Acts 3:19-26

In our continued study of Acts, we have come to Acts 3 and our text for today will be verses 19 through 26.

! Last week, we looked together at Peter's second sermon, the beginning of it at very least, and we ended at verse 19.

And we saw that like his first sermon, which we see in chapter 2 of Acts, this sermon was preceded by a miracle.

The first time by the disciples speaking in many different languages, this time the healing of a lame beggar.

And these miracles were meant to give confirmation to the message that was about to be preached.

God sets the stage. In fact, we see in this sermon that Peter and John are headed to the temple to pray.

Verse 1 of chapter 3, his intention was not to go to the temple to preach.

They encounter this man and this miracle is performed and a great crowd gathers to them.

Now, this sermon that he preaches follows the same format of his first sermon.

And, beloved, it's important for us to remember as we observe the Apostle Peter, who was such a high point in redemptive history,

such a man to carry the gospel to these people that we are all called to be preachers of the gospel of Christ

amongst our neighbors and our co-workers and our classmates.

And so we need to pay attention to the content of these sermons.

Same format.

He first exalts Christ.

He second, indicts his listeners, calls them guilty.

And he third, calls his listeners to repent.

Last week, as we looked at the beginning of Paul's, excuse me, Peter's second sermon,

he exalts Christ through five names given to Jesus.

First, his servant and then the name itself, Jesus.

Verse 13.

He calls him the holy and righteous one.

Verse 14.

The author of life.

Verse 15.

And Christ.

Verse 18.

18.

And all of these names are meant to draw his Jewish listeners' minds to all of the things that the Old Testament had to say about who the Messiah,

the anointed one of God, was to be.

This is what they longed for.

They were waiting for this Messiah.

And they wanted him to come and they wanted him to establish his kingdom as the Old Testament had promised.

They wanted him to deliver them from Roman rule, which the Old Testament had not promised.

They wanted another David to restore the glory of Israel.

And the kingdom comes in a much, much different way than they expected.

And they rejected Christ as the Messiah.

They didn't meet.

He didn't meet their expectations.

And so Peter goes on to indict the listeners.

Verse 13.

Speaking of Christ, Peter says to them,

Whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.

Pilate was going to let him go, but you denied him in the presence of Pilate.

Again, verse 14.

But you denied the holy and righteous one.

Verse 15.

And you killed the author of life.

You didn't understand Jesus to be who he is.

And you had him put to death.

And then he goes on to call his listeners to repent.

And we just touched on that last week.

We ended with verse 19.

Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.

And he goes on then to expand on this call of repentance as the summary of his sermon on this day.

So this morning we're going to pick up at verse 19.

And we're going to observe together the necessity and the nature of repentance in this conclusion of Peter second sermon.

So I'll begin reading in verse 19.

But before I do, we remind you, this is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and for our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Verse 19.

Verse 19.

Repent, therefore, and turn back 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, who heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth 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 fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

Now, as we look this morning at the necessity nature of repentance, I'll frame our study in the following ways.

Number one, four prompters toward repentance.

Four prompters toward repentance.

How does God work to bring about repentance in his people?

And secondly, four results of repentance.

What are the blessings that accompany repentance?

So four prompters, four results.

But before we get to those particulars, it must be said that all people everywhere are called to repent.

As we consider repentance this morning, as we talk about what it means and what marks it, how it is that it comes to pass.

You need to sit and you need to consider.

Have you ever repented?

Have you ever truly been sorrowful for your sin and turned away from it and turned to Christ?

Have you ever truly embraced him for the salvation of your soul?

And secondly, if you have, if you're found in Christ, do you need now to repent?

The Christian life is a life of repentance.

Beloved, we go on repenting, turning from sin and turning to Christ, embracing him in greater and greater degrees.

So have you ever and do you need now to repent?

God's design is that all people repent.

Acts 1730.

Paul preaches the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

The core message of Jesus is preaching revolves around three commands, just three.

They all revolve around these three.

Number one, repent of your sins.

We're talking about this morning.

Repent of your sins.

