Grace and peace in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In our text for today we can see not only the Holy Spirit, but the entire Holy Trinity in action. In these verses, we read of the coming of the Holy Trinity to establish an abode among those who believe in Jesus and love him. While Jesus goes out to prepare an abode for the disciples in the Father's kingdom, the Father and the Son come to make their abode in believers through the Holy Spirit.
We confess in the Nicene Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, also in the Athanasian Creed, which we will confess this coming Sunday, Holy Trinity Sunday, “The Holy Spirit is from the Father and from the Son, neither made nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.” Father sends the Spirit, but in the name of Jesus. Because Jesus is exalted at the right hand of God and is acting as humanity's Advocate before the Father, that is why the Spirit is sent in his name.
Jesus did not come to this world to seek his own glory but the glory of the Father. The Holy Spirit does not come to seek his own glory but the glory of Jesus. The Spirit will help the disciples to correctly understand these teachings in light of the resurrection and will give them the true interpretation of the miraculous words and signs of Jesus. According to John 14:26, the Holy Spirit comes to teach and remind the disciples of all that Jesus has said. The Holy Spirit does not come to invent new doctrines that are not among the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus always spoke of the Triune God, the only God. Where the Word of God is preached and believed, there the Triumph God makes his abode. Where there is observance of this Word, there is Fatherly love, saving love, not an angry God, but a merciful Father in Jesus Christ.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus promised that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit that would come to them to equip them to be witnesses both locally and to the ends of the earth. In Acts 1:4 he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until they received the Father's promise: "John baptized with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
In Acts 2:1-11 we read of the fulfillment of this entire promise. Pentecost, the second great festival of the Jewish church year, was celebrated on the day following the completion of seven full weeks after the second day of the Passover week, when the first-fruits of the barley harvest were waved before the Lord. Since this was the feast of Pentecost. one of the festivals on which all Jews were to appear in Jerusalem, there were people from all over the world living or temporarily residing in Jerusalem. These Jews spoke the language of the people among whom they lived, keeping Hebrew only for Sabbath services.
They all heard the apostles speak in their own language, preaching the great and wonderful works of God, namely, that God had fulfilled the prophecies made to their fathers, that he had sent his Son Jesus to work the redemption of the whole world, and that this salvation was now offered to all of them without exception.
In the verses after our reading from Acts, St. Peter told them that this manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the promise of Joel 2:28-32, "And after this I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." However, the true fulfillment of the Father's promise occurred when, after Peter's preaching, three thousand were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "and continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in communion, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” With that began the mission and the life of the church.
So today, where do we find the Holy Trinity in action? In baptism, because when we invoke the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are all present and active. But it is the distinct work of the Holy Spirit to deliver salvation by faith in the waters of baptism. Also, the Spirit touches the heart of each one in the preaching of the Word that the Father sent the Son to this world to proclaim, and through the Spirit that the Son and the Father send, the church continues the proclamation. The Spirit calls us to confession, absolution and the Lord's Supper.
We confess, teach and believe that the Holy Spirit has enlightened each one of us to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and I trust in Him. But, not only each one alone, he also calls all the faithful, congregates, enlightens and sanctifies the whole church. in the one true faith.
In this we have peace that passes all understanding. Amen.
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