Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing ( recovery of breath, revival) shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Ac 3:19-20 TLB
19 Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord
This scripture follows the Apostle Peter explaining that there were those that denied Jesus and chose a murderer to be set free and for Jesus to be crucified.
Repent- metanoeho – an bout face , changing one’s heart and mind. A pricking of heart; poignant grief or remorse proceeding from a consciousness of guilt; the pain of sorrow or regret for having offended God, and incurred his wrath; the sting of conscience proceeding from a conviction of having violated a moral duty.
Converted –to twist around, to turn again, to reverse, a revolution
Blotted out- obliterated, pardoned, wiped away
The blessings of repentance
Joe 2:19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
Joe 2:20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
These are the signs of refreshing!
A. Grain - Grain represents God’s Word. I Peter 2:2 says “Long for the pure milk of the Word.” Long for it. Desire it. Pursue it. The proof of desire is pursuit. We will know that we are in a season of refreshing when we begin to pursue God’s Word. We will know that we are being refreshed when we have a new desire to read, digest, and consume His Word. Oh, I know you have experienced Him around the altar but what about His Word. I know you have received words from men but what about His Word. We are showing signs of refreshment when we begin to live on every Word that proceeds out of His mouth.
Mar 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
Word – logos thoughts reasoning motivation. The enemy chokes the breath out of your logos. But if we will repent he will revive his word in us.
I declare that He will refresh this house’s desire for the meat of God’s Word.
B. New Wine – A sure sign of us being refreshed will be significant operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When the gifts begin to operate in their fullness as the norm rather than the exception we will have a clear indication that refreshing has come. We need to begin to seek the Holy Spirit and allow Him to operate in our midst!
C. Oil – If you are refreshed you will exhibit power. We will begin to have power to withstand attacks. We will have power over our tongue, our thoughts. I know you got knocked down but when you got up do you have any power? We will have power.
I declare that this will be a house of power! Power to war. Power to fight. Power to defend. Power to expand. Power to expel! Power to bind and power to loose!
D. Enemy will be rebuked – John 10:10 declares that our enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy us. However, when we are refreshed we will see the hand of the devourer rebuked. We will stand and he will flee. Areas of bondage will be broken. Addictions will be destroyed. Chains will be severed. Habits defeated. Those bound will find freedom. If you are still bound you need to be refreshed. Not enough just to repent. Let Him refresh you so that you can go free.
E. Produce fruit – The fig tree will bud again. When we are refreshed dead areas will be revived and fruit will appear. If we don’t see love, joy, peace, self-control, meekness, then we haven’t been refreshed. We will see fruit! We will know we have been refreshed when we see the person once filled with anger and hate now filled with love. When we see the woman who was depressed now filled with joy unspeakable. When we see the teenager that was out of control now exhibit self-control. When we see the impatient controlled by patience. Then we will know that a season of refreshing has come!
III. Restoration
God send refreshing. God give us grain, new wine, oil, fruit, and freedom over our enemy. But we can’t stop there either. God wants us to repent and he desires to refresh us. However, that is not His ultimate level for us. This book is a book about restoration and recovery. We can’t stop at repentance. We can’t stop at being refreshed. Even though being refreshed feels good this is about more than goose bumps and feeling. God’s goal is to move us into restoration! If we repent He will refresh us. But if we don’t settle in the land of revival and press forward we will be restored!
What does He desire to restore to us?
A. Harvest – Joel 2:23, Amos 9:13
He will send the planting rains and the harvesting rains in the same month. Reapers will begin to overtake harvesters. He will restore the harvest. Sowers will begin looking over their shoulders to suddenly find the harvesters right on their heels. What we have prayed for for years will happen suddenly. What used to take months of work and sowing will now happen suddenly. Souls lost to the enemy will be restored. Lost husbands, sons, daughters, friends will be restored to the kingdom.
Our harvest is coming. Our harvest will be restored. Revival is never just about us. It is about preparing us to get them!
B. Lost dreams, time, trival things – Joel 2:25, Habakkuk 3:2
Notice the order of the listing of the locust. It lists them from the most severe to the least severe. He is telling us that He will restore the major things that the enemy stole. But He won’t stop there. God wants to restore even the smallest things that have been lost. Those things that you have given up on. Those things that others have told you don’t matter. You may feel like it is insignificant but hold on. God will restore those things.
In the middle of the years lost time, lost dreams, lost purpose will be restored. Missed opportunities will be reclaimed. Lost territory will be retaken. Don’t mourn over the past glory. The latter days will be greater. Quit pining over what used to be and what could have been and claim the dream and destiny He has for us now. He will restore to greater levels. The dream is not dead. The destiny is not forfeited.
C. Your Soul – Psalm 23:3 – He restores my soul. Some of you are tired in your spirit. You have fought so long. You have held on so long. You are served so long. Now you are tired. But God will restore your soul. Maybe you are experiencing a dark night of the soul but He will restore your soul. On the back side of the desert He will reach you and restore you!
D. Your Joy – Psalms 51:12 “Restore to me again the joy of your salvation”. Big deal, joy? May I remind you that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Our strength is not found in our dance. It isn’t found in our shout. Our strength is found in our joy. Some of us are weak because we have lost our joy. He desires to restore the joy of our salvation. We are set apart not by our bumper sticker but by our joy. We will be marked by our rejoicing. No more walking around like the mule who tried to suck the golf ball out of the gofer hole. Let Him restore your joy!
Your Goods – Don’t tell me that God doesn’t care about restoring our goods. Jesus talked more about finances than other subject. 16 of the 38 parables were about how to handle money and possessions. In the Gospels, 1 out of 10 verses deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions. I have never seen the righteous forsaken or begging for bread. There is nothing holy about squeaking by and struggling to make ends meet. He is still Jehovah Jireh.
G. Your Comfort – Isaiah 57:18 “I will lead him and restore comfort to him.” He is our Prince of Peace. He desires to bring comfort to our lives.
H. The manifestation of His Spirit through every generation – Joel 2:28-29. I know churches are trying to program out the move of His Spirit. I know we are told we need to be seeker sensitive. But I believe He wants to restore the manifestation of His Spirit and gifts. I believe He wants to restore our Pentecostal distinctive and the Pentecostal power! He will restore vision and dreams
1. Repent – some of us just need to go through old fashion repentance where we rend our heart and not our garment. Where we come face to face with our condition and turn it all over to God.
2. Refresh – Some of us need to be refreshed. We need a new desire for His Word, need power, need Holy Spirit, need enemy turned back, need fruit. Some of you are in a rut, tire and worn out. It is time to allow God to refresh and revive you.
3. Restore – We all need to be restored. Individually and as a body we need God to restore the harvest, the dreams, our soul, our joy, our health, our wealth, our comfort, and the Spirit!