The second and third are love each other and your neighbor and go and make disciples.

We could say we could sum that up to say, repent of your sins and lovingly help others do the same.

Repent of your sins.

Love each other and your neighbor.

Go and make disciples.

This is what Jesus came and preached.

The very beginning of Mark's gospel, chapter one, verse 15.

Jesus begins his ministry by saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent, repent and believe in the gospel.

But what does it mean to repent?

There could be many misconceptions about this.

Verse 19, Peter says to them, repent, therefore, and turn back.

The Greek word here translated repent literally means, simply means to change one's mind or purpose.

Repentance.

The repentance is a turning away from sin, recognizing the way in which it grieves the Lord, turning away from it and turning toward Christ.

Placing faith in his person and his work, recognizing that you need his righteousness and you need him to take the punishment of God for your sin.

It's weightier than just a simple intellectual decision.

And decisionism runs rampant in our churches these days.

A presentation is made to you.

You are pressed to a decision.

And I hope that the majority of those who are pushed in this way do come to faith.

I'm afraid that's not the case.

We need to repent properly in order to be saved and to repent and to not then change the way in which you live.

It's not repentance at all.

John McArthur says this.

I quoted it to you last week.

Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change in behavior.

And this little phrase in the beginning of verse 19, turn back, adds to that meaning.

Repent, therefore, and turn back.

Turn back to what?

Back to God.

Back to the creator.

Right?

To live in a way that pleases him.

Some translations render that phrase be converted.

And the Greek word can mean that.

And I've read many cases this week suggesting that that's the proper identifier for it to be converted.

But we know that God is the one who converts.

That God is the one who changes hearts.

That sends his spirit into the body of men in order to believe.

And the verb is an active verb.

I heard a preacher I respect deeply this week say that it's a passive verb.

And I thought, how fascinating.

If you don't know what that means, if it's active, the...

Excuse me, my brain just blanked out on my grammatical language.

Not the object.

The person acting.

Let me just say it that way.

The person acting in the sentence...

Don't yell it out at me because it'll get my brain all frazzled.

The person acting in the sentence...

If it's active, they're the one doing the action.

If it's passive, the action is being done to them.

Okay?

You catching that?

So again, pastor I deeply respect said that it's a passive verb,

which would mean that the activity is being done to the individual.

In that case, I think converted would be the proper way.

But it's not.

It's an active verb.

And I wrestle with that.

I won't bore you with the detail of it.

But it is, in fact, active.

So I think turn back is a better way to understand this.

And what Peter's trying to say to them is that you must repent.

You must show sorrow.

You must be apologetic for your sin.

And he's bounding on to that.

He's adding to that extra meaning to say that we have to turn to God.

Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change in behavior.

And it's illustrated beautifully in a parable that Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 21.

Matthew 21 · chapter mention

This is verses 28 through 31.

Jesus said,

A man had two sons.

And he went to the first and said,

Son, go and work in the vineyard today.

And he answered the son,

I will not.

But afterward,

he changed his mind and went.

And he went to the other son and said the same.

And he answered,

I go, sir,

but did not go.

Which of the two did the will of his father?

They said the first.

Jesus said to them,

Truly, I say to you,

the tax collectors and the prostitutes,

go into the kingdom of God before you.

What he's saying to them is those who recognize their sin,

who are not self-righteous,

righteous,

who initially say to God,

I will not.

But afterward,

change their mind and their behavior

are the ones who are accepted into the kingdom.

The first son not only had a change of mind,

but a change in action.

Repentance is a redirecting of one's life

in light of the grievous nature of their sin

and the goodness of God to them in Christ.

So the call this morning from Peter's sermon

is for all people everywhere to repent.

And there are four prompters,

at least four prompters toward repentance.

Four ways in which God works to bring about repentance.

The first one is knowledge of the truth.

Knowledge of the truth.

The knowledge of God's revealed truth

is meant to lead people to repentance.

It serves to that great end.

That truth is given to us in the Bible.

God's revealed truth.

