Acts 3:11-26 "Repent and Turn Again"

[Music] with me and your copy of God's Word to the book of Acts acts 3 and we'll look together at verses 11 through 26 today Acts 3 verse 11 through 26 here now God's Word while he that's the the man who was born crippled while he clung to Peter and John all the people out early astounded ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's and when Peter saw it he addressed the people men of Israel why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk the God of Abraham the god of Isaac and the guide God of Jacob the god of Our Fathers glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him but you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead to this we are witnesses and his name by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all and now brothers I know that you acted in ignorance as did also your rulers but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer he thus fulfilled repent therefore and turn again that your sins may be blotted out that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you Jesus whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of the hope of his holy prophets long ago Moses said the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers you shall listen to him and whatever he tells you and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people and all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed these days you are the sons of the prophets and of the Covenant that God made with your father saying to Abraham and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed God having raised up his servant sent you sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness so far the reading of God's Word this morning may he add its blessing to our hearts when we come to Acts 3 verse 11 we come to Peter who is about to deliver a message for which God had given him divine confirmation in last week's sermon you remember last week if you're here with us this account of the healing of the man who was born a crippled he had never walked in and through the work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth his ankles and his feet were made strong again and we saw how that often times when in Scripture signs and wonders are given that these are given not for the purpose of inspiring some kind of a happy feeling in the in the minds of the people who's who observed the miracle but for the purpose of confirming that the person who's about to speak or the person who has just spoken is speaking indeed as a servant of the Lord not speaking according to his own desires and so here in this particular instance we have Peter doing the sign and wonder first and now comes the sermon for which the sign and wonder was an authoritative stamp this divine authority of course is necessary because he is showing the people of Israel he's speaking of the people in Jerusalem in this particular moment he's showing the people of Israel that they are a nation although called by God's name they are a nation who has rejected God's name there in fact a nation of idolaters now that's not going to go over very well in the city of Jerusalem at that particular point of history and so God and His mercy gives to Peter this sign saying people of Jerusalem listen to this man he's not just a man speaking on his own accord he has my power resting on him there is no man who can make another man's ankle strong that is an act of God and so God is present with Peter listen to him the people of God they they had done something they had created God after their own image they had made God into an idols they had turned it into something where they could call on the Lord's name while actually worshiping themselves and Peter is calling attention to this grave sin the sin of idolatry in the Bible is a capital offense when people are idolatrous and the people of in the in the law of Moses they were to be put to death but what this passage teaches us today is that even when guilty of the greatest sin that repentance grants forgiveness that repentance is the agent of refreshment for those who have sinned against the Lord as his mercy rests on them and so we want to consider the doctrine of repentance looking first at the sin of Israel as it's recorded in verses 11 through 16 then we're going to look at the response of Israel in verses 17 through 25 then we're going to look at the Redeemer of Israel as he has displayed for us in verse 26 so we want to see how even when guilty of the gravest sin repentance grants forgiveness repentance is the agent that God uses to give forgiveness to give refreshment for those who have sinned against him we're gonna see the sin of Israel we're gonna see the response of Israel and we're gonna see the Redeemer of Israel so let's begin by looking at the sin of Israel the healing of this man who was born blame a lame created quite a stir and this ought not to surprise us it would create quite a spurt a stir in Augusta as well if there was a man who everybody knew was lame and somebody pronounced words over him and and all of a sudden he could not only walk but he could leap he could jump he could praise God at the top of his voice in all the churches of this city it would make people stand up and and take notice more than that not only is the sign something that's extraordinary but the time at which the sign was performed was a busy time you see that many people were able to witness it as the beggar was at the beautiful gate one of the gates of the temple during the hour of prayer many devout people would have been going to the temple at this time many people would have been able to maybe witnessed the miracle itself but if they didn't witness the miracle they would have heard the man who went into the temple after the disciples and was walking and leaping and praising God at the top of his lungs so the people of Jerusalem would have known about this sign and Wonder and more than that not only did they know about it but other people began to hear about it and gather and so they all were gathering and it says here in a portico called Solomon's they wanted to see they wanted to see this man whom they had known to be lame from his birth and now was better they wanted to see the man Peter who had performed this miracle