208. Fourth Sunday after Easter. I.
Come, heavenly Comforter, and explain
to us the words of Jesus. Amen.
Gospel Lesson, John 16, 5-15. But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 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. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
❦
Be not sorrowful because that Jesus is gone to the Father, and that we no more see him. Let it make you glad. For by his going through death and resurrection he has taken away our sins, won for us a righteousness entirely valid before God, and overcome the devil. From his place at the right hand of the Father he sends the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth, and who reproves the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. — In these last words the way of life is mapped out. The Comforter reproves the world of sin, because they believe not on Jesus. For the Savior has taken upon himself all the sin of the world; and hence the want of faith in him becomes the one sin which condemns. Unbelief is the sin which causes all other sins to be again imputed to the sinner. He that does not believe in Jesus despises the only means by which sin can be taken away, the Son of God, namely; together with his work of atonement. To show us this truth, to crush our hearts and make them penitent, is the work of the Spirit, without enlightenment by whom none can know the sin of unbelief. — Secondly, the Comforter reproves the world of righteousness; which righteousness consists therein, that Jesus is gone to the Father, and we see him no more. The obedience of Jesus, his suffering, his death, his resurrection; these, and nothing else, are the righteousness which suffices before God. Not that which the Spirit works in us, but that which Christ has done for us; not that which we can see and feel, but the going away of the invisible Savior to the Father, is the righteousness of the saints. We note two things in this connection; in the first place, that no work of man, but Christ alone, is our righteousness before God; and, secondly, that this righteousness is to be believed without being seen and felt; nay, in direct contradiction of that which is felt. At the very time when we feel nothing but sin and misery, the Spirit convinces us that we are justified before God through him who now is at the right hand of the Father, and who makes intercession for us. — Finally, the Spirit reproves, or convicts, the world of judgment; that is, that the prince of this world is judged. The devil lies when he represents to our conscience that, by reason of our sin, he still has some title to us, or power over us; for he is judged, and has lost this title and power. But he that will yet serve the devil is judged with him. He that chooses the devil as his master is with him under the judgment. This work of conviction was begun by the Comforter at the time of Pentecost, and he continues it until the end of time. He has overcome me with his truth, and by the persuasive power of his love he has forced conviction upon me. The world denies both sin and righteousness; but the word of God chastens me, and makes me to know my sin every day, and to believe his forgiveness. I am forced to be silent before him, and to surrender myself; and this chastening and victorious power of the Comforter over my soul through the gospel of Jesus is my blessed release from the bondage of the law and the flesh; for which reason I unceasingly pray him to bring my every thought and my whole soul into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Holy Spirit, speak without ceasing to me and in me. Shew me the enormity of the sin of unbelief, and the perfect sufficiency of the righteousness of grace; and make me courageous in the war of the cross against the condemned prince of the world. Amen.
Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
With all thy quickening powers;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.
See how we grovel here below,
Fond of these earthly toys;
Our souls, how heavily they go,
To reach eternal joys!
209. Fourth Sunday after Easter. II.
Lord, give me understanding,
and I shall keep thy law;
yea, I shall observe it
with my whole heart. Amen.
Epistle Lesson, James 1, 17-21. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls.
❦
There comes no evil from the Lord our God. All that is from above is good and perfect, bright and pure. As everything which God did at the creation was very good, so is that which he now does altogether good. There is no variableness in the Father of lights. By reason of sin there is in nature a constant alternation of day and night, light and darkness. The sun rises and sets; but the countenance of God remains unchanged above us, shining with a brilliancy in which there is no variation. Whether it is to be our salvation or our doom will depend on the manner in which we receive it. He has given to us all his only Son, who is himself light and life; and with him he has given us all good things. Among these glorious gifts in Christ the greatest is the word and grace of regeneration; for by this the soul is translated from the kingdom of darkness to the fellowship of Christ, and is brought to life from the dead. It was according to the perfectly free counsel of his own good will in Christ that he begat us anew with the word of truth. We have not chosen him, but he has chosen us; he caused his word to come home to our hearts, received us into his favor and made us his children, and created the new life in us. The congregation of the regenerated children of God is to him a kind of firstfruits of all his creatures; it is his treasure which he holds dear above all other creatures, visible and invisible. Even as the husbandman takes greater pleasure in the first fruit of the season than in the later harvest, so God holds his Son’s bride more dear than he does his other creatures. For that which the Holy Spirit has wrought in the hearts of the faithful is God’s most excellent and marvelous work. — As the word is the instrument used by the Spirit in bringing about this wonderful miracle, the regeneration of the human heart, so it also is the means employed by the Spirit for the preservation and growth of the new life. Let us, therefore, hear the word with willing soul, and keep it faithfully in the heart. O, that each of us might be especially swift to hear the word of God! Let none be slothful and slow to hear when the Lord speaks; and let every man be careful to avoid all those things which might interfere with the work of God in him. Otherwise we prevent the Spirit from making us partakers of the good and perfect gifts of God; and we miss some of those sunbeams of mercy of which we, especially in this cold age, stand in sore need. Wrath disturbs the mind, and makes it impossible for the word to dispel the darkness; “all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness” covers the soul with slime, which shuts out the light of God’s countenance in his word. But a Christian who keeps careful watch over himself, who in patience resists temptation, and who walks his way with meekness, can receive and keep the word, that it may perfect the good work which it has begun in him. Then the end shall be the salvation of the soul and an eternal thanksgiving in our long home in heaven with the Father of lights.
Lord, make us swift to hear thy word. Grant that we may become its willing doers; and give us thereby more light and life in our souls from day to day, until we see thee face to face. Amen.
God’s word a treasure is to me,
Through sorrow’s night my sun shall be,
To faith a sword in battle;
The Father’s hand hath written there
My title as his child and heir,
“The kingdom’s thine forever;”
That promise faileth never.