The Necessity of Repentance

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2016 · 21 February 2016

We are going to continue to study the conclusion of Peter's sermon in Acts 3:19-26. It is preached in Jerusalem in the temple courtyard in front of a multitude of people who have been gathered by a miracle of the healing of the lame man. And Peter is preaching and exalting Jesus Christ and indicting Israel for the execution of their Messiah.

So Peter concludes his message in verse 19 with the words, "Repent therefore and be converted". Now that's really the climax of his message but it is not the end in the sense of its appeal since it continues through verse 26. And it would have been easy for us to assume that God would have brought final judgment upon Israel. But that is not how God operates because our God is a God of mercy and a God of grace.

Now Peter's message is very clear, it is very powerful but beyond all of those qualities that we see in the first 8 verses, the most important feature is the statement of verse 19, for that is God's grace in action. God is lovingly patient and God is forgiving and Peter says, "He is not willing that any should perish." And He tenderly calls men to Himself, even men who have been their whole life long against Him.

And this grace reminds me of the life of Jeremiah, there were forty years of Jeremiah's ministry. And it was a ministry of judgment, he was announcing the destruction of Jerusalem and God kept delaying it for these forty years. And that is a parallel of what we have here, for Jesus being crucified, judgment didn't come for forty years later. Not until 70 AD that Jerusalem was destroyed and Judaism was wiped out.

Now the book of Acts is in this particular historical interval. God is in that grace period of forty years in connection with Israel. And He has postponed judgment for forty years and during these years He leaves open the option for Israel to come to the Messiah. The book of Acts, then, covers those forty years and has much to say about the church but also has much to say about Israel.

Even though the church has already been formed its unique identity, God is still dealing with Israel. And God is really through Jesus Christ, through the early apostles holding out the same offer He held directly through the mouth of Christ when He first arrived, when Jesus first came preaching, "Repent for the kingdom is at hand"--a kingdom for Israel.

And now in verse 19 we see the conclusion. And Peter calls them to just do two things: repent and be converted. One is active; the other one is passive. If they instead of determining that Jesus is a blasphemer, a mocker and no Messiah, will reverse their decision see Him as Lord, God and their Messiah, God will change and convert them. So Peter cries to Israel from the bottom of his heart to repent.

Now Peter doesn't leave it at that because in the remaining verses he gives them five reasons why they ought to repent. There are five exciting things that will happen if Israel repents. Number one, their sin will be forgiven. Verse 19 says, "Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out". Now we studied the word blot out last week and we found that it meant totally removed.

In Col. 2:13 the Bible says He has forgiven us all our trespasses, something that was not possible for the Old Testament believer. They never had a freedom from guilt, because as soon as they offered a sacrifice they would go out and sin again. There was none of that freedom that we have of Jesus taking our guilt of sin to the cross and redeems us forever. So Peter says you can have your sins forgiven if you will turn to Jesus.

Second reason, not only will your sins be forgiven but the kingdom will come. Oh, what a promise this is. Look at verse 19-20, "Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” The times of refreshing cannot come unless you repent and be converted.

Now what are the times of refreshing? That is a reference to the kingdom, the earthly millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ. The Bible both Old and New Testament indicates to us that Jesus will reign on earth for a long time. And in Revelation it is a thousand years that Christ reigns on earth. In 2 Samuel 7, David was promised that he would have one of his own seed sit on the throne in Jerusalem and reign in a kingdom.

They have always waited for when the Messiah is going to set up His kingdom. And when finally their Messiah came, they rejected Him and God said, that forfeits it, they cannot have the kingdom if they will not have the King. And so Peter says repent in order that the kingdom might come. That is the point. They had to repent before the kingdom could come.

And let us look at the term 'times of refreshing' for just a moment and show you what significance it has. This phrase, times of refreshing, is not just some undetermined era, no it a fixed, set, predetermined time that God has placed in His own plan and yet it depends upon Israel's repentance. That is the same paradox between sovereignty and human will that you find everywhere in Scripture.

Now it's called the times of refreshing. To the Jew that was very important. They have been persecuted throughout all its history. The Jews have been mistreated all through the years partly due to their own failure to recognize Christ and so God has chastised them in this way because of their sin. And Israel is longing for the time when they can go somewhere and rest.

Notice verse 21, “Whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” "For restoring all the things", means that everything reverts back to what God meant it to be in the beginning.

Isaiah 11:6-8, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.”

You see, the whole animal curse is reversed and natural enemies cease to be. Verse 9-10, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” Who's the root of Jesse? Jesus Christ.

