LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Fifth Sunday of Easter – Sunday, May 15, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint john the 16th chapter [Music]
0:40	Jesus said now I am going to him who sent me and none of you asks where are you going but because i have said these
0:47	things to you sorrow has filled your heart nevertheless i tell you the truth it is to your advantage that i go away
0:53	for if i do not go away the helper will not come to you but if i go i will send him to you and when he comes he will
1:01	convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do
1:08	not believe in me concerning righteousness because i go to the father and you will see me no longer concerning
1:14	judgment because the ruler of this world is judged i still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now
1:20	when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever
1:26	he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come he will glorify me for he will take what
1:33	is mine and declare it to you all that the father has is mine therefore i said that he will take what is mine and
1:40	declare it to you this is the gospel of the lord in the name of Jesus
1:46	ah the holy spirit that’s what we’re going to be talking about today we Lutherans get accused of not believing in the holy spirit it’s kind of weird
1:52	but what we don’t believe is that the holy spirit was sent for the purpose of making you bark like a dog or
1:57	cluck like a chicken or roll around on the ground uncontrollably or for you to summon angels from africa in order to
2:04	save trump’s failed presidency yeah you see what i’m saying here that’s not what the holy spirit is sent for in fact
2:10	you’re going to note that what christ sends says the helper is going to do well there are many pentecostal churches
2:17	who say that this is not the proper work of the holy spirit they say if you’re going to get a message from god god’s
2:23	going to speak directly to you whisper in things into your heart he’s going to build you up not tear you down he’s not
2:30	going to make you feel bad he’s going to make you feel good right the holy spirit is like a good sugar
2:36	rush right but i i apologize today rather than giving you sugar we’re gonna uh apply a
2:42	little bit of salt i have to be sparingly with the salt nowadays hypertension you know so all of that
2:48	being said Jesus says in our gospel text i’m going to him who sent me none of you
2:53	asked me where are you going but because i’ve said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart and indeed can you
2:59	imagine hanging out with Jesus for three years how amazing that had to have been and then they’re at the end of this because
3:07	christ is going to go to the cross he’s going to die he’s going to rise again he’s going to then ascend to heaven and
3:15	he still has work to do on our behalf in heaven it says but because i’ve said these things sorrow has filled your
3:21	heart nevertheless i tell you the truth it is to your advantage that i go for if i do not go away the helper the para
3:28	clatos in greek he will not come to you but if i go i will send him to you and
3:35	when he comes pay attention he will convict the world
3:40	concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin
3:47	because they do not believe in me and here’s where jesus puts his finger on the problem all right
3:55	if you were to think of it we talk about root we talk about fruit right we talk about sin sin is the fruit what’s the
4:03	root unbelief now a lot of people say well our problem is is that we don’t obey the reason why
4:09	you don’t obey is because you don’t believe and so that’s the problem that Christ is
4:14	addressing and so the holy spirit is going to convict he’s going to make you feel bad he’s going to convict you and
4:21	say you’re guilty you’re guilty of not believing you are guilty of disobeying
4:28	you are a sinner in need of a savior and then what’s the holy spirit going to do well he’s going to placard and glorify
4:35	Christ by pointing you to his saving office Jesus in putting his finger on the actual problem
4:42	is saying the same thing as other passages of scripture Hebrews 11 6 says without faith it is impossible to please
4:50	god for whoever would draw near to him must believe that he exists and he rewards those who seek him without faith
4:57	it’s impossible to please god so you can try all you want you can be as good as you want to be try it as hard
5:04	as you want it’s going to amount to nothing because without faith without belief it’s impossible to please god
5:10	it’s not difficult it’s not challenging it’s not hard it’s impossible john says
5:16	it this way in john 3 36 whoever believes in the son has eternal life
5:22	whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of god remains on
5:27	him you see this is what the holy spirit is going to convict us of is all the different ways in which we do not
5:34	believe god we do not trust Christ we trust ourselves we trust the world we trust
5:40	money we trust politicians which i don’t understand that’s a very foolish thing to do all right
5:46	christ says this god so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him should not
5:53	perish but have eternal life god did not send his son into the world to condemn
5:58	the world but in order that the world might be saved through him whoever believes in
6:04	him is not condemned are you saying that if somebody believes
6:11	that Jesus is is their messiah and the savior and they’re in prison for murdering somebody that they can be
6:16	forgiven yeah exactly what i’m saying i’m also saying
6:22	this whoever would include hitler whoever would also include Calvinists but don’t let them know that okay
6:28	if you know if you understand what i’m saying whoever believes in him is not condemned whoever
6:35	does not believe is condemned already because he is not believed in the name
6:41	of the only son of god so the holy spirit is going to convict us of sin righteousness judgment because
6:49	we do not believe because he who has who he has not believed in the name of the only son of god is
6:55	condemned already this is the judgment light has come into the world Jesus says people they love darkness rather than light and that includes you we do and me
7:02	we all love darkness isn’t that just terrible about us it’s true right so rather than the light because our works
7:08	are evil their works are evil but everyone who does wicked things hates the light does not come to the light
7:14	lest his work should be exposed but now listen to this verse 21 whoever does what is true
7:20	comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in
7:27	god and here’s where we see the connection with our old testament text and our old
7:33	testament text is glorious note here Isaiah says you will say in that day i
7:39	will give thanks to you o Yahweh for though you were angry with me your anger turned away so that you might
7:46	comfort me behold god is my salvation
7:53	god is and that’s the point Christ has saved us he has borne your
7:59	sin in his body on the cross languished in the wrath of god in your
8:05	place as your substitute so that you be can be clothed in the righteousness of
8:10	Christ so that you can be forgiven and pardoned and god’s wrath would be turned
8:16	away not because of your deeds not because of your piety but because of
8:22	Christ Christ has become our salvation and because of this Isaiah says i will trust and i will not
8:30	be afraid and we Christians because of what Christ has done we have that
8:35	confidence that we can approach the throne of grace and do not need to fear the wrath of god because Christ has
8:41	taken that for us so that we can be forgiven for the lord god is my strength
8:46	and he is my song god has become my salvation and yours
8:53	so that what may be seen what so Christ says so that whatever
8:59	that may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in god
9:04	and you’ll note here Christ saying that he’s going to send us a helper is an important thing
9:11	because we need the helper you do not have the strength necessary
9:17	to fight your own sinful flesh the temptations of the devil the world as
9:23	well you don’t have it in you and if you remember last week you had to suffer through that sermon last week because
9:29	the sermon last week was all about Christ promises us what suffering
9:35	Christ promises us difficulty sorrow now joy when he returns and then you’ll note
9:42	every one of god’s children Hebrews says he scourges them
9:48	and this is not a fun experience being convicted of sins makes you feel bad
9:53	about yourself rightly so enduring the suffering and the cross that god lays on us is difficult it’s
10:01	hard you don’t have the strength to do it and if you were to somehow look at the world around you
10:08	and compare yourself in your suffering in your obscurity in the difficulties
10:13	and the trials that you’re going through and your lack of poverty any millionaires here no no not a one right
10:20	in your lack of poverty and you can then look at the pagan world have you noticed
10:25	that pagans could do really well financially if you don’t believe me just look at
10:31	those Russian oligarchs they’re not exactly known to be the most pious fellows but man have you seen their
10:37	yachts that the governments are trying to seize those things are bigger than Noah’s ark
10:43	how is it that these evil people have such wealth
10:49	it’s easy for us to look at them and go they’re blessed I’m cursed
10:55	what’s the point of believing in god that doesn’t seem to have any earthly advantage for me
11:03	that’s what it feels like and the the helper the paraclete helps
11:08	us to bear the fruit of the spirit and to bear up and to not think falsely
11:14	like this people who are billionaires running around in yachts are not blessed by god
11:21	any more than people who live somewhere comfortably in the middle class or even
11:26	in the high end of the lower class are somehow cursed by god that’s not the case and so in this regard
11:34	i found the psalm of Asaph which is psalm 73 to be quite helpful in this
11:39	regard because here in this psalm Asaph kind of speaks experientially in a very
11:45	Hebrew mindset if you would about how god has helped him
11:51	in the midst of the difficulties that he went through as a believer in Yahweh
11:57	Asaph writes in psalm 73 truly god is good to Israel and to those who are pure
12:02	in heart and by the way that’s you that’s me god has replaced our heart of stone with
12:08	the heart of flesh he Christ has circumcised our hearts in the waters of baptism we are reckoned righteous for
12:15	the sake of Christ so Asaph continues but as for me my feet had almost stumbled my steps had
12:23	nearly slipped why because i was envious of the arrogant when i saw the prosperity of
12:28	the wicked for they had no pangs until death their bodies are fat and sleek
12:35	they are not in trouble as others are they are not stricken like the rest of mankind therefore pride is their
12:42	necklace violence covers them as a garment their eyes swell out through
12:48	fatness their hearts overflow with follies they scoff and they speak with
12:53	malice loftily they threaten oppression they set their mouths against the
12:58	heavens and their tongue struts through the earth therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault in them it’s
13:06	scary when you think about it let me give you a modern day example have you guys seen any of the
13:11	documentaries regarding Jeffrey Epstein okay terrifying on so many levels but
13:18	the one thing i found to be the most terrifying is that this guy when he was first charged
13:25	with trafficking young underage women he was actually able to work a deal out
13:32	with the government and he would spend the night in a prison he did that for a long period of time but spend his day
13:39	doing what he normally does and in the midst of all of that when you see when he’s on trial the the video evidence of
13:45	what he said when he was asked there was a smugness to him
13:50	that was satanic this is a guy who had wealth and power
13:56	hobnobbed with the wealthy the powerful well the bright and shiny among the
14:01	human race right they all went to visit him on his island
14:06	we won’t talk about what happened there right but all of that being said how quickly
14:11	did all of that come undone how many days was he in prison before he
14:17	committed suicide if he committed suicide right suicide right
14:24	how do you think he died did he die well
14:30	you see it’s easy for us to look at the wealthy and the powerful and think that somehow they’re blessed but they’re not
14:35	was Epstein blessed not even close the whole time he was cursed
14:41	and in his smugness and his arrogance he had no fear of god and so
14:47	Asaph continues so they say how can god know
14:53	is there knowledge in the most high behold these are the wicked always at
14:58	ease they increase in riches all in vain i have kept my heart clean
15:04	Asaph says and i washed my hands in innocence what’s the point what’s the
15:10	point of being a Christian obeying god’s commands there doesn’t seem to be any earthly benefit to it there’s not
15:15	supposed to be in this life and without the work of the holy spirit
15:21	we can easily get tripped up with this mentality for all the day long Asaph says I have
15:28	been stricken and rebuked every morning ah
15:33	god scourges all of his sons
15:39	if i had said i will speak thus i would have betrayed the generation of your children
15:44	but when i thought how to understand this it seemed to me a wearisome task until i
15:49	went into the sanctuary of god and then i discerned their end you see he goes to the sanctuary of god and who is it that
15:56	straightens Asaph out god does how through his word
16:02	through the holy spirit the living active word of god opens up his eyes to see the truth to
16:08	discern their end says truly you set them in slippery places and you make
16:13	them to fall to ruin how they are destroyed in just a moment swept away utterly by terrors like a
16:21	dream when one awakes oh lord when you rouse yourself you despise them as phantoms when my soul was embittered
16:28	when i was pricked in heart when i was brutish and ignorant i was like a beast towards you god
16:35	nevertheless i am continually with you and you hold my right hand
16:40	you guide me with your counsel and afterwards you will receive me to glory
16:46	this is the work of the holy spirit the holy spirit who holds our hands guides
16:51	us into truth who strengthens us and helps us to have the strength to mortify
16:57	our sinful flesh and its passions and even these false thoughts that the striking of god the scourgings that we
17:04	receive are somehow a curse rather than his love god’s word teaches us
17:10	the holy spirit guides us counsels us and after all of this work of the holy
17:16	spirit we like asaph will be received into god’s glory
17:21	whom have i in you but heaven lord and here’s where asaph touches the point
17:28	and this is the bit the most important thing missing in your life
17:35	i’m going to say this it is not power it is not wealth
17:40	the most important thing missing in your life isn’t even the love of somebody of the opposite sex
17:46	the most important thing in your life is christ
17:51	he is your greatest need absolutely your greatest need
17:58	and this is why the holy spirit must convict us of our unbelief because we don’t believe that
18:06	we think that the greatest need that we have has something to do with what this earth offers isn’t any wonder then that
18:13	when god scourges us he takes those things from us so that the only thing we have left is him
18:22	so asap puts his finger on it whom have i in heaven but you there’s nothing on earth i desire lord
18:30	beside you my flesh and my heart they may fail and
18:36	that’s an understatement you know i always complain about every week i look worse right my flesh and my heart
18:43	they’re failing but god is the strength of my heart he is my portion forever for
18:49	behold those who are far from you they will perish and you put an end to everyone who was
