How to be Spiritually Refreshed

The title this morning, How to be Spiritually Refreshed. How to be Spiritually Refreshed. And we're going through the book of Acts systematically, verse by verse.

And let's talk about that word refreshed for a minute. We all know what that means, correct? Go jump in a swimming pool. Splash your face with some water.

For some of you, it might be going to the beach or going up in the mountains. There's a way to get physically refreshed. Taking a break.

Taking a vacation. But why is it when we take a vacation, we come back more tired? I don't know, I haven't figured that one out yet. Probably us trying to keep five kids busy for a couple of weeks.

It is draining from time to time. So, we know about being refreshed physically, but I want to talk to you about being refreshed spiritually. Because even as believers, have you noticed that you can kind of get discouraged? And feel like you're just going through the motions? And life becomes challenging and monotonous.

You miss that zeal for the Lord. You miss that passion. And there are ways to become spiritually refreshed.

But here's the key verse. Here's where this whole concept came from. And this is where we're actually at in the book of Acts, beginning in chapter three here shortly.

But the key verse is, it's been a foundational verse in our ministry here. Repent, therefore, and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Now, I think this is actually only used here in reference to this word they chose.

Times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord. Now, obviously, I'm gonna talk to believers this morning. It's gonna have a lot of practical application.

But unbelievers, this is mainly addressed to unbelievers. When they repent of their sin, and the sins are blotted out, and as a result, the Holy Spirit now comes and resides in the believer. And when the Holy Spirit comes, you're not gonna be bitter and resentful and angry all the time.

Why? Because the fruit of having the Holy Spirit is joy, love, joy, compassion, gentleness, meekness. That's the fruit. But as we all know, that fruit can become, we can quench and grieve the Spirit.

Let's just say that. And that fruit isn't as evident anymore. So I no longer have joy.

I have Debbie Downer syndrome. I no longer have long-suffering and gentleness. I'm kind of hard and rigid.

And because the Holy Spirit is being quenched and grieved. So the context is, of course, we like Scripture in context. When a unconverted person believes, they receive the Holy Spirit, and as a result, joy follows.

Times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. Now, that's an interesting phrase, too, because obviously you have the Holy Spirit now as an unbeliever, now as a believer, and that would be considered the presence of the Lord is in you. The Holy Spirit.

But also as believers, there is something we can desire. More of God's presence. More of God's, more the filling of the Holy Spirit.

And we know that God is everywhere, but there are times where He'll make His presence more evident. Maybe during worship, or during prayer, or during service, and you can, it's not feelings for the sake of feelings, but there's a presence there that you can tell. It's God and it brings joy.

It brings life, spiritual life. So repentance brings salvation, and salvation brings refreshment. We've all experienced that.

At least those of us who have been saved. And then also, though, believers need times of refreshing. So in context here, what I'm talking about, the sinner is reborn, but the saint can be re-energized.

Anybody need to be re-energized from time to time, or is that just me? It's difficult. You've got to stay plugged into the source of spiritual life. That's what happens, just like plugging in something.

When we become unplugged from the source of spiritual life, we need that refreshment, that zeal, there's an excitement about going to church, or there's an excitement about witnessing. I'm just excited to get into the Word and see what it has to say. And we're refreshed.

And the enemy will do whatever he can to try to discourage you in that area. And quench and grieve the spirits. And I truly believe that we are atmosphere carriers.

We carry certain atmospheres, don't we? Just try coming home sometime grumpy and angry. Have you ever done that? You're sitting at home, you hear the spouse come in, the door slams. How was your day? Not good.

So what, everybody's walking on eggshells. The whole atmosphere of the home just changed. Or even though you might feel that way, you come home and you say, it was tough, but I'm glad I'm home.

Let's get into dinner, let's pray, or what did the kids do? And it changes the atmosphere of the home. You know, come on, let's not play games. This is real church here.

But the same thing, I believe, applies spiritually speaking. We carry a certain atmosphere. Can you imagine your homes if you have worship on and just times of just, you know, even the word open and studying and just this atmosphere that's in your home versus allowing all the junk and all the social media and all the news and all the drama and all the, you know, drones and chemtrails and Russia and this is blowing up and that's the fire and what's going on and North Korea's, you know, gonna do this and it's like, you're paralyzed.

