We Need the Holy Spirit
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:23-31
Pentecost Sunday| John 14:23-31| Acts 2:1-11| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| May 24, 2026
The Christian observance of Pentecost celebrates the event when God sent His promised Holy Spirit upon the disciples in Jerusalem, fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, and ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit is true God with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit arrived with the sound of a rushing wind, and tongues of fire appeared on the disciples’ heads, and they proclaimed the mighty works of God in languages they had not learned, so that Jews and proselytes from around the known world, who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Pentecost could understand in their own languages the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Every true Christian knows that we need Jesus. You need Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus. St. Peter says in Acts chapter four, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) We have no other Savior than Christ Jesus, who took on our human flesh and fulfilled God’s law with perfect obedience, suffered and died for all our sins, rose victoriously from the dead, defeating sin, death, Satan, and hell for us, and who grants forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life to all who believe in Him. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved! But whoever does not believe will be condemned. Without Jesus, we are alienated from God, we are condemned with our sin, we are doomed to hell. But with Christ Jesus, we have forgiveness of sins, friendship with God as His adopted children, and the certain promise of eternal life. We all need Jesus.
We observe Pentecost so that we may learn that we need the Holy Spirit. Why do we need the Holy Spirit. Simply put, we need the Holy Spirit to make us holy, that is, to set us apart from this sinful and condemned world and to place us into the care of the Christian Church which is Christ’s body. We need the Holy Spirit, because we need Jesus. Whoever has faith in Jesus will be saved. But we cannot have faith in Jesus without the Holy Spirit. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.’” (vs. 3) He says this, because we are all by nature born of the sinful flesh, and so, we are incapable of accepting and believing in Christ. Jesus says in John 3, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.” (vss. 5-6)
Likewise, St. Paul writes in Romans 8, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.” (vss. 5-9) Yet, to set one’s mind on the things of the flesh is what we all do by nature. This is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person cannot 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.” (vss. 12-14)
Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot understand nor believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus commanded His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they received the promised Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). Without the Holy Spirit, no one would believe the preaching of the Apostles. But with the Holy Spirit, we receive new birth as God’s children, so that we believe the Gospel and desire to please God. In Titus 3, Paul writes, “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.” The Holy Spirit regenerates us and renews us, so that we may believe the Gospel.
Without the Holy Spirit there is no forgiveness of sins, because the forgiveness of sins can only be received through faith. So, although Jesus won for us forgiveness of sins through His death on the cross, we could not receive the forgiveness of sins if the Holy Spirit did not cause the proclamation of forgiveness to be spoken and move our hearts to believe it. Therefore, we confess in the Apostles’ Creed that the Holy Spirit forgives our sins.
Whoever does not love, does not know God (1 John 4:8). Without the Holy Spirit, we could not love God. But St. Paul writes in Romans 5:5, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Through the movement of the Holy Spirit, who convinces us of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus, we are able to love God and our neighbor.
Without the Holy Spirit, we could not pray, for to pray, you must have faith and desire the things God gives. Holy Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit moves us to pray! Galatians 4:6 states, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” And again, Romans 8:26 states, “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.”
Without the Holy Spirit, we could not believe in Jesus Christ; we could not receive the forgiveness Christ won; we could not love God; we could not pray to Him. In short, we could not do any spiritual or holy thing. Without the Holy Spirit we would be condemned to hell. We need the Holy Spirit. So, how do we receive the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit works in the Christian Church. The Apostles’ Creed states, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church…” How does the Holy Spirit work in the Church? The Holy Spirit works in the Church through God’s Word, which includes Baptism and the other Sacraments, which are empowered by God’s Word. Jesus says in our Gospel lesson, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” He goes on, “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (vss. 23-24, 26)
The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds the Church what Jesus has said. The Holy Spirit works through the words of Jesus as we find them in Holy Scripture. This is why St. Paul asks the Galatians in chapter 3, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” He makes clear that the Holy Spirit is not given through our works, but through the preaching of the Gospel, which is received through faith. Yet, it is not only during the sermon that the Holy Spirit comes to you, but wherever the promises of Christ are declared. This includes Baptism. Later in his Pentecost sermon, St. Peter declares, “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.” (Acts 2:38) The Holy Spirit comes to you through Baptism. That is why Jesus calls Baptism being born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5) and St. Paul calls it the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). Yet, this is only the beginning of the Holy Spirit coming to the Christian. The Holy Spirit continues to work through the promises of Christ spoken in the Absolution, in the preaching of the Gospel, and in the Sacrament of the Altar to forgive sins, to strengthen faith, to increase love, and to move you in prayer.
Yet, how do you know that you have the Holy Spirit? Not everyone who hears the Gospel believes it. Tragically, not everyone who is baptized continues in the faith. So, how do you know that you have the Holy Spirit? Some claim that to know that you have the Holy Spirit you must have certain spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues, healing the sick, or prophesying. They point to the first Christian Pentecost when the disciples prophesied and spoke in tongues. Yet, these signs are no more necessary today than tongues of fire or the Holy Spirit appearing like a dove, as He did at Jesus’ Baptism (Matthew 3:16). These were signs which followed the Apostles and confirmed their message, but God never promised that these signs would continue forever. Rather, St. Paul teaches that these signs will cease in 1 Corinthians 13.
Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruits.” What are the fruits of those who have the Holy Spirit? St. Paul writes in Galatians 5, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These are fruits that prove the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” And so, a sure sign of the Holy Spirit is love for God and for your fellow Christian. Christians are able to have joy even in the midst of sorrow, as St. Paul instructs us to rejoice in the Lord always in a letter he wrote from prison (Philippians 4:4). Christians have peace that the world cannot give, because it is peace with God through the forgiveness of sins (Romans 5:1). Those who have the Holy Spirit are patient, which means, long-suffering. Christ said that those who follow Him will suffer. Yet, Christians take these tribulations with patience, because they have faith in the promises of Christ. Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are virtues produced in us by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us through faith in Christ. These are signs that we have the Holy Spirt.
Yet, what if these fruits are lacking? I may see them in others, in my fellow Christians who are patient, kind, and forgiving. But I often don’t find them in myself. Does this mean I do not have the Holy Spirit? You may find strange comfort that St. Paul himself struggled with such lack in himself, when he writes in Romans 7, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” And so, when we recognize our sin and the lack of the fruits of the Spirit within us, we should cry with King David, “Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11)
Because of our sinful nature, which still clings to us, even after we are born again by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17), we often see our sinful flesh warring against the Spirit and preventing good fruit from showing. Yet, Scripture gives us these reassuring words, “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:13-15) The Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God, when He convinces us that Christ Jesus has taken away our sins. We know that we have the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus, faith which only the Holy Spirit can give to us.
And so, dear Christian, do not let your sin trouble you so much that you believe the Holy Spirit has departed from you. Rather, return to the Gospel by which the Holy Spirit is given. The Holy Spirit comforts us when our sin afflicts us by proclaiming Christ and His forgiveness to us. And so, we see how much we need the Holy Spirit. And we see that the Holy Spirit readily comes to us through the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments. When we believe the promises of Christ attached to these, that they are for us, then we know that the Holy Spirit abides in us.