2025-03-23 St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Welkom

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Chorus

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Chorus

Confession of sin

The Lord’s Prayer

The Ten Commandments

Elizabeth 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 Genesis 45:3-28”

Genesis 45:3–28 NIV

3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. 4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! 5 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. 6 For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. 7 But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. 9 Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. 10 You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. 11 I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’ 12 “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.” 14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him. 16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’ 19 “You are also directed to tell them, ‘Do this: Take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Never mind about your belongings, because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’ ” 21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them carts, as Pharaoh had commanded, and he also gave them provisions for their journey. 22 To each of them he gave new clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes. 23 And this is what he sent to his father: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way!” 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

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

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”

Evelyn-Rose

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 Luke 6:27-38”

Luke 6:27–38 NIV

27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

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

Congregation: “Thanks be to God”.

Hymn

Sermon David Guzik - eSword

4. (17-18) Explaining the sufferings of Jesus.

Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”

a. Yet now, brethren: Though Peter spoke boldly to them about their sin, he didn’t hate them. He didn’t say, “Yet now, you filthy disgusting wretches.” He still connected to them as brethren. Notice that twice Peter had accused them of denying Jesus (3:13, 14) – something Peter had himself done.

b. I know that you did it in ignorance: Peter recognized they called for the execution of Jesus in ignorance of God’s eternal plan. This did not make them innocent, but it did carefully define the nature of their guilt. If we sin in ignorance, it is still sin; but it is different from sin done with full knowledge.

c. He has thus fulfilled: Despite all the evil they did to Jesus, it did not change or derail God’s plan. God can take the most horrible evil and use it for good. Joseph could say to his brothers, “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” (Gen_50:20) The same principle was at work in the crucifixion of Jesus and is at work in our lives (Rom_8:28).

5. (19-21) Peter calls them to repentance.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

a. Repent therefore: As he did in his first sermon (Act_2:38), Peter called upon the crowd to repent. He told them to turn around in their thinking and actions.

i. Peter spoke boldly to them about their sin, but he didn’t just want to make them feel bad. That wasn’t the goal. The goal was to encourage them to repent and believe.

ii. Repentance does not describe being sorry, but describes the act of turning around. And as he used it in chapter two, here also Peter made repent a word of hope. He told them that they had done wrong; but that they could turn it around and become right with God.

b. And be converted: Peter knew the necessity of conversion, of God’s work of bringing new life to us. Being a Christian is not “turning over a new leaf,” it is being a new creation in Christ Jesus (2Co_5:17).

i. Boice says that be converted is better translated, “turn to God” – or, even better, “flee to God.” Boice connects this with the imagery of the cities of refuge in the Old Testament, and thinks Peter told them to flee to Jesus as their place of refuge.

c. That your sins may be blotted out: This was the first benefit of repentance Peter presented to them. The one who repents and is converted is forgiven their sins, and the record itself is erased.

i. Blotted out: This has the idea of wiping ink off of a document. Ink in the ancient world had no acid content and didn’t “bite” into the paper. It could almost always be wiped off with a damp cloth. Peter said that God would wipe away our record of sin just like that.

d. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord: This was the second benefit of repenting and turning to God. In speaking of “times of refreshing,”Peter referred to the time when Jesus will return and rule the earth in righteousness. Peter went so far as to say, “that He may send Jesus Christ,” thus implying that if the Jewish people as a whole repented, God the Father would send Jesus to return in glory.

i. Peter made it clear that Jesus will remain in heaven until the times of restoration of all things, and since the repentance of Israel is one of the all things, there is some sense in which the return of Jesus in glory will not happen until Israel repents.

ii. Peter essentially offered Israel the opportunity to hasten the return of Jesus by embracing Him on a national level, something that must happen before Jesus will return (as in Mat_23:37-39 and Rom_11:25-27).

iii. One may raise the hypothetical question, if the Jews of that day had received the gospel as a whole, would then Jesus had returned way back then? Hypothetically, this may have been the case, but there is no point in speculating about something that didn’t happen!

iv. In a lesser (though glorious) sense, God sends times of refreshing to His people today. We should pray for and believe God for seasons of revival and refreshing.

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Praise God from whom all blessing flow

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Doxology Now unto Him