Trinity Sunday 06

John 16:5-15

The Smith’s were proud of their family tradition. Their ancestors had come to America on the Mayflower. Their line had included Senators, Pastors, & Wall Street wizards.
Now they decided to compile a family history, a legacy for the children. They hired a well known author. Only one problem arose: how to handle that great-uncle George who was executed in the electric chair. But the author said not to worry; he could handle that section of history tactfully.
When the book appeared, the family turned to the section on Uncle George. There, they read "George Smith occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution, was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, & his death came as a real shock."

We live in a world and in a church that is seeking to re-write history and the Holy Scriptures to conform to the ways and beliefs of this modern secular world. Truth is no longer considered to be absolute. Many believe that there is no way to know if something is absolutely true. What has always been held as Christian truths by Christians are now being challenged by some who name the name of Christ.

Our upcoming General Convention will be faced with a decision as to whether they will repent of the path they have chosen which goes against the Windsor Report, put out by the bishops of the Lambeth Conference. Should they choose not to do that and maintain the course they have set to challenge Biblical authority and morality, then there could be a tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion.

There are various groups in the Episcopal Church seeking to have an influence on the General Convention such as a group called “Via Media” who, some would say, have unethically collected mailing lists from all the churches and have sent out unsolicited mailings to people in an attempt to undermine the bishop and to side with those who would seek to change the faith that was once delivered to all the saints. They not only misuse the words “via media,” they misrepresent the bishop. Bishop Iker has joined with the majority of Anglicans around the world to affirm the Windsor Report seeking to have the Episcopal Church remain affiliated with the Anglican Communion. It is Bishop Iker’s greatest desire not to have the Episcopal Church separate itself from the rest of the Anglican Communion by continuing to affirm unbiblical and immoral practices clearly rejected by Scripture. One such practice is the performance by some bishops and clergy in the Episcopal church of what the Church has to this point rejected, that is same-sex marriage.

For example, Carter Heywood, a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School, a few years ago disobeyed her bishop (who is in favor of same-sex relationships but has forbidden participating in same-sex marriages). She disobeyed by performing three same-sex marriages. Why? Because truth to her is relative, it depends on whatever she feels is right, not on some objective standard.

The issue of same-sex marriage has come before the Congress recently. The Church has been challenged on this question as well. The question I have was echoed by Fr. Kenneth Semon when he asked: “Where do you draw the line on the subject of marriage?” Do we start developing rites to bless plural marriages? The arguments for plural marriages could be the same as has been used for same-sex marriages.

Semon, in a tongue in cheek manner, says, “The recent legal prosecution of families practicing polygamy discriminates against that minority group. Polygamists, no doubt, are good people who mean well. They have been misunderstood and marginalized. Surely it is easy to develop a defense of polygamy based on scripture, tradition, and reason. In specific counties of Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Utah, such blessings would lead to the inclusion of many people whom the government, “mainstream” society, and the Church have traditionally discriminated against. (I am told, for example, that in Mesa, part of the Phoenix metroplex, there are 20,000 families practicing “plural marriage.”) And what about bisexuals who want to marry both a man and a woman?”

Do you begin to see what happens when Biblical truth is ever changing?

Contrast that with what the Bible says about truth. The Bible says that God is the God of truth, and that God does not change. Jesus describes himself as the truth, and in the gospel of John the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. No where in Scripture does God affirm any other type of marriage than the traditional one man and one woman type.

You may remember the story in the Bible of Pontius Pilate asking that famous question, “What is truth?” Like Pilate, many are searching for truth today. But like that old country song says, just as many people are lookin’ for love in all the wrong places, so, too, are many looking for truth in all the wrong places. Others have stopped looking for truth and have just determined that whatever they believe is true simply because they believe it sincerely.

We celebrated Pentecost Sunday last week. It was a time of great celebration as we read and heard about the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples of Jesus. This Sunday’s Gospel lesson speaks about the need for each person to have a spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. This passage is assigned to Trinity Sunday for various reasons. First, now that we have read about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, this lesson helps us to get a better idea of what the Holy Spirit will do now that He has come. Second, it reminds us that Jesus and His word can be trusted. He said He would send the Holy Spirit. Last week, we read the fulfillment of that promise.

