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Times of Refreshing (Acts 3:17-26)
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The theme of our upcoming Spring Bible Conference (each evening at 6:00pm March 23-25) is “Times of Refreshing” based upon a message given by Peter after a lame man was healed. The crowd began to look at the Apostle as though he performed the amazing miracle.
The seasoned fisherman turned disciple knew that the people were giving the credit to the wrong person. It was God’s power that had raised this man to his feet not Peter. The Lord deserved the glory.
Peter then gives the people of Jerusalem an uplifting message on how they too could personally experience “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord”. In addition to Luke, the writer of Acts, Paul mentioned the concept of refreshing in three other locations within our English bibles. In Romans 15:32 Paul expresses his expectation of being refreshed when he arrived in Rome in their company. In the little book of Philemon, twice the Apostle Paul speaks of his Christian friend Philemon’s quality of refreshing the people that he was around.
In Acts 3:17-26 Peter preaches about refreshing and gives four essential truths about spiritual renewal. Let’s learn together these four principles taught by the one known in Christian circles as, the Big Fisherman.
1. Reservoir of Refreshing, v. 20
2. Requirements for Refreshing, vs. 17-19
3. Results of Refreshing, vs. 19-23
4. Rushing Out after a Refreshing, vs. 24-26
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction and Prayer
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
Church Information and Upcoming Bible Conference
00:00:22
Speaker
If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now, take your copy of God's Timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. ah Thank you so much for listening to this podcast or broadcast. um I wanted to invite you, if you're anywhere near Columbus, Texas, ah that our church, First Baptist Church of Columbus, Texas, is going to host a spring Bible conference.
00:00:59
Speaker
It's getting very close now, March 23rd through the 25th. And the theme of our upcoming ah Bible conference is times of refreshing.
Theme of Spiritual Renewal and Biblical References
00:01:09
Speaker
It's based upon a message given by Peter after a lame man was healed in Jerusalem.
00:01:14
Speaker
The crowd began to look at the apostle as though he had performed the miracle, but really it was God. The seasoned fisherman turned disciple knew that the people were given the credit to the wrong person.
00:01:29
Speaker
It was God's power that had raised this man to his feet, not Peter. The Lord deserved the glory. Peter then gives the people of Jerusalem an uplifting message on how they too, just like the lame man, how they could also personally experience times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
00:01:51
Speaker
you know, in addition to Luke, the writer of Acts, Paul mentioned the concept of refreshing in three other locations within our English Bibles. For example, in Romans 15, 32, Paul expresses his expectation of being refreshed once he arrived in Rome in the company of the believers that were gathered there.
00:02:15
Speaker
But also in the little book of Philemon, twice the Apostle Paul speaks of his Christian friend Philemon's quality of refreshing the people that he was around.
00:02:27
Speaker
Have you ever known anybody that just seemed like that? When you were around them, the Lord just refreshed you. You always felt stronger. You always felt better and had a positive outlook on things.
00:02:38
Speaker
Well, that's what I want to talk about today. Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We're going to look at Acts chapter 3, verses 17 through 26.
00:02:51
Speaker
And that's what I'm praying will happen whenever we have this Bible conference, is that Lord will just visit with us and refresh each person who comes ah to the conference.
00:03:03
Speaker
But let's look at this passage and learn together four principles taught by the one known in Christian circles as the big fisherman. I think he was refreshing as well.
00:03:14
Speaker
Here's what he says in Acts 3.17. 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.
00:03:33
Speaker
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.
00:04:00
Speaker
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.
00:04:11
Speaker
And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaimed Jesus.
00:04:26
Speaker
Verse 1. 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 blesst god having raised up his servant sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness Did you catch that where he says that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord?
God's Presence and Personal Reflection
00:04:59
Speaker
I want us to look at four principles related to refreshing that I think are covered as we look through this passage together. The first thing that's obvious is the reservoir of refreshing.
00:05:12
Speaker
The other day, we were watching a travel show. I thought it was a travel show. It said it was going to be some kind of cruise near the Amazon jungle. And so I didn't know what they were going to do. I thought maybe they're going to go up and down the Amazon River or something like that.
