Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension + John 15:26-16:4

Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

On this Sunday in between Christ’s ascension and Pentecost, our Lord teaches us about the Holy Spirit whom He promised to send. He also tells the apostles, and those who would believe the apostles’ testimony, why they would need the Holy Spirit. He calls the Spirit “the Helper” and “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,” teaching us who the Spirit is His work.

First Christ calls the Spirit “the Helper,” though Helper is a bit weak of a translation. The word Jesus uses is Paraclete, which means comforter, though not like we often think of someone being a comforter. A Paraclete is an advocate, someone who comforts someone when they stand accused before a judge. This is what the Holy Spirit does in the hearts of believers when they are accused of their sins and unworthiness by Satan. In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” Like a prosecutor, the devil lays out our sins. He holds up our sins before our eyes to bring us to despair. At times our own conscience joins in with the devil, for often we feel the accusation of the law in our hearts. It convicts us of our wrongdoing and of countless failures to do the good that God commands. This is why Jesus gives us the Paraclete, our advocate, to bring us to repentance and comfort our hearts. Paul says that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). The Devil wants us to only think of our sins and imagine that because of them we can’t be true children of God. But the Paraclete comforts us by calling to mind the promise of the gospel, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Next Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth.” We heard Jesus say several weeks ago, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Jesus says that when the Devil speaks a lie, “he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). The devil is constantly trying to mislead us into false belief about God. He marshals the world for this cause, so that the entire world speaks nothing except lies whenever it talks about God and Christ, spirituality and salvation. The world teaches the lie that sinners are fine just the way they are, so that salvation doesn’t come from repentance and the remission of sin through faith in Christ, but through living in harmony with nature and being true to yourself. The world preaches the lie that tolerance for sin is the highest form of love, so everyone should be allowed to pursue whatever their hearts desire, no matter how wicked and depraved it may be. The Devil also has the false church on his side, teaching a myriad of false doctrines designed to lead Christ’s sheep away from the Word of God into the opinions and traditions of men. The false church has all the external trappings of church, it looks like church, has outward good works, and even speaks in similar language. But it preaches lies. Sometimes blatant, such as that there is no sin and judgment; sometimes subtle, such as that God forgave the sins of the entire world at the resurrection apart from faith. Both extremes sound pious to different ears but both are lies. Against the manifold lies of the devil and false doctrines of the false church, Christ promises the Spirit of Truth who will guide Christians into all truth. He does this by leading Christians to the Scriptures, the Word of truth, the testimony of the Apostles inspired by the Spirit of Truth.

Christ also tells the apostles that this Helper He will send to them is God Himself, the third person of the Blessed Holy Trinity. He is “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father.” The Spirit was not created by the Father. He proceeds from the Father in an ineffable way so that He shares God’s substance yet is eternally subsisting in Himself. As our world slides further into godlessness on the one side, and the Unitarian heresy of Mohammedanism on the other, the confession of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit becomes all the more vital. But Jesus also tells this for our comfort and help. The Advocate whom He sends isn’t a creature like you and me. He is the God the Holy Ghost, the one who hovered over the waters at creation. God created all that is through the Son and Spirit, even as He creates faith in our hearts, which believes in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. The One whom Christ promises is no creature. He is God Himself.

Jesus summaries the work of the Spirit: “He will testify of me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” The Holy Spirit testifies, not only to the hearts of those who believe in Christ, but to the world, and He does so through the testimony of the apostles. Through their preaching and their writings in Holy Scripture, the Holy Ghost continues to testify of Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, who earned forgiveness for the sins of the world and acquired a perfect righteousness that avails for all mankind. The Holy Ghost, through the apostle’s preaching, creates faith in men’s hearts, faith in Christ’s promise, so that He bestows the forgiveness of sins and Christ’s righteousness on all who believe the Gospel. This forgiveness and righteousness is the gift of God, not to be earned by works, but received by faith.

And it’s for that reason that the apostles, and those throughout the ages who believe their testimony, will need a comforter who is God Himself. The apostolic testimony will be heard by many but believed by few. The world and false church, loving the opinions and traditions of men more than the truth, will do everything in their power to silence the apostles’ testimony and the true doctrine. Jesus says, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me.” And He wasn’t wrong. The apostles were excommunicated from the synagogues. All but one was put to death for the faith by men who sang God’s praises the entire time. This continued through the ages down to our own. To this day, in many lands, Christians are still killed simply because they confess Christ. In our land currently, truth is mocked and ridiculed by the unbelieving world, while larger church bodies that look like church and speak like church teach false doctrine in Christ’s name, leading souls astray. As we have come to know through experience, some even bear the name ‘Lutheran.’

But none of this should surprise us nor should we stumble in the faith because of it. Christ has told us this beforehand so that we not be offended by it. Even more, He has given us the means to stand firm in the true faith against the accusations of the devil, the hatred of the world, and the contempt of the false church. He has given us the Helper, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. And the Paraclete testifies to you continually of Christ; of His sufferings and death to atone for your sins, of His resurrection so that He might give you the gifts earned at the cross and promise you everlasting life, and of your adoption, that no matter what the devil, the world, and false church threaten and accomplish, the Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are sons of God through faith in Christ. That is the Spirit’s testimony in the Gospel for all who believe. Amen.

May the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.