WEBVTT 00:00:02.509 --> 00:00:05.830 Would you open your Bible please to the book 00:00:05.830 --> 00:00:19.050 of Acts the third chapter? Human beings have 00:00:19.050 --> 00:00:22.030 always been fascinated by the future and what 00:00:22.030 --> 00:00:28.429 it holds Therefore there are some who make contact 00:00:28.429 --> 00:00:33.960 with spirit mediums Others who become involved 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:38.920 in the reading of palms or the examination, if 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:43.020 you can believe it, of the intros of slain animals. 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:47.820 There are some who become involved in astrology 00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:52.420 or in the popular horoscopes in newspapers these 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:56.740 days. There are some who read after such modern 00:00:56.740 --> 00:01:02.200 -day so -called prophets as Gene Dixon. People 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:04.420 have always been fascinated with the future and 00:01:04.420 --> 00:01:08.680 what it holds. Somehow we think that we might 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.319 be better off if only we knew what was going 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:14.579 to happen tomorrow. I'm not sure that's true. 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:20.019 Nonetheless, only God can really give an answer 00:01:20.019 --> 00:01:24.180 to this search for tomorrow. You see, God is 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:29.060 eternal. God sees all the events of history. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:35.939 and tomorrow as finally accomplished. God, because 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:40.599 He is God, knows the outcome of all present struggles. 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:46.000 He has fixed a course for the ship of humanity 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.939 so that it will ultimately arrive at its appointed 00:01:50.939 --> 00:02:01.150 destiny. certain freedoms to work their own purposes 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:07.030 and evil, there is no question as to the outcome 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:13.449 of all things finally. One of our young men asked 00:02:13.449 --> 00:02:15.889 me about that after the first service this morning, 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:21.210 how it could be that we are not robots, we are 00:02:21.210 --> 00:02:26.129 free, as he put it, to have a free will. yet 00:02:26.129 --> 00:02:30.129 that God is ultimately in control of all things, 00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:34.509 including human history. I recognize that that 00:02:34.509 --> 00:02:38.370 seems to present a difficulty in logic, yet both 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:42.889 are true. Maybe one feeble attempt at illustration 00:02:42.889 --> 00:02:47.449 is what we used to do on the farm. We would have 00:02:47.449 --> 00:02:49.629 cattle, of course, who would graze in the pasture 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:52.689 all day, and then at night it would be time to 00:02:52.689 --> 00:02:57.159 get them for milking. One of us kids would be 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:02.139 assigned the task to go get the cows. So we would 00:03:02.139 --> 00:03:05.300 take off cross -country to find them and would 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:07.460 bring them back. In order to get from the pasture 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:13.740 up to the barnyard, we had a lane. That lane 00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:15.919 was fenced in so that they could not get out 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.080 into the fields on either side of the lane. The 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.800 lane was about 12 to 15 feet wide. And within 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:25.719 that lane, they could do anything they wanted 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.060 to do. They could walk on this side or the other 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.360 side or they could run or they could walk. They 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:34.699 had freedom. But the fact remained that they 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:36.740 were in the lane and ultimately they were going 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:39.979 to get to the barnyard. You see, that's sort 00:03:39.979 --> 00:03:43.080 of the way it is with our freedoms and God's 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:46.439 sovereignty. God has outlined the lane of human 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:52.039 history. certain freedom, and Satan has certain 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.439 liberties to do what he wishes to do. Ultimately, 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:58.460 human history will arrive where God says it will. 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:05.539 God is sovereign in human history. He is in control. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:09.699 That fact is illustrated in this sermon that 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:13.219 Peter preaches on the occasion found in Acts 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:18.040 3. Last week we looked at the first half of the 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.870 sermon. So, we want to pick it up at that point 00:04:20.870 --> 00:04:23.870 where we left off and continue through the conclusion. 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:30.870 We'll start with verse 17. And now, brethren, 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:34.050 I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:38.230 rulers did also. But the things which God announced 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:40.850 beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, 00:04:41.689 --> 00:04:45.670 that is, Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 00:04:46.549 --> 00:04:50.550 Repent, therefore, and return, that your sins 00:04:50.550 --> 00:04:54.209 may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing 00:04:54.209 --> 00:04:57.550 may come from the presence of the Lord, and that 00:04:57.550 --> 00:05:02.490 he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 00:05:02.810 --> 00:05:05.649 whom heaven must receive until the period of 00:05:05.649 --> 00:05:09.750 restoration of all things, about which God spoke 00:05:09.750 --> 00:05:12.769 by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient 00:05:12.769 --> 00:05:18.420 time. The Lord God shall raise up for you a prophet 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:21.879 like me from your brethren. To him you shall 