ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
I agreed to emphasize good nutrition versus the majority (garbage) we eat steadily.
Emerging from My Terrible Habits
My blood test in 2020 showed I was diabetic, which scared me into solutions. I had Joel Fuhrman's nutrition book in my library - never used. When I began reading it, I was shocked at the depth of my ignorance.
First - Stupid Eating Tastes Great - I Am Proof
Most of a grocery store promotes and glorifies the worst, which shows in the limited area for fresh produce and frozen produce.
Milk, cheeses, and eggs are loaded with fat and bad for human bones. They promote bone breakage, cancer, and obesity. But they taste great!
Grease and oil transfer fat to our bodies - not just with fast food - but with far too much meat, lots of salt added to the fat, and fat in many products. Chocolate, which we all dearly love, combines significant amounts of sweetening and fat.
Sugar, artificial sugar, and blends of sweetener create - you guessed it - enhancement with the sweetness. When the body gives up burning the sugar, havoc rules everywhere in the body, but shhh, it takes a blood panel to face the music.
Salt enough to preserve Tutankhamun. We are so used to saltiness that the packaged, frozen food, gigantic snack aisles, and subtle seducers keep up our high blood pressure reading.
Second - Solutions Are in the Same Store!
A. Healthy eating does not promote scarfing down fast food because good food - on the greens, fresh fruits, and vegetables side - satisfies the individual and costs a lot less. As someone said, "You cannot get fat on spinach and other greens. Vegetables are also low in fat production. Fresh fruits are God's own Creation."
B. Fruits are very good when they are eaten fresh and not converted into icky juices (mostly sugar) and various desserts. The wise handlers in the body - are food fiber, which reduce the sugar bomb and set up a matrix to digest and break up foods wisely. In short, fresh oranges are very good but typical orange juice is Kool-aid, more or less. Read the labels on all products that have sweeteners - SCARY!
B. Since I went through the juggernaut of giving up junk food, I made these suggestions to Name Withheld.
Reject fad diets - they are phony, expensive, but good for a laugh.
Start to reduce the fat designers by using a foundation of fresh/frozen greens, vegetables, and fruits.
Weigh the bathroom scale each morning and chart it on the computer. Mine went from 215 down to 174 today, which started at March 20, 2020. I was probably higher before 2020.
Remove the fatuous snack foods because so many of them are addicting and bad. Popcorn is better because it is mostly air and ruffage. Fritos and Ritz are incredibly addicting, as someone told me.
Charlie Sue and I have tried a number of meats. We eat small amounts of sausage now.
8. In the second place, Christ calls him “the Spirit of Truth.” This he does for the comfort of those who believe the Gospel. They may know, through the witness of the Spirit, that the consolation of the Word is true and real; that it does not deceive, and that the courage and joy which it induces are genuine and enduring, steadfast through storms and terrors, even to the gates of hell. For this comfort is not based upon uncertainties, as is the consolation of the world, but upon the Word of Christ and the everlasting truth of God.
9. Christ gives this name to the Holy Spirit in contradistinction to the devil, who is also a spirit, but not a comforter and helper of Christians; he is their adversary and murderer. Neither is he truthful; he is the spirit of lies, who, by means of false fear and false comfort having the appearance of truth, both deceives and destroys. He possesses the art of filling his own victims with sweet comfort; that is, he gives them unbelieving, arrogant, secure, impious hearts — as was said in the Gospel for the third day of the Easter festival. He can even make them joyful; furthermore, he renders them haughty and proud in their opinions, in their wisdom and self-made personal holiness; then no threat nor terror of God’s wrath and of eternal damnation moves them, but their hearts grow harder than steel or adamant.
10. Again, with truly pious hearts, which in many respects are timid and tender, his practice is just the opposite. He tortures them with everything terrible that can be imagined, martyring and piercing them as with fiery darts, until they may find no good thing nor comfort before God. His object in both cases is to ruin souls by means of his lies and to lead them to eternal death. The first class, who, should they be terrified, might repent, he fills with false comfort and security, but in the end, when their last hour has comet he abandons them to sudden terror and despair; the latter class he worries with unceasing torments and fear, and robs them of the comfort they should have in God, in order that they may despair of God’s grace and help.
