Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension. 2014. John 15:26-16:4

Exaudi, The Sunday after the Ascension, 2014

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time

The Hymn # 9            O Day of Rest                        1:89

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #195            Christ Jesus Lay            1:46

Bring to Mind

The Communion Hymn # 341            Crown Him     1:70

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #261   Lord Keep Us Steadfast                   1:93

KJV 1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. 8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging. 10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

John 15:26 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 testify of me:  27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Prayer

Lord God, heavenly Father, we give thanks unto Thee, that through Thy Holy Spirit Thou hast appointed us to bear witness of Thy dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: We beseech Thee, inasmuch as the world cannot endure such testimony, and persecutes us in every way, grant us courage and comfort, that we may not be offended because of the cross, but continue steadfastly in Thy testimony, and be found always among those who know Thee and Thy Son, until we obtain eternal salvation through the same, Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

I met him, shook hands with him -
he stole $12 million from his church.
His son stole more besides.

Luther’s Two Sermons for Exaudi

 

Bring to Mind

John 15:26 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 testify of Me:

Strangely, a controversy came up in the Church about the Holy Spirit coming from the Father and the Son (filioque - and the Son). However, this verse settles the matter. When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto from the Father...

This issue has had volumes written about it, and the conflict helped in splitting the Western Latin Church (Rome) from the Eastern Greek Church (Eastern Orthodox).

This illustrates why people should not rest their arguments on philosophy or tradition. Any idea can become ancient and popular over time, but that does not make it Biblical. Errors in doctrine, like weeds, take root and are much harder to combat as time goes by.

I began growing catnip (a mint) in the garden, without enclosing it in any way. Most people make sure it never makes it out into open spaces, because it spreads so well, as all mints do. A common weed is jill-over-ground, which is in most yards. The catnip thrived in the composted-fed soil, and I was glad to move away from it. I could not dig it all up, and the root base was dense and tough.

This weed, this conflict over the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, is still around. Most do not care about it or worry about it, but the issue is like a weed, alive whether people recognize it or not. 

He shall testify of Me:

The purpose of the Bible is to testify about Christ. The emphasis is not upon the Father, and certainly not on the Spirit, but on the Son. The Son's atoning work is the Gospel.

Whenever people faithfully bear witness to the work of Jesus, they are reflecting the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have one standard, the Scriptures, and these Scriptures keep us from wandering from one fad to another. When people fall into error, it is the Spirit at work in the Word that teaches the truth.

This is always important to realize, that truth is divine, not belonging to us, but to God alone. We can teach the truth in harmony with God, or we can rebel against the truth in presenting our own opinions.

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

The apostles share in the truth, because they have been taught directly by Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit. We can always tell who the rationalists of today are, even though they cloak themselves.

They begin to rebel against the writings of Paul, attacking him personally (didn't like women) or mocking his teaching. They remind me of the recent Facebook expert who began ripping into Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, considered one of the great histories of all time. He brought up the standard arguments, and responded, "Have you actually read Gibbon?" No response.

When people attack Paul (or Luther), I also wonder, "Have you read Paul's letters? Luther?" One thing that Paul always taught, as Luther did later - "This is not from me. This is taught by God." Authority does not come from the person, but from the Word of Truth. 

The sceptics and mockers always give away their game by their personal attacks. They do not like the person of Paul, the person of Luther. Since one or both are bad guys, they have no authority. That actually reveals that the Spirit annoys them by convicting them of their unbelief. No one wants to say that, so the experts say that other experts agree with them.

16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 

This has to be understood correctly, because "being offended" has become a national act, a global sin. If anything I say offends someone, I have sinned.

But that is not the meaning of this verb. The English word that comes from it is "scandal," but that does not help. The best clue is the noun related to the verb - the scandalon was the trigger in a trap. The trigger is much smaller than the trap, but touching it makes the trap work.

Jesus is warning the disciples beforehand so they are not trapped by having the wrong conclusions about these weighty matters. Dire warnings follow, and they inoculate the apostles against falling into unbelief because of the persecutions to come. 

