Turn back with me to Acts chapter
three. Leading up to our text, Peter
and John, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, said to a
lame man, rise up and walk. That's what he said back in verse
6, rise up and walk. And he did. And everybody who saw it was
amazed at it. Amazing. But Peter told them
in verse 12, why do you marvel at this? Or why are you looking
on us as though we did it? He said in verse 13, the God
of our fathers hath glorified his son. The one you delivered up and
denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let
him go. Verse 14 says, but you denied the holy one and the just
and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. That's unthinkable,
isn't it? And we think, that's not us. We wouldn't have done that. Verse 15 says, and killed the
prince of life. We read that and think, that's
not us. We wouldn't have done that. Whom God hath raised from the
dead, whereof we are witnesses, and his name through faith in
his name hath made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yea, the
faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in
the presence of you all. Now our text begins tonight in
verse 17. Peter says, And now, brethren, I want us to start by noticing
how bold Peter is in telling them the truth. Do you see what
all he just told them? Bold. But he does it with so much sincere
love. He calls them brethren. There
was a man named Scott Richardson and he was Oh man, I was actually
afraid of him because he was a coal miner from West Virginia
and the man could work and he was dogmatic and he could preach. But he was a loving man and I
found that out as an adult. He was a loving, kind man. It
was up in Fairmont where my dad is now. My dad took over when
he retired. But anyway, there was a man in
his congregation and they were riding around one day and stopped
in at a gas station. And they went in and saw a man
they knew from town. And this man didn't attend anywhere.
He made no claim on the gospel. To know the gospel and love Christ.
Scott said to him, how you doing brother? And then after their conversation,
he got back in his car, and that man in his congregation said,
Scott, do you really think that man is your brother? He doesn't
go anywhere. He doesn't love Christ. Do you
really think he's your brother? And Scott said, well, if I missed
him in Christ, I got him in Adam. I got him in Adam, and he's my
brother. Isn't that sweet? That's sweet, isn't it? He calls
them brethren. Verse 17, and now brethren, I
know that through ignorance you did it. He just told them you
killed the prince of life. You denied him. And you wanted
a murderer. You said kill him. Kill what's
good and right and give us that murderer. That's what we'll take. And he says in verse 17, now
brethren, I know that through ignorance you did it, as did
also your rulers. Do we tell men and women, you
have sinned against God, but don't worry about it. We'll
just sweep it under the rug. Is that what Peter's saying right
here? No, he's not. He's actually quoting the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he's preaching the gospel
to him. Turn with me over to Luke 23. Man, how sweet this
is. Luke 23, look at verse 34. Then said Jesus, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do. That's the gospel. You know that? That is the gospel. Forgiveness
in Christ And the reason is because at that moment he was hanging
on a cross. Forgiveness in Christ because
Christ was not forgiven. That's the gospel. Punish me
and forgive them. They know not what they do. Isn't
that sweet? while they were sitting there
with conscious minds saying, kill him. I want him dead. I want one thing for him. I want
him dead. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. Go with me over to John 16. John 16 verse 1, our Lord said,
These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the
synagogues. They're going to kick you out. They're going to force you out
of their synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God's service." Now our
Lord said to hate a person is to kill them. And the apostles
were killed. And they thought they were doing
God's service. But to be hated for believing
this, just to be hated for glorifying Christ and believing His truth
and holding to every single word of His truth Man by nature doesn't
like it. And they will kill with hatred,
and they think they're doing God's service. Verse 3 says,
And these things will they do unto you, because they have not
known the Father, nor me. That's why. That's why you're
going to see that happen. It's because they have no idea
who the Father is. They say they do, but they have
no idea who the Father is, and they have no idea who Christ
is. And those are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm just
quoting him. Go with me over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1
Corinthians 2 verse 1 says, And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. How be it we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world that come to naught, but we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery. even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory," now watch verse
8, "...which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they
known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it
is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him." But God hath revealed them unto us by His
Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. If God doesn't reveal
Himself, if He doesn't reveal Himself to a sinner, not one
person on this earth will or can know God. Verse 8 right here says, For
had they known They would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Sinners do what they do because they are blind. They are dead. And they are ignorant. And it's sad. It's so sad. But what Peter's
telling them in our text is there is still hope. Here's the truth. These are all the things you
did. And you did it because you're ignorant. But there's still hope. There's still hope. Go back with
me over to Acts 3. And this is the good news of
the Word. The Word is so honest it tears
us down. It kills us as we deserve to
be. And then it says, but there's
still hope. Isn't that wonderful? Verse 17
says, And now, brethren, I know that through ignorance you did
it, as did also your rulers. But those things which God before
had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should
suffer, he hath so fulfilled. You did it through ignorance.
But those things which God before had showed, by the mouth of all
his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled."
What he's saying is, you meant it all for evil. God meant it
all for good. God before showed that you would
do this. And if you and I were there,
we would have done it too. We would have done it too. God
before showed that Christ should suffer. And glory be to the Lord
Jesus Christ, He has fulfilled it all. He fulfilled it all. Every page of the Old Testament
said, Christ is coming to suffer for the sin of His people. That's
what every single page says. Look over at Psalm 22 with me. Psalm 22 verse 1 says, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? David penned that and he said
it in his heart while he wrote it. But who is speaking right
there? That's Christ. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Can you imagine that? Can we
imagine what he just said? He said, why hast thou forsaken
me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Look over at Isaiah 50. In our
deep desire, what we beg in this is to hear from the Lord through
His Word. My sheep, hear my voice. That's
what He said. Listen to our Lord speak right
here. Listen to his voice as we read
this. Listen to his attitude, and listen to his mind, and listen
to his heart as we read this. Isaiah 50 verse 1 says, Thus
saith the Lord. This is the Lord speaking. Now
verse 5 says, The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting, for the Lord God will help me. Therefore
shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." Is that
not glorious? Christ went to that cross with
His face set like a flint. And He said, I will not fail.