Do you recall the story of the rich man and Lazarus?

The rich man is suffering in hell

and requests of Father Abraham

that Lazarus be sent to preach to his brothers.

Remember this story?

What did Jesus say?

Happens in the story.

Luke chapter 16, verses 27 to 31.

Luke 16:27–31

And he, Jesus said,

excuse me, not, I'm sorry.

The rich man said,

and he said,

then I beg you, Father,

to send him to my father's house.

For I have five brothers

so that he may warn them

lest they also come into this place of torment.

But Abraham said,

Jesus is telling the story,

they have Moses and the prophets.

He's saying if they have the scripture,

let them hear them.

And he said,

the rich man,

no, Father Abraham,

but if someone goes to them from the dead,

they will repent.

He said to him,

if they do not hear Moses and the prophets,

neither will they be convinced

if someone should rise from the dead.

The truth of God

is all that's necessary

to bring people to repentance.

Repentance, right?

Worked in them by the Spirit of God.

Peter's called to them,

repent, therefore,

and turn back, right?

Why?

The therefore, right?

You hear it asked.

What is the therefore?

Therefore,

why should they repent?

In light of the truth

that Peter has just preached to them, right?

He's exposed their sin.

He's indicted them for killing Christ.

For having an improper understanding

of the Son of God.

The knowledge of the truth

is meant to expose our sinfulness

in order to drive us

to our knees in repentance.

In our text,

Peter is calling to his listeners

to repent for the very first time.

But as I said before,

repentance does not cease

when we are saved.

Beloved,

the truth still works in us

to drive us to repentance.

The Christian life

is a life of repentance.

We continue to repent

because we continue to sin.

Someone thinks they've ceased sinning.

They're a liar.

They need to repent of that.

The front of your bulletin,

Spurgeon quote,

the true penitent

repents of sin against God,

and he would do so

even if there were no punishment.

When he is forgiven,

he repents of sin

more than ever,

for he sees more clearly than ever

the wickedness of offending

so gracious of God.

The idea he's presenting to us there

is that those of us

who have repented once,

who have believed in Christ,

and have seen God's gracious work

in our lives,

repent all the more

because we pursue holiness,

because we cast off sin,

but we pursue holiness

as a grateful response

to what he's done for us.

The Christian life

is also a life

of bringing about repentance

in others

by the proclamation

of that same truth.

Peter is doing so here.

He's been using the Scripture,

although he hasn't directly cited it,

but all of these names

of Christ,

all of these names

that are given to Jesus

draw his listeners' minds

to the text,

constantly drawing them back

to the Scripture

that they had in that day.

Paul says in Romans 1.16,

For I am not ashamed

of the Gospel,

for it is the power of God

for salvation

to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first,

and also to the Greek.

Right?

I'm not ashamed

of the preached message,

the truth of Christ.

And we are to share that truth.

Whatever may come,

Jesus suffered and died

to bring about repentance.

Maybe one of the great problems

with the church

in America today

is that we're afraid

of what may come

if we preach

the truth.

We don't want to suffer

like Christ.

I read a statistic this week

that the average

conversion ratio

in Southern Baptist churches

is 86 members

to one baptism

per year.

This is the average.

It's shameful.

John 13.16,

Jesus said,

Truly, truly,

I say to you,

a servant is not greater

than his master,

nor is a messenger

greater

than the one

who sent him.

At the end

of Peter's

second sermon,

you guys know

what happens

to these two?

Peter and John

arrested

and put in jail

overnight.

Last Monday evening,

I was helping the boys

get ready for bed.

They were in their room

and I'm down on my knees

helping Judah

get his pajama pants on.

And Judah says,

and it was so precious

when he said it

until I realized

what he meant,

Dad,

I want to be like Jesus.

My heart began to melt.

And then he said,

I want to be able

to walk on water.

Okay.

Okay,

so Judah's my,

if you don't know,

Judah's my

just-turned-four-year-old.

Kate is my

almost-six-year-old

going on 15.

And he says,

no, Judah,

you don't want

to be like Jesus.