11. We should therefore rightly learn to understand the Holy Spirit, and should know that he is a comforter and does nothing else than to truly comfort, through the preaching of the Gospel in Christ, sad and timid hearts that know their sins and are being terrified and distressed by the devil beyond measure. He exhorts them to be comforted and to be joyful in God’s promised grace in Christ Jesus. He keeps them therein, so that they continue in this truth and their hearts come to know that all other teaching and comfort, though purporting to be of God, are not genuine. The Holy Spirit cannot be present in false teaching. All such is but the devil’s work — lies and deception with which he seeks to effect his murderous designs.
The Christian should allow no terror, threat or suffering possible on earth to force him from the real comfort of the Gospel.
12. Comfort and truth, when the product of the Holy Spirit, are concealed and deeply hidden in faith. Christians themselves do not at all times experience them, but in their weakness sometimes miss the presence of these. For the devil, through both the timidity within themselves and the wickedness of the world without, hinders and opposes believers to such an extent that it is often almost impossible for them to appropriate an atom of God’s comfort; they find themselves in the same condition in which the great apostle Paul laments about himself ( 2 Corinthians 7:5), where without are rightings, within are fears. They cannot possess unalloyed comfort and joy, but the greater part of their experience proves to be sorrow and fear and deadly conflict. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:11: “For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake.”
Likewise in 1 Corinthians 15:13: “I protest by that glorying in you, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” We also see many pious hearts that are always sad and downcast, tormenting and alarming themselves with their own thoughts, and being at the verge of despair because of the temptations of the devil. Where, say the world and our own flesh, do you find, under these circumstances, the Holy Spirit whom you Christians laud so much?
13. A Christian should be wise here, and should not judge and determine things according to his own thoughts and feelings, but, in spite of such temptation and weakness, he should keep to the Word and the comfort of the preaching which the Holy Spirit gives to all poor and distressed hearts and consciences. Christ says in Isaiah 61:1-2, concerning the office which he should exercise through the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted; to comfort all that mourn.”
14. From this ye should learn — and you will find it everywhere in the Gospel — that God does not desire you to be sad or alarmed, but joyful, and comforted with the certain promise of his grace, which the Holy Spirit himself offers you. He declares that it is not the truth, but your false opinion and the devil’s deception that lead you to feel and think in your heart of the wrath and punishment of God, as if he would condemn you to hell. Therefore, let God’s Word be of more authority to you than your own feelings and the judgment of the whole world; do not give God the lie and rob yourself of the Spirit of truth.
II. THE SECOND PROMISE.
15. Of this promise, this comfort, to allay our feelings and fears, Christ assures us in the words translated “desolate” he will not leave you desolate.
The word translated “desolate” literally means “orphans.” By the use of this word Christ would intimate the condition of the Church. In the eyes of the world, and even in her own estimation, she has not the! appearance of a prosperous and well ordered organization; rather she is a scattered group of poor, miserable orphans, without leader, protection or help upon earth.
All the world laughs at her and ridicules her as a great fool in thinking that she is the Church and comprises the people of God. Furthermore, each individual is so burdened and oppressed in his need and suffering as to feel that no one else lies so low or is so far from help as he.
16. Such misery and fears grow upon one under the influence of the devil’s power, when he pierces the heart with his bitter, poisonous, murderous thrusts. Then the heart feels that it is not only forsaken by all men, but also by God himself. So it altogether loses Christ and sees no end to its misery.
Of this we have heard before in the Gospel where Christ says ( John 16:20): “Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful” etc. To be left thus, that is, to feel that all things have conspired to leave us comfortless and helpless, is to be left orphans indeed.
17. As Christ has thus told his Christians beforehand of such suffering, so also does he wish to give this comfort and consolation beforehand, and desires to teach us not to despair because of suffering, but only to hold to his Word, even if it does seem that help is being too long delayed. He desires to remind us of the promise that he will not leave us fast in misery, and that we should accord him the highest honor due to God, by holding him to be true and faithful. He says: It shall not continue forever, but only a little, a short time. And he says here: “I come unto you.” Again: “A little while, and the world beholdeth me no more.” That hour will seem to you an hour of sadness indeed, yea, an unending hour of death. “But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.”
