2025-03-09 St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Welkom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esBFYYT6mVU pre service song

Welcome

Scripture Readings

Chorus 5 The steadfast love of the Lord

Chorus 6 Such Love

Chorus 7 Father we love You

Confession of sin

The Lord’s Prayer

The Ten Commandments

Cathy will now read the Old Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

She begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in Psalm 91”

She ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”

Lidia

will now read the New Testament reading to us from the NIV pew bible.

She begins with “Hear the Word of God as it is written in Romans 10:5-13”

She ends with “This is the word of God”.

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”.

Hymn 36 Blessed Assurance

Sermon

2. (13-15) Peter preaches Jesus.

“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

a. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

By opening with this reference to God, Peter made it clear that he spoke to them about the God of Israel, the God represented in the Hebrew Scriptures.

b. His Servant Jesus:

The greatness of Peter’s sermon is that it was all about Jesus. The focus on the sermon was not on Peter nor on anything he did, but all about Jesus.

i. The first thing Peter said about Jesus in this sermon drew attention to the idea that Jesus was the perfect Servant of the Lord, and spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures (as in Isa_42:1-25; Isa_52:13-15; Isa_53:1-12). “The concept of the ‘servant of the Lord’ was well-known in Israel because of Isaiah 53 and other texts.” (Boice)

c. Whom you delivered up and denied:

Peter boldly set the guilt of Jesus’ death squarely where it belonged. Pilate, the Roman governor, was determined to let Him go, but the Jewish mob insisted on the crucifixion of Jesus (Jhn_18:29 to Jhn_19:16).

i. This does not mean that the Jewish people of that day alone were responsible for the death of Jesus. The Romans – Gentiles – were also responsible. The Romans would not have crucified Jesus without pressure from the Jewish leaders, and the Jews could not have crucified Jesus without Roman acceptance of it. God made certain that both Jew and Gentile shared in the guilt of Jesus’ death. In fact, it was not political intrigue or circumstances that put Jesus on the cross; it was our sin. If you want to know who put Jesus on the cross, look at me – or look in the mirror.

ii. Peter was not afraid to confront their sin, and he showed amazing boldness. “One commentator says that the miracle of the speech of Peter is a far more wonderful one than the miracle wrought in the healing of the man who lay at the Beautiful Gate.” (Morgan)

iii. Yet notice the contrast. In God’s estimation Jesus is the exalted Servant, promised centuries before in the Hebrew Scriptures. In man’s estimation Jesus was only worthy to be tortured and crucified.

d. Holy One:

Here Peter exalted Jesus as God.

The term Holy One is used more than 40 times in the Old Testament as a high and glorious title for Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel.

e. Asked for a murderer to be granted to you:

One of the ironies of the crucifixion of Jesus is that while the crowd rejected Jesus, they embraced a criminal and a murderer named Barabbas (Luk_23:13-25, Jhn_18:39-40). Peter boldly confronted this audience.

i. When Peter spoke of sin, he used the word you several times. In the sermon on the day of Pentecost it is recorded that he only used it once (Act_2:23).

• You delivered up and denied.

• You denied the Holy One and the Just.

• [You] asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

• [You] killed the Prince of Life.

f. And killed the Prince of life:

Of course, the Prince of life could not remain in the grave, and the apostles were united witnesses of the fact of His resurrection.

END 9 MARCH

Notices

Collection

Praise God from whom all blessing flow

Prayer

Hymn 43 I serve a risen Saviour

Benediction

Doxology Now unto Him