00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:24.500 give heed in everything he says to you, and it 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:28.519 shall be that every soul that does not heed that 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.680 prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:35.639 the people." Likewise, all the prophets who have 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.680 spoken from Samuel and his successors onward 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:44.860 also announced these days, who are the sons of 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:48.259 the prophets, and of the covenant which God made 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.600 with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:54.339 your seed all the families of the earth shall 00:05:54.339 --> 00:06:00.180 be blessed. For you first, God raised up his 00:06:00.180 --> 00:06:03.459 servant, and sent him to bless you by turning 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:08.600 every one of you from your wicked ways." It seems 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.579 to me that the main theme in Peter's The last 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:16.560 half of this sermon is that God is in sovereign 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:21.779 control of human history. There are three summary 00:06:21.779 --> 00:06:25.720 statements from this text which seem to illustrate 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:29.480 this truth that God is in control. The first 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:33.600 one is in this statement, God's plan was fulfilled. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.000 In other words, in the death of Jesus Christ, 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:42.199 God's plan was fulfilled. There are two lines 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:48.800 of truth which run parallel in our text. Israel 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:53.839 bore responsibility for her rejection and killing 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:01.319 of Jesus of Nazareth, but it was God who predicted 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:06.279 the suffering of His Son and planned for it. 00:07:07.529 --> 00:07:10.889 Those are two lines of truth that run parallel, 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:15.050 and in human logic they would seem to contradict, 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:18.949 and yet they are not contradictory. Let's think 00:07:18.949 --> 00:07:24.329 about them. Israel bore responsibility for the 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:29.230 killing of Jesus, their Christ. We see that in 00:07:29.230 --> 00:07:31.629 earlier verses in this very sermon, for example 00:07:31.629 --> 00:07:36.470 in verse 13. He explains that Jesus is God's 00:07:36.470 --> 00:07:39.329 servant and he says, you delivered him up, disowned 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:43.290 him. In verse 14 he says, you disowned him and 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:46.370 asked for a murderer to be granted you. In verse 00:07:46.370 --> 00:07:50.189 15 he says, you put to death the prince of life. 00:07:50.829 --> 00:07:53.589 Now he's talking to a group of Jews representing 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:59.230 the nation. He says, you have killed your Christ. 00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:03.860 You have rejected Jesus of Nazareth. the one 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:08.360 God appointed for you as the anointed one, the 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:12.500 Christ, the Messiah. This ties together with 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:15.060 what he said back in chapter 2 verse 23 when 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:19.560 he said, you nailed Jesus the Nazarene to a cross 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:23.579 by the hands of godless men and put him to death. 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.379 And so Israel, you see, bore responsibility for 00:08:28.379 --> 00:08:37.500 rejecting Jesus as Messiah. Yet, in verse 17, 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:44.379 Peter generously states that this rejection was, 00:08:44.379 --> 00:08:51.500 notice, in ignorance. It was in ignorance. The 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:56.039 Apostle Paul later in chapter 13 of Acts, on 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.559 another occasion, yet speaking to Jews, says 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:01.960 something very similar listen to these words 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.440 of Paul to those who live in Jerusalem and their 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:09.740 rulers He says rather for those who live in Jerusalem 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:14.100 and their rulers recognizing neither him Nor 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:16.740 the utterances of the prophets which are read 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:21.740 every Sabbath fulfilled these by condemning him 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:25.340 So Peter says as a nation they were ignorant 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:30.600 Paul says they didn't recognize him. They didn't 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:36.940 understand the prophets. And so it was in ignorance, 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:42.120 without recognizing Jesus Christ, that the Jewish 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:48.659 people rejected him. Does not that tie together 00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:51.220 beautifully with what Jesus himself said from 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:56.129 the cross? Has he hung there in agony? He prayed 00:09:56.129 --> 00:10:02.169 and he said, Father, forgive them. For what? 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:07.769 What is he saying? They know not what they do. 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:17.470 They know not what they do. On the other hand, 00:10:17.529 --> 00:10:19.210 there is an interesting statement just a few 00:10:19.210 --> 00:10:23.269 chapters later in chapter 7 of Acts which again 00:10:23.269 --> 00:10:29.519 seems to Contradict this. These are the words 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:33.899 of Stephen, who was the first martyr of the Church. 