Sermon Audio

The catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

If you’ll pardon my jumping ahead a week, this is what we’ll confess next week, speaking in no uncertain terms on Holy Trinity Sunday that we believe in one God in three Persons, distinct yet the same God. I bring up this portion of the Athanasian Creed because today is a day set aside to acknowledge the work of one of the Persons in particular—the Holy Ghost—and when speaking of the work of the Holy Ghost, one cannot escape speaking of the work of God in three Persons; one, because He is one God always at work in all three Persons whether we recognize or acknowledge it or not; and two, because the work of the Holy Ghost is almost always behind the scenes, and drawing attention away from Himself.

Except for this one day, the day we are today commemorating: the Day of Pentecost. Yet, even on that day, the purpose for which the Holy Ghost acted openly was to point to the One who was and is God-with-us and His work for our salvation.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke of this day. It’s a short Gospel lesson, certainly worth listening to again:

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now, Jesus spoke a familiar lesson to us, one spoken to the Samaritan woman at the well. If you are thirsty, go to Christ and drink, and out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. This time, however, John explains that the Christ is speaking of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if you thirst for righteousness, go to your Lord, and He will supply it and give you the Holy Ghost which will give you to tell of the righteousness of God, the Savior of the world—sent of the Father, accomplished by the Son, which faith is created and sustained by the Holy Ghost.

Now, it must be said that this giving of the Holy Ghost that John wrote of in today’s Gospel lesson is the fullest measure of giving which, before the Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, had not happened. Certainly, the Holy Ghost was active in times before this, as “prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21); even as we heard this morning that, “Moses...gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tabernacle. Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.” (Numbers 11:24-25)

And again, it must be said, that prophesy is not simply a telling of the future, but the speaking of the Word of God. This gift of the Holy Ghost certainly happened before the Christ was glorified, as Moses and St. Peter give witness to, and the Holy Ghost was at work to create faith in God in these times, but He was not given in those times as He was on that first Pentecost Day.

For on that day, the disciples who had added Matthias to their number, were all together in one place, and the Holy Ghost came upon them and “gave them utterance,” as it is written in the New King James Version. They were given the gift of prophecy, not to tell the future, but to speak “the wonderful works of God.”

Some supposed them to be drunk, but Peter rose and refuted it; He cited Joel as now being fulfilled in their hearing: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.”

What did Peter prophesy? He spoke the Word of God:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:22-24, 32-33, 36)

That is exactly the work of the Holy Ghost. He brings the Word to thirsting souls; or as Gary P. Baumler wrote,

God’s Holy Spirit leads thirsty souls to Jesus. He works the faith that drinks the refreshment Jesus offers. The Spirit enters the heart of a believer, and the believer calls others to learn of Jesus.

When Jesus finished his work of salvation and entered into his glory, God’s Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers in special measure. This happened on Pentecost when the Spirit turned loose the streams of water from the disciples, and the water of life has flowed through believers to countless thirsting souls in every age since.

Now, some suppose this gift of the Holy Ghost will produce in the true believer the mark of, well, true belief, as they define this mark. If one has been baptized with the Holy Ghost, they will say, then they should be able to speak in tongues. And by this they mean speaking in some unintelligible babble, the meaning of which is known only to the speaker and God, though, supposedly, every once in a while someone else may come along who can interpret this babble, or so they will claim. However, the content of this babble need not be anything important. Oh, they’ll point to Acts 2 as proof that unintelligible babble is a gift of the Holy Ghost, but they’ll overlook the fact that what the disciples were doing was speaking the word of God in languages that could be understood by the foreign Jews in Jerusalem, not otherwise worthless unintelligible babble.

On the contrary, the work of the Holy Ghost is to produce faith in Christ and to sustain that faith; “God’s Holy Spirit leads thirsty souls to Jesus. He works the faith that drinks the refreshment Jesus offers.” In these latter days, He is always at work to do this, and He draws no attention to Himself. He certainly shares in the glory of the Father and the Son, as, again, we’ll confess next week, but He seeks no glory for Himself. His work is to point to the Son, sent by the Father, and the work He has accomplished for the salvation of the world. His work is to point us to the cross of Christ, and there to cause us to see Him upon it as the sacrifice for our sins—to see Him as our Substitute.

So, yes, dear hearers, you have this gift, too. For hear something else that Peter prophesied on that first Pentecost Day:

Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:38-39)

You have been here, at the font, and have been baptized and there was your sin was washed off of you and onto your Savior, and the Holy Ghost was given to you to work in you faith, to give to you forgiveness Christ won for you on the cross, and to secure you in the holy ark of Christendom—to keep you in this one, true faith. It wasn’t your own reason and strength that brought you to Christ your Lord, but the Holy Ghost who “leads thirsty souls to Jesus”; who “works the faith that drinks the refreshment Jesus offers.”

If some of those words sound familiar to those of you who have been catechized, they should. Today, we continue to confess from the Nicene Creed, whose words are similar and which meaning is the same as the Apostles’ Creed, in which Third Article we confess,

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.

This is most certainly true, dear Baptized! You have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, who has created and sustained the true faith in you, calling you by the Gospel, enlightening you with His gifts. This is most certainly true, dear Baptized! You have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, therefore you are being kept with the whole Christian church on earth. This is most certainly true, dear Baptized! You have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and by Him you can tell of the wonderful works of God to a world thirsting for righteousness. This is most certainly true, dear Baptized! You have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and He has even today richly forgiven you for all of your sins! And so, you will be raised on the Last Day to eternal life. This is most certainly true, thanks be to God—the Father, the + Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.