00:05:28
Speaker
But anyway, for some reason, there was a scheduling difficulty, and it was a documentary on the building of the Hoover Dam. And I was so disappointed. I sat there thinking, oh, man, that's not what I was counting on.
00:05:41
Speaker
But I do think that the Hoover Dam is an amazing feat of ingenuity and how it was built. Do you know that it created this huge reservoir called Lake Mead?
00:05:55
Speaker
Lake Mead has 759 miles of shoreline. It's got a maximum depth. of 532 feet. I mean, that is deep.
00:06:07
Speaker
It also provides water to the states of Arizona and Nevada and to half the state of California. But I was thinking, you know, that's great that they can have refreshing water in a dry place like the deserts of Arizona or Nevada.
00:06:24
Speaker
But what about for us, all humanity? What's the source of refreshing for us? Well, it's interesting how right here in this passage, it tells us that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
00:06:41
Speaker
You know, I think that's the reservoir. I think that's the source. You know, if you think about it, when is it that God has ever run out of anything? God doesn't run out of things.
00:06:52
Speaker
God's abilities and resources are completely unlimited. So think about having an unlimited ah reservoir of refreshing.
00:07:03
Speaker
Wouldn't that be nice? But one thing I do want to remind you of is he says that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
00:07:14
Speaker
You know, that word ah ah seasons there or times, it referred to periodic times. And I thought, you know, really, I've been a student of revival history and spiritual awakening history.
00:07:30
Speaker
I've read about times when God just breaks loose. And he'll work in a nation. He'll work in a city. He'll work among a certain people group around the world. And it's just fascinating to me. It always has been. I've got a whole shelf in my library library related to spiritual awakenings and revivals.
00:07:50
Speaker
But one thing I've learned through reading those is that we can't artificially make a time of refreshing. This is something that God sovereignly has to decide himself.
00:08:03
Speaker
He has it on his calendar. So what we have to do is to seek him. But in seeking him, we can hoist our sail, so to speak. And if it were compared, let's say the revival could be compared to a great wind,
00:08:18
Speaker
Well, if we have our sail in place, then when God chooses for the wind to blow, then just think, we move forward. We're pushed forward by the very presence of God and the power of God.
00:08:31
Speaker
So we can't always, I mean, just because I'm arranging this spring Bible conference for March 23rd through 25th, it doesn't mean necessarily we're going to have a great revival then.
00:08:44
Speaker
But I hope so. I pray so. And that's why I've put the sails out there just saying, God, please, would you take these men, would you take your word and speak to every heart and renew them and refresh them?
00:08:59
Speaker
You know, I think there might be a need right here as we're talking about the reservoir of refreshing, not to just talk about the source of it and the seasons of it, but also to talk about the simplification of refreshing.
00:09:14
Speaker
You know, the word used here for refreshing is anasuchus. Anasuchus. It means, ana means again. and suko means to breathe.
00:09:26
Speaker
So if you put it together, what he's saying by refreshing is fresh air. Have you ever been in a room where there was no AC and all the windows were closed and you just began to feel like the air was so stale?
00:09:41
Speaker
Everything was so still. And it's just like, could someone open a window and at least let some wind get in here or at least turn on the AC and let us get a little fresh air?
00:09:54
Speaker
Well, that's what I think happens whenever we spend time with God. You know, I encourage you every morning, to spend time with God in his word, ask him, Lord, please, I need the the fresh wind of your Holy Spirit to breathe upon my soul so that I can breathe again.
00:10:14
Speaker
Well, let's look at the second principle that's mentioned in verses 17, 18, and 19. I think this principle would be the requirements for refreshing.
00:10:27
Speaker
Did Peter mention anything that these people could do or should do that would lead to ah refreshing? I believe there are certain things that we do and it puts us in the right place spiritually, the right place morally,
00:10:44
Speaker
the The right place behaviorally or within our attitudes, in our relationships, if we're doing these four things. So let me give them to you quickly.
00:10:55
Speaker
The first one is a reflection upon what we have done. You know when he goes over verse 17, he had talked about the death of Jesus at the hands of the people of Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
00:11:10
Speaker
He says, "'And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance.'" as did also your rulers. So he's saying, I know you didn't fully understand that Jesus was the Messiah, but you know what we have to do?
