The Apostle Peter’s 2nd Sermon, pt. 2
Acts 3:11-21
Sermon followed a great miracle…
Read 11-19
3 pts.:
desired a murdered/denied the Lord/must decide to repent!
Continuing…
v. 19-20
Peter makes 2 promises, if they will repent:
1. Their sins will be blotted out
2. Jesus will return and set up His earthly kingdom
After talking about these promises, he talks about the prophets:
v. 21 and in vv. 22-25 he talks about the prophets
Then in ch. 4, he moves from the promises and the prophets to the resulting persecutions:
4:1-4 the invitation is given and what a response!
So, the 2nd half of this 2nd sermon has 3 points, too—the promises, the prophets, and the persecutions
[I do this not to impress you w/ alliteration, but to make it easier to understand/digest/remember!]
We’ll only take time for the promises this morning…
Please remember that Peter’s entire audience was Jewish/thoroughly familiar w/ OT…
So, Peter takes his OT and preaches Christ to them! [but, Jesus isn’t in the OT]…au contraire! He’s on every page!
Gen. 3:15—seed of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent—that’s Jesus!
Exodus—Moses was to strike the Rock and water would gush out, and then speak to the Rock—a picture of our once-smitten Savior! [acc’d to I Cor.]
Leviticus—they were commanded to take a male lamb w/ no spot or blemish and sacrifice them on the altar
Numbers 21—children of Israel, as a form of judgment, were being bitten by fiery serpents, and Moses was commanded to fashion a brass serpent upon a pole for the people to look upon and be healed [still today the symbol of the medical profession!] Look to the cross and live!
Need I go on? Jesus Christ is all thru the OT! This Bible is a Him-Book, the whole thing is about Him!
Peter, here in Acts 3, shares some promises w/ the people:
v. 19
• Your sins will be blotted out
That promise applies to you today…repent of your sins and they will be blotted out!
We learn from Jonah that you cannot run from your sins
King David proved we cannot hide our sins
Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives as they tried to lie about their sins
No sin can be allowed into heaven…that’s our dilemma, so what can we do w/ our sin?
A question we ask today/a question we don’t like to face/5 seconds after we die it’s the only question that will matter! “what can we do w/ our sin?”
Ill--In a restaurant the other day, I saw old photographs of Decatur from the early 1900s/a man and woman w/ distress on their faces/wonder what they are worried about? Well, whatever it was, they aren’t worried about it now!/was it a financial crisis?/marital problems?/sick child?…those things are imp’t/not minimizing/but when this life is over, all that matters is, what about my sin?!
Peter didn’t say, repent, and you’ll be healthy and wealthy…he promised something better than that!
Your sins will be blotted out—that’s good news!
And on the authority of God’s Word, I can make you that same promise right now!
1st promise was made to individuals…
2nd promise:
[made to nation of Israel/a national promise]
• If they will repent on a national level, Jesus will come back and establish His earthly kingdom
This is Israel’s last chance to receive their Messiah.
They’ve already rejected the preaching of John the Baptist/Jesus Himself/now they have the preaching of the apostles, and they face a flood of lights in their faces! They are now facing the reality that Jesus is alive/rose from the dead, tho’ they killed Him…will they reject Him again?!
Acc’d to the Word of God, they did…tho’ there was a remnant saved [5k], that’s just a drop in the bucket to a nation numbered w/ the sands of the seas.
v. 20-21 Had the Jews not rejected their Messiah as a whole at this time, He would have returned THEN and set up His kingdom…but instead, it was postponed.
But Rom. 11 says that Israel’s failure was made a blessing unto the Gentiles.
That’s the doctrinal interpretation of these verses…but let’s get practical: now…
Notice the phrase in v. 19: “the times of refreshing”—what is this referring to?
Or, “the times of restitution” in v. 21?
This is talking about the millennial reign of Christ, the 1k year period where the Kingdom of God is set up on earth. Called the times of refreshing because this world at that time will be restored to how it was in the garden of Eden before sin came into the world.
During the Millennium:
1. Government will be purified
Jer. 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Aren’t you sick of hearing about corruption in government? At every level – executive branch/legislative/judicial
Thief wins settlement because roof collapsed during break-in!/woman gets 70k from McD’s because she is a clutz!
Leaks in white house/pentagon/on the battlefield/in the cia!
Lies/scandals/cover-ups/deceit! Not limited to any 1 party, either!
How wonderful to know that during the millennium, gov’t will be purified!
Joke—politician on road trip w/ hindu priest and jewish rabbi/limo broke down late at night in front of farmhouse/invited in to stay the nite/only had 1 double bed, 1 would have to stay in the barn/rabbi volunteered/10 min., knock on door, rabbi: I can’t sleep in that barn, there’s a hog out there, an abomination in my religion/hindu: a cow! Sacred! I’m not worthy to sleep under the same roof/…politician said, this is ridiculous, I’ll sleep in the barn/10 min., knock, it was the hog and the cow!
It will be refreshing to have a purified gov’t!
2. War and bloodshed will be abolished
Isaiah “His Name shall be called…the Prince of Peace”
Vainly we continue to try for peace in the middle east, but it will never arrive until the p. of p. arrives!
3. The vegetable creation will be delivered from the curse. In Eden, ground cursed: weeds, thorn and thistle, poison ivy!
Isa 35:6b -
…for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
4. The animal creation will be subdued
Is. 11: 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
5. Physical infirmity removed
All sickness a thing of the past.
Isa 35:6a -
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing…
We’ve spent more time in the hospital than ever in the last 2 weeks, then it hit our family and many of yours this week!
How refreshing for all of that to end!
6. Trouble and poverty done away
7. The masses will be eager for the Word of God.
Preachers won’t beg people to come to church…they won’t be able to keep up!
Is. 2:3
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths…
8. Christ will be honored and exalted
No more Hollywood blasphemy of His Name, never hearing His Name taken in vain, never referred to as just the “christian’s name for God” [Barbara Bush—Larry King Live]
9. The prayers of God’s people will be answered without delay
10. Sorrow and mourning flee away
No wonder Peter calls it the times of refreshing!
Mt. 19 Jesus called it the time of regeneration…a word used to describe a dr. setting a bone out of joint…and this world is out of joint due to sin, but the great physician one day will set it right!
And if you want, you can be there, rather than in hell for those 1k years and eternity to follow.
v. 19 Repent and be converted!
With pleasure it is my privilege to extend to you the same 2 promises that Peter did 2k years ago: If you get saved, your sins will be blotted out, and you will enjoy the times of refreshing, and eternity in heaven to follow!
