John 14:25-27 *
Dear Friends in Christ,
Pentecost was originally a major Old Testament Jewish Festival that took place fifty days after Passover. We, however, see Pentecost through New Testament eyes and for Christians today Pentecost marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’ disciples in a newer and richer measure than they had ever experienced before. For that reason, Pentecost is often appropriately called “The Festival of the Holy Spirit.”
Pentecost is also called “The Birthday of the New Testament Church.” Again, a fitting description. Empowered and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, on this day believers began to reach out to the world with the Gospel message. And on that first Pentecost alone we are told that approximately 3000 people came to faith in Christ as Savior.
A third name for Pentecost, but one that has largely fallen out of use, is the term “Whitsunday” (from old English for “White Sunday”) – so named because of an early church tradition of having newly baptized converts to Christianity wearing white baptismal robes on that day…
Whatever we may wish to call it, central to the day of Pentecost is celebrating and contemplating the work of the Holy Spirit. And that is what we will be doing as we now turn to the words of Christ in our text. Here Jesus reminds us of
THE WONDERFUL WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. Who He is 2.
What He does
The words of our text are part of an extensive conversation Jesus had with His disciples on Maundy Thursday evening, shortly before his arrest, trials and eventual crucifixion the next day. John chapters 13-17 is in essence a farewell address filled with instruction, comfort and encouragement for His disciples. In the verses which serve as our text, Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit and the part He does and will play in their – and our – lives.
But before we consider what it is that the Holy Spirit does, let us take up the more basic question of who the Holy Spirit is…
And the answer, of course, is that the Holy Spirit is God. This is what the Bible clearly tells us. A fundamental teaching of the Christian faith is that God is triune – one God, yet three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Note: many of us grew up with the term “Holy Ghost.” Why the change? Two reasons. 1) God’s Word doesn’t change but human language does, and “ghost” has come to mean something spooky and sinister, and 2) “spirit” is really a better translation of the original Greek language of the Bible.]
That the Holy Spirit is true God, equal with the Father and the Son, Scripture leaves no doubt. For example, already in Genesis 1 we are introduced to the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:2 tells how the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters of the unformed earth.
In the Great Commission of our Lord in Matthew 28 we are told to “go and make disciples of all nations.” This we do through instruction and baptizing them in “the name (singular because there is but one God) of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Those three are the one true God.
And if those examples are not clear enough, we can always turn to Acts chapter 5. This is the account of two early church members named Ananias and Sapphira. The Apostle Peter is also involved. Without getting into the details of the story, the point to be made is that Peter uses the terms “Holy Spirit” and “God” interchangeably… because they are one in the same.
So the Holy Spirit is God.
He is the One who, in the words of the Nicene Creed, “proceeds
from the Father and the Son” and, as true God, “in unity with the Father and the
Son is worshipped and glorified.”
Of the three members of the Triune God, however, it is probably safe to say that He is the least known or understood – “the forgotten member of the Trinity” as some have suggested. So let’s move on to take up what it is that He does…
In our text Jesus clues us in to one of the wonderful works of the Holy Spirit when He tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Where do we have a record of what Jesus said? In the Gospels, as well as throughout the Bible. Who reminded the writers of the Bible of what they were to include? God the Holy Spirit. He was the “teacher” and “the reminder.” Behind everything that is written in the Bible, then, is the Holy Spirit…
Which brings us to the vitally important doctrine of Scripture
we call “verbal inspiration.”
Meaning: God the Holy Spirit so
influenced the writers of the Bible that the words and thoughts they put down
in the Bible were not their own, but the very words and thoughts of God. The Apostle Peter put it this way in his
second letter: “Above all you must understand
that no prophecy [declaration] of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own
interpretation [prophet = God’s spokesman in either the Old or New
Testament]. For prophecy [God’s
Word in both Old and New Testament] never had its origin in the will of man, BUT
MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
So it is that we as Christians confess in the Nicene Creed:
“We believe in the Holy Spirit who has spoken through the prophets.”
That’s a pretty mind boggling thought because if it is true (which it is), the personal ramifications are tremendous. Verbal inspiration means that every promise made in Scripture – promises of God to help, forgive, protect, and ultimately save us through the work of Jesus Christ are ultimately trustworthy and true. Verbal inspiration means that God is not the Great Unknown and Unknowable One, but rather just the opposite. We can know of His character, His hatred for sin, His plan to redeem sinners like us, as well as His continuing love for His children, because it has all been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in the Bible. In other words, we are hard-wired to the Creator of the Cosmos. A pretty awesome thought, wouldn’t you say?
