Word of Salvation – May 2026

Scripture Readings: John 16:5-16; Acts 36-41;

Sermon: “The power of Word and Spirit”

Rev John Zuidema

Congregation today is Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after the Lord’s resurrection when the church remembers and celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the NT Church.  And it is marvellous that God the Father who created all things and God the Son who saved us is now the God who lives within us through His Holy Spirit.

Hopefully, none of us would deny the beauty of having the Holy Spirit within us, for He testifies to our spirits that we are sons and daughters of the living God!  He is the deposit, the guarantee of that which is yet to come, namely eternal life in glory.  So it’s no small thing to celebrate.

Yet, many of us are a little careful to show too much exuberance, for we do not wish to be associated with the abuse this miraculous and marvellous event has been, and rightfully so.  Things like the ‘Toronto’ blessing and people falling over backwards and being slain by the Holy Spirit and laughing and barking like dogs has caused harm to the church.

And then the whole second blessing debate which revolves around speaking in tongues. It was even suggested in some circles that if you couldn’t speak in tongues then you belonged to the have nots, are not honouring to the Holy Spirit.  No doubt we will see more silly things in the future.

Now to help us avoid such dishonouring things, we need to be aware of the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming.  In John 16:8, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit’s primary task is to make known that we are sinners and in desperate need of Christ as Saviour.

Oh, I know that is not ‘churchy’ correct, but if a person is not made aware of their sin before a holy God, then their understanding of God’s love in Christ, and his righteousness, will be flawed, and their understanding of the coming judgment will be diminished.

And isn’t that exactly what we see in our society.   Sin is almost smiled at and belittled.  We are told to turn a blind eye towards it.  We do things to please people for we don’t wish to upset the family or the relationships, even when we know God’s word speaks expressly against it and actually calls it sinful.  I guess, in today’s world, people are not quickly cut to their heart about their sin.

Yet, when I read this chapter of Peter’s sermon again, it struck me anew how these Jews were cut to the heart when they realized their sin. They had crucified the Messiah, God’s answer to their greatest problem!  And to top it off, this Messiah, this Saviour had risen from the dead and was coming back as judge, because God had made him both Lord and Christ.  And the response of these Jews is that they were cut to the heart!

Their response is like the stupid sobbing car driver who has realized that they have just killed some innocent passenger or bystander because of their drunkenness or speed.  All they can do is sob.   Similarly, these Jews are cut to the heart because of their sin!

Now what made these people so obviously distressed?  It was the word of God applied by the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing as powerful to change hearts like the gospel when it is applied by the Holy Spirit.   The Apostle Paul was right, “it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16.)

Now if you doubt that it was the Holy Spirit’s work then remember who was doing the preaching.  It’s Peter, that Apostle who said that he would never let Jesus go to the cross.  It was Peter to whom Jesus had to say, “Get behind me Satan” (Mat 16:23).  It was Peter who made a bold profession one moment and then denied his Lord three times.

The only reason why these people were cut to the heart is because the Holy Spirit applied God’s word in a mighty way.  And that shouldn’t surprise us, for that is exactly what Jesus had said earlier.  John 16:14, “He (Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”  The Holy Spirit was using Peter to preach Jesus Christ with amazing boldness and power and effect.

And Peter wasn’t pussy footing about.  He didn’t worry about treading on a few toes or being sensitive to the feelings of the people.  Peter wasn’t exactly making the message more palatable like so many preachers are inclined to do today.  He was preaching the truth of God’s Word and he was firing on all cylinders.

Most of his audience had been present at the time of the crucifixion some 50 days earlier and Peter reminds them, “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom “you” crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Here is a case of someone speaking the truth in love.

“YOU, YOU” wicked men crucified the Messiah. That’s the truth of the matter. YOU killed God’s only Son. You killed the one spoken about by King David and in the Psalms and by the prophet Joel.  Did you notice? The Holy Spirit causes Peter to use the Scriptures to emphasis the point that Jesus was the promised Messiah whom they killed.

At last, these Jews were beginning to understand what God’s Word spoke about for so long.  The word had promised the Messiah’s coming and now had come – and they crucified him.

And now what’s more, He has been raised from the dead and God had made him Lord and Christ.  In other words, he’s the ultimate one to whom all people must give an account.   And all who reject Jesus as Saviour will remain his enemies, and God will make them a footstool for the Lord.

What fear and dread must have struck these people!  What sorrow must have gripped them.  All because the Gospel was preached and applied by the Holy Spirit!   The man they had nailed to a cross some fifty days earlier was the Son of God who now had the power to send them to hell for eternity.

