June 5 2022

Pentecost Sunday        June 5th     2022

Old Testament:        Genesis 11:1-9

Psalm:            Psalm 143

Epistle:            Acts 2:1-21

Gospel:            John 14:23-31

Sermon Text:        John 14:23-31

Sermon Title:       

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

“The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”. (John 14:26)

“I believe in the Holy Spirit … ! What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in my Lord Jesus Christ, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and kept me in the one true faith. In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith”. (Third Article, Luther’s Small Catechism) 

But before we unpack this and briefly review the events of this first Day of Pentecost; maybe we should first state what “I believe in the Holy Spirit” doesn’t mean. After all, part of the pastor’s job is to point out and warn against false teachings/doctrines; and there are many of them regarding the person and work of the Holy Spirit; the third person of the Holy Trinity, which we will speak more of next Sunday. 

Prior to going to seminary, I was told by a Pentecostal preacher that I would never be a legitimate preacher, if I didn’t speak in tongues. Others (in those church bodies) go so far as to say that one cannot even be a Christian if they do not speak in tongues. And by tongues, they mean spiritual or other worldly languages; not other earthly languages; which is what the book of Acts describes; “we hear each of us in our own native language”. (Acts 2:8b) 

In a similar way, many in the evangelical churches, emphasize other “so called” dynamic works of the Spirit, such as miracles of healing; or other earthly successes; again often saying that if you do not receive these things you either have weak faith or perhaps no faith at all. The Holy Spirit is also said by these same groups to give direct and private revelation of God’s will; apart from Scripture; we have many in basing their faith not on Christ Jesus, but on their personal experiences, emotions, feelings, or dreams. 

None of these ways of thinking about the work of the Holy Spirit is fully biblical and often totally contradicts Scripture; both of which can lead to great spiritual harm. For example, someone can claim a direct revelation from God that goes against clear Scriptural teaching; defending sins such as adultery or homosexual behavior or abortion or greed or racism. These imagined revelations result in divisions among Christians; leading to confusion, doubt of God’s Word, and further sin. If you put your trust in these things; miracles, feelings, etc, and then you do not experience them; it often leads to losing faith.

The main reason to be skeptical of all of these things is that the Holy Spirit does not promise to work or be present in our lives in these ways. The work of the Holy Spirit is always bound up with the revelation of the incarnate Christ, who lived, suffered, died and rose again from the dead for us. The Holy Spirit is not some “force” to experience, but rather the third person of the Triune God, who speaks to us an unchanging, consistent message; the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ our crucified Lord and risen Savior. 

The Holy Spirit does not play to our emotions, experiences, and feelings, but rather stubbornly points us to Christ Jesus, through the means of grace that God has established; Confession and Absolution, The Lord’s Supper, Holy Baptism, and of course the Word of God; for the Word of God is included in all the other means of grace. 

As Jesus said in the Gospel text, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love Me, does not keep My words … These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper (Comforter), the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”. (John 14:23b-26) “He will take what is mine and declare it to you”. (John 16:14b) 

This is what happened on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit caused those gathered in Jerusalem to “speak in other tongues (other human languages) … to hear them telling in our own tongues, the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:8b, 11b) in Christ Jesus our Lord. Even though they were mocked as being drunk early in the morning, the disciples, led by Peter continued to preach the Gospel saying, “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved”. (Acts 2:21) 

Therefore, we confess again, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the one true faith. In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith … this is most certainly true”. (Small Catechism, Third Article, explanation.)

To review, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity; true God along with the Father and the Son. We know the Holy Spirit is God because He is given divine names in Holy Scripture and divine attributes are also attributed to Him; such as omniscience and omnipresence. (The Spirit knows all things and is present everywhere.) In the Bible, the Holy Spirit also receives divine honor and glory and does divine works. (Small Catechism, Third Article, Questions # 154-155)

“What is the special divine work of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit calls us by the Gospel to faith in Jesus Christ; through water and the Word. We need the work of the Holy Spirit, because nobody can come to faith in Christ on their own strength or will or decision. The Apostle Paul writes repeatedly that we “were dead in trespasses and sins … children of wrath like the rest of mankind”. (Ephesians 2:1, 3) “The natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him”. (1st Corinthians 2:14a) 

That is why the Holy Spirit must draw people to faith in Christ through the Gospel; “which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”. (Romans 1:16a) By this Gospel, the Word of Christ; the Holy Spirit has enlightened us with His gifts, us and sanctifies and keeps us in the one true faith. And “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ”. (Romans 10:17) 

Any so called “spirit” that would try to keep us from hearing this Word or who openly contradicts it, as many of our churches do today, is of the devil. As Jesus said, “whoever does not love Me, does not keep My Word; for the Word that you hear is not My Word, but the Father’s who sent Me”. (John 14:24) To reject the Word of God, which testifies of the only Savior of the world; is to reject Christ Himself who has died to atone for the sins of the world and was raised bodily on the third day. To reject the Word of God is also to reject the Holy Spirt as Stephen declared, “you always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51b).

The Holy Spirit, who desires to draw all people to faith, points us to the saving work of Christ on the cross and to the means by which we receive His grace; through Word and Sacrament. He enlightens their/our dead, stony hearts and blinded eyes to recognize and believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin, death, and the devil. The Holy Spirit gathers all believers into one holy Christian and apostolic church; the communion of saints; the body of Christ. 

As Luther said, “neither you nor I could know anything about Christ, or believe in Him and receive Him as Lord, unless these were offered and bestowed upon our hearts through the preaching of the Gospel by the Holy Spirit “. (Large Catechism, Third Article, par. 38) The Spirit does this through the Christian church; the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting; through the “word of God, which the Holy Spirit reveals and proclaims, through which He illuminates and inflames our hearts, so that they grasp and accept it, cling to it and persevere in it”. (Par. 42) For, “the word of God … is at work in you believers”. (1st Thessalonians 2:13) 

The Holy Spirit also sanctifies us; He makes us holy. The Spirit does this first by bringing us to saving faith in Christ, since we cannot do a single holy work in God’s sight apart from faith in the Gospel. The writer of Hebrews declared, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God”. (Hebrews 11:6) And Jesus’ words, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing”. (John 15:5b) 

After we come to faith, the Spirit directs and empowers the Christian to lead a godly, pious life. This too is accomplished by the receiving of God’s gifts in Word and Sacrament, causing us to strive to overcome sin and do good works in our lives. “For, we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”. (Ephesians 2:10) So, we regularly confess our sins and pray “create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). 

Finally, the Holy Spirit’s work is evident in the Divine Service, the Liturgy. In the invocation, the Holy Spirit reminds us of our baptism into Christ, in which our “old self was crucified with Him” and by which we are raised to new life in Christ. The Spirit also works through the Word of Law and Gospel, which is proclaimed beginning with the Confession and Absolution, through the Scripture readings and sermon, creating contrition and repentance, forgiveness of sins and faith in the crucified and resurrected Savior Jesus; so that we boldly confess the Creeds and confidently offer our prayers to our Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Then in the Lord’s Supper, we receive from the Holy Spirit, pardon and peace and forgiveness of sins; strengthening of our faith towards God and love for neighbor. Finally in the Benediction, the Lord pronounces His blessing upon us as we leave this place. 

Throughout the Divine Service, we may have a variety of feelings and emotions, but this does not change the reality of what is going on. The Holy Spirit is here; present among us, working where He has promised to be; giving us His divine gifts in the Word and Sacrament; that we may “depart in peace, according to His Word”. (Luke 2:29b) Amen.

The peace of God …