“The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit”
John 15:26-16:15

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Pentecost Sunday—May 23, 2021

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The festival of Pentecost, which we celebrate today, actually goes back thousands of years, before the beginnings of Christianity.  The word “Pentecost” means “fiftieth.”  In the Old Testament, Pentecost was a harvest celebration like our Thanksgiving Day, which occurred on the fiftieth day after the Passover.  So, for us it comes seven weeks after Easter.

As today’s Reading from the Book of Acts records, for this Pentecost harvest festival pilgrims would come to Jerusalem from all over the world.  God used this occasion to pour out in a dramatic way the Holy Spirit upon the first Christians, so that these pilgrims could carry the Good News back and help it spread quickly throughout the world.

You are invited to follow along on the last pages of the bulletin as we look today at “The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.”

Point #1) Although we call the Holy Spirit the third Person of the Trinity, that doesn’t mean he’s in third place!

At my late brother-in-law’s government office in downtown Kansas City some years ago a high-level employee resigned on the spot and walked out because when they reorganized the cubicles he didn’t get a window.  We humans always demand to know who’s in charge, what are the lines of authority, who has seniority, what does the organizational flow chart look like?  And so, we often twist the Biblical doctrine of the Holy Trinity into some kind of Holy Hierarchy, with God the Father at the top of the flow chart, God the Son subordinate to him, and, in third place, God the Holy Spirit.

But the Bible teaches, as the Athanasian Creed says, “In this Trinity none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another; but the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal.”  The Holy Trinity is not a hierarchy, of any kind.  God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are due equal worship, honor, glory and praise.

Point #2) The Holy Spirit works only through the Word of God and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

Have you ever gotten out an appliance repairman only to be embarrassed when he discovers the only problem was it wasn’t plugged in?  To have power you’ve got to be plugged into the power source.  Like a two-pronged electrical cord, God has established a two-pronged plug that is the only way to tap into the Holy Spirit’s power: the Word of God and the Sacraments.

Paul says in Titus: “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”  That’s Holy Baptism, “the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”  Peter says in Acts, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children.”

In addition to the Sacraments, you also plug into the Holy Spirit’s power through the Word of God.  As Jesus declared at the Last Supper, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  Peter says, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Point #3) Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives you the gift of faith in Jesus and keeps you in faith.

Paul says in today’s Epistle Reading, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.”  Whenever any person comes to faith in Christ, stays in faith, and dies in faith, it is all the work of the Holy Spirit.

Point #4) Through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit gives you power to live a holy, God-pleasing life.

Paul says in Galatians, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. . .  the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” 

Point #5) The Holy Spirit empowers us with spiritual gifts to use for Christ.

Paul says in today’s Epistle Reading, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. . .  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”  And the greatest gift of the Spirit, which he gives to every Christian, is faith: “For by grace are you saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Point #6) Not everything “spiritual” is really from the Holy Spirit.

Paul says, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” and John says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  When you hear about or experience something “spiritual,” how can you test the spirits, to see whether they are from God?

First of all, Jesus says in today’s Gospel Reading, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.”  So ask yourself, does this supposed “spiritual” thing testify about Jesus?  Does it serve to bring people to faith and keep people in faith in Jesus? 

An example was best-selling book some years ago by a woman who claims to have died, gone to heaven, and then returned to this world.  She says the main thing she learned in heaven was that it doesn’t matter what you believe, all religions lead to heaven.  That experience cannot possibly be from the true, Holy Spirit.  It is either her own delusion or a trick of Satan, masquerading as an angel of light, because it does not serve to testify about Jesus, to bring people to faith and keep people in faith in him.

Jesus tells us another way to test the spirits to see whether they are from God: “If you continue in my Word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  So ask yourself: Does this supposed spiritual manifestation agree with God’s Word?

An example is so-called “speaking in tongues.”  In the Bible, speaking in tongues never means nonsensical, ecstatic utterances.  Jesus actually said, “When you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans.”  In the Bible the word “tongues” is used in the sense of the English tongue, the German tongue, the Spanish tongue, and speaking in tongues means the miraculous ability to speak in other real, recognizable human languages, as at the first Pentecost: “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. . .  Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? . . .  we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  So, speaking in nonsensical, ecstatic utterances is not the work of the Holy Spirit because it does not agree with the example and teaching of the Bible.

There is so much more that could be said about the Holy Spirit.  You are encouraged to look up the additional passages listed on the insert. 

I once had a person say to me, “Our church is different from the Lutheran Church.  In our church we believe in the power of the Spirit.”  The beautiful dove in the window above our altar is a symbol testifying to the world that in this church we do indeed believe in the power of the Spirit.  In fact, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit”—we couldn’t believe without the power of the Spirit!

Today’s Gospel Reading takes place at the Last Supper, the Passover celebration fifty days before Pentecost.  The disciples are sad because Jesus has told them he soon is going away.  He comforts them with the promise of the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”