18:55	unfaithful to you but for me it is good to be near god i have made yahweh elohim my refuge so
19:03	that i may tell of all of your works we need the holy spirit to help us
19:09	to see this to convict us of our unbelief so that we may recognize that christ is our salvation that we need
19:16	nothing except for him and then christ continues an important part
19:22	and i would note anybody who’s a pentecostal needs to take note here jesus says that when the holy spirit
19:28	comes he refers to him as the spirit of truth the holy spirit is not a trafficker in lies the holy spirit is
19:36	not well how should i say it he’s not aloof when it comes to people
19:42	who are speaking lies if you remember the second commandment second commandment you shall not take the name
19:49	of the lord your god in vain i could ask brenda see if she has it memorized what does it mean right but i
19:55	won’t put her on the spot right she’s one of my catechumens so
20:01	second commandment you shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain what does this mean that we should fear and love god so that we do not curse
20:08	swear use satanic arts lie or deceive by his name but call upon it in every
20:14	trouble pray praise and give thanks so when people in the name of the holy
20:20	spirit in the name of having the gifts of the spirit in the name of the continuing gifts of the spirit get up
20:26	and they twist god’s word mangle it preach themselves and utterly
20:32	take out christ from the biblical texts in order to glorify them their pursuit
20:38	of signs and wonders and stuff like this they are traffickers of lies lies are
20:43	not from the holy spirit they are from the devil so when the spirit of truth
20:48	comes christ says he is going to guide you into all truth he doesn’t guide us into lies for he will not speak on his
20:55	own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and then he will declare to you the things that are to come and
21:02	here’s the next bit he will glorify me
21:07	the holy spirit convicts us of our sin and our unbelief he comes to guide us into truth and he
21:13	glorifies christ i remember all the way back in my
21:19	days at concordia university i had a professor who’s talked about the holy spirit he’s the pr guy for jesus this is
21:25	the way he described him and so he would say if you were to see the holy spirit and say hey holy spirit how’s it do
21:31	how’s it going first thing the holy spirit would say have i told you about jesus let me tell you about jesus have
21:36	you heard what jesus has done for you man jesus is the bee’s knees he’s the alpha the omega the beginning and the end you need some jesus all right he’d
21:43	be worse than that shamwow guy remember that guy
21:49	jesus oh okay that’s what the holy spirit is into the
21:54	holy spirit is not about glorifying himself he’s pointing us to
21:59	christ he’ll take what is mine he will declare it to you this is what the holy
22:05	spirit is about but we live in a day when people in the name of the holy spirit speak lies and
22:12	they are constantly trying to glorify holy spirit who’s interested in glorifying christ
22:18	they’ve got things backwards upside down and inside out and so we’ll note here
22:23	this truth aspect is not something that we can just wink at and think well it’s
22:28	not that big a deal it is everything john puts it this way in first john he
22:35	says children it is the last hour and as you have heard the antichrist is coming
22:40	so now many antichrists have come and here’s where we’ve got to point this out when people sit there and go well what
22:46	john was referring to is you know political leaders in the roman system that’s not the totality of
22:54	it he is responding talking about here people who are antichrists in the church
23:03	all right the big ones coming and there’s a lot of little ones along the way and they were already present in the
23:09	church at the time of john many antichrists have come therefore we know that this is the last hour by the way
23:16	john wrote this epistle against the gnostics and by the way the gnostics are alive and well they never went away
23:23	they’ve been with us the whole time hiding in plain sight
23:29	so no this is the last hour they went out from us they were not of us if they had been of us they would have continued
23:35	with us but they went out so that it might become plain that they are not of us but you have been anointed by the
23:41	holy one what’s john referring to here ah he’s talking to christians anointed by the
23:47	holy one it might be the holy spirit is that not what happened to you in the waters of baptism peter says repent and
23:54	be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the holy
24:01	spirit when you were baptized you like christ were anointed god the holy spirit
24:07	descended on you made his temple inside of you you have been anointed by the holy one and then
24:13	he says this you all have gnosis y’all have knowledge he’s saying that to
24:19	punk the gnostics who talk about the secret knowledge john says you already got it you don’t need to be initiated into this
24:27	secret gnostic society stuff so i write to you not because you do not
24:32	know the truth but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth
24:39	i don’t want to hear somebody say well that that profit is over there she’s really doing a lot of good work no she’s
24:46	not she’s a false prophetess no lie is of the truth no lie is of the truth she couldn’t
