Cantate, The Fourth Sunday
after Easter, 2012
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10
AM Central Time
The Hymn # 199 Jesus Christ is Risen
Today 1:83
The Confession
of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The
Gospel
Glory be to
Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 262 A Mighty
Fortress 1:86
The Holy Spirit Convicts Us of Unbelief
The Communion
Hymn #308 Invited Lord 1:63
The Preface p.
24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #46 On What Has Now Been Sown 1:62
Fourth Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly
Father, who didst through Thy Son promise us Thy Holy Spirit, that He should
convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: We beseech Thee,
enlighten our hearts, that we may confess our sins, through faith in Christ
obtain everlasting righteousness, and in all our trials and temptations retain
this consolation, that Christ is Lord over the devil and death, and all things,
and that He will graciously deliver us out of all our afflictions, and make us
forever partakers of eternal salvation, through the same, Thy Son, Jesus
Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one
true God, world without end. Amen.
KJV James 1:16 Do not err,
my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to
wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive
with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
KJV John 16:5 But now I go
my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6
But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will
send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and
of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say
unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you
things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall
shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore
said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
The Holy Spirit Convicts Us of Unbelief
John 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of
you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
If anyone grieves over
having a lack of insight about the Christian faith, here we have an excellent example
of the disciples believing and yet having a weak and distorted view of Jesus’
will and work.
We can imagine their
misunderstanding. They lived in Roman occupied territory and their religion had
a rich history going back to great kings, the Exodus, and Creation. Their hope,
given the times, would have been in freedom from the Romans. Messiah meant
anointed king, so they expected a religious and military ruler. After a long
period of teaching, where they experienced the joy of being with Jesus, seeing
His miracles, hearing Him and explain His teaching, He was going away.
John 16:6 But because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Sorrow rather than faith has
filled their hearts. We know how grim news can cancel out every other thought.
It is more obvious when we see that in someone else. Fear and dread force out
faith, and faith cancels fear. The Holy Spirit brought this to remembrance in
the writing of John’s Gospel. He taught people from memory for a time, then
committed his Gospel to writing. Because of his closeness to Jesus, as the
disciple Jesus loved, his portrait is especially clear and compelling.
John was the only disciple
to witness the crucifixion. He was one of the first at the tomb.
God allows us times of sorrow
and waiting, anxiety and fear, so we can look back and see that He was at work
all that time. God draws us along
slowly and gives us what we need at the moment. One harsh experience is
training for the next one, which is a bigger challenge. After certain
experiences, the wrath and vengeance of unbelievers is no longer so
threatening, but it takes great contrasts to see how true this is. Perspective
changes with faith and experience.
When someone said how plain
and ordinary his church building was, I said, “Try having nothing. Then it
looks pretty spiffy.” Everything we have in America is fantastic compared to
other countries, even Canada. But we take for granted what we have.
That includes people. We
take individuals for granted because they are always there. Only in retrospect
do we see how valuable they were to us, what blessings they were.
Here the disciples were
thinking, fearing, grieving about losing Jesus, and not really sure what that
meant. This is where their joy turned to sorrow, just like the first-time
mother rejoicing over the baby growing inside her. Then in labor, the joy turns
to sorrow for a moment. And joy returns when the baby is born.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I
tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him
unto you.
Jesus’s words are aimed at strengthening the disciples.
Their ministry had been a local, walking work of evangelism. Commentators often
remark about the influence of Jesus even though He worked for a few years in a
minor part of the Roman Empire, traveling a relatively short distance.
What happened next was the growth of the Christian Church
through the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word. Jesus traveled through
Word and Sacrament throughout the Roman Empire, the rapid growth spurred by
persecution, enhanced by the Roman road system of 55,000 paved roads. (An
accident of history? I think not.) One group of 12 became 500 at the
resurrection and grew from there.
The culture of the Roman Empire changed from thoroughly
pagan to partially Christian. By 313 AD the Emperor Constantine issued an Edict
of Toleration and stopped the persecutions. He moved his capital to
Constantinople (then called Byzantium, now called Istanbul). He made the
Eastern Roman Empire Christian and that survived until 1453 AD. That is
Luther’s point – there was nothing compared to the power and majesty of the
Roman Empire, but the Word knocked it into an ash-heap.
In today’s world, it is expedient to trust in the Word,
because the Holy Spirit will take it places that the organizations of man
cannot approach. A minister may want to stay in one place, remodel his office,
and build up a retirement. His wife may enjoy her friends and her part-time
job. But God can tear them away from that, which causes sorrow, and create a
new situation filled with spiritual joy rather than material security.
