The Spirit of the Truth Will Guide You in 'The Truth' :: John 16:5-15

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[And Jesus said,] when he comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will guide you in all the truth, for he will not speak on behalf of himself ... whatever he hears, he will speak, and the things coming, he will announce to you. He will glorify me, for he will receive [it] from me and announce [it] to you (vv 12-14).


Just a few minutes ago, we all confessed together, I believe in the Holy Spirit. That is to say, we all confessed that we are convinced there is only one Truth. We all confessed that the Holy Spirit speaks that one Truth. We are convinced, as Jesus says, that he is not just “a” Spirit of Truth, or the “Spirit of Truth,” but the Spirit of “the” Truth. This is our confession.

Our world bristles at the idea that there is only one truth, just like they bristle at the idea that there is one Triune God. They don’t like this truth at all. Instead, the world is largely agnostic to it. So they try to change the truth to a truth that fits their worldview, that suits their needs and desires. 

But you know the truth, don’t you? There is only one Truth ... the Spirit of the Truth. He is the author and giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and together, with the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified. This is most certainly true. He has revealed the truth to the apostles and prophets, guiding them to write the truth. 

To know the truth about God is to know that God isn’t a math problem for us to figure out ... Nor is he a jigsaw puzzle to put together ... nor a philosophical riddle to ponder. To know the truth about God is to know the truth about how God comes to us. 

He comes to us the only Way he said he would ... in the person of Christ, the Word made flesh. He comes to speak the only Truth so that we would have The Life. I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in the Way, the Truth, or the Life ... our Lord Jesus Christ ... but the Spirit of the Truth, the Holy Spirit, calls me by the Gospel, enlights me with his gifts, and sanctifies and keeps me in the true faith. And thanks be to God ... this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GUIDE US TO THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE PREACHING OF THE WORD AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS. 

This is our theme.

I.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s not easy to be convinced ... or you could say like our English Standard Version ... convicted of this truth. As Jesus told the disciples during his upper room discourse, there is too much truth we aren’t able to bear. Even as we mouth the words that I am a poor, miserable sinner ... that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by what I have done and what I have left undone ... that I have not loved my neighbors as myself ... we still deny this truth about ourselves because we aren’t able to bear them. We ignore the truth about ourselves. As Luther teaches us, we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus. Even if a jury of our peers finds us guilty of unbelief beyond a shadow of doubt, we invariably set out to appeal to every technicality, trying to get off scot-free. 

That’s who we are: Sinners who sin. Our blasphemies, our broken promises, our impure thoughts, our malice, our grumbling and complaining to God ... these and so many more sins like them ... they all lead to the same place ... to death and the grave and separation from God, which is the death God warned of in the garden. In sin, we have turned our backs to God, and he has turned his back to us. In sin, we are left in utter darkness apart from God. This is the truth. 

That is what Jesus is trying to help us understand in our Gospel reading for this Fifth Sunday of Easter. As he prepares us one more time for his departure ... first to the cross on account of our sin ... and ultimately back to the Father on account of his righteousness ... here, Jesus is telling his disciples that that is why he will send the Spirit of the Truth to us. He desires for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tm 2:4). 

Therefore, Jesus says, he will send the Holy Spirit to us to guide us ... because I cannot otherwise believe in Jesus Christ or come to him. When [the Spirit of the Truth] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment ... concerning sin because they do not have faith in me ... concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father ... and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged (vv 8-11).

And we need this. 

Our sin is unbelief. Our sin is unrighteousness. And our sin will be judged. 

But thanks be to God, our sin is so great that God in the flesh ... our Lord Jesus Christ ... who was born without sin, who lived without sin, who alone is our righteousness ... he died for our sin. God judged your sin in Christ. This is what God is guiding you to understand.

God died for you. That is the pure truth.

As Isaiah preaches to us today ... through the Holy Spirit nonetheless ... though he was angry with me, he turned his anger away ... unto Jesus ... that he might comfort me. Now looking to the crucifix, where we see our sin dead and dying, we can now believe the Spirit of the Truth on this matter, and heed the word of God, repenting in the name of Jesus ... that is, as Saint James teaches, mourning your sin, [setting] aside all moral filth and abundant wickedness and [receiving] with gentleness the implanted word, the word that is able to save your souls (Jas 1:21). 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, your sin, my sin, the world’s sin ... died with Jesus on the cross. This is the truth. And his life, the eternal life, was given to you in the resurrection. This also is the truth.

II.

And now that the Spirit of the Truth has come, he is guiding you to receive his glory through the preaching of his word and the administration of his sacraments. The Spirit doesn’t speak of himself. He speaks of Christ. And he does it through Word and sacraments. Through these means, the Spirit of the Truth teaches us to believe God and to expect and ask from him all that is good. He guided us to understand that Word and sacrament work together for our good and his glory. As our confessions say, such use of the sacraments nourishes true devotion to God (AC XXIV 7-8). 

Luther then expands on this truth in the catechisms. In baptism we are made holy and are saved (LC IV 46). Through absolution, we find that any heart that feels its sinfulness and desires consolation has a sure refuge in God’s Word (Exhortation 14). And finally, in the Lord’s Supper, the Spirit delivers all his gifts that nurture, protect, and shelter this faith in Christ (LC V 70).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I want you to ponder and always remember this truth. Together, baptism, absolution, and the supper fully proclaim together the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Together they are the truth. The Holy Spirit is then able to convince us that the truth of the Gospel is for you. He not only shows us the righteousness Jesus earned for us by his suffering and death, but he unites us through the sacraments in this truth. 

Now, when you look at our crucifix on the altar ... (that is what our altar cross is, because Jesus is right there in the center) ... you too can glorify God, and begin proclaiming the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, where he sanctifies you with his truth. As Jesus said, when he comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you in all the truth, glorifying Jesus, creating faith in Jesus, and revealing the depth of the Father’s love for you in Jesus. 

You have received this truth in your Baptism. The Holy Spirit has come and made you his unique dwelling place so that every expression of faith, hope, love, and courage is granted to you by his guidance through the Holy Scripture alone. His Word of the Truth will pull your mind away from the filth of the world and the corruption of sin. He will be your guide and lift up your head to sing a new song to the Lord ... a song of joy in the redemption that is coming. 

More than that, he will open our eyes to hear, see, touch, and taste the glory of our Christ in the Lord’s Supper. He teaches us to know Jesus as the Christ, our Savior, through his body and blood given and shed for you.

So let us continue to hear the Word the Holy Spirit has given to us. 

Let us always do the work of the Holy Spirit and glorify Christ in our songs and praises, and in our everyday conversations and vocations. 

Let us always follow the work of the Holy Spirit and glorify Christ through his means of grace that work together, forgiving us, nurturing us, and guiding us into His everlasting Kingdom. This is the truth of the Spirit. 

May you, by God’s good grace through the working of the Holy Spirit, ever hold fast to this peace of Christ. And may you ever and always be humbly convicted in the reality of your sin and rejoice in the greater reality of God’s judgment that declares you holy and righteous in his sight for Christ’s sake. 

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