Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] All right, I want you to consider moments. I want you to consider moments in your life that are precious and fleeting, which is like every moment, by the way, right? Not every moment feels precious. Some moments feel really painful.
[00:00:25] But think about things that you really love to experience that.
[00:00:30] And then I want you to think about what it feels like when that thing is about to come to an end. Okay, so like a really piping hot cup of coffee.
[00:00:37] I drink my coffee piping hot because I drink really bad coffee and. But I love the experience of waking up in the morning and brewing a cup of coffee and seeing the steam come up from the coffee and sipping on it. And I hate the experience of it getting cold. I just hate that experience. Throw it in the microwave and I zap it to make it hot again.
[00:00:57] So think about moments. Think about moments like this. Think about a delicious meal. You're excited, you're hungry, you sit down for that meal and then it's over.
[00:01:08] Evenings with friends. A good book, like a book that you really get into and you come to the end of it and you're like, oh, you just kind of feel that sense of dread knowing that this good thing is about to come to an end. This is life on this side of heaven, precious and fleeting.
[00:01:23] There will come a day for those who are followers of Jesus that this will not. These things will not be realities anymore.
[00:01:29] Life on the new heavens and new earth will not be fleeting. It'll just be precious and it'll get forever more precious.
[00:01:39] Precious and fleeting moments.
[00:01:41] Think about maybe a gathering, like a church gathering that you've been to, where you just sensed the presence of God there.
[00:01:52] Like, I remember becoming a Christian in college and going to Super Summer for those who know what Super Summer is. So I went to Super Summer as a camp counselor and it was awesome. And I remember one year specifically where one of our other counselors was an older man. He was probably, I say older. Every time I say this, I get in trouble by people who are older than me. But he was an older man. Youth pastor, been a youth pastor for a long time. And that year his son had committed suicide. And so he comes to camp to be a camp counselor, despite all of this tragedy happening with his family. And he was a worship leader. And one night, this is the night before the big worship band was supposed to come. They're a really well known Christian worship band and they did great. But on this particular night, he was going to lead us because something happened with the band. They couldn't get there on time. So he Gets up with a piano, just him and a piano, and he leads us in the song 10,000 Reasons, which is kind of an oldie, but he leads us in this song. And man, it was like the spirit of God just fell on us in that place.
[00:02:59] And this man who had just lost his son is worshiping with the little amount of faith that he had by the grace of God, is crying out to God, proclaiming the goodness of God despite the worst tragedy of his life. And everybody was weeping and some people were on the ground and people were confessing sin at the altar. I mean, it was just like it just didn't want to leave that place.
[00:03:22] So I share these things to say. I think this is where we find ourself. In the Book of Acts, we are coming off arguably the most profoundly spirit empowered gathering in the history of the church.
[00:03:36] Okay, Jesus has risen from the dead.
[00:03:40] He's appeared to 400 people.
[00:03:43] So we say this a lot. Christianity is not a religion of blind faith. If you're here and you're like, I don't know about Christianity, I'm just thrilled that you're here. Think you're asking really good questions. Glad that you're here. Christianity is not a religion of blind faith. It's not just, hey, believe this thing happened. Christianity is about the historicity of a person.
[00:04:05] He died under Pontius Pilate, documented historically.
[00:04:10] And then he was raised from the dead and he appeared to 400 people and he began to teach them about the kingdom of God and what entrance to the kingdom of God looked like, how they, anybody could come into the kingdom of God through faith in him. It's amazing. And then he, he comes to his friends and he says, hey, you former fishermen, tax collectors, et cetera, not educated men, normal guys. You're going to be my witnesses.
[00:04:39] Not just in Jerusalem, but in Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth. But before you go and tell everybody that you can that I'm alive and that they can have forgiveness of sins through faith in me, you need to wait because I'm going to empower you with the very person of my spirit going to live inside of you.
[00:05:02] And so they wait, they pray.
[00:05:05] And on the day of Pentecost, God the Father and God the Son send the person of the Holy Spirit to indwell his followers.
[00:05:15] And now the law that was given to Moses many, many, many years before that, which was written on tablets of stone, is written on their hearts now. They desire to obey and follow God not because of a set of rules, but because God has given them a new heart, new affections. And this sets up, this is a new moment in redemptive history. This is called the day of Pentecost.
