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Giving Heed To Jesus - Acts 3
Giving Heed To Jesus - Acts 3
Acts 3:23 23 'And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'
In Acts 3 we have the 2nd recorded sermon of Peter unto the people. Similar to his first sermon, he speaks to the fact that God SENT His promised messiah – the Son of God, Jesus, the Christ, the promised King. Through ignorance, he was rejected and crucified by the people. God raised Him from the dead and made Him both LORD and Christ, giving him the throne of David. Through this resurrection, the promise of forgiveness and discipleship is offered.
BUT, along with the great promise salvation is also the promise (we would call it a threat), of judgment and wrath from God: “every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:23).
Here Peter combines the ending of Deut. 18 with Leviticus 23:29:
19 'It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. Deuteronomy 18:19
29 "If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people.
Jesus IS king of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus IS reigning NOW and will continue to reign until his 2nd coming, at which point he DELIVERS UP THE KINGDOM to the Father (1Cor. 15:24-28). Those that have trusted and followed Jesus will live forever in the presence of God. Those who have ‘not given heed “shall be utterly destroyed from among the people”. Such a threat is NOT just to Jewish unbelievers, but unto ALL who would refuse to listen to Jesus.
Behold the goodness and severity of God. Behold the choice laid before ALL people. We can choose to follow Jesus, trusting him and following His teaching (‘giving heed’), OR we can choose to reject Him. Which is it with you?
Hugh DeLong