Fifty days earlier they had shouted, “Crucify Him Crucify him”, now they were cut to the heart!  The preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit caused these hardened hearts to admit their sin and guilt!  These people realised that they stood condemned and were totally bankrupt before God.  Now we understand what Paul says in Colossians 1:17; “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.  He points to the risen and conquering King.

These people were cut to the heart and it causes them to cry out, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Well let me say what Peter didn’t say!  Come to the front so that you can experience the Toronto blessing.  Let me teach you how to speak in tongues for otherwise you may not really have the Holy Spirit. And please before I forget, give 10% of your income to the Lord and he will really bless you a hundred-fold in return!

What a load of rubbish!   Peter never said any of that.  In fact, you won’t read that anywhere in Scripture.  No, Peter, as a shepherd of the Great Shepherd comes with the good news.  “Repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  What wonderful news for these people. Far better then they could have ever hoped for.  They had caused the death of the Messiah, but there was still the offer of salvation.

They needed to repent and be baptised. Repent implies a complete change of heart and confession of sin.  They needed to be baptised, to show publicly that their allegiance was to the King who sits on the throne.  Hence their baptism was associated with their forgiveness of sins.

This was not entirely new.  John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4) Jesus himself made repentance central to his preaching (Mat 4:17, Mk 1:15) and he baptised (Jn 3:22, 26; 4:1-2)

And notice also what Peter says, “Every one of you.” In some ways this was new thinking.   Jews thought corporately and not individually.   But Peter says, “everyone of you must repent and be baptised.” He calls for an individual response. And notice, the promise of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit is also to their children and to those who are far off.  That includes us but also those who don’t know the Lord as Saviour yet.

God’s Word applied by the Holy Spirit is powerful and effective!   The Holy Spirit used Peter to warn and plead with the people.  Save yourselves from this corrupt generation!   Jesus himself said in Mat 16:4 that the Jews were a wicked and adulterous generation.  In Mat 17:17 he calls them an unbelieving and perverse generation.

And now the result of God’s word applied by the Holy Spirit was astounding.  Of course, not all those who were present believed, but over three thousand believed and were baptised and added to their number, which was about 120 (cf 1:15).

Now please, don’t make Peter the hero of this Pentecost event.  Peter’s words or your minister’s words won’t do the trick, nor will my words of John Piper or Charles Spurgeon.  Unless the Holy Spirit takes that word and applies them to the listener, nothing will come of it!

For some the work of the Holy Spirit has been a dramatic turn in their lives, for others, a gradual turn to Christ. Perhaps for some it hasn’t happened as yet.  But whether it is dramatic or slow, it does need to happen. The Gospel is sharp and able to break the stubbornness of man’s heart and to pierce his will because the Word applied by the Holy Spirit is powerful!  That’s why we do evangelism.  That’s why there is hope for children and neighbours who do not follow the ways of the Lord.

That’s why we pray that people may be receptive to the gospel and that the Holy Spirit may already be working in their hearts before a word is spoken.  That’s why we humbly dare to call on people to repent and believe.  I say humbly, for at one time, we were all guilty of causing the Messiah, the Son of God to go to the cross. We were no better than these Jews in Peter’s day.

Yes, ashamed, we stood their mocking and scoffing at the Saviour as he hung on the cross.  But thanks be to God, who through his Word and Spirit has caused us to turn to Christ in true repentance and belief.  Therefore, we will not boast in anything, except in Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen!

Finally, there is urgency for this gospel message to get out and for people to repent, for we don’t know when the Lord will return.  People need to come to a point in their lives when they see the great love of God in Christ as compared to their sin and guilt.   And when that truly happens in a person’s life, we will see the evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives because there will be a desire to repent.

Again, don’t be confused about this.  You don’t have to be able to speak in tongues or fall over backwards as evidence of the Holy Spirit.  The evidence is in our desire to repent, to flee from sin and to live holy lives. It is evidenced by a willingness to show the fruit of the Spirit in response to God’s amazing grace to us in Christ.  And that applies to the young children, the teenagers, the young adults, to the newly married couples, and to the not so young and elderly.  All must come to repentance and belief in Jesus whom God that Father has made both Lord and Christ.

Unrepentant people don’t get into heaven, not even if they are members of the CRC of Australia or the Anglican or the Baptists, or the Uniting church or any other church for that matter. Unrepentant people don’t get into heaven because they uphold certain traditions in the church or they are a son or daughter of Mr and Mrs Churchgoer.  Each person is responsible before God.  All need to repent and believe to be saved.

And by the way, once we know and experience that great grace, it won’t be a problem to acknowledge before God and his people that we believe in His Son and his work of salvation as revealed in God’s word and by his Holy Spirit!   May we delight in that wonderful grace more and more and not reject the Son, the one who God has made both Lord and Christ!  Amen.