Now I Go unto Him That Sent Me

In Nomine Iesu!

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

Sermon Text: St. John 16:5-15

“‘But now I go unto Him that sent Me; and none of you asketh Me, “Whither goest Thou?” But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send Him unto you.’”

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 in 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, Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! The Gospel pericopes of the Easter season do not follow a linear pattern. They trend backwards. This is why today we have the words of our Lord that come before the words of our Lord from last Sunday. It is as if the readings during the second half of the Easter season are counting backwards, as if they are counting down to a specific event. In fact, these readings are leading us to two events, the Ascension of our Lord and the coming of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost, which is sometimes referred to as Whitsunday. Ultimately, our Lord is preparing His Apostles for the day when He would no longer be with them in a physical sense. He would no longer be with them in the flesh, as we are with one another today face to face.

Our Lord’s final comforts for His Apostles on the night of His betrayal, arrest, trial, crucifixion and death prepares them for the day when He would not be with them. These words prepare us for the time that we live in now. When our Lord says at the beginning of the pericope, “But now I go unto Him that sent Me” He is not referring to His death or resurrection, even though these events historically will be taken place for the Apostles over the next few days. Our Lord by these words is talking about His Ascension to the right hand of the heavenly Father. He is going to the One Who sent Him. He is going to the heavenly Father. But He is not leaving His Apostles, nor us, stranded and alone in this cruel and evil world.

Our Lord makes a promise to His Apostles. He makes a promise to His Bride, the Church. He will send the Comforter. He will send to His Church the Holy Ghost. The Lord will not leave the Apostles alone. He does not leave us alone. He is with us even to the end of the age, as He promised on the day of His Ascension. Our Lord is still with us through His Word. This is the task that the Church has been given until our Lord’s return. The Church is to dedicate itself to the pure preaching of the Word of the Lord God, and to the right administration of the blessed Sacraments. It is through these means—these words of the Lord God attached to a physical element—whereby the Holy Ghost creates and sustains, preserves and renews faith in us.

That this is true can be ascertained by what our Lord + Jesus tells us is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost. Yes, He is a Comforter. He gives comfort to all those crushed and convicted by the weight of their sin. This comfort comes to us poor, miserable sinners, because the Holy Ghost leads us into all truth. The truth is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost. This is what the Church should also be concerned with. The Church should always be concerned with preaching the truth of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ. For in establishing the truth in our midst, we can be confident that the Holy Ghost, Who is the Spirit of truth, abides among us. If the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, abides among us, we know that He is filling our ears and our hearts with the truth.

Wherever the truth is being preached in its purity, there the Holy Ghost is creating faith among all those who hear the Word of the Lord God. Therefore, it is no small thing to strive for pure doctrine, to get that which our Lord would have us know and believe correct and accurate. Pure doctrine is not a hindrance to the mission of the Church. It is the mission of the Church! For it is also the mission of the One watching over the Church until our Lord’s return. The mission of the Holy Ghost is to guide us into all truth.

Pontius Pilate when he was examining the Lord + Jesus before His crucifixion, asked the Lord “What is truth?” We should also ask this same question, “What is truth?” The question may seem like a hard one at first thought, but it is a really simple answer. The truth is exactly what our Lord + Jesus taught. He taught the truth. He handed over to His Apostles the truth. The Apostles, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost delivered over to us the truth. We have the truth, because we cling in faith to all that our Lord + Jesus taught us through His holy Apostles. We have the truth because we hold steadfast to the pure doctrine of the Word of the Lord God. We hold fast to the Word which our Lord gave to His Apostles, and they gave to us. Those who take pure doctrine as merely some side quest, are prone to allowing false doctrine into their midst.

Holding fast to the purity of the Word ensures that we are teaching what our Lord would have us taught. It ensures that we have the truth. It ensures us that we are not resisting the Holy Ghost, and that He is preaching the saving truth into our ears. And if the truth is being preached into our ears, and we are hearing that truth, then the truth is also changing our stony hearts into hearts of flesh. Our hearts are made to have faith in our Lord + Jesus. For it is by faith in our Lord + Jesus alone which saves. 

It is with the truth, with the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, by which our Lord promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Wherever the truth of His holy Word is being preached in its purity, and His Sacraments are being administered according to how our Lord instituted them, there our Lord + Jesus is among us. What comfort that brings! By these means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is pointing us to the Christ, to our Savior. Therefore, when we are convicted in respect of our sin and led to contrition and sorrow over our sins, the Holy Ghost also convicts us of righteousness. That is, in answer to our sorrow over our sinfulness, He gives us the Lord + Jesus. It is His righteousness that saves us. 

We have put on the righteousness of the Lord + Jesus through the waters of Holy Baptism. In that blessed Sacrament, we have been crucified, dead, and buried with our Lord + Jesus. The Old Adam has been killed and drowned. But we have also been raised with our Lord through the waters of Holy Baptism so that a new creation lives before Him. As a sign and seal that this is the truth, our Lord has placed His holy Name upon us. He sealed our salvation in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. The sign of the holy cross was made upon our foreheads and hearts as a sign and seal that both in knowledge and faith of the works and merits of our Lord + Jesus we have salvation. Our hearts and minds cling in faith to our Redeemer and Savior. He has also clothed us with His righteousness in the waters of Holy Baptism, so that all of our sins have been covered over. These are the promises that we have by which the Holy Ghost comforts us in our sin and shame. 

We may be convicted of sin by the Word of truth. But we have the Word of truth to also speak to us that we bear the righteousness of the Christ. We have put on the Christ, and He has covered over our sin. This is what our Lord says the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, will do. He will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness. But our Lord also adds a third thing that the Spirit of truth will convict us of: He will convict the world of judgment, for the prince of this world has been judged. In other words, the Holy Ghost convicts us of the truth that the devil, and all that is evil in this world, have already been condemned. They cannot harm us! They have been judged, the deed is done, our Lord has thoroughly defeated them upon the tree of the holy cross.

As further proof that what our Lord teaches us here in these words of the Gospel is indeed the truth, notice, my dear friends, that our Lord does not speak of these things in the future tense. He has not yet been crucified, dead, and buried, as this is the night before those things happen. But our Lord speaks as if they had already been accomplished. Our sins has been covered over with the righteousness of the Christ, and the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, can no longer condemn us, for they have already been condemned. We are now new creations, living lives worthy of the repentance that fills our hearts. We desire to hear and live in the truth of our Lord + Jesus.

All these things are the truth for us poor, miserable sinners, because our Lord + Jesus has gone to the One Who sent Him. He has gone to the heavenly Father, and has sat down at His right hand. They have sent to us the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, Who leads us into all truth. Indeed, that we are gathered here today is proof that the Holy Ghost has led us into all truth, for we have come to hear the Word of truth, and to be told about our Lord and Savior—our Redeemer. He has been crucified, dead, and buried, and He has risen again from the dead. So now we to are dead to sin, and alive in Christ + Jesus. All this the Holy Ghost has taught us through the pure preaching of the Word of the Lord God.

Therefore, my dear friends, let us come to this altar meet our Lord + Jesus, our Savior, in His Body and Blood given in bread and wine. For by these means we receive the remission of our sins. We also learn to love each other as we join together in pure fellowship with one another. We love each other as our heavenly Father loves us. We return that love by receiving His gifts of grace and mercy. For we look forward to the time when our Lord + Jesus will no longer be with us only by His Word, but to the time when we will see Him face to face. In heaven we will be with our Lord, and He will be with us and all the saints. There we will have no sorrow or tears, for sin and shame will no longer condemn nor harm us. For our Lord has died and risen again to win salvation for us all. Hallelujah! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! 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!