00:11:25
Speaker
Even if we have sinned not knowing, we've still disobeyed God's law. And so maybe you'd say, i try to be a good person, and I believe you. I know a lot of good old boys that are in my world right here in Columbus, Texas.
00:11:39
Speaker
i I think a lot of that about them. I think such high thoughts about them. But it doesn't mean that we're perfect. What we have to realize is all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:11:52
Speaker
And so that's why we sometimes need to reflect upon what we have done. But while we reflect upon what we have done sinfully in verse 17, we need to also go to verse 18.
00:12:05
Speaker
And that is the recognition of what God has done. What had God done that some of the people of Jerusalem did not know? He says, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer He thus fulfilled.
00:12:23
Speaker
Why did Jesus suffer? You know, he suffered so that he would die in our place as a substitute. He took the punishment that our sin deserved.
00:12:34
Speaker
And so we need to recognize that. Even though my sin is so dark and my sin is so huge and and colossal, I can look at what Jesus did for me and know that his blood can cleanse and wash away my sins.
00:12:49
Speaker
So I wanna reflect upon what I have done, but also wanna recognize what God has done. But then as I reflect upon God, his holiness, as I look into his word and see how worthy he is because he laid down his life, I then begin to realize I cannot continue to walk in the direction of sin and trust Christ at the same time.
Repentance and Spiritual Transformation
00:13:16
Speaker
So there's two more things we need to do. Repentance from our sins, that's verse 19 and verse 26. In verse 19, Peter clearly says, repent therefore, repent. It's it's a good word.
00:13:29
Speaker
It's a loving word. It's not a terrible word. And then he says, God, having raised up his servants, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
00:13:43
Speaker
And so really, i think we sometimes need to be reminded of what repentance means. It comes from a Greek word meaning meta noe.
00:13:54
Speaker
Metanoeo. It means to think with a new perspective, to exercise the mind. So basically what it came to mean is to change one's mind.
00:14:06
Speaker
And changing one's mind would lead to changing one's behavior. And so it's kind of like to have a whole nother mind. You're looking at things differently now that you've met Christ.
00:14:18
Speaker
Like in Acts 26, 20, where the apostle Paul says, repent and turn to God doing deeds in keeping with repentance. A.T. Robertson is a Greek expert, and he wrote one time that repentance was the message of John the Baptist, the message of Jesus Christ, the message of the Apostle Peter, and the message of the Apostle Paul.
00:14:42
Speaker
I think that we're standing on good authority whenever we call people to repentance. you know Luke actually mentions the word repentance in his gospel nine times.
00:14:53
Speaker
In the book of Acts, Luke also wrote that. He mentions it five times. But to repent and also to return, to return, to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and say to him, Lord, I'm coming back. I want to return to you as my Savior.
00:15:11
Speaker
So repentance from our sins and returning to God through the Savior. You know, a man named Patrick Morley wrote a book called i Surrender. And in the book, he talks about the misconception that some modern day Christians have about salvation and about sin and so forth. And what he says is that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin.
00:15:38
Speaker
It's a change in belief without a change in behavior. It's revival without reformation, without repentance. and so what we have to realize is, wait a minute, God calls me when I'm being called to salvation.
00:15:53
Speaker
It's a call for me to turn from sin and do a 180. and go the opposite direction in the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what we're supposed to do. Those are things that we can do.
00:16:07
Speaker
So those are not things God's going to do for us. Those are things we'll have to do to turn from our sins, to turn in faith toward what he did through his son, Jesus Christ.
00:16:19
Speaker
But as we do that, Don't miss this. The third principle is what happens? What are the results of a refreshing? When someone is saved, when the Holy Spirit moves upon a city like Jerusalem, what was it that Peter was promising the people would happen?
00:16:38
Speaker
Well, let me give you a few quick things. I'll mention just five of them. One is whenever we repent and we turn back to God, that sins that times of refreshing would come from his presence.
00:16:51
Speaker
The first thing that happens is cleansing from sin. He said, if you'll do this, your sins will be blotted out. So isn't that cool that God's gonna wash away all of our sins?
00:17:04
Speaker
Of course, something else happens, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. So another thing that happens is renewal. I know a lot of Christians whose sins are forgiven, but when they get into God's presence in the morning and they're in his word, they're praying, they're giving him their day, something else happens.
