Pentecost Sunday
May 15, 2016
John 15:26, 27
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
For hundreds upon hundreds of years God’s Old Testament Messianic Church gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate three glorious festivals— festivals which emphasized what the Lord God had graciously done for His people. First, they gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread— the highlight of which was the Passover meal. This festival celebrated the deliverance of God’s people from slavery in the land of Egypt. Then they gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks (also known as Pentecost). This festival celebrated the wheat harvest. And every year God’s people gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles which not only memorialized the journey of God’s people as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, but it also celebrated the fall harvest.
For hundreds upon hundreds of years God’s New Testament Christian Church has gathered together to celebrate three glorious festivals—festivals which emphasize what the Lord God has done for us, His people. First we gather together to celebrate the Festival of Christmas which celebrates how the true Son of God being born into this world as the true Son of Man to save us from our slavery to sin, death and the devil. Then we come together to celebrate the Festival of Easter which celebrates how Jesus physically rose from the dead as the Victor over sin, death and the devil, a victory that He now shares with us. And finally the third great festival that we celebrate as New Testament Christians is— Pentecost. The Festival of Pentecost gives us an opportunity to celebrate the “birthday” of the New Testament Christian Church as we remember how Jesus fulfilled His promise to His disciples to send them the gift of the Holy Spirit. (See John 14:16, 17)
Today, my friends, as you and I gather together here in God’s house to celebrate the Festival of Pentecost let’s rejoice in the gift of the Holy Spirit that our risen and ascended Lord continues to give to us, His disciples today. As we Celebrate the Holy Spirit let’s see how these two verses of Scripture empower us to celebrate who the Holy Spirit is and to celebrate what the Holy Spirit does.
Who is the Holy Spirit? Our first reaction to that question would probably be, “The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity— God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.” While that is 100% true our dear Lord Jesus gives us a far more “personal” answer to that question. Look at what He says, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father….” Here in just this one verse Jesus gives us two amazing answers to the question— Who is the Holy Spirit? Both of those answers give us a reason to celebrate!
First, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is our “Counselor.” The Greek word which is translated here as “Counselor” is the word “parakletos.” It can also be translated as “helper, intercessor, advocate, paraklete.” In the Greek culture a “parakletos” was a legal assistant in court. He was someone who didn’t just “put in a good word” for the accused, but he actively helped the accused. This word is found only five times in the New Testament Scriptures and it is used only by the apostle John. In 1 John 2:1 John uses this word in reference to Jesus. The other four times (John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7) John uses this word in reference to God the Holy Spirit.
John’s use of this word on the pages of holy Scripture gives all of Jesus’ disciples a tremendous reason to celebrate, my friends! For the disciples there in the Upper Room with Jesus they celebrated the fact that as their “Counselor” the Holy Spirit not only taught them “all things,” but He also “reminded” them of “everything” Jesus had said to them! (See John 14:26) For us, Jesus’ disciples today, we rejoice in knowing that when we read the Scriptures we are indeed reading the very words that God the Holy Spirit “inspired” these men to write! (See 1 Peter 1:20, 21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). This means that when we find ourselves in a situation that is so overwhelming that we don’t even know how to take it to the Lord in prayer, we know that our “Counselor,” our “Helper,” “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (Romans 8:26). This means that when we fall into the trap of sin, a trap that Satan has set for us, we not only have our Brother Jesus on one side of us, the One whom John says “speaks to the Father in our defense” (1 John 2:1), but on the other side of us we have “another Counselor” (John 14:16) to help us and to defend us and to strengthen us. Wonderful reasons to celebrate who the Holy Spirit is!
Our dear Lord then goes on to tell us that the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth.” We live in a day and age when people are desperately trying to convince us that “truth” is relative. In other words, what may be “true” for me may not necessarily be “true” for you and vice versa. While that may indeed be “true” it is only “true” when it comes to the things of this world! For example: Is it “true” that you shouldn’t eat so much butter and eggs? (Petaluma, California is widely known for its annual Butter and Egg Festival) Is it “true” that Governor Snyder knowingly poisoned the entire city of Flint, Michigan? Is it true that the Obama administration went to great lengths to put a “spin” on the Iran nuclear deal to make it more “acceptable” to the American people? It all depends on who you ask, doesn’t it!
As the “Spirit of truth” the Holy Spirit does not change or adjust the “truth” so that it fits with the times or so that it lines up with what we mortal sinful human beings think or want. As the “Spirit of truth” the Holy Spirit proclaims to us the objective unchangeable Truth as we find it right here in the Word that He has given to us!
