Acts Pt. 7 | Sermon Notes
Acts Pt. 7
Pastor Chris Pletcher
November 3, 2024
Acts 3:17-26 //
“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 back, 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. 22 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.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 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.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Ignorance - Repentance - Mercy - Refreshment - Restoration
Audience: Jewish people gathered at the temple for prayer
Tension: Many Jews had received Christ as Messiah at Pentecost and been baptized, but many others still regarded him as a false prophet and blasphemer
Context: Acts is the history of the birth of Christianity from WITHIN Judaism. It is a transitional book that shows us how the church was birthed by, and ultimately separated from, Judaism.
Message: Peter is once again telling the Jews that they missed God’s prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus of Nazareth, but through repentance (turning away from their wicked rejection of God’s ultimate messenger), they can have their sins blotted out and experience “times of refreshing” from the Lord.
Acts 3:22-23 is a paraphrased quote of Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and this whole passage sort of has a blessing/curse feel to it. Turn away from wickedness and experience the blessing of God, or ignore the prophets and be destroyed.
To be clear, the direct application of the promises in this passage has everything to do with Israel and the Jewish people. God’s mercy is still available to any ignorant individual who missed the Messiah and wants to turn back and receive Jesus as Lord. The greater biblical promise is that one day, Israel as a nation will corporately repent and mourn the sins that Peter is calling out here in Acts 3… specifically, that they “delivered over and denied” Jesus, they “denied the holy and righteous one”, and they “killed the author of life”.
What is the opposite of deny?
Zechariah 12:10 //
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
The testimony of Paul’s preaching in Acts 2 & 3 is that God is sovereignly over-seeing the advancement of His Abraham promise to bless the entire world through the nation of Israel. And the NT is clear that God isn’t finished with the Jews.
Romans 11:25-29 //
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
We are in the middle of an unfinished story with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Israel has a unique place in History and in God’s redemptive program that no other nation under heaven has been given.
Ignorance - Repentance - Mercy - Refreshment - Restoration
Judge of all the Earth //
Apparently, if we take this passage at face value, there is a “Lord God” and a “Christ” named Jesus who has the power and authority to either destroy you or restore you. This is very valuable information for all people, not just Jews.
The Bible calls this God the “Judge of all the Earth”, and if we do not understand His nature, essence, history and reputation, then we will miss our opportunity to respond to Him in the 2 primary ways that He deserves… in FEAR (reverence, awe, respect) and in LOVE (adoration, humility, gratitude and obedience).
Why do we need to talk about JUDGMENT?
In short, because the Bible does.
The word “judge” or “judgment” is mentioned 461 times in our English Standard Version of the Bible.
Psalm 7:11 // God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
Psalm 9:8 // He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.
Psalm 9:19 // Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!
Psalm 94:2 // Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
Who will God judge?
Psalm 50:4-6 // His People
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah
Psalm 96:11-13 // All the Earth
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Well that’s just the OT, when God used to be wrathful and holy. But now Jesus has come and God isn’t angry anymore. Love wins, right???
Romans 2:2-5 //
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 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? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.
James 5:7-9 //
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
I believe that it is imperative that the church has a healthy Fear of God as the Righteous Judge. Why? Because it’s who He is. He is holy. He is righteous. Thankfully, that isn’t all of who He is. He is also INCREDIBLY patient, slow to anger, gracious and merciful! The revelation of His righteous nature is essential to a revelation of His grace.
JUSTICE & MERCY collided upon the Son.
This is the KINDNESS that leads us to REPENTANCE.
1 Timothy 1:12-15 //
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
He blesses us by TURNING us.
Acts 3:25-26 //
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.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
And God’s love is SO PATIENT and SO CONSTANT that He is described as simply waiting to be gracious to you!
Isaiah 30:15, 18 //
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling… 18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
James 2:10-13 //
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Ignorance - Repentance - Mercy - Refreshment - Restoration
Response // We are simply going to ask God to judge us. And we are going to seek His mercy for any areas where we have fallen short of loving Him and loving others.
He wants to BLESS US by turning us. As His love comes to do this, we get to respond with repentance and confession, which is the doorway to refreshment and restoration.
Psalm 32:1-5 //
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah