Genesis 11:1-9/Acts 2:1-21/St John 14:23-31
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Day of Pentecost has arrived and thus you are gathered together in this one place, the very House of the Lord in which you are sitting. For here the Holy Spirit comes and by God’s grace rests upon each of you. Only He does not come with pomp and circumstance; with elaborate spectacles in the sound of a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire.
Rather God the Holy Spirit comes to you in the sound of the Word of Christ, read and preached, with the fiery conviction of the Law, which cuts you to the quick, and the blessed salve of the Gospel which forgives all your sins and comforts your stricken conscience with the atoning blood of Christ.
And though you believe that you cannot believe, the Holy Spirit has indeed called you by the Gospel and enlightened you with His gifts. He sanctifies and keeps you, together with the whole Christian Church on earth, in the one true faith.
Though this is most certainly true, do not treat it as self evident. As if the Holy Spirit could be subjectively felt or internally perceived by merely sitting in this place. For the Holy Spirit does not come in a vacuum, in mere silence, or internal whispers of your heart. Rather He comes only by way of the Son, the Word made flesh. That is to say, the Holy Spirit is always and only the Spirit of Christ. Christ Jesus testifies to the divinity and work of the Holy Spirit, saying, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
God the Holy Spirit comes only by way of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. He who spoke by the prophets to our fathers, now, in these last days, speaks to us by the only Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. For these two are inseparable: the Word and the Spirit.
This indivisible relationship, the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, did not begin at Pentecost. Rather, it began at our Lord’s incarnation when the angel answered St Mary’s query concerning her conception though she is a virgin: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called the Holy One - the Son of God (Lk 1:35).
It continued when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son at His baptism in the Jordan, whence the Father declared, This is My beloved Son; then the self-same Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil according to the Father’s Word and will (Mt 3:16-4:1).
The Spirit remained with the Word made flesh throughout His incarnate ministry until He was handed over at the crucifixion and death of Jesus (Jn 19:30-31). For in this way He goes to the Father, who is greater than He, by way of His Cross and Passion. This is how the Son’s love for the Father is made manifest to the world: He does as the Father commands. He is obedient unto death, even death upon a Cross.
But God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, raised Jesus, His Son, from the dead (Rm 8:11); and after His resurrection, Jesus breathes out the Holy Spirit on His chosen Apostles, sending them, as the Father sent Him, to forgive and retain sins in His Name (Jn 20:21-23).
In every case Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh, and the Holy Spirit are together, along with God the Father. This is why when you read the epistolary greetings of St Paul you need not be concerned that he neglects the Holy Spirit, saying, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7). For where the benediction of the eternal Father is present together with the sole-begotten Son, there the Holy Spirit is proceeding, carrying, as it were, the very grace and peace of the Blessed Holy Trinity to you in and through the Word.
So too here, at Pentecost, Christ inaugurates His Office of the Holy Gospel by pouring out His Spirit, the promise of His Father, upon His apostles and gives them utterance to speak in other languages. The content of their speech, the object of St Peter’s sermon, is Christ, crucified and raised, according to the Word of the Holy Spirit, who spoke by the prophets, and the definite plan and foreknowledge of the Father who did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
For the Lord God, who came down at Babel and cursed His creation with the diversity of languages on account of their idolatry and sin, dispersing the people over the face of all the earth; has come down again in the person of Jesus Christ. By His Word and Spirit He desires to gather all men to Himself under the banner of His Holy Name in the City of His new Jerusalem, the Church, under the Tower of the Cross, which stretches from heaven and touches earth.
For He who descended from heaven, Jesus Christ, also ascended into heaven, and He leads a host of captives in His train; the ruler of this world has no claim on Him, nor any claim upon you. For in the Son, by His Spirit, you are given to dwell with the Father in love. He who has given you His Word in His only begotten Son, loves you for the sake of His Son. Beloved, you have heard and received that love, the love of the Father by which and in which you live, according to His holy Word and will. Thus your home is in Him and His with you.
