The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls
On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Text from John 16:5-15
Easter IV
1. The text consists of three parts:
a. Vss. 5-7, Jesus stresses the fact that He
must go to Him who sent Him (suffering, death,
resurrection, ascension). If He does not go,
the Holy Spirit will not come to mankind.
b. Vss. 8-11, the Holy Spirit prosecutes the
sin and sinfulness of man, especially unbelief,
comforts repentant sinners with the
righteousness of Christ, and protects
Christians from the devil, the ruler of this
world;
c. Vs. 12-15, the Holy Spirit harmoniously
comes, guides, speaks, hears, announces,
glorifies and receives from Jesus.
These vss. speak of the Holy Spirit's part in the reciprocal
glorification of the members of the Trinity. All three are
the true and whole God. All three lead mankind into all
Truth, the very opposite of the devil who is nothing but
lies, Jn. 8:44. Truth can be found only in the Word of God.
2. Jesus' departure made the disciples sad. Even though they
are believers their dull selfishness shows itself. All of us
are like them. But, He says, unless He goes away the
Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will not come. When Jesus went
away He sent the Spirit on Pentecost, the writing of the New
Testament and He is still coming to us today.
3. The work of the Holy Spirit through God's Word is
remarkable. Through the Law He convicts and convinces us of
our sin, vs. 9. The mother of all sins is unbelief, the
rejection of Jesus Christ. "He that believeth not shall be
damned." Mk. 16. But the Holy Spirit, through the Gospel,
comforts us with the righteousness of Christ. Christ attained
righteousness for us by going to the Father, by suffering and
dying. Read Rom. 4:25 and 5:12-21. In Adam all men sinned and
died. In Christ all men gained the righteousness of God by
faith. The fall of man was total. The justification of man
was total. All has been done. It only needs to be proclaimed.
Thirdly, vs. 11, the Holy Spirit convinces us that the ruler
of this world has been judged, defeated, conquered. At. Jn.
12:31 Jesus said that through His suffering and death the
ruler of this world is thrown out. Satan, the father of lies
and murderer, is a nothing because of what Christ did. What a
comfort!!
4. In vss. 12-15 Jesus speaks of Pentecost, the Spirit's
guidance of the Apostles in Acts, the composition of the NT
by inspiration and the activity in the Church throughout the
NT era until the end.
5. A Lutheran scholar wrote: "The work of the Spirit, when He
comes upon them from on high, shall be to shed a new light
upon all things and to guide them into the fullness of divine
truth. And we have the fruit of this work of the Spirit in
the apostolic writings, in which the Church possesses all
that is required for the present and for the future. But if
the apostolic witnesses have been guided by the Spirit 'into
all truth' according to this express promise, then we are the
possessors of God's infallible Word in the written
instructions which they have left." I Cor. 2:9ff.
6. Meditate on the importance of this text. In the four
Gospels the Spirit recalled for all time what Jesus had said
and done. In Acts we can see how the Spirit guided Peter,
Paul, John, James, Barnabas, etc., in all necessary Truth.
Think how He guided them at the Jerusalem Conference (Acts
15) when the Judaizers maintained that Gentiles would have to
become Jews before they were worthy recipients of the Gospel.
Think of how the Spirit guided Paul to teach the article of
justification in Romans, of faith alone apart from the deeds
of the Law in Galatians, of the _Una Sancta_ in Ephesians, of
the deadly heresy which attacked the church at Colossae which
heresy could be combated only by the correct teaching about
Christ (Colossians), of the manifold problems presented by
the congregation in Corinth and how Paul handled these
problems. The Triune God revealed all this to Apostles who
recorded it for us in the NT.
7. The humanity and divinity of Jesus are very plain in this
text. He has everything that the Father has, vs. 15, and yet
He is going to the Father, Divinity and humanity. The "future
things" vs. 13 are the activity of God's Kingdom on earth
until the end of the world.