Jesus was nailed

to a cross

for our sins.

to which Judah

kind of pensively

looked off

into the corner

of the room

and he said,

I kind of want

to be like Jesus.

And then he said,

I want to walk

on water.

And the whole thing

was so precious

and cute

and enjoyable

in the moment.

but then I

very quickly realized

how often

I act that way.

I kind of,

I kind of want

to be like Jesus.

I kind of want

the benefit

and the blessing

of being like Jesus

apart from the suffering.

Beloved,

the benefit

and the blessing

does not come

without the suffering.

those who want

to live godly

in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

A second prompter

for repentance

is sorrow

for sin.

Sorrow for sin.

God brings about

and uses sorrow

for sin

to lead people

to repentance.

Listen to this.

Paul writing

2 Corinthians 7

2 Corinthians 7:9

verses 9 and 10

as it is,

I rejoice

not because you

were grieved

or sorrowful,

but because

you were grieved

into repenting.

For you felt

a godly grief,

that is a

God-given grief,

so that you

suffered no loss

through us.

For godly grief

produces a repentance

that leads

to salvation

without regret.

Whereas

worldly grief

grief

produces

death.

So the sea

is drawing

a difference

here for us.

There's a godly grief

that leads

to repentance.

That's the kind

of sorrow

we want to

experience

for our sin.

Whereas

there's a

worldly grief

that produces

death.

It just

keeps up for us

guilt

and it's never

solved.

And we have

to be very

careful,

friends,

that we don't

equate sorrow

with repentance.

That you merely

feel bad

about your sin

and you assume

that that is

repentance.

Godly sorrow

produces

repentance.

Godly sorrow

drives you

to your knees

at the cross

of Jesus Christ.

Godly sorrow

that produces

godly repentance

turns us

away

from our

sin.

Have you

ever been

grieved by

your sin

only to

quickly commit

the same

sin again?

In quick

succession,

the same

thing over

and over

and over

and over

again?

Then you

didn't repent

of it to

begin with.

You didn't

turn away

from it

and turn

to God.

Now,

I'm not

suggesting that

we have a

huge list

of all

possible sins

and we

commit a

sin and

we repent

of it

and we

check it

off because

we're never

going to

commit that

one again.

Things come

up and cycle

through our

lives to be

sure.

But I

watch so

many people

just so

broken over

their sin

only to

turn and

do it

again.

Almost

immediately

to do

it

again.

Many of

you don't

repent

well

or don't

repent

at all.

sorrow for

sin

brings us

to

repentance.

We have

this weight

that's placed

upon us.

If you

properly

understand

your sin,

this guilt

that you

bear.

What does

Peter say in

the last part

of verse

19?

Repent,

turn back,

that your

sins may

be blotted

out,

that they

may be

erased.

It's the

first result

and we'll

discuss more

of that

momentarily.

The third

prompter is

God's

goodness.

God's

goodness is

designed to

lead people

to repentance.

I think

that's caught

up in that

therefore of

verse 19,

repent

therefore.

Why should

they repent?

Because God

is good and

he offers to

all people the

opportunity

to repent.

You remember

what Peter

said in

verse 17?

And now

brothers,

I know

after this

great indictment,

he said,

I know

that you

acted in

ignorance as

did also

your rulers.

And in

saying that

he's not

absolving

them of

their

responsibility.

Otherwise,

he'd have

no reason

in verse

19 to

call them

to repent.

He's not

saying you

were ignorant.

Oh,

well,

he's just

saying you

acted

foolishly.

You wouldn't

have done

the thing

that you

did.

If you

had

known

who

Jesus

is,

he's

offering

them

the

possibility

of

forgiveness.

Correct

your

understanding

about

who

Jesus

is.

Ask

for

forgiveness.

Repent

of putting

the author

of life

to death.

Paul

Paul

rebukes

Israel

for

missing

this

point

in

Romans

2

4

says,

Or do

you

presume

on the

riches

of his

kindness

and

forbearance

and patience

not knowing

that God's

kindness

is meant

to lead

you

to

repentance?