Therefore do not attempt to make a name for yourselves, erecting monuments to your legacy, which are nothing but idols. Leave off trying to climb to the heavens by your own will or works or intellect. For in His mercy and wisdom the Lord has demolished those man-made structures, those vain attempts to achieve godliness, those misguided meanderings to seek the Holy Spirit where He is not to be found.
This, beloved, is the cause for deepest concern regarding false doctrine: it is idolatrous and leads one away from Christ, enslaving you to a false master. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, however, keeps you free from error. By right teaching and preaching, through the pure Word of Christ, He teaches you to know God aright. Again, this is what Jesus means when He says, The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He preaches Jesus Christ to you. Thus the sermon of St Peter reaches it apex in his apostolic invitation for the hearers to be baptized in the Name of Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit. And those who received this divine and spiritual gift, devoted themselves to the doctrine of the apostles and the Eucharist and the prayers in life together with Jesus Christ the Word made flesh who came from the Father and has given us His Spirit.
Beloved in the Lord, it is no different for you who are gathered here this Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has come to you by the way of the Word of Christ joined to water in Holy Baptism. Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, you are baptized into the Name and Life of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit continues always and without deviation, to testify to you of Christ Jesus offered up for the forgiveness of your sins. He comes to you by way of the breath and preaching of your pastor, who, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, forgives your sins in the stead and by the command of Christ, in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Finally, beloved, St Paul writes, In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and all were made to drink of the one Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). Thus does the Father, who is superabundant in His grace and mercy, bestow upon you the very Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, in bread and wine. For here, by His Word and Spirit, Christ causes the Word of His Cross to be remembered and proclaimed in the eating and drinking of His Holy Supper.
By this Gift of Christ through His Spirit, He gives to you His peace. Not as the world gives, but His Word of consolation and mercy to ease your troubled conscience. By His Word and Spirit He puts into your mouths the flesh and blood of His forgiveness of all your sins and the guarantee of the resurrection from the dead. Here is where the Holy Spirit is to be found. In these means does He work, along with Christ and God the Father, to rescue from death and the devil. And He will at the Last Day, give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Day of Pentecost has arrived and thus you are gathered together in this one place, the very House of the Lord in which you are sitting. For here the Holy Spirit comes and by God’s grace rests upon each of you. Only He does not come with pomp and circumstance; with elaborate spectacles in the sound of a mighty rushing wind and tongues of fire.
Rather God the Holy Spirit comes to you in the sound of the Word of Christ, read and preached, with the fiery conviction of the Law, which cuts you to the quick, and the blessed salve of the Gospel which forgives all your sins and comforts your stricken conscience with the atoning blood of Christ.
And though you believe that you cannot believe, the Holy Spirit has indeed called you by the Gospel and enlightened you with His gifts. He sanctifies and keeps you, together with the whole Christian Church on earth, in the one true faith.
Though this is most certainly true, do not treat it as self evident. As if the Holy Spirit could be subjectively felt or internally perceived by merely sitting in this place. For the Holy Spirit does not come in a vacuum, in mere silence, or internal whispers of your heart. Rather He comes only by way of the Son, the Word made flesh. That is to say, the Holy Spirit is always and only the Spirit of Christ. Christ Jesus testifies to the divinity and work of the Holy Spirit, saying, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
God the Holy Spirit comes only by way of the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. He who spoke by the prophets to our fathers, now, in these last days, speaks to us by the only Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. For these two are inseparable: the Word and the Spirit.
This indivisible relationship, the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, did not begin at Pentecost. Rather, it began at our Lord’s incarnation when the angel answered St Mary’s query concerning her conception though she is a virgin: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called the Holy One - the Son of God (Lk 1:35).
It continued when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son at His baptism in the Jordan, whence the Father declared, This is My beloved Son; then the self-same Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil according to the Father’s Word and will (Mt 3:16-4:1).
The Spirit remained with the Word made flesh throughout His incarnate ministry until He was handed over at the crucifixion and death of Jesus (Jn 19:30-31). For in this way He goes to the Father, who is greater than He, by way of His Cross and Passion. This is how the Son’s love for the Father is made manifest to the world: He does as the Father commands. He is obedient unto death, even death upon a Cross.
