How Not To Be A Hypocrite

In Luke chapter 12, I'll read it out loud for us.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together,

that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first,

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed.

Or hidden that will not be known.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light.

And what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body,

and after that have nothing more that they can do.

But I will warn you whom to fear.

Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not.

You are of more value than many sparrows.

And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men,

the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.

But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven.

But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities,

do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

In the preceding passage, Jesus preached a very hard-hitting sermon

denouncing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes.

And he denounced the fact that they pretended to be righteous on the outside,

even though they were wicked and sinful on the inside.

He denounced the fact that they moralistically and legalistically kept the minutia of the law

while neglecting the most important commands of God's word.

He denounced the fact that they sought these prominent seats and long praises from people

rather than humbly seeking God's glory.

So in today's passage, Jesus transitions from denouncing the Pharisees and the scribes

to addressing his own disciples.

And he warns them about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes

and then teaches them how not to be hypocrites like they were.

And Jesus' main point is this.

The fact that all will be revealed and judged by God enables us to be authentic witnesses,

followers of Christ, even in the midst of persecution.

That's his main point.

And I'm going to unpack that by looking at the way Jesus exposes the way compartmentalize our lives.

And we're going to look at the public space versus private space,

temporal death versus eternal death, earthly court versus the heavenly court.

So let's first look at the public space and the private space that Jesus speaks of.

In verse 1,

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together

that they were trampling one another,

he began to say to his disciples first,

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Jesus is getting so popular here.

This is like a Black Friday shopping mad dash

where people literally trample each other

because they're trying to get into a store

and find the items that they want to get the best deals.

People are literally trampling each other

because Jesus has become so popular

and there's throngs of people that are crowding to see him.

And as this is happening,

we've been noting the rising popularity of Jesus throughout the Gospel of Luke,

but there's always this lingering sense that that popularity will not last.

This bubble is going to burst at some point.

And instead of, you know, regaling the crowds with an entertaining message,

Jesus issues a solemn warning,

and then he speaks to his disciples first,

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

The word leaven is used more generically nowadays in our culture

to refer to all kinds of leavening agents, like yeast,

and anything that causes fermentation and the expansion of the dough in baking.

So sometimes when we hear leaven, we think of yeast,

but it's a much more restricted word than that.

Leaven is a fermented dough that's taken from an old batch of dough

that's set aside and combined with the new batch of dough.

And since that old batch is already fermenting,

you can use that to produce fermentation in the new batch of dough.

And so, because yeast was very rare in the ancient world.

And so all you need is that first batch that's fermented,

and then you could make fermented dough, you know,

you could bake bread all you want.

The danger, of course, with this kind of baking method

is that with each subsequent bread that you make,

the chance of dangerous bacteria growing in that bread increases.

And this health concern using old leaven may have been behind,

may have been one of the reasons behind the command

that God gave to the Israelites in Exodus 12

to observe the feast of unleavened bread,

where for seven days they would purge their houses of all leavened bread

and eat only unleavened bread,

so they could start up that fermentation process anew.

And so because of that practice among the Jews,

the word leaven came to represent for them

how sin and evil can spread insidiously among the people of God

until it has affected the entire dough.

So on the outside, the Pharisees' religiousness looked wholesome,

but inside there were like dangerous bacteria lurking

that could infect the entire population.

And so Jesus warns them,

beware of such hypocrisy.

Make sure you're wholesome on the inside,

not just on the outside.

And then in verses 2 to 3,

Jesus gives the reason why such authenticity is important.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light,

and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Nothing is covered up.

All will be revealed.

Of course, we're careful about how we speak to each other on a polite Sunday morning.

But if we speak harshly to our spouse or to our children behind closed doors,

that will be made known.

Perhaps we appear chaste and self-controlled on the outside,

but inside our imagination,

in the seclusion of our dorm rooms,

or on the private browsers of our laptops,

we indulge forbidden lusts.

This too will be revealed.

If we compartmentalize our lives to public spaces and private spaces

and only care about the public perception

and not about the private, the reality that we live in,

we will be shocked and ashamed on the day when God brings all things to light.

