Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is the Holy Gospel reading, especially these words from our Lord Jesus. "But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of the Truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning".

Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord, Jesus Christ, perhaps when you read the title to this sermon you thought, "Well that doesn't apply to me. What the Spirit of the Truth Says to Liars. I'm not a liar, so I guess I don't have to listen today." But don't lie to yourself: we are all liars. Have you ever retold a story from your past but distorted the truth by improving the story? We omit details that would make us look foolish and insert witty things we wish we had said. If the story involves an argument we had with someone else, we make ourselves look smarter and our opponents dumber. Half-truths are lies. We know we are not telling the whole truth, but we do it anyway to pretend we are something we're not, to improve our image.

We are all liars, and that is the truth. We lie to ourselves. Call it selective memory. In our minds we omit the sins of our past and magnify our good works. Or even worse, we replace our moral failings with successes that never happened. We tell ourselves, "I tried as hard as I could to help her. I always did what was best for my children. I never did anything to offend him. It was all her fault. I did it for the right reasons." But we lie. We could have tried harder. We haven't always selflessly sacrificed for the good of our children. We have said cruel, offensive things to our neighbor. In a conflict we almost always share some of the blame in a conflict. And even our most noble deeds are soiled by mixed motives, as Isaiah the prophets says), "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." Yet even though we know that we are lying to ourselves, we do it anyway to pretend we are something we're not, to improve our self-esteem.

We know better than to lie to others and to ourselves, but the worst deception occurs when we tell ourselves, "Oh, it's no big deal. A little white lie here; a little exaggeration there; a little half-truth here; a little self-deception there." "Jesus Himself humbles us by saying, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much". If we cannot tell the truth about little things, we are not trustworthy concerning great matters, either.

But the most serious self-deception is when we don't think we must face up to God for our lies. Here is the cold, hard truth: hell is full of liars. In God's Revelation to St. John, the Lord describes those who are not in heaven. He says, "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death").

Repent. God's Word speaks this truth: "All men are liars", and so we all deserve an eternal swim in the lake of fire. We may fool other people, but we cannot fool God. He knows our frame. He knows our flawed character. He knows our lies. So repent and believe what the Spirit of the Truth says to liars; He speaks the Gospel: God forgives the lies you have told, for the sake of the precious sufferings and death of His Beloved Son, who is the Truth Incarnate. The Holy Spirit has come and witnessed to the Truth, for He is the Spirit of The Truth, the Spirit of Jesus, and He has come to testify to the truth that while we were still liars, Christ died for us, and God promises to all who trust in this Truth: "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness".

We liars can only speak the truth when we say back to God the truth that He has spoken to us. He has called us sinners, and so we speak that truth back to Him in confession: "Yes, Lord, we are sinners." That is why we begin our Divine Service with Confession: "I, a poor, miserable sinner." Then we are telling the truth, and God loves to hear that confession, for then we are throwing ourselves at the mercy of His Word of Truth, Jesus, who gladly absolves us.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...full of grace and truth". And Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me". And to Pontius Pilate He said, "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

Pilate had the right question, but he rejected the Answer, the beaten and bloodied Man standing there before him, the Man who only hours before had promised that He would send "the Spirit of the Truth" to His Church and then He had prayed, "Holy Father, sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth…for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth".

On the night when He was betrayed, the true Lamb of God consecrated Himself for the cross, even as the lambs without spot or blemish were being consecrated for the Passover sacrifice. God's holy Lamb consecrated Himself as the once-and-for all atoning sacrifice for the sins of all liars, including you and me. St. Peter described His suffering for us this way, and particularly Peter highlights how Jesus never lied but always spoke the truth, even as He was suffering: "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls".

Now that you have been gathered back to the Good Shepherd who forgives all your sins, the prayers of Jesus have been answered. He prayed that you would be brought to faith through the Scriptures and Holy Christian Church, and He promised that the Spirit of the Truth would come to witness to Him. That is why He prayed to His Father concerning the apostles like St. Peter, "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth". Jesus prayed that the apostles would be given the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Truth from the Father, who would guide them in their preaching and writing so that their words would be sanctified by the Truth of Jesus Christ; so that the words they spoke and wrote testifying to Christ crucified and risen would be the Father's words, Truth proclaimed and Truth inscripturated. And on Pentecost, which is this next Sunday, the Spirit of the Truth was sent to the apostles so that they could witness to Jesus Christ, the Way and the Truth and the Life, just as the Spirit continues to witness to Jesus today through the Scriptures and the apostolic ministry of the Church.

And just as Jesus prayed, "Father, sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth," those apostolic Words of Gospel truth have been proclaimed into your ears and have sanctified you, they have made you holy. "Truly, truly, I say to you," Jesus says, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life". He says, "All who believe and are baptized shall be saved." He says, "I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." He says, "Take, eat and drink, this is the true body of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all of your sins." Since our Lord speaks nothing but truth through His apostolic Scriptures and in His Word attached to the Sacraments, the promises made there are rock solid, dependable, sure. As St. Paul wrote, God never lies.

And so He does not lie to you when He promises that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the throne of God constantly interceding for you. The apostle Paul, who had been sanctified in the Truth, wrote, "Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us".

Since we weak sinners are constantly attacked by Satan, Jesus prays constantly, "Keep them from the Evil One." Since our lying lips cannot speak the truth without His grace, He prays, "Father, sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." Since our sinful nature would lead us away from the Good Shepherd's voice speaking to us in the Christian Church, He prays, "Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as we are one." And since no one can say "Jesus Christ is Lord" without the Holy Spirit, Jesus constantly prays for the Father to send us the Spirit of Truth through His Word of Truth.

And that same Holy Spirit admonishes us through St. Paul, "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another". Our lips were not created or redeemed for lying, but for speaking the Truth. So what a joy it is to gather here to listen to the Word of Truth, and then to use our lips not for lies but to confess the Truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and our Savior from sin, death, and the devil. And so we proclaim the Truth again this morning, just as St. Paul urges us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him". Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever! Christ's mercy endures forever, and there is nothing truer than that in all the world. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.