facing, you can KNOW that this is the voice of God communicating with you.
Let’s prove this with three questions from the text. In Acts 2:7, the puzzled people exclaimed, “If these people are from Galilee, how are we understanding them?” In Acts 2:12, the confused people inquired, “What does this mean?” Then, after hearing Peter’s inspired message, the pierced souls implored, “What, then, shall we do?”
CONVICTION is the voice of God.
Brown is minister of missions at First Church, Richland.
