“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 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, 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.
The above text is from Peter’s second recorded sermon. He was on his way to the Temple to pray and a lame man was begging, hoping to receive from Peter and John some money. But Peter stated:
Acts 3:6 (ESV)
But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Immediately the man got up and walked with them into the Temple. That is when a scene unfolds that causes the above words to be spoken. The people are amazed that a lame man walks. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ time on the earth. Now they are seeing it again. They want to know what has happened. A crowd forms. People ask. Peter tells them this all is because of Jesus, who they put to death at the hands of Pilate. Peter tells them that he was able to heal the man by faith in His (Jesus) name. That is when he speaks the above message and tells them many things, of which three start with the letter R in our language. Note:
1. Repent. After telling them that Jesus must suffer for them, he tells them, as a result, to repent. He doesn’t mess around with platitudes. He goes right for their hearts. They are to turn from serving idols to serve the living God. Paul will later remind the church of Thessalonica that they did the same thing:
1 Thessalonians 1:9 (ESV)
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
2. Refresh. The Greek word for refreshing in the above text is, anapsyxis. It is used only here in the New Testament. But in some manuscripts it is in Acts 2:38, where the English word repent is, again, used. The word means to bring a coolness, especially after a hot day. The point Peter is making is that once we repent, God changes our lives in a refreshing way. He changes who we are and refreshes our lives.
3. Restore. The last thing he tells them is that as we turn to God from idols and have our lives turn from heat to coolness, there will be a time of restoring. Jesus came to put things back together after the terrible fall in the Garden of Eden. God sent His Son to restore us. He has done so, spiritually, right now, but will also do so with the entire earth when He returns to set up His kingdom.
As we repent Jesus will bring us an amazing refreshing that changes our lives and will, in the end, restore all things to what God intended; perfect fellowship with Him.
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