Acts (Part 27) – Acts 3:19b-21

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Acts (Part 27) – Acts 3:19b-21

Act 3:19 – Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

1. when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
   1. Though their sins would be forgiven temporally when they repented and turned to God (1Jo 1:9), the full realization of their sins being blotted out would happen when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord (Act 3:19).
   2. The times of refreshing is the time when everything will be made new (Rev 21:5).
      1. Refreshing adj. – 1. That refreshes
      2. Refresh – To impart freshness to (a place or thing, the air, etc.) by means of cooling or wetting.
      3. Freshness – The quality or condition of being fresh in senses of the adj.
      4. Fresh – 1. a. New, novel; not previously known, used, met with, introduced, etc.
   3. The times of refreshing is in the future: it shall come.
   4. It shall come from the presence of the Lord (Act 3:19) when God shall send Jesus Christ (Act 3:20) at the second coming.
   5. It is the times of restitution of all things (Act 3:21).
      1. Restitution – 1. a. The action of restoring or giving back something to its proper owner, or of making reparation to one for loss or injury previously inflicted. a. The action of restoring a thing or institution to its original state or form. (In later use only in echoes of, or with reference to, Acts iii. 21.)
      2. The restitution of all things happens at the second coming when Jesus will destroy the current heavens and earth and create a new heavens and earth and make all things new, restoring them to their original state before sin entered the world (2Pe 3:10-13; Rev 21:1-5).
      3. The times of refreshing and the restitution of all things is the resurrection from the dead (Act 4:2).
      4. The resurrection happens at the last day when Christ returns (Joh 6:39, 44; Joh 11:24).
   6. It will be at the resurrection, when all things are made new and our corruptible mortal bodies will put on immortality (1Co 15:52-57), that we will experience the fullness of our sins being blotted out, being not only justified, but also glorified (Rom 8:30).
   7. Repentance and conversion give God’s elect the assurance that their sins will be blotted out and that they shall not come into condemnation on judgment day (Joh 5:24).

Act 3:20 – And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

1. 1. When the time appointed of the Father comes (Mat 24:36), He shall send Jesus Christ back to this earth.
   2. Jesus is called the Apostle of our profession (Heb 3:1).
      1. He is called this because the word apostle means “sent” (Mat 10:2-7).
      2. Jesus was sent by the Father when He came to earth to be born of a virgin (Joh 6:38; Joh 5:24; Joh 6:29; Joh 8:29; Joh 17:3-4).
      3. Jesus was sent into the world when He entered His ministry (Gal 4:4-5; Joh 17:18; Luk 4:43; Joh 20:21).
      4. Jesus will be sent by the Father back to earth to destroy it and make it new again (Act 3:20-21).
   3. While Jesus has been in heaven, He has been preached to us, but at the end of time when the Father sends Him back, He will be shown to us (1Ti 6:15; Mat 24:30).

Act 3:21 – Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

1. 1. Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
      1. The restitution of all things happens at the second coming when Jesus will destroy the current heavens and earth and create a new heavens and earth and make all things new, restoring them to their original state before sin entered the world (see comments on Acts 3:19).
      2. Jesus was received up into heaven when He left this earth (Mar 16:19).
      3. Heaven must receive Jesus until His second coming when He restores all things.
      4. Jesus will not return to earth until the restitution of all things, contrary to the claims of premillennialists who teach that he will return 1000 years prior to it.
   2. which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
      1. All the prophets spoke of Jesus Christ and His salvation which He wrought through His birth, life, works, faith, suffering, and death (Luk 24:25-27, 44; Act 3:18; Act 10:43; Act 26:22-23).
      2. The restitution of all things at the end of time is the culmination of that salvation.