it says that the people they wanted to gather not some of the people it says all of the people now of course not everybody in Jerusalem was jammed into the temple at that particular hour but it's a it's a it's a deliberate word Luke uses to show this was a large crowd everybody who heard about it was gathering to witness to have to be a part of this extraordinary event and it said in verse verse 11 that they gathered in Solomon's portico it's like a it's like a covered porch that's outside a walkway covered along the side of the temple where some people speculate that the people the early disciples gathered as it says in in in in chapter 2 that they gathered daily in the temple well some people speculate that's where they were gathering in this outside portion of the temple whatever the case may be about that that all the people were gathering there and they were gathering to take a look that's a man and the healer or so they thought they thought they were taking a look at the healer Peter they had drawn their attention not towards God but they want to see Peter and he addresses the crowd to correct them in this problem this sin the sin of Israel is seen in this reproof you see what what does Peter say to the people of Israel he says to them why do you wonder or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we had made them walk this is the sin of the people of Israel their sin is exposed to them Peter is saying to them don't disregard God and his work don't look at man in his tradition and his actions as the hope of your future which is exactly what the Pharisees were guilty of he says to them don't look at man look at God turn away from man and turn towards God and so Peter he he connects this reproof with the people of God he you notice it in in the passage in verse 13 he addresses the people according to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of the fathers of Israel Peter connects his miracle to that God Abraham Isaac Jacob all of them Old Testament figures Old Testament recipients of a covenant from God and Peter says to them this god there's Old Testament God did that not why does he say that he says that because the god of the Old Testament and the god of the New Testament are the same Peter and the disciples aren't introducing worship to a new god they're introducing reintroducing they're confronting the people of Jerusalem with their failures towards the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of eternity there is only one God there's not a God of the Old Testament and the god of the New Testament and so the apostles they worship the God of Abraham and what Peter is saying to them here in this sermon is in fact we worship the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob but you don't even see him any when he performs a sign and a wonder in your midst what you want to do is take a look at the people who you think accomplished this great sign and so Peter the rest of the Apostles they're drawing the people of God towards a recognition of their sin the God that the people of Israel had described throughout their generations to their children the God whom they described through the stories of about what God did when he parted the Red Sea when he made them walk through the River Jordan on dry land when they see the monuments to keep them from forgetting him when they describe those to their children they did it only with their lips they didn't do it with their heart they had forsaken this God they had turned their backs on him and that's seen primarily in what they do with The Anointed One who comes from God this God delivered what he promised Jesus Christ the one who would be a blessing to all nations and the people of Israel said I don't want this one in fact I want to put him to death I want to rid the earth of this Anointed One they take the holy and righteous one and it says in our passage that they that they refuse his release when pilots willing to give it and instead of taking the author the righteous one the the one who grants life to them instead in his place they take a murderer they want to murder now that is intended to be a contrast that is intended to make the people who hear it to sit up and take notice it is to set before them that here on the one hand yea the holy righteous one the one who is God himself you have him over here and over on this side you have an insurrectionist a terrorist one who murders and you in your worship of God said I don't I don't want that one I want the murderer I want the darkest kind of human being that I can find on the planet and I want him instead of God such is their focus on man they have they cannot even recognize the God whom they claim to worship any more they have walked down a road a road that is common for people to walk down we read about it in Romans chapter 1 when Paul is describing how people actually give themselves over to the futility of their thinking how they know God exists because of everything that you see around you but they suppress that truth in unrighteousness and when they go down that road it says in in Romans 1 verse 22 that they that claiming to be wise they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal men and birds and animals and creeping things that exactly is the sin that is at the heart of the people of Israel they know that God of heaven and earth they see him more than that they know about him through the word that was given to them already and they say we don't want we don't want him we want man we want to focus on man instead and so that's really at the heart of what the people of Jerusalem are doing when they come running to Simon's portico they're not coming doing the same things that the lame man was doing they're not coming to jump and leap and praise God with their lips what they're coming to do is they're coming to take a look at Peter they're coming to take a look at this influential this important man they're running to see the Apostles and they're failing to recognize that they have rejected the one who empowered this miracle Jesus Christ of Nazareth healed this man not Peter but they don't want to look at Jesus Christ of Nazareth they want to look at the man and said they they trade in the creator for the creature it's the sin of the people of Israel and