lame and impotent, like the cripple, and utterly useless to be that great channel of

blessing to the world. So Peter demonstrates before their eyes what God is willing to do

for them if they would only repent and turn back to Him, and he brings the message home

to them in verses 19-26, "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted". The word `repent' just

means a change of attitude, a change of mind; not to be confused with the similar

sounding word `penitence'. It may include that, (that is sorrow for sin) but its primary

meaning is a change of mind. It was the clarion call of John the Baptist to this people--

"Repent". It was the call of the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh, to them likewise:

"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (has drawn near). Now Peter, under the

guidance of the Holy Spirit, gives them this same command--"Repent ye, therefore"--

change your attitude of mind. It is important that we should realize that this is a

command of God to Israel. God is not so much offering them anything as commanding

them to repent and to turn.

In the O.T. this was a key-word in God's dealings with them. When they left the Lord

and slipped back into idolatry and sin, as they did very often, this was the call of the

prophets: "Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you" (Zech. 1: 3).

Not only Zechariah, but you will find the same command in Nehemiah, and also in the

Books of Deuteronomy and Chronicles, the word `convert' which Peter uses is the very

word used in the Greek Bible in each of these cases. So God is saying just the same

words through Peter's lips that the O.T. prophets had brought to this people, and the

result of their repentance would be, that their sins would be blotted out. This means

nothing less than redemption, the blotting-out of sin. God cannot use this people until

they are redeemed. He was prepared to do this for them if they obeyed His command,

and the result would be that "the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the

Lord. And He shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you" or, as the

R.V. puts it "hath been appointed for you" (Acts 3: 19, 20). The Lord Jesus was

appointed in the days of His flesh for the people of Israel. He said so, "I am only sent to

the lost sheep of the house of Israel". And He would only allow the twelve, in the

conditions that He gave them, to go to the people of Israel and not to the Gentile world.

He was certainly appointed for this earthly people, and here is a tremendous promise, that

if they will turn and repent, Jesus Christ will be sent back to them. This is nothing less

than the promise of His Second Coming! Yet how few seem to see this. We must get

this quite clear in our minds because without it we shall never properly understand the

N.T., especially the Epistles which were written during the time covered by the Acts. As

we look at these Epistles, we shall find that all of them, practically without exception,

stress the Lord's Second Advent as being imminent or near. The modern critic, not

understanding this passage (Acts 3: 19-26) says that the early apostles, although they

looked for the Lord's return, were over-zealous; they made a mistake and later give it up.

Is this the truth?  No indeed!  The Second Advent was a possibility at this time,

depending upon the response of Israel. If anyone objects to this, we would remind them

that God is not dealing with automatons, but moral beings with the power of obeying and

disobeying, and He is willing to make allowance for this in His purpose. Think of how

this worked out in Jonah's day. Within 40 days Nineveh was to be overthrown according

to God's warning, but this did not happen for at least a century! Why? Because of the

repentance of the Ninevites!