“The Spirit Testifies About Jesus”
St. John 15:26-16:4
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. John 15:26 [Jesus said,] But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… I am sure that this is not news to anyone here today, but when we speak about the Holy Spirit, we need to be very careful. Too often Christians get sloppy about speaking of the Holy Spirit. For example, some Christians say, “The Holy Spirit led me to do this,” or “the Holy Spirit led me to do that.” And taken to its illogical extreme it might be concluded from that kind of talk that every decision or every resolution we make MUST therefore be the work of the Holy Spirit.
Does the Holy Spirit lead and guide us? No question about it. Otherwise we are hopeless, for sure. But what does Scripture actually say about the work of the Holy Spirit? What does God’s Word tell us about how the Holy Spirit guides us, and what He is here to do and to say? In the Gospel reading from a couple of weeks ago we heard that the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Jn 16:8). Furthermore, in today’s reading our Lord Jesus reveals for us in even clearer terms what the work of the Holy Spirit is.
Jesus says “[the Holy Spirit] will testify of Me.” Now, this is not Euclidian geometry. When Jesus died, He gave up His Spirit. When Jesus appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room, He breathed on them and gave the His Spirit. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit, therefore, is the Spirit of Jesus!
But sometimes we live as if we don’t really believe this or understand it. It sounds so simple, but time and again we mess up this simple truth from Scripture. By nature we want to believe that our actions are really God’s actions and God working through us. Therefore, if we can convince ourselves that something is from God working through the Holy Spirit, then we can talk ourselves into all kinds of things… and even all kinds of sin.
Perhaps some of you may remember the very popular song, released in 1972, entitled, “If lovin’ you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.” The flip side of that idea is, How can it be wrong if it feels so good? Obviously this language has to do with the sins of the flesh and the Sixth Commandment, but it is more than that. For we live in a culture and society which insists that if something makes you feel good it MUST be right, it MUST be true! And all too often even Christians will run with that concept and take it one illogical step further and say, “Since I feel good about this, it must be from God!”
How many times have you made decisions based on how you feel? Granted, some of them may indeed have been good decisions, but others may have been terrible ones, maybe even carrying with them life-long consequences. This is not simply a worldly thing we see in non-believers. Many Christians fall into this trap, but then cover it up by saying that they prayed about it and it felt good. And then, of course, they decided to go ahead and do what was wrong simply on the basis that it made them feel good; therefore it must have been a decision from God. Thus we see just one of the many inherent dangers of basing some of our decisions on feelings alone.
So how DO we know that something is from God? As tempting as it might be to believe otherwise, not everything we pray for and not everything that we feel good about is necessarily from God. The Scriptures and Christian history are full of examples of people who prayed and ended up not doing the will of God.
That is what Jesus is getting at when He mentions how Christians will be persecuted: “The time is coming,” says our Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel, “that whoever kills you will think that he offers God a service.” Our sinful blindness and lust can lead us to believe that even murder is somehow God’s holy will!
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For example, a woman is considering her options about her pregnancy. She reasons that she must get an abortion for, if she were to raise this child it would have a terrible quality of life. This used to be considered an extreme example, but not anymore, and it points to the kinds of games we play with sin – a game that very often leads us away from Christ and into ourselves. By these types of actions and thought processes we make ourselves out to be God, and then, somehow, we think that this is God’s work.
So how do you know that something is from the Holy Spirit? Well, it really is very simple. The Holy Spirit testifies, or speaks of, Christ. The Holy Spirit always speaks of and points to Christ and His work on the cross for your life and salvation. That is what the Holy Spirit comes to tell you.
And how does the Holy Spirit do this? He does this through His regular means – that is, He does it through the Word of God spoken and preached and read. He does it through water, and He does it through simple bread and wine, which are Christ’s very body and blood. That, dear Christian, is how you know something is from the Holy Spirit. And please do not make the mistake of dismissing God’s means – His Word and Sacraments – as something less than adequate, as something not important, for there is nothing more important, nothing more certain, through which God the Holy Spirit works than these holy and precious things. And anyone who says or teachers otherwise is simply wrong.
And if you would allow yourself the luxury of thinking through this, you realize what an utterly liberating and freeing thing this is. How do we know what is from God? How do we know what God’s will is for our life? We know what is from God based on what God Himself has said in His holy Word. We don’t have to wonder or speculate about God’s will in our life or whether we have the Holy Spirit or whether we need to invite the Holy Spirit into our heart. In God’s means – in God’s Word and His Sacraments – you have certainty.
Perhaps this is easier to see regarding last weekend, Memorial Day weekend. The main point of Memorial Day – all the parades and solemn public services and flag waving – is to remember the sacrifice of those brave men and women who have died in the service of their country. It is good to remember these people and their heroic actions and to learn more and more about what they did. And we do that as we look at pictures and videos, and as we hear recordings, and even watch movies like Pearl Harbor and the like. These things help us to remember.
In a way, this is like the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings to remembrance all that Jesus said and did; that is His work. But even more than that, the Holy Spirit actually brings Jesus to you! The Holy Spirit brings Christ to you. He does so in the words, “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes;” and “this do, in remembrance of Me.” For the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.
Today’s Gospel and Epistle both speak of the trials which Christians face and will yet face. St. Peter says, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s suffering, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
What does this mean? It means that when – not if – WHEN you face trials and tribulations as Christians, you may rejoice because these trials force you to cling to Christ all the more! These trials bring to remembrance Christ’s sufferings and death for you and for your salvation. These trials and sufferings are your link to Jesus along with His Word and Sacraments.
That is why St. Peter says that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, and that is a comfort to you. For the comfort of the Gospel is this: when you suffer for the sake of Christ and for the Gospel, it calls you to remember everything Jesus did for you. And every time you hear Christ’s words of forgiveness, every time you eat His body and drink His blood in His holy Supper, every time the waters of Holy Baptism wash away the sins of a new child of God – every time these things happen, you can know and be certain that the Holy Spirit is here and that He is giving you what really matters in your life.
So, rejoice, dear Christian! Christ your Lord died and rose again in order to pay for all your sins, and He is sending His Holy Spirit to you to testify and show you everything that Christ has done for you!
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