And this is true not just of evil things,

but also of good things.

The secret prayers that you utter on behalf of your brothers and sisters in your room.

The good deeds that you do on behalf of the poor that no one else sees,

all of that too will be revealed on that great day.

That's an encouragement.

This is such a needful tonic in our toxic celebrity culture.

Nowadays, in order to get a book published,

amassing a large social media following is more important than writing a good book.

Nowadays, image control trumps character and self-control.

Nowadays, just because people jump on the bandwagon

and then affix the appropriate hashtags on the social media posts

for, say, Black History Month or Women's History Month,

people delude themselves into thinking that all of a sudden now

they're activists and revolutionaries.

when in reality,

in the reality of their day-to-day lives,

they don't give a rip about equality.

Anyone can curate a glowing social media profile,

but who are you for real?

What do you say and do when no one is looking?

Divine omniscience, the fact that God knows all things,

divine omniscience motivates Christian authenticity.

Because God sees everything,

we live every moment before the watching eyes of God.

This is what ancient Christians used to call coram deo.

In Latin, it's a phrase that means in the presence of God,

before the face of God.

We live every moment before the face of God,

under the authority of God,

to the glory of God.

That's how we ought to live as Christians.

Some of you might think,

oh man, that sounds quite stressful,

constraining your life that way,

trying to live a blameless life as if God's watching you at every moment.

But actually, quite the opposite is true.

Think about it.

It's liberating to be blameless.

It's people who are always violating the traffic rules,

speeding and running by red lights,

that panic when they see a police car.

They're always anxious.

If you're always driving and observing the rules,

you don't panic when you see a police car.

It's the people, right,

who gossip,

slander people behind their backs,

who are always afraid of being backstabbed by their friends

and fear that other people are talking behind their back.

It's people who are constantly trying to take advantage of others

for their selfish gain,

that are always living in perpetual fear

that people are trying to cheat them,

that are trying to take advantage of them.

It's the people who have mixed motives,

ulterior motives,

when they do things,

that are always afraid of being exposed for the fraud that they are.

Only people with integrity

who live the outside and inside the same way

can live with freedom.

Only they can live with freedom and without fear.

That's what God's calling us to.

The fact that all will be revealed and judged by God

enables us to be authentic witnesses of Christ

in public and in private.

That's the point that kind of undergirds

the next two points that Jesus makes.

First, the second contrast is a temporal death

versus eternal death.

Because if we live authentic Christian lives,

we will face persecution from a world that is opposed to Christ.

And aware of this,

Jesus gives us stern warnings on the one hand,

but also warm assurances

that can sustain us and help us to persevere.

So let's look at verses 4 to 7

where he distinguishes the temporal death and eternal death

and tells us to be mindful

not just of the temporal death,

but also of the eternal death.

I tell you, my friends,

do not fear those who kill the body

and after that have nothing more that they can do.

But I will warn you whom to fear.

Fear him who after he has killed

has authority to cast into hell.

Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Fear of death is really the most basic

kind of primal fear that drives us, right?

We fear the physical harm that people can do to us.

But here in the United States

where we enjoy freedom of religion,

we need not fear being killed for our faith

like many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Not like the disciples of Jesus.

They have to worry about that.

But we nevertheless can fear

what people might do to us

when we live authentic lives

of witnessing for Jesus Christ.

We can fear character assassination.

We fear that by sharing the saving news of Jesus Christ

with our friends and neighbors

that we'll be seen as ignorant and superstitious.

We fear that by standing up for biblical truth

that we will be seen

and will be caricatured as these backwards bigots.

We fear that by being a public Christian in academia

that we will forfeit our respectability

and jeopardize our careers.

Sometimes our fear is even less direct.

We cheat or plagiarize at school.

Misrepresent our reading reports

because we fear that people will give us bad grades

that will then give us bad jobs.

We fear what people might do to us.

We flatter our managers

and help them carry out unethical business practices

because we fear their retaliation.

And we desire the promotion that they can give us.