Likewise, ministers should warn people about doctrinal error and false teachers, but it is easier and more rewarding financially to say and do nothing. That is why so many jump-start members fall away later, because they have found the fatal trigger in the trap and they no longer believe.

Jesus blessed persecution with a Beatitude, and He taught the cross more often than anything else. The cross is the counter-point to the Gospel. If you believe, then you will bear the cross. But most have left the cross instead of taking it up, and they have given up faith with it.

2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Historians know that the apostles began making converts, as Jesus did, by preaching the Gospel in the synagogues. Those believing Jews were the natural audience for the revelation of the Old Testament Scriptures being fulfilled. So many were converted that the apostles and all Christians were banned from the synagogues. Jewish leaders were happy to oppose Paul, who deserted them. Oddly, Paul was opposed by the pagans who hated his criticism of their gods, and by the Jews who were supposed opponents of the pagan idol-worshipers.

Religious enemies are more easily killed or destroyed than political enemies. There is much more vigor in opposing them, in making up stories to legitimize the wanton rebellion against the Ten Commandments.

At Augsburg, Luther sat alone at a fortress, because the Emperor was only too happy to burn him at the stake. Luther's life was also on the line at Worms, where he identified with Huss, who had been burned at the stake.

Now people pay lip-service to Luther, but they will not teach the Gospel of Paul, the justification of faith from Luther. They will not die on that hill or any other one, so they will bury the souls that follow their unbelief - or their lukewarmness. 

Religious persecution is always for the glory of God. The best way to find acceptance is to agree with everything and to object about nothing. The priests who rejected papal infallibility were humiliated, punished, demoted, and driven away, even after they conceded that Pope Pius IX was indeed infallible. As a famous historian noted - not one bishop left over the issue. Their one duty was to preserve the truth. Even though many voted against infallibility, no bishop dared to follow through by leaving the source of the error, the Church of Rome.

3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me.

The recurring theme in all the boring blogs is - We need better leaders, so let's elect... Or - we need better rules.

The cause of their problems is unbelief, as Jesus taught the apostles. Unbelief is the reason people rebel against the efficacious Word. The Word is effective in converting and just as effective in blinding and hardening those who reject it. This other effect of the Holy Spirit is just as powerful. It is not God's fault that their outrage turns so destructive, because that is the nature of the unbelieving person. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is off limits.

Unbelief is the reason why people think the answer is money, programs, ideas, or nicer leaders who agree with them.

Look at it this way. If people tremble at the sound of the DP's hoof-steps, they are not trembling at God's Word. But if they tremble at God's Word, they will not flinch when threatened by an unbelieving synod official.

If someone is enraged by the discussion of doctrine and will not let anyone disagree with him, then he does not know the Father - not does  he know Christ. People have to assume that will happen today. 

Lutherans were late at the apostasy circus, but they let in the rationalists who took away their trust in the Word. Instead of fighting those battles one by one, they conceded everything to the supposed intellectuals, ministers who lost their faith but needed to so something with their useless divinity degrees.

If it was not an obvious doctrinal departure, it was something else that everyone pretended not to notice - making an idol out of the synod, treating the congregation as a harem while serving as DP, driving drunk like all the good ol' boys in the COP.

Even worse - the good things done to improve church. Are they not signs of unbelief? Circus clowns in the pulpit and butchers of music in the chancel. Movie screens and computer monitors hanging where they do not belong - abominations of desolation. Where the Gospel is absent, some form of Satanism takes over - often the nice, appealing, clean, white, form.

4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The warnings strengthen us against danger. I remember old John Brenner saying the day of judgment was coming soon. He saw all the signs and wondered why I got it and his own WELSians did not. I said, "Poor teaching," and he agreed. Everyone had taken the easy route and no one was allowed to challenge Holy Mother Synod. The ones who shoved the dissenters aside were so pleased with themselves. And now the sins are piled up for judgment, and no one has the spine to do anything, least of all those who climbed over the corpses of their friends to get to the top of carrion pile.