Acts, Chapter 3
© Copyright 2007 Darroll
Evans, all rights reserved
Acts 3:1-10
1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple
at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid
daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them
that entered into the temple;
3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee:
In the name of Jesus Christ of
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his
feet and ancle bones received strength.
8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple,
walking, and leaping, and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the
temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had
happened unto him.
At about 3 in the afternoon,
Peter and John went to the temple for prayer. As they passed through the “gate
beautiful,” entering the
When he saw Peter and John
about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. But instead, Peter looked at him and said,
“Look at us!”
He thought they were about to
give him some money.
Instead, Peter said, “I don’t
have any Silver and gold, but I will give what I have. In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
At that point, Peter took the
man’s right hand and lifted him up.
Immediately his feet and ankles bones were strengthened.
He jumped up, stood, and
walked. Then, the man went into the
When those in the temple saw
him walking and praising God, they knew that it was the same man who had sat at
the gate asking for alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement to see
what happened unto him.
Acts 3:11-26
11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran
together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye
men of
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath
glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence
of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof
we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye
see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect
soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye
did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his
prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
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;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
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.
22 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.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that
prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those
that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these
days.
25 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.
26 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.
As a result of seeing the man
who was healed by Peter and John, all the people gathered on the porch of the
When Peter saw it, he spoke
up, “You men of
“The God of Abraham, and of
Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus! The One whom you delivered
up to be crucified. You denied
him in the presence of the Roman Pontius Pilate, when he (Pontius Pilate) had
actually determined to release Him.
“But, you denied the Holy
One, and desired to have a murderer released instead, and killed the Prince of
life, whom God hath raised from the dead. We are witnesses to your actions.
“It was through faith in His name
that this man was strengthened. You have
seen this and you know it!
“Yes! The faith which is by
Him has given this lame man perfect soundness of body in the presence of you
all!”
Peter continued, “Now,
brethren, I know that it was through your spiritual ignorance that you did it,
as it was also with your rulers.
However, those things, which God revealed previously through prophecy
that Christ should suffer, He fulfilled.
(This is in reference to Isaiah 52-53, the coming of Messiach
ben Yoseph, the suffering servant Messiah son of
Joseph.)
Peter then admonished those
in the very
The focus of Peter’s
discourse and his comment on the restitution of all is on the second coming of
Christ Jesus. The times of refreshing and the times of restitution begin with
the second coming of Christ Jesus and the millennium. They go through the
Millennium, the Gog and Magog war, and conclude with the New heaven and new
earth, and the new Jerusalem (the bride of Christ) when the Son delivers the
entire Universal Kingdom into the hands of the Father all God shall be all in
all!
The “times of restitution”
(Gr. cronoon apokatastaseoos-cronoon apokatastasewV), in
V. 21, is perhaps the most misunderstood verse in the entire Bible. It refers
to the times of restitution of all things. If
there are no such times this teaching would be false. However, the times of restitution of all things is a reference to a
reality that few accept. Such a restoration can only be accomplished by actions
of God (Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
It cannot be accomplished through the efforts of men.
The Greek text used in verse
21 speaks of a one-sided reconciliation!
How can that be?
The Old Covenant was a
covenant between God and a man! It
failed because men could not live up to the agreement!
Christians live under a New
Covenant that is not based on any human input!
The New Covenant is an agreement between God the Father and God the
Son! It is entirely one-sided! The New Covenant is an agreement between God
and God! The agreeing parties are all
within the Trinity!
That is an embarrassment for
all who want “their” say in salvation!
God the Father sent God the Son to die on the cross, and thereby
validating the contract known as the New Testament, the New Covenant. Christians are not party to that agreement! Our salvation is the result of it!
The New Covenant is not
reconciliation, as many know that term!
Instead, it is a “conciliation!”
Rom 8:18-22
18 For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope,
21 Because the creature
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now.