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:40.480 Stephen in 751 of Acts says, You men who are 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.799 stiff -necked and uncircumcised in heart and 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.879 ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit. You 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.340 are doing just as your fathers did. Which one 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:53.000 of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.980 And they killed those who had previously announced 00:10:55.980 --> 00:10:58.940 the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:02.840 and murderers you have now become. You who received 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:05.799 the law as ordained by angels and yet did not 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:09.320 keep it." And so the tone of Stephen's sermon 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:16.779 is that you knew what you were doing. And that 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:20.419 seems to agree with what Jesus warned about in 00:11:20.419 --> 00:11:24.340 Matthew chapter 12. When he spoke to a group 00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:28.179 of Pharisees in that day, whom he suggests knew 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:33.200 him, recognized him, and who were nonetheless 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.500 attributing his power to Satan, he said that 00:11:37.500 --> 00:11:40.080 they were becoming guilty of the unpardonable 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:45.480 sin, which is attributing to Satan the work of 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.919 the Holy Spirit. Technically, that unpardonable 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:51.059 sin could only be committed in that day when 00:11:51.059 --> 00:11:54.860 Jesus was on the earth manifesting who he was. 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:59.440 Jesus seems to indicate there in Matthew 12, 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.580 just as Stephen does much later in Acts 7, that 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:06.279 there were at least some who did recognize him. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:11.019 When they willfully rejected him, that was the 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:13.399 unpardonable sin. They could not be forgiven 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:19.289 for that. There was no hope for them. I say to 00:12:19.289 --> 00:12:21.429 you that the unpardonable sin technically cannot 00:12:21.429 --> 00:12:25.529 be committed today, but by application we can 00:12:25.529 --> 00:12:29.129 say this, that when a person understands who 00:12:29.129 --> 00:12:33.570 Jesus Christ is, understands his need of Jesus 00:12:33.570 --> 00:12:38.529 Christ, and yet deliberately, willfully rejects 00:12:38.529 --> 00:12:43.710 Him and turns from Him, and does that persistently, 00:12:43.929 --> 00:12:47.889 consistently, There comes a point when his heart 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:50.850 is hardened to the truth, and at that point he 00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:53.250 is committed an unpardonable sin because there 00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:56.289 is no pardon apart from the truth that he has 00:12:56.289 --> 00:13:00.690 hardened his heart to. That's why, my friend, 00:13:00.710 --> 00:13:03.750 it is so dangerous for a person to understand 00:13:03.750 --> 00:13:08.509 what it means to be saved and to hear the truth, 00:13:09.429 --> 00:13:12.330 intellectually accept it as the truth, and yet 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:16.840 to harden the heart against it. It brings damnation 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:21.759 to the soul through the process of the hardening 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.899 and rejection that takes place. Now it seems 00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:28.820 to me that what on the surface seems to be a 00:13:28.820 --> 00:13:30.620 contradiction is not at all a contradiction, 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:35.059 for it appears that there were some in Israel 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:39.240 who did recognize Jesus for who he was, who he 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:45.919 claimed to be, and they rejected him. and were 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:50.799 left without hope. But the nation as a whole, 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:56.559 the totality of the people as a corporate body, 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:03.779 they did not recognize Jesus. They were in ignorance, 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:09.620 really, as to who He was. And because of that 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:16.309 ignorance, the culpability The nature of their 00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:22.029 crime against God is moderated, ameliorated, 00:14:22.730 --> 00:14:27.169 it is lessened. And because of that, there is 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:32.710 still hope for the nation as a whole. And that's 00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:35.450 why there are promises given in the very text 00:14:35.450 --> 00:14:37.470 that we're looking at, and we'll look at just 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:44.779 a little bit later. as a whole rejected Jesus 00:14:44.779 --> 00:14:47.100 the Christ, that would have been it for Israel. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:50.000 There would be no future for them. And yet there 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.620 is a future, as we shall see, for the nation. 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:58.539 Yet the truth is still there that they bore responsibility. 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.399 You see, though they as a whole did not know 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:07.220 who he was, they should have known it. Even the 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:09.919 sign of the Prophet Jonah, Jesus' resurrection, 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:14.039 was given to them. They should have recognized 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.740 him. There was no excuse for their ignorance. 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:22.779 Thus they were held responsible for his death 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:27.639 on the cross. But the other line of truth, as 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.159 we have suggested, is that God predicted that 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.960 suffering of his son and fulfilled his own plan 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:36.600 in it. Again, this is what Peter has stated earlier 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:39.440 in chapter 2 when he preached on the Day of Pentecost. 