We Will Come unto Him

In Nomine Iesu!

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sermon Text: St. John 14:23-31

“Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My words: and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.’”

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon:

Send, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, Thy Holy Spirit into our hearts, that He may rule and direct us according to Thy will, comfort us in all our temptations and afflictions, defend us from all error, and lead us into all truth, that we, being steadfast in the faith, may increase in love and all good works, and in the end obtain everlasting life; through + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior + Jesus Christ. Amen. 

My dear friends, our Lord + Jesus, the Christ, says to His Apostles, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” That is why this Gospel is often chosen as the text for the sermon at a funeral. We are to not let our hearts be troubled, or fearful, because our Lord + Jesus is with us. He has not left us nor forsaken us. As we heard ten days ago on the Festival of the Ascension of our Lord, our Lord is with us even unto the end of the age. He is always with His people. This is why these words, “Let not your hearts be troubled, or fearful” are good words to hear at a funeral. They are the words to hear when we are in our most distress. For it is at these times that we need that reminder that our Lord has not left us alone. He is still with us. He does not forsake His people. 

Howbeit, when we are in distress, when we are sad, when the world seems to be attacking us from all sides, we often do feel alone and forsaken. The lies of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh seem to shut out all other words of comfort. We are often unable to hear the comforting words that our Lord would have us hear. We cannot hear His voice telling us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We cannot hear His voice telling us to not let our hearts be troubled, nor let our hearts be fearful. It is because our spiritual enemies—the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh—continue to lie to us and tell us we are forsaken and alone, is the reason that our heavenly Father, and the Son, have sent to us the Holy Ghost. They have sent to us the Comforter. 

The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, tells us that the Son, and the Father, have come to us. They are with us at all times. But when the lies of our enemies seem to be louder than the truth it is difficult to hear the truth. This is why the Holy Ghost continues steadfastly to speak into our hearts the Word of Truth. This is what the Holy Ghost has come to do, it has come to speak into our ears the good news about what our Lord + Jesus has done for us, and continues to do for us. He does this through the holy Scriptures. The Holy Ghost comforts us through the pure preaching of the Gospel. The Holy Ghost comforts us through the Word of the Lord God given to us in the Blessed Sacraments. It is through the means of grace by which the Holy Ghost comforts us in times of trouble and sorrow.

In these times it is easy to forget where the source of our comfort and strength comes from. When the voices of the devil, the world, and our sinful shout at us that we are alone and nobody cares about us, it is the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost Who comes to us and tells us through the Word of the Lord God, that the heavenly Father, and His Son, have come to us and made their abode with us. They are with us always. They never leave us, even when we leave them and chase after the illusions of the world.

The Word of the Lord God is where we find comfort in times of trouble and sorrow. When our hearts are troubled and fearing, it is the Word of the Lord God which points us back to the truth that we have a Savior and Redeemer Who has done all that is necessary for our salvation. It is the Word of the Lord God which preaches into our ears that this world will pass away. All its vaunted pleasures will be no more. All of its pain and sorrow will cease. For as we learn from the Word of the Lord God, our Lord + Jesus has opened up the gates of heaven for us. He has won for us an eternal life free from sin with Him and all the saints and angels of heaven. He has defeated our enemies once and for all so that they cannot harm us.

He has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven, so that on the Last Day He can welcome us lost and weary sojourners in this evil world to our eternal home in heaven. We have a place there with all the faithful saints who have gone before us into heaven.

Our Lord + Jesus in the Gospel reading from the Apostle and Evangelist St. John is preparing His Apostles for the time when He will be away from them after His death and burial. They will see Him no more, and then in a little while they will see Him again. They will also be without Him face to face after His Ascension to the right hand of the heavenly Father. But in a little while not only will they see Him again face to face, but we also will see Him face to face in heaven.

But while we await the glorious day, when all the saints will be gathered together before the Lord + Jesus and sing His praise for our salvation for all eternity, we must continue our pilgrimage in this evil world. We must endure hardship, pain, suffering, tears, the death of loved ones, and the estrangement of those who we thought were with us in the same fellowship and doctrine, but have left us for strange and foreign idols and gods. 

