Pentecost 2018 (Confirmation)

The holy spirit is the Spirit of confession.  As Christ Our Lord said, the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  He confesses Christ to us, and by the faith He creates in us, we are able to confess Christ to others.  That’s the whole point of this Feast of Pentecost.  At Christ’s Ascension He gave His Church the solemn task of making disciples, that is, Baptizing and teaching, administering the Lord’s Supper, and forgiving the sins of all who repent.  So just ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, He poured out the Holy Spirit on His chosen disciples.  And the Holy Spirit caused the apostles to confess in amazing ways.  At St. Luke recorded in Acts, the apostles preached in languages which they had not learned.  They preached that Jesus Christ died to take away the sin of the world.  They preached that He rose victorious from the grave, the Father accepting His atoning sacrifice.  They preached that Christ was giving His forgiveness and eternal life through Baptism, the washing of rebirth.  And because of their Holy Spirit-given confession of the faith about 3,000 people were saved that day.

Read More