Power in The Name - Part II
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Peter responds to the crowds being amazed at the fact this man who is clinging to him is now walking. Peter's response is due to their thinking it was Peter's power and works that brought on this healing but in reality it was not Peter's power or piety at all, it has everything to do with the power of the name of Jesus. It is faith in and through Jesus that brings about the healing of the people of Israel. The crippled man's external healing was an outward expression of what had happened on the inside. Now Peter uses the cripple man's miraculous healing to teach on faith and also to bring the people to an understanding of Jesus power to bless or curse which is the power to restore or destroy. Peter also wants the nation of Israel to know it is only through Jesus they can be purified and this purification leads to all the nations.
The power in the name of Jesus brings about Restoration, Destruction and Purification.
The Power of Jesus to Restore the Fallen, Destroy the Disobedient and Purify the Nations
The Power of Jesus to Restore the Fallen, Destroy the Disobedient and Purify the Nations
We will see this as we continue our study of Acts 3. We will be looking at Acts 3:17-26 this morning as we continue to look at Peter’s second sermon.
17 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.
18 “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.
23 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days.
25 “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
Peter continues and now he address them as brethren, associating himself with them. He tells them he knows they acted in ignorance, meaning they didn't know what they were doing which doesn't excuse their behavior or their culpability but points out the fact they had hard hearts. They were only following after their own pride and listened to the lies of the religious leaders. They demonstrated a lack of discernment concerning the things of God and God's plan.
They like Pharoah were only a part of God's plan but just like Pharoah they are still culpable or accountable for their actions and their part in putting Jesus on the cross. Keep in mind what has happened to Jesus is not an accident and Peter tells them as much. This was God's plan from the get go. The prophets pointed to this and Jesus is the fulfillment of this truth.
Now one fact we need to keep in mind, see for us we look at this passage and we think, ‘oh yeah, we are guilty of our sins we have no excuse’ and that is very true. What follows demonstrates the Power of Jesus over our sin and guilt. The thing is I want to bring us into the minds of the Israelites at this very moment because we are 2000 years removed and our culture is completely different.
Remember Peter and John and the crippled man along with the Israelites are at this very moment in the temple of God and they are there for the purpose of offering sacrifice for their sins. Now those sacrifice could be going on at this very moment while Peter is proclaiming this very message. So when Peter tells the Israelites, “I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also” he is not only placing guilt on them but he is also saying that even though you killed God’s Servant and are guilty of it there is a sacrifice that will take this sin away.
Look with me at Numbers 15:24-31
24 then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bull for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
25 ‘Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their error.
26 ‘So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error.
27 ‘Also if one person sins unintentionally, then he shall offer a one year old female goat for a sin offering.
28 ‘The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven.
29 ‘You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them.
30 ‘But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people.
31 ‘Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on him.’ ”
So you see even though they commited this awful and heinous act of murdering an innocent man, Jesus Christ, they still did this in ignorance. It doesn’t mean they are absolved of their guilt it means a sacrifice still needs to be made on behalf of their ignorance and this sacrifice was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross on their behalf. Jesus death, burial and resurrection has power and Jesus’ name has power as well. The first facet of His power we want to look at this morning is; The Power to Restore.
The Power to Restore
The Power to Restore
We will see this in Acts 3:19-21. Let’s look at Acts 3:19-21. Peter starts off with, “Therefore,” which points to what Peter has just said in respect to their ignorance and pointing to Jesus Christ being the fulfillment of God’s plan. He says, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in oreder that times of refreshing may come from the preseence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must recieve until the perios of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Now Peter puts things into perspective for those listening with everything he has just told them in regard to the power of the name of Jesus Christ and with the fact that they are all guilty of putting Jesus to death and they should have known who Jesus was according to God's Word. If they actually knew it and if the religious leaders of the day had known, truly known the prophecies of God and known and been looking for God's chosen servant as they say they have been then they now have the opportunity to repent and return to God.
This is the first step to restoration and the first step to curing the sin of ignorance. Acknowledging it is the first step and the acknowledgement comes by repenting, doing a 180, changing your mind about where you are going and what you are doing and of course, returning to God. See the nation of Israel was walking in wickedness, walking in sin and their putting Jesus on the cross even though it was God’s plan was still done in the as an act of disobedience against God. Their rejection of Jesus even though it was God’s plan all along was still done with evil intent in the heart of man. Now they are told by Peter to repent and return to God.
The purpose of repenting and return to God of returning and believing in Christ is for the wiping away of their sins. Peter adds to the repent and return and the wiping away of their sins and tells them it will also bring times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord. This wiping away of their sins is so important because of its meaning. The sacrifices God prescribed for ancient Israel which they were at the temple to perform didn’t wipe away sin but covered up sin. Now thorugh Jesus bieng the fulfillment of the Sacrificail system He dosen’t just cover up sin but completely wipes it clean.
The David understood this and desired to have his sins not just covered up but completely removed.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness,
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
18 By Your favor do good to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices,
In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.
David understood what it meant to be forgiven of sin, he knew what it to be able to come into God’s presence. It was not the sacrifice of the bull but the heart turning back to God and mourning his disobedience to God. David looked forward to the power of the Messiah in taking away his sins. And he knew it would only be by God’s power through the Messiah that his sins would be canceled. Paul looks back on Jesus’ crucifixtion and he says this to the Colossian church.
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
This is completely wiping it clean. They didn’t have a permenant ink in there day and the didn’t have paper. They would use the skin of an animal and you were able to wipe the ink clean off of the parchment. It is the equivalent of a white board or a chalkboard today. With water you can wipe the words off completely and that is what Paul means here. It is also what Peter means when he says their sins may be wiped away.