We need

to be

very aware

of our

sin.

We need

to help

others

become

very aware

of their

sin.

And at

the same

time,

we need

to remember

the goodness

of God

to us

in Christ.

Fourthly,

fourth

prompter,

final

judgment.

The

promise

of final

judgment

should

lead

people

to

repentance.

If the

other

prompters

have yet

to work,

then the

promise

of eternal

destruction

needs

to speak

to you.

There's

a real

place

called

hell,

and it

will be

horrible.

Verse

22 and

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,

and it

shall be

that every

soul

who does

not listen

to Christ

shall be

destroyed

from the

people.

Will die

forever.

Jesus

will return

and he

will judge

with

finality

and we

need to

preach

about it.

It's not

a popular

thing to

preach about

these days.

We must

warn people

of the

impending

danger.

It's

coming.

It's

sure

that it

will be

here.

There's

a promise

of final

judgment.

People

need to be

aware of

it in

order to

flee from

it to

Christ

for their

salvation.

I

previously

read to

you

Acts

17

30.

Paul's

preaching

the times

of ignorance

God

overlooked,

but now

he commands

all people

everywhere

to

repent.

Hear what

Paul goes

on to say

in verse

31,

because God

has fixed

a day on

which he

will judge

the world

in righteousness

by a man

whom he

has appointed

and of

this he

has given

assurance to

all by

raising him

from the

dead.

God's

overlooked

times of

ignorance.

He's

freely

offering

repentance.

He's

commanding

it that we

would repent

because

judgment

is coming.

It's coming

in Christ.

Christ will

be the

righteous

judge and

he's given

his assurance

of this

by raising

him

from the

dead.

The day

will come

when repentance

will no longer

be an option.

Repent.

Repent.

So those

are at least

four prompters

that God

uses to bring

about repentance

in his people.

Next,

four results

of repentance.

I'm going to

speed up,

so if you're

taking notes,

try to keep

with me.

Number one,

sins

erased.

Still looking

at verse

19,

that your

sins may

be blotted

out,

blotted

out,

erased.

There is

no longer

a record

of the

wrong you

committed

against

God.

It's been

stricken

from the

record.

Godly

repentance

accomplishes

this.

The book

of Revelation

speaks of

the wrath

of God

being stored

up for

those who

don't place

believing

faith in

him and

that all

of the

wrong

things,

all of

the sins

that they

have committed

have been

recorded in

books.

But not

us,

beloved.

If we've

placed faith

in Christ,

it's been

erased.

Those things

have been

taken out

of those

books.

We'll stand

before him

in the

righteousness

of Jesus,

whole and

perfect

before him.

it's a

precious

thing to

consider

that our

sins are

erased.

God says

in Isaiah

43-25,

I am

he who

blots out

your

transgressions

for my

own sake

and I

will not

remember

your sins.

And later

in Isaiah

44-22,

I have

blotted out

your

transgressions

like a

cloud and

your sins

like mist.

I take that

to mean

that it was

easy for

him to

do.

He was

able to

cast it

away,

return

to me

for I

have

redeemed

you.

In this

day,

the writing

was done

on papyrus.

Ink was

incredibly

fragile.

I'll

bear you

the boring

details of

that,

but it was

very easy

to wet

something

and wipe

out.

This idea

of things

being blotted

out is a

precious thing

for them

to understand.

Paul writes

in Colossians

Colossians 2:13

chapter 2,

verse 13

and 14,

and you

who were

dead in

your

trespasses

and the

uncircumcision

of your

flesh,

God made

alive

together

with him,

having

forgiven

us all

our

trespasses

by

canceling

the record

of debt.

That same

language,

canceling,

blotting out

the record

of debt

that stood

against us

with its

legal demands.

This he

set aside,

nailing it

to the

cross.

Beloved,

it's this

result of

repentance,

true,

God-given

repentance,

that gives

us such

motivation

to repent

again,

to know

that we

are complete

in Christ,

that we

don't now

work for

perfection.

