Sermon File

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Sixth Sunday of Easter (2026)         

The Indwelling Holy Spirit                                                                                           Rev. Toby Byrd

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15–17, ESV) 

In today’s Epistle Reading, St. Peter urges us to be diligent in our faith and knowledgeable of God’s Revealed Word in Holy Scripture, saying that we should always be, “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV) But how are we able to do this? How are we who are by nature sinful and unclean able to give a confession of our faith? That is, faith in Christ Jesus. Indeed, how are we even to have such faith? This question is answered in the Gospel Reading for today, where St. John tells us how we can have such faith and thus, make a good defense of that faith to others who ask why you believe what you believe?

In the Gospel Reading for today, St. John records the words of Jesus, as He sits at table with His apostles sharing their Last Passover meal together, saying to them; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15–17, ESV) 

First, He says to them, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Our Lord Jesus opens with these words, establishing the condition He sets for fulfilling the precious promises that follow. To love Him and keep His commandments is beyond the ability of unregenerated and unrenewed man, and the regenerated and renewed man must have help. St. Paul reminds us, “no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, ESV) Thus, Jesus will ask His heavenly Father to grant His apostle’s a Helper to come to them and dwell with them forever. The Father sent the Son to save the world from sin, death, and the devil; and now that the Son has finished His earthly mission and is going home to the Father, Jesus will ask the Father to send One who will be their Helper. This is why we confess in the Nicene Creed, I believe, “in the Holy Spirit, the lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.”

Think of it, the apostles had been with Jesus for three years, daily at His side, listening to His teaching, witnessing His miracles, seeing His Transformation, confessing that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matt. 16:16). Yet in the face of these advantages, our Lord knows that after His departure they will need help to sustain what they have learned, they will need help to remain in the faith. If the apostles, had this great advantage of being with Jesus, need help, what does that say about us who have not had the privilege of being with Jesus personally? What does that say about us who, unlike the apostle, have not been called immediately? What about us who live in the shadow of the valley of death, who struggle with the temptations our flesh, the world, and Satan, those temptations thrown at us every day. How are we to sustain our faith by our own strength? We can’t. Jesus knew this, so did His Father, thus in the most loving of ways They decide to give us a Helper, one who will guide us through the temptations of life, one who will sustain our faith, keeping us faithful to our confession: we are children of God, cleansed in the waters of Baptism and given the gift of faith to believe in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thus, to the apostles (and to all who are brought to faith), a Helper is granted, to keep them in the faith, and this Helper is none other than the “Spirit of truth,” the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, we see this close connection between the first verse of the Gospel Reading and those immediately following, where Jesus promises not to leave them as orphans. promising that even though the world cannot see Him, they will see Him because He will be with them, living in them that they may live holy lives. Filled with the Holy Spirit and loving Jesus, His disciples will be able to keep His commandments. Furthermore, those who love Him and keep His commandments, will be loved by His Father and by Jesus Himself who manifests Himself to them through the gift of the Holy Spirit who grants the gift of faith. All of this without man’s effort or work. All of this made possible solely by God’s gift of His Son and the Holy Spirit who manifests faith in the hearts of men.

Now there are some who teach that for a person to be saved, it requires human cooperation, human decision. But this teaching denies sola gratia, grace alone, abandoning the Scriptural principal that ascribes conversion and salvation to God alone. It denies that the Holy Spirit has taught that all who receive the gift of faith in Christ Jesus, receive this blessed gift because it is God who grants it to them. The Spirit says for all who are given, “the right to become children of God . . . [are] born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9–13, ESV) Furthermore, the Holy Spirit also teaches that, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, ESV) Thus, from Scripture we see that this teaching of human cooperation, this decision theology, is false teaching.

Such theology places the assurance of salvation and the assurance of God’s truth on a subjective plane. It teaches that man has free will in his conversion, denying the sound teaching of Scripture. However, salvation does not depend on man’s will but solely on God’s mercy. St. Paul writes, “it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16, ESV) Such false theology becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Rom. 9:16). But all who believe that they are brought to faith through the proclamation of the Gospel (Rom. 10:17) they are not put to shame (Rom. 9:33).

Now given that no one can love Christ and keep His commandments without the Holy Spirit, the obvious question becomes, “How does one receive the Holy Spirit? How does the Holy Spirit come to dwell within our hearts?”

When St. Paul says, “no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, ESV) he speaks of the moment the unbelieving is brought to faith is Christ Jesus, making it clear that this saving power is relegated solely to the Holy Spirit. He further says, in his letter to Titus, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3–7, ESV)

Therefore, according to the Word of God, before we were brought to faith in Christ, we were living disobedient, foolish lives, led astray by the allurements of our flesh and the world. Not only did we hate our brother, but our brother hated us. Every day our lives were filled with malice and envy, we hated one another as we lived life in our natural, sinful, unclean, and corrupted flesh. But God had another plan, a plan to save us from ourselves, a plan to make us His through faith in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, according to His mercy, He called us and He came to us in the waters of Baptism, bathing us in the waters of regeneration and renewal, filling our hearts with the Holy Spirit whom He poured out upon us richly through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. There at the Baptismal font God poured out upon you His mercy, His grace, His eternal grace, everything the Holy Spirit has to offer, giving you all He has without measure: giving you the gift of faith.

