Cantate, the 4th Sunday after Easter + John 16:5-15

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!

In today’s gospel lesson Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Comforter, to His disciples. Forty days after His resurrection He will ascend into heaven and go to His Father. Ten days after that He will fulfill today’s promise by sending the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells them this to console them and teach them what the Helper, the Comforter, will do. Jesus says, “When He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

But before the Comforter can comfort, He must convict and rebuke. First He will convict the world of sin. This is necessary because the world cannot recognize its own sinful state. Everyone is born having original sin. All men have this defect in their nature so that they don’t truly fear, love, and trust in God. Everyone is born with the desire to sin. Moses describes the heart of men in Genesis 6:5 by saying, “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Everyone is born with this defect and that makes it impossible to diagnose in oneself. You can’t look at your heart and see how sinful it is. You have to be told that from someone on outside of yourself. This is what the Holy Spirit will do. He will convict the world of sin. St. Paul says in Romans 7:7, “I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.” The Holy Spirit uses the Law to convict sinners of their sins, to show them God’s will, which exists outside of themselves, and condemn them since their thoughts, words, deeds, and imaginations go against His will.

Jesus adds, “because they do not believe in me.” This is the chief sin of the world and all that are in it. Humanity does not believe in Christ as the Savior from sin. The Son of God became man in order to die for the sins of the world, paying for each of them, rendering to God the Father perfect satisfaction for all sins, so that “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But the world refuses to believe in Him, so the world remains in its sin, as the He says in John 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Through the Law, the Spirit convicts sinners of their sin and unbelief so that they might repent, flee to Christ for mercy, and be forgiven all their sins.

The Holy Spirit will also convict the world “of righteousness,” Jesus says, “because I go to My Father and you see me no more.” The Spirit must convict the world that its righteousness is as filthy rags as the Prophet tells us. The world has its own standard of righteousness. If you want the world to call you righteous and sing its praises, you must tolerate aberrant behavior and refuse to judge anyone on the standard of God’s Word. If you want the world to call you righteous and upstanding you must believe abortion is a right, that transgenderism is normal, and that man is wantonly killing the planet. To speak against any of these things, or the world’s many other sinful ideas, is to have the world heap its ire and condemnation on you. The world says, “Believe these doctrines of ours and you will have a good life.” But the Spirit convicts this false righteousness and shows the only true righteousness that avails before God: the righteousness of faith in Christ. Christ earned a perfect righteousness by His perfect life and innocent, bitter sufferings and death upon the cross. The Spirit shows that faith in Christ is the only true righteousness in God’s sight.

The Holy Spirit will also convict the world “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” The ruler of this world is the Devil. He is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The Holy Spirit will convict the world for following the devil’s temptations and leadings. If the ruler of this world is judged, then everything the world upholds as virtuous and true is judged as well. If Christ has judged the devil, then men should fear the return of Christ and the final judgment, and this fear should lead them to repentance and seeking mercy from Christ as He has promised. The Holy Spirit’s work is one of conviction and rebuke. By the Law He shows them that their sins condemn them, that their righteousness falls terribly short of the glory of God, and that their ruler, with all his promises of pleasure is judged by the true Judge who will return to judge the quick and the dead.

This is not all the Holy Spirit will do though. He must convict and rebuke before He can comfort. Throngs of people refuse to hear God’s Word because it convicts them of their sin, their unbelief, their self-righteousness, and worldliness, thinking that we speak too much about sin. But that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Truth and He speaks the Word of Truth. He must convict and rebuke sinners so that they repent of their sin, their unbelief, their self-righteousness, and their worldliness. And when sinners are convicted in their hearts and feel His judgment, then the Spirit speaks a different word to them. Jesus says, “He will glorify me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.” What are the things of Jesus? The forgiveness of sins which He earns upon the cross. The perfect righteousness He earns by living a perfect life under God’s Law, fulfilling it outwardly by action and inwardly in the heart, truly fearing, loving, and trusting in the Father above all things. These are the things of Jesus that the Spirit declares to you and all who repent of their sins and want to be rid of them. The Spirit applies Christ’s atonement to you when you believe the gospel that God will forgive the sins of all who believe in Christ. The Spirit applies Christ’s righteousness to you when you believe that all that He did He did for you and your salvation. The world is judged, but “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). These are the things of Jesus that the Spirit declares to you to comfort you.

He also helps you in this life, giving you a new heart, so that you might daily grow into the Collect we prayed earlier. “Grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest and desire what Thou dost promise.” The Spirit is our Helper, teaching us to love what God commands, so that each day we seek to walk according the Law since the Law is God’s will for us. He helps us to love our neighbor as ourselves even as He helps us grow in fear, love, and trust towards God each day. The Spirit is our Helper, giving us new hearts that desire the things that God promises to give to His dear children instead of sinful pleasures and worldly goods. He guides us into all truth, which is Christ Himself, for He is the way, the truth, and the life. As often as you the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sins, the unbelief hiding in your heart, your desire for self-righteousness, and your worldliness, repent. Then flee to the Gospel where He declares to you the things of Christ so that you might, by faith in Him, receive the forgiveness of your sins, Christ’s perfect righteousness, and escape the judgment of the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh. The church does talk about sin a lot. But only because it’s the work of Holy Spirit, who wants to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, so that by faith in Christ we might have the things of Christ.

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!