18. This is a sufficient promise of friendship and comfort. But we need only to learn to believe it, and to experience the truth that in our greatest weakness he guides his Church by wonderful divine power and protects and upholds her, so that she shall endure in spite of all. Yea, it shall be that in the greatest sadness there shall be comfort; in the greatest misery and desolation, joy and help; in death, everlasting life; until these better things come to be our possession, and the heart, having overcome all evil and being filled with the unspeakable joy of salvation, hears the bold, joyful word of victory which Christ utters: “Because! live, ye shall live also,” and as we beautifully sing in Psalm 118:15-17: “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of Jehovah.”
This is what St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:10 concerning comfort and help for these poor orphans: “We are always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.”
And Christ says in Luke 12:32: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
13 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.
17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.
18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.
19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.
20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.
26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.
30 But God raised him from the dead:
31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;
41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
John 16:7 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 depart, I will send Him unto you.
8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see Me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The Pentecostal label may have dwindled or merged - hard to tell. When Christianity Today phoned me about Cho - the Korean felon, years ago, he asked me how I obtained a particular statement. I said to the editor, "I got that from your magazine!" Christina found the reference for me - at the Luther Seminary library.
Pentecostalism was hot in all the mainlines, which I noticed in Midland, Michigan, including the LCMS congregations to some extent. Those days were the birth pangs of "Church Growth, sometimes expressed as Church Growth." (I heard a WELS DP say that without projectile vomiting.)
I learned the reason for the LCMS being so infatuated with themselves. The lies about Stephan and CFW Walther were a Fort Knox of dishonesty. Even worse, the delusional clergy and laity distorted the Gospel horrendously to gild the statues and statutes of The Great Walther with constant praise.
Granted - the Lutheran Church in America was tepid at best and Marxist at the upper levels. Each glob of Lutherdom praised itself (ALC versus LCA versus LCMS, etc).
This turmoil got me to pursue the Biblical issues in relation to the Book of Concord, even when the LCMS Michigan District President asked me about serving one of his Pentecostal congregations. I quoted Luther - "They act as if they swallowed the Holy Ghost, feathers and all."
?!
Pentecostal
I suggest that people study the Holy Spirit in the KJV, Luther, and such authors as Melanchthon and Chemnitz. I am afraid that 99% of Lutherdom today is empty, whether radical in its gay atheism (not just ELCA) or sweating for a replacement for Church Growth - packaged, putrid, programs.
The Lutheran synods do not know where they are going because they have so many baubles to play with, so little content. As one stupefied WELS leader said, "Isn't it great that we had three pastors and three churches! Now we will have two pastors in one church with more attendance." Yay!!!! What????
"Wuz I smart or not?"
He is really onto something, but what it is, I can't tell.
14. From this ye should learn — and you will find it everywhere in the Gospel — that God does not desire you to be sad or alarmed, but joyful, and comforted with the certain promise of his grace, which the Holy Spirit himself offers you. He declares that it is not the truth, but your false opinion and the devil’s deception that lead you to feel and think in your heart of the wrath and punishment of God, as if he would condemn you to hell. Therefore, let God’s Word be of more authority to you than your own feelings and the judgment of the whole world; do not give God the lie and rob yourself of the Spirit of truth.
II. THE SECOND PROMISE.
15. Of this promise, this comfort, to allay our feelings and fears, Christ assures us in the words translated “desolate” he will not leave you desolate.
The word translated “desolate” literally means “orphans.” By the use of this word Christ would intimate the condition of the Church. In the eyes of the world, and even in her own estimation, she has not the! appearance of a prosperous and well ordered organization; rather she is a scattered group of poor, miserable orphans, without leader, protection or help upon earth.
All the world laughs at her and ridicules her as a great fool in thinking that she is the Church and comprises the people of God. Furthermore, each individual is so burdened and oppressed in his need and suffering as to feel that no one else lies so low or is so far from help as he.
16. Such misery and fears grow upon one under the influence of the devil’s power, when he pierces the heart with his bitter, poisonous, murderous thrusts. Then the heart feels that it is not only forsaken by all men, but also by God himself. So it altogether loses Christ and sees no end to its misery.
Of this we have heard before in the Gospel where Christ says ( John 16:20): “Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful” etc. To be left thus, that is, to feel that all things have conspired to leave us comfortless and helpless, is to be left orphans indeed.