This rich gift by which you were justified, made righteous, and saved is not visible; it is revealed and believed by faith. The Holy Spirit, who has taken up residence in your heart, becomes the Indwelling Holy Spirit in you, leading you as a child of God, a child of mercy, to believe your sin has been forgiven. However, because of your corrupted nature and the constant reminders of the devil, you continue to sense your sin and feel its sting of death. But the Holy Spirit, the Helper, is there night and day constantly reminding you, that for the sake of His beloved Son, God has forgiven your sin. Furthermore, the Helper keeps you in the Gospel, weeding out your reliance on works or merit for salvation, reminding you that it is not the Law or your works that save you, but only faith in the Gospel. It is also only by faith in Christ Jesus that you can produce good works which sanctify you. Again St. Paul reminds you that your good works, which you do in this life, are thank-offerings to God. He writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1, ESV) Thus, good works are the result of your life of faith, a life that is led by the Indwelling Holy Spirit, who leads you to offer your life as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Furthermore, St. Peter verifies these words of St. Paul when speaking to the crowd in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost Sunday, saying to them when they desired to be saved, “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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38–39, ESV) Baptism grants the gift of the Holy Spirit who opens your heart to take up residence therein. Becoming in you, The Indwelling Holy Spirit, who guides you all your days, sanctifying you, strengthening your faith in the Son of God and in His atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sin.

The efficacious work of the Indwelling Holy Spirit is there to constantly bend your will to the will of God. Some teach that the Holy Spirit cannot work in the heart of men through means. But Scripture teaches that the gracious and omnipotent mercy of God proceeds from the Means of Grace: the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution. God saves. St. Paul writes, it is God, “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,” (2 Timothy 1:9, ESV) The Word saves. St. Luke reminds us that an angel went to Cornelius telling him to send for St. Peter who will, “declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.” (Acts 11:13–14, ESV) Baptism saves. St. Peter testifies, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 3:21, ESV) And the Spirit saves. Jesus declares, “It is the Spirit who gives life.” (John 6:63, ESV)

Christians are born of God who grants the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart all your days, guiding you, comforting you, sanctifying you, leading you by God’s holy Word to conform your life to the life God would have you live as a child of His. The Spirit is this constant Helper, leading you to bend your will to God’s. Leading you away from sin and to holy living. Leading you to the comfort of God’s Word of Holy Scripture, to every Sunday worship, to confessing your sins while seeking God’s Absolution, to come forward to the Altar to receive the precious body and blood of Jesus in, with, and under bread and wine, the elements of Holy Communion for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of your faith. The Spirit is your constant guide throughout your earthly life as a child of God, guiding you in the ways of a child of God to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Wow! Look at what God has done for you through the waters of Baptism; setting you on the path to eternal life to live in His heavenly home forever to be with Jesus and all the saints who have gone before you. You have no greater Helper than the One given you by God; The Indwelling Holy Spirit.

So, reject all who would lead you to rely on your works or efforts for salvation, for such teaching bears a “legalistic stamp,” turning the Gospel into Law. This teaching leads man to take his stand not partly, but totally on his own effort and works. Thus, contrary to Scripture, those who teach such false doctrine, teach, that the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with your life in Christ, for it leads men solely to the doctrine of works instead of the Scriptural doctrine of justification by faith. It leads men to reject the teaching of St. Paul, who taught, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:16–17, ESV) 

In the Gospel Reading for today Christ shows us that the only true God is the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three distinct persons in one divine being (the Holy Trinity) who’s desire is for your salvation.

The blessings of the Holy Spirit in the life of a child of God are many. St. Paul tells us, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, ESV) You are a walking temple of God!

Given the truths expounded in God’s Word regarding the Holy Spirit, we believe, teach, and confess: along with the Third Article of the Apostle’ Creed, that the Holy Spirit, “gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” In Baptism we receive, “a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who is poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” And we remember our Baptism when we recite the words of the Trinitarian Creed: “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19, ESV) making the sign of the cross when these words are used in the Divine Service.

Thus, in today’s Gospel Reading we learn that although God’s plan of mercy for all mankind was completed by the atoning sacrifice of His Son on Calvary’s cross, His plan for mercy didn’t stop at Calvary. He knew that we would need an Advocate, a Counselor, a Helper to keep us firmly planted in faith so that we would continue to receive the benefit of His Son atoning sacrifice. Thus, His plan for our redemption was solidified by His sending of the Sanctifier, the Helper, the Holy Spirit to His Church, to His people. Now, for as long as you walk this earth, you may call upon the Holy Spirit, who is in you, to lead you daily in your walk with God. Call on Him and He will guide you safely to heaven’s shore, remembering, “That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in [you].” (2 Timothy 1:14, NKJV) If so, you will always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV) In the name of Jesus. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.