And you can create that atmosphere in your home or you can create an atmosphere that is good and God-given and God-honoring. So let's look at Acts 3.11 that built up to this verse that we just looked at. Acts 3.11, as the lame man who was healed, held on to Peter and John.

Now, I'm assuming you know exactly where I'm at, but many of you don't. So over the last few weeks, we've been building up to this final point right here where Peter and John, they're going to the temple and there was this man who was lame since he was a child. We don't know how young, for how long, but he was at the beautiful gate.

And so the message I gave was something ugly at the beautiful gate. And we talked about healing, when God heals, when He doesn't heal. And it's an interesting topic.

It's an interesting concept, but he asked for money. And so Peter and John said, we do not have money, silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do give you, I give you in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk. And he was healed.

Quite a commotion because the people knew he'd been at that gate for years. And so as the lame man who was healed, he held on to Peter and John. I'm sure he did, right? He's excited.

I don't know if he's having a hard time walking, I'm not sure exactly, but he's excited. He's holding on to them. And so all the people ran together in Solomon's porch and they're greatly amazed, like what is going on? So Peter used this opportunity in a powerful way.

So when Peter saw it, he saw all these people, he responded to them. Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? So first point when it comes to being spiritually refreshed as a believer, number one, look for opportunities to share. Look for opportunities to share your faith.

Stagnation leads to sterilization. Move to be refreshed. How many of you have noticed that before? If we're not sharing the Gospel, if it's not about other people, it becomes about us and my schedule and I'm too busy and we can really dwindle.

We were created to share the message of hope, to share with others, to help others. If God puts it in, it's gotta be flowing out. That's the Holy Spirit doesn't fill you just to save you.

He fills you to use you. It's gotta flow out. How many of you are familiar with Mono Lake up at the 395 freeway right before Tioga Pass going into Yosemite? How many of you have ever drank the water? I had the same problem at the first service with that word.

How many, anybody ever drink that water? No way, it's terrible. You can smell it from miles away. It's just a dead, there's like brine shrimp.

It's just a dead, salty lake. But there's a bridge and all this cold, fresh water is running right into it. Cold and fresh in spring versus dead.

And often the reason in situations like that is because there's nothing flowing out. There's nothing flowing out. Granted, it's a salt bed and there might be some other volcanic activity, things like that.

But things that are flowing, you never wanna drink, who's camping or hiking, do you ever drink from a puddle? Why not? You have that straw you can buy now that. I still, I haven't, I haven't tried it. I'm not sure I wanna do that.

But what do you look for in coming down that stream off the mountain? Oh, I get refreshed. So same thing, Christian, if you wanna be refreshed, look for opportunities to share your faith, you're shopping and you see somebody, maybe the kid wants something and the mom says, you know what, we don't have enough money for that right now. Buy their groceries, have a way to share with them or you see somebody down, maybe snapping at the, I've done this before, you follow them out to their car, not on purpose, you're going to your car too.

But you say, you know, it seems like you're having a hard day today. Can I pray with you? Thank you, that would be great. And we're looking for times to share.

Now, if you think I walk around like that, super spiritual, you are wrong. I usually get up, I got things to do, I got a schedule to get through and I don't want any interruptions. Any type A friends out there? Type A, get it done yet? And so I get through the whole day and I realize I didn't share at all because it's about me.

And if we continue to do that, we will become stagnant, yeah. Stagnant, stagnation leads to sterilization. So if you want to be refreshed spiritually, look for those opportunities to share.

And I don't know how it works, but it gives you life. It gives you, there's a joy that follows. It's hard at first, but then there's joy that follows.

I remember we used to go, before COVID hit, we used to go into hospital homes. Paula here, she was here at the first or I think, I don't know if she's safe, but she set it up. And we've seen more salvations in the hospital homes than we have in the church.

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of nurses, patients. And we went for years. I've got so many stories.

I mean, one lady, I went to, I went in and they said, hey, can you go visit her? She's really depressed. And so I walk in and a lot of her face is missing. And she's blind and she has a helmet on.

I'm like, I mean, it just like took me back. Apparently it was a felt suicide attempt. Right here.

And still remember her, loved her. I think we brought her to church with the helmet on and everything. But I mean, I'm like traumatized.

