20/09/2024
DAILY EXPOSITORY DIGEST [DED]
September 20, 2024
Topic: CONVICTION
Text: Luke 16:31
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" NIV
Concerning the request of the rich man from hell that Abraham should send Lazarus to his father’s house, Abraham told him, they have Moses and the Prophets to warn them let them listen to them. However, the rich man was of the opinion their repentance will be quick if someone from the land of the dead go and preach or warn them. Here again, Abraham still insists that if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
The issue here is not whether they know the scripture. From this interaction, it is obvious they have the scripture in their possession and they read it. Nevertheless, 1what1 they lacked was conviction. They know there is heaven and hell but their problem is that they do not believe it. It was just a mental accent. And because they did not believe or were convinced, they were living as they wanted. Their lives would have changed from bad to good knowing the gravious torment of hell awaiting them.
The word in this Text which is very important and which determines the character of any man is convince. We live out our conviction not just our belief. Convince is to make somebody sure or certain of something. It is the inner persuasion to do something. It is to pacify or conciliate by other fair means. It is to assent to evidence or authority, to rely on inward certainty. Other words for convince are agree, assure, believe, have confidence, wax confident, obey, persuade, trust, or yield.
What the brothers of the rich man lacked was trust, confidence, assurance, and conviction in the word of God. They have the word of God and listen to it, but they were not persuaded of the truthfulness of the word of God. They must have heard of heaven and hell but they were not persuaded it was a reality. They did not accept the authority of the scriptures to be truth. If they have agreed with the scriptures their lives would have changed because they will be afraid of hell fire. With that fear in their heart there are things they cannot do knowing the terror and torment of hell fire.
Our character is shaped by our conviction i.e., the things we are persuaded to be true or not. We do not put our hands in a burning fire because we are convinced that it will burn us. We do not play with a naked electric wire because we are convinced that once we touch it will electrocoat or shock us even to death. If a man believes that the word of God is true, he will value and live by it. But if he does not believe in it, he will live as he deems without any damn on what the word of God said.
Abraham was righteous because he heard the word of God and was convinced in it and he escaped the torment of hell. Noah, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, and all the righteous men of the scripture were men and women who heard the word of God in their time and were persuaded in it and lived by its instructions and injunctions. The same word of God that came to Abraham, the brothers of the rich man in hell were in possession with it. However, the difference was “CONVICTION.”
Beloved, conviction is faith. it is impossible to please God without faith. Many professing Christians will end up in hell because of ga
*Lord, please work in my heart a deep conviction to your word*