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Bulletin- Easter 7 Exaudi Service Folder
EASTER-7 Exaudi John 15:26-16:4 ‘THE SPIRIT OF THE SPIRIT’
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
THE “SPIRIT” [& NAMES] OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ: On this (Exaudi) Sunday, we look forward to the coming
of the (Holy) Spirit of Truth, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.
4 NAMES This Spirit is called by a special Name in our
text. In fact, there can be as many as FOUR NAMES for this Spirit of Truth.
Today, we will look at, “What’s in a Name?” when looking at the Holy
Spirit. We will see these [4] Names and four important functions of the
Spirit provides. This is why it is crucial and necessary for Jesus to
promise Him to the disciples and us.
NAME-1: “COMFORTER” In the [New] King James Version, the word
“Comforter” is used to describe the Holy Spirit. He is Someone who sees
your sadness and consoles you. He sympathizes with your grief and gives
you joy instead.
SADNESS TO JOY Of course, we should remember that, for a
Christian, even sadness works for your good. God sends some burdens for
you to carry so that you will be strengthened. The Spirit, the Comforter,
allows you to carry a heavy, painful cross. So the purpose of true spirituality
is not always to make you happier. Sometimes, the true religion of the Spirit
makes you even more sorrowful than ever, because He shows you your
guilt and the punishment you deserve.
SINFUL EMOTIONS But you should learn to not trust your
emotions. They flow from a sin-filled heart. So you cannot make the Spirit of
God a slave to your every feeling. Sometimes, He creates good and
pleasant emotions in you, and gives you joy and peace that you can
actually feel. But you cannot trust those feelings as the foundation for faith,
since it is so easy to mistake false spirituality for true, and false peace for
true.
TRUE COMFORT/ER So what does it really mean that He is your
Comforter? The primary meaning is this: He comforts you in the face of
your greatest sorrow, which is death. Death hangs over your head and can
approach anyone at any time. Worse, this death is deserved, since all men
are sinners who have worked hard to earn that wage. Every action
word and thought produced by your sinful flesh has testified to the fact that
you are not innocent victims of God’s Law.
CROSS COMFORT/ER But the Spirit comforts you by showing you
the One Truth that frees you from death. He shows you, Christ. He shows
you the Cross. He shows you the precious Blood that flowed for you.
He comforts you through His holy Word that tells you that your guilt is
erased. Your punishment has been diverted to Someone else, to the Lamb
of God who took it all in your place.
GREAT COMFORT/ER Now you have eternal life instead of death.
You have the certain hope of perfect happiness in Paradise instead of
unending torment in hell. If that is not comfort, then nothing is. Truly, the
Spirit is a Great Comforter.
NAME-2: “ADVOCATE” In other versions of the Bible, the same word
translated Comforter is instead translated as “Advocate.” An advocate can
mean someone who is willing to stand up publicly to speak out on
your behalf, particularly a defense attorney.
YOU ARE ACCUSED There is a prosecutor who is against you.
The devil is a most clever accuser. He knows all about you. He is familiar
with your crimes since his servants, the demons, have deeply investigated
your life. They have the goods on you.
(BUT,) YOU ARE JUSTIFIED But your Defender is One who is much
stronger and knowledgeable, the Spirit of God. He uses a legal “maneuver”
called justification. To justify someone is to have them declared
innocent. The Spirit has justified you on the basis of the life and death of
Christ. So your Advocate makes the motion to dismiss all charges, and
there’s nothing Satan can do about it.
GOD’S JUSTICE Some people want to say, “Well, you forgot
a step, pastor. The devil casts his vote, and God casts His vote, and then
you cast the deciding vote.” Well, what kind of courtroom would that be?
The judge does not make his verdict and then asks the defendant if he
agrees. God’s verdict is the only one that matters. The Righteous and Holy
Judge needs no help from you.
DECLARED INNOCENT No, He declares you innocent because your
Friend and Advocate, the Spirit of God, stands by your side to plead for
you. He does not plead your good works or your fine intentions or your love
or any quality in you. If He did that, then you would (lose and) be
condemned.
PERFECT ADVOCATE But He pleads Christ for you, and you are
declared innocent. So He is the perfect Advocate for you.
NAME-3: “CONSELOR” The Spirit is also called “Counselor.” A
counselor gives advice and guidance. A counselor untangles the
difficulties of life that you cannot resolve yourself.
UNTANGLES SIN, Of course, the Spirit untangles the greatest
personal dilemma ever. He untangles your sins. By yourself, you could
not solve this problem. You would only try solution after solution. Perhaps
you would enter denial, and decide that you have no problem at all.
Perhaps you would delude yourself into thinking that you had solved the
problem of sin on your own. Perhaps you would sink into despair and
depression over your sin, and so stop fighting against it. What use is there
to struggle against a problem when you cannot win?
WISE COUNSEL/OR But rather than despair, the Spirit of Truth
speaks to you the only true Word of Counsel that can resolve the dilemma
for you. He speaks the Absolution that untangles every sin. He tells you that
you are forgiven for the sake of Christ. He fills your heart with saving faith
that receives the benefits that Christ gives.
WISE…EST This Counselor is the Wisest of all
counselors. No earthly psychiatrist or confidante or advisor could be even
a fraction as wise. Your Counselor does not point you to pithy clichés or
twelve-step programs to solve your sins. He does not give you quick-fix
solutions. He gives you the Truth that is in Christ Jesus. For the Truth is the
Wisdom of God that you see hanging upon the Cross. The Son of God,
tortured for your guilt, is the only Wisdom that can solve your problem of
sin. Only the Wisdom of God in Christ crucified gives you forgiveness.
… So it’s only the Spirit of Truth that can be your Counselor against sin.
NAME-4: “HELPER” But the Spirit is also called your “Helper.” He
also gives you the aid that you need most of all. This is not some casual
help, as if you could do most of the job and He only had to give you a little
assistance. No, you were helpless, and He came to give you all that you
needed.
WHO NEEDS H.S.? Here you might wonder, “Wasn’t it Christ
Who gave me what I need? Why do I need the Spirit?” – It is true that
Christ earned forgiveness by His work in His earthly life. He lived the
perfect life, obeying all of the Commandments all of the time. He even
laid down His life for you, and then took it back up again at the
Resurrection. Christ did everything necessary to earn your salvation.
H.S. “DELIVERYMAN” But the Spirit is the One who actually
delivers the forgiveness. Christ earned the treasure, but the Spirit
brings it to you. He is the One who gives you the gift through Word and
Sacrament and faith. He works in Baptism to deliver the benefits that
Christ earned. He is the One Who pronounces it to you in the (Absolution
of the) Forgiveness of sins. He strengthens your saving faith through
(the preaching of) God’s Holy Word. And He carries you along your way
and life of faith by bringing you Christ’s true Body and Blood in the
Sacrament. If the Spirit did not do this for you, then the work of Christ would
not help you. But the Spirit, your great Helper, has brought the Cross and
the Blood and the Resurrection to you.
NO OTHER HELP/ER Without His help, nothing else would
matter. You would be completely lost. But with the Spirit’s help, you are
the immortal children of God. You are the inheritors of everlasting glory.
That is how much He has helped you. Besides Him, there is no other
Helper.
SUMMARY [4 NAMES] This is the great Spirit of Truth, true God
equal to the Father and Son. This is the One who has done so much for
you: 1. Comforter, 2. Advocate, 3. Counselor, 4. Helper. In Him you
have life, even as you also have life in the Father and the Son. IJ’N, Amen.