Like, and I, every time I pull out front, I'm like, God help me. And there's other patients. But when you would leave, man, I've never felt better in my life.

When I would leave, when I would drive home. Because once you make that decision to help and it's hard, you push through, the joy follows. The best way to be spiritually refreshed is to do things like that.

Because we are created to do that. We are created to do that. Another man I remember, I led to the Lord, John Washington was his name.

I think I baptized him at A.B. Hospital before he died. I went in and said, hey, can I pray with you? And the nurse said, stay away, he's really mean. And he was, he was really mean.

But he was quadriplegic. So he just, all he could move was his head. And he said, can I have a drink of water? I'm like, oh yeah, I think they put it over there.

And he's like, no, I need, can you help me? I'm like, oh my gosh, I realize I'm holding a cup, putting a straw in his mouth. And I'm about ready to just break. Like, God's breaking me, right? And all I could do is read Matthew seven.

And I read the whole thing, say, okay, John, if you need anything, let me know. And Paul had texted me, he goes, he's ready. He's ready, what? He's ready to receive the Lord.

I mean, what do you mean? He goes, whatever you read, like I read Matthew seven. It's actually kind of, man, it's hard. It's a hard text, but okay, and so I went over there ever since he was changed, the nurses saw him changed.

But, and many of us went, you know, that were back at the church back then. And just the joy that followed, but it's hard. I didn't want to, because you knew it was hard.

But the joy that would follow, you were created to move and to do things for others. That's why we're called to be ready in and out of season. Be ready in and out of season, no matter what situation, be ready.

And I like how Peter began with a question. And you should begin with a question too, so you can direct the conversation. Why do you marvel? Why do you look in so intently at us? And directing the conversation, this works good even with like atheists or people who don't believe.

You need to control the conversation. Don't let them control it. You control it.

So you believe that all this just came for nothing. Right, is that what you're telling me? Let me better understand you. And so he's doing a lot here.

He's, instead of just walking or leaving, he's going to share a message here. And then Acts 3.13-16, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers. So now he's saying, okay, a healing took place.

Here's how it happened. God glorified His servant, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate. Wow.

When he was determined to let them go. Can you imagine this? Peter's got his attention. They're probably going to hear some nice message.

And he's like, you put Jesus on the cross. Pilate wanted to let Him go, but you demanded His blood. His blood be on you and on your children.

Can you imagine the shock? But you denied the Holy One, and you denied the just. You asked for a murder to be granted to you. Give us Barabbas.

Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas away with this man who calls himself the Son of God. And you killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses in His name, through faith in His name.

His name only. There's no other way. There's no other truth.

His name only brings salvation. And faith in His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So he's rebuking them.

You put Jesus on the cross. Pilate was going to let Him go. But you wanted His blood.

Really woke them up, I'm sure. But it does bring in an interesting theological question. Who killed Jesus? Who killed Jesus? Did the Jews kill Jesus because they demanded that He be killed? Did Pilate, because he ordered it, or Rome? I mean, that's actually, I don't know how many of you have heard of Martin Luther.

Martin Luther, 1517, nailed the 95 Theses on the church doors of Wittenberg, Germany. But he was really anti-Semite too, as well. I mean, just being honest.

And one of the things they would always bring up is how the Jews killed Jesus. And there's been a lot of anger over the years because they put Jesus on the cross. But theologically, when you look at the Bible, our sin put Him on the cross.

And Isaiah 53, 10, 12, it pleased the Father to bruise His Son. God ultimately allowed Jesus, preordained it, the Bible actually says, from the foundation of the earth, to go on the cross and die for our sin. So technically, our sin put Christ on the cross.

And when it says it pleased the Father to bruise His Son, it's not pleased that we think of. It basically means you'd have to go and you'd have to break down. What they do is they break down the Hebrew language and the words.

It basically means God's wrath against humankind was satisfied on the cross. And that substitutionary atonement pleased the Father. It's heavy, isn't it? And that's why we're so passionate through faith in His name.

There's no other name that can save. Buddha, Allah, Hare Krishna, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Eddie Marriott, whatever. Just be enlightenment, Buddha.

Nothing, nothing can save. No salvation outside of Jesus Christ. The Bible says He's the only way, the only truth, the only life.

