Sermon - Cantate 2021 - John 16:5-15

"The Holy Spirit," Corrado Giaquinto, 1703-1766

Jesus said to Pilate: ““For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”” Pilate’s questioning of truth has been echoed throughout the generations. It does sound a bit postmodern of him, as if he’s questioning the reality of objective truth. But outside of that, it’s not a bad question, though perhaps I’d phrase it differently: “What is the truth?”

In this world you can’t believe everything you hear. St. John teaches us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Demons are active in the world. There are lying spirits sent by the father of lies to deceive the world into sin and false belief. There are false teachers. There are lying pastors.

This is why Jesus’ promise to the apostles is so valuable for us today: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” Namely, the Holy Spirit will guide us to Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Since the Spirit of Truth guides us into all the truth, let us therefore be quick to hear Him and slow to speak.

The great deception of our age is that there are no lying spirits, but that there are just different versions of the truth. Satan wants us to believe that Jesus is not the only way to heaven, but that Jesus is just one of many ways to heaven. As if the false gods of Islam, Hinduism, and Paganism are no better or no less than the only true God. But this is false; it’s a Satanic lie. There is only one God, Father Son and Holy Ghost, and every other supposed god is just a mockery of the true God.

Likewise, in the Christian church Satan wants us to believe that there can be many different beliefs, and that none of them are more or less true than another. As if baptism can both save you and be only symbolic; as if communion can be both the true body and blood of Jesus, and only symbolic of the true body and blood. This is again a false and damnable lie from Satan. There is objective truth and falsehood. There is the true teaching of Jesus, and there are many false teachings that man has invented. The truth is of Jesus, and the false teachings are of the devil.

Let me be very clear: not everyone is correct. The differences between different religions and different Christian denominations are not just a matter of differing opinions. There is objective truth. Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Apostolics, Baptists, all have different and contradictory beliefs and they can’t all be correct. 

But, why does all of this matter? Who cares if there are differences? Well, God cares and ultimately that’s why this matters. The truth testifies to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the truth. Consequently everything that Jesus teaches is truth. The Holy Spirit takes what is Jesus’ and declares us to us. We know that there is no salvation outside of Jesus. 

To hold beliefs that are contradictory to the word of truth is to believe lies of Satan. Satan lies because He is a murderer and the father of lies; he wants humans to go to hell with him. This eternal damnation is what Satan is aiming towards when he lies to people and convinces them to believe things contradictory to the Word of truth which the Spirit of truth teaches us. False teaching is dangerous because it leads us away from the truth of the Gospel and towards the deadly lies of Satan.

Very simply, if your faith is in Jesus and His promises, you have life eternal. On the other hand, if your faith is in the lies of the devil, you have death eternal. These teachings of Jesus, what I’m telling you today, is hard for us to stomach because it means that the souls of our loved ones, who don’t hold to the true teachings of Jesus Christ, are in peril.

To clarify, I’m not saying anyone who isn’t Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is going straight to hell. Many people are like sheep without a shepherd and are gullibly led astray. They have a difficult time discerning the truth from the lies. Their faith is very simple, and they believe that Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins, but beyond that things get confused. Nevertheless, to live under Satanic lies, which are meant to lead you astray from the truth, is very risky. That simple faith that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins can be lost through Satan’s lies.

So, what is our hope and how do we combat this? How do we stop being gullible sheep led astray by every wind of doctrine that blows our way? How do we confront Satan's lies in our lives? Since Satan is such a powerful deceiver, how can we ever hope to see through his deceptions?

Jesus knows how weak and susceptible to Satan we are, for this reason He sent the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost, to help us in our weakness. Jesus said of the Spirit: “He will glorify me, for he will take what 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 declare it to you.” The Holy Spirit has come unto us in order to declare the word of truth to us and combat Satan’s lies! 

God has spared no expense in protecting us from false teaching. God the Father is Lord over all, and all that the Father has is also given to God the Son, and God the Spirit takes all of that and declares it to us! God has given everything in order to protect us from damnable lies.

Jesus gave the apostles and evangelists the Holy Spirit in order to guide them into all the truth. Therefore, the teaching of the apostles and evangelists is the whole truth which Jesus has given unto His church in order to sustain us. The Bible, the Holy Scriptures, these are the words of truth which guards and protects us against the devil’s lies. 

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers,” St. James writes. God does not want us to be deceived, to that end the Holy Spirit worked through those holy men to write the word of truth. God has preserved that word of truth even unto this day by giving us His word in the Bible. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God’s Word, as it has been recorded in the scriptures, is a good and perfect gift from above.

This Word of God is the very means by which God has brought us forth to be His children. “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” In Holy Baptism, God joined water to His Word in order to cleanse you of your sins, and give you the new birth into Christ’s church. In the absolution, God speaks through His pastors to forgive the sins of you repentant sinners. In the teaching and reading of the scriptures God builds up your faith in Him. In the blessed sacrament, God joins bread and wine to His Word in order to feed you His body and blood and nourish your souls. Through all these means God keeps us in the faith whether we live or die.

So how does God guard you against Satanic deceptions? How are you made able to discern truth from lies? By the Word of Truth breathed out by the Spirit of truth. “All Scripture is breathed out [in-Spirited] by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 

If we’re to combat Satan with the Word of truth, then we must also read and know the word of truth! “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak.” In particular, let us be quick to hear that Word of truth before we open our mouths. We live in an age that doesn’t like to listen, we just want to interrupt and talk. So instead, let us relearn the valuable skill of listening. Turn off the screens, the distractions, and turn on your ears and your mind to the voice of Jesus.

If you read Portals of Prayer, let that be your gateway drug to also pick up the Bible and read. When you listen to the readings or the sermon in church, it takes work and active engagement on the part of the hearers. Take notes if you have to, try to listen for the central themes. Then after your Bible reading each day, or listening to the sermon on Sunday, think and talk about it later. Let God’s Word dwell in your hearts richly, that His word of truth would conform your mind to Him so that you could readily guard against Satan’s attacks.

Finally, having shut your mouth and listened to the Word of truth, now it’s time to open your mouth. “You will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples, proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”