24:53	handle a biblical text correctly if i wrote her sermon for it and all she had to do was read it out
24:59	no lie is of the truth who is the liar he says it’s the one who denies that
25:04	jesus is the christ this is the antichrist he who denies the father and
25:09	the son no one who denies the son has the father whoever confesses the son has
25:14	the father also so let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you and listen to those words again this is
25:20	a full sentence let what you heard from the beginning abide in you let me put it
25:26	on the timeline christ 30 33 a.d dies rises again from the dead ascends into
25:33	heaven and then that pentecost the holy spirit is sent by the father and the son
25:38	yeah both of them sent them let the orthodox know that that you know just saying
25:43	okay he sends the holy spirit and then decades later
25:49	when john writes his epistle in the face of the gnostic heresy which
25:54	was wreaking havoc in ephesus in other places wreaking havoc what does he point people
26:01	to the things that were spoken and preached at the beginning
26:07	we do not need any innovations when it comes to christian doctrine none whatsoever john says he says let what
26:15	you heard from the beginning abide in you there is not christianity 2.0
26:21	there is no innovation when it comes to doctrine if a doctrine is new it is not
26:28	true straight up and john here in the living active holy
26:36	spirit inspired epistle tells us that we are to listen to what was preached from the beginning and you
26:42	know the only place you can find that in the bible
26:49	when this holy spirit comes the spirit of truth he will guide you into all
26:54	truth and all truth was preached at the very beginning of christianity
27:01	no innovations necessary so if what you heard from the beginning
27:06	abides in you john says then you too will abide in the son and in the father
27:12	and this is the promise that he has made to us the promise he has made to us is eternal
27:17	life i got a little worked up but that’s what happens sometimes right
27:23	but all of that being said again christ tells us that the holy
27:29	spirit the it is to our advantage that he has sent him and we’ll note that the real
27:35	work of the holy spirit is not some appendage to christianity it’s at the
27:41	very heart of christianity it is part of his promise the holy spirit given by god
27:47	the father and the son who convicts us of our sin leads us into truth he’s the
27:52	one who speaks the truth and glorifies christ he is a gift from
27:58	from the father and the son and a gift that we dare not
28:03	overlook this is why augustine taught us all those centuries ago that we as
28:09	christians should pray to the holy spirit holy spirit your commandments
28:15	command that i do this thing and not do that thing but in and of myself i do not have the strength to mortify my sinful
28:21	flesh and to obey your commands so i ask you humbly that you would give me that strength
28:27	and he does holy spirit it is really easy for me to despise the cross that god has given me
28:35	it is hard for me to deny myself it is easy for me to look enviously at the
28:41	well the wealth and the power and the follies of the rich and the wealthy and the powerful and those who do not
28:47	believe and to despise the scourgings that i receive from my father in heaven
28:52	please help me to bear up under them and to see the truth and see that what is happening to me is
28:57	out of god’s great love not because of a curse this is what the holy spirit does in us
29:04	and this calls us to repent of ignoring the holy spirit not believing christ not
29:10	believing the word regarding the role of the holy spirit or worse even believing the new innovative doctrines that are
29:15	churning out like new kias from the that factory in korea you know every uh just
29:21	new new heresy new heresy new heresy they’re coming off the factory line like you wouldn’t believe
29:28	and trust that christ has done this all but you’ll note then the work of the holy spirit in helping us to recognize
29:36	that god is our salvation that christ has bled and died even for these infractions of his law for believing
29:44	falsely for breaking the first and the second commandment that god has become our salvation christ has bled and died
29:51	for this and then at the end of the work of the holy spirit in this life
29:56	we will as isaiah says with joy draw water from the wells of salvation and we
30:04	will say in that day give thanks to yahweh call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples proclaim that
30:10	his name is exalted sing praises to yahweh for he has done gloriously
30:16	let this be made known in all the earth shout and sing for joy o inhabitant of zion for great in your
30:22	midst is the holy one of israel and great in our midst indeed is the holy one of
30:28	israel because god the holy spirit through the word of scripture has assured us that where two or more are gathered christ is truly present he is
30:35	present here today to feed us his body and blood to forgive us of our sins to strengthen us through his word and all
30:42	of this because the holy spirit is glorifying christ now even in the preaching of his word indeed great in
30:48	the midst of us right now is the holy one of Israel in the name of Jesus amen

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