[00:05:40] And then after this happens, the people are looking at the apostles and they're like, what the heck is going on? And Peter gets up, empowered by the Spirit, and he preaches a sermon about Jesus. And on that day, 3,000 people, they say, what. What must we do? We're guilty before God. What do we need to do to be forgiven of our sins and to receive eternal life? And Peter says, repent of your sins and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus. And 3,000 people respond to that message.
[00:06:09] And then the church begins to gather.
[00:06:12] So in the midst of rising opposition in a Roman empire, the church began. They haven't experienced opposition yet. They're about to.
[00:06:21] But the church begins to gather.
[00:06:23] Small little groups of Christians begin to gather, and they begin to devote themselves to just a few things. The apostles teaching, the Bible prayer, the Lord's Supper, and fellowship. They have everything in common. It's a beautiful gathering. And I would only imagine that they probably didn't want to leave that gathering, but there was a job to do.
[00:06:43] It wasn't just about staying in and studying the Bible and praying together and singing together and doing these amazing things that we have the opportunity to do every week. This is what, What a wonderful privilege that we live in a place that we can freely do this. We should be thankful for that.
[00:06:59] Like, don't. Don't be the kind of person who isn't thankful that we get to do this. Not everybody gets to do this.
[00:07:07] And so they begin to gather. But they have a job to do. And so Peter and John, they leave the gathering and they make their way up to the temple at what Luke calls the hour of prayer. This is 3pm this is also known as the hour of sacrifice. This is the moment, by the way, that many days prior to this, Jesus on the cross cried, it is finished.
[00:07:33] The hour of sacrifice.
[00:07:35] Jesus is showing himself to be the better sacrifice.
[00:07:38] No longer do we sacrifice animals to. To gain forgiveness or to get right standing with God. Jesus now is the sacrifice. What will you do with him?
[00:07:49] And so at the hour of sacrifice, Peter and John says that they make their way up to the temple. And so I just want us to kind of walk through the narrative together, and I'm going to give a couple of comments here and there, but it's a beautiful passage. It kind of preaches itself. Okay, so let's look at the passage together, this is where we find ourselves. Acts chapter 3, verse 1 says, Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour. That's 3pm the hour of prayer or the hour of sacrifice. Luke paints this picture that Peter and John began to kind of ascend. They begin to make their way up to the temple. The temple is called, positioned upon a hill. And so they begin to make their way up the hill to the temple to go into the temple so that they can pray at the hour of prayer. And I think it's interesting that James and John are doing this together. It can be easy for us. It is for me to kind of. When we read through stories of the Bible, especially if you maybe grew up in the church, anybody heard the song that was written after the story, the man who was Walking and leaping and Praising God? Anybody heard that kid song?
[00:09:00] Nobody has, really. My kids have. Yep. Yeah. Once you hear it, you can't unhear it every time you read the passage. So some of us are very familiar with this particular story, and it could be easy in our familiarity to dehumanize the humans that are involved in the story. Okay. Peter and John.
[00:09:20] Peter and John could not have been more different.
[00:09:24] Peter is abrasive and outspoken and outgoing, and he puts his foot in his mouth a lot. He says something really awesome and then he says something really dumb all within the same breath. I can relate a lot to Peter.
[00:09:37] John is very contemplative and thoughtful.
[00:09:42] He refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved on multiple occasions. All of his letters are about love, about loving God and loving one another. He's the disciple who laid his head against the chest of Jesus the night before Jesus died on the cross. So you have this very abrasive and this very contemplative disciple who are off to the temple together. And it says that as they walk up the steps to the temple to go in for the hour of prayer. Verse two, A man who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.
[00:10:31] So this is a moment of interruption.
[00:10:33] Peter and John are going to church, and on their way into the church, they come across a man.
[00:10:40] It's a really significant thing for us to just stop for a moment and consider this. Again, we don't know the name of this man, but he was a man, just like you, just like me.
[00:10:53] And as Peter and John are walking into the temple, they see this man sitting.
[00:11:00] It would have been normative for people like this man, lame from birth, meaning that he couldn't walk. He had been that way his whole life.
[00:11:10] Couldn't work, couldn't provide for himself. He couldn't do any of these things to have people set him down outside of the temple. Because the Jews believe that giving alms to those who were poor was a way to do justice.
