Life! Now!

“A Refreshing Experience” – Part 3

(Acts 3:17-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 20, 2011)

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19 Repent therefore, and turn again,

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, 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.

And now brothers... (17)

Those who are guilty as a result of the death of Jesus are not just Judas for handing Him over with a kiss, Peter for denying Him three times before morning came, the Jewish leaders for scheming against Him, the crowds for asking for Barabbas and resisting Pilate's attempts to free Him, or the Roman soldiers who pierced His hands and feet. We who have had our eyes opened to the offensive nature of our sins against God should be willing to confess that the blood of Jesus was on our hands. Yet we also believe that the blood of Jesus by which we have been marked as guilty is the same blood that declares us to be forgiven.

We are guilty, and so were those who saw a lame man leaping for joy in the temple so many years ago. Did we and they act in ignorance? Did the rulers of the Jews who took counsel together against Jesus of Nazareth act in ignorance? We resist answering “Yes” because we know how easily people use ignorance as an excuse to evade their guilt. When Peter points to the ignorance of those who heard his voice that day, it is not to excuse their sin, but only to explore it more carefully.

The people of Israel had Psalm 22 in their song books. When they were singing “They have pierced my hands and feet” they were still in ignorance. When they read the words of Isaiah about a coming Servant of the Lord, where he wrote, “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” they were ignorant of the meaning of those words. When they sang the end of Psalm 22 that talked about the resurrection glories of the One who cried out “Why have you forsaken Me?” they did not understand about the coming Messiah's resurrection from the dead.

But what God foretold... (18)

Now with the coming of these great events and the preaching of the good news of Jesus and His kingdom by the church, the time for ignorance was over. Now was the time to know the truth that sets men free. God had known the truth from before all time. God was not ignorant. Just as our ignorance of the ways of God does not excuse us from the guilt of His blood, God's perfect knowledge and His planning of these events does not make Him guilty of the death of His Son.

The death of the Son of God for our sake that shines forth through the words of the prophets was a divine decree that both the Father and the Son fully agreed to long before Jesus became Man. This is why Jesus came. What God planned and accomplished was in perfect fulfillment of His commitment to both righteousness and love. What men did against Jesus in their ignorance was in malice, stubbornness, and wickedness. That is why we sing, “Mine is the sin, but thine the righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing blood.”

Repent... (19a)

God does not need to repent about the death of Jesus. He knew what He was doing and it was all holy and good. What we did in our ignorance and sin, that is a different story. We are the ones who need to repent. Our attitudes and actions, our thoughts and our words toward God, His Law, His grace, and His Messiah have been wrong. Our ignorance of the Word of God and our blindness toward His Son and the way of the Holy Spirit does not excuse us from the guilt of the death of the Lamb of God.

The people who were listening to Peter that day needed to repent. So do we. We need to turn again. We need to turn from sin, and turn toward God, His love, and His ways. If we will do this, there is a great lifting of our blind ignorance in the light of the glory of the Son of God. If we will repent, it is because of the amazing grace of God. John Newton's hymn of that title is not extreme. It is truth that must not be resisted: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

That your sins may be blotted out... (19b-20a)

This unveiling of our stubborn ignorance, so that we see Jesus by the Spirit, and see our sins and repent; this is the way that our sins may be blotted out. This is the way that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

For a man who was lame to receive strength in his feet and ankles by the Name of Jesus Christ, to even be permitted to see such a heavenly gift was a refreshing experience. But we want more than just an isolated experience. We are looking for something for our families and our communities. We are looking for healing for our nation, and for the world. We are looking for times of refreshing.

When people give themselves over to blind sin, especially among those who call themselves Christians, that takes away the freshness of life, not only for those who sin, but for all who must breathe the air all around them. But when you repent, when you move toward the Lord in faith rather than away from Him in fear, the grace of God working through you makes the air sweeter for those around you, if they are willing to breathe the air of heaven. When one person knows the presence of the Lord and acts in obedience, that does something positive beyond that one life. Repentance brings not only individual forgiveness. It brings times of refreshing.

And that he may send the Christ... (20b-21)

But we are looking for something more permanent than any temporary improvement in this world. We are looking for God to send the Christ, the Messiah, appointed for us. Now He is in heaven. Heaven receives Him with all glory and honor until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.

The glorious conclusion of Psalm 22 must be fulfilled. Repent, therefore, not only because it will be the best thing for you, not only because it will help to bring a time a refreshing for everyone around you who is willing to rejoice in what is true, good, and beautiful. Repent because it will hasten the coming of the Lord, and God's wonderful gift of a new heaven and earth, where there is no sin, and where no one is left at a beautiful gate every day just to beg. See 2 Peter 3:11-13.

1. In what sense did the Jews act in ignorance concerning the killing of Jesus?

2. Is God responsible for the evil of the death of Jesus?

3. What blessings flow forth now from Christ for the repentant?

4. What blessings flow forth from Christ for the repentant at His return?

OT Passage: Psalm 22:25-31