We have

Christ's

perfection.

Our

obedience

is a

response

to

that

perfection

granted

to us.

Some of you

just need to

let that

sink.

You're

forgiven

in Christ.

Stop

acting

like you're

not.

Stop

acting as

if he

needs to

get back

up on

the cross

and die

for today's

sins.

His work

was complete.

If you

believed in

him,

he already

bore

the wrath

of God

for anything

you have

done and

will ever

do.

It doesn't

become a

license for

us to

sin.

If you

think that's

the case,

oh, I'm

forgiven in

Christ,

then you're

not a

Christian.

You haven't

understood your

sin and the

great offense

that it is.

You haven't

really understood

and appreciated

the sacrifice

that he made

on your

behalf and

all of the

blessings that

he's poured

out on you.

If you

understand that,

you respond

in obedience.

Our failure

even to

respond in

obedience in

the day-to-day,

in the moment-by-moment

is because we

so readily

forget the

truth of

how good

God has

been to

us in

Christ.

We fail

to believe

that reality

and it's

out of that

that we're

responding in

our flesh.

And our

new self

has been

delivered,

has been

given

freedom from

our sin.

Paul writes

in Romans 8.1,

there's therefore

now no

condemnation

for those

who are in

Christ Jesus.

What a

precious result

of repentance.

Our sins

are blotted

out.

Secondly,

the coming

of the

kingdom

of God.

The coming

of the

kingdom

of God.

Peter says,

repent therefore

and turn

again,

verse 20,

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

a time

for

restoring

all

the

things.

The

kingdom

of God

was

inaugurated

began

by the

life,

death,

resurrection

and ascension

of Jesus

Christ.

Christ

came to

earth

as a

baby,

took on

human

form.

The

kingdom

of God

was set

into

motion

here.

The

kingdom

of God

will be

consummated

by Jesus

Christ's

return.

There's

elements,

aspects of

the kingdom

that are

now and

aspects that

are not

yet.

We live

between

those

two

times.

And

with

this

text,

at this

point,

a great

eschatological

debate,

eschatology

is a

study of

end times,

could

ensue.

But I'm

just going

to avoid

it this

morning for

two reasons.

Many

suggest that

here,

Peter's

specifically

referring to

the

millennial

reign of

Christ.

I'm not

exactly sure

what to

think of

the meaning

of verses

20 to

21,

and I

also haven't

quite settled

in on my

eschatological

view.

When is

the

millennial

reign of

Christ?

I think

it's now.

Many in

our vein

of

Christianity

think it's

not happened

yet.

It's a

thing that

will come.

But I'm

not positive.

I've poured

the concrete

and I'm

standing in

it, but

it just

hasn't set

up yet.

I can

always jump

back out

of it

again.

I'm not

standing

firm as

an

amillennialist.

I'm just

not exactly

sure.

And

secondly,

I don't

really think

it's the

pressing

matter of

the text.

I think

it's the

main point.

I don't

think it's

really what

Peter is

trying to

drive at.

And I

could be

wrong,

depending on

your

eschatological

view.

You just

have to

forgive me

for that.

What I am

sure of,

what I'm

confident of,

is that there

are present

day implications

of the

kingdom.

I'm positive

with that.

There's a

now element

to the

kingdom of

God.

And we

can be

sure that

Peter is

saying that

we should

repent so

that refreshing

will come.

The burden

of your

sin will be

lifted from

your back.

I know that

many people in

here like to

go backpacking

and probably

in your first

time out

backpacking,

you packed

way too

much.

I know my

first backpack

was much,

much larger

than it needed

to be and so

I filled it.

Why not?

You could

take as

much as

you wanted

to with

you.

Do you

remember those

times when

you get

into camp

for the

evening and

you've been

sludging along

all day and

you drop that

40, 50, 60

pounds off of

your back and

you've been

going hard all

day and you

feel like you

can fly?

You drop that

weight off?

Just the

relief that

that is?

My mind

goes to the

story of

Pilgrim

Christian and

Pilgrim's

Progress.