"Resting place shall be glorious", that's the ‘times of refreshing,’ it is a direct reference to the kingdom. Look at Isaiah 35:1, “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.” The reason the desert is so dry is because it's cursed. The desert is going to become fertile like the most fertile places in Israel. And then he says, verse 5, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped". Everyone is going to be healed at the kingdom.

God sends the kingdom and His promised blessing. But even though it is a sovereign thing from God's viewpoint, from Israel's viewpoint it depends on their conversion. Now when it says ‘all things’ it means just that. There are so many things going to be changed in this kingdom. Everything' going to be restored to what it was, everything. And all or this is taken from Scripture.

This is all from Revelation 5 on. Remember the Father sitting on the throne and in His right hand He has a scroll with seven seals and that scroll is the title deed to the earth. John begins to weep because there's nobody there to unroll it and see what it says. All of a sudden one of the elders stands up and says the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy, the Lamb of God to unroll the scroll and Jesus steps up and He unrolls the scroll and step by step He takes back the earth. And there is the record of the rest of it till Revelation 19.

Now the first time the Jews forfeited it by their rejection and their rejection still remains when Peter preaches. And when Israel turned from the Messiah, Jesus turned from them at that point. It's a sad thing but God is still gracious and even later on here in the book of Acts He comes back for a second invitation to Israel. It is the same standing offer, repent and you can still have the kingdom even though you executed the King.

In Luke 19:43-44 it says, “For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” And then Luke 21:24, “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Jesus said, since you turned your Messiah away judgment is coming. But even with the promise of judgment He still extends grace. It is clear in prophecy that there are three steps involved prior to the kingdom. Step one is the restoration of Israel back to the land. It's in Ezekiel 36 and 38, and also in Luke 21, Mark 13 and Matthew 24 and 25. Secondly they have to repent in their hearts. Thirdly the kingdom comes. Beloved, do you realize that we step one has already happened? God will redeem them during the tribulation and the church is taken away before that happens.

Peter says not only should you repent because your sins will be forgiven and the kingdom will come but thirdly, the Messiah will also return. Verse 20, “that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” And so the Messiah's coming was always connected with the kingdom and the kingdom was always connected with Israel's salvation.

The church age will end when the church is taken away. And after that there is a seven-year period called the tribulation. Daniel 9:24-27 explains it. Israel is redeemed during that seven-year period, and it is immediately followed by the kingdom. Because once Israel is redeemed the kingdom can come. Someday they will. Praise God. Jesus cannot come until they say, “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:39)

Zechariah 12:10 says, "I'll pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him.” Do you know that God is talking here? Now some people don't believe that Jesus is God. But it says right there that they pierced Me and shall mourn for Him. There's a Trinitarian designation right there.

And then in verse 21, "which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the age began". All your prophets have been telling you this all along. Have you read Zechariah lately? Peter is not preaching a new message, he is just saying to them why don't you listen to your own prophets? They told you the kingdom couldn't come without you accepting the King.

Now there's a footnote here in verse 21 which is a definition of biblical inspiration. You want to know how the Bible was written well here it is. Middle of the verse, "Which God has spoken". Who spoke? God. What did He use? The mouth of all His holy prophets. This is how the Bible was written. No prophet was a speculative theologian, prophets were messengers who delivered a message direct from God.

Peter says this is a good illustration. Verses 22-23, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.” Peter uses Moses for two reasons, the greatness of Moses and the fact that Moses was the oldest prophet Israel had. This is out of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 19.

In verse 23 Peter says, "that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people". You can't have any blessing let alone the kingdom if you don't accept the King. What a powerful statement. And so Peter uses Moses to show them they need to repent in order to avoid judgment. Now the phrase 'a prophet like me' was familiar to the Jews, they knew that their Messiah would be like Moses.

Then in verse 24 Peter says, “And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.” You can find every detail about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Jesus even said to the Jews, why don't you study the Scriptures they speak of Me. They had enough evidence. But the Jews didn't believe their own prophets, you just killed them.

If you repent the promised blessing will be realized. Verse 25, “You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” You are the sons of the prophets and the covenant in the truest way because all the prophesies and all the covenants came to pass in their lifetime in Christ.

Well I'm not a Jew what does this say to me? It says the very same thing. You better change your mind about Jesus and then you can receive all the blessing of God because every blessing promised to Israel is passed on to us in Christ. I pray no one will leave this evening who doesn't know Jesus Christ. Let's pray.