00:15:41.070 --> 00:15:43.809 Jesus of Nazareth, who has been attested by God, 00:15:43.950 --> 00:15:48.269 was delivered up by the predetermined plan and 00:15:48.269 --> 00:15:55.629 foreknowledge of God. On the one hand, there 00:15:55.629 --> 00:15:59.230 is human Jewish responsibility for the rejection 00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:03.190 of the Christ and his death. On the other hand, 00:16:03.269 --> 00:16:06.629 it is God's plan from eternity past before the 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:10.120 creation of the world. Jesus was designated to 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:15.340 be the sin bearer for all. So there is human 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.879 responsibility, there is divine plan, and the 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:24.259 point is that God's plan was fulfilled. God's 00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:29.639 plan was fulfilled. This presents, I say again, 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:33.519 an apparent contradiction, but is in fact the 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:38.649 working out of the plan which God ordained. He 00:16:38.649 --> 00:16:42.129 executed it in such a way as to accomplish his 00:16:42.129 --> 00:16:48.710 desired result without overriding man's responsibility 00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:52.929 in it. Another illustration of that quickly is 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:57.590 Judas, who betrayed Jesus and was responsible 00:16:57.590 --> 00:17:02.169 for his crime, and yet God predicted hundreds 00:17:02.169 --> 00:17:05.829 of years before that there would be one of the 00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:11.160 disciples. Who would betray Jesus? That was in 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:15.420 the plan of God, and yet Judas bore the guilt 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:21.839 of it. God is ultimately in control of human 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:26.839 history, and we see that in this summation statement 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.880 that I am making that God fulfilled his plan 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:36.440 in the death of Jesus Christ. He says, But the 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:39.559 things which God announced beforehand concerning 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:45.140 the Christ, He's fulfilled. Now there's a second 00:17:45.140 --> 00:17:46.960 summation statement that I want to make, and 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:51.519 that is this, that God's promise is offered. 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:57.960 His promise of the long anticipated Messianic 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:03.440 kingdom is offered here in our text. It is offered 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.609 to the Jewish nation. Now that millennial reign 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:10.029 of the Messiah is described in two phrases. You 00:18:10.029 --> 00:18:11.970 may want to underline them in your Bible. Verse 00:18:11.970 --> 00:18:17.970 19, the times of refreshing. Verse 21, the period 00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:23.170 of restoration of all things. Those are two phrases 00:18:23.170 --> 00:18:26.109 describing the same thing that is the millennial 00:18:26.109 --> 00:18:31.549 reign of the Messiah. The times of refreshing. 00:18:32.289 --> 00:18:37.059 What does that mean? Well, the verb. for refreshing 00:18:37.059 --> 00:18:43.460 literally means to cool again, to cool again. 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:49.900 I can illustrate this by an experience that I 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:53.559 had when I was working in a dairy plant in Topeka, 00:18:53.579 --> 00:19:01.200 Kansas between two of my years in college. My 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.430 normal job besides being the general flunky around 00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:07.490 there for three months, was to help make cottage 00:19:07.490 --> 00:19:11.470 cheese and to package it. And that was done in 00:19:11.470 --> 00:19:15.869 an area of the plant that was very warm. It was 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:19.569 warm because it was secluded in the plant, but 00:19:19.569 --> 00:19:21.670 it was warm as well because that was the nature 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:25.069 of the beast. That's how you made that kind of 00:19:25.069 --> 00:19:28.849 food. And so I worked there and would develop 00:19:28.849 --> 00:19:32.740 a great deal of perspiration. I would be fatigued, 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:38.039 be hot, be sweaty. And then the foreman would 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:40.720 come in and he'd say, call. They need your help 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:46.180 over in the ice cream freezer. So I would leave 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:49.039 that part of the dairy plant temporarily and 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.559 go across the street where we stored the ice 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:54.519 cream. And that temperature was something about 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:58.099 like it is outside today here in Minnesota. It 00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:01.559 was frigid in there. And so I would have about 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:04.619 five minutes to make the transition. I'd have 00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:06.960 to find a coat somewhere and some boots and gloves 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.619 and bundle up and go in there into the 20 below 00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:14.259 temperature and begin to move around ice cream. 00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:18.039 Now for the first five minutes, I was cooled 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.299 and refreshed. After that, I froze to death. 