“Lord Jesus, we thank You that You are warning us that we must be saved from this perverse generation. Lord Jesus, help us know what is this generation and how we must ensure to walk by faith in You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
In the last part of the closure of his message to the Jews, Peter concludes with a warning. He urged them to be saved from this perverse generation.
Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 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 who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (40) And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
What is this exhortation that Peter is giving? Why was this matter very important?
Our Lord gave us an understanding of what is a perverse generation. Matthew 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
A perverse generation is a generation that does not trust God. Faith in God is essential for us to have a relationship with Him. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
We must always keep in mind that faith in God is not complete unless there is obedience to God. James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
This was the lesson of faith in Him that the Lord sought to teach the Israelites as they journeyed through the desert. Deuteronomy 8:2-3 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (3) So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know,*that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Did they learn this lesson of faith in God? The sad story is that, except for Joshua and Caleb, the rest of the 600,000 men, who came out of Egypt, to go to the promised land, perished in the wilderness. I Corinthians 10:5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
This is the reason that this warning from Peter needs to be taken seriously!
How do we cultivate faith in God and what hinders us from living by faith in God?
The opposite of faith is sight. II Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Sight, has a powerful effect on us and we tend to live our lives, make choices, and take decisions based on sight, not by faith in God. The Lord knows our hearts that we are not trusting Him but that we are living by sight.
Here is an example. Abram and Lot were deciding to separate from one another and Abram gave the first choice of the land to Lot. We know that the Lord had promised the land to Abram, and Abram trusting God, asked Lot to choose first.
Lot chooses the land in which he would dwell. This was mostly desert but one part was green, the land which was watered by the river Jordan. Genesis 13:10-11 And *Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere* (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. (11) Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
We know the end of Lot was tragic. We are all also certain that it began with this choice of the land, by Lot, which was based on sight.
I have asked this question in several groups of committed Christians. “If you were in Lot’s place and your uncle gives you the opportunity to choose the land, which land would you choose?” Consistently, the answer has been, “I will choose the same land which Lot chose”
We now can understand the perverse generation because we know that anyone who makes decisions and choices based on sight will have a miserable end, yet we deliberately make choices based on sight and not by faith in God.
The horror is that in our hearts it was ‘sight’ that led us to make choices but we camouflage it by saying that God led us. We fool ourselves and others but we cannot hide from God. Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Friends, let us escape this perverse generation that walks by sight and not by faith in God.