00:17:25
Speaker
It's not just the cleansing of sin. It's this whole idea of renewal, refreshing. It's where you feel stronger. You feel excited. Maybe you're beginning to lose your enthusiasm.
00:17:36
Speaker
But now when you spend time with God and hang out with him for a while, you begin to look at life totally differently. But then I thought also when he mentions in verse 20 something else, that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.
00:17:53
Speaker
I think that's what Peter was trying to tell them. Don't you guys realize as Jews that Jesus came and died on the cross for you first? But he didn't just die for Jewish people. He also died for Gentiles, but he did come to rescue them as well.
00:18:11
Speaker
And so I think another thing can happen in the refreshing presence of God at a Bible conference, but also in a quiet time, maybe in a quiet place. My dad became a Christian at work in a factory.
00:18:24
Speaker
But I believe that God can save our souls. We can be saved and we can know that Jesus came for me. He died on the cross for me. And so we began to experience transformation and conversion.
00:18:38
Speaker
We're not the same person anymore. But I think something else happens when he says, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
00:18:53
Speaker
And 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. You know, I feel like that also, we began to put the whole spotlight on Jesus.
00:19:08
Speaker
We wanna glorify Jesus and say, you know what? I wanna live my whole life for him. But if we're around the Lord, around the truth of his word, the objective truth of his word, if we're also in the company of the believers so that we're hearing the word and we're seeing the word lived out among us, and when the Holy Spirit is active, I believe something else happens in God's presence.
00:19:33
Speaker
He's holy, and so we're also gonna experience warning, warning to those who are still on the other side. those who have not crossed over into salvation in Christ, those who are still in rebellion.
00:19:46
Speaker
The Bible refers to us, I was there at one time, as sinners. We're sinful people as the human race. And so we need to be warned. And here's what Peter is saying to them.
00:19:59
Speaker
And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet speaking about Jesus shall be destroyed from the people. And so if you believe Bible doctrine, that there is a place called hell and there is a place called to heaven.
00:20:14
Speaker
Of course, God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross so you could be with him in heaven. But for those who don't want to listen to Jesus, those who want to rebel and resist him and say, nope, I'm going to walk away from Jesus, then he wants us to know that there's There's hard times ahead.
00:20:34
Speaker
There's eternity ahead, eternity in a place that never ceases to burn with fire. So we have to say, Lord, i want the refreshing salvation that I can only find in Christ.
00:20:48
Speaker
Once we experience that, like Peter and like those disciples that were there that day in Jerusalem, whenever the rushing mighty wind came upon them, did they stay silent?
00:21:01
Speaker
No, they didn't. You know what they did? They rushed out after experiencing the refreshing presence of the Lord. And that's how the lame man was healed. That's how these people were hearing a message about Jesus.
00:21:15
Speaker
Because even though Peter was just a fisherman, he still had something he could share with the people around him. You know, going back to that documentary that I watched on the Hoover Dam, do you know that there are spillways located 27 feet below the top of the dam?
00:21:32
Speaker
And those spillways empty tremendous amounts of water. The volume would be incredible, but though that huge spillway The flow of water is going into tunnels that are 50 feet in diameter and 600 feet in length.
00:21:52
Speaker
As a matter of fact, the flow from the water that presses against the Hoover Dam down at the base of it It's so strong, they say it's 45,000 pounds per square feet.
00:22:05
Speaker
But what about the water that is being forced out of the smaller locations on the other side of the dam, going through those a big, huge tunnels?
00:22:16
Speaker
You know what that water is going through there? It's 13.8 billion pounds of force. And when it goes through there, somebody that's really smart, an engineer, ah believe he was gifted.
00:22:31
Speaker
He said, why don't we put, build a dam, let the water go through. And when it goes through, we're going to run it through 17 turbines. And those turbines are going to turn and generate power, hydroelectric power.
00:22:46
Speaker
And we're going to be able to power people's homes. I just think that's fascinating. So even though I thought that learning about the Hoover Dam was gonna be a ah downer. In the end, it wasn't. It was probably even better for me to realize some of those things than a travel show would have been.