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:25.299 But for the first five minutes, it was a wonderful 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:27.579 refreshment after being over there in that hot 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:30.200 dairy plant. to be able to step into the world 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.900 of the freezer. One of that kind of a feeling 00:20:33.900 --> 00:20:37.420 is what's involved here. He says it's the time 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:41.079 of refreshing for the nation of Israel. He's 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:44.519 talking about the fact that the nation of Israel 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:51.960 will in that future kingdom find relief and rest 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:56.359 from her harassment. And basically for the last 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.000 2 ,000 years the Jews have been kicked around 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:02.859 from one nation to another in this world. They 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:09.240 have been persecuted, driven from one country 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:18.740 to another, hated, killed, harassed, and I say 00:21:18.740 --> 00:21:21.480 with genuine sorrow in my heart that the worst 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:26.660 is yet to come for them. When Antichrist is active 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:29.799 in the tribulation period, it will be the time 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:32.180 of Jacob's trouble, a time like the Jews have 00:21:32.180 --> 00:21:38.140 never yet seen even under Hitler. And following 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:43.140 that will come the kingdom. Following that horrible 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:47.299 time of harassment will come the times of refreshing, 00:21:48.539 --> 00:21:52.960 the times of revival, the time when the nation 00:21:53.150 --> 00:21:56.470 will be at rest, the golden age of blessing. 00:21:57.049 --> 00:22:00.109 That's what's involved in that phrase. But he 00:22:00.109 --> 00:22:03.349 also calls the kingdom the period of restoration 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:08.049 of all things. This word restoration is the same 00:22:08.049 --> 00:22:13.150 basic word that's found back in chapter 1 verse 00:22:13.150 --> 00:22:17.349 6, where here the disciples are asking a question 00:22:17.349 --> 00:22:19.849 of Jesus and they use the same word in a verb 00:22:19.849 --> 00:22:24.630 form and they say, Lord, is it at this time you 00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:32.650 are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Same basic 00:22:32.650 --> 00:22:37.569 word. What it's referring to is that time in 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:41.049 the future when the nation will be restored, 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:45.690 brought back again to a place of world prominence, 00:22:45.970 --> 00:22:50.869 and even more, to the place of God's blessing. 00:22:53.729 --> 00:22:56.990 Because she rejected her Christ, Israel has, 00:22:56.990 --> 00:23:02.809 for this dispensation, this age, been set aside 00:23:02.809 --> 00:23:07.130 so that God could fulfill another purpose of 00:23:07.130 --> 00:23:11.309 His, and that is the Church of Jesus Christ, 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:15.289 to call out that body from Jew and Gentile that 00:23:15.289 --> 00:23:18.930 belonged to Christ. But there is a time coming, 00:23:18.950 --> 00:23:22.349 my friend, when the nation of Israel will be 00:23:22.349 --> 00:23:27.299 restored. and not just Israel. But the whole 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:30.819 earth will be restored. Even the creation, nature 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:35.839 itself, will be recovered to its Edenic beauty. 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.160 This is suggested in Romans 8 where we see that 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:42.680 the creation itself now is under bondage to sin 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:45.799 brought upon it by man and it emits as it were 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:50.849 a groan. longing for and anticipating that day 00:23:50.849 --> 00:23:54.150 when the sons of God are manifest and it will 00:23:54.150 --> 00:23:57.670 be released from its corruption to enjoy that 00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:02.410 restoration of the millennial kingdom. Notice 00:24:02.410 --> 00:24:07.230 these two phrases for the kingdom sandwich that 00:24:07.230 --> 00:24:13.250 which will bring the kingdom, verse 20, the return 00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:18.900 of Jesus Christ. It is when Jesus, the Christ 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:23.000 appointed for Israel, is sent to them and returns 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:27.839 to the earth that the kingdom, the times of refreshing, 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:34.660 the period of restoration will come. Now, that 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:36.680 is a little word about the millennial reign. 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:40.740 But looking closer at the context, it would seem 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:43.279 to me that here the kingdom is being offered 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:50.099 to Israel at that time. Peter is suggesting to 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:53.700 the Jewish people that this time could come at 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:58.940 that point if they would do two things. He gives 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:04.200 those in verse 19, two commands, return, or rather 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:11.680 repent and return. He says, repent and return 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:15.130 to them. Repent, of course, means to change the 00:25:15.130 --> 00:25:18.170 mind. He says, change your mind regarding Jesus. 00:25:20.309 --> 00:25:24.710 Understand He is the Christ. Renounce your sin. 00:25:25.089 --> 00:25:28.430 Forsake the guilt which has grieved and offended 00:25:28.430 --> 00:25:32.650 God. Repent. It's the same thing He said on the 00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:35.410 day of Pentecost. Repent and be baptized, every 00:25:35.410 --> 00:25:42.230 one of you. Change your mind. Then He says, return. 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:46.680 as well. Turn again to the Lord. That is the 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:49.220 action that results when one changes the mind. 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:53.039 It is a word used by Jesus regarding Peter in 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:57.319 Luke 22, 32 when he says to Peter, and when you 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:04.119 turn again, regarding Peter's denial of the Lord. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:09.279 He's talking about that time when Peter recognized 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:13.309 what he had done and changed his mind and repented 00:26:13.309 --> 00:26:18.769 and turned again to the Lord. It is a word that 00:26:18.769 --> 00:26:23.710 Peter himself uses in 1 Peter 2, 25 when he says, 00:26:23.849 --> 00:26:26.990 and you have returned to the shepherd and bishop 00:26:26.990 --> 00:26:32.630 of your souls. Now he says if the nation would 00:26:32.630 --> 00:26:35.589 return and repent, there would be an immediate 00:26:35.589 --> 00:26:39.809 result. This is the purpose of it. He says in 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:47.000 Repent, return that your sins may be wiped away. