Be Converted

RIVERSIDE INDONESIAN FELLOWSHIP
Go to content

Be Converted

Riverside Indonesian Fellowship
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2022 · 14 August 2022
All books of the Bible are divinely inspired. This is information we desperately need to know about our origin as part of the church of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus has come into the world, born of a virgin, lived His life in sinless perfection, claimed to be the Son of God, proved it by His words and works. He was rejected by the nation of Israel, who then pressed the Romans to crucify Him.

Until Jesus comes back to establish His kingdom. So we are 2,000 years into that history that began here in the book of Acts. Now in Acts 3, the Lord has ascended back to heaven, and He sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin and judgment, and to regenerate His elect. As well as to empower the church for the preaching of the gospel by which means He does His regenerating work.

Now in Acts 3, again Peter is the preacher. And again, the Lord collects the crowd. This time it’s a different miracle. The opening 11 verses describe that miracle as the healing of a lame beggar who sat daily in the temple gate. Everyone knew his condition. In verse 8, he stands upright, begins to walk and leap, and enters the temple with the apostles and all the people saw him praising God.

And while he was there with them, “all the people rushed together to them at the so-called porch of Solomon, full of amazement.” God collects a crowd through a miracle, and He adds to His church an even greater number of believers. Again, Peter is the preacher, and again the sermon is about Jesus Christ. And the sermon will have two parts: part one, guilt; part two, grace.

He starts out heaping guilt on them for the execution of the Son of God, the Savior, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Prince of life. He declares that the people of Israel had denied Him, delivered Him, and executed Him. The very One whom the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had glorified. But after they had killed Jesus, God raised Him from the dead.

Jesus is alive and it is His power on display in the healing of this lame man. Well, the first time Peter preached he preached guilt, but then he also preached grace. They felt so guilty in Acts 2:37, they said, “Brethren, what shall we do?” We don’t hear them say that in Acts 3:17 where Peter says “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.”

This is classic gospel preaching. A heavy burden of guilt, a clear indictment, and fear that grips the heart. And then we go from guilt to grace. Grace that is just beyond comprehension. Verse 17, “I know that you acted in ignorance.” What did Jesus say on the cross? Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” In Acts, we see more ignorance, which God graciously considers.

There’s an Old Testament precedent for this. Numbers 15:22, “But when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments, from the day when the Lord gave commandment and onward through your generations, then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, and one male goat for a sin offering.”

A special sacrifice for unwitting iniquity and disobedience. “Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation, and they will be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord. So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, for it happened to all the people through error.

But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, his guilt will be on him.” Hebrews 10 says that if you sin willfully after the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice.

In Acts 17, Paul says on Mars Hill to a Gentile audience, “The time of iniquity in the past God overlooked, but now commands all men to repent because He has unveiled His Son.” Grace is available to the guilty who is ignorant. And in verse 18, “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”

It was within the plans of God. It was sinful and heinous, but it was ignorant. In spite of what they did, God’s plan was perfectly fulfilled. And when he says, which God announced beforehand to all the Old Testament prophets concerning the suffering of Christ, it refers to Psalm 22, Zechariah and Isaiah 53. It was a prophecy of the One who was the final acceptable sacrifice.

Rather than the death of Messiah disqualifying the Messiah, His suffering and death validates Him as the Messiah because that’s what the prophets said would happen. And then comes verse 19, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Here we move from guilt to grace. “Therefore repent and be converted.”

Listen to Matthew 11:21, “Woe to Chorazin! Woe to Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” If Tyre and Sidon had seen what Chorazin and Bethsaida saw that, they would have repented. Repentance can come purely on the basis of the divine revelation of a miracle of Scripture.

Sometimes, repentance is the product of sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

A lot of people in the world are sorry for the consequences of their behavior, sorry for the consequences of their sin, but with no intention of repentance. In Romans 2:4, Paul says, “Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” Some people repent because they’re overwhelmed by the goodness of God.

Sometimes, repentance is the result of the threat of final judgment. In Acts 17:30 on Mars Hill Paul says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Paul in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says, “And to give you, who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

Starting in verse 19, Peter is going to give five motivations to repent and come to Christ. The first one, sin will be forgiven. The second one, the kingdom will come. Thirdly, the Messiah will return. Fourthly, judgment will be avoided. And fifth, promises will be realized. So here are the promises to the people of Israel if they will turn around with regard to Christ and truly repent.