The disciples’ clinging to their present happiness should
remind us of ourselves. The Old Adam wants the material realm that can never
last rather than the spiritual that will last. When this happens repeatedly,
the Old Adam is beaten down and the New Man flourishes. One of our great hymn
writers lost everything, time after time, from invasion, caused by Roman
Catholic-Lutheran warfare. He was quite sick with infections beside. Gerhardt
was a prime example of loss and misfortune, because he did not compromise with
falsehood.
We would shake the disciples’ shoulders and say, “Don’t you
see? Jesus will conquer death, rise again, and make you founders of the
Christian Church? The Holy Spirit will make the Gospel international instead of
local.”
And the disciples would say, “And you know better, but you
fret about buildings – we had none. You want to balance the budget – we had
nothing. You talk about us – but you listen to accountants and life-coaches.
You have the same Holy Spirit in the Word, but you trust in demographics and
mission vision statements. We were fallible but you are blinded and do not even
know it.”
The next part is so important that it formed the basis for
all of Luther’s preaching. Many clergy today do not grasp it and even teach
against it. Getting this wrong means getting the Gospel wrong.
Sidebar – this passage is another example of God’s Word
giving us hundreds of examples of the same teaching, but told in various ways,
all in harmony with one another. If someone thinks that one passage can be
pixilated (exaggerated and taught piece-meal, apart from the canon of the
Scriptures, contradicting other parts) he is a fool, liar, and wolf. Starting
from this following passage, anyone can follow justification by faith, from the
First Gospel of Genesis 3:15 to the end of time in the climax of Revelation.
What we have in this One True Religion is justification by faith in teaching,
preaching, and the Sacraments.
God condescends to us in teaching in such plain words and
simple examples that we can grasp with child-like faith. But there are also
passages that need to be understood with perfect clarity. They are difficult
because they war against our nature. They can be understood if we study other
passages with them. But they make us stop and wonder when we see how special
they are. This is one of them.
Lenski:
8) The work of the Paraclete will be twofold. He will direct
his activity toward the world (v. 8–11), and toward the disciples (v. 12–15).
Yet he will do this work as the Paraclete sent to the disciples by Jesus. He
abides permanently in them; and this means that he works through them upon the
world, that they are his instruments. Jesus does not say this in so many words,
it is understood. The best commentary on the work of the Paraclete with the
world is Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. The Paraclete worked through Peter, won
3,000 through his preaching, and convicted the scoffers of their folly. The
same working appears in connection with the trials of the apostles before the
Sanhedrin. None were brought to faith, but the conviction of all by the Spirit,
speaking through the apostles, is evident, Acts 4:8, etc.; 5:29, etc. All this
shows that the Spirit will be a true Paraclete for the disciples, one who will
aid the disciples mightily in the work Jesus had assigned to them in the world.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The
Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing
House, 1961, S. 1080.
John 16:8 And when he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to
my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged.
This is truly important,
because all the work of the Christian Church is summed up in a few verses. The
Holy Spirit works through the Word and Sacraments and never apart from the Word
and Sacraments.
One ministry of the Word is
condemnation, the preaching of the Law. That is described as one thing only –
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, “because they do not believe on
Me.”
The Ten Commandments as Law
are overwhelmed by the importance of one thing alone – not trusting completely
in Christ.
This is where so many
fallacies arise and the Law Salesmen go to town. All the Church Growthers,
Emergent Churches (bar, theater, wrinkled jeans) and Left-wing mainline churches
belong to the Guild of Law-Salesmen. They are full of condemnation by the Law
(their law), which can only be absolved by obeying their law. Thus their law
diagnoses the problem and supplies the medicine. It is like an x-ray showing a
broken bone and the x-ray machine healing the bone (which was tried long ago) –
the result is painful if not fatal.
The apostles preached the
true Law to the crowds in Jerusalem, giving them another chance for salvation.
KJV Acts 3:14 But ye denied
the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we
are witnesses.
The solution is not more Law
(because they repented of their unbelief) but Gospel:
KJV Acts 4:12 Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved.
The foundational sin is
unbelief, but some think the foundational sin is questioning the synod or
pastor (both used to excommunicate members or pastors, even congregations).
Lenski:
The Spirit is not to repeat the work of Moses in preaching
the law. The conviction in regard to sin lies in one direction: “inasmuch as
they do not believe in me.” Yet note that this is the capital sin. For to
believe in Jesus is to be saved from sin, to have sin forgiven; and thus not to
believe in Jesus is to remain in sin, to perish forever in sin. The Spirit’s
work in regard to sin is to confront the world with the terrible fact of its
unbelief in Jesus, which means, with the fact that this unbelief leaves it in
its damnable sin, doomed and damned forever, in other words, that only he who
believes escapes from his sin. This conviction in regard to sin naturally
operates in two ways. It will crush some hearts so that they will be frightened
at their unbelief and cry out like the 3,000 at Pentecost, “Brethren, what
shall we do?” Acts 2:37, and thus be led to repent and to believe. Or it will
further harden those who resist this conviction; they will go on, convicted
though they are, more obdurate than before, fighting against this conviction
until they perish. In this the Spirit will do exactly what Jesus did in 7:33,
etc., and again in 8:22–24: “I said, therefore, unto you that ye shall die in
your sins; for except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
Lenski,
R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN :
Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 1082.
This also means that
believing in Christ is forgiveness. There is no forgiveness, no salvation,
outside of faith in Christ.
For this to be the Gospel
there can be no Law requirements. It is not faith plus works or faith plus some
outward signs of adherence and obedience (such as joining a cell group,
speaking in tongues, or picketing the local bank). Faith receives the
blessings, the promises of the Gospel.
This happens each and every
day for the believer, so the strongest medicine against sin and temptation is
realizing this daily forgiveness through faith in the Gospel. That is part of
the Small Catechism but often forgotten or overlooked.
I think it is overlooked
because Pietism (our national religion) never really forgives. Pietism always
blends works with the Gospel and makes people feel guilty about not doing
enough. The Pietistic Lutheran synods flog this guilt repeatedly instead of
motivating with the Gospel. (See my Peter Pan graphic.)
Here is the Small Catechism
on the work of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel:
The Holy Spirit
calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth,
and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church
He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at
the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all
believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.
This is consistent with all
of Luther’s teaching and harmonizes with the Scriptures. Lutherans once taught
this unanimously (Concordia) but now they teach against it with through their
dogma of forgiveness without faith. Now I see “Lutherans” raving that the
Reformer himself taught forgiveness without faith. I am sure you remember that
from confirmation – “Martin Luther began the Reformation by teaching that
everyone is declared forgiven without faith.” I missed that too, and I was
confirmed as an adult.
Believing in Christ brings
the fruit of the Spirit because that Gospel energy must necessarily produce
God-pleasing results in us through abiding in the True Vine (John 15:1-10), the
Word and Sacraments.
Of righteousness, because
I go to my Father
As Luther said, going to the
Father is righteousness because all Christians follow the path of Christ. Going
means dying. Christ was going to die for the sins of the world, so His righteousness
would be distributed (Luther, Book of Concord) by the Holy Spirit in the Means
of Grace. Ultimately, all believers go to the Father, following the path set by
Jesus. We follow “in His steps.”
Following Christ means
bearing the cross, because unbelievers hate the Word of Faith. God’s Word is a
rod that shatters entire empires, but unbelievers are not content with a
spiritual rod. They use real weapons. Nothing is too low or base for them.
But this is the righteousness
of faith, trusting that whatever comes is from sharing the cross of Christ and
benefiting from it.
This passage also condemns
the world’s concept of righteousness, which may mean being vegetarian, never
wearing fur, joining a cell group, or some other law demand mixed in with the
faith. That is why the world responds to faith with such mockery, because there
must always be a gulf between God’s righteousness (the righteousness of faith)
and the world’s righteousness (of works).
Good works in the Christian
will necessarily come from faith. If all the fruits of the Spirit are lacking, someone
should wonder if repentance is also lacking.
and ye see me no more
Although the disciples would
no longer see Christ, He would be with them in the Word and Sacraments.
11 Of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged.
The last phrase reveals
especially that all three can be seen in a negative or positive light,
depending on whether one is believer or not. Perhaps the best word is “convince”
rather than convict.
When everyone is convinced
that unbelief in Christ is the foundational sin, then believers rejoice in
justification by faith while unbelievers respond with wrath and blindness.
When everyone is convinced
of righteousness, the unbelievers reject that righteousness and substitute
their own, while believers understand completely that righteousness is the path
of Christ, following the way of the cross.
When everyone is convinced
that Satan is judged, believers no longer fear demonic power and unbelievers
cast their lot (quite deliberately) with their Father Below.