But why do we fear what men can do to us

more than what God can do to us?

God is watching

and our actions here and now will echo into eternity

and that's what Jesus is reminding us of here.

When the 16th century Scottish pastor and reformer,

John Knox, died

and he was being buried,

lowered to his grave,

the presiding minister apparently

has said to have said this about the man,

John Knox.

Here lies one who feared God so much

that he never feared the face of man.

He who fears God will fear no man.

And in order to emphasize the contrast of fearing man

and fearing God,

once we are told,

do not fear men,

do not fear those who kill the body

and after that can do nothing else.

But three times we're told to fear God.

Fear God who after he has killed

has authority to cast into hell.

Fear.

Fear, fear him.

And this is the only time that Luke uses the word hell

in this,

in his entire gospel.

And the Greek word for hell

is named after a valley of Hinnom

in kind of south of Jerusalem.

And that was the place in earlier history of Israel

that these idol worshipers

burned their own children in sacrifice.

And it became a desecrated place.

And for that reason,

the valley was used as a trash heap.

They would dump all the trash,

all the carcasses of dead animals

and all the executed criminals,

their bodies would be dumped there

and it would all be burned.

So it was said by historians of the ancient world

that there was always smoke rising up

from the valley of Hinnom.

It's a picture,

an apt picture of the eternal destruction

that awaits evildoers

who refuse to repent of their sins.

The temporal harm that people can do to us

is nothing compared to the eternal hell

that God consigns evildoers to.

So why should we fear what men say about us?

Whatever they might do to us,

it will only be for this life,

this momentary life.

We need not fear their threats.

No human,

no matter how powerful or authoritative,

have any authority to decide

our eternal fate.

That's God's exclusive prerogative.

And we can rest in that.

Some of us might object at this point,

well God, that's great.

That's great that our eternal life is in your hands.

And you're right that that's more important

than how we fare in this life.

But what about this life?

That's great that I'll enjoy heavenly inheritance and riches,

but what if I'm poor and hungry now?

That's great that I'll be safe in eternity,

but what if I'm afraid and feel threatened right now?

Eternity seems off in the distance,

but this right now,

that's immediate.

The pain is real.

The fear is crippling.

How can I get through this life?

Jesus anticipates that objection

and answers it in verses six to seven.

Having reminded us of God's authority

over our eternal future,

Jesus also reminds us of God's care for us

in the present.

He says,

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Why?

Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not.

You are of more value than many sparrows.

This is amazing.

God is saying, in essence,

you concern yourself being my faithful witness

and don't worry about anything else.

Don't worry about protecting yourself,

fending for your own life,

worrying about the people who might persecute you and kill you.

I'll take care of that.

A sparrow is one of the smallest,

most common, and cheapest birds.

They're all over the place.

Maybe you're more familiar with pigeons in the city.

They're not valuable.

I think I see a roadkill of a pigeon every week

somewhere around the Twin City Plaza.

No one pays any heed.

They just walk right by it.

The only thing they care about is that they don't step on it.

They don't care about the pigeon.

Nobody cares about that pigeon.

It's worthless, essentially.

But God says, no,

not even one of those pigeons,

not even one of those sparrows is forgotten by me.

Similarly, God says,

even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

According to my quick Google search,

that's all research is nowadays, isn't it?

It's kind of sad.

But I didn't need to look very far for this.

An average human head has about 100,000 hair follicles.

And each follicle grows about 20 individual hair in its lifetime.

And so we lose hair all the time, right?

They say that we lose about 100 stands of hair per day.

Literally, if you've ever cleaned your house,

you have found hair.

They're everywhere.

And hair grows back.

And there's so much of it.

So you don't care.

You don't care about losing hair.

They always grow back,

unless you're a middle-aged man

who's genetically predisposed to losing hair.

But the point is,

but the point is,

hair is cheap.

No one's going to pay your money for it.

In fact, you have to pay someone to cut it for you.

But guess what?

God has every single strand of your hair numbered.

He knows how tens of thousands of hairs,

how many of them are on your head.

