like the man in front of them, lame and crippled through their unbelief and hardness of heart. Peter tells them in

effect that what God had just accomplished for the lame man, He could do for them also, even though they had

killed their Messiah, the Prince of life (verses 13-15). In spite of this climax sin, they had not put themselves

beyond the pale of mercy and forgiveness. The Saviour had prayed `Father, forgive them, for they know not what

they do' (Luke 23:34) and the Acts contains the record of this amazing extension of mercy by a long-suffering and

compassionate God to His unbelieving earthly people Israel.

The crucial point in Peter's speech is reached in chapter 3 verse 19. We give it in the Authorized Version and

then a Modern Version, the New American Standard Version:

`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; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

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. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord

your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall

say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed

from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have

spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God

made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto

you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his

iniquities' (Acts 3:19-26 A.V.)

`Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing may come

from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus 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 time. Moses said, the Lord God shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren; to Him shall

you give heed in everything He says to you. And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that Prophet shall

be utterly destroyed from among the people. And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and

his successors onward, also announced these days. It is you who are the sons of the prophets, and of the

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' (Acts 3:19-26 New American Standard Version).

The importance of these verses can scarcely be sufficiently emphasized. God's mercy had not yet run out

towards the people of Israel and so they are commanded by Him, through Peter's lips to repent, to change their

attitude of mind and turn back to God. If they did this their sins would be completely forgiven and blotted out and

even though they had just murdered their Messiah and King, and then, what is so often missed by readers and

students of the Bible, Christ would be sent back to them. This was a stupendous offer with tremendous implications.

It was nothing less than the Second Advent of Christ being a possibility at this time and the picking up again of the

threads of the earthly kingdom which had been broken by the rejection and crucifixion of One Who was the King of

Immediately following this the time of restoration spoken of so fully by the Old Testament would then set in.

The disciples question `wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel', seen in this light, has real point

and relevance and was the natural outcome of the forty day's instruction they had received from the risen Saviour.

This `time of restoration' which was the theme of all the Old Testament prophets was nothing less than the great

earthly mediatorial kingdom we have been studying. It was indeed good news for sinning Israel and comprised that

`gospel of the circumcision' (Israel) referred to in Galatians 2:7,8 which was related to the apostleship of Peter.

The word `converted' in Acts 3:19 A.V. means to turn and this was the continual Old Testament command to

Israel for restoration to divine favour when they had sinned and backslidden.

`When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the

LORD thy God ... He will not forsake thee' (Deut. 4:30,31).