Erlo Stegen emphasizes the call to be messengers of Christ, as Jesus was sent by the Father, urging believers to receive the Holy Spirit for guidance and empowerment. He shares a poignant story of a cancer patient who found grace in his suffering, illustrating how those facing death can prepare their hearts for eternity. Stegen highlights the importance of forgiveness and the authority given to believers to forgive sins, reminding us that our lives should be controlled by the Holy Spirit. He encourages the congregation to live in close fellowship with God, allowing His Spirit to lead them in their mission to bring healing and freedom to others. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a life that reflects Christ's love and purpose in a world in need of salvation.

And he greets us with the word that we find in Psalm 45, verse 10 to verse 18, verse 17. I won't read it because of the time. Each one can read that at home, Psalm 45. From verse 10 to the end of the chapter. And now to our text. John chapter 20 from verse 21. And when he had said this, he showed them both, sorry, verse 21. And when he had said this, he showed them both, sorry, verse 21. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. We read thus far. I have an old African Bible that Dr. Wassenaar gave me several years ago. I have an old African Bible that Dr. Wassenaar gave me several years ago. An old, it is an old Bible. An old, it is an old Bible. It is not only a word for the 12 disciples, but for all of us. It is not only a word for the 12 disciples, but for all of us. So it is good if we take careful note of what the Lord wants to say to us. So it is good if we take careful note of what the Lord wants to say to us. And he starts by saying, just as the Father sent me, I send you. And he starts by saying, just as the Father sent me, I send you. Many years ago I received a call that there was a seriously ill person in Blumfontein Hospital. Many years ago I received a call that there was a seriously ill person in Blumfontein Hospital. The doctors had noticed that his whole body was riddled with cancer. The doctors had noticed that his whole body was riddled with cancer. This man had many children and they were still young children. This man had many children and they were still young children. They asked me to come as quickly as possible. I thought of many different things, also different verses in the Bible. I thought, how can I help this man? And when I got to the hospital, he was coming towards me. I didn't know him, neither did he know me. He said, are you Erlo Stegen? I said, yes. He said, I want to tell you something. We who are cancer patients are the chosen ones of God. Then he said to me, you know that all of us who have cancer, we are the chosen of the Lord. We are those who have received much grace among all mankind. He said, you don't know how you are going to die. You can die in an airplane accident. Car accident. You don't know when you will die. But we who hear from the doctor, you have cancer. It will be so graceful to us. He says to us, the end is there, and you have to prepare for it. But he says for us, where the doctor tells us, look, you've got cancer. It's so easy because it gets announced to us that our end is at hand, and then we must start preparing for it. And now we can spend our time, day and night, to prepare to meet our holy God. And for a long time this man spoke to me, and I didn't even need to say much. He comforted me, and we know that the most difficult times in our lives are also the most blessed. About two or three days ago, we heard a loud bang here on the main road. When they got there, two of the passengers had died already. Different races. When they looked inside the vehicle, one could just smell alcohol and smoke. It seems as if these people entered eternity drunk. And then I had to think of this man in Plum Fountain. When you have to enter eternity so suddenly, so unexpectedly, it must be a terrible shock. Are we always conscious of that? Do we know what we've been called to? Why we are here on this earth? And when he had said that, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And when he had said that, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 45 it says, God, in the first Adam we became a living soul. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 25 where it refers to the old Adam, how God breathed life into him, he became a living being. But now once again, God breathes his Holy Spirit into us that we can receive spiritual life. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 25. If we are to be like the Lord Jesus in this world, sent by God, we cannot do it without the Holy Spirit. If we are sent by the Lord Jesus, his messengers into this world, we cannot do it without the Holy Spirit. Then we need the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us and we need to be controlled totally by his Spirit. Then it says, if you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. Then one thinks of the words of Matthew, where Jesus gave them Peter's bowl and said, which you forgive, they will forgive you. What you bind is bound to Eden, Matthew. And then one thinks of the word in Matthew where the Lord hands over the keys to Peter and he says, whom you forgive, they will be forgiven. And what you bind here will be bind in heaven. Matthew 16, what you bind here will be bound there too. Now we need to be here as the Lord Jesus was here, his messengers, as he was a messenger. One of the trademarks in his life went to his father. One of the trademarks in his life, when people asked him, why do you do this? Why do you say this? He says, well, I say nothing out of my own. I only say and do what the heavenly father tells me to do and to say. So his life was controlled from above. And therefore he says, receive the Holy Spirit. Then our life will also be controlled from above. I have a little English Bible here. It was translated by J.B. Phillips. A wonderful translation of the New Testament. And he recognized something in Matthew 16 which many translators of the Bible had overlooked. And he translated it as it is said in the Old Testament. He says, he translates it in this way that what you bind here has been bound in heaven. What you loosen here has been loosened in heaven already. So here we read about a life that is in close fellowship with the Lord. In him where it is controlled totally from above by the Lord. I can say to someone, well, you are forgiven. But what does it help if I say it and God hasn't said it? Or I say to someone, well, your sin remains all the time. God has forgiven him. So here is the speech where it is about the sin. The fear prohibits you from drinking so much water. It is also a secret. Excuse me that I drink so much water. It is also a secret. I won't tell you what it is. And then this young girl made up her mind and got ready to come here to South Africa and did it. She was visiting a certain family and she said, tell me, is there a Heino Stegen? Well, why are you asking, they said. No, I need to see him, she said. And that's how she got to know him. And she told him, she said, look, God has sent me to you and so I've come to make right my life and I want you to pray with me that God will forgive me and give me new life. It's wonderful if we can be in this world just as Jesus was. And people who are slaves to sin, people who have sin in their lives, sin problem, that they can go to them and find the healing, freedom, a new life, forgiveness of sin. And that people who are servants and slaves of sin have a sin problem, that they can come and be set free and be set totally free. What a wonderful life, it's a foretaste of heaven. And so in that way she found a counsel and eventually he also became her father-in-law. I said to Ronald, Ronald, I'm the first one in our family to lose his wife. And now you're the first one in your family, so we're in the same boat. And God says he wants to be to the orphans and to the widows, he wants to be their God, their father. And the gap that is left in our lives, he wants to fill. And through his Holy Spirit he wants to lead and guide us. And that will be a blessing to us and in turn we can also become a blessing to others. Now when we are up there, then our deeds follow us. And so does with her as well. And if we think of my wife, she died eight months and one day before Maria. So she went ahead of her. And I still remember before my wife passed away when she was in hospital in Meritsburg, Maria would come all the way from Tunzini, sometimes even every day. And she'd bring us lunch and supper all the way from Tunzini. And may that also be a blessing for you, Ronald, and the children. Let us pray. We thank you Lord for everything we've heard. And that you say, just as the Father sent you, so you send us. So that those that are weary and burdened by their burden of sin, that they can find salvation and that they can be set free from it. And we thank you for that.