Pentecost Sunday – June 12, 2011

“I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” With those words Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, explained the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed for the people of Germany in the 1500’s. To this day they still serve as an excellent explanation of what the Holy Spirit does. But I wonder, apart from the words of Luther, could we give any Bible passages that describe the work of the Holy Spirit?

There are, of course, many. In 1 Corinthians 12:3 the Lord speaks to us through Paul and says, “I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus be cursed,’ and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). We might think of Titus 3:5, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” The words before us this morning also serve to tell us about the work of the Holy Spirit. It teaches us that the Holy Spirit convicts people in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. Listen to the words of our Savior from John 16:

John 16:5-11 - ⁵ “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷ But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰ in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

These words of Jesus were spoken on the very first Maundy Thursday – the day before Jesus’ death. And although we often limit the events of Maundy Thursday to the institution of Holy Communion, many things took place that night. In fact, six chapters in the gospel of John alone are dedicated to conversations Jesus had with his disciples. And one main topic of those conversations was that Jesus was going to be with them only a little while longer. This, of course, caused a gloomy sadness among the disciples. So Jesus needed to redirect their attention to where he was going and why. He was going back to the One who sent him, and he was going for their good. He had to go so that he could send the Holy Spirit. The Counselor spoken of in our text.

These words still speak to us today saying, “There is no need to be troubled that Christ has gone to the Father, so that we do not see him. In fact, we can be happy about it. For his passing through death and by his resurrection he has taken away our sin, won for us a true righteousness, and overcome the devil. And from his seat at the Father’s right hand he sends the Holy Spirit to do the work of guiding us into all truth.”

Part of that work is convicting the world in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Jesus. By nature, no one considers their wrong-doing to be rebellion against God. Sure, the conscience of a person may lead them to admit to failures or mistakes or even being less virtuous than others, but they will not admit that these sins make them guilty before God.

By nature, you and I were no different. We did not believe in Jesus. We were unbelievers! And unbelief is the one sin that brings all other sins back to the sinner again. You see, God sent Jesus into this world to pay the penalty for all sin. For the sins of the young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick. To atone for the sins of Adam and Eve, Mary and Martha, me and you. But if a person does not believe in Jesus, they reject the only thing that takes away sin: God’s Son.

So a person needs to be convicted of their sin and unbelief. They need to be convinced that it is wrong not to believe in Jesus. They need it to be made known to them that they are guilty before God. They need to be shown their desperate need for salvation.

Praise be to God the Holy Spirit, for this is exactly what he has done for you and me. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has convicted us of our sin and convinced us that it is wrong not to believe in Jesus. He convicted us of our desperate plight and shows us our stubborn refusal to admit the guilt of our sin and need for salvation. For no one knows the sin of unbelief except by the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment.

This is a tremendous miracle! It is a truly blessed and remarkable gift that the Holy Spirit has bruised our hearts and humbled us in repentance so we do not lose the forgiveness Jesus won. And we still need him to do this today because at times we still try to shift the blame or convince ourselves that our sins do not make us guilty before God. But if we do that, we refuse to believe what the Spirit says and begin wandering back to the way were by nature, thinking we need no Savior and not believing in Jesus. So daily let us pray, help us Holy Spirit! Speak to us unceasingly and show us the awful sin of unbelief.

Next our Savior says the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world in regard to righteousness, because Jesus went to the Father. Now, the world’s idea of righteousness is very different from God’s. Those who have no savior from sin try to earn God’s favor, if they can, by their own works of righteousness. But the righteousness the Lord demands is not some do-your-best righteousness. It isn’t some try-to-be-better than others righteousness. The righteousness the Lord demands is a righteousness equal to the perfection of the Father. And no mere human being can claim that righteousness for themselves since Adam’s fall into sin.

Once again by nature, you and I are no different. We thought that the way we lived, what we said and how we acted could make us right with God. Because of the sinful nature with which we were born, we thought God could be bought off by a little “good thing” here or a little “good thing” there. But such thinking only drives a person away from God.

So, what a person needs is to be convicted of the righteousness that is spoken of here - the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God. That happens only when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of the hollowness of their own righteousness. It only happens when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of the futility of trying to establish one’s own perfection. It only happens when the Holy Spirit convinces a person that the only righteousness truly pleasing to God is the true righteousness of Christ.

Praise be to God the Holy Spirit, for this is exactly what he has done for you and me. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has convinced us that our works are as filthy rags and count for nothing when it comes to our salvation. He convinced us that we have no reason to boast in any particular work we have done as earning God’s saving favor. Instead, he has convinced us to look completely outside of ourselves to the righteousness of Christ that is ours by faith.

This is a tremendous miracle! It is a truly blessed and remarkable gift that the Holy Spirit has convinced us that Jesus lived the perfect life for us. That he followed the Father’s plan for our salvation to the letter. That he returned to the Father to give proof that it is true. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “because I am going to the Father.” Now each person who believes in Jesus is robed in his righteousness. The Father counts the Son’s perfect life as ours because all has been fulfilled in him. And we still need him to do this today because even now we must fight those sinful, hellish thoughts that God is somehow more favorably disposed toward us because of our works. Our works are worth nothing before God when it comes to our righteousness. So daily let us pray, help us Holy Spirit! Speak to us unceasingly and show us the perfect righteousness of grace.

Finally, our Savior says that the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. And what judgment is Jesus referring to with these words? It is the judgment of Satan that took place with his death on the cross.

That is tremendous news for you and me. You see, by nature we are children of the devil. Even more than that, we were slaves of the devil. We were lost in unbelief, trying to make ourselves righteous by our own works, and walking the path to hell. That’s what Paul was talking about when he wrote to the Ephesians saying, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

So, what a person needs is to be convinced that Satan has lost his power over them. That happens only when the Holy Spirit opens their hearts and eyes to see that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan has been defeated. That happens only when the Holy Spirit convinces them that God placed his own innocent Son on the cross and judged him guilty of the world’s sins.

Praise be to God the Holy Spirit, this is exactly what he has done for you and me. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has convinced us that Satan no longer controls us. That we are no longer his children, but are now children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has convinced us that our sins no longer condemn us, for Christ has paid for them all. Satan can no longer accuse us, for the righteousness of Christ speaks on our behalf.

This is a tremendous miracle! It is a truly blessed and remarkable gift, and we still need it today, for Satan still seeks to regain his control over us. He entices us by saying, “God doesn’t really punish evil, go ahead and do whatever you want.” He whispers in our ears and says, “You can’t be God’s child, look at what you do.” But we have Jesus own words, “the prince of this world stands condemned.” There’s no reason to listen to him. He’s lost; he’s judged; he’s defeated; Christ won; and so all those in Christ have won as well! So let us daily pray, help us Holy Spirit! Speak to us unceasingly and courageous in our struggle against the condemned prince of this world.

On this festival of Pentecost we celebrate the gift and work of the Holy Spirit – and rightfully so. We would not know or believe the truths of Jesus Christ if the Holy Spirit had not convicted us of sin, righteousness and judgment. Only when the Holy Spirit works on us lost sinners through God’s Word that we are convicted of the folly and evil of unbelief; only then do we confess that on our own we cannot measure up to the righteousness God demands; only then do we realize that we are under condemnation because we belonged to the devil. The only person who can rescue us from such a horrible situation is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But there can be no conversion without conviction, and there can be no conviction apart from the Holy Spirit. Dear Christian friends, rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit. Amen.