Peter is addressing them at this point of of their sin and effects peter is saying in his sermon the one or the the work of the one you claim to admire so much is the very one that you handed over to death and so Peter is saying to the people of Jerusalem you're not the people of God you are the enemies of God you are the enemies of The Anointed One of God and so the severity of their position must be understood Peter is saying to the people who have long as long as they can remember claimed to be Abraham Isaac and Jacobs descendants he's saying to them that they are the enemies of the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they are the enemies of the god of the covenant of grace they're not the worshippers of the true God they're worshippers of an idol that they have set up in their own hearts well it's one thing to know about your sin it's another thing to respond to what you know about your sin and we want to see the response of the people of Jerusalem next Peter is actually fairly gentle he starts out strong he he really lays their sin before him but if you notice in verse 17 he he seems to kind of soften soften what he's saying to the people of Jerusalem he says yes they did all these things but they acted in ignorance and he goes so far as to say that even the rulers of the people these people who plotted to to have Jesus convicted these people acted in ignorance as well the rulers of the people are acting in in ignorance says says Peter he almost gives them a way out it seems he lets all of them off the hook in a sense God who who in his providence uses the sins of men accomplishes the words of these people and the actions for for his own for his own purposes and so Peter softens to give them hope perhaps to help them to see that their life is not hopeless in the sight of God he he softens it by by saying to them that perhaps they acted in ignorance but he doesn't let them off the hook altogether does he just because they were ignorant of something doesn't mean their sin has been removed the sins established by Peter remained the sins of longing for Barabbas instead of the Holy One putting him to death all of those things remain in place even though they were done in ignorance but they were done it says in verse 18 at the fulfillment of God's prophets that God's mission for Christ would be accomplished while that mission is accomplished something remains for those who put Christ to death no doesn't their Jesus our Peters not saying it doesn't matter what you did to Jesus he's saying you did it in ignorance and what does he say in verse 19 what does he say in verse 19 when faced with a sin that truly remains in the hearts of the people of Jerusalem he says that one powerful word that we all as Christians must know it's the word repent he calls the people of Jerusalem to repent the guilt is established and it's undisputed they're ignorant in fact now is removed right as Peter sets it before them the blinders are taken off and now he calls them to repent when the people of Israel lived in in ignorance perhaps they could have been content to remain as they were but with their sins exposed they are forced to change they're forced to change either for good or for evil things cannot stay as they are they must either on the one hand deny that they're God's people or on the other hand they must seek forgiveness in him one of those two things must take place and Peter is calling them to it now if they deny that they are God's people that would lead to their condemnation and if they seek their forgiveness from God that would lead to their forgiveness and so Peter and verse 19 is urging the latter he's urging that they seek forgiveness through Christ Jesus he is he is he is setting before them repentance as one of the essentials for forgiveness it's an evidence of our new heart our new birth it's an evidence of our conversion we as a denomination have confessional statements the Westminster Shorter Catechism it's a it's not equal to the Bible it's a summary of what the Bible teaches and then the 85th question and answer of that catechism the Westminster Shorter Catechism the question is asked what God requires of us to escape the curse from sin now what is the popular answer going to be the popular answer is going to be trust in Jesus right and there is a kernel of truth in it but it's not the whole truth listen to the answer of the eighty fifth question and answer God requires faith in Jesus Christ repentance unto life with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption now what's the Catechism saying is the Catechism saying if you want to be saved first you have to repent first you have to submit yourself to the means of grace is that what the Catechism is saying if the Catechism was saying that they would be returning to the work of the Pharisees wouldn't they they would be saying you need to do something to be saved but what the Catechism is saying is it's saying to escape the wrath of God his work must be evident in your life so that when faith comes repentance necessarily follows it when faith comes and repentance is established in your life you will want the grace of God communicated to you this is the truth of Scripture Christianity isn't a faith that says well I believed something at one point and now thank goodness I got my good get out of jail free card I don't have to worry about my sin anymore Christianity says Christ save you from the guilt of your sin and he saved you from the Dominion of sin he saved you from the the the consequence of your sin and from the practice of your sin that is the good news of the gospel that is what Peter is saying here repent and turn again why why do you repent and turn for time of refreshing for a time of refreshing it's not it's not just so you can go on in your sin in your misery it's not so that you can continue doing the same things you've always been doing it's so that you can turn from your sin and be refreshed by the righteousness of Christ applied to your life Peter is giving them truly good news the people of Israel they're the people of Jerusalem they're under the weight of this sin there they want if they want to escape the burden of this sin that they're under they must repent they must turn to Christ for forgiveness and and they