When the Comforter Is Come 

In Nomine Iesu! 

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

Sermon Text: 

“But when the Comforter is come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me: and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.” 

Prayer in Pulpit before Sermon: 

Almighty God, Who hast given us commandment to pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost, most heartily we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, our Advocate, to grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may quicken our hearts by Thy saving Word, and lead us into all truth, that He may guide, instruct, enlighten, govern, comfort, and sanctify us unto everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

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

Hallelujah! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! Since our Lord + Jesus has been crucified, buried, and has indeed risen from the dead on the third day, and since He has now ascended to sit on the right hand of the heavenly Father, He sends to us the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. The Holy Ghost we are told by the Christ in this Gospel reading from the Apostle and Evangelist St. John is sent by Him after He ascends into Heaven to sit on the right hand of the heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost, the Lord says, proceeds forth from the heavenly Father. So that the Holy Ghost is sent by both the Father and the Son. As we confess in our Creed the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. He comes to us by the will of the Father and the Son to be our Paraclete, our Helper, our Comforter. 

This is the task of the Holy Ghost. What He does for us poor sinners is told to us in the name He is given by the Lord + Jesus. He is our Comforter. In the Greek language of the New Testament Scriptures, He is called the “Paraclete.” This word means “one called alongside to help.” Our Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, is called alongside us by the Son of God, our Lord + Jesus, to be our Comforter, and Helper. How does the Holy Ghost comfort and help us? He comforts and helps us by pointing us to the Christ. He comforts us by speaking into our ears the truth of the Word of God. The truth is that our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ, suffered and died for us poor, miserable sinners. 

The Holy Ghost comforts us by showing to us the truth of this fact. He comforts us by teaching us that our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ, has indeed come down from Heaven to take upon Himself our flesh. He did this in obedience to the will of the heavenly Father. He obeyed the Father’s will and came down from Heaven to be our brother; to bear our flesh so that He could perfectly fulfill that which we could not. He came down to pay the penalty of our sin, so that we do not have to endure the wrath of the heavenly Father. He bears the wrath of the Lord God on our behalf. He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again from the dead, and He ascended to sit on the right hand of the heavenly Father. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead on the Last Day. This is the truth with which the Holy Ghost comforts us poor, miserable sinners. 

For our true comfort in this life is knowing that our sins have been forgiven. Not because of anything we did, but because of what the Son of God did on our behalf. Indeed, when we try to do this work of salvation by our own actions, we must heartily confess that we fail miserably every time. We cannot obey the Law. Even in simple things—in the daily grind of our lives—we struggle with sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. We curse our fellowman. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We are filled with lustful thoughts and hateful thoughts. I would venture to make the claim that if other people were privy to the sordid and evil thoughts that pop into our heads throughout the day, they would view us in a completely different light. 

We cannot stop ourselves from sinning. It is a part of our very nature. Our nature is sinful and corrupt. We cannot hope to save ourselves by our attempts to obey the Law. Even if we were able to obey the outward tenets of the Ten Commandments, we would still be guilty of breaking them, for we have the original sin of our first parents inhered within us. The original sin clings to our nature, and corrupts the image of the Lord God with which we were created. Therefore, my dear friends, we cannot hope to save ourselves by our keeping of the Law. We must humbly confess every second of every day that we are indeed poor, miserable sinners. Even as we did a few moments ago, when we kneeled for confession and humbly confessed that we are indeed poor, miserable sinners. 

We also confessed that we are heartily sorry for them and truly repent of them. We prayed the heavenly Father, on account of the works and merits of the Lord + Jesus, His Son, to be gracious and merciful to us poor, miserable sinners. We are able to confess our sins, humbly and sincerely, solely on account of the work of the Holy Ghost. For no man can truly confess his sins, unless the Holy Ghost convicts that man of his sins. This is how the Holy Ghost comforts and helps us. He speaks the truth into our ears about how lost and condemned we are on account of our sins. He speaks the truth that we cannot save ourselves by our own righteousness; that we are filled with corruption and depravity. 

But the Holy Ghost also comforts and helps us by speaking into our ears the truth that we do not need to save ourselves, because the Lord God heavenly Father sent His Only-begotten Son into our flesh, and fulfill the Law for us, and suffer our punishment for our sins on the tree of the holy cross. We are comforted by the truth that our sins have been paid for by the Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ. He now sits on the right hand of the heavenly Father, having ascended into Heaven, to intercede on our behalf to the heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost, Who was sent by the Son, and proceeds from the Father, fills our ears and hearts with this truth. We have forgiveness of our sins, because of what our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ has done. 

He has come down from Heaven, and taken upon Himself our flesh, all so that He might unite us together into one holy, apostolic and Christian Church. In this Christian Church He richly and abundantly forgives all our sins, and all the sins of all those who believe on His holy Name. It is in this Christian Church where the Holy Ghost works to create and sustain such a faith in us. We do not even have to work to obtain faith. It is given to us as a gift by the comfort of the Holy Ghost. He is the one Who opens our spiritually blind eyes, and heals our spiritually deaf ears to see and hear that our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ, has indeed saved us from sin, death, and the power of the devil, by His innocent suffering and death, and by His glorious resurrection from the dead, and His glorious ascension into Heaven. 

This is why, my dear friends, it is most important for us to continue to gather here in this place. For it is here in this holy, apostolic, and Christian Church, that the Holy Ghost works through means to comfort and help us in all our sorrows over our sins and trespasses. In this Christian Church He works through the preaching of the Gospel of our Lord + Jesus, the Christ to turn from our sins and trust in the works of the Christ. In this Church, He washes us free and clean from our sins through the waters of Holy Baptism, calling into our remembrance each new day that we have indeed been baptized with the blood of the Lamb of God. We recall this great gift whenever we make the sign of the holy cross and remember the Name of the Triune Lord God which was placed upon us at our Holy Baptism. This Name declares to us that He is our God and we are His people. 

The Holy Ghost also comforts and helps us, my dear friends, by drawing us to come to this altar and receive the gift of forgiveness of our sins found in the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ through the simple means of bread and wine. Here at this altar, in this Church, we receive the remission of all our sins by remembering and proclaiming the death of our Lord + Jesus. We remember and proclaim His sacrifice for us; the shedding of His Blood as a once and for all time sacrifice for us poor, miserable sinners. By the assistance of the Holy Ghost, we cling in faith to this precious gift knowing how lost we will be if the Lord + Jesus does not become our Intercessor to the heavenly Father on our behalf. 

Therefore, my dear friends, let us rejoice that our Lord and Savior + Jesus, the Christ, has sent the Holy Ghost to us to be our comforter and helper. Let us give thanks the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son to be our comforter and helper. For He guides us into all truth. He guides us into the truth that we as poor, miserable sinners, have a loving and merciful Lord God, Who took it upon Himself to come down from Heaven and work our salvation by His own innocent suffering and death. Our Lord + Jesus has indeed ascended into Heaven, but He has not left us alone. He sends to us the Comforter, and when the Comforter comes, He will guide us into all truth. For He has borne witness to us of our loving and merciful Savior, the Lord + Jesus, the Christ, Who has indeed risen from the dead, and lives and reigns in Heaven for all eternity, where He will someday call us to be with Him and all the saints and angels of Heaven. 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!