When ever the Bible talks about truth it most often is associated with God or His Word. Jesus equated His teaching with the truth when he said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus says that God’s Word is truth. So, the Holy Spirit will come bearing the truth of God’s Word. If Jesus is God, then His moral commandments would not contradict those given by God in the Old Testament.

The gospel lesson today also is a lesson about the Holy Trinity. We see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit mentioned in the same passage. This shows a unity of the members of the Godhead as they work together to accomplish the purposes of God. While each member of the Holy Trinity is mentioned in this passage, the focus is on the Holy Spirit.

What is the mission of the Holy Spirit? Why did Jesus send Him?

The Bible outlines three main reasons why the Holy Spirit was sent into the world. There are many more.

First, the Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin. How does the Holy Spirit do that? He does it by bringing alive in the hearts of each person the moral commandments of God. These commandments reveal the condition of the sinful heart. This is especially true for those not believe in Jesus. When the Jews and Romans crucified Jesus, they did not believe that they were sinning; they believed they were serving God. But when the story of that crucifixion was later preached, they were pricked in their heart. They suddenly had a terrible conviction that the crucifixion was the greatest crime in history and that their sin had caused it. What is it that gives a person a sense of sin? What is it that causes that person to feel this conviction under the shadow of the Cross?

In an Indian Village a missionary was telling the story of Christ by showing slides on the side of a white washed wall of a village house. When the picture of Jesus on 7the Cross was shown, an Indian stepped forward, as if he could not help it: “Come down!” he cried. “I should be hanging there – not you.” Why should the sight of a man crucified as a criminal in Palestine two thousand years ago tear the hearts of people open throughout the centuries and still today? It is the work of the Holy Spirit.

A well-known professional golfer was playing in a tournament with President Gerald Ford, fellow pro Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. After the round was over, one of the other pros on the tour asked, “Hey, what was it like playing with the President and Billy Graham?” The pro said with disgust, “I don’t need Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat!” With that he headed for the practice tee. His friend followed, and after the golfer had pounded out his fury on a bucket of golf balls, he asked, “Was Billy a little rough on you out there?” The pro sighed and said with embarrassment, “No, he didn’t even mention religion.” Astonishingly, Billy Graham had said nothing about God, Jesus, or religion, yet the pro stomped away after the game accusing Billy of trying to ram religion down his throat. Why? Because the Holy Spirit was convicting him.
-R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

The Bible says that the law was given so that we might know the sins we commit against God. The Holy Spirit convicts and convinces all in this world that they are breaking God’s law.

There are many people who believe that they are basically good persons. And yet, if their goodness was compared to the standards of God’s law, then they would see that their goodness is not all that good. For example, the commandments tell us not to bear false witness, in other words not to lie. The Holy Spirit comes in and convinces our hearts and minds that we have broken God’s law by showing us how we have lied in the past.

When that happens we are then moved to ask, ‘What must I do next?” This is where the next purpose of the Holy Spirit comes into play.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would also convince the world of righteousness. By first pointing out our utter sinfulness and unacceptability before God because of that sin, the Holy Spirit can then bring us to an understanding of the righteousness of God. We begin to see how absolutely Holy and pure God is and how far short we fall of the perfection of God. We see God’s righteousness in contrast to our own unrighteousness. We see that holiness reflected in our first lesson, but the incarnation of that holiness, the human expression of that holiness, that righteousness, is Jesus himself. The Holy Spirit draws people to the author of righteousness, Jesus. When we recognize our sinful condition it causes us to ask is there any hope for salvation. It is then that Spirit reveals to us the truth of the Savior. We find that by inviting Jesus into our hearts, asking him to forgive us of our sins, turning away from them, and committing our lives to Jesus, we receive his righteousness as a covering for our sinful souls. We become, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, born again of the Spirit.