[00:11:28] Like the book of Malachi says was, was to do justice. And so he's strategically positioned right outside of the temple as Peter and John walk in. And what Peter and John do next, I think it's just worth our consideration for a moment. Verse 3 says, when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
[00:11:52] But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us.
[00:12:01] So Peter and John are taking after the example of their teacher.
[00:12:09] You think about how many times the New Testament talks about Jesus compassion. You know, what's always paired with Jesus compassion in the New Testament is his look.
[00:12:21] He looked upon them and had compassion.
[00:12:26] Compassion is something that you and I feel in the depths of our bowels.
[00:12:34] True compassion has almost like a violent connotation to it by which physiologically, we just don't feel totally well because we're so absorbed into the world of another.
[00:12:47] Jesus looked out upon crowds, and he wasn't filled with anger.
[00:12:53] He wasn't filled with judgment. He wasn't filled with some sort of superiority, though he was.
[00:13:02] He looked up. He looked out upon crowds that couldn't help themselves. They were like sheep without a shepherd.
[00:13:08] And he felt compassion for them.
[00:13:13] There's a story of a.
[00:13:16] Of a mom in the Gospels who has just.
[00:13:20] She hasn't yet buried her son, but her son just died. And they're in a funeral procession and they are walking out, as was custom. Everybody would. Would follow out and people would be holding the casket. And as they're walking out, Jesus and his followers are walking in. And Jesus was probably really busy. I would imagine he's like the busiest person to ever live. Everybody wanted a piece of Jesus. Rightly so. Right? And as Jesus and his disciples are walking in, though he probably had a lot to do. It says that Jesus stops and he looks at the woman, and then he takes the time to raise the boy back to life.
[00:13:56] This is common for Jesus. Jesus looked upon people and he had compassion. He does the same thing in John chapter nine with the blind man. The blind man's sitting on the side of the Road. And Jesus and his followers are coming along. This is what I love about the fact that God that, that in the Bible we have an account of Jesus life.
[00:14:14] I think sometimes we only think about Christianity in regards to his death for our sins.
[00:14:19] What about his Life? About the 30 year, the 33 years that he lived prior to his crucifixion. Why is that in the Bible?
[00:14:26] And, and so he's walking out and he sees the man who's blind and it says that Jesus looked upon him and he has compassion upon him. He heals him.
[00:14:39] I, I, I have been thinking a lot about this in my own life, but I've also been thinking about it for us.
[00:14:46] We are, we are being discipled by an algorithm.
[00:14:50] You know this.
[00:14:52] I'm not raging against technology, though I am prone to do that sometimes.
[00:14:57] Okay, but it is, it is true. I'm not saying anything good or bad about it. I'm just saying it is the reality of our life. We are being formed by what your phone is giving you.
[00:15:09] And more specifically, you and I are being formed by who is speaking on the other side of that phone.
[00:15:18] And as you and I are being formed here, here is something that we are being formed to do. Hate each other.
[00:15:26] You're being discipled to hate other people.
[00:15:29] You're like, no, but they're wrong. Maybe, maybe they are.
[00:15:34] Maybe their ideas are terrible and wicked and bad.
[00:15:40] But we live in an echo chamber, all of us do, by which we're being taught and we're being discipled and we're being preached at by people who don't care that you exist.
[00:15:52] They don't care whether or not you live and die.
[00:15:56] We're being discipled to hate people.
[00:16:01] And if we're going to see, and God doesn't need us, he doesn't need our efforts, he doesn't need our obedience. He doesn't need any of these things. His glory will permeate every, every speck of creation is going to happen with or without you and I.
[00:16:17] But friends, we, we are invited and commanded to be discipled by Jesus.
[00:16:26] How should you see the world? How should I see the world? How should you see other people in the world?
[00:16:32] People that you both agree with and you disagree with.
[00:16:35] You should see them like Jesus does.
[00:16:41] So it's like James, I'm sorry, John and Peter, like, took a note from their teacher Jesus on how to see other people because they had been with Jesus, because they had been taught by Jesus and because now they were filled with the spirit of Jesus on their way into the temple, they stopped and they looked at the man.
[00:17:04] They saw him as a man, not just a commodity, not just somebody to step over. As they made their way to do the more important spiritual things, they saw the man. Because that's what Jesus does.
[00:17:18] That's what he's done for you. That's what he does with you. You know, like, he sees you as a person.
[00:17:26] And so don't.
[00:17:27] This is like a different sermon for a different day.
