Please turn with me in the Word of God to the Gospel of Luke. We'll read some selected verses from Luke chapter 3 and chapter 4. I was asked in the consistory room if I was unable to find a text, and if I had settled on one, and yes, I have. You'll see, I hope, as we read these verses together that there's a theme that runs through them and unites them. And these verses are really about the Holy Spirit in His work with and through Jesus. So let us read from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, beginning at verse 15. There we read, as the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. And then skipping down to verse 21. Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were open, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, you are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased. And then down to chapter 4, verse 1, And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil. And then skipping down to chapter 4 at verse 13. And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And a report about him went through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And then skipping down to verse 31. And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. So far the reading of God's Word. Well, it was several weeks ago that I was asked to preach this Sunday night and decided that maybe I would preach something other than a psalm and surprise you all. And so I had begun to plan this sermon on Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And then in the kind providence of God, it turns out that Pastor Gordon, in his preaching, had reached also a consideration of the Holy Spirit in his preaching. And it seems to me that these sermons fit well together because Pastor Gordon is focusing on the Spirit as he is given to the church at Pentecost, and I'm looking at the Holy Spirit before Pentecost in the life and work of Jesus. But it did strike me as remarkable, I don't know that it ever had really struck me before, that it is really Luke who is the teacher about the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. There are other places we read about the Holy Spirit, to be sure. There are other teachers about the Holy Spirit. But Luke gives a great deal of attention to the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostle. but he also gives a great deal of attention to the work of the Holy Spirit in the beginning of his gospel. And so in those first four chapters of Luke's gospel, we find reference to how John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit, and how his mother Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and how Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit, how Zachariah, John's father, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and how Simeon was filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, John is very much concerned to teach about the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. And when he talks about Jesus himself, Luke teaches that at Jesus' baptism, the Spirit descended upon him, and about how the Spirit filled Jesus, and how the Spirit led Jesus, and how the Spirit empowered Jesus, and how the Spirit anoints Jesus. So clearly there's a great concern on Luke's part to relate the beginnings of the New Covenant, but particularly to relate the ministry of Jesus to the Holy Spirit. And so I hope this sermon will contribute to our study and consideration and understanding of the Holy Spirit both before and after Pentecost. I think when you look at the whole history of the church, it tends to be true that Christians either neglect the Holy Spirit or overemphasize the Holy Spirit. They think too little of the work of the Holy Spirit, or they make too much of the work of the Holy Spirit in the wrong way. And so I hope Pastor Gordon's sermons and this one as well might help us to get the Spirit right, to understand the important work, the vital work, the necessary work of the Holy Spirit. Now, one question that might occur to us is that although it's fairly obvious why we need the Holy Spirit, I mean, I'm looking out at you. I can recognize that this is a group that needs the Holy Spirit, and me too. But while it's fairly obvious that we, as a bunch of sinners in need of grace and mercy and power and direction for service and for life, why we need the Holy Spirit, it may not be so immediately obvious, why does Jesus need the Holy Spirit? And indeed, there were heretics in the early church who were so led astray by thinking that Jesus needed the Holy Spirit that they came to teach a doctrine known as adoptionism, which said that Jesus is just a man upon whom the Holy Spirit came with unusual power to enable him to do unusual things. Some of them even said he is adopted to be divine, but he didn't. He wasn't divine before the Holy Spirit came upon him. Now, the church rather quickly recognized that this was a seriously false teaching that needed to be condemned and rejected. But it does point to the fact that maybe it's not so immediately obvious. Why does Jesus need the Holy Spirit? Does he need the Holy Spirit? Now see, even though I'm