Sermon for Cantate, 2025

Readings:

• Old Testament: Isaiah 12:1-6

• Epistle: James 1:16-21

• Holy Gospel: John 16:5-15

• Sermon manuscript: download

Sermon:

Sermon based on John 16:5-15 *

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Dearly beloved by the Lord: 

The Easter celebration continues. Four Sundays after Easter, and still the joyous news that Christ Jesus, our Saviour, has arisen from the dead rings in our ears and sounds forth from our lips. Yet even as it does, the Church also sets this Gospel before our ears this day, in which we hear about the impending sending of the Holy Spirit, which, of course, occurs on Pentecost. And the reason why the Church does so, why, in the midst of Easter, we have this particular Gospel, is because this Gospel, and the Gospels for the following two Sundays—in which Christ continues to speak of the coming of the Holy Spirit, tie the great Feast of Easter to the likewise great Feast of Pentecost. For, you see, the Easter celebration continues not just for the Sundays leading up to Pentecost; on the contrary, the Easter celebration continues every Sunday, down through the ages. And that’s all because of Pentecost, which falls on the heels of Easter. For, as you know, Christ’s appearing to His Disciples on several occasions throughout the Easter season did not exactly end on the day of His ascension; His coming to and abiding with them just continued in another mode, in another fashion. For the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity is, in fact, a continuation of Christ’s coming, since He and the Spirit are one God. 

Indeed, that’s what Jesus is getting at here, in this Gospel, when He calls the Spirit the Comforter. 1 Yet, is not Christ Himself the Comforter? Did He not comfort His Disciples by appearing before them on Easter evening, as they huddled in fear, showing them His hands and side? 2 Did He not comfort them again, the following Sunday, when Thomas, who refused to believe their report of seeing the risen Lord, was with them? 3 And did He not also comfort them again, a few weeks later, coming to them and dining with them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, even taking Peter aside and restoring this once-denying Disciple? 4 Indeed, He did. In every post-Easter appearance, He lifted their spirits with the revelation of Himself risen from the dead because He, Christ, is the Comforter. Yet now, He gives this name, Comforter, to the Spirit, whom He and the Father send. 

And this sending of the Holy Spirit—the Comforter began at Pentecost. From that very first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit goes forth throughout the whole world. He comes, not [to] speak on His own authority. On the contrary, He comes to glorify [Christ Jesus], to declare Christ Jesus, crucified and risen, through Christ’s called and sent ones. In other words, the Holy Spirit comes through the Word of Christ—of God, preached and heard. He comes in this way, alone, and in no other way, apart from the Word. 

Even so, at the outset, the Comforter’s reason for coming doesn’t sound very comforting, does it? For Jesus says here, the Spirit comes to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” What’s more, I suspect that when you hear that the Spirit comes to convict the world, and to convict them, first, of sin, you’re likely to think that that means other people, namely, unbelievers. Because, after all, we’re Christians. Furthermore, Jesus says that the world needs to be convicted of sin, “because they do not believe in Me.” And we believe in Him, don’t we? 

We do. Yet if we do, then why do we find ourselves so slow to hear the Word of God? Why are we so quick to let other activities, things, and tasks take precedence? If we are such good Christians, then why do we fret and worry, and find ourselves fearful and troubled so often? Why do we feel the need to take matters into our own hands? And why do we fail so often? Because: even though we are Christians, we are still of the world. We still have that fallen, sinful flesh with which we were born, which is worse—far worse—than any of the sins we actually commit. It’s that sinful nature of yours that wells up within you and causes you to speak out of turn and to think things you shouldn’t think and fret as you shouldn’t and do all manner of sinful things that Christians shouldn’t do. It’s that foul nature that still clings to you, that sinful heart of which you need, perpetually, daily, still to be convicted by the Spirit. 

That’s why the Spirit says these things to you, saying them to you here and now, at this hour, in this place, by this preaching. That’s why we call preaching the Word of God; it’s not the word of man. When the Word of Christ, sounds forth in this place, at this time, and convicts your heart of sin, that is not the work of your preacher, far from it; it’s the work of the Spirit, who is busily, even now, convicting the world, including you, of sin, and leading you again to repentance. 