must turn from their sin and as a result of their salvation find joy and delight in the law of God and serving him and doing what he asks of us repentance it's a it's a necessary element of forgiveness if there's no repentance and you can be sure that there was no forgiveness because from forgiveness flows repentance when you are forgiven you will repent and so Peter tells them repent turn again so that the God whom you know would give to you a season of refreshment Peter isn't saying to the people of Jerusalem you need to know your sin you need to know your sins so you can be miserable and walk around with a heavy heart all day long that's not what Peters saying Peter is saying no your sin turn from your sin and find joy in your life in Christ this is the good news of the gospel when in theology sometimes we talk about repentance we don't just call it repentance we call it repentance unto life repentance unto life it is the repentance that gives life to the believer in the question of faith it's a neighbor of the short of catechism that we just quoted out of and in the confession of faith that you have this whole discussion in the fifteenth chapter of repentance unto life in repentance and understanding of the gospel is clearly seen when when the confession of faith when scripture summarized in the confession of faith describes for us repentance it defines it and describes it not only as a something about knowledge it is when the sinner knows certainly about his sin and he grieves over his sin and he turns from his sin to God and he finds a renewed life in the obedience to God out of love and when man turns in repentance to God you know what the first sin that will fall you know what that first sin is a violation of the first commandment you shall have no other gods before me so when the people of Jerusalem recreate God after their own image they're violating the first commandment and in repentance that is the first commandment that will fall because all our other sins flow from a God that we've made in our own image and so repentance this this this this this vehicle that God uses to give hope and refreshment to his people it's declared by Peter to the people of Jerusalem pointing them to Christ telling them to anticipate the return of Christ so Peter begins he begins really with the good news the good refreshing is coming repent but then he also comes with a warning it starts in in verse 22 whereas there was a great blessing for those who repent there is also a great warning for those who harden their hearts Moses is used again the people of Jerusalem would have would have had a great affinity with Moses he would have been one of their champions he would have been claimed as theirs and and when Peter uses Moses he says Moses said something to you Moses said that another prophet like him was going to come and when he came that the people were were obligated to listen to every word that he said and guess who that prophet was that prophet was Jesus Christ of Nazareth the one whom you handed over to be crucified so the people of Jerusalem Jesus Christ is this prophet who came there to listen to him yet what will they do with his word well verses 23 through 25 they they said it for us fairly clearly that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people if they don't listen to the word of the prophet they're saying they're making their choice they're not seeking forgiveness in him but they're denying that they are the very people of God they will be cut off from the people of God and so a Peter is setting before the people of Jerusalem two ways repentance which leads to life and refreshment rejection which leads to destruction to reject Christ is to be excluded from God's people and so as to children of Abraham they have known this promise from the ancient times the prophets has set this covenant of grace before them constantly but the receipt of the benefits of that covenant promise depend on what they do with Christ's word depend on what they do in their hearts with Christ himself do they respond in faith or do they respond by rejecting him so we've seen the sin of it all we've seen the response of Israel at least the potential responses of Israel now let's consider the Redeemer of Israel in verse 26 it's Peter has reserved the greatest mystery of his sermon right for the end and because their sin is against God himself and the one who sent Christ who to call them to repentance because their sin is shown in their denial of God and choosing the murderer instead of the one the author of life here Peter sets that mystery before the meat he has shown them to be a greatly wicked people but what does he say in verse 26 God having raised up his servant sent him to you first not amazing the author of life killed by these people with whom God had been patient for thousands of years and after that action he comes back to them and he holds up to them Christ and he says to them here is your Redeemer here is the one who can deliver you from all the agony that you have caused for yourself the glory of God cannot be manifest in any more clear way the mercy of God in indeed is is very great and the principle that that Paul sets forward later in the in the book of Romans is here established by Peter in Romans 1 verse 16 it says for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes that's the definition and then he gives the order to the Jew first and to the Greek to the Jew first and also to the Gentile God's order for revealing himself goes first through Israel and then to the Greeks and you and I well unless you're of Jewish descent everybody else in this room we're Greeks we're of the Gentiles we are grafted into the vine you understand that the promise of God that was given first to the people of Israel is now given to all people we all come as Greeks to receive the promise of God for refreshment to receive the call to to repent and turn again that is God's Word to us we who are Greeks here today but here what we see in this passage is is the calling of the Jews first those who hated him most are called out of Darkness not by a man who who took pity on them but by God himself to bless them with the News and to turn them from wickedness and this is the hope after much confrontation worth their sin this is the