retired, the professor in me is inclined to come out. If I gave you a test and said, does Jesus need the Holy Spirit? Would you say yes or no? Well, I think the right answer is yes and no. Why do I say that? Well, we can say no, Jesus doesn't need the Holy Spirit in the sense that he is divine in himself. He is completely divine in himself. He doesn't need any divine power to be added to him from the outside. When it says that the Holy Spirit empowered him, it's not because he lacked power. Or when it says that the Holy Spirit led him, it's not because he didn't know where he was going. So in a certain sense, Jesus doesn't need the Holy Spirit as if he's deficient in himself. But since the Scripture clearly teaches that he's given the Holy Spirit, there must be some way in which the Holy Spirit is beneficial to him. And I think the very short answer is that the Holy Spirit helps him. Now, sometimes we can do things on our own, can't we? But that doesn't necessarily mean it wouldn't be nice to have a helper. And I think that's one of the ways of sort of approaching the idea of Jesus' relationship to the Holy Spirit. He doesn't absolutely need the Holy Spirit as if he's lacking something in himself in terms of power or wisdom. But Jesus was a person. Just as the Holy Spirit is a person. One of our dangers is to depersonalize the Holy Spirit as if he's only a power. Some people talk about the Holy Spirit as if he's the electric plug in the wall, and all you need to do is plug into him, and power flows from him. It's not the way the Holy Spirit is or works. The Holy Spirit is a person. And he's a person who comes to help the person of Jesus in his work to encourage him, to strengthen him, to lead him not to do things he couldn't do on his own, but to lead him in a way that strengthens him in the joy of service by the fellowship that Jesus enjoys with the Holy Spirit. So that's what we want to try to look at in these passages tonight. And we can see the Spirit helping Jesus, I think, in three ways, you'll be surprised to learn. And the first way in which the Spirit helps Jesus is by anointing Him. That was the prophecy that Jesus read, wasn't it, at the synagogue in Nazareth from Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me. And when we read in Luke chapter 3 that the Holy Spirit has descended in a form like a dove. You notice it doesn't say he descended as a dove. It says like a dove, something like a bird. Some visible manifestation of the Spirit came down upon Jesus after his baptism to anoint him. To anoint him for his work. Now, what does an anointing really mean? We don't have literal anointings very often anymore, do we? A few of us may be old enough to remember the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in England, which takes place with great pomp and ceremony at Westminster Abbey. And one of the most solemn moments of the coronation ceremony is when the Archbishop of Canterbury takes a very ancient spoon and pours oil into it and then pours that over the head of the queen. And that is her anointing. Now, what exactly does that anointing do for her? She was queen before the anointing. She's queen after the anointing. She's queen during the anointing. But what that anointing does, like the whole ceremony of coronation, is it publicly displays to the world that what is true can now be known by everybody. The minute her father died, she became queen. The coronation added nothing to the reality and legality of her reign. But it was a display to the world that this was true. That she was queen. And this is very much what the anointing of Jesus as our Savior means. He is displayed before the world as the one on whom the Spirit comes. That's why there was a visible form of something like a dove that came upon him. So that people could see God is bearing witness. That's what the anointing was. God is bearing witness to the reality of who this Jesus is. He is his Son. And not only did the Spirit bear witness by appearing visibly in something like a dove, but the Father himself bore witness with his word, didn't he? This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So this anointing, this work of the Holy Spirit is to be a testimony to the world as to the truth of who Jesus Christ is. The Spirit helps Jesus to make that truth known to the world. Makes it known to you and to me. We can even say, I think, it makes it known to Jesus. Jesus, too, was encouraged by this display. We believe the Scripture teaches that Jesus existed as the Son of God eternally with the Father and with the Spirit, one God in three persons. They had had fellowship in all eternity. And now this fellowship is displayed in His public anointing so that the Father and the Spirit bear witness to the Son. And this is revealed to the whole world so that we might know who he is, so that we might be reassured and he might be reassured in the purpose that is given him, not just as king, but as Messiah. And so what does the Isaiah scroll declare about him in his anointing? That he is anointed to preach good news, And he is anointed to deliver the oppressed from their bondage. Here's