You've not

read that.

You need to

read it.

He's got this

burden that's

been lashed on

his back and

that's the

weight of

his sin.

He comes to

the cross and

it falls away,

falls off his

back and he's

so joyous.

There's a

refreshing that

comes by having

the burden of

our sins lifted

from us in

repentance.

Repent so that

you have the

presence of the

Lord with you.

Repent that

one day you

will have Christ

in full measure

at his return.

These are

real things

and present

things and

future things

that drive us

to repentance.

It's a result

of our

repentance.

Third,

result of

repentance,

deliverance

from destruction.

Deliverance from

destruction.

We have the

promise of

final judgment

drives us to

repentance.

prophets.

We're delivered

from that

final judgment

and the

destruction that

follows.

Peter begins to

use the Old

Testament prophets

to speak to

the minds of

his Jewish

audience.

We had got to

do a little

studying at this

point, but they

had it.

It was readily

running around

inside their

minds.

The last part of

verse 21,

about which God

spoke by the

mouth of his

holy prophets

long ago.

And he starts

by using their

very earliest

and most

revered prophet

to do so.

Verses 22

and 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.

And it shall

be that every

soul who does

not listen to

that prophet

shall be

destroyed from

the people.

Peter quotes

Moses from

Deuteronomy

1815 and

1819 here.

And it's

phrased,

A prophet

like me,

God will

raise up

for you a

prophet like

me,

was understood

in this time

by the Jews,

rightly so,

to be the

Messiah.

They knew

exactly who

Peter was

talking about

when he

quotes Moses

from Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18.

This one that

you killed is

the one that

Moses was

speaking about.

If you don't

listen to him,

if you don't

repent,

then destruction

is certainly

yours.

But if you

do,

if you do

call or

respond to

the call

of repentance,

you'll be

delivered from

that destruction.

And then

lastly,

blessing will

be realized.

Verses 24

to 26.

And all the

prophets,

the rest of

them,

all the rest

of the

prophets from

Samuel,

the prophet

who followed

Moses and

those who

came after

him,

all of them

also proclaimed

these days.

you are the

sons of

the prophet

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.

God,

having raised

up his

servant,

sent him

to you

first to

bless you

by turning

every one

of you

from your

wickedness.

I believe

what he's

saying is

that the

gospel has

come first

to the

Jews in

order that

the Jews

and their

believing

and their

going to

the ends

of the

earth

will carry

the gospel

forth.

The fulfillment

of this

promise to

Abraham

and in

your offspring

shall all

the families

of the

earth

be blessed.

We know

that that's

fulfilled

in Christ.

We have

in Luke

Luke 24:45–47

chapter 24

verses 45

to 47

a record

of Jesus

amongst the

disciples

after his

resurrection.

He says,

it's recorded

this way,

then he opened

their minds

to understand

the scriptures

and said

to them,

thus it is

written that

the Christ

should suffer

and on the

third day

rise from

the dead

and that

repentance

and forgiveness

of sins

should be

proclaimed

in his

name

to all

nations

beginning

from Jerusalem.

And that's

what we see

happening here.

This blessing

being realized

in the formation

of the early

church.

The blessing

is realized

in Jerusalem

first.

In chapter 4

verse 4

we see that

5,000 men

believe,

respond to

the gospel

call of

Peter.

It's presumed

when it's

recorded that

it's 5,000

men,

that there are

also women

and children

present who

also believe.

So a massive

number of

people respond

in faith to

Peter's second

sermon.

And very

soon the

expansive work

of the gospel

will begin.

Persecution

comes and they

are scattered.

Right?

Within a

generation we

see the gospel

on three

continents.

We're a

result of

that.

Everything

that's happening

here and

the gospel

beginning to

go forth and

the fulfillment

of these

promises begin

with the

repentance of

these people.

Coming to

faith and

launching out

the purposes

of God

in the world.

We live in

this day and

we're still

meant to be

about bringing

this about.

The repentance

of forgiveness

of sin should

be proclaimed

in His name

to all

nations.