hope that Peter sets before them well Peter delivers this sermon 2,000 years ago what are we to do with this sermon today well the call for repentance that Peter makes then should be heeded by us today as well certainly this is a call for those who have not turned to Christ who have who do not trust in Christ but it is also a call for the people of God we are all here in need of repenting repentance is not a one-time event there is a constant repenting among the people of God it's part of the process of being sanctified by the Holy Spirit how God sets gently and mercifully before us a little bit more each day the depth of our sin and shows us a way of escape for this particular tempting temptation that we're prone to fall into this repentance this constant repenting that's part of our work of sanctification it's learning to forsake sin learning to recognize sin and turn from that sin unto the Lord now sometimes you might think to yourself well that's kind of discouraging that I'm gonna be repenting my whole life actually it's the best news that you can hear because you cannot repent apart from the saving work of Christ in you the fact that you repent of sins daily is good news for you heed that call for repentance is an evidence of the presence of God the presence of Christ with you so here through Peters mouth God announces forgiveness and then paths for forgiveness to to all the world and that's true so we can think generally about this call to repent but there's something very special about this call to repent he announces forgiveness to all the world there is repentance in all the world but Christ died especially for you Christ died especially for me the reason that you respond to that call to repentance is because God has loved you first because God's love is settled on you first so when you come to your sin recognize that you are loved greatly by God maybe your sin is a burden that you have been carrying around in secret all your life maybe nobody else knows about it maybe your sin is is something that you've just learned about as the Holy Spirit is is working in your life as he continues to sanctify you maybe your sin is of term and will have a tremendous impact on your life and maybe it won't impact anybody too much at all but what we have in the call to repentance is the reason why we can all take heart Peter speaks to all the world and he says that God forgives even those who betrayed his son even those who put the author of life to death on the cross he forgives them also if they come to him in repentance now if the blood of Christ covers such sinners if those who have done those kinds of things and it comes to him by faith I have their sins forgiven how much more can he cover your sins as well if you only would turn and repent the blood of Christ has has infinite merit so if you turn to him if you seek refuge in Christ if you heed his call to repentance though your sin be great the mercy of God is greater if you come to him by faith there is no depth of sin that cannot be forgiven by him this is good news this is the good news of the gospel our Savior is greater than all our sin and our change will be for unto a season of joy when the burden of sin will be cast off forever our brother Mark Crowder is in that season now he knows forever the joy of living in the presence of Christ despite all the sins that he committed when he walked on this earth Christ has purchased that freedom for us he has purchased it for us for the future and we can enjoy beginning the benefit we can enjoy the benefits of it beginning now so heed the call to repentance and the second thing that we learned from this passage is that we should fear God's judgment if we reject God's Word the grace of God is great for those who turn to Him repentance and for those his mercy is on display but God is a God who is unchangeable he's also a just God who punishes rebellion and will faithfully carry out the just sentence promised in the Garden of Eden which is death where is the where there is hope for the penitent there is only condemnation and destruction for the hard-hearted so how do you know that you have a hard heart how do you know that your heart has turned away from God well there will be manifest in your life you will see it for yourself if you honestly ask how take a look at how you're living if you continue in rebellion against God after he has confronted you with sin you're living with a hard heart if you neglect his words if you refuse to serve and worship him you are living with a hard heart if you think his way is inadequate and you prefer the philosophies of man you are living with a hard heart but if you're living with a hard heart today there is yet a picture of a forgiving God in Scripture in this passage today a God who holds out his hands to you who calls you to return to him he comes to you with a warning he comes to you wanting to bless you with a turn from wickedness so if you are here with a hard heart this morning I would plead with you that you had heed God's call that you had turned to Christ and that you would find your forgiveness in him Peter Sirmon it may seem heavy handed to us with his emphasis on on repentance and confronting Jerusalem with their sin but what he really is doing is giving a message of hope because even when confronted with the gravest of sins with the crucifixion of the author of life crucifixion of the Son of God who took on human flesh even when faced with that gravest sin Peter provides hope to these people he tells them to repent and and turn for the forgiveness of of their sins for the refreshment of their soul and that same refreshment is offered to all of us today through Christ turned to him and heed his words as all of his creation should let's pray together

Channel: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church

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Keywords: Cliffwood Presbyterian Church, acts, bible, sermon, reformed theology, family integrated worship, preaching, augusta, presbyterian, Theology (Field Of Study), Religion (TV Genre), Pastor, repentance, New Testament (Religious Text), the acts of the apostles, the Holy Spirit, the church

Id: NghQVBpoXI0

Length: 38min 47sec (2327 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 14 2017