What Shall We Do?
(Ac 2:37-42)
God is upright (Dt 32:4; Ps 25:8).
His judgment and His teaching are upright (Ps 19:8, Ps 119:137).
He reveals His uprightness (Ps 92:15) and
He dwells forever with those who are upright (Ps 140:13).
Faith is trusting Him and
The life of this faith is resolving to live uprightly before Him (Ac 2:37).
Everyone in society wants to be upright,
Being same on the inside and the outside.
While both homes and schools want to teach this to children,
In reality it is the children who are the most honest and upright because
They say what they see and hear.
Although God said to him, "If you eat of it you will surely die (Ge 3:5-6),
Referring to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
Adam listened to Eve who was deceived by the devil, that
They would "not surely die.
Subsequently, no man could hear the word of God.
Thus, God taught His uprightness to men through the prophets (Is 45:19), and
Gave the regulations and laws that are just and right, for
God alone is upright (Neh 9:13).
In spite of this, the people of Israel made an idol and bowed down to it.
Thus, Moses commanded them to kill
Their brothers, friends and neighbors who did such and
Turn back to God (Ex 32:25-29).
The tablets inside the Most Holy Place warns
Israel against being dishonest, worshipping other gods etc.
Jesus said, Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days, (Jn 2:19),
Because through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,
He would reveal the true uprightness of God, for
He is the incarnate Word who was with the upright Father in the beginning (Jn 1:1, Jn 1:14, Jn 1:18).
As such, His words, deeds and even death were
All according to what He heard from the Father (Jn 10:18, Jn 12:49, Jn 14:10), for
He was the most upright man in history.
As He died, Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn 19:30), declaring that He:
- Obeyed the Father's command (Jn 10:18);
- Condemned the father of lies, the origin of sin (Jn 8:44; 1Jn 3:8); and
- Shed His blood and redeemed the sins of men, so they can hear the word of God again (Mt 20:28).
The Father raised Him from the dead and
Seated Him on the throne to have Him live before Him (Ps 140:13).
According to His promise, the Holy Spirit came (Ac 1:3, Ac 2:33), and
He is the upright Spirit who speaks
What He heard from the Father and what He saw in heaven (Jn 16:13).
After the men heard the testimony of
The apostles who were filled with the Spirit (Ac 2:33-42) - which said that
God raised Jesus whom they killed and He became Lord and Christ over Israel -
They were cut to the heart and asked, "What shall we do?
Then, they were baptized and became disciples of Jesus.
The same is true this day:
Those who hear preaching and yet are not cut to the heart
Have heard words of men,
While those who hear it and are cut to the heart and struggle
Have heard the word of God(He 4:11-13).
The man of the Spirit has
The blessed heart like a young child(Mt 18:2) who
Both fears and admires God.
When he hears the word, he is cut to the heart and makes a resolution, and
With a broken and contrite heart he repents.
Therefore, he obeys and receives the Holy Spirit, and
Finally becomes an upright witness.
O Lord,
We rather hear words of men than hear Your word.
Maybe we have our conscience seared with a hot iron so
We are no longer shocked and moved by the preaching.
Lord, we want our hearts to become like little children!
Help us. Amen.