Nobody comes to the Father except through Him. And when you talk to people, be careful, because they say, well, that's pretty narrow. You're pretty arrogant, that's pretty narrow.

Well, two plus two is four, it's pretty narrow. Gravity's not real negotiable. There are certain things that are set in stone.

I thank God for the truth, don't you? Thank God for the truth that is set in stone. So the worst thing in human history, Christ on the cross became the best thing in human history. And I want to pause here for a minute because it's important.

You can know the name, but not have faith in the name. Are you aware of that? You can know the name of Jesus, but not have faith in the name of Jesus. There's a verse that even today I read it, and I'm like, man, I remember 25 years ago, highlighting that thing, and it said, even the demons believe.

How many of you did not know that? Just kind of go like this if you're... Did you know? You know. Oh, okay, good. My wife doesn't know? No.

Even the demons believe. Wait a minute, why aren't they saved? Because they have head knowledge. They know there's a God.

They know Jesus, but they're in rebellion against Him. Their heart is not engaged. And I love the rest of the verse.

Even the demons believe and, I like that one. They tremble. What can you do with Jesus? What can the demons do? Satan and Jesus are not equal opposing forces here.

The devil is an archenemy, of course, but he sits underneath God's sovereignty. First John 2.4. He who says, I know Him. He who says, I know Him.

Those who say, I know Jesus. This is gonna be a little kind of a rude awakening for some people, maybe. Those who say, I know Jesus, but if you don't keep His commandments, you're a liar.

I didn't say it. I didn't say it. If you don't keep His commandments, you're a liar, and the truth is not in you.

And here's why that's so important. We're not saying it in a spirit of arrogance. We're saying in a spirit of challenging the listener, challenging the person.

Wait a minute, if I don't keep His commandments, man, I messed up yesterday. Me too. The key is in the word keep.

What does the word keep mean? It actually comes from a word that talks about a ship being navigated by the captain who keeps the course. So he says, we're going from New York to, I don't know, what's across from New York? Help me out here. China? I don't know.

Come on, guys, you know. Okay, so we're going, but do you think he does a straight line the whole time? What happens? You're right. The wind had knocked me off, and I kind of blew, but I'm getting back on now.

No, not too far. And I blew it. The devil hit me with the right punch, and I fell yesterday.

I've gotten so angry, and I let my flesh come out. But you get back up, and you keep the course. The person who knows Jesus, but says, I don't care.

I don't care. I'm going to continue in my sin. I love my sin.

I'm actually planning my sin tonight. Ha ha, what do you think of that? I don't think any of it. That's between you and God.

They're not keeping the course. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. And He'll say, depart from Me.

I don't know you. Those who only do the will of the Father enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It's those who have a desire for the Word, a passion for the Word, they've repented, and come hell or high water, they're following Christ.

They might get there with a limp. They might miss a leg. I don't know if I can do that.

But they're going through life bruised and battered and broken. They might have even lost a child. They might have even been a failure in certain areas.

But they're keeping that course. And they're going to finish strong. Those who keep the course, those who persevere till the end shall be saved.

But this is another important point that we can learn. Here's how you can increase, increase spiritual fervency and desire. Speak the truth in love.

I can imagine Peter saying, you know what? There's a big group of people here. I'm not going to upset this crowd at all. What did he do? He did the complete opposite.

He spoke the truth. And what I've found is cowardliness is contagious, but so is boldness. And if I know God wants me to say something, and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's not going to go over well.

I don't think so. No, no, no. Some big tithers are here.

I've got some people from the other political party here. I won't say that. Some people brought their friends who are Mormons.

I better not say that. And you allow the opinions of men and the fear of men to override what God has called you to do. When you do that, you will quench and grieve the Spirit.

And I truly believe that's the problem with many churches across our nation. Boy, if we could get that boldness back in the pulpit, could you imagine? Calling people to repentance. Calling sinners to their Savior with the boldness of the Spirit.

And so what happens is once you speak the truth, it's interesting, we're going to keep reading, I think chapter 4 maybe or so, it says, and Peter filled with the Spirit, spoke boldly. And Paul filled with the Spirit. Anytime you see that, the characteristic that follows is always boldness.