What does this mean? It simply means that we come to the conviction that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be and more—the Holy One, God Almighty—without sin, and love in all it’s perfection.
If we reject God’s free gift of righteousness through Jesus, we then find ourselves involved in the Holy Spirit’s third purpose for coming to this world. That purpose is to convince or convict us of the judgment to come. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have an inner and unshakeable conviction that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God the Father.

Why do we feel that we are someday have to give an account for the way we have lived? Why this fear of death? How is it that we know deep down inside that we must answer for our sins someday? It is the work of the Holy Spirit!
Heb 9:27: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…”
II Cor.5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done.”
Eccl.12:14: “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.”
Romans 14:12: “So each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

A young woman, who had been brought up in a Christian home and who had often had very serious convictions in regard to the importance of coming to Christ, chose instead to take the way of the world. Much against the wishes of her godly mother, she insisted on keeping company with a wild, hilarious crowd, who lived only for the passing moment and tried to forget the things of eternity. Again and again she was pleaded with to turn to Christ, but she persistently refused to heed the admonitions addressed to her.
Finally, she was taken with a very serious illness. All that medical science could do for her was done in order to bring about her recovery, but it soon became evident that the case was hopeless and death was staring her in the face. Still she was hard and stubborn when urged to turn to God in repentance. One night she awoke suddenly out of a sound sleep, a frightened look in her eyes, and asked excitedly, "Mother, what is Ezekiel 7:8 and 9?" Her mother said, "What do you mean, my dear?" She replied that she had had a most vivid dream. She thought there was a Presence in the room, who very solemnly said to her, "Read Ezekiel 7:8-9."
Not recalling the verses in question, the mother reached for a Bible. As she opened it, her heart sank as she saw the words, but she read them aloud to the dying girl:
"Now I will shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth."
The poor sufferer, with a look of horror on her face, sank back on the pillow, utterly exhausted, and in a few moments she was in eternity. Once more it had been demonstrated that grace rejected brings judgment at last. [Illustrations of Bible Truth by H. A. Ironside, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 31-32]

The good news is that this same Holy Spirit bears witness with the human spirits of all those who have been convinced and convicted of their sinful condition before God, who have repented, who have recognized the righteousness of Jesus and have taken that righteousness upon themselves by inviting Jesus to come into their hearts. Having thus invited Christ in, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside the believer to bear witness to their hearts that they need no longer fear the judgment of God that would consign them to hell. They can say by faith that they are saved by grace through faith, not by their own works, rather by the gift of God given to them by the Holy Spirit.

Once a person has come to the real Jesus and is truly converted in their heart, the Holy Spirit then begins to accomplish the next part of His mission. He will lead us into all truth. That truth will be based on the Word of God. Many people testify that the Bible came alive for them when they first came to Christ. They began to understand what it was saying. They begin to understand how to rightly interpret the Bible. The Holy Spirit began to speak to them in their hearts and through the pages of Scripture. The Holy Spirit began to convict them when they sinned, so that they could repent of that sin, confess that sin, receive forgiveness and go on following Jesus.

A young man was learning to be a paratrooper. Before his first jump, he was given these instructions:

1. Jump when you are told.

2. Count to ten and pull the ripcord.

3. In the unlikely event your parachute doesn’t open, pull the emergency ripcord.

4. When you get down, a truck will be there to take you back to the airport.

The young man memorized these instructions and climbed aboard the plane. The plane climbed to ten thousand feet and the paratroopers began to jump. When the young man was told to jump, he jumped. He then counted to ten and pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened. His chute failed to open. So he pulled the emergency ripcord. Still nothing happened. No parachute.

“Oh, great,” said the young man. “And I suppose the truck won’t be there when I get down either!”

Have you ever felt like that young man? Have you had so many failures and disappointments in life that you just don’t expect anything to go right for you?

Well, unlike the young man in our story, there is hope. In Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven the failures of the past and we can start all over. Christianity is sometimes called the “gospel of the second chance” because our failures never have to be fatal. That is what the grace of God is all about. Even though our parachutes fail to open, we can always fall into the living arms of our Heavenly Father who loved us and the world so much that he gave Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.