Our travels for this year look to be over. We survived the European heatwave and enjoyed two memorable weddings in London and in Brussels. I’m still processing it all but I do want to thank the Lord for just giving us such a rich experience and blessing even if I can’t put it in words.
If you remember the last couple of messages;
Jesus healed a mute and the people who witnessed had one of 3 reactions;
- 1. The multitudes marvelled but 2 other groups had negative reactions;
These 2 groups were saying one of 2 things;
- Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub (that is the Devil)
- Those who wanted another sign from heaven
Jesus spoke to these 2 groups strongly warning them that their judgement of what was happening was very wrong, that no further miracles were needed other than his resurrection and condemning them for their hypocrisy and for actively preventing others from hearing and believing Jesus’s message.
As I prepared this week’s message, I realised how important it is to notice who Jesus was addressing when he spoke. The beauty of Scripture is that it can speak to us directly, yet we do have to remember who Jesus was directly speaking to otherwise we may misapply it out of context.
So, who did Jesus speak to in his day?
1. His Father
2. His family or connected family
3. His disciples
4. The crowds who followed him
5. The Pharisees and other leaders
6. The government
7. Foreigners
Are there any other specific groups you can think of?
Which group would you put yourself in today?
Luke 12:1-3
In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Yes, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, that’s you and me!
Jesus warned his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees which here he called their hypocrisy. In Matthew 16:12, he called their leaven their doctrine. They made themselves out to be more important than they were. They were puffed up with ego but they didn’t live up to their words, they were hypocrites.
We need to stay humble. Jesus knows our thoughts but thankfully no one else can read our minds ! Not yet anyway but one day it will all be laid bare. What we’ve spoken about in secret, what we’ve said behind others backs, what our motives were for what we did.
Knowing this we should live as authentically as we can. The worst thing is to be one person in public and another in private. People should know we are Christians; it shouldn’t be a surprise to them. But if they do know, then they shouldn’t be shocked by our private lives. That is one thing that really compromises the Gospel - hypocritical Christians.
Luke 12:4-7
“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
There is an apparent contradiction here. On the one hand Jesus says to fear God who can cast us into Hell, on the other not to fear because we are very valuable to Him.
But notice what Jesus says before that. He says don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body. When given the choice between man and God, don’t be afraid of man. Fear the Lord instead. It’s helpful to realise too that our soul is worth more than our body because our soul is eternal, but our body is only temporary.
In essence, Jesus is saying, don’t be afraid of man, or value anything material too highly. But do let our trust in the Lord outweigh our fear because God knows all the little details of our lives and we are very valuable to Him. He is worthy of our trust!
Luke 12:8-10
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.
Imagine how hard these words would have hit Peter after he denied the Lord three times. Do we think we are stronger than Peter? But Jesus goes on to say that anyone who spoke a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Remember how the Lord showed grace to Peter after his denial. Jesus knew Peter’s heart, that he was truly sorry and would change. But more than that, it is the Lord who is faithful in spite of our failings. And he has promised that we cannot be snatched from his hand.
2 Timothy 2:11-13
This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
However, there is a far more serious point about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven. This has troubled many Christians and so we should dig a bit deeper.
Blasphemy on it’s own is the act of speaking or acting with contempt, disrespect, or a lack of reverence toward God, a deity, or things considered sacred and holy. It includes insulting religious figures, misusing holy names, or defying divine authority. Blasphemy is treating sacred beliefs, scriptures, or holy figures with intentional malice or mockery.
Most secular nations have abolished blasphemy laws to protect freedom of speech. Christopher Hitchens book « God is not Great » is an example of blasphemy. But is it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
The Cause: It is the continuous, willful refusal to accept the Holy Spirit's guidance towards the Truth.
The Result: A heart so hardened against God that the person never wants to ask for pardon. The person becomes blind to the Truth even so far as calling good evil by attributing the miracles of the Holy Spirit to the devil.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not just profanity. Profanity involves ordinary rude or coarse language, whereas blasphemy specifically targets the divine or sacred.
It is not grieving the Holy Spirit. That happens when the way we live causes the Holy Spirit to be sad. As a parent, you may relate to this with your children, especially your teenage children. You might see friends who are a bad influence start to lead your child astray. So you do your best as a parent to prevent that from happening but finally it is the child who makes their choice thinking they know better. Of course as a parent you have the life experience so you know the inevitable bad outcome. Choices made that are destructive to our wellbeing, to others that inevitably require us to be disciplined.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is called the unpardonable sin.
It is frightening to think that a person has reached this state of hard heart, where they don’t even think to ask for God’s forgiveness, where they are beyond help. This is why the Pharisees were in such danger where they were calling the miracles of the Holy Spirit a work of the Devil and were teaching others to reject Jesus, our only hope of salvation. When thought of this way, it is why Jesus warned them so strongly.
If a person is worried that he has committed the unpardonable sin, it is a sign they haven’t.
When I listen to the way Christopher Hitchens or Stephen Fry speak against God, I’m really scared for them. Their hearts are hard to such a degree that they completely lost the desire or ability to repent and receive forgiveness and worse than that, they are teaching others to reject God like them. I’m not their judge, only God is but a person needs to be warned when they are in danger, and that’s what Jesus was doing to the Pharisees.
John warned;
1 John 5:16
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
Perhaps the fact that people are still moved to pray for the likes of Stephen Fry is a sign that The Holy Spirit is still wrestling with them, so let’s not give up on anyone while they still have breath in their lungs! Are you worried that you have committed the unpardonable sin? The Holy Spirit is still wrestling with you. Today is the Day of Salvation. You don’t know if you have another day. Come to the Lord today and receive his forgiveness, He’s waiting for you ! Jesus died on the Cross for all our sins but if we reject this, we cannot be saved. Jesus said that he is the only way to the Father, there is no hope in any other religion.
Acts 4:12
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
This statement is a great offence to all other claims of finding God and a way into Heaven. When Dolly Parton died this week, I saw a cartoon of a number of other music stars who have also died greeting her as she arrived in Heaven. Maybe one of them had made a confession of faith in Jesus, but no others had. I’m not the Judge but if someone rejects Jesus all their life they are not going to be in Heaven for ultimately, they’ve committed the unpardonable sin. If we preach the true Gospel, we will cause offence and the time could soon come in New Zealand where a Christian will be arrested and put on trial for saying this.
Luke 12:11-12
“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
The Holy Spirit is always teaching us, I’m sure you can relate to this when you’re doing your devotionals. When I’m preparing a message, I always receive something new to me, and usually while I’m speaking as well, Scriptures come to mind that help enhance or change the emphasis of a point to make it clearer. But I look forward to the day when standing before the authorities, that the Holy Spirit will do that on steroids as he did for Stephen.
Acts 6:9-10
Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
Let’s remember then to daily fill our lamps and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.
But don’t be surprised when the Spirit is speaking that all manner of distractions come into our mind, through people or events. Remember we are in a spiritual war.
Just as Jesus was making this important teaching about the Holy Spirit to his disciples, a distraction did indeed come.
Luke 12:13
Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”…
Notice how this interrupted and distracted the disciples from the important teaching Jesus was giving them. I’m sure you will have experienced this when witnessing to someone.
Stay tuned, we’ll move on to that next week.
No comments :
Post a Comment