The testimony of the Spirit, the apostles, and all Christians

Sermon for the Sunday after Ascension

1 Peter 4:7-11  +  John 15:26-16:4

On Thursday, we heard the promise Jesus made to His apostles just before He was taken up into heaven. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit was a promise that Jesus repeated over and over again to His apostles, beginning on Maundy Thursday, as you heard in the Gospel. So it was also with the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples just before He ascended into heaven: And you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. That was also something that Jesus repeated on various occasions and in various ways. Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Go and make disciples of all nations. The Spirit’s testimony was promised; the apostles’ testimony was foretold. The salvation of sinners, the entire building of the New Testament Church, hinged on that twofold testimony, a testimony that still goes out into the world today, through those who have believed the testimony of the Spirit and of the apostles. That’s you and I, isn’t it? But there is also a warning label attached to this testimony. So let’s dig into this testimony a little bit and receive the Lord’s teaching about it.

But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.

One of our members recently asked why our lectionary seems to be jumping around John’s Gospel, out of order, during these weeks after Easter. The answer is that, the further away from Easter and the closer to Pentecost we get, the more the readings focus on the coming of the Holy Spirit. And that makes sense. Because, for as vitally important as Jesus’ resurrection is for our salvation, the work of the Holy Spirit is what brings the truth of Jesus’ resurrection to the world for this entire New Testament period. That’s why Jesus calls Him the “Spirit of truth.” He testifies to the truth. “He will testify about Me,” Jesus says. The Spirit’s testimony is the truth about Jesus. As the Spirit who proceeds from the Father, as the Spirit whom Jesus sends into the world, the Holy Spirit knows and has witnessed the whole truth about God, and about God’s plan of salvation, which centers on Jesus. And so, after Jesus’ ascension, the testimony of the Spirit would be God’s gift to the apostles, to the Church, and, by extension, to the world.

How would the Spirit of truth testify about Jesus? He would do it in three ways. First, He would testify through the signs and wonders that happened on the Day of Pentecost and that were seen here and there among the Christians of the first century. The miraculous ability to speak in foreign languages, special visions, prophecies about the future, healing miracles, things like that. The Spirit would be responsible for all those outward signs, testifying to the truth that the Gospel of Jesus, preached by the apostles, was true.

There is a second testimony of the Spirit, in the hearts and minds of the apostles, enabling them to teach (and to write!) about Jesus accurately. The Spirit of truth, who understands the truth about Jesus perfectly, guided the apostles into all truth, just as Jesus said He would do. He also emboldened them to preach the Gospel of Jesus with Spirit-worked courage and conviction—just as He had done, by the way, with the Old Testament prophets, as Peter writes: the Spirit of Christ who was in [the prophets] testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

Then there is the testimony of the Spirit in the hearts of the hearers of the Gospel as He works through the preaching of the Word, enabling the hearers to both believe and understand the Gospel of Jesus, that Jesus truly is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that He truly died as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and that He is the one Mediator between God and Man, who reconciles sinners to God through faith in His name. As Paul writes, No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. And again, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, enabling us to cry out to God as our dear Father.

But the Spirit’s testimony is always, always connected to the testimony of man’s preaching. As Jesus says in our Gospel, And you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. Peter’s preaching, His eyewitness testimony, was the main event of Pentecost. The preaching of the Gospel of Christ was the main event at the house of Cornelius, too, where Peter preached, and then the Holy Spirit testified with miraculous signs, showing that Christ’s salvation was also for the Gentiles.

But notice, these words aren’t spoken directly to all people, or to all Christians. They’re spoken to the apostles who were, as Jesus says, “with Me from the beginning.” The apostles were the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life, of His teaching, of His demeanor, of His attitude, of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Theirs and theirs alone is the eyewitness testimony. The rest of the Church is built on that initial, first-century testimony.

