And We Believe in the Holy Spirit

Sermon Pentecost B

Sunday, May 26, 2012

“And we believe in the Holy Spirit”

John 15:26–27, 16:4b–15

A sermon adapted from “Lutheran Catechesis “ Rev. Peter C. Bender

There is certainly lots of confusion in Christianity especially since the Advent of the Charismatic movement that was started not very far from here in Azusa where speaking in intelligible tongues and other so called manifestations of the spirit occurred. These people instead of hearing the prescriptions of Jesus have drawn their own conclusions based on the descriptions of the manifestations of the sent Spirit in Acts.  We need to keep in mind that the tongues the Apostles manifested in Acts were in use throughout the Roman empire. 

This first New Testament Pentecost was a sign of the reversal of the curse of the tower of Babel by the risen, ascended and reigning Lord Jesus.  Also many of the manifestations of the Spirit were still mediate, they occurred when the word was preached. This does not in any way lessen the promises of baptism, the Holy Spirit is promised and is therefore received through it. In the case of the first major encounter with the gentiles the Jews still needed a sign so the Holy Spirit manifested himself on the un-baptized so that they may be baptized. 

So where do we hear from Jesus about the true work of the Holy Spirit. Today’s Gospel text. 

There is no passage that speaks more clearly about the Holy Spirit and His work than this passage from Jesus' catechesis to the Twelve. The Holy Spirit is sent by Jesus, from the Father to testify of Jesus in the world. From such passages as this is drawn the language of the Third Article of the Nicene Creed: "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped an ' glorified."

Jesus' catechesis from today’s gospel text makes it clear that everything the Holy Spirit does, He does to extol Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who has spoken through the prophets of the Old Testament, and it would be the Holy Spirit who would now speak through the witness of the apostles in the New Testament,

They were called to give testimony concerning Jesus. The Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance everything that Jesus had taught them, so that they could faithfully preach His Word in the world. They would suffer for the sake of the Gospel, but the Holy Spirit-the Helper, Comforter, and Spirit of truth-would not only guarantee the fidelity of their testimony, but would also make it possible for them to endure all manner of persecution.

The Church of Jesus Christ is founded upon the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures. There is no other authority in the Church. The Church and her ministers are bound to the apostolic witness. Insofar as the Church is faithful to this witness, the promise of Jesus applies also to us: the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth. Faith in Christ rests upon the Word of God alone. There is no other source of certainty. Faith is created by the Word of God. Faith believes the Word of God. Faith confesses the Word of God.

The disciples were sorrowful when it appeared as if Jesus would no longer be with them. Their human reason would not allow them to understand the words of the Spirit that Jesus spoke. It was a good thing for them that He "go away," for if He had not faced death alone, they could not have had life with Him forever.

He went away, not to a far-off place, but to the loneliness of death for our sin, that He might open the kingdom of God to us through the ministry of His Holy Spirit. As a result of His death for sin, the Holy Spirit is poured out in the world through the preaching of the Gospel, so that we receive Jesus and everything that He did for our very own.

Through the ministry of preaching, Baptism, absolution, and the Lord's Supper, the Holy Spirit gives us Jesus, with all that He accomplished for us. The Lord Jesus is truly present in and among us today through His Word and Sacraments.

The word "convict" is a judicial term most often found in the setting of a courtroom. To "convict" someone in a court of law requires the presentation of evidence, or testimony, from which the proof of a man's guilt or innocence is established. Hence, it is often said that a person was "convicted" of a crime. The "convicted man," as well as others, may maintain that he is not guilty, but the evidence or testimony tells what is really true. The word “convict” in this passage

concerning the work of the Holy Spirit carries both the connotations of convincing and announcing a verdict.

When it is said that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin of righteousness, and of judgment, both of these realities are meant. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to "convince" the world by "announcing the verdict of God" concerning such things as sin, righteousness, and judgment. Even if no one in the world believes the testimony, it is no less true. Through the proclamation of Law and Gospel, the Holy Spirit "convicts the world” of what is true in Christ before God the Father. The Word of God says what is so! Through the proclamation of the Word the world is convicted of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. This means that when the truth of the Gospel sounds forth, many believe it, many reject it, but the realities of what the Word proclaims are, nevertheless, eternally true in Christ Jesus.

Jesus now says three things in particular about the work of the Holy Spirit. First he says that, “The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they do not believe in Me.”  Second he says,  “The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more.” And third and finally he says, “The Holy Spirit will convict the world judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” 

So what does it mean that “The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they do not believe in Me?”  Unbelief is the root of all sin and rebellion against God. Unless the Holy Spirit convicts us sin through the preaching of repentance, we cannot be turned from unbelief to fait h in Christ. The proclamation of the Law, which convicts us of all manner of sin and unbelief, is an essential work in bringing us from unbelief to faith in Christ. Without the conviction of sin, the sinner has no use for Christ.

“Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3: 19-20).”

Next what does it mean that “The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more?” The death of Christ for the sins of the world is the righteousness of God. Man is sinner. But Man is righteous in Christ. Jesus "went to the Father" in His death to offer himself as the righteous offering for the sins of the world. Christ suffered death and all that we by our sins have deserved. The righteousness of Christ's death is the only source of salvation of the world unless the Holy Spirit convicts us of the righteousness of Christ through the preaching of forgiveness of sins, we cannot be saved from sin. The proclamation of the Gospel creates faith in Christ and declares us righteous for Jesus' sake. The proclamation of the forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake is the heart of the Spirit's work.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26).

Finally what does it mean that “The Holy Spirit will convict the world judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged?”  The judgment of the God that the sinner is righteous for Christ's sake sets man free from the judgment of the Law that the devil uses to condemn the world. Since God forgives us all sin and declares us righteous for Jesus’ sake as a gift of His grace, the devil cannot accuse us of sin or damn us to eternals death.  

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:31-34).

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth because He testifies of Him who is "the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through the Son. Those who believe in the Son have been called and enlightened by the Spirit. This is the Spirit's work: to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by taking what is his-eternal righteousness-and declaring it to us. There is no other work of the Spirit then to bring Christ and His righteousness to us, that everything that He is might become our own. The Spirit’s message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any spirit who does not preach Christ and him crucified is the spirit of antichrist.