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.099 That was the immediate purpose in his saying 00:26:50.099 --> 00:26:54.200 this to them. It was for the forgiveness of their 00:26:54.200 --> 00:27:00.680 sins. Before the kingdom could come, sin had 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:06.359 to be dealt with. This verb, wiped away, is a 00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:09.000 very suggestive verb in the original language. 00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:15.940 It means to obliterate, or to wash, or to cancel 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:23.140 a debt, or to wipe away. And in that sense, I 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:27.140 can give you an illustration. In that day, they 00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:31.880 did not write on paper as we do today, but they 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:35.500 recorded what they wished to write on papyrus. 00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:40.450 The papyrus was a material that was made from 00:27:40.450 --> 00:27:45.109 the papyrus plant. They would strip out the pith 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:50.509 from that reed plant. They would cut it skillfully 00:27:50.509 --> 00:27:55.309 into strips and would lay the strips one on top 00:27:55.309 --> 00:27:59.250 of another, forming an interlocking pattern. 00:28:00.769 --> 00:28:04.029 They would then take that piece of material and 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:07.910 soak it in a certain way. and lay it out to dry 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:13.170 under pressure. And the result of that was the 00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:16.109 papyrus, the material on which they would write. 00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:20.329 And the kind of ink they had at that time would 00:28:20.329 --> 00:28:23.410 not sink into the papyrus. Today, our ink is 00:28:23.410 --> 00:28:26.910 made with a certain kind of acid so that it, 00:28:26.910 --> 00:28:31.190 as they say, bites into the paper. And it's permanent. 00:28:32.589 --> 00:28:35.329 But at that time what they used for ink would 00:28:35.329 --> 00:28:38.789 just lay on top of the papyrus and it would dry 00:28:38.789 --> 00:28:44.609 there. But even years later, if you were to take 00:28:44.609 --> 00:28:47.670 a wet sponge and wipe it across that material, 00:28:48.049 --> 00:28:51.049 you would destroy all the writing. The ink would 00:28:51.049 --> 00:28:53.829 simply lift right off. It would be wiped away. 00:28:54.950 --> 00:28:58.849 And that is the verb that's used here. What he's 00:28:58.849 --> 00:29:03.319 saying is that God will wipe clean. the record 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:09.480 of your sins. Do you have the assurance, my friend, 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:15.000 before God, that your record has been wiped clean? 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:20.660 God desires to do that for every one of us, and 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:24.299 he can do it because of the blood shed on the 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:32.579 cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ. Peter said 00:29:32.579 --> 00:29:35.220 to those Jews at that time, repent and return 00:29:35.220 --> 00:29:39.660 so that God can deal with your sins. And then 00:29:39.660 --> 00:29:43.220 he says, the kingdom can come, and he'll send 00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:48.359 Jesus the Christ. You say, now wait a minute, 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.019 you're saying the kingdom was offered at that 00:29:51.019 --> 00:29:55.980 point, and yet God had another purpose, and that 00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:58.160 was the church, and that had to be fulfilled, 00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:02.940 so was this a legitimate offer? Yes, it was a 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:06.440 legitimate offer to the nation, hypothetically. 00:30:07.700 --> 00:30:10.539 And that is that if the nation had repented and 00:30:10.539 --> 00:30:13.440 returned to the Lord as Peter had preached to 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:16.259 them, the kingdom would have been established. 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:19.720 But the facts of history are different than that. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.799 The reality is not hypothetical. The reality 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:27.200 is that the nation did not do what he said, and 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.630 therefore God's plan from eternity past, again, 00:30:32.289 --> 00:30:35.369 was accomplished. And he is involved today in 00:30:35.369 --> 00:30:38.630 calling out a different body, a distinct body 00:30:38.630 --> 00:30:43.170 from Israel, the Church. And yet God's promise 00:30:43.170 --> 00:30:52.410 was offered to the nation in that day. God is 00:30:52.410 --> 00:30:56.430 sovereign in history. He offered His promise 00:30:56.430 --> 00:31:03.369 to the nation. They did not accept it. They were 00:31:03.369 --> 00:31:08.049 responsible for that decision. And yet, in making 00:31:08.049 --> 00:31:12.569 that decision, they fulfilled His plan and program. 00:31:14.549 --> 00:31:18.150 That brings us to the third summation, which 00:31:18.150 --> 00:31:20.630 illustrates this truth that God is in the sovereign 00:31:20.630 --> 00:31:27.549 control of history. God's program will yet transpire. 00:31:28.109 --> 00:31:31.869 You say, well, what is God's program? Well, it's 00:31:31.869 --> 00:31:34.369 in part what we've talked about, the restoration 00:31:34.369 --> 00:31:36.470 of the nation of Israel, but it's more than that. 00:31:37.029 --> 00:31:40.369 It is blessing to all of the nations of the earth. 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:46.670 God is not content to bless only the Jews. Indeed, 00:31:46.750 --> 00:31:50.109 God's program is to bless the Jewish people so 00:31:50.109 --> 00:31:54.410 that through them He can bless the whole world, 00:31:55.529 --> 00:32:01.309 all of the nations of the earth. Peter is saying 00:32:01.309 --> 00:32:05.069 in essence, we are a remnant, we who have believed 00:32:05.069 --> 00:32:09.089 in Jesus, we are a remnant of the nation, and 00:32:09.089 --> 00:32:11.849 we are speaking to you with the authority of 00:32:11.849 --> 00:32:15.950 God himself. Now to do that, Peter had to be 00:32:15.950 --> 00:32:19.369 able to go back into Israel's history and tie 00:32:19.369 --> 00:32:24.490 himself in. And so he draws a line of continuity 00:32:24.490 --> 00:32:30.119 here with himself in that day to three of the 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:33.140 persons and periods of Israel's history which 00:32:33.140 --> 00:32:37.099 are most important. The first one is with Moses. 