You need to be led to this point in order—even—to begin to understand the concept of righteousness. For indeed, the Spirit also comes to convict the world of righteousness, and yet He can’t do that until He convicts the world, first, of sin. Only when you are, first, convicted of sin; that is to say, when you’re aware and, again, persuaded that you have nothing in you to make God gracious towards you, then—and only then—are you ready to be convicted with all the world of righteousness. 

For righteousness—true righteousness—is only found in our Lord, Christ Jesus, who, though He Himself knew no sin, yet, for our sakes, [became] sin, that in Him—and only in Him—we might become the righteousness of God. 5 That’s the only righteousness there is; there’s no other: not in the Patriarchs, the Prophets, or the Apostles, and certainly not in you. 6 The only true righteousness, which counts, which God sees as valid, is that of His Son, Christ Jesus, in whom no deceit was found in His mouth, 7 who was wholly obedient to His Father in body, heart, and mind, who loved His Father above all and loved His fellow man unto death. 

That righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, becomes yours when it is received by faith. And the Holy Gospel imparts this wonderful exchange. 8 Christ becomes sin by taking your sin to Himself: that’s why we have mercy and forgiveness; that’s the one side of it. The other side is that, through the Holy Gospel, He gives you His righteousness. His righteousness, which He earned by living a perfect life and by shedding His holy, precious blood, is applied to you, through no merit or worthiness in you. 9 So that you, who find yourself convicted of sin, unworthiness, and shame, now turn and find that God is not ashamed of you. For the Father does not see your unworthiness; instead, He only sees you covered in the righteousness, purity, and holiness of His Son, our Lord, Christ Jesus. All this, the Spirit also drives into your heart as He preaches this Gospel and convinces you that you belong to Him. And because of this, you have the righteousness of God. And so, therefore, are welcomed to participate in the judgment of God, of which the Spirit also preaches. 

What is this judgment? Judgment is something that comes at the end. The Day of Judgment is the Day we call the Last Day, the Day when every soul shall be judged. Even so, we, who have already received Christ’s righteousness, are, likewise, already participants in the judgment. Even today, we may already celebrate the fact that, for us, the judgment has already come. And what is it? It’s an acquittal, it’s freedom, it’s peace, it’s the salvation of God, of which the prophet spoke, “the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He {is} become my salvation.” 10 

So, let us celebrate the feast of eternal righteousness and salvation and judgment, even now, for it’s already won, it’s already ours. Let us feast; let us partake in Christ, here, at the altar: for what we receive are the very Elements by which He won all this for us. Now, He gives them all to us that we may evermore rejoice in and with Him. 

These things, the Spirit preaches to you; of these things, the Spirit convicts your heart. And so, finally, it is the Spirit who drives joy into the depths of your soul, comforting you in the knowledge and confidence that because Christ lives, you shall live; that because Christ is risen from the dead, you also shall rise from the dead. The Spirit sounds forth in the preaching of this Holy Gospel to the end of the world. Therefore, let your rejoicing, likewise, resound unto the very end of the age. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

✠ Soli Deo Gloria ✠

Footnotes:

1. The word Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit here is παράκλητος /pa.ra.klay.tos/, which has been translated in various ways. παράκλητος can mean, “one who is called to someone’s aid,” “advocate,” “comforter,” or “one who appears in another’s behalf, mediator, intercessor, helper.” A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Arndt. William, Frederick W. Danker, Wilbur Gingrich, and Walter Bauer, eds. Chicago: Chicago Press, 2000. p. 766. The NKJV, ESV, and NASB render παράκλητος as “Helper,” the NIV renders it as “Counselor,” and the KJV renders it as “Comforter.”

2. See John 20:19-20.

3. See John 20:24-29.

4. See John 21:9-17.

5. 2 Corinthians 5:21

6. See Romans 3:23a.

7. See 1 Peter 2:22b, which cites Isaiah 53:9d.

8. “This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners; for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ’s, and Christ’s righteousness is not Christ’s but ours.” Luther, Martin. Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe. Vol. 5. Weimar, 1883—. p. 608. Cited from: Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Schultz, Robert, C. trans. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1956. p. 213, note # 56.

9. See Romans 4:24-25a.

10. Isaiah 12:2c-d ESV {KJV}

Nota Bene: Unless otherwise indicated, the Scripture contained within this sermon is from the New King James Version.