17. As Christ has thus told his Christians beforehand of such suffering, so also does he wish to give this comfort and consolation beforehand, and desires to teach us not to despair because of suffering, but only to hold to his Word, even if it does seem that help is being too long delayed. He desires to remind us of the promise that he will not leave us fast in misery, and that we should accord him the highest honor due to God, by holding him to be true and faithful. He says: It shall not continue forever, but only a little, a short time. And he says here: “I come unto you.” Again: “A little while, and the world beholdeth me no more.” That hour will seem to you an hour of sadness indeed, yea, an unending hour of death. “But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.”
KJV John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
THE FIRST PROMISE CHRIST GIVES IN THIS SERMON OF COMFORT.
1. Since pastors are expected on this day to preach on the Holy Spirit, it would be well to begin the Gospel lesson with the verses preceding, which it has been customary to read Pentecost evening, where Christ says: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth” etc. These verses are closely connected with today’s text, and they contain the first promise of the Holy Spirit. to the apostles. It is Christ’s intent in the promise richly to comfort the disciples in view of his bodily departure unto the Father, whither he was going, that he might there prepare a dwelling-place for them and receive them unto himself. He also assures them that while here upon earth they shall do much greater works than he has done, and that whatsoever they shall ask in his name, that he will do. Moreover, he promises them that the Holy Spirit shall not be with them for a time only, as he has been in his own short stay in his bodily presence, but that the Holy Spirit shall continue with them for ever; that they shall have in him a Comforter whose ministrations shall exceed the comfort which they have hitherto derived from his own bodily presence.
2. This is a beautiful, glorious promise which Christ makes to his Church, that is, to the little company who believe on him, to whom he before said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” This is a glorious promise, that the Holy Spirit should certainly be with them and in them. It means that he shall be given them, not only in their office, but also that he shall be given into their hearts, to rule, teach and guide them, to give them strength and courage, and to protect and sustain them in every danger and need against the devil and his power. He says: “I will not leave you orphans: I come unto you.”
3. In the various instances where he describes the Holy Spirit, he does not designate him simply according to his nature, as he is and is called the Holy Spirit. The word would signify to them something not to be seen or felt; he would thus be incomprehensible to them. But, that he may be comprehensible and real in a bodily sense, Christ gives him a name signifying his office and work, which is the office of the Word. He thus conveys the idea of preacher, and he calls him the Comforter and the Spirit of truth, who is with them by means of the Word of preaching, and who allows himself to be heard and seen. The two offices, that of comforting and that of leading into the truth, cannot be exercised otherwise than through the Word, or through teaching.
Thus, we know how and where the Holy Spirit is to be found, and we need not be in doubt nor waver, gazing here and there for special revelations or illuminations. Each one should hold to the Word, and should know that through it alone, and through no other means, does the Spirit enlighten hearts and is he ready to dwell in them and to give true knowledge and comfort through faith in Christ. Where this is accomplished, where the Word concerning Christ is accepted by faith and the heart finds comfort in it, there we may know that the Holy Spirit is assuredly present and is performing his work, as has often been stated.
4. Furthermore, the two names, “Comforter” and “Spirit of Truth,” are very affectionate and consoling names. The word “Comforter,” which is here used instead of the Greek word paraclete or the Latin word advocate, or patron, designates a person who acts as counsel for one who is accused or charged with some crime, and who in that capacity undertakes to defend him and win his case, to advise and aid him, and to admonish and encourage him as occasion may require. That, says Christ, shall be the office of the Holy Spirit when I have left you, and when ye shall find no comfort nor support in the world, when all the world shall be against you, and when the devil shall beset you and with his poisonous tongues of slander shall say the worst things about you, and shall pronounce you before all the world deceivers and rebels, and shall, furthermore, with the terror of God’s wrath, with melancholy and gloomy thoughts of your own infirmities, alarm your consciences and fill your hearts with fear, so that ye might well despair if ye were left in that state without comfort and strength. The devil appropriately bears the name Diabolus, that is calumniator, a false, wicked slanderer, who accuses Christians before God day and night, as we find indicated Revelation 12
5. Now, says Christ, to protect you against this slanderer and accuser, I will send you, from my Father and in my stead, the Holy Spirit, who shall be your counselor and defender, and who shall intercede for you before God.
He shall comfort and strengthen your hearts, so that you need not despair because of the abuse and slander and the accusations and terrors of the devil and the world, but, on the contrary, you may possess fearless hearts and courage, and may boldly speak in defense of your cause, the faith and confession of Christ. He says, in Luke 21:15, “I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay.”