[00:17:31] We have to resist, and we're going to talk about Lent in a moment. We have to resist the temptation to be discipled and be taught and be told what to do by other people who don't love Jesus and don't love you.
[00:17:46] And I'm talking about people on the left and the right, by the way.
[00:17:52] They took their cue from Jesus, and so they stop and they look at the man.
[00:18:01] And as they look at the man, Peter says, look at me.
[00:18:08] Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us. And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ. The Nazarene walk.
[00:18:30] And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. So Luke, being a physician, does something that you won't see anywhere else in the New Testament in the Greek.
[00:18:45] It's like he really locks in on this physiological change that happens in this man's body, his feet, and his ankles for the first time. It's like everything came together the way it was supposed to come together for the first time. And Peter helps the man come back to his feet. And as he comes back to his feet, he walks for the first time.
[00:19:08] Immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened with a leap. He stood. He stood upright and began to walk. And he entered the temple with them when he walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms. And they were all filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened.
[00:19:35] So when Acts, chapter 2, verses 42 to 47, says that many signs and wonders were being done through the apostles, this is an example of what Luke's talking about.
[00:19:45] Many signs and wonders were being done through the apostles. Again, the book of Acts is not about the apostles.
[00:19:53] It's not about the apostles at all.
[00:19:55] Like, they're like a Side character in what's happening. The Book of Acts isn't even primarily about the person of the Holy Spirit.
[00:20:02] Book of Acts is about the rule and reign of Jesus from heaven.
[00:20:05] Jesus from heaven now rules and reigns and is advancing his kingdom through the preaching of his resurrection and through signs and wonders. And as this man stands on his feet and begins to experience what it feels like to walk for the first time, to have strong feet and strong ankles, it's like Jesus doesn't just partway heal. He doesn't just halfway heal. He doesn't like the guy doesn't walk with a limp. He's leaping and praising God like he's been fully healed as to give us a sign of the day to come by which you and I will be fully healed. We won't walk with a limp anymore. We won't have the crushing anxiety anymore. We won't have the nagging sense of depression anymore. There is coming a day by which our mind and our heart and our bodies in totality will be healed. And this man's just a small little picture of that. And so he leaps up and he goes into the temple, signifying that what was formerly inaccessible to him is now fully accessible to him. He goes into the temple and he begins to praise God. And as all of this is happening, it says that the crowds, just like they did at Pentecost, begin to run up and say, what the heck is happening? Like what is this? What is this thing? We know that guy, that guy's been lame from birth. How's he walking and leaping and praising God? How's he doing these things? And so Peter, I think in a moment of this is Peter's second sermon, which is awesome, is going to remind us that the Christian life isn't merely about experience. Peter's going to stand up and he's going to say, hey, this is what the signs and wonders are about.
[00:21:41] Does God perform signs and wonders? Absolutely. Did he do it in the Book of Acts? Of course he did. We read it. Does he do it today? Of course he does.
[00:21:49] Why wouldn't he?
[00:21:51] Like of course he does.
[00:21:52] He still heals.
[00:21:54] He still does amazing things.
[00:21:57] But what's the point of it all?
[00:21:59] Why the signs and wonders? That's what Peter's going to explain in the rest of the text. Let me just read it and then I'll comment a few things in regards to Peter's sermon.
[00:22:10] Verse 11. While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so called Portico of Solomon, full of amazement.
[00:22:21] But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, men of Israel, why are you amazed at this?
[00:22:26] Or why do you gaze at us as if by our own power or piety we made him walk?
[00:22:31] The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.
[00:22:45] But you disowned the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of Life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are all witnesses and on the basis of faith in his name. It is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know. And the truth which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
[00:23:11] And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignor ignorance, just as your rulers did also. But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he is thus fulfilled.
[00:23:25] So we're gonna stop at verse 18 for just a moment, and then I'll finish with the rest in our conclusion. But this is.
[00:23:32] This is in essence what Peter is doing. It's the same thing that he did immediately following Pentecost. Peter's saying, if you wanna know what the purpose of signs and wonders are, if you want to know why God heals in some cases and in other cases doesn't like, if we want to know what's underneath all of what God's doing in this story and what all he's doing in the world today, it can be found in the phrase his name.
[00:24:02] His name.
[00:24:06] Luke's doing what he's done.
