Sermon - Cantate 2026 - John 16:5-15

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, Duccio di Buoninsegna 1308

The Spirit Guides us into the Truth

1. The Spirit of Truth inspired the prophets and apostles to preach and write the scriptures

2. The Spirit of Truth implants the Word into our hearts

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

How do you know the truth of Jesus’ teachings? This is confirmation Sunday today, so how do we know that the confirmands actually know the truth and believe the right things? How do we know that the Lutheran Church speaks the truth? How do we know that Christians, broadly speaking, even know that Jesus is real and that He is true God and true man and was crucified and risen for the forgiveness of our sins? 

These are questions that the church has had to ask since the beginning of time. The devil questioned Adam and Eve if God actually said those things about the forbidden fruit. Korah rebelled against Moses asserting that the whole congregation is holy and therefore they shouldn’t trust that God is speaking through Moses. The false prophets preached peace and security against Jeremiah’s message of repentance. Peter warned us that there would be “false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.” So how do you know the truth?

Jesus said: “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. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” After Jesus’ ascension into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. However, the Holy Spirit has been at work in the church since the beginning by inspiring the holy authors to proclaim the truth of God’s word in their preaching and their writing. “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The writings of the Old Testament, from the writings of Moses to the prophets the Lord worked with them and through them to proclaim the message of salvation through their lips and through the writings which have been handed down to us. Jesus Himself, the Son of God, made clear throughout His ministry that the Old Testament scriptures were truly God’s word. Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them; He says scripture cannot be broken; He says David wrote the Psalms in the Holy Spirit; He fights the devil’s lies by quoting the Old Testament; on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection He explained how the scriptures reveal Him from the law of Moses, to the Psalms, to the Prophets.

The Holy Spirit continued to work in the New Testament through the apostles. Jesus said in His high priestly prayer: “I do not ask for these [the apostles] only, but also for those who will believe in me through their [the apostles’] word.” Thus, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles to speak His Word through them, so that as Paul says: “you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The teachings of the apostles are found in their writings, as St. John says: “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you… And we are writing these things.” Thus, the scriptures, both the old and new testaments, are the written word of God. The prophets and apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit, He guided them along, so that all of these things are “written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles so that they would be guided to preach and write the scriptures. Jesus also sent the Holy Spirit to us, not so that we may have our own divine revelations, but so that we may believe through their testimony. The Holy Spirit continues to work through the words of the apostles upon us today. The Spirit is still glorifying Jesus, He is still taking Jesus’ word and declaring it to us, He is still guiding us into all the truth through the writings of the apostles. All that Jesus has accomplished for us through His ministry is imparted to us through the scriptures. So the Spirit is at work to make us Jesus’ disciples by baptizing us and teaching us to observe all that Jesus commanded the apostles. Through the preaching of the Word Jesus is always with us to the end of the age.

This is such a powerful and comforting truth to know that the Holy Spirit is at work in the scriptures in order to deliver all of God’s good gifts to us. Because the Holy Spirit is at work in the scriptures, it means that we can have certainty in what God is doing among us. Firstly, this means that we can trust that we know the truth because God is speaking through the Bible. These are not man’s words but God’s words, and God does not lie, therefore I have certainty of the truth. Secondly, since the Holy Spirit is working through the Word, this means that God is actively at work through His Word. When His word is heard He is at work to create and sustain faith in His hearers. Thirdly, this also means God is actually delivering His gifts to me apart from my powers or the powers of anyone else. So when a Christian is baptized it’s by the Spirit working through the word. When I’m forgiven, it’s a man’s voice I hear but it’s the Spirit working through it. Fourthly, this gives me certainty in my salvation because my salvation is now dependent not on my powers but on God’s power working through the word of the Spirit to declare me righteous and saved.

That the unchanging God declares changeless truth to me through the unchanging scriptures also gives stability to my faith and life. The Christian faith that we belong to is not something new or trendy, something that’s popular now but will go out of style in a few years. Rather, we have been welcomed into the holy Christian church which has existed since Adam and Eve and will continue until the end of time. I know we’re called Lutherans and we often talk about 16th century church history, but our roots are in Christ not in Luther nor the pope nor any other man or any religious or philosophical movement.

This is important to clarify, but our beliefs, God’s teachings, are not built upon the church, but the church is built upon Christ’s Word. The arbiter of truth is the Spirit of Truth who has definitively spoken through the scriptures. Man is prone to error, no matter how holy and righteous he may be. Thus, throughout history those who have claimed the name of Christ have erred, they have asserted things in contradiction to the scriptures. And it is not man who decides which is right or wrong, but the Spirit who speaks through the scriptures.

Our beliefs are also not premised on the social and political ideas of the day, but on Christ’s eternal word. Usually this means that God’s eternal law is in conflict with our contemporary social and cultural trends, and as Christians we are called to renounce the evils of our age and conform ourselves to the image of Christ and His Word. The Holy Spirit is at work in the Word and therefore is at work in me to press me into the image of Jesus. This world and my sin distorts me to look like this world, but the Spirit is conforming me to the holiness of my Lord Jesus Christ. So I must be vigilant to examine my life and my beliefs against the standard of God’s Word.

On this confirmation Sunday let us reflect upon our confirmation vows, and particularly those vows which pertain to the word of God. “Do you hold all the prophetic and apostopic scriptures to be the inspired Word of God? Do you confess the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, drawn from the Scriptures, as you have learned to know it from the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true? Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully? Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?”

But in remembering these vows, let us also be reminded of the Holy Spirit that our Lord Jesus Christ has sent. Let us take comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit is our Helper and our Comforter; He is the Paraclete who shall sustain us through the Word. Though all the world may assail us with Satanic lies, the Spirit shall guide us into all the truth, and His Word is truth. Go in peace and may you receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save your souls.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!