So ask yourselves, my friends: Do you always rejoice in knowing that God the Holy Spirit is indeed the “Spirit of truth”? Do you always listen to Him as He speaks “the truth” to you— even when He speaks “the truth” concerning your sins— or are you more focused when He speaks “the truth” about other people’s sins? Are there certain portions of the Bible that you consciously avoid because you don’t like what the “Spirit of truth” proclaims on certain things? When you have faithfully shared a truth of Scripture with someone— such as “the truth” concerning Creation or Original Sin, “the truth” concerning heaven and hell, “the truth” concerning Infant Baptism or Close Communion— and they respond by defensively saying, “That’s just your opinion!” do you still boldly stand up to defend “the truth” that the Holy Spirit has recorded here? When someone in your group (your group of friends, family or co-workers) says, “It really doesn’t make any difference which church someone attends as long as they are attending church”— do you tend to stay quiet even though you know that there are churches that change and/or deny portions of what the “Spirit of truth” has given to us here in His holy Word?
We cannot lose sight of the fact that the teachings found here in Scripture have been given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit whom Jesus describes as, “the Spirit of truth.” That focus on who the Holy Spirit is leads us to celebrate! We celebrate the fact that since our God does not change, so also “the truth” which God the Holy Spirit has given to us here in His Word does not change!
Who is the Holy Spirit? He is our “Counselor,” our “Helper,” our “Advocate.” He is the “Spirit of truth” who reveals God’s Truth to us and enables us to understand and accept that this (Hand on the Bible) is Truth! But, what does the Holy Spirit do? Jesus also gives two answers to that question— answers which lead us to celebrate! First of all, Jesus says that the “Spirit of truth…will testify about me.” The primary work of God the Holy Spirit is to point people to Him! (Pointing to the cross) You may not feel saved, you may not feel forgiven, you may not feel victorious, but through God’s holy Word and through God’s holy Sacrament God the Holy Spirit points you to Him (Pointing to the cross) and proclaims “the truth”— through faith in Jesus you are saved! Through faith in Jesus your sins are forgiven! Through faith in Jesus you are victorious!
I find it both ironic and sad that there are churches today who on the one hand claim that they proclaim the “full Gospel” and then on the other hand they say that unless you can speak in tongues (at least once in your life) or unless you can perform miraculous healings or unless you feel saved, you don’t have the Holy Spirit! That’s why their church services very often resemble pep rallies. That’s why their preachers very often look and sound and act like motivational speakers trying to sell you their latest book or their latest step-by-step course on what you have to do in order to become a “better _____”— you fill in the blank.
Do not short-change the “Spirit of truth,” my friends! Do not treat the powerful, soul-saving, life-changing message of the Gospel— as God the Holy Spirit brings it to us through God’s holy Word and God’s holy Sacrament— as though it is in some way “insufficient.” Do not allow anyone to convince you that how you feel is a more accurate barometer of your salvation than what God the Holy Spirit proclaims. Do not gloss over what Jesus says here in our text, “…the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” Let me say it again, the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to keep you focused— focused on Him! (Pointing to the cross)
Once we understand that the primary work of the Holy Spirit is to keep us focused on Jesus and what Jesus has done for us— His life, His death, His resurrection— then it will not be difficult to understand the second reason as to why we celebrate what the Holy Spirit does. Look at what Jesus says to His disciples in the closing verse of our text, “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
Here we see the amazing depth and the unparalleled power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The same disciples who were there in the Upper Room with Jesus, the same disciples who would soon desert Jesus and deny Jesus, the same disciples who were so slow to understand why the true Son of God came into this world as the true Son of Man, the same disciples who on that first Easter Sunday cowered in fear in that locked room instead of anxiously waiting for Jesus outside of His tomb, these very same disciples would become amazing “witnesses” for Jesus “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). How did that tremendous transformation? Through the power of God the Holy Spirit— the power that was poured out on them on that first Pentecost Sunday, the power that led the people in Jerusalem to proclaim, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11)
Here we see the amazing depth and the unparalleled power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You who by nature were born spiritually blind, spiritually dead and spiritually the enemy of God, you who stand alongside of Martin Luther on the rock-solid foundation of Scripture and confess “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him,” (Luther’s Small Catechism, explanation to the Third Article), you have not only been “born again” as a dearly beloved child of the heavenly Father, but you have been entrusted with the most precious privilege on the face of this earth! Yes, you have been called by Christ to be a “witness”— a “witness” for Him! (Pointing to the cross) How do you do this? Do you do this all on your own? Do you use your own logic and your own reasoning, your own strength and your own smarts? Not at all! You simply share “the truth” that God the Holy Spirit has given to you here in the Scriptures and then you step back and let the Holy Spirit do what only the Holy Spirit can do! As Paul told God’s people in Corinth, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants or he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6, 7). That’s the work of God the Holy Spirit!
While the Festival of Pentecost may not receive the same level of emphasis as Christmas and Easter it is indeed the third great festival in the Christian church year because it so clearly and so beautifully emphasizes what the Lord our God has done and is doing for us! My prayer this morning is that the Festival of Pentecost will always indeed lead you to Celebrate the Holy Spirit! Celebrate who the Holy Spirit is! Celebrate what the Holy Spirit does!
To God be the glory!
Amen