And when one is lost,

He knows it is not forgotten by Him.

And this is the point.

If God cares about a sparrow,

if God cares about a strand of hair on your head,

how much more than does God care for you?

How much does God care for you?

The pinnacle of His creation.

Man and woman creating an image of God.

How much does God care for you?

And you think that God doesn't care

what that man did to you those years ago?

You think God doesn't care

what that woman said to you last week?

You think God doesn't care that you're sick?

You think God doesn't care

how that person made you feel?

You think God doesn't care

that your job is miserable?

You think God doesn't care

that you are depressed and suicidal?

You think God doesn't care

about the desires of your heart?

That He doesn't know about your knees?

That He doesn't care

that you are lonely?

He doesn't care

that your life is hard?

Don't believe those lies of the enemy.

God cares about you.

He knows the number of hair on your head.

He cares for the sparrow.

He's never forgotten about you

and He will never forget you.

Are you following the logic

of verses 4 to 7?

Don't fear those who can kill

only the body.

God can cast into hell.

Prioritize eternity.

Prioritize heaven.

And don't worry about your life on earth.

Don't worry about how people

might mistreat you and kill you

because of your faith in me.

I'll take care of that.

I'm keeping a close watch over you.

God's not like this, you know,

bad, selfish boss who says,

you know, hey, sacrifice your health.

Sacrifice your work-life balance.

Sacrifice your family.

Do everything.

Focus only on increasing

the profit margin of the company

because that's your job

and if you don't do it,

I'm going to fire you.

That's not the kind of manager

or boss God is.

God's the kind of boss who says,

hey, I'll take care of everything else.

I'll make sure you make enough money.

I'll take care of your family.

I'll make sure you have health benefits.

I'll take care of everything else.

You just worry about doing the job

I've given you.

We can be preoccupied with heaven

because God has promised

to take care of us on earth.

We can seek first the kingdom of God

because God has promised to meet our needs

here in the kingdom of man.

And unless we believe that,

unless we believe that God will take care of us,

we cannot live for God

with sacrifice and abandon.

Now, this does not mean

that you will never know hardship

and never be persecuted.

Jesus' earlier exhortation

not to fear those who kill the body

shows that there are people

who will kill the followers of Jesus.

The story of Jesus' apostles

in the book of Acts,

which is Luke's sequel to his gospel,

we see many of them martyred for their faith.

But this does mean

that when you are suffering

for his namesake,

that when you are going through trials,

when you are being persecuted

for your faith,

you can be assured that he is with you.

He is not far off.

He is near.

He is engaged.

He is involved.

This past Wednesday

during our weekly prayer service,

we looked at Psalm 116 together.

In Psalm 116, verse 15,

Psalms 116:15

it says,

Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints.

The word precious there means rare,

costly, weighty.

It's the exact opposite idea

of what the pagans used to say

in the ancient world.

They used to say,

Whom the gods love die young.

You have a man who dies young

or a child that dies.

Oh, it's because gods must love them.

They want them with him.

That's what the pagans said.

What the Bible taught

was exactly the opposite.

Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints.

No, God does not take

the death of his saints casually.

It's weighty to him

because you are valuable to him.

It's costly to him.

He cares about it

so you can be assured

that when you are being persecuted

and if you ever had the privilege

of being martyred

for your faith in Jesus Christ,

that God is with you.

He's watching you.

He loves you

and he cares for you.

I've used this quote before

but as Charles Spurgeon

once said,

The refiner is never far

from the mouth of the furnace

when his gold is in the fire.

When you're in the fire of trial,

you are being persecuted.

You're hurting.

You can be sure

that the heavenly father

is not far away.

Next in verses 8 to 12,

Jesus gives us another stern warning

followed by a warm assurance

so that we might be authentic witnesses

for Christ even in the midst of persecution.

He says in verses 8 to 9,

And I tell you,

everyone who acknowledges me before men,

the son of man,

also will acknowledge

before the angels of God.

But the one who denies me before men

will be denied

before the angels of God.

The word acknowledge

is sometimes translated

as declare

or confess.

