Chapter Three — Part Four: The Book of Acts
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 03/14/2021
Foundation Scriptures:
Acts 3:22-26
1. Receive Him.
a. So far, in Acts 3, a man born lame is totally healed, a crowd gathers in the porch of the temple, and Peter preaches (to his fellow Jews) his second official sermon.
b. He points out that they and their rulers had killed their Messiah, albeit in ignorance.
c. Ignorance of the law is no excuse; you cannot use it as a defense.
d. Even if you do something in ignorance, once you are presented with the truth, you must make it right.
e. There was a remedy for their sin, but only if they repented and were converted.
f. Jesus is coming again.
g. They rejected Him the first time and they are offered an opportunity to welcome Him the second time.
2. Hear Him.
a. Acts 3:22 NKJV — For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
b. Peter is quoting directly from Moses (Deut. 18:15-19).
c. He reminds the people that Moses had predicted the arrival of a Prophet, who is the Messiah (Luke 24:19; John 1:19-28; 6:14).
d. You shall hear Him.
e. This Greek word for ‘hear’ is akouō, which is translated in the KJV as: hear; hearken; give audience; hearer.
f. It means: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing (not deaf); to hear; to attend to (use the faculty of hearing); to consider what is or has been said; to understand; to perceive the sense of what is said; to hear something; to get by hearing, learn; to hear of; to give ear to; to give ear to one, listen, hearken; comprehend, understand; to perceive anyone’s voice; to give ear to a teaching or a teacher; to yield to, hear and obey; to listen to, have regard to; to perceive the distinct words of a voice; to yield obedience to the voice.
g. Therefore, this means you shall—will—should—better—ought to hear (and obey) Him!
h. The AMPC renders it this way: Him you shall listen to and understand by hearing and heed in all things whatever He tells you.
3. If You Will Not Hear Him.
a. Acts 3:23 AMPC — And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to and understand by hearing and heed that Prophet shall be utterly exterminated from among the people.
b. Not to obey (hear) this Prophet meant condemnation.
c. There is a blessing of salvation on those who hear and heed—and a curse on those who do not.
d. It was their choice to make.
4. Foretold by the Prophets.
a. Acts 3:24 NKJV — Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.
b. These days—referring to the days of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ—when God’s Prophet would speak to His people and offer them salvation.
c. Each prophet, down through the ages, spoke out a piece of the puzzle, a piece of the story.
d. But it all related back to only One Person.
e. Luke 24:25-27 MSG — Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? 26 Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” 27 Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
f. Luke 24:44-48 NKJV — Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in
the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.
5. First in Line.
a. Acts 3:25 NKJV — 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.
b. God called Abraham and made an unconditional covenant with him and his descendants; that through them the nations (families) of the world would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).
c. This promise was fulfilled when Jesus Christ came into the world through the Jewish nation (Gal. 3:6-14).
d. Acts 3:26a NKJV — To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you…
e. Jesus was sent to His own, the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ (Matt. 10:6; 15:24).
f. But His own did not receive Him (John 1:11).
g. Romans 1:16 KJV — For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
h. Acts 3:26b NKJV — …sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
i. Peter was addressing the Jews as both individuals and as a nation.
j. National repentance depends on personal repentance—the response of individual sinners to the message of salvation.
k. This was the chief purpose of the coming of Christ and of the preaching of the Gospel (Jn. 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:21).
l. A nation is saved, redeemed, and changed, one heart at a time!