the great work of Messiah. This is what the Spirit helps him, reassures him, testifies for him that he is. Not because he didn't know, but because in that work of the Spirit, He's strengthened, encouraged, blessed. And as our catechism so rightly says in question and answer 31, he is anointed, that is, he is the Christ, in order to be prophet, priest, and king. You know, we're so familiar with that formulation, we may forget that that's really an insight that the Reformed Christians came to. Maybe first by Martin Butzer, the great reformer of Strasbourg, but then later by John Calvin and others. To think about Christ in his threefold office seems so obvious from the Scriptures to us, but it wasn't always obvious to the church, but it helps us to see who this Jesus is. In his anointing, he is the final prophet of God, the final teacher, the reliable teacher who tells us all God's truth that we need. And Jesus is the great high priest. He offers himself as the final sacrifice for the sins of his people. And we're told he ever lives to intercede as priest for his people. So he's anointed to that work of prophet and priest and anointed also as eternal king to rule over us, to govern us, and to bless us. Because the 32nd question of the catechism, such a really splendid question for you and for me, is that we share in his anointing. That's amazing, isn't it? we're called Christians because as Christ was anointed, Christ is the Greek word for anointing, so we share as Christians bearing His name in that anointing. And by His Spirit, then, we carry on His work. As prophets, the catechism says we are to confess His name. Every one of us. That was the blessing of Pentecost we heard about this morning, wasn't it? That everyone, male and female, young and old, is to be a confessor of Jesus Christ, a spokesperson for Jesus Christ. Who are you? I hope you have occasions in your life to say, I'm a Christian. I belong to Jesus. We confess His name, and we're priests, as our catechism says, to present myself as a living sacrifice of thankfulness. You're a sacrifice. I'm a sacrifice, as we present our whole lives in thankfulness to God. And we're kings, sharing in Christ's anointing as king. The catechism says, as we fight against sin and the devil in this life, and we'll reign with him eternally. Kings sometimes have to fight. And that's part of our calling now. Fight with spiritual weapons. But fighting knowing that one day a great day of peace, of eternal peace will come, that we'll share with Christ forever. What a great thing the Spirit is doing for Christ. He's anointing him to his work. And I think these verses encourage us to think that the Spirit accompanies him in his work. I think sometimes we think of Jesus as so strong that he never has a struggle. But in his incarnation, he did struggle. In his incarnation, he did face weakness. We remember how he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Facing the cross, facing the agony, and prayed as with great drops of blood coming from him in that agony. And part of what I think this section of Scripture teaches us is that Jesus, in fact, is never alone. He may have his struggles, he may have his burdens, but one of the blessings of God, one of the helps of the Holy Spirit, is that Jesus is never alone. The Holy Spirit, you see, is not just a power for Jesus. He's a person with Jesus. And as Jesus goes out into this sinful world, as Jesus goes out surrounded by people who, even if they like him, don't really understand him, he does have a companion who goes with him to understand him, to personally encourage him, To comfort Him. That's part of the work of the Holy Spirit. Not only to anoint Him, but to accompany Him. To accompany Him and to make Him present. What do I mean by that? Well, we heard so wonderfully in the sermon this morning how on that great day of Pentecost, the Word of God cut into their hearts and 3,000 were converted. Why did that happen? Didn't it happen because those 3,000 people were better than other 3,000 people? Pastor Gordon said he thought that's probably the greatest number converted on a single day in the history of the church. That may well be true. But I know that the great Reformed preacher and missionary evangelist, George Whitefield is reported to have preached once to 50,000 people out of doors. We don't know exactly how many were converted on that day, but if Pastor Gordon is right, and I think he's always right, I want to be asked back, even though 50,000 may have heard him, it may well be that not anywhere near 50,000 were cut to the heart. Why is that? Why is some preaching of the word effective and others not effective? Sometimes it's related to the minister. The sermon's not very good. It's not so very likely to be effective. although Martin Luther said once, we must not neglect even the poorest of sermons, because we never know when the Holy Spirit might do His work. And that's the answer, you see. 3,000 were cut to the quick because the Holy Spirit was at work preparing hearts. Because the Holy Spirit was at work giving the gift of faith. And when we read here in Luke that reports