Number one, sins will be forgiven. Verse 19, “so that your sins may be blotted out.” Change your conclusion about Christ. And then come all the way back to Him. And the terrible iniquities in your blasphemy against the Son of God will be forgiven you. But this is not a final blasphemy for all of them. There will be some who turn. What is the language here saying? So your sins may be blotted out.”

The Levitical system covered sins up, but didn’t remove them. David cried out in Psalm 51, “Blot out my iniquity,” feeling the guilt. But no priest could do that and no sacrifice could do that. In Isaiah 43:25 God says, “I am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 44:21, “I have wiped out your transgressions. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Second, the kingdom will come. Revelation 20 says it will last a 1,000 years. And all of the prophetic statements made about the kingdom, would say: peace, no war, fullness of joy; holiness everywhere; glory fully revealed and comfort. King Jesus himself will personally minister to every need; perfect justice to everyone all the time; and full knowledge and complete instruction.

King Jesus will teach everyone; and knowledge and wisdom will fill the earth; no curse, the curse will be mitigated in the animal kingdom and in the natural realm; no sickness, the king is a healer; no deformity, preservation of life by supernatural means, if someone dies at 100 years, they die as an infant; freedom from oppression; prosperity, greater productivity of everything on the planet.

So Peter says to those Jews, “If you repent and follow Christ, all your sins will be forgiven and the kingdom will come.” Yes, the kingdom arriving is conditioned on Israel’s repentance. Still, the millennial kingdom won’t come until that period prior to the kingdom when all believing Israel is saved. God knew what they would do, and yet they are responsible for the doing of it.

And thirdly, the Messiah will return. “When “the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send Jesus, the Messiah appointed to you before.” It was established in the Old Testament that there wouldn’t be a kingdom without a king, that there wouldn’t be a messianic rule without a Messiah. It’s true that millennial blessings cannot come apart from the return of Christ.

So in the future Israel will finally believe. They’ll look on the one they’ve pierced, they mourn for Him as an only son, be cleansed, and the Messiah will come and establish His kingdom. Verse 20, “And that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before.” Literally, “who was appointed Messiah to you,” declared so by the prophets, and by John the Baptist, and by the apostles.

God has not canceled His promises to Israel. He was reiterating them right here through the apostles. Verse 21 says, “Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Jesus has to remain in heaven until the kingdom. He cannot start the time of refreshing until Israel acknowledge Him as their Messiah.

Read Zechariah 12, 13, and 14. They exercise faith in chapter 12 and 13. They go through tribulation in the 13th chapter, and then the kingdom comes in chapter 14. As Paul says in Romans 11, “All Israel will be saved.” And when they are saved, they mourn for the One they pierced and a fountain of cleansing is opened to them, they will then be purged of all rebels and the kingdom comes.

Zechariah 14 lays that out. And this is what “God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” So repent, and follow Christ. Fourthly, judgment will be avoided. Verse 22, “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.”

Verse 23-24, “And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.” All prophets announced the coming of the Messiah. Moses is quoted in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Moses said, “Messiah is coming and will be a prophet like me.”

Peter here is really remarkable. Your sins will be forgiven. Your long-awaited kingdom will come. The Messiah will return. You will escape judgment, if you repent and return, all the promised blessings will be realized. Verse 25, “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.”

And when you look to Genesis and you see it was a unilateral covenant made by God on behalf of Israel, you understand why Peter said that. He doesn’t say “you used to be the sons of the prophets. And all the promises are now shifted to the church.” No. “You are the sons of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

All prophesies are still related to you. Verse 26, “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.” Just really a clear indication of the future. Repent, oh believers in Israel. Change your mind and receive forgiveness, and the kingdom and the king Jesus, and all God’s blessings. Change your mind.

Guilt yes, but also grace. That’s always the gospel message. Israel as a nation has not believed. They will in the future, but every Jew or every Gentile who turns toward Christ and goes after Christ to follow Him receives all these things. We have forgiveness of sin. We are members of the kingdom. We are delivered from destruction and we have inherited all God’s promised blessings, Amen? Let’s pray.



JOIN OUR MAILING LIST:

© 2017 Ferdy Gunawan
ADDRESS:

2401 Alcott St.
Denver, CO 80211
WEEKLY PROGRAMS

Service 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Children 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Fellowship 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Bible Study (Fridays) 7:00 PM
Phone (720) 338-2434
Email Address: Click here
Back to content