Sermon - Pentecost 2025 - John 14:23-31

The Pentecost, El Greco, 1600

The Holy Spirit Provides for His Church

1. What the church is and where it is found

2. The Spirit provides for His church

3. The Spirit gives His church peace

Happy birthday and a blessed feast of Pentecost to you dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today the church of God celebrates the birth of the church, fifty days after Easter, ten days after the Ascension, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles as tongues of fire in order that they may tell of the mighty works of God. From that day on the church of God has been proclaiming the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name throughout the entire world. Immanuel Lutheran Church, right here in rural Minnesota, is an heir, a beneficiary, and a part of this Spirit filled church of God. Today is a day to celebrate the mighty works of God, not just all over the world, but especially right here in these hallowed halls.

The church of God exists where Christians physically gather to hear God’s Word and receive His sacraments. It’s as Jesus says: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” The church of God is composed of those who Love the Lord Jesus and keep His Word.

That the church is composed of those who Love the Lord and keep His Word is vital to remember. The church is not merely a worldly institution nor a building; it’s not a social club or a service organization. All of those aspects of congregations are fine, we do benefit by a worldly organization, a building is helpful, being friendly and social with each other is great, and serving our neighbor fulfills the commandments. But first and foremost we are a collection of Christians who love Jesus and keep His word. When that is the case our Lord promises that He will come and make His home with us.

This means that not everyone who calls himself a Christian is part of the church. There are those who claim to be Christians, and yet despise His Word, because they do not keep His Word. You’re all well aware of congregations, church bodies, and individuals who fit this bill. They claim the name of christian, and yet they do not believe what the Bible teaches. They claim that the Bible was written for a different context and culture, and ours is different, therefore the Bible doesn’t apply to us. This is how we end up with supposed Christians and churches supporting all manner of debauchery and wickedness regarding the sexual revolution and other sins and vices. This is how we end up with congregations and supposed christians flying rainbow flags this month. But mark and avoid them, because those so-called christians are not part of the church, because they do not keep the Word of God, and therefore they do not love Jesus.

But lest we boast in ourselves, let us reflect on our own lives, and consider that simply because we belong to an orthodox confessional Lutheran congregation does not mean we are inherently part of the church. If we personally live as though God’s Word doesn’t apply to our lives, or we now believe that God’s Word isn’t absolutely true, or we simply despise the Word by ignoring it, then we are not part of the church of God. May this not be so among us!

Instead, let the word of God dwell in you richly! “But 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.” God’s Word is the most precious treasure in all creation, which is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. Take delight in the commandments of the Lord, and perceive that in them you have life. Love His statutes and meditate on them. Consider your life in light of all that you read, and see how you fit in perfectly to the Lord’s teachings.

For what a blessed promise you have from the Lord that you who love Him are loved by Him in return, and what joy it is to hear when says that He will come to you and make His home with you. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit in order to provide for His church. I know we have much to worry about today in the church in regards to the future, but take comfort in the fact that the Spirit will provide for His church.

Individually, the Holy Spirit has provided for each and every one of us. He has imparted His love on each believer’s mind and heart. As we confess in the catechism: “The Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” Through the Holy Gospel, you have been saved eternally and shall live with the Lord, body and soul, forever. The Holy Spirit has enlightened you such that you understand His Word and believe it. He has sanctified you, giving you the strength and power to live holy and God-pleasing lives. The fact that you are still sitting here today and that you have been kept in the true faith for all of these years, is because the Holy Spirit has preserved you.

Consider the Christians around the world! There are millions of Christians today who know the Lord Jeus Christ and trust in Him for salvation. The Word of God has been preserved for thousands of years, kept free from corruption and destruction, so that all may read it even now in all sorts of languages. Considering all of the persecutions of the church throughout the ages, the Church of God still stands. Even amidst the recent and current communist persecutions in Russia and China, the Muslim persecutions throughout Africa and parts of Asia, the Holy Spirit has preserved His church.

The Holy Spirit is even preserving you dear Christians at Immanuel Lutheran Church today in 2025, and the Lord will preserve His church throughout our nation in the coming decades and centuries if He so tarries. The church in America is currently undergoing an incredible decline. The LCMS has half as many people in church on Sundays as we did just 25 years ago. Yet, I stand here today reminding you that the Holy Spirit will preserve His church unto the end of the ages.

This is no guarantee that any particular congregations will remain open in the coming years. The church of God on earth is free to make various arrangements and utilize our resources in a multitude of ways in order to continue the work of the church. Except by some miracle, the coming decades will see many more congregations closing and even a further decline in attendance. But the Holy Spirit will preserve His church on earth, and in spite of our small size He will perform His mighty works through us.

So as we celebrate the birth of the church in the midst of a hostile world and an uncertain temporal future, the Lord Jesus Christ gives us His peace through the Spirit. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Although all the world against us rages, the church stands strong, because we are built upon the solid rock of Christ. 

Worldly peace is not our promise, but eternal peace. An earthly life of ease has not been given to us, yet the Lord strengthens our hearts against trouble and fear. For the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered over our enemies of sin and death, and won for us salvation. Through the Holy Spirit and His blessed word and sacraments, He implants peace in our hearts. Sin and hell has been forgiven, and God dwells within us now. On the final day God shall roll up this world like a scroll and burn it, but those who live in Him shall be taken unto paradise. This world has peace now, but on that awe-filled day shall be filled with trouble. You have trouble now, but on that awe-filled day shall be with peace and joy without end. That peace is yours already in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A blessed Pentecost to you dearly beloved of the Lord.