THE Day
Acts 3:19
Emmanuel Christian Church 10.13.24
INTRODUCTION: Last week’s story about the sisters Oholah and Oholibah was hard to hear! It was the awful and predictable outcome of the nation of Israel’s turn to idolatry.
This morning, we need to hear something a little more positive to balance out that terrifying account so,
Acts 3:19 “...that times of refreshing may come from the Lord...”
I don’t know if you keep up on the Jewish calendar (or even if you are aware that there is one), but just in case you don’t- I have a few facts that you might find interesting.
A week ago this past Thursday was the Jewish “New Year” known as Rosh Hashanah- welcoming in the year 5785 since the beginning of Creation. Now, wether you are Jew or Gentile- a New Year has the idea of a “fresh start” and a hope for better things.
For the Jew, the New Year is the beginning of what they call the “High Holy Days”- which consist of ten days leading up to the most important day on the Jewish calendar. This “most important” day is SOOOO important that they refer to it as “THE Day”. So what makes “The Day” SOOOO important? It is the day of ATONEMENT. Of this day, God told Moses to say to the people of Israel:
Leviticus 16:30 “...because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins.
If you’ve been counting the days, you already know that yesterday was “THE day” of Atonement on the Jewish calendar.
But let’s back up just a little bit. I said there were ten days leading up to “THE Day”, and that those days were called the “High Holy Days”. So what was it that made those days SOOO “High & Holy”? In a word “Repentance”.
So follow the progression with me: first comes the New Year, followed by ten days of reflection and repentance, at the end of which God held out hope for the forgiveness of sins (ATONEMENT) which is the ULTIMATE “refreshing from the Lord”!
Now, back to the passage before us- let’s fill in the beginning of that verse: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out...”
PROPOSITION: The Scripture couldn’t be more clear! Times of refreshing and new beginnings are always preceded by the act of repentance. If Israel had remembered that- the tragic story of Oholah and Oholibah would have NEVER happened! Given that fact, and that we don’t want to miss out on God’s “times of refreshing”, we need to take a second look at this important call to “repentance”. To that end, I’d like to make a few points on the subject, informed by God’s Word.
Repentance Isn’t- “A One-Time Event
- Have you ever heard of what some people refer to as the “five finger” salvation exercise: “Believe, Repent, Confess, Be Baptized, Be Faithful”?
- If you’re a Christian you can say: “I’ve been there, done that!”
- So here’s the question: “Do Christians have any need of repentance
after their initial salvation?” Answer: “Only if they sin.”
- Next question: “Do Christians sin?” Hear the word of the LORD:
1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
APPLICATION: Repentance isn’t just a “one time event” in our Christian lives. It’s actually intended to be a part of our regular prayer life! Remember the “dangerous” prayer? “Search my heart Oh Lord. See if there be any wicked way in me.”
Here’s the second thing we need to know...
Repentance Is- Christ’s Call Upon The Church
- The opening of the book of Revelation presents us with Christ’s address of letters to the seven churches of Asia.
- They are letters of encouragement to faithfulness.
- They are letters that call the churches to repentance.
- To the church in Ephesus:
Revelation 2:4 “...You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! REPENT and do the things you did at first.”
- “First love” is “head over heels love”, it’s “can’t do enough for you love”, it’s “can’t be with you too much love”!
- “First love” is “blank check” love!
- To the church in Pergamum:
Revelation 2:14 “...You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 16 REPENT therefore!
- Idols and idolatry are nothing more than putting something other than God in first place in your life.
- Sexual immorality is loving pleasure more than God.
- To the church in Sardis:
Revelation 3:1 “...I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and REPENT.
- What you appear to men amounts to nothing compared to how you appear to God.
- What is the issue here that made the Christians of Sardis “dead and sleepy”? Their deeds were incomplete- halfhearted and half baked!
- To the Seven Churches:
Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and REPENT.
APPLICATION: When we fall out of love with Jesus- loving things, pleasure or sleep more than Him- then it’s time to repent!
Having considered who needs to repent, the question becomes, “How do you do it?”
Here’s what you need to know...
Repentance Is- Led By The Mind (Not the heart!)
- If you leave repentance up to your heart, you’ll never get around to it.
Why? Because it hurts our feelings and wounds our hearts!
- We have to admit we’re wrong!
- We have to admit we’re not as good, or smart as we think we are!
- Your mind, on the other hand, can be reasoned with- and its conclusions can actually lead your heart into doing the right thing.
APPLICATION: This is why it is critical to be very careful about what you allow into your mind. What are you putting into your mind?
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
- The ability of the mind to lead the heart can be seen in the OldTestament example of...
- Judah’s King Josiah (2 Kings 22:11-13)
- Spiritual neglect was the rule of the day in Judah. - Josiah was installed as king at age 8.
- At age 26, he had a spiritual awakening:
- In the midst of repairing the Temple, the High Priest (Hilkiah) discovered the Book of the Law, and Shaphan the secretary read it to Josiah.
- “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.”
APPLICATION: Josiah’s engaged mind moved his heart- not the other way around! That’s not to say the heart cannot move the mind for it most certainly can! The problem is- the heart of man cannot be trusted to move him in the right direction!
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Jeremiah (Josiah’s father-in-law) favorite phrase as he helped lead in the spiritual renewal of Judah “Hear the word of the Lord”
- 600 years later, Peter preaches the first Christian sermon. Luke records:
Acts 2:36-38 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter replied...”
- What did Peter reply? REPENT!
APPLICATION: That word, translated from the Greek, is a combination of two words that literally mean to have a “changed mind”.
So what are the signs of a “changed mind”? How can you know if you’ve repented?
Repentance Is- Proven By... - Your Heart’s attitude
- A new attitude. We speak of this very thing when we say about someone- “He had a change of....heart”.
- Repentance is not saying of sin... “I won’t, but I still want to!” That’s what’s known as RESTRAINT.
- Repentance is saying of sin “I won’t, and I don’t want to!”
- That change of heart never comes before a change of mind. But that
change of mind always results in a change of heart. - Your Actions
- Back to Acts 2:38.... After the assembled crowd on Pentecost in Jerusalem had been cut to the heart, they asked a question: “What shall we do?” Real repentance always asks that question!
- Remember the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to John the Baptist for baptism? John said...
Matthew 3:7 “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
- Before real repentance changes your actions, it first transforms your AGENDA. (Your “want to” always determines what you “do do”!)
- Real repentance makes you think about what you DO. And as you think about what you do- it makes you ask the question: “What would Jesus do?”
CONCLUSION: Let’s go back to our Jewish calendar as we wrap things up. Jewish New Year, Ten days of Repentance, and then, THE Day of Atonement.
Now, what I am about to say is VERY important. God’s Word is very clear on the fact that all the Old Testament sacrifices could NEVER take aways sins (Hebrews 10:11)- they were a reminder of sins, and a sign pointing forward to the only Sacrifice that COULD take away sins and fulfill the hope and promise of ATONEMENT.
That sacrifice was the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who laid down His life on the cross to pay the price for our sin. Receiving the benefit of what He did for us requires Faith in Him (Hebrews 11:6), Repentance of our sin (Acts 2:38), and Baptism into His death, Burial and Resurrection (Romans 6). God has made the provision for our “New Year”, “time of refreshing” through the atonement Christ made on the Cross.
The choice is ours to accept or reject.