And it refers to

a public profession

of faith.

Everyone who acknowledges me

before men,

it's public.

The son of man

also will acknowledge

before the angel of God.

The Christian faith

is intended to be public,

not private.

This is not a matter

of personal opinion.

It's a matter

of universal truth.

You can see this clearly

in John chapter 12,

John 12:42–43

verses 42 to 43.

It says,

Nevertheless,

many,

even of the authorities,

believed in him.

They believed in Jesus.

But for fear

of the Pharisees,

they did not

confess it.

so that they would not

be put out of the synagogue.

For they loved the glory

that comes from man

more than the glory

that comes from God.

The word translated

confess here

is the exact same word

as the word acknowledged

in our passage.

So you see the contrast

between believing

in secret

and confessing

in public.

There were Jewish authorities

who believed

in Jesus secretly.

but for the fear

of the Pharisees

that they might

be persecuted by them

and be excommunicated

by them,

they did not

confess Jesus publicly.

And John's assessment

of them

is not good.

They loved the glory

that comes from man

more than the glory

that comes from God.

They were not

true followers

of Jesus

because they were

ashamed of Christ

and his words.

They loved the glory

of man

more than the glory

of God.

That's why in Romans 10

also, 9-10,

it says,

if you confess

with your mouth

that Jesus is Lord

and believe

in your heart

that God raised him

from the dead,

you will be saved.

For with the heart

one believes

and is justified

and with the mouth

one confesses

and is saved.

Believing in the heart

is not enough.

You must also confess

with your mouth.

Genuine faith

faith in Jesus Christ

radically reorients

all of our purposes

and priorities

from top to bottom.

It's a new allegiance

that is life-altering.

It's impossible

not to confess it.

Can you imagine

a man telling a woman,

hey, let's just

sign the papers

privately

and get married?

Make sure

you don't call me

honey in public.

Don't hold my hands

in public.

Let's get married,

but hey,

don't tell me,

but don't change your status

on Facebook.

Keep it single.

Definitely don't tell

my parents

because they might

disapprove.

And a ring,

oh yeah,

you definitely

can't wear that.

Can you imagine

a man saying that

to a woman?

You think the woman

will say,

yes,

I'd love to marry you?

That's not a marriage.

You're demonstrating

by all of your

public acts

that your wife

is not the most

important person

in your life.

You're demonstrating

by all of your

public acts

that you are not

in an exclusive

covenant relationship

with that woman.

because if you're

truly married,

you can't help

but publicly declare

you live together.

You love each other.

You serve one another.

You enjoy intimacy

with each other

that you don't share

with anyone else

in the whole

wide world.

How can that

not be public?

Acknowledging Christ

is similar.

When we become

a Christian,

we accept Jesus Christ

as a Savior

and Lord

over our lives.

everything we say

and do

is now

for His glory

and not our own glory.

We love Him

more than

we love anyone else

in the whole world.

How can a true

Christian

live without

acknowledging Christ?

Without confessing Him?

It's impossible.

Jesus is repeating

the same thing

He said earlier

in different words

in Luke 9, 26.

Whoever is ashamed

of me and my words

of him will the

Son of Man

be ashamed

when He comes

in His glory

and the glory

of the Father

and of the Holy Angels.

So are you ashamed

of Christ

and His words?

Do you believe

in Christ secretly

in your heart

but never confess Him

with your mouth?

I think this is also

another reason

why baptism

is so important.

It's a public

profession of faith.

Do people in your life

know that you're

a Christian?

Now don't get me wrong.

Jesus is not saying

that if you ever

deny Christ

before men

that He will deny you

forever in the

heavenly court.

You just do it once

and I'll deny you

forever.

That's not what He's saying.

If that were the case

no one in this whole world

would be saved.

We have all two

varying degrees

deny Jesus.

At a work social

a co-worker

takes the name

of our Lord Jesus

in vain

and uses His name

as a swear word

but you don't defend

the honor of

your Savior's name

and you feel

a tinge of guilt.