You and I are not called by Jesus to “testify” in the same sense, to the same things, because we aren’t eyewitnesses of those things. What we are witnesses of, the testimony we can provide, is the testimony we have received from the Spirit, through the apostles. We can testify to the faith that has been given in that testimony. We can and should tell the world that we have been convinced that the apostles’ testimony is true, and that Jesus is risen, and reigning, and returning. That’s a testimony we give in the world with our words. And it’s also a testimony we give with how we live our lives. But when we invite people to church, when we invite people to know the Lord Jesus, we’re not inviting them to come and hear our personal testimony. We’re inviting them to come and hear the testimony of the Holy Spirit, through the testimony of the apostles (and prophets), because, by the work of the Holy Spirit, we have been convinced that this testimony is true.

But as the apostles were about to go out and testify before the world, Jesus wasn’t about to deceive them. He told them plainly what would happen as the result of their testimony. And what He told them wasn’t pleasant.

They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming, when whoever kills you will think he is rendering service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father nor Me.

Jesus knew that the majority of the Jews would not believe the Spirit’s testimony, or the testimony of the apostles. He knew that the Sanhedrin would haul them off to prison and beat them. He knew that Stephen would be stoned to death by the Jews, that James would be put to death by Herod’s sword, and that His apostles, and His Christians in general, would face opposition and persecution by the hands of both Jews and Gentiles. And maybe the most bitter pill to swallow was the fact that they would do it in the name of “service to God.” They would think that God wanted them to put these Christians to death. Why? Because even though they claimed to believe in the God of Israel, their actual god was a false god. Because, as Jesus says, They have not known the Father, nor Me.

And yet, the apostles, knowing the hardships and the suffering that lay ahead of them, still waited for the promised Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended into heaven, still testified in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, still went into all the world and preached the Gospel to every creature, because they had the testimony of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is Lord, and that, even though they would die for that testimony, they would receive a greater prize in eternal life.

Now, you and I won’t be put out of any synagogue, because we don’t attend a Jewish synagogue. But the testimony about Jesus that we believe, the testimony about Jesus that we confess in the world, with our words and with how we live our lives, still draws hatred from Jews and Gentiles alike (if we’re doing it right!), and sometimes even from those who claim to be Christians. What’s popular in the eyes of the world, what seems nice in the eyes of the world, is almost always the wrong way, the wrong thing. So prepare to suffer.

Maybe you remember one of the confirmation questions that our confirmands are always asked to answer: Do you intend to continue steadfast in the confession of this Church, and suffer all, even death, rather than turn away from it? That’s a serious question, and it deserves a serious answer. As Jesus says often in the Gospels, He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

What will the result be if Christians don’t testify to the truth about Jesus, both with our words and with our lives? Well, some Christians will always be out there providing that testimony. You can be sure of that. The Holy Spirit will see to it that the Gospel is never completely silenced in the world. But when other Christians fail to testify, or testify to one thing with their words, but to a different thing with their behavior, then the world, and even other Christians, will be exposed to conflicting testimonies, and that’s always harmful. It’s tragic how many young people have been raised by Christians who only give lip-service to the truth of Christ, but whose lives conflict with what their lips confess, leaving the young Christian susceptible to the false doctrine of those who seem to be more “genuine,” but whose teachings actually lead away from the Lord Jesus. So guard your testimony, both for your own sake and for the sake of those whose lives you touch. Daily repentance, faith in the Lord Jesus, who has rescued you from sin, death, and the devil, and lives that honor Him. Hearing the Word and receiving the Sacraments. Being the same Christians at home and in society that you profess to be here in church. Let these things be your daily concern, your ongoing testimony, if indeed you have received the testimony of the Holy Spirit.

And what will be the result when Christians do give such a testimony? God will be glorified, the name of Jesus will be exalted, and the Church of Christ will be built. And you will suffer, but only for a little while. May the Helper, the Spirit of truth, grant you all the help you need, to believe in the testimony about the Lord Jesus and to confess Him before the world, no matter what the earthly consequences may be. Amen.