OUR SAVIOR PROMISES THE HOLY SPIRIT
June 8, 2003 - PENTECOST
Today (June 8, 2003) is Pentecost. Pentecost is a festival of the church year, which recalls the fact that on this day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, and the church grew by great numbers.
JOHN 15:26,27; 16:5-11
26"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. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Dearest Friends in our Savior’s name:
Chapter 15 of the Gospel of John is about the vine and the branches. There the Lord Jesus reminds His disciples of their close connection with each other. Jesus reminds the disciples of this close connection because as He finishes up this chapter, Jesus also tells them that He is going to leave them. He will be gone from their presence, and He is trying to prepare them before that time. Even though Jesus would physically leave, there are greater things yet to come. Paul wrote in Galatians reminding us of the Savior’s work in the Holy Spirit’s work: "He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit"(GALATIANS 3:14). This verse is actually speaking about God redeeming us through His Son by his promised Holy Spirit.
The Lord leaves His disciples, but doesn’t leave them alone. Instead we are told our Savior promises the Holy Spirit in our text. This is the theme for today—
OUR SAVIOR PROMISES THE HOLY SPIRIT
I. We see that the Holy Spirit convicts.
II. We see how our Holy Spirit comforts.
Now, our text told us about the concern that Jesus had for His disciples. He says, 5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, `Where are you going?’ In a sense, it seems strange to Jesus at this time that when He told the disciples that He was leaving, they did not ask where He was going. Generally, they usually did. He says, 6"Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief." They were saddened that Jesus was going to leave yet they did not ask where He was going. Now Jesus goes on to tell them the purpose of His leaving is that the Holy Spirit would come.
Jesus goes on to say, 7"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away." Yes, they have been saddened. They may have been so sad that they did not want to ask where He was going, but He reminds them that it is for their good. He explains, "Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." The Counselor, or as the King James Version says "Comforter," is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus leaves the Holy Spirit would come. We know that forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. He went back to sit at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Ten days after the Ascension or fifty days after Easter, the Holy Spirit was poured out on His disciples. Pentecost means "fifty."
Jesus tells them what the Holy Spirit is going to do. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me." There are those who fail to believe; they would be convicted of their guilt. You may recall on that Pentecost Sunday (in today’s second lesson -- Acts 2:1-21) that when the disciples were speaking in different tongues, many of the crowd made fun of the disciples. The leaders said that they had too much wine. They were convicted in their unbelief, weren’t they?
It also reminds us of the time when Peter preached to the crowd soon after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. He reminded the crowd that the Savior of the world had been born and lived among them. They were also the ones who had put the Author of creation to death. They were convicted of their sin. "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ’Brothers, what shall we do?’"(ACTS 2:17). Their guilt convicted them of their sin of putting Jesus, the Author of life, to death. "What shall we do?"
Even the disciples, at times were convicted not of their sin or guilt, but their unbelief. This is another conviction the Holy Spirit is going to carry out--against unbelief! Jesus told the disciples it would be easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man get into heaven. "The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ’Who then can be saved?’"(MARK 10:26). Convicted. The Holy Spirit convicted the crowd first of all for the guilt of their sin of putting Jesus to death. Secondly the Holy Spirit convicted the disciples for the lack of belief and understanding. In the same ways the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins—in thoughts, words, and deeds.
It is only through the gift of the Holy Spirit we can understand and believe and confess what we know in our hearts. Paul writes in Corinthians and reminds us: "Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ’Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ’Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit"(1 CORINTHIANS 12:3). Scripture again clearly reminds today that it is neither by our own doing nor by our own efforts that can cause us to believe. It is a free gift of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s gift of grace. The gift of the Holy Spirit is faith, faith to see and believe that Christ does redeem us from the conviction of our sin and guilt or unbelief.
So our Savior promises to send the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin and of truth, we could say; then when we see our sin.
II. It is the Holy Spirit who also comforts.
God’s Holy Spirit comforts the believer. Now certainly this would be a sad place and the disciples realized it would be a sad place indeed if they knew only about sin and nothing else. Then they would only be left to feel guilty for sin or guilty for unbelief. Jesus’ description of the Spirit’s purpose continues: 8"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer." He talks here of the righteousness of Christ. Yes, He was leaving. Jesus was going to the Father, but they were not to forget His righteousness, which covered up their sins.
Our text continues: 11"and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." As we look at the life of the disciples, we see they were sorely tested and tempted, not just by the world, but also by Satan. The crowds had robbed the disciples of their life, but still they were encouraged because of Jesus. Satan now stands condemned, the prince of this world. The Holy Spirit would give them that knowledge, the knowledge that they would need to go on in spite of many difficulties, a knowledge of comfort. In the world the gift of the Holy Spirit would be to comfort God’s people.
So we go back to chapter 15: 26"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." We are told that the disciples understood quite a bit, but Jesus said they would understand even more. When Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples were left looking in the sky wondering—what next? Now Jesus said they would understand more. When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, we are told they understood completely. They saw clearly. What a blessing this was for Jesus’ disciples, because the Holy Spirit testified about Jesus. He said, 27"And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." How true, having been given the gift of faith and comfort knowing that their sins were forgiven, they would testify about the grace and the work of Christ the Lord. The comfort that came to them from the Holy Spirit would be a comfort they could give to others. The disciples would comfort those convicted by their with the comfort of forgiveness.
You and I live in this same kind of world today. It seems as if there are only a few believers left. Others talk about goodness and kindness and love, but they don’t understand about sin and grace. They find little to be comforted about. This comfort, which comes to us through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and is ours by faith was known and expected. Listen to Isaiah from the Old Testament: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins"(ISAIAH 40:1,2). The Lord says to Isaiah, "Comfort my people, because they receive double for their sins.” Not double punishment. They would receive double in the fact that there is first forgiveness and secondly comfort.
They receive forgiveness instead of punishment. How did that come about? How do we receive the Lord’s forgiveness? It is very simple. In Ephesians 1 we read: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding"(EPHESIANS 1:7,8). There is no greater comfort than that to know that our sins are forgiven. But in order to receive any comfort of all, we first of all have to admit and see our sinfulness, don’t we? It is the Holy Spirit that gives us faith to see that we cannot stand on our own merits or worthiness. Instead of standing before God condemned in our sinfulness we are forgiven through the precious blood of Jesus. We do not stand condemned any longer because also by faith we know that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
What did Jesus tell His disciples as He tells us? He says, 27"And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." We must testify the great things that have been shown to us. Listen to the Lord’s commission from the Gospel of Luke: "And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things"(LUKE 24:47,48). We know that the message has gone farther than Jerusalem, hasn’t it? It almost has reached to the ends of the earth because of disciples because of you and me.
Our Savior promises the Holy Spirit, and we look forward to being strengthened in our faith. Because as the Lord promised the Holy Spirit which came from above is a gift. There are very few gifts that you and I do not accept, a very few gifts that we do not look forward to. The simple gift that the Lord promises is that the Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin; and as we look at our sinfulness, we will also see the Holy Spirit comforts us with the knowledge of salvation. The Apostle Paul put it very simply and very clearly in Romans 6 when he says: "For the wages of sin is death (we are convicted), but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"(ROMANS 6:23). We are comforted, because our Savior promises the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