During lunch

your classmates

mock the fundamental

tenets of Christianity

but then you

fearing embarrassment

and ostracism

you maintain

a shameful silence.

At a neighborhood barbecue

your neighbor

asks you a question

that sets you up

perfectly for you

to talk about your faith

and share the good news

of Jesus

but instead

because of your fear

you utter general

pleasantries and platitudes

that are just shallow

enough to be safe

not to offend anybody else.

These are all

varying shades

of denial

of failure

to confess

Jesus Christ.

Our denial

can of course

be much more obvious.

Peter

the first disciple

of Jesus

and the leader

among the twelve apostles

later in Luke chapter 22

Luke 22 · chapter mention

publicly denies

Jesus

three times

the same day.

And yet

we know

that his faith

ultimately did not fail

because Jesus

prayed for Peter

earlier in Luke

that

that his faith

may not fail.

And after his denials

it says that

Peter went out

and wept

bitterly.

Why?

Because he still

believed in Jesus

and loved him

and was heartbroken

that he had failed.

Peter's denial

was a temporary

lapse of courage

not a permanent

loss of conviction.

So Peter

repented

of his denials

and Jesus

not only restored him

as the disciple

but also reinstated him

as an apostle

the leader

among the apostles.

But if you are

unrepentant

in your denial

of Jesus Christ

if you refuse

to confess

Christ before man

because you lack

genuine faith

if you deny

Christ before man

due to the absence

of true conviction

then Jesus

will also deny you

in the heavenly court

on the day of judgment.

Jesus takes this

one step further

in verse 10

and everyone

who speaks

a word

against the son

of man

will be forgiven

but the one

who blasphemes

against the Holy Spirit

will not be forgiven.

The unforgivable sin

.

Blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit.

It's also mentioned

in Matthew

Matthew 12:22–32

chapter 12

verses 22 to 32

and in Mark

Mark 3:20–35

chapter 3

verses 20 to 35

and it's helpful

to examine

those parallels

because they give us

a little more context

than Luke does

here in our passage.

In both Matthew

and Mark

Jesus says this

in the context

of an exorcism.

Jesus casts out

a demon

from a man

and the man

is healed

and the Pharisees

and the scribes

who observe that

then say

it then slander

the work

of the Holy Spirit

by saying that

Jesus is casting out

demons

not by the power

of the Holy Spirit

but by Beelzebul

the prince of demons

which then prompts

Jesus to say

that blasphemy

against the Spirit

is an unforgivable sin.

So even though

it's a little removed

in our present context

that's actually

the context

that precedes

this passage also

in Luke 11.

But the detail

that Mark provides

in particular

is very illuminating

in Mark 3

Mark 3:28–30

verses 28 to 30

it says

So that gives us

a clue as to what

the blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit

is.

If we were to define it

we can define it

this way

blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit

is a decisive

rejection

of the manifestation

the demonstration

of God's

saving power

through the Holy Spirit.

You experience it

you witness

the powerful

demonstration

the manifestation

of the saving power

His presence

and then you turn around

and say

that is not God.

If you examine

the larger context

of Mark 3

it yields

even further insight

that passage

is structured

as a famous

Markan sandwich.

In a typical sandwich

you have bread on top

and you have bread

on the bottom

and you have the goodies

in the middle

right?

You have the meat

in the middle

or the vegetables.

Mark

frequently inserts

a story

in between

in the middle

of another story

and he uses

those two bread pieces

to highlight

to explain

and emphasize

the stuff

that's in the middle

and that's what

that passage is

about the blasphemy

of the Holy Spirit

and you can see

the sandwich structure

here.