I will not. These things which God before
had showed by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should
suffer He has so fulfilled. Isn't that wonderful? Man, what
good news is that? Christ has fulfilled it. It is finished. It's all finished.
Go back over to Acts chapter 3. It's all finished. Verse 19 says,
Repent ye therefore. Don't repent in order to be saved.
He said it's all finished. Repent ye therefore. Repent means
have a changed mind. How is the mind of a filthy,
rotten, rebellious sinner against God going to be changed? How
is that possible? God is going to have to change
it. There's only one way. There's only one way. God has
got to change it. If repentance takes place, the
glory goes to God. Repentance has to be given. It's
a gift. And this command goes out. We tell all the world, repent. All the world, repent. And whoever
God has given the gift to, will. They will. Verse 19 says, repent
ye therefore. and be converted. Converted means
to turn. And it means to return. And it
means to come again. That's what it means. Come again.
Have this changed mind about who you are and about who God
is and about what God requires and what the way of salvation
is. Have a changed mind about all of that and come to Jesus
Christ. That's what he's saying. Repent
and be converted. Come to Christ. How does a man
come to Christ? How does a man or woman, how
does a sinner come to Christ? There's only one way. The Father
has to draw him. Repent and be converted. Have
a changed mind and come to Christ. All that is a statement of gift. Verse 19 says, Repent ye therefore
and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. Blotted out
means to smear out. to smear out. I thought about
something thick that won't come off and you keep wiping it and
it won't come off and it's just smearing and it won't come off
because it's smearing and it won't come off. What was smeared all over our
sins? blood. That song says the precious
blood of the Lamb and thanks be to God it won't come off.
It will not come off. You can try as hard as you want
to but it just smears. That's all it does. Verse 19
says, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may
be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come. That
word times means the set time. It means ordered and sure. That's
what it means. It's going to come. And the word
refreshing means recovery of breath. It means revival, to
live, to return to life. And verse 19 says every bit of
this, this gift of repentance, this ability to come to Christ,
this smearing of blood on our sins, and this Recovery of breath,
recovery of God's spirit, every bit of this, verse 19 says, shall
come from the presence of the Lord. What that means is to God
be the glory, great things he had done. Verse 20 says, and
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Peter is telling them, the one
that you killed, that's what he's telling them right now,
the one you killed, The one you sinned against, the one you thought
you could do with him as you wanted to, he's the one who's
coming back. This one who you judged, this
one who actually is the judge, look to him. This one you hated,
this one you mocked, look to him. This one you hung on a tree,
look to Him. He's our hope. He is our hope. He is our hope of repentance.
I have got to repent. I must repent. And He's my hope
of repentance. He's my hope of conversion. He's
my hope of blotting out. He's my hope of refreshing. The
Lord Jesus Christ, look to Him. Don't look to doctrine, and don't
look to tradition, and don't look to men that you highly respect. Look to Christ. Just look to
Christ. Verse 21 says, Whom the heaven
must receive. This is what Peter's telling
them right now. He's telling them who Christ is, and he's
telling them where Christ is. He's in heaven. Look at chapter
1, Acts chapter 1. Verse 11 says, which also said, ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
have seen him go into heaven. He is there right now. One of
these days, we're gonna see him come, and he's gonna leave his
throne in heaven. A real man, the God man. And He's going to take us back
to His glorious kingdom in heaven. Well, Acts 3 verse 21 says, Whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all
things. Restitution means restoration. Restored. Everything is going
to be restored again. It's going to be restored to
the condition it was in before it fell. Everything. We just
sang the song, and I can't help it. I love it. I love the line.
And in 10 years, you're going to get so tired of me saying
this. But that song says, Christ liveth in me. Even the flowers
of earth are going to be set free. And they will. The whole creation groaneth.
Everything is going to be restored. Jesus Christ is going to restore
everything back to the original state God made it in without
sin. And I can't wait. The lion really
is going to eat with the lamb. Especially man. He's going to
restore us back to God. That's the gospel Peter's preaching
to them. Turn with me over to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, look at verse 9.
It says, "...having made known unto us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of times..." That means
the dispensing of time that He's doing right now. He's allowing
time to continue. And at some point, it's going
to be done. that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." Can you
believe that God has revealed his mind to us? He says, this
is what I want to do and this is what I am going to do. When
the earth is done and the ball stops, and elements melt with
a fervent heat, and I come down in my glory and scoop up my own
and bring them to paradise, I'm gonna gather everybody up in
me, and they're gonna live. I'm gonna live in them, they're
gonna live in me. Had he not told us, how would
we have known? What's on the other side of life?
What's on the other side of death? What happens after you die? I
don't know. I do now. Verse 11 says, In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance. What is that inheritance? Christ
Himself. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory,
who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted, After
that you heard the word of truth. You see that? You trusted. After that you heard the word of truth. The gospel
of your salvation. In whom also after that you believed. You were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of
His glory. It is going to happen. It's going
to happen. Every now and then my sinful
mind says, wait a minute, is this real? Thanks be to God,
His Spirit says, yes it is. It's going to happen. Back over
to Acts chapter 3, verse 21 says, whom the heaven must receive
until the times of restitution of all things which God hath
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world
began. God has been saying it since
the world began. It is going to happen. Lord,
cause us to repent. Lord, convert us. Lord, blot
out our sins and give us this eternal time of refreshing with
Christ. That's all I want. I want that
eternal refreshing in Christ. Please give it to us, Lord. All
right, let's stand together.