00:32:38.420 --> 00:32:40.740 Now he mentions, you notice, the ancient prophets 00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:46.140 in verse 21, or the holy prophets rather in ancient 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:51.619 time. He mentions one, Moses. And he illustrates 00:32:51.619 --> 00:32:55.799 from a passage found in Deuteronomy, chapter 00:32:55.799 --> 00:33:00.660 18 verse 15. He says, Moses said, the Lord God 00:33:00.660 --> 00:33:05.140 shall raise up for you a prophet like me. Give 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:10.279 heed in everything he says. That prophet, of 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:15.440 course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. We understand 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:23.400 that. But frankly, the Jews didn't. by their 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:26.099 leaders, they understood that this prophet that 00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:29.559 Moses talked about was one person and the Messiah 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:33.640 was another. But that is illustrated in John 00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:38.240 chapter 1 when some religious leaders came to 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:41.099 John the Baptist. And the first thing they said 00:33:41.099 --> 00:33:47.240 to him was, are you the Christ? He said no. And 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.779 they said, well, are you then Elijah? Come back. 00:33:51.649 --> 00:33:57.029 He said, no, I'm not. They said, then, are you 00:33:57.029 --> 00:34:02.990 the prophet? He said, no. You see what they were 00:34:02.990 --> 00:34:05.230 doing there? They were asking him questions in 00:34:05.230 --> 00:34:07.410 light of the theology as they understood it. 00:34:07.609 --> 00:34:09.369 They said, are you the Christ? No. Are you the 00:34:09.369 --> 00:34:11.469 prophet? No. They expected two different people. 00:34:12.510 --> 00:34:14.889 But in God's plan, the two were combined into 00:34:14.889 --> 00:34:18.230 one. The Messiah, the Christ, is the prophet 00:34:18.230 --> 00:34:22.349 that Moses talked about. And that is Peter's 00:34:22.349 --> 00:34:27.389 point. He says, God is going to send a prophet 00:34:27.389 --> 00:34:31.289 like me. What in the world does that mean? Well, 00:34:31.309 --> 00:34:33.969 I think it could mean a number of things. In 00:34:33.969 --> 00:34:36.949 the first place, like Moses, Jesus is the mediator 00:34:36.949 --> 00:34:40.909 of a covenant, a better covenant, the new covenant. 00:34:42.110 --> 00:34:45.469 Like Moses, Jesus Christ is a spokesman for God. 00:34:45.750 --> 00:34:47.909 Indeed, more than that, the very revelation of 00:34:47.909 --> 00:34:53.519 God Himself. Like Moses, Jesus Christ is a Redeemer, 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.920 but better to say the Redeemer of His people. 00:34:57.980 --> 00:35:02.119 Moses delivered God's people from Egypt. Jesus 00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:04.739 Christ is the deliverer of God's people from 00:35:04.739 --> 00:35:09.659 sin. And yet Hebrews 3 makes it clear that in 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:13.579 every respect Jesus Christ is superior to Moses. 00:35:14.300 --> 00:35:16.559 But there are some respects into which He was 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:20.480 like Moses. And Moses warns them. He says, you 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:26.719 give heed to everything he says. That shows the 00:35:26.719 --> 00:35:31.139 ultimate authority of everything that Jesus Christ 00:35:31.139 --> 00:35:36.440 spoke without exception. And he goes on to warn 00:35:36.440 --> 00:35:38.659 them that if anyone did not give heed, he would 00:35:38.659 --> 00:35:45.900 be cut off and destroyed. That is the warning 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:51.699 that Moses gave. to the Jewish people. Jesus 00:35:51.699 --> 00:35:54.239 Christ is that prophet that Moses spoke about, 00:35:54.320 --> 00:36:15.280 says Peter. Now, what period is he talking about 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:17.139 here? Well, he's talking about the period of 00:36:17.139 --> 00:36:21.579 David primarily. That's when Samuel ministered 00:36:21.579 --> 00:36:24.860 at the beginning of the kingdom, when there was 00:36:24.860 --> 00:36:28.159 a king in Israel. David was, of course, the most 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:33.500 revered of all of the kings. And Samuel anointed 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:38.440 David. One of his successors, Nathan, announced 00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:41.079 to David the promise of God that his seed would 00:36:41.079 --> 00:36:44.559 have an eternal reign. And that seed is Jesus 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:46.780 Christ. That's probably what Peter has in mind 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:51.119 as he says this. And he's saying that those prophets 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:54.099 in David's day had these days, says Peter in 00:36:54.099 --> 00:36:58.840 mind. What days? The days of the impending reign 00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:04.280 of David's son. And then he goes back to Abraham. 00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:07.119 He couldn't do any better than that to the Jew, 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:11.300 the most revered of all the patriarchs. He says, 00:37:11.420 --> 00:37:15.429 now you. are the sons of the prophets and of 00:37:15.429 --> 00:37:18.670 the covenant which God made with your fathers 00:37:18.670 --> 00:37:21.750 saying to Abraham and in your seed all the families 00:37:21.750 --> 00:37:28.710 of the earth shall be blessed." So he ties what 00:37:28.710 --> 00:37:34.210 he's doing on this occasion back to Abraham and 00:37:34.210 --> 00:37:37.170 refers to this revered patriarch and he says, 00:37:37.550 --> 00:37:42.730 God made a covenant with Abraham. to bring blessing, 00:37:43.090 --> 00:37:46.909 and you are the sons of Abraham. But I want you 00:37:46.909 --> 00:37:51.590 to notice what Peter does. He quotes the promise 00:37:51.590 --> 00:37:55.730 found as it is in Genesis 22, 18, where he says, 00:37:57.690 --> 00:38:01.250 all the families of the earth shall be blessed, 00:38:01.329 --> 00:38:05.869 not just the Jews. But he goes on to say, now 00:38:05.869 --> 00:38:09.570 to you first, God raised up his servant. And 00:38:09.570 --> 00:38:12.389 that's always been God's pattern to the Jew first 00:38:12.389 --> 00:38:16.150 and then to the Gentile. He says to you first, 00:38:16.230 --> 00:38:18.530 God raised up his