of him went out so the people believed in him, this is because of the work of the Holy Spirit, the proclaiming presence of the Holy Spirit. It's a personal presence for Jesus, but it's also a proclaiming presence, blessing the hearts to whom the words of Jesus come. And then it's a powerful presence. I think Luke is very intentional when Jesus goes down to Capernaum as we find it recorded for us in Luke chapter 4 and says, and he confronted a man with a spirit of an unclean demon. What's an unclean demon? Well, in the Old Testament, you're either unclean or you're clean or holy. There's an unholy spirit in this man. And Jesus comes with the Holy Spirit in himself. And it's that powerful presence of the Holy Spirit that accompanies the word of Jesus to drive out the unclean spirit from this man. You see how the Spirit accompanies Jesus to accomplish his purpose. And that helps us a little bit to understand that the Holy Spirit accompanies us as we seek to live for Christ. I was really quite moved yesterday at Jack Brewer's funeral when Pastor Donovan preached from 1 John chapter 4 and talked about how the world sees the love of Jesus only through us and our acts of love. That's what John is saying. And the Holy Spirit accompanies us that we might be a living testimony in the lives we live so that others might see the love of Christ through us. The Holy Spirit not only anoints, but the Holy Spirit accompanies. And then the Holy Spirit adds to the work. And by that I mean the Holy Spirit does things that adds to the work of Jesus beyond what Jesus could have done himself during his earthly ministry. Over and over again in these, well, not over and over again, twice in these verses, in these chapters, we see that reports of Jesus went out beyond where Jesus was. People were carrying the message. And why were they carrying the message? Because the Holy Spirit had placed that message on their hearts to add to the work of Jesus, to carry on the work of Jesus, to carry out the work of Jesus. One of the passages in Isaiah that talks about Jesus and the Spirit, Isaiah 11 says, The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him. And then you remember it goes on to say, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. The Holy Spirit has carried the message of Jesus out into the world, far beyond where Jesus himself, in his earthly ministry, had ministered. The Holy Spirit, Luke tells us, will give us words to speak in times of persecution. The Holy Spirit will protect us when people oppose us. I think that's the key to that curious passage in Luke chapter 12 where Jesus says, Blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This has led a lot of people in the history of the church to be troubled in spirit. Have I maybe committed the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? What's Jesus mean there? Well, Jesus is facing the Pharisees there. And the Pharisees are rejecting Jesus and they're threatening his disciples. And what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees there, I'm willing to forgive you anything you do against me. But when you stand against my disciples who are speaking the truth in the power of my Holy Spirit, that will not be forgiven. And that's why Jesus is encouraging us as his disciples that when he speaks for us by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the power of the Holy Spirit, he will protect us, he will preserve us, he will use us. And that's what we need to pray for. That's what we need to work for. What we see in Jesus early in Luke's gospel is then what the Holy Spirit is doing for the whole church in profound ways at Pentecost and after. And that's why it is so wonderful to hear this exposition of Acts 2 that's getting things just right. I was invited once to preach on Pentecost at a church that had gotten very fascinated with the charismatic movement. They were fascinated with all sorts of powerful things they thought that the Holy Spirit was doing. And I entitled my sermon, Pentecost is about Jesus. They didn't like the sermon at all. Or at least some of them didn't like it at all. Sometimes you can tell that at the door. They didn't like that at all. But the truth is, Pentecost is about Jesus. As someone said, the Holy Spirit is the modest member of the Trinity. He doesn't talk so much about himself. He talks about Jesus. And the Holy Spirit comes upon us in power so that we can talk about Jesus and so that we can say to the world, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior. May we know that power and presence of the Holy Spirit just as Jesus did. Amen. Father, we marvel again at the wisdom of your provision for our salvation, both in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus and his perfect life of service, and in the sending of the Holy Spirit to be our helper. And we pray, O Lord, that as we prayed before, the Spirit would come, the Spirit would help, the Spirit would encourage, and the Spirit would open many, many, many hearts in our day to believe in Jesus as the Savior. Hear us and bless us, O Lord, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.