00:23:04
Speaker
But let's go back to verses 24 to 26, because I wanna end with this. Are you rushing out? I mean, if God has refreshed your soul, are you telling anybody?
00:23:15
Speaker
I mean, surely if that much grace, if that much you know glory and goodness is flowing through our lives, shouldn't we want to tell somebody?
00:23:27
Speaker
You know, I think that verse 24 tells us that one thing that's necessary is the clarity that can only come from the scriptures. If you're going to go tell somebody, then memorize John 3, 16 or memorize Romans 5, 8.
00:23:43
Speaker
Find your favorite gospel verse and be armed with it and just share a verse. God's word does not return to a void. It says in verse 24, And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaim these things.
00:24:01
Speaker
So I thought it's amazing that here's Peter. He's just a fisherman. He's a layman, but he's a disciple of Jesus. And he's standing up there and saying, you know what? Here's what the prophets said.
00:24:12
Speaker
I don't know a lot, but here's what they said. And so he was giving them clarity as that grace, powerful grace was flowing through his life. He was giving them clarity based on the word of God.
00:24:26
Speaker
But also there's something else that he was encouraging those people that were listening that day. He was encouraging them to find their identity. in the Lord.
00:24:37
Speaker
Do you find your identity in the Lord or do you find your identity in something else? I wonder if that lame man said, no longer will I find my identity in being a man with some disability.
00:24:49
Speaker
I'm going to find my identity in the Lord Jesus Christ because he has given me something I could have never gotten before. Can't you hear Peter, who's a fellow Jew, s saying to all the other Jews, you are 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.
00:25:14
Speaker
Can't you hear the pulse beat of this powerful fisherman standing up there and saying, people, you were made for more than this. Please find your identity in who God has called you to be.
00:25:30
Speaker
Man, I just get excited about that. Makes me want to rush out and tell people you can find your identity in who the Lord Jesus Christ is. But also, The early church had one thing they always included in their gospel witness.
Resurrection and Sharing Faith
00:25:47
Speaker
They would always talk about the cross, no doubt about that. They always would bring up the name of Jesus, no doubt about that. But they also always included the resurrection of Christ.
00:25:58
Speaker
Listen to the last thing he says in the final verse. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.
00:26:13
Speaker
Wow, I think that's so incredible. you know the The credibility of the resurrection was so established and so strong that Peter and those disciples would lay down their lives saying, we can promise you, we can assure you that Jesus has risen from the dead.
00:26:33
Speaker
We saw him. We put our hands in the mark where the nails were. We know that Jesus is alive. We heard him with our own ears. Man, that's good stuff.
00:26:45
Speaker
You know, I believe that if we'll spend time with the Lord in his presence, he'll send refreshing to us as well. And we'll want to share that refreshing, just like Peter, was when he was standing there in Jerusalem, wanted to share that with others.
00:27:00
Speaker
Once again, i don't want you to forget that March the 23rd, 24th, and 25th, six o'clock each night, I encourage you to come to First Baptist Church in Columbus, Texas, and experience a time of refreshing because everybody there is going to be pointing to Jesus Christ.
00:27:19
Speaker
Everybody there is going to be opening the Word of God and looking at what God has said. And all of us are going to be praying that the Holy Spirit will send time of refreshing to those who are gathered.
00:27:33
Speaker
So I hope you'll come here, Dr. Don Witt, Dr. Ted Traylor, and Dr. Joe Shakur. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much that you have given us times of refreshing in Christ.
00:27:45
Speaker
And so we're so grateful to you. So thank you so much that we didn't have to start loving you first. No, the Bible says you loved us first. And then you reached out to us in love and you gave your son to die on the cross in our place.
00:28:03
Speaker
to pay the penalty for our sins. And we're so grateful, God. But Lord, we long to see other people have a fresh ah fresh encounter with Jesus Christ, knowing that you're alive as we approach Easter and knowing that, Lord, you can renew them and strengthen them as well as these who lived so long ago.
00:28:25
Speaker
So bless us, O Lord, with your refreshing as we go through this week. In Jesus' powerful and wonderful name we pray, amen. Thank you so much for listening today.
00:28:36
Speaker
I pray that God has blessed you. You have a great week.
00:28:50
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.