[00:24:08] He's telling us that all of the Old Testament finds its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:15] Everything in the Bible is about the person of Jesus Christ. All of the prophets, all of the law, all of the Judges and the kings, they all point to the eventual coming of Jesus the Messiah. That's. That's what God is doing at this time in redemptive history. And that's what he's done throughout all time, is lead into Jesus. And now you and I live on this side of the cross and resurrection. So we look back and to Jesus. But why? Why does God heal this man?
[00:24:43] Why does God continue to heal people today from time to time? Why does he not, in some cases, heal? It's all for.
[00:24:52] It's all for the sake of His Name.
[00:24:56] All for the sake of his name.
[00:24:59] Names Used to mean something.
[00:25:01] They don't as much anymore.
[00:25:04] Sometimes names do. Like when we name our children.
[00:25:07] Took me a while to understand why it took Sydney such a long time to figure out names. I'm like, I could think through a lot. Lot of names. I almost said lots of names. I could think through a lot of names that we can name our kids. But Sydney was always very thoughtful about wanting to name them after someone who, by the grace of God, had done significant things for the kingdom of God.
[00:25:26] Not to put pressure on the child, but to call them into something greater than themself.
[00:25:31] Okay, this is how. This is how names have always worked. They've always been significant. You and I just live in a very production driven, expedited, thin culture.
[00:25:44] They were like Elon Musk, who has like 17 kids. Can name one of them a number.
[00:25:51] Okay, like. Like these. This is the kind that's just indicative of the world that you and I inhabit.
[00:25:58] But names have always meant something. God's name means something.
[00:26:03] You go back and trace the theme of God revealing himself through scripture.
[00:26:09] It's always through the revealing of his name.
[00:26:13] When he talks to Moses in the burning bush, and Moses is like, how am I going to go before Pharaoh? I can't even speak well.
[00:26:20] And God's like, I'm going to be with you.
[00:26:23] And this is who I am. I am who I am. I am Yahweh.
[00:26:30] I have no beginning. I have no end.
[00:26:34] God reveals himself by.
[00:26:38] By his name.
[00:26:40] He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter says he is the holy and righteous one.
[00:26:48] Totally set apart.
[00:26:50] Holy and righteous. He is the prince of life, or the author of life. He is the Christ. His name is Jesus.
[00:27:04] This God is transcendent.
[00:27:06] But he's not only transcendent. If you notice, Peter does this really interesting thing. He says this Jesus of Nazareth by which you crucified, meaning that this transcendent God, the creator of all things, the creator of the cosmos, the creator of every human creator, God took on human flesh and lived as a carpenter in a small, obscure town named Nazareth.
[00:27:32] So not only is this God transcendent in all of who he is, he's also totally accessible.
[00:27:41] He's from Nazareth.
[00:27:44] That Jesus.
[00:27:46] Joseph's kid, Mary's son, the woodworker. Like that guy?
[00:27:52] Yeah, that guy.
[00:27:54] That's who God is.
[00:27:58] He's Jesus of Nazareth. He is the God who dwells in unapproachable light. And he's the God who's totally and forever interruptible by you.
[00:28:12] He's Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:28:16] And it's because of his name that the man was made. Well, it's not because of any faith on behalf of the lame man. There's actually no indication in the text that the lame man had faith.
[00:28:29] Doesn't say that anywhere.
[00:28:31] He was just sitting there asking for money. That's all he had.
[00:28:37] Wasn't looking for God, at least that we know of.
[00:28:42] Just wanted some money, just wanted some food, sitting outside of the temple. The man, historically real as he was, also provides you and I, symbolism of who we are.
[00:29:00] You weren't looking for God.
[00:29:03] And I don't mean that in a harsh way. I just mean it in hopefully a liberating way to you.
[00:29:08] I wasn't looking for God.
[00:29:11] We didn't wake up one day and just decide, like, hey, you know what? I want to start going to church today, or I want to start reading my Bible today, or I want to start praying today. I want to, you know, stop doing all those things that used to be so fun and invigorating to me and living for myself. And like, we. And I just want to go and I want to follow Jesus now, like you, you did not decide within yourself to do that.
[00:29:33] The reason the shift happened in your heart is because of the grace of God.
[00:29:40] The reason this man experienced healing, not just physical healing, by the way, but a more substantive, robust kind of healing by which he goes from not being a worshiper of God to becoming a worshiper of God is because of grace.