Christ Jesus referred to that
same period:
Matt 19:28
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye
which have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
In Matthew 19:28, we see a
reference to the regeneration (Gr. paliggenesia-paliggenesia). That
regeneration is the time when earth, man, and all creation will be regenerated,
restored to spiritual purity.
Who triggers the “times of
restitution of all things”?
Amillennialists
and Reconstructionists
believe that men, Christians, make the world fit for the coming of Christ
Jesus. They teach that He cannot come again until the Church dominates all society. Such a teaching is unbiblical, a denial of
the Revelation, and is based in Spiritual stupidity and ignorance!
Those who reject Christ’s
return until after the Church has cleared the pathway for Him are living in
spiritual denial! Let’s look at verse 21 again.
That verse says concerning
Christ Jesus, “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.”
Hyperdispensationalist read that verse and interpret it to mean “until the
times of restitution of all things” has been fully accomplished. But notice that the verse does not say that.
The fact is that “the times of restitution of all things” occurs when Christ Jesus returns!
Those “times (Gr. kairos-καιρός/in verse 19 chronos-χρόνος/in
verse 21) refer to the exact time of Christ’s return at the beginning of the
Age of Peace, the millennium.
Rev 1:7
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see
him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Ask yourself, “If all society
is under the control of the Church when He comes again, why would they be
crying?”
Rev 19:11-13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and
he had a name written, that no man knew, but he
himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
If the Church conquers all
the earth prior to Christ’s return, why would He return as a Conqueror? If that
were the case, He would return as One who is led by a
conquering army, and not as One who leads a conquering army.
Postmillennialists and Reconstructionists teach that the Church is His bride and
that he is coming again for a bride without spot or wrinkle. That teaching is non-Christian, demonic, and
unbiblical!
The Church is now pure,
blameless, and holy. But, the Church is
His body, and not His bride. That
teaching (the Church is the wrinkled and spotted bride teaching) is a satanic
attempt to weigh down the Church with guilt and condemnation.
The Church is His body! Holy
Jerusalem is His bride!
1 Cor 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Rev 21:9-10
9 And there came unto me
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last
plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 And
he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me
that great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God,
As the body, we are
saints! As saints, we are pure, holy,
and blameless. We are perfect in the
eyes of God the Father.
But, if Satan can weaken the
body to the point of uselessness, he can still do some great damage prior to
Christ’s return. Amillennialism
and Reconstructionism are attempts at weakening the
Church to the point of uselessness.
We can debate the timing of
His coming whether it is pre, mid, or post-tribulation. But,
it is absolutely pre-millennial!
Rev 20:1-5
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon
him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should
be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:
and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection.
In Verse 21, Peter referred
to “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth
of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
“Since the world began” (Gr. ap aioonos-ap aiwnoV) refers to ages
that have passed, or have been completed.
That was Peter’s way of recognizing that one age had passed and another
had come into being.
The age of the law ended when
Christ Jesus was crucified. The Church age of grace began when Christ was
resurrected.
Peter told them that Moses
spoke of a Prophet (referring to Christ Jesus) Who
shall be raised by the hand of “the Lord your God.” Moses told them that the One to be raised up
who would be like him (Moses) in that He would lead them into peace. Moses told
them that they shall hear Him in all things, and do whatsoever He shall say
unto you. In that, Moses was saying that
we should be doers of the word.
Peter continued, “And it
shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be
destroyed (purged) from among the people.”
That is a terrible thing to announce, but if God gives the message, a
person of the Spirit must
give the message. By the way, that is
not an announcement of the day of vengeance.
Peter said, “All the prophets
from Samuel and those that followed after predicted these days.”
All who are called to follow
Christ Jesus are spiritual children of the Prophets, and of the covenant which
God made with our father in the faith, Abraham. It is in our children that all
the families of the earth shall be blessed!
That promise from God is meant for us.
God, the Father, raised his
Son, Jesus, and sent him to bless us, by turning us away from our iniquities.