These times of refreshing can also be said to be a times of rest. How important is this, we all need times of refreshing before God. The nation of Israel has not seen times of refreshing before God for many years. There are here in this passage under the oprresion of Rome. They have been Finally God send a prophet, His own Son and they reject Him and so they missed out on being with Him but still they have not completely missed their opportunity for refreshing. They are being told they can now repent and return in so doing God will forgive their sins and they can come into the Lord's presence.
Through Jesus we can have refreshing or restoration, true restoration, true rest which is only found in God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter has Jesus' Parousia in mind, His second coming. Peter has a deep understanding of what it would mean for these people to repent and return and to have their sins wiped away. He know understands as Peter tells the disburse church in his first letter, God does not desire for any to perish but for all to be saved and we need to spread the gospel message for the purpose of ushering in Jesus' second coming. Now I know the time is already appointed but I need to keep in mind the great commission which is to go out into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. This is what Peter is telling them Jesus has gone to heaven and is awaiting the appointed time of His return and we are to repent and to tell other about repenting and returning to God through Jesus. People need to know about their responsibility in putting Jesus on the cross and they also need to know that when they stand before the judgment seat ignorance is no excuse.
The nation of Israel knew there would be a resurrection for the righteous. It has been a long sought after reality. They didn't, however, understand what the resurrection would look like or the details of it. They also believed the Messiah would come and establish His Kingdom and deliver them from oppression but they had a narrow view of what oppression is and what Jesus' Kingdom looks like. Peter tells them Jesus is to be recieved into heaven until the period of restoration. It is a fixed time that will occur and this fixed time has been foreseen by the prophets from long ago.
Only through Jesus can we be restored and when we are restored Paul tells us we become a new creature.
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Jesus has the power to restore and the power to destroy as well.
The Power to Destroy
The Power to Destroy
Peter once again quotes a Hebrew text, he points to Moses' words from his letter Deuteronomy. The exact text is actually two Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18 which say, "15“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. And 18‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
16 “This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’
17 “The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well.
18 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.
Jesus is the prophet Moses is pointing to and the nation of Israel and the religious leaders of the day should have known this. They have been praying for this and when Jesus came along, instead of listening to Him they rejected Him and sentenced Him to die. It is not to late for them though because they can still turn to God and accept the forgiveness God has offered through Jesus' sacrifice. Peter warns that destruction is coming and when destruction comes if those who have not heeded His word will be a part of the destruction. This destruction will come at the Parousia, His Second Coming. It is not to late for them and they do not have to continue in ignorance blindly walking after the religious leaders of the day who are following after their father, Satan. They can repent and return to God and they can have their sins wiped clean not just covered up but wiped clean. There can be true and everlasting refreshing that comes from coming into the true presence of the Lord. This is an incredible concept for them because of the sacrificial system and the means by which God designed everything only the priests were consecrated and only the priests could come before God. Now Peter is telling them a brand new concept, they can come into the Lord's presence and only through Jesus Christ and only if they heed or listen to His words.
Jesus Himself warns of not heeding His Word and this brings on judgment or destruction.
47 “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.
Paul also warns of this when he writes to the Thessalonian church;
5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.
6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.
11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,
12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter began naming names in verse 22 and continues. Moses spoke of the coming of Jesus and the heeding of His words or there would be destruction. Likewise there are also other prophets like Samuel and from Samuel forward they pointed to Jesus' coming, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, and even His second Coming and His restoration of all things. No one prophets tells everything in one fell swoop. It is a collective account of all God has said and done through out all of Israelite History. These people have been waiting on a prophet like Moses, looking for a King from the Davidic line, praying for redemption from oppression, seeking to be restored as a sovereign nation once again. All of this has been foretold and all of this has been fulfilled and is yet to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ the Holy and Righteous, Author of Life.
Jesus has the power to restore and the power to destroy, He also is the only one with power to purify.
The Power to Purify
The Power to Purify
Peter makes it very clear the nation of Israel are the covenant people of promise and the direct descendants of Abraham. What Peter doesn't understand is how they are the first of Abraham's seed and through them they can bring about the blessing of Salvation in the name of Jesus to the entire earth. It is very true it is for them first God has raised up His servant Jesus and for the purpose to turn them from their wicked ways. This is the power of the name of Jesus, He brings about faith in the heart of the people of Israel and by doing this he bless the people by turning them from their wicked ways. It is interesting that Peter says this. Once again irony, we can't have faith in Jesus without Jesus placing that faith in our hearts first and we can't repent and return from our wicked ways and turn back to God without Jesus doing that in us as well. Salvation has very little to do with me and everything to do with Jesus Christ and God's own prophetic plan.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Paul tells his protege Titus this in Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Jesus is the One who purifies or blesses us. He has set the nation of Israel apart for the purpose of being restored back into their relationship with God and through Jesus and through the promise made to Israel we too can enjoy this blessing as well. We can receive purification. The nation of Israel is first among God’s chosen people but we receive the same promises and the same rewards as the nation of Israel because as Paul tells the Roman church in Romans 11, we are grafted in. We have are adopted children and adopted children receive the same benefits and blessings as the naturally born children.
Who is Jesus to you? Is He your Restorer, restoring you back into a relationship with the Father. Is He your destroyer the One who will Judge you when He returns. If He is your restorer how have you benefited from His restoration. Do you notice His purifying power in your life, do you understand the rewards and the privileges of being purified by Him. Do you want to understand them more?