[00:30:01] It's his name.
[00:30:03] The faith is not the emphasis. The repentance is not the emphasis.
[00:30:08] Both of those things matter, as we'll talk about in our close in like a minute.
[00:30:13] But it's necessary for us to really lock in on what is the anchor in this text. What is the reason behind the healing? It's his name.
[00:30:23] Because a name in biblical times was.
[00:30:28] Was totally tied to the character of the person whose name we're talking about.
[00:30:36] And this is who God is.
[00:30:39] God is a healing God.
[00:30:42] He's a gracious God.
[00:30:45] He's leave the 99 and come after the one God.
[00:30:50] This is who he is. This is.
[00:30:52] This is what causes his heart to beat.
[00:30:58] It's who he is.
[00:31:03] So what does Peter call them to do? This is going to be our close.
[00:31:08] Just look at the rest of the passage with me, starting in verse 18.
[00:31:14] I'm sorry.
[00:31:16] 19.
[00:31:19] He says, 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 and that he may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you 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 times, Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers to him. You shall give heed to everything he says to you.
[00:31:52] And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
[00:31:59] And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announce these days it is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your father, saying to Abraham, and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed for you first. God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways. And so Peter, obviously, is preaching to the Jews whom Christ came to first.
[00:32:27] Jesus did not come exclusively for the Jews. He came to the Jews first. And so we see this progression happen in the Book of Acts, by which they're the ones who are going to be preached to first. And as they respond negatively to this invitation, the Gospel is going to move out further and further and further. Judea, Samaria, and eventually to the ends of the earth, that a group of ragtag Gentiles like you and I might sit here today as worshipers of God.
[00:32:55] So what does Peter call them to do in light of the reality that it's the through the name of Jesus by which this man was healed?
[00:33:07] He calls them to repent.
[00:33:10] To repent.
[00:33:13] He says that on the other side of repentance are seasons or times of refreshment.
[00:33:21] Is anybody else in the room, like, want to be refreshed?
[00:33:27] Of course we do.
[00:33:29] Right. You know what it means to be refreshed?
[00:33:32] It's like when you're really thirsty and you have a cool glass of water.
[00:33:37] Sorry, my nose is running. I keep doing this.
[00:33:40] Like, we all. We all want to be refreshed.
[00:33:44] We want to be quenched.
[00:33:48] Like, we have desires in longing for satisfaction, longing for purpose, longing for rest that we experience every day and try to meet with things that can never give it.
[00:34:06] And so we pick up our phone again, thinking that that dopamine hit's gonna be the thing to do it, and it doesn't do it.
[00:34:15] Or we go to alcohol again, not saying alcohol is bad.
[00:34:20] Some of us drink alcohol to try to escape pain.
[00:34:24] It's not going to do it.
[00:34:28] Some of us go to pornography, all sorts of things. Some of the things that you and I run to, friends, are not even overtly sinful things. Some of us run to food, some of us run to exercise.
[00:34:45] Not bad things.
[00:34:47] They're just things that can't quench your soul. They can't bring refreshment to you.
[00:34:54] How then do we experience refreshment?
[00:34:58] That comes from the presence of the Lord. It's through repentance.
[00:35:03] Now, repentance, I think John MacArthur gave this illustration, and I think it's really helpful.
[00:35:10] Repentance and faith are like two sides of the same coin.
[00:35:15] Okay? So repentance and faith are the means by which you and I enter into the kingdom of God. If you're here today and you're not yet a Christian, friends, you are invited to repent and believe in Jesus and be saved. That can happen today.
[00:35:30] That doesn't have to happen next week. That doesn't have to happen when you get your life together.
[00:35:35] As a matter of fact, you're most qualified. Now, it's not going to get easier to respond to this message tomorrow. It's going to be harder because you're just hardening yourself a little bit more every time. Every time you say no, you're hardening yourself a little bit more to the message.
[00:35:54] And so whoever you are, you can respond and you can have a relationship with God right now.
[00:36:02] You can experience times of refreshment for your soul in a way that nothing in this life can give you right now.
[00:36:13] And he says it's by repent, through repentance and faith.
[00:36:18] And for those of us who are Christians in the room, I'm going to get back to the illustration. For those of us who are Christians in the room, all of the Christian life is a posture of repentance and faith in Jesus.