We think if I'll fill with the Spirit, that means you're gentle and singing. That's more New Age. The person who's worshiping and I'm filled with the Spirit, but you're not bold, you're not confronting, you're not talking to anybody.

I don't know. Check yourself. Because when you're filled with the Spirit, that boldness comes out.

And boldness leads to the filling of the Spirit. Isn't that interesting? When you're filled, you're bold, and if you walk in that boldness, you'll continue to walk in the filling of the Spirit. That's why Paul said, be filled with the Spirit.

Don't be drunk as a dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. And so that boldness is so important. Ephesians 4, speaking the truth in love.

Speaking the truth in love. So when we speak the truth in love, people grow up in all things. Isn't that cool? Well, if they listen.

Or if you listen, right? Whoever is speaking the truth, if they listen and grow from it, they actually mature. I've talked about that a lot, so I'm not going to do it this morning. But when people come to us and they speak the truth in love, if we embrace it, we grow from it.

If we don't embrace it, and we push against it, and we hold on in the offense, who's been there with me? We don't grow from that. We stay stuck in that mode. And it really stifles the work of the Holy Spirit.

So speak the truth in love. Loudly and publicly they rejected Christ, and loudly and publicly Peter rebuked them. They rejected, didn't they? They had no problem in front of Pilate raising their voice.

Away with this man! Give us Barabbas! So Peter said, okay, hotshot, I'm going to equally rebuke you loudly and publicly. But let me tell you just a quick helper here on speaking the truth in love. By the way, I have not mastered this, so what I'm about to tell you applies to me too.

We have to be very careful when we do this because it must come from a heart of brokenness and humility, not a heart of anger. Because then it's not boldness, it's arrogance, and then it's ineffective. So that's why Jesus said confront your brother, but first, don't you love this? I wish He said remove the speck from your eye, and then you can go get the plank out of your brother's eye.

Yeah, that plank, oh my goodness, wow. He's got a lot to work on. Doesn't say that, does it? First, remove the plank out of my eye, and then I can see clearly to help my brother in this area.

Acts 3.17-18. So what do we cover so far? Number one, make sure you're looking for opportunities to share. Number two, speak the truth in love. Number three, oh boy, this is going to be hard for you type A truth telling people like me.

Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance. Peter, man, you had him, you're slamming him. And now you just, now you're bringing some grace.

Ah, why don't you just keep going at him? But it's what we call in the business world the sandwich approach. How many of you have heard of that? Unfortunately, I'm not proud of it, but I had to fire lots of people in my younger years, well over 200. And you'd always get them in, hey, you've been a great asset to the company, and I know your attitude's great, and we love you, but your numbers aren't there, and I'm going to have to let you go.

I don't want to, but we're going to have to let you do this. Let you go, and then you build them back up. But hey, I'm going to help you, I'll give you a reference, you need anything, and they leave and they're happy.

You sandwiched it. Versus just out the door. And so that's what he's doing here.

He drilled them. Can you imagine saying you put Jesus on the cross, the Messiah you've been waiting for? You put Him on the cross? But he said, I know you did it in ignorance, so did the leaders, but those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled. Fulfillment.

So the third way to really get encouraged spiritually and get refreshed is to season your words with, it's hard to say, isn't it? Season your words with grace. Season your words with grace. I know in my own case, when I go through seasons of having a hard heart, hard hearts are never refreshed, they're always drained.

Have you noticed that? Man, when you're hard, you're hard, your heart is hard, you're just always drained. You're walking around Mr. Grumpy, Mr. Pharisee, Mrs. Pharisee, you're just always drained because the hard heart, the hard heart, they're never refreshed because usually there's a lot of pride there and God has got to break us of that. So we have to season our words with grace.

Colossians 4, 6, let your speech, well, confession of all, when I go through verses, sometimes I wish they were worded a little differently, but can't change it. But this one, I don't like the word always. I wish it said, let your speech sometimes be with grace.

Then I have an excuse. Nope. Let your words always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every person.

So every dialogue, every conversation, even preaching, I got to make sure I have some grace on there. And that's why you'll notice sometimes when it's a hard message, we want to build people up. We want to strengthen them.

We want to season the words with grace. You can say some hard things, say, I know it's difficult. I've been there.