First

Jesus' family

says that

Jesus is out

of his mind

that's what you see

that's the top bread

and then

scribes say

that Jesus

is possessed

by Beelzebul

and Jesus teaches

that while all

other blasphemies

even blasphemies

against him

included

can be forgiven

but whoever

blasphemes

against the Holy Spirit

will never have

forgiveness

but he's guilty

of eternity

and now

the bottom bread

which is a continuation

of the top bread

Jesus' family then

because they think

he's out of his mind

they stage an intervention

they're trying to help him

he's out of his mind

let's help him

stop him

they go to try to stop him

and then Jesus says

no my true family

is not just my biological family

it's actually those

who believe

and obey the word of God

how does this help

to explain

the blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit

the family of Jesus

is an example

of blasphemy

against the Son of Man

they say

he's out of his mind

he's crazy

he's not

Son of God

yet they can be forgiven

they're ignorant

they need to repent

and believe

but they can be forgiven

and they are later

they come to faith

in Jesus

but the scribes

and the Pharisees

they're blaspheming

against the Spirit

they have witnessed

the powerful presence

the saving activity

of the Spirit

and after having tasted it

after having seen it

with their own eyes

they say

no that is of the devil

that's not God

I think

the blasphemy

against the Spirit

is unforgivable

because

it's unique

because of the Spirit's

unique role

within the triune Godhead

the Father plans

our redemption

the Son accomplishes

our redemption

and the Spirit

manifests

our redemption

the Spirit

bears witness

to Christ

it's the Spirit

that manifests

the power of God

it's the Spirit

that applies

the salvation of God

it's the Spirit

that pours out

the love of God

into our hearts

it's the Spirit

that enlightens

the eyes of our hearts

so that we might have

knowledge of God

it's the Spirit

that brings about

that final stage

of our redemption

of our repentance

and faith

and so when you

come to face

the very reality

and power

of the Spirit of God

and you decisively

reject it

there's nothing left

for you

you're foreclosing

the possibility

of future repentance

there's no turning back

there may be some of you

who are wondering

whether or not

you have ever committed

this eternal

unforgivable sin

so I want to offer

some clarification

assurance

for those of you

who are thinking

in that way

and I think

the passages

that speak

of the sin

of apostasy

in the book

of Hebrews

are related

for example

it says

in Hebrews 6

46

it is impossible

in the case

of those

who have once

been enlightened

who have tasted

the heavenly gift

that's the Spirit

and have shared

in the Holy Spirit

and have tasted

the goodness

of the Word of God

and the powers

of the age

to come

and then

have fallen away

to restore them

again to repentance

since they are

crucifying once again

the Son of God

to their own harm

and holding Him

up to contempt

notice that

those who reject

God

after having

experienced

the Holy Spirit

in some measure

cannot then

be restored

to repentance

they cannot

repent

hence there is

no forgiveness

Hebrews 12

uses Esau

as an example

of this

it says that

oh sorry

I didn't display

the rest of that

quote earlier

Hebrews 12

uses Esau

as an example

it says

for you know

that afterward

when he desired

to inherit

the blessing

he was rejected

for he found

no chance

to repent

though he

sought it

with tears

so Esau

if you remember

he despised

his birthright

and sold

his birthright

to his younger

brother Jacob

for a bowl

of soup

and then

when it came

time for his

father to pass

and before that

to bless their

children

especially his

elder son

he still wanted

the elder son's

blessing

even though he

had despised

his birthright

but he gets

deceived

and Jacob

takes the blessing

and Esau

is dejected

and this is

what he says

to his father

what about me

in Genesis

27 30

Esau said

to his father

have you

but one

blessing

my father

bless me

even me

also

my father

and Esau

lifted up

his voice

and wept

what is Esau

crying for

he's not crying

for repentance

he's crying

for the blessing

Esau never

repents

he had no

chance to

repent

or more

literally

no place

to repent

as the

NASB

translates

he never

repents

he's unable

to come

to repentance

so then

if you are

wondering

whether you

have committed

the unforgivable

sin

my exhortation

to you

is repent

of your

rebellion

against God

repent

of your

denial

of Christ

repent

of your

sins

as Acts

3 9

says

repent

therefore

and turn

back

that your

sins

may be

blotted

out

if you

repent

then there

is

forgiveness

those who

blaspheme

the Holy

Spirit

decisively

turn away

from God

despite

their

experience

of him

and there

is

nothing

that

can

restore

them

to

repentance

they

cannot

and will

not

repent

so you

repent

if you

do

you

can

be

assured

of

the

forgiveness

of

Christ

and

those

who

by

all

external

appearances

seem

like

deviled

followers

of

God

like

the

Pharisees

and

the

scribes

can

so

harden

their

hearts

that

they

blaspheme

the

Holy

Spirit

and

never

repent

that's

why we

have

the

book

of

Hebrews

the

whole

thing

is

about

warning

believers

against

apostasy

and

persevering

to

the

end

true

Christians

are

those

who

persevere

in

faith

and

obedience

until

the

end

that's

what we

are told

in

Hebrews

to

exhort

one

another

every

day

as long

as it is

called

today

so that

none

of us

may be

hardened

by the

deceitfulness

of sin

for if

we have

come to

share

in

Christ

we

have

come to

share

in

Christ

if

indeed

we hold

our

original

confidence

firm to

the end

we need

each other

we need to

exhort each

other

because the

deceitfulness

of sin

can seep

in

it can

harden

our hearts

gradually

until we

are weaned

away from

the love

of Christ

altogether

all true

Christians

persevere

to the end

God

guarantees

that

he holds

us fast

but we

don't have

God's

perfect

omniscient

perspective

so

our

job

is to

grow

in

our

assurance

of

salvation

by

growing

in

our

perseverance

in

faith

and

obedience

but as

he did

in the

preceding

verses

after

stern

warning

Jesus

gives

us

a

comforting

assurance

in

verses

11

to

12

and

when

they

bring

you

before

the

synagogues

and

the

rulers

and

the

authorities

do

not

be

anxious

about

how

you

should

defend

yourself

or

what

you

should

say

for

the

Holy

Spirit

will

teach

you

in

that

very

hour

what

you

ought

to

say

so

when

you

are

arrested

for

bearing

witness

to

Jesus

and

brought

to

jail

brought

to

trial

for

before

the

rulers

and

authorities

he

says

don't

be

anxious

spirit

of

God

the

spirit

himself

will

help

you

and

speak

through

you

rather

than

you

speaking

against

the

Holy

Spirit

this

is a

wonderful

promise

and

we

see

it's

fulfillment

throughout

the

book

of

Acts

in

Acts

Acts 4 · chapter mention

chapter

4

Peter

who

had

formally

denied

Jesus

three

times

is

taken

to

the

authorities

and

placed

on

trial

and

he

says

there

is

no

other

name

under

heaven

given

to

mankind

by

which

we

must

be

saved

Jesus

alone

is

your

hope

and

then

when

they

threaten

him

and

charge

him

never

to

speak

in

the

name

of

Jesus

again

he

says

you

tell

me

whether

I

should

obey

man

or

obey

God

and

he

continues

to

go

on

preaching

that's

the

power

of

the

spirit

to

embolden

his

disciples

and

to

give

them

assurance

sometimes

in a

passage

like

this

we

can

get

stuck

on

our

high

obligations

and

miss

the

even

loftier

promises

of

God

but

I

want

to

remind

you

of

these

lofty

promises

don't

fear

men

though

they

might

persecute

and

kill

you

because

of

your

allegiance

to

Christ

that's

the

command

but

here's

the

comfort

God

the

father

is

the

ultimate

eternal

judge

and

he

who

is

the

cosmic

ruler

of

the

universe

is

not

too

preoccupied

with

running

the

world

to

forget

about

you

he

has

the

hairs

of

your

head

numbered

he

will

never

forsake

you

don't

deny

Christ

before

men

if

you

do

you

will

be

denied

by

him

on

judgment

day

that's

the

command

but

here's

the

comfort

if

you

acknowledge

Christ

before

feeble

fickle

men

Christ

will

acknowledge

you

before

the

angels

of

God

before

the

throne

of

God

himself

Christ

will

be

your

unfailing

and

unchanging

advocate

we're

sinful

and

unworthy

and if

you

imagine

on the

day

of

judgment

we stand

before

the

all-knowing

eyes

of

God

we're

going to

feel

very

exposed

we're

going to

feel

naked

and

Satan