The Sermon Outline of Harold Buls
On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Text from John 16:5-11
Easter IV
First Sermon
THEME: The Threefold Work of the Holy Spirit
INTRODUCTION
In Jn. 15:26-27 Jesus had spoken of the Holy Spirit who would
come and testify of Christ. Then in 16:1-4 He tells the
disciples why He has spoken Jn. 13-15, to prepare them for
the preparations which were coming. Then in 16:5-11 He bids
them farewell and tells them of the threefold work of the
Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son into the world. When the
Son ascended He sent the Holy Spirit.
I. WHY THIS THREEFOLD WORK OF THE SPIRIT IS NECESSARY
A. Grief fills the heart of mankind. Vss. 5-6.
The world is a valley of sorrows and tears.
Mankind acts happy but is not really happy. Even
the disciples, who had been with Jesus three
years, on this occasion were sorrowful. Even
though Jesus was doing what was necessary for
them the disciples were sad. Even though they
were believers they were full of pain. Isn't
that the way it is with us? We so easily give
way to sorrow, to sadness, to grief. And that is
why the threefold work of the Spirit is so
necessary for us.
B. Mankind does not understand the dealings of
God with man. Jesus says: "If I do not go away
the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) will not come to
you. But if I go I will send Him to you." Jesus
was explaining what was necessary for their
salvation. It is easy for us to criticize the
disciples for their dullness, unhappiness and
grief. But are we not the same way? One time
Luther's wife dressed in black and wore a black
headdress. Luther asked her why she did that.
She said: "The way you act, God is dead. I'm
getting ready for the funeral." That made Luther
aware of his sinful grief. He was not letting
the Gospel comfort him in God's dealings with
Luther.
II. WHAT THIS THREEFOLD WORK OF THE SPIRIT IS
Vs. 8. He will convict and convince the world,
all men, of three things:
A. He will convict the world of sin, mainly
unbelief. Vs. 9. The greatest sin is to refuse
to believe in Jesus. Mk. 16 says: "He that
believeth not shall be damned." He doesn't say:
"He that sins shall be damned." All have sinned.
But not all have believed on Jesus and what He
did for mankind. At Heb. 9:8 we are told that
through the ceremonial law the Holy Spirit
convicted the people of their sin. At Gen. 6:3
the Lord said: "My Spirit shall not strive with
man forever." Before the flood the majority were
rejecting God in unbelief. They would not listen
to the Holy Spirit. In Ps. 51:11 David said: "Do
not take your Holy Spirit from me." The goodness
of God constantly warns us of the danger of
refusing to confess our sins and the danger of
unbelief. On Pentecost Day Peter's audience were
convicted of their sin. Acts 2:37. But at Acts
7:51-53 Stephen describes the hearts and ways of
those who refuse this work of the Spirit. I
Thess. 5:19 warns us: "Do not quench the
Spirit."
B. He will convince the world of righteousness
because Jesus goes to the Father. Vs. 9. This is
exactly what happened to Peter's audience at
Acts 2:28: "Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins and you will receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit." What was this
gift? The righteousness of Jesus Christ. See
Rom. 4:25 and 5:12-21 and Php. 3:9. They were
sinners dressed in the righteousness of Christ.
This is what happened to the Samaritans. Acts
7:14-17. This is what happened to St. Paul. I
Tim. 1:12-17. This is what happens to us today
when we hear the Gospel preached to us.
C. He will convince mankind that the devil, the
ruler of this world, has been judged. At Jn.
12:31 Jesus said that through His suffering and
death the ruler of this world is thrown out. At
Lk. 10:18 He said: "I saw Satan fall from heaven
like lightning." As Luther said of Satan: "He's
judged, the deed is done. One little word can
fell him." Satan cannot accuse me of sin which
has been forgiven.