But you know when you miss that grace, it's bad, isn't it? It's like, man, you just let them have it. Usually it's a reaction. Reaction to something versus a response.

Season the words with grace. And when you start to do that, I can't tell you, the refreshing, the just refreshment comes, spiritually speaking. I mean, you know, you're ready to say something, your mouth wants to say it, Lord, help me.

Thank you, God. If it wasn't for your grace, there go I. I know, I've been there. I'm sure they're in a bad spot.

And you just, let me, let me, let me, let me refresh, let me refresh, let me, and you season your words with grace. And that brings refreshments. Listen, I've heard, I've heard sermons exactly like I'm preaching from guys that I believe, I don't even know if they're saved, but they're as hard as concrete.

We can say the same thing. But when you season it with grace, that's where the Holy Spirit comes in and grips the heart. Because they say, that guy loves me.

I don't like what he said. And that's why I often quote Leonard Ravenhill. He said, you must weep before you weep.

You must weep before God over your message and over your words before you bring out the hammer of the Spirit. Let me take a quick side note here, because this is important. We've been talking about spiritual disciplines, basically.

Right, speaking the truth, go out and serve, season words with grace. Spiritual disciplines actually refresh us. Does everyone know what those are? Spiritual disciplines are, when we talk about the Bible, when we talk about finding that time with the Lord, the prayer closet, or reading the Word, worshiping, praying, walking in holiness, turning from sin, when you begin to do these spiritual disciplines, the byproduct is refreshment.

Anytime you obey God, eventually you'll be refreshed. How many of you understand that? Well, if you don't understand it, how many of you understand this? Anytime you're in disobedience, it's not fun, is it? When you're in disobedience, there's no times of refreshing. And the reason I highlight things like this is I don't want people to stay there.

They can stay there. I mean, it's bad enough for a day or two, but weeks or months or years, because they don't want to obey God. What's the number one reason why I do not want to obey God? Pride, pride, my way, I want to obey God.

I want my way. And that's why Paul said, I discipline my body. I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection.

Why is discipline so important? Do you want me to tell you why discipline is so important? Spiritual disciplines, I'm gonna read the Word even if I don't feel like it. I'm gonna pray even when I don't feel like it, because it builds spiritual muscle. If you're not disciplining your body, your body is disciplining you.

Who's in control? And that's why I've said before, God often doesn't give us overcoming life. He gives us life as we overcome. I first heard this in devotional.

I'm like, I'm not sure I believe that. Then the more I thought about it, I'm like, you know, that's a good point. Because Lord, one way is like, Lord, you do it.

And God's saying, no, you do it and I'll give you grace as you overcome. You walk out that discipline. Now, sometimes, of course, this is applicable to everything.

Sometimes God gives us that grace. He gives us that overcoming life and then we can move into what we need to do. But many times, as I move into what I'm called to do, here comes the overcoming life.

Here comes the passion and presence of the Holy Spirit. So choose your words and responses carefully, especially as we're talking about season words with grace. Harness your anger and control your emotions.

Be temperate in all things and pursue righteousness while avoiding laziness. And here's an important note. The Word of God energizes you when you read it and when you obey it.

I just said that, but I want to reinforce this. It actually energizes you spiritually. How many of you get down reading the news or listening to the news? You'd go insane if that's all you had.

That's why you can see the world's, what's all these shooters, all this, what's going on? Because they have no God in their life. But when you read the Word and you open up the Psalms and God begins to speak to you through His Word and you remember, oh, God is awesome. God is bad.

God told Job, where were you when I created the heavens? When I told the Atlantic and the Pacific to go no further? Where were you when I did this? Where were you? What is this counsel that darkens words? And you're like, God is awesome, I'm fired up again. And so obeying and reading the Word of God can energize you. But let me tell you an important tip.

Do not focus on defeating sin. Focus on seeking God. Because if I'm focused on defeating sin, obviously that needs to be a part of your focus.

But that's my, okay, I got to do good. I got to walk on this line. I can't do this.

I got to defeat it. I don't want it to over. And you're focused on the wrong things.

It becomes works and performance-based, doesn't it? I'm performing very well today. Boom. In comes the enemy.

So the focus has to be on seeking God. And of course, as we seek God, you do what pleases Him. And what builds your relationship with the Lord.