servant. He sent him to bless 00:38:18.530 --> 00:38:20.949 you. And how were they to be blessed? By turning 00:38:20.949 --> 00:38:24.889 them from their wicked ways. That's how blessing 00:38:24.889 --> 00:38:29.829 comes when we turn from our wicked ways. And 00:38:29.829 --> 00:38:32.329 yet the record is that Israel did not turn from 00:38:32.329 --> 00:38:35.630 our wicked ways. She persisted in them, rejected 00:38:35.630 --> 00:38:41.519 God's servant. And so Israel was set aside. Now 00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:43.500 my point in going through all of this is simply 00:38:43.500 --> 00:38:47.920 to say that God's program for history will be 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:54.960 fulfilled. Ultimately Israel will repent and 00:38:54.960 --> 00:39:00.380 return to the Lord. She will be restored and 00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:03.679 refreshed and will enjoy the blessing of the 00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:08.300 kingdom. Now listen, when that happens, All the 00:39:08.300 --> 00:39:11.619 families of the earth, all the nations of the 00:39:11.619 --> 00:39:14.940 earth will be involved in the blessing of that 00:39:14.940 --> 00:39:22.780 kingdom. God's program will ultimately be fulfilled. 00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:30.139 Nothing can stop it. Not the devil, not liberal 00:39:30.139 --> 00:39:35.760 theologians, not worldly government powers. not 00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:38.900 the Arab block that is against Israel. There 00:39:38.900 --> 00:39:41.920 is nothing in heaven on earth or in hell below 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:46.460 which can keep God's ultimate program from occurring. 00:39:48.639 --> 00:39:53.900 Why is that? Because God is sovereign in history. 00:39:57.119 --> 00:40:02.860 Now the sermon is over and so is mine. I want 00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:07.530 to I'll mention three closing observations and 00:40:07.530 --> 00:40:13.369 applications quickly. Number one, from Israel's 00:40:13.369 --> 00:40:18.429 example, we see this lesson. The greater one's 00:40:18.429 --> 00:40:22.090 privilege and knowledge, the greater his responsibility. 00:40:23.510 --> 00:40:29.210 Why was God so severe upon Israel when she rejected 00:40:29.210 --> 00:40:33.099 her Christ? because she above all the peoples 00:40:33.099 --> 00:40:37.780 in the world had privilege and revelation from 00:40:37.780 --> 00:40:41.480 God and should have understood what God was doing. 00:40:42.780 --> 00:40:47.280 And the greater the privilege, the greater the 00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:50.500 understanding, the greater the responsibility 00:40:50.500 --> 00:40:56.880 to God. Or as Jesus put it, to whom much is given, 00:40:58.179 --> 00:41:03.829 much shall be required. Now listen to me. You 00:41:03.829 --> 00:41:07.750 and I who live in this age have privilege and 00:41:07.750 --> 00:41:12.969 understanding which far surpasses anything Israel 00:41:12.969 --> 00:41:18.610 knew. You and I have the Spirit of God living 00:41:18.610 --> 00:41:27.019 in us. so that we can go into the very presence 00:41:27.019 --> 00:41:30.019 of God Himself, every one of us. We don't need 00:41:30.019 --> 00:41:33.639 a priest any longer. We don't need sacrifices 00:41:33.639 --> 00:41:36.960 to be made. The sacrifice has been made. The 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:43.480 way into God's presence has been opened. We have 00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:46.340 the completed revelation of God, Old Testament 00:41:46.340 --> 00:41:52.280 and New, 66 books. All that God has desired to 00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:55.690 say, He has said. God has spoken in His Word. 00:41:57.230 --> 00:42:01.289 We have understanding of our times. We have understanding 00:42:01.289 --> 00:42:05.730 of God. We have understanding of mankind that 00:42:05.730 --> 00:42:10.710 they never had then. How much greater do you 00:42:10.710 --> 00:42:14.110 think our responsibility is to God than the Jews 00:42:14.110 --> 00:42:23.110 had? To whom much is given, much shall be required. 00:42:23.309 --> 00:42:27.550 Therefore, dear people, we cannot afford to waste 00:42:27.550 --> 00:42:32.489 life. We cannot afford just to go through life 00:42:32.489 --> 00:42:37.150 casually, even carelessly. Life has meaning, 00:42:37.230 --> 00:42:41.329 it has purpose, God has a plan for us, and our 00:42:41.329 --> 00:42:45.329 business must be accomplishing the plan of God. 00:42:48.349 --> 00:42:52.110 The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. 00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:58.340 William Barclay said, To have seen the full light 00:42:58.340 --> 00:43:01.079 of the revelation of God is the greatest of privileges, 00:43:02.119 --> 00:43:06.739 but it is also the most terrible of responsibilities. 00:43:09.159 --> 00:43:11.480 And particularly you and I who live in this nation 00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:15.280 and who have the privilege of attending a Bible 00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:17.219 teaching church and who have the word of God 00:43:17.219 --> 00:43:21.360 in our hands. We are the most responsible people 00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:25.860 to God in the whole earth today. May God help 00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:32.460 us. May God have mercy on us. May God get us 00:43:32.460 --> 00:43:35.900 to that place where we are fulfilling the responsibility 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:44.119 that we do have before Him. Secondly, just as 00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:49.199 Israel must focus upon the return of her Messiah 00:43:49.199 --> 00:43:52.980 ultimately. So today I believe the focus of our 00:43:52.980 --> 00:43:56.099 lives should be on Christ's coming. That is going 00:43:56.099 --> 00:43:59.119 to be the climax of history when he returns. 00:44:00.619 --> 00:44:04.039 It should be that which motivates us and purifies 00:44:04.039 --> 00:44:07.719 us in our living to recognize that we are going 00:44:07.719 --> 00:44:10.980 to be caught up in the air to see him, to be 00:44:10.980 --> 00:44:15.639 with him, and to be like him. And as we said 00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:17.699 two or three weeks ago, though we live in the 00:44:17.699 --> 00:44:20.039 present and deal with our present circumstances, 00:44:20.139 --> 00:44:24.280 let's keep focused on the future. We are a people 00:44:24.280 --> 00:44:28.000 of an age yet to come. We are strangers and pilgrims 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:32.239 in this world. Let's not live for it. Let's not 00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:35.500 pour out our lives for it, but let's pour out 00:44:35.500 --> 00:44:39.300 our lives for Jesus Christ. It will be worth 00:44:39.300 --> 00:44:40.760 it all when we see him.