[00:36:33] Turning away from the old, putting off the old by the power of the Spirit, not by your flesh.
[00:36:40] And putting on the new, putting off the old, putting on the new. Turning away from lesser joys, turning to the greatest joy and being reminded that your sins have already been blotted out.
[00:36:54] And there's refreshment that comes from that.
[00:36:58] There's refreshment that comes from having a clean conscience.
[00:37:02] Hey, I know this personally. It's. I think I've shared this with you guys before. Like, I now that I've walked with Jesus for a little while, the things that were massive things early on in my relationship with Jesus that were so obvious that I needed to turn away from are, like, way less obvious now. Now it's just like distracting stuff.
[00:37:26] It's like the weight that, that Hebrews talks about, right? Like some things Are sin. Some things are just distracting.
[00:37:34] Like, if you've ever walked with anybody who's walked with a weighted vest. I have. I haven't walked with one, but I've walked with somebody who had one. And the whole time they're complaining about their back. I'm like, dude, you got a weighted vest on.
[00:37:47] Take off the weighted vest and your back won't hurt. It doesn't seem to be that complicated. I'm not a smart man, but take the vest off. That's how many of us live our life.
[00:37:57] You're just walking with unnecessary weight.
[00:38:02] It's not that the thing is bad. And we spend so much time wondering, is it bad that's distracting you?
[00:38:10] Jesus has us on a journey to heaven.
[00:38:14] Read Pilgrim's Progress. That's what your life is and what my life is. We're on our way to heaven, and Jesus is getting us there. He's already paid the ticket.
[00:38:26] Ticket's been paid already. He's walking with us now through this journey of life, and it's filled with all sorts of distractions.
[00:38:36] And so this week is Lent, starts Wednesday. Lent doesn't give you anything with God, by the way.
[00:38:44] Only Jesus does that.
[00:38:46] But Lent provides an invitation for you to consider for a moment, are there unnecessary weights in my life that are taking my eyes off of Christ, the refresher of my soul, the only one who can truly refresh me in the deepest level of who I am, provides an opportunity for that. Matt's provided great resources. Go through those resources. Use those resources as a means to guide you and us over the next 40 days to turn aside from these lesser things, that we would experience more of Jesus.
[00:39:24] The beauty of this passage is that it reminds the Christian. If you're in Christ, your sins have already been blotted out.
[00:39:33] You have. Your sins have been taken away. God's already dealt with your sin.
[00:39:38] You're not guilty anymore.
[00:39:40] You're not under condemnation anymore. You don't have to fear the wrath of God anymore. It's been taken away. Jesus drank it all at the cross.
[00:39:51] You're free.
[00:39:52] I'm free.
[00:39:57] So, God, that times of refreshment might come to us through the invitation of repentance.
[00:40:04] What MacArthur said, and then I'll close on this. He said, repentance and faith are, if you think about, like a bucket that's being dropped down into a well that's filled with water.
[00:40:17] The bucket is not the point, okay? The water is the point. That's the refreshing part, is the water.
[00:40:25] So think about repentance. And faith, like a bucket being dropped down into an endless well of cool, refreshing water. That is salvation.
[00:40:37] You just dip the bucket down.
[00:40:39] Repentance and faith are just the means by which we take hold of the true substance which is Christ himself.
[00:40:48] So over the next 40 days, friends, you're invited with me together for us to.
[00:40:55] To turn from the lesser joys of life, to turn back to the greatest joy, Jesus, and experience, by the grace of God, times of refreshment.
[00:41:04] Amen.
[00:41:05] Let's pray.
[00:41:07] Father, we love you, God, we thank you for the opportunity to again gather in your name. We thank you for the gift of your word. We do thank you for moments and seasons of refreshment that you do not have to give, but thank you that you do.
[00:41:24] God, I pray for all of us in the room that we would experience a season of refreshment this year.
[00:41:31] That the next 40 days would be a time of renewal, of healing, of salvation for some, of the growing in assurance for others.
[00:41:45] Some just need to be more assured that you love them, that this would be a season of that pray, that it'd be a season of growth and courage to stand up to what's wrong, not with unrighteous anger, but with righteous indignation that comes from you, Jesus. That's about your kingdom and not our own.
[00:42:15] So, God, over the next few minutes, as we reflect upon these things, would you lead us? Holy Spirit, we love you. In Jesus name, Amen.