It's so important. Then Acts 3.19, we finally get to it. So here's what Peter did.

And the final point, he spoke pretty rough to them. Pretty direct. But then he encouraged them.

Hey, but you did in ignorance. And now he offers the solution. So here's where that famous verse comes in.

That's the context. He's got this whole audience in front of him. And he says, repent.

You killed Jesus. You have no covering for your sin. Repent and you'll be converted.

And all of your sins will be blotted out in times of refreshing, will come from the presence of the Lord. And that context is a sinner coming into salvation, experiencing the release and the freedom of that load being lifted. Which leads to the final point, repentance.

Repentance reigns refreshment. Okay, that's why I love this word repentance. The sinner, of course, we just talked about, the person who doesn't know God, they repent and they are spiritually actually reborn before they become spiritually refreshed.

They're reborn. But this can also apply to the believer. When we repent from something, what follows? Refreshment.

Refreshment. That's why God told one of the prophets, I think it was Amos, break up your follow ground. Break up your follow ground for it's time to seek the Lord and I will rain down righteousness on my people.

Repentance. Anytime, you know, Lord, I've been doing this and I've been holding this in, I'm letting this go. I repent, here comes the rains of refreshment.

I've been harboring this sin, I'm repenting sin, I've been strung with this. Lord, I want to let it go. Repentance, here comes the refreshment.

Repentance always brings in the refreshments. Like I said, it's salvation for the sinner and it's refreshment for the saint. And in case you're curious what this word means, biblical repentance involves turning from sin and turning to God.

It's a condition of the heart. So what it is, a person is in sin, they're living in sin. A good indication of this is they don't like what I've been saying, so that's a good indication.

But they're living in sin, they want to continue in it. Here's this guy calling it out and they have a moment. Like, you know what, I don't know God.

That makes sense. I'm changing my mind about how I live and how I view sin and how I view Jesus and how I view God. I'm repenting, I'm changing my mind.

And instead of going away from the cross, what do I do now? Go to the cross. That's actually what it means. It means to change your mind, which leads to a change of action for the unsaved person.

For the saved person, it can mean close to the same thing. I'm changing my mind about holding on to the sin. I'm changing my mind about... You know why many of us stay in besetting sin? It's because of excuses.

Correct? Yeah, Shane, I know I need to repent, but here we go. Here we go, just lay it out. But you don't know my spouse, what she and he did.

You don't know what I'm going through. Or you get people off addiction, trying to, I mean, for everything, marijuana to this. Yeah, but my job is so stressful.

It's just nothing but excuses. Nothing but excuses. And I can relate because guess who's got excuses too? Me.

We all have that defense attorney within. He loves to defend us and he's free. You have to eliminate, remove those excuses.

Jesus said, unless you repent, you will all perish. John Rice said, there is no way you can please God. No way you can have the sweet communion with Him to get your prayers answered if you are in open rebellion against the known will of God.

Failing to turn from sin and turn to Christ results in rebellion against God. And that really wakes people up when they remember that you're in rebellion. You're rebelling against God.

That's a state of depravity. And the person must repent and believe. So I'll end with this inventory, taking inventory verse.

Do you need to be revived or refreshed? I already covered it. As an unbeliever, you need to repent and believe in Jesus and let Him cover your sins and pay that sin debt in full. And you'll experience times of refreshing for the presence of the Lord.

But for believers, let's take inventory. Do I need salvation? Or how many of you need spiritual renewal through repentance? Over the years, we've seen, I mean, if you talk about years, thousands of people, for example, come up front, run the heavens, Wednesday nights. And I would say a good 80% that are weeping, they're repenting.

And as a result of the repentance, there's joy. Oh, all hell is breaking loose, but at least now I have hope. You know, something's shaking your head, you've been there.

I've seen you down there. And so that's what it does though. Repentance brings that refreshment from the Lord.

1 John 1.19, now this is an interesting verse because obviously it can apply to unbelievers, right? If a person confesses their sin, God's faithful. He'll forgive their sins and He'll clean them from all unrighteousness. But it's interesting how John is writing to the church.

And he says, if we, if I'm talking to you and I say this, hey guys, if we, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, how's that apply to a believer? Well, He isn't cleansing us of our sins for salvation. That already occurred.