They have left us for false teachings that do not present the truth of what our Lord + Jesus has done for us. They have left us for teachers that teach them to trust in their own works and strivings. The Holy Ghost only gives us the Son of the Lord God, our Lord + Jesus, as the only means of salvation. If a spirit does not give us + Jesus, + Jesus, and only + Jesus, then that spirit is a false spirit. If the spirit gives us any other means to receive our Lord + Jesus than the pure preaching of the Word of the Lord God, and the Blessed Sacraments instituted according to the Christ’s command, then that spirit is a false spirit. For the Holy Ghost does not work through the gimmicks and tricks of this world. He only works through the means which the heavenly Father and the Son have given Him to work through.

The Apostles were granted the gifts of miracles, of casting out demons, of speaking in foreign tongues so that the “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, [could] hear them speaking in [their] tongues the mighty works of God.” These miraculous works served the purpose of confirming that the truth of the Word of the Lord God which they preached, was indeed the truth. The works confirmed the Word of God. But these works are no longer necessary, for the Word of truth has gone out into all the world. It has filled the world, so that now only the pure preaching of the Word of the Lord God, and the right administration of the Sacraments is necessary to bring comfort and peace to mankind’s troubled and sorrowful hearts.

We endure many hardships and sorrows in this pilgrimage. We are attacked from within by doubts and fears. We are attacked from without by false doctrine and the pains and sorrows of this valley of tears in which we live. But our Lord + Jesus does not leave us nor forsake us in all of our woes and heartbreaks. He is with us wherever His holy Word is at. For wherever His holy Word is at, there the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, is among us. This is why we must ever be vigilant to not neglect the hearing of the Word of the Lord God.

Our Lord is abundant in His mercy and comfort. He has given us Holy Baptism which we live in every day, and remember whenever we make the sign of the holy cross, and remember that our Lord has placed His holy Name upon us making us His holy child. He has given us the Absolution in which the Minister declares to us in the stead and by the command of the Lord + Jesus that all those who are truly repentant receive the forgiveness of sins that our Lord + Jesus won for us upon the tree of the holy cross. Our Lord + Jesus has given us the Lord’s Supper by which He feeds us with His true and substantial Body and Blood in, with, and under bread and wine for the remission of our sins. By our communion we declare that we are in fellowship with one another in the true and pure doctrine of our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ. He has also given us the pure preaching of the Gospel, which we hear from the pulpit every Sunday, that declares to us for the sake of the works and merits of the Christ, and not our own, we have redemption, and are justified with the Lord God by faith in these things.

Our Lord has also given the Holy Ghost another means by which He creates, renews, strengthens, and preserves the faith He made in us. He has given us the mutual consolation and conversation of the brethren. That is, whenever two or three gather together in the Name of the Lord + Jesus, He is here in our midst. This is why we should never forsake the gathering together of the saints. It is here in this building where the saints meet. It is here in this building where the gifts are handed out, where we need to be. And if we are too far, or too feeble or sick to come to the building, then we need to demand the Ministers to come to us, and bring us the gifts of the Lord + Jesus. If we are not too far, and not too sick to come, then we are without excuse before the Lord God. Our continued sorrow and trouble is our own fault.

The Apostles were all gathered in one place when the Holy Ghost came upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and tongues like fire sat upon them. They continued to gather and remained steadfast to the teachings the Lord gave them, and continued to share the “breaking of the bread.” This is where our Lord wants us to be, where His Word is handed out to all those who are troubled and fearful in this life.

Let not your hearts be troubled, or fearful, for our Lord is with us even unto the end of the age. He is with us wherever His Word is preached in its truth and purity, and the Sacraments are administered according to His command. For it is where these things are in which we may find the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost. It is where the Comforter is found where the lies of our enemies are silenced by the truth. The truth proclaims the Christ. He is the One Who has defeated our enemies, and won for us an eternal life with Him and all the saints and angels in heaven for all eternity. Therefore, my dear friends, let us rejoice that we can gather together around the Word of the Lord God, for through these means we are comforted and strengthened in our faith. In the Name of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

Prayer in Pulpit after Sermon:

Almighty God, be pleased to accompany Thy Word with Thy Holy Spirit and grant that Thy Word would increase faith in us; bring into the Way of Truth all such as have erred; turn the hearts of the unrepentant; and for sake of Thy Name grant succor to all heavy hearts and those who are heavy-laden, that they may through the mercy of the Lord + Jesus Christ be relieved and preserved so that they succumb not to the temptation of despair but rather that they gain the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; through the same + Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.

The Votum:

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!