But there is even more. After providing us with the Word, the Holy Spirit also gives us the ability to believe the Word. We call this the work of conversion.
To this end, we could call the Holy Spirit the “Faith-Maker.” The Bible tells us that in our natural state (that is, before the Holy Spirit gets His hands on us) we are spiritually blind and dead. On our own we could not choose spiritual life anymore than we chose physical life. That life has to come from outside of us. Just like our Old Testament lesson, we are nothing more than dry bones – until the Spirit of God breathes life into us.
Luther summarizes this whole situation well in his Small Catechism when he writes these words as the explanation to the Third Article: “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel [the Gospel in Word and Sacrament = the Means of Grace], enlightened me with His gifts [the greatest of which is faith], sanctified and kept me in the true faith...” In other words, it is the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability to believe and who is the responsible party for bringing us to faith. He’s the Faith-Maker.
Now if we go on to reason: Well, if the work of bringing people to faith is the job of the Holy Spirit, why doesn’t He do it for everybody? Why some and not others? The answer is: The Bible doesn’t tell us. We leave that up to God. What we do know is that conversion has nothing to do with our personal worthiness (“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” as Paul tells us), but has everything to do with God’s grace. Rather than spending time pondering the imponderables, we simply rejoice in the position that God has called us to as His Children – and we pray, witness and support mission work with the hope that He will also work faith in the hearts of many others.
So it is that we as Christians confess in the Nicene Creed: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life” – spiritual life.
A third and final work of the Holy Spirit which we’ll consider is related to both of the previous facts. Because He is the Inspirer of Scripture and the Faith-Maker, He is also our “Counselor.” This is the name Jesus attaches to the Holy Spirit in our text, and it is indeed an appropriate term.
The word used in the original Greek is “parakletos,” from which we get the English word “paraclete.” We never use this word today, although some of you may remember it from a few Pentecost hymns in our old hymnal. At any rate, the noun “paraclete” comes from a verb which means to urge, encourage, speak words of encouragement, console, comfort, cheer up. Or to put it another way, the Holy Spirit gives us good counsel…
And isn’t that true? Working through the promises that are ours in Word and Sacrament, He counsels us. When we are down, He comforts us with words of encouragement, telling us not to fear because He is there and He loves us with an everlasting love. When we are saddened, He consoles us with the promise that although our troubles are very real, yet from the perspective of eternity they are but light and momentary. When we are frightened by the challenges that are ahead of us, He urges us and encourages us to fight the good fight of faith and go forward in the strength that He provides. And above all else, He reminds us that through Christ we are forgiven – which means the really big stuff has already been taken care of, so we can be confident that He’ll help us with the little stuff as well…
You get the picture. He is our Divine “Counselor” who speaks to us, encourages us, comforts us and urges us on in His Word.
How vitally important, then, that we be in the Word, because
this is where we find God. And as we
find Him and spend time with Him in His Word, the result is peace – the kind
Jesus talks about in the last verse of our text: “Peace
I leave with you; my peace I give you. I
do not give you as the world gives. Do
not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
There is a peace particular only to those who know Christ. It is a strong, lasting and inner kind of peace. It is a confident peace that resides within us regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. It is not peace from trouble, but peace in the midst of trouble.
It is the peace of knowing that though we have and will sin, we are forgiven. Though we have not always conducted ourselves worthy of our high calling, we are nonetheless loved unconditionally. It is the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is a peace to be savored and enjoyed…
And thanks to the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit who has brought us to faith, it is ours.
So on this Festival of Pentecost, we close with these thoughts: As Christians we live daily by the grace of God and in the shadow of Christ’s redeeming cross, but it may have been a while since we’ve contemplated what the Holy Spirit means to us. He means an awful lot. Without Him, we wouldn’t be here. Without Him, we would stumble aimlessly through life without hope and without salvation.
But we have hope and we have salvation. Because God the Holy Spirit has called us to faith and in a very real but unknowable way resides within us.
Therefore, in our prayers tonight let us thank God for His
grace and Christ for our redemption, as well we should. But especially today, let us thank the Holy
Spirit for enabling us to be – and to call ourselves – Christians. Amen.