But when we sin, there can be ongoing residue. There can be what they refer to as consequences for your actions. You ever live there? So there's consequences for my actions.

I repent. What happens? God forgives us of the sin and begins to clean and clear the consequences of our actions. I mean, I thought the first service, I didn't want to say it, but I just thought of it again.

It was interesting. We could get really deep into this rabbit hole sometime. I'd like to.

But do you ever, sometimes when the Bible says that God will send the tormentors, sometimes that doesn't refer to hell. It can be, and if you have references, then it could be demonic. Paul, what happened to Paul? There was a messenger of Satan.

So sometimes because of our consequences of our sin, we're unrepentant. Now we are open for demonic activity in our lives. The tormentors are tormenting.

And the best way to break free of that is via repentance. Repent, it cleans the line of communication. It cleans those lines of communication.

And this is why some people say we have to constantly live a life of repentance. It's not a life of repenting for salvation. It's a life of, Lord, man, I messed up late yesterday, or I shouldn't have said that, or I shouldn't have did that.

God, I'm sorry, would You forgive me? I want that relationship with You to be connected again with You. I want to experience the joy of the Lord in my heart again. And it really fixes that.

It basically keeps the lines of communication open. It clears the path for times of refreshing. I remember back in my 20s.

I was a Christian, but I was quenching and grieving the Spirit. How many of you can relate? You're living for yourself. You're doing things for yourself, your job, your career, your money, you got your own plans.

And yeah, I'm a Christian, God's back here, but I'm quenching and grieving the Spirit for, no, I don't want to tell you how long. It's embarrassing. So I had no lines of communication with God.

I didn't know His purposes, His plans, until that line of communication was opened. And then God began to steer. It's hard to move somebody who doesn't want to be moved.

The humble He teaches His way. And once that line of communication is clear and you repent, now God can steer. This is what I've called you to do.

This is what I want you to do. Just listen to this. I don't have it to put up here, but this is so powerful from David.

He actually had, how many of you are aware he had a man killed and took his wife? You think you've done some bad things? I don't know. But he said this, he said, "'Oh God, purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

Oh God, that the bones you have broken, they will even rejoice. Create in me a clean heart. Oh God, renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast away your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Oh God, restore the joy of my salvation.'" That tells me he used to have joy. He used to walk in fellowship with the Lord.

The Lord said, this is David, a man after my own heart, but after he fell into an incredible sin and he felt like the bones would even break. And he said, I have no peace. I have no joy.

But he said, now go God, return that joy of my salvation. Some of you need to say that this morning. I need that joy back.

I need that peace back. I need that to fill the power and presence of God again in my heart and in my life. Thank God God didn't say, okay, well by next month, I've got a checklist here for you.

As soon as you complete this checklist, what does he do? Oh, I love this. It's the cry of God. I noted the cry of God.

He said this to the prophets. Can you imagine God saying this? Oh, oh, that my people would listen to me and walk in my ways. That breaks my heart.

A God who could breathe, the very breath of his nostrils could wipe out planet earth. He could squash like a little ant. He could get upset and angry.

I'll show you guys. But the cry of God, oh, that my people would listen. Oh, that they would hear me and they would walk in my ways.

Do not reject me, you stiff heart people. Come back to me. Return to me.

Oh, my heart breaks. I'm jealous for your worship. I love my people.

Oh, would you turn back to me and then walk in my ways? That's it. That's it. You can make that decision right now this morning.

The only thing that won't allow you to make that decision is a prideful, arrogant heart. When you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Book of Hebrews quotes that three times, quoting the Psalms.

When you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Maybe some of you need to fix something this morning. Breaks my heart when I see marriages, even here leading to divorce.

I don't, I can't comprehend it. I know it takes two and I know things are challenging. I've got tons of grace.

If anybody has grace, I do. But guys, if you both humble yourself, what's the Holy Spirit gonna do? Nope. The Holy Spirit's never divided.

The Holy Spirit and a believer and the other believer never divided. The division comes from us. Make that decision that morning.

Say, oh God, like David, I love that prayer. And that's exactly what I prayed 26 years ago. Oh God, create in me a clean heart.

I mean, I would read the scriptures. I would just weep because the Holy Spirit is reviving and awakening and renewing your heart to His.