5th Sunday of Easter – April 28th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: John 16:5–15
“The Work of the Holy Spirit”
Theme: The Holy Spirit works in our heart to convict us of sin and to deliver to us the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Holy Spirit is perhaps one of the most misunderstood persons of the Holy Trinity. Most Christians have a standard understanding of the Father and of the Son. The Father’s primary activity is creation, and he continues to uphold the earth by his power. He sent his Son to reconcile us sinners to him, and his Son took on human flesh.
But where does the Holy Spirit fit in the work of the church? What does the Holy Spirit do? These are common questions that continue to divide church bodies to this day.
One thing that worries me is that sometimes people confuse the Holy Spirit with His effects. Here’s what I mean: how do you know that you have the Holy Spirit? Perhaps most famously, Pentecostals and charismatics demonstrate that they have the Holy Spirit by the speaking in tongues and miraculous healings and ecstatic experiences, even rolling around on the floor. Less charismatic Protestants may point to the good feelings in their hearts as a sign of the Holy Spirit.
It is true that we can point to the gifts or fruits of the Holy Spirit from Galatians 5, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (22–23). I think, though, that the last on that list, self-control, would cause us to disagree with the Pentecostals on a few of their crazier expressions.
But what if I were to tell you that sometimes the Holy Spirit makes you feel bad? Do you have that in the list of the works of the Holy Spirit? It’s true though, and here is where we must recognize the all-encompassing work of the Holy Spirit to bring you to salvation: The Holy Spirit works in our heart to convict us of sin and to deliver to us the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Before we get to the convicting of sin, in our Gospel reading, Jesus is talking about sending the Holy Spirit. He uses two words, “Paraclete” or “Helper” and “the Spirit of truth.” Jesus begins by saying that He must go away, and that it is to our advantage that He goes away, for then He will send the Holy Spirit. This means that if Jesus stayed on earth, the church would be connected to his local presence. We would be almost required to be where Jesus is. Even today, many religions have holy places that you are basically required to visit. The Jews have Jerusalem, the Muslims have Mecca, and so forth. We as Christians might recognize the Holy Land as the place where Jesus walked, and it might be wonderful to go there, but we don’t have a religious compunction to do so. Your faith is not lessened by staying in Kansas.
This is because you have God and are connected to Him regardless of where you are.
Jesus wants you to know a few things about the work of the Holy Spirit. He says, “when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (8). Here’s what I mean about the Holy Spirit making you feel bad by convicting you of sin. It’s an important work of the Holy Spirit. This is the first tool in His toolbelt, so to speak.
We were born sinful, and we still have a sinful nature clinging to us. We don’t do or say or think everything that we should. We need the Holy Spirit to remind us of our sin by pointing it out to us. The Holy Spirit pricks our conscience by saying, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
It feels bad in the moment, especially if someone else is calling you out for your sin. Whether it is your parent or your spouse or friend, none of us like having our sin exposed. Your stomach drops and you get ashamed or embarrassed, because there’s a part of you that knows they’re right. Now, this conviction is a work of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because if you continue on that path of sin in pride, it will lead you away from Jesus and away from God.
Imagine there is someone who loves speeding on the highway. They are not just going seven over, but fifteen, twenty, or more. They love the thrill of it. Ideally, a police officer pulling them over would be convicting to them that they are doing something wrong. But if they ignore those warnings, it is possible that eventually they get into a car accident and hurt themselves and/or others. This is the same with every sin. Go through the commandments. The 3rd about coming to church, the 4th about honoring your parents, the 5th about murder or hurting people in their bodies, the 6th about sexuality, and so on. If you are not convicted of these sins, they each lead to their own kind of destruction.
But when we are convicted and repent of our wrong, the Holy Spirit does indeed give us righteousness. This is what it means in our text when he convicts “concerning righteousness” (10). This righteousness is not a righteousness found in ourselves, as if we could overturn all the speeding tickets that we’ve acquired by simply driving the speed limit for the rest of our life. No, we must receive the righteousness of Jesus who wipes away those convictions.
Paul says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4) and “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).
Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts concerning judgment. Now, this is for two reasons. First, it’s to remind us that the devil, the tempter and accuser, has been judged. Those of us who are in Christ do not need to fear him, even if we need to watch out for him.
The Holy Spirit’s conviction concerning judgment should also be a happy thing for Christians. We know how God will judge those of us who believe in him. That judgment happened on the cross and was given to us in our Baptism. We are judged innocent. We are at peace with God.
This leads me to the last activity of the Holy Spirit: he takes what is Jesus’s and declares it to you (13). One other metaphor for thinking about the Holy Spirit is that of a delivery man or truck driver. These are people who pick up something from a supplier and drops it off at your house. The Holy Spirit picks up the good things that were won on the cross and brings them to you, across space and time. Jesus won these things for us on the cross in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. But the Holy Spirit takes those benefits, declares them to you. He gives you salvation. He gives you everlasting life. He gives you forgiveness. He gives you Christ’s righteousness.
This is how the Holy Spirit works. Does He sometimes create good spiritual feelings in your heart whereby you know that God loves you? Yes. Does He sometimes convict you of sin? Yes. Both of these are necessary for your salvation.
How do you know you have the Holy Spirit? He is the “spirit of truth.” He uses the Holy Scriptures. He uses the Law and the Gospel. He uses preaching and the Sacraments. You know that you have the Holy Spirit because you are baptized and you believe.
The thing is, the Holy Spirit always points to Jesus. If someone talks about having the Holy Spirit, but doesn’t mention Jesus, you know that something is wrong. Ask yourself this: why are they talking about the Holy Spirit? Is it to point to themselves? Is it to point to a great experience they had? Sometimes this is the case.
Rather, we know that we have the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God. This is something outside of us, external to us. But that’s also good. It draws us outside of our sinful thoughts. It gives us assurance in something other than our weak nature.
And, the Holy Spirit will work in our lives. He will bring forth fruit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” The Holy Spirit works in our heart to convict us of sin and to deliver to us the salvation of Jesus Christ.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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