The Sermon Outline of Harold Buls
On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Text from John 16:12-15
Easter IV
Second Sermon
THEME: Jesus Foretells the Sending and Work of the Holy
Spirit
INTRODUCTION
The Father sent His Son to save the world. When this had been
accomplished the Son ascended to Heaven to ask the Father to
send the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire the Apostles to
write the NT and preach the Gospel. The Spirit says only what
Father and Son instruct Him to say. Through the written Word
the Spirit still guides, leads and comforts the Church until
the end of time.
I. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IS CLEARLY APPARENT IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
A. His work on Pentecost.
Acts 2 describes this occasion. To a large
audience of Jews, who had come from all parts of
the Roman Empire, Peter preached a sermon based
on Joel 3:1-5. About 3,000 became Christians.
B. His work through Peter, Paul, John, Barnabas
and others.
First we have Peter and John, Chapter 3, preach
on the basis of Ex. 3:6 and Gen. 22:18. In
chapters 4-5 we have persecution because of the
preaching of the Gospel. In chapter 7 we have
the testimony of Stephen who was stoned to
death. In chapter 8 we have the conversion of
the Samaritans and Philip converting the Eunuch
on the basis of Is. 53:7. In chapter 9 we have
the wonderful conversion of St. Paul. In 10-11
we have the account of Peter preaching to
Cornelius, the Gentile centurion. In 13-14 we
have the first sermons of Paul, based on OT
texts. In 15 the Holy Spirit guides the Apostles
to speak to a convention in Jerusalem concerning
salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus
Christ. The remainder of Acts is centered in
Paul's missionary journeys, his trials in
Jerusalem and Rome. To the very end we can hear
the Spirit speaking the Word through the
Apostles.
II. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IS CLEARLY APPARENT IN THE WRITING
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
In vs. 12 of our text Jesus says: "I still have many things
to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." The disciples
were believers but they still had much to learn. But then in
vs. 13 Jesus continues: "But that One (the Spirit) will come,
the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you in all Truth. He will
not speak on His own but whatever He hears He will speak and
will announce things which are to come." That promise was
fulfilled. In the recording of the four Gospels the Spirit
recalled for all time what Jesus had said and done. In the
recording of Acts we can see how the Spirit guided Peter,
Paul, John, James, Barnabas, etc. In the recording of the
thirteen Epistles of Paul the Holy Spirit gave mankind
everything that is necessary for our faith and living. No
problem is left unsolved. Then we also have the writings of
Peter, John, James and Jude. Finally, in the book of
Revelation the Spirit tells us of things to come in the
Kingdom of God on earth, especially the war between the
armies of Jesus and those of Satan.
III. THE SPIRIT'S WORK IS CLEARLY APPARENT AFTER THE
RECORDING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
Think of the three great creeds, Apostles, Nicene and
Athanasian, products of the Spirit. Think of how the early
theologians settled the controversies about the Trinity and
the Person of Christ. Think of the writings of St. Augustine.
Think of the Reformation of the Church in the 1500's. The
Holy Spirit cleansed the Church of its false teachings. Think
of the wonderful hymns which the Spirit has given to the
Church. Think of the Christian Festivals: Christmas, Easter,
Pentecost. At Jn. 7:37-39 we read: "Jesus cried out saying:
'If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink. He who
believes in Me, just as the Scripture says, rivers of living
water shall flow from his belly.' This He said about the
Spirit whom those who had come to faith in Him (Christ) were
about to receive . For the Spirit had not yet come because
Jesus had not yet been glorified." Verily, we see the rivers
of living water everywhere, coming from the mouths and lives
of Christians throughout the world. The Spirit is glorifying
Jesus just as our text says in vs. 14. He is receiving from
Jesus and passing it on to you and me. ALL PRAISE TO GOD!
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This text was converted to ascii format for Project
Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain
by permission of Dr. Buls. You may freely distribute, copy
or print this text.
Please direct any comments or suggestions to:
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Walther Library
at Concordia Theological Seminary
E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu
Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA
Phone: (260) 452-2123 Fax: (260) 452-2126
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