Trinitarian Passage
This Gospel lesson ends with
a clear, beautiful Trinitarian passage, naming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
13 Howbeit when he, the
Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not
speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and
he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive
of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath
are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto
you.
The Holy Spirit does not
call attention to Himself, but bears witness to the Father and Son. The Father and
the Son bear the same witness, and the Holy Spirit teaches that truth.
Enthusiasm
This lesson is also important
in combating Enthusiasm in the Church, the notion that the Holy Spirit operates
apart from the Word and Sacraments (Calvin, Zwingli, the pope, and all pagan
religions). Just as unbelief is the foundational sin, divorcing the Holy Spirit
from the Word is foundational for all false doctrine.
The pope and the professors
cannot simply announce doctrine. A convention cannot vote on doctrine. That would
be amusing if it were not completely obnoxious. Everything taught in the Name
of Christ must come from the Holy Spirit’s teaching in the Word.
Pagan religions are simply invented
by man, so there is no Word and no Spirit.
Quotations
[Some people think righteous means doing good works and
reconciling God] "But now comes the Holy Spirit and says: No so. You err
and are mistaken. Your judgment is wrong. Therefore there must be another
judgment. You should judge thus: Everything your reason concludes is erroneous
and false, and you are a fool and a simpleton."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 119. John 16:5-15.
"But now, since the prince of this world and the Holy Spirit,
the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the devil, are directly opposed to one
another, and the Holy Spirit is not willing that anyone should parade his own
deeds and praise himself on account of them, the holy cross must soon follow.
The world will not consent to be reprimanded for its blindness. Therefore one
must willingly submit and suffer persecution. If we have the right kind of
faith in our hearts, we must also open our mouths and confess righteousness and
make known sin. Likewise we must condemn and punish the doings of this world
and make it known that everything it undertakes, is damned."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 120. John 16:5-15.
"However, here the Lord speaks quite differently, and says:
'The Holy Spirit will convict the world in respect of sin, because they believe
not on me.' Unbelief only is mentioned here as sin, and faith is praised as
suppressing and extinguishing the other sins, even the sins in the saints.
Faith is so strong and overpowering that no sin dare put it under any
obligation. Although sins are present in pious and believing persons, they are
not imputed to them, nor shall their sins condemn them."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 127. John 16:5-15.
"Godly and believing persons know their sins; they bear all
their punishment patiently, and are resigned to God's judgment without the
least murmur; therefore, they are punished only bodily, and here in time, and
their pain and suffering have an end. Unbelievers, however, since they are not
conscious of their sins and transgressions, cannot bear God's punishment
patiently, but they resent it and wish their life and works to go unpunished,
yea, uncensured. Hence, their punishment and suffering are in body and soul,
here in time, and last forever beyond this life."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 131. John 16:5-15.
"This is the province of the work, which the Holy
Spirit is to begin in the kingdom of Christ. It is the teaching office of the
apostles, which is to be of such a character that it must convict the world, as
it finds it outside of Christ, and nobody is to be excepted, great, small,
learned, wise, holy, of high or low condition, etc. This means in short, to
bear the world's anger and to begin strife, and to be struck in the mouth for
it. For the world, which rules on earth, will not and cannot endure its course
to be disapproved; therefore persecution must arise, and one party must yield
to the other, the weakest to the stronger. But, as the office of the apostles
is to be only a teaching office, it cannot use world power and the world
retains its external kingdom and power against the apostles. But, on the other
hand, the apostles' office of conviction of the world shall likewise not be
suppressed, because it is the office and work of the Holy Spirit, but shall
overcome all and triumph; as Christ promised to them: 'I will give you a mouth
and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand.' Luke
21:15"
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 136. John 16:5-15.
"It breaks in not piecemeal on certain works and actions, but
reduces to nothing and condemns everything that reason and worldly wisdom
propose. In short, He convicts and censures them in and for the very things
they do not wish to be convicted in, but rather praised and lauded, as teaching
and doing well and right."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 138. John 16:5-15.
"For the heart is ever hostile to the law and resists
it with inward disobedience."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 140. John 16:5-15.
"Therefore the Holy Spirit rightly and justly convicts,
as sinful and condemned, all who have not faith in Christ. For where this is
wanting, other sins in abundance must follow: God is despised and hated, and
the entire first table is treated with disobedience."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 141. John 16:5-15.
"Lo, how the dragon's-tail of the devil and all hell must
follow unbelief! The reason is, that he who does not believe in Christ, has
already turned away from God and quite separated himself from Him."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols.,
III, p. 142. John 16:5-15.