6. This, we say, is portraying the Holy Spirit in the most friendly and comforting way. We are not to look upon him otherwise than as a kind and friendly comforter and helper, and we are to know that he was sent from God the Father and from Christ for that purpose; that he will certainly prove himself such through the Word, by showing us the pure grace, love and goodness of God. He shall assure our hearts that God, both the Father and the Son, is not angry with us nor does he condemn us, nor desire us to be filled with fear. The Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and Son to be a comforter, and has been commanded not to declare anything but what he has heard, as we have learned in the preceding Gospel.
7. Such comfort begets a fearless heart and courage a against the ravings of the world and the devil, and enables a Christian, whatever his outward sufferings may be, to endure it all, even with joy, and to conquer in the end, as did the apostles and martyrs, and many weak women and young virgins. The Christians — and such were these mentioned . know that the Holy Spirit is present in our faith and confession; that he will stand by them, and will direct and carry on the conflict against the devil and the world, so that the Christians shall not suffer defeat, but shall conquer, and, in spite of opposition, complete his work.
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 #370My Hope Is Built
In Our Prayers
Dr. Lito Cruz, Pastor Jim Shrader and his wife Chris, Kermit Way, Callie and her mother Peggy; those with stress and metabolic disorders; Lynda Roper. BibleJohn Ewing.
The son of our Lutheran friend died overseas suddenly at the age of 49 - Clinton Michael Roberts. His mother Virginia helped greatly with the Luther books reprinted and posted various ways.
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.
The Spirit of Truth
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:
So many learned professors make fun of the Trinity - or - deny these simple words. Nothing churns up reaction to the Trinity more than this simplicity. Harvard Divinity School has libraries worth, but no truth. The emphasis of the Spirit is especially strong in John's Gospel, and this will show the listener why. Jesus is teaching His disciples about the Spirit managing the Father and Son. What was there in the beginning (Genesis 1 and John 1) is the energy of the Spirit, the direct power of God moving faithful ministers, organists, teachers, members, and parents.
As described many times, in John 16:8 -
8 And when He is come, He will reprove [expose or convict] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
Sin is not the sins of the flesh, our egos, or many alternatives - The Spirit convicts unbelief. The Word is always energized through the Spirit - even when people are hardening their hearts against the Truth and blinding their eyes to Jesus Christ.
John 15:27 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 [scandalized, set off by the trigger in the trap].
Notice how early Jesus teaches, warns, and strengthens the disciples. They were right on the edge when they gathered inside locked doors. Fear overcame faith, and through Jesus faith overcame fear. That was so strong with the risen Christ that it led them into the opposition and rejoiced in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the Good Shepherd, the True Vine, the Way the Truth and the Light.
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.
Like Jesus, the disciples would be removed from the synagogues. They would be pursued and even killed for teaching the truth. Like Paul, who came along rather early, some of the most antagonistic toward Jesus also became His followers. The crowds were overwhelmed by the witness of Stephen, and his death by stoning opened up the Heavens to Christ and His glory.
Acts 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
These things had to happen because the Antichrist was stirred up by the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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.
This passage - look at how much more needs to be said, up to and including John 21. The events, discussions, and conflicts are quite condensed. They have remained the Word of God over the centuries. Many people speak or write from their perspective, but that does not mean they are correct. Luther called them "wolf preachers," who are eagerly followed by many. When people complain about this, it is a reminder of what Jesus described in John 10. Those who hear His voice follow Him - He leads them out to the pure water and green pastures. Those are the three elements most needed - His voice, food and water.
They listen to His Voice but many do not. I can count four churches I served, where the buildings are either empty, a small business, or demolished. Bethany began from members of two congregations, moved to Phoenix, and then to the Internet. We used phones at first, handed a video camera (with great reluctance), and moved from ancient IBM video streaming, then to Vimeo, finally to Zoom.
The foundation is not in creating a building. That arrived with the papacy, priests, bishops, and the pope.
The foundation is the Word of God, as clearly portrayed (but often ignored) in the KJV. This has been turned upside-down, with the unscrupulous moving from the Word itself to interpretations and endless puerile arguments about the footnotes and other highways and byways.
The Spirit is always in the Word and will not make the gimmicks of the day fruitful. The gimmicks devour themselves, as they are doing now, because they are no better than the ashes and poisons of the past.
John 16:8 And when He is come, He will reprove [expose or convict] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me;