But God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, raised Jesus, His Son, from the dead (Rm 8:11); and after His resurrection, Jesus breathes out the Holy Spirit on His chosen Apostles, sending them, as the Father sent Him, to forgive and retain sins in His Name (Jn 20:21-23).
In every case Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh, and the Holy Spirit are together, along with God the Father. This is why when you read the epistolary greetings of St Paul you need not be concerned that he neglects the Holy Spirit, saying, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:7). For where the benediction of the eternal Father is present together with the sole-begotten Son, there the Holy Spirit is proceeding, carrying, as it were, the very grace and peace of the Blessed Holy Trinity to you in and through the Word.
So too here, at Pentecost, Christ inaugurates His Office of the Holy Gospel by pouring out His Spirit, the promise of His Father, upon His apostles and gives them utterance to speak in other languages. The content of their speech, the object of St Peter’s sermon, is Christ, crucified and raised, according to the Word of the Holy Spirit, who spoke by the prophets, and the definite plan and foreknowledge of the Father who did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
For the Lord God, who came down at Babel and cursed His creation with the diversity of languages on account of their idolatry and sin, dispersing the people over the face of all the earth; has come down again in the person of Jesus Christ. By His Word and Spirit He desires to gather all men to Himself under the banner of His Holy Name in the City of His new Jerusalem, the Church, under the Tower of the Cross, which stretches from heaven and touches earth.
For He who descended from heaven, Jesus Christ, also ascended into heaven, and He leads a host of captives in His train; the ruler of this world has no claim on Him, nor any claim upon you. For in the Son, by His Spirit, you are given to dwell with the Father in love. He who has given you His Word in His only begotten Son, loves you for the sake of His Son. Beloved, you have heard and received that love, the love of the Father by which and in which you live, according to His holy Word and will. Thus your home is in Him and His with you.
Therefore do not attempt to make a name for yourselves, erecting monuments to your legacy, which are nothing but idols. Leave off trying to climb to the heavens by your own will or works or intellect. For in His mercy and wisdom the Lord has demolished those man-made structures, those vain attempts to achieve godliness, those misguided meanderings to seek the Holy Spirit where He is not to be found.
This, beloved, is the cause for deepest concern regarding false doctrine: it is idolatrous and leads one away from Christ, enslaving you to a false master. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, however, keeps you free from error. By right teaching and preaching, through the pure Word of Christ, He teaches you to know God aright. Again, this is what Jesus means when He says, The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He preaches Jesus Christ to you. Thus the sermon of St Peter reaches it apex in his apostolic invitation for the hearers to be baptized in the Name of Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit. And those who received this divine and spiritual gift, devoted themselves to the doctrine of the apostles and the Eucharist and the prayers in life together with Jesus Christ the Word made flesh who came from the Father and has given us His Spirit.
Beloved in the Lord, it is no different for you who are gathered here this Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has come to you by the way of the Word of Christ joined to water in Holy Baptism. Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, you are baptized into the Name and Life of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit continues always and without deviation, to testify to you of Christ Jesus offered up for the forgiveness of your sins. He comes to you by way of the breath and preaching of your pastor, who, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, forgives your sins in the stead and by the command of Christ, in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Finally, beloved, St Paul writes, In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and all were made to drink of the one Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). Thus does the Father, who is superabundant in His grace and mercy, bestow upon you the very Body and Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, in bread and wine. For here, by His Word and Spirit, Christ causes the Word of His Cross to be remembered and proclaimed in the eating and drinking of His Holy Supper.
By this Gift of Christ through His Spirit, He gives to you His peace. Not as the world gives, but His Word of consolation and mercy to ease your troubled conscience. By His Word and Spirit He puts into your mouths the flesh and blood of His forgiveness of all your sins and the guarantee of the resurrection from the dead. Here is where the Holy Spirit is to be found. In these means does He work, along with Christ and God the Father, to rescue from death and the devil. And He will at the Last Day, give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed