John 15:26 to 16:4.
But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. And ye also shall testify, because ye have been with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They will put you under ban. But the time will come when whoever kills you will think he is doing God a service. And they will do this to you, so that they will not recognize my Father or me. But these things have I spoken unto you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I have told you. But I did not tell you this at the beginning, because I was with you.
1. there are two offices of the Holy Spirit: the first is to comfort and establish the hearts or consciences against God, that we may be sure that God is favorable to us and that we please Him, after all previous sins have been forgiven, and our imperfections or daily cases and faults tolerated; and all this for the sake of Christ the Mediator; so that we may be sure that God is not angry with us, but is gracious to us. No reason, law, counsel, or work can accomplish this work of the Holy Spirit, but to Him alone belongs this honor, that He is a Comforter.
*) Cf. Erl. A. opp. var. arg. VII, 411 D. Red.
The other ministry is to make bold, brave, hearty, and impel to confess, teach, and preach Christ from without against the world and its ruler; that is, to lift up hearts against men and all the wrath of the devil. Just as the first edification is done before God, against His wrath and the law: so this edification is done before the world, against its wrath and wisdom. And the latter fortitude naturally follows the former: since the Holy Spirit has made you sure of the grace and favor of God, he also soon concludes: "Why are you afraid of a man? If God is for you, who can be against you? Be
Be bold and be courageous. If you have overcome God's wrath, how much more will you overcome the wrath of men; as the angel said to Jacob in the first book of Moses.
From the truth.
He calls him the "spirit of truth" because of the opposition to all lying spirits: because the things he teaches and comforts with, seem to be more than ten times lies to the whole world, yes, also to our flesh and our weakness. He calls him a spirit of truth, as if he wanted to say: Do not let the world annoy you with all its wisdom, power and quantity; do not let your weakness annoy you, as if the spirit, the same comforter, deceives you; everything will seem false to them and to you, but he will not deceive; stand firm, and you will see that he is true in his comfort.
This is what I have told you.
There are two aversions against these two gifts of the Spirit. Against the comfort is that the world will condemn them as servants of the devil and enemies of God, who do not have a reconciled and gracious God, but who blaspheme God, and are worthy to be banished and excluded from the people of God and from the church. Here, the admonition of Christ is certainly needed.
because the wicked boast of the name of the church, lest we throw away the comfort of the Holy Spirit and admit that we are children of wrath, as they judge and cry. Against the testimony or courage to preach, they use force and the sword. Here again the reminder is necessary, so that we do not think as if we are abandoned or hated by God, because we are strangled, suffer etc., but they triumph and win. Both sorrows are heavy, namely, both being condemned in doctrine as an enemy of God; and being killed in the body as an enemy of the church and of the human race. It is therefore necessary to believe the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and to hold to the admonition of Christ, who approves of this comfort etc.
Of the nature of the Holy Spirit.
(5) Here is to be touched upon above and recently (if it is arbitrary), because it cannot be dealt with perfectly in one speech, namely, how the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son; because this, that he proceeds from the Father, means that he is the same with the Father from eternity; yet, that not the Father proceeds from him, but he has the same being from the Father. But that he is sent by the Son indicates that he himself also proceeds from the Son, because the Son does not come from the Spirit, but the Spirit from the Son etc.