- ALL SINS ARE SERIOUS, AND, IN A GENERAL SENSE, AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT AS EVERY SIN IS AGAINST GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON AND GOD THE SON AND GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT.
- BUT THERE ARE SIX ACTS THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY REGARDED AS SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. ) LYING TO, OR TESTING THE HOLY SPIRITACTS 5:3, 9; THIS HAPPENS WHEN WE WALK IN LIES AND DECEPTION AND CALL IT WISDOM THIS IS NOTHING BUT THE WISDOM OF MAN THIS WAS THE PROBLEM OF ANANIAS AND SAPHIRA.LIKE PAUL AND THE AMALEKITES
2) RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRITACTS 7:51-60 WE ALL KNOW HOW TO DO THAT BY SIMPLY REFUSING TO DO AS HE SAYS
3) QUENCHING THE HOLY SPIRIT1THES. 5:19THIS HAPPENS WHEN WE EXTINGUISH, SUPPRESS OR STIFLE THE VOICE OR THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US
THAT IS WHEN WE THOROUGHLY NEGLECT THE OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
4) THIS ACTUALLY THEN LEADS TO THE NEXT SIN WHICH IS GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT EPH. 4:30OROFFENDING THE HOLY SPIRIT
WHENEVER WE MAKE THE HOLY SPIRIT SAD OR SORROWFUL WE PREVENT HIM FROM HELPING US AND GLORIFYNG CHRIST;
5) INSULTING THE HOLY SPIRITHEB. 10 22-:29OUTRAGING THE SPIRIT OF GRACE, IS THE ACT OF PERSISTENT SINNING WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE AND NO DESIRE TO REPENT
6) BLASPHEMING THE SPIRIT MAT.12:31-32
- THIS IS ASCRIBING THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE DEVIL BY REJECTING THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
- IT ALSO MEANS SPEAKING EVIL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MISUSING HIS NAME.
- THE CONSEQUENCE OF BLASPHEMING THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GRAVE.
- IT DEPRIVES ONE OF THE FORGIVENESS FOUND ONLY IN CHRIST ALONE!
- THE SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT HINDER OR THEY ACTUALLY PARALYSE THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN A PERSON. THIS IS DISASTROUS.
- SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN PREVENT A PERSON FROM BECOMING A CHRISTIAN, AND MAKE A CHRISTIAN TO BECOME WORSE THAN THE UNBELIEVER.
- SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN LEAD PROGRESSIVELY INTO APOSTASY:
- RESISTING THE SPIRIT CAN LEAD TO QUENCHING THE SPIRIT.
- QUENCHING THE SPIRIT CAN LEAD TO GRIEVING THE SPIRIT.
- GRIEVING THE SPIRIT CAN LEAD TO INSULTING THE SPIRIT.
- INSULTING THE SPIRIT CAN LEAD TO BLASPHEMING THE SPIRIT
- AND BLASPHEMING THE SPIRIT LEADS TO A CONDITION WHERE FORGIVENESS IS NOT POSSIBLE
- “ALL WRONG DOING IS SIN” BUT “THERE IS SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH.” 1 JN 5:16, 17.
- SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT ARE EVIDENTLY SUCH SINS ARE VERY DANGEROUS TO OUR CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY AND GROWTH
LET US CLOSELY LOOK AT THE SIN OF BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
WHAT IS THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?
- THE CONCEPT OF “BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE SPIRIT” IS MENTIONED IN MARK 3:22–30 AND MATTHEW 12:22–32.
- JESUS HAS JUST PERFORMED A MIRACLE.
- A DEMON-POSSESSED MAN WAS BROUGHT TO JESUS, AND THE LORD CAST THE DEMON OUT, HEALING THE MAN OF BLINDNESS AND MUTENESS.
- THE EYEWITNESSES TO THIS DELIVERANCE AND HEALING BEGAN TO WONDER IF JESUS WAS INDEED THE MESSIAH THEY HAD BEEN WAITING FOR.
- A GROUP OF PHARISEES, HEARING THE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT THE MESSIAH, QUICKLY KILLED ANY LITTLE FAITH THE CROWD HAD IN CHRIST
- THEY SAID “IT IS ONLY BY BEELZEBUL, THE PRINCE OF DEMONS, THAT THIS FELLOW DRIVES OUT DEMONS,”MATTHEW 12:24.
- JESUS REBUKES THE PHARISEES WITH SOME LOGICAL ARGUMENTS FOR WHY HE IS NOT CASTING OUT DEMONS IN THE POWER OF SATAN MATTHEW 12:25–29.
- THEN HE SPEAKS OF THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT:
- “I TELL YOU, EVERY KIND OF SIN AND SLANDER CAN BE FORGIVEN, BUT BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE SPIRIT WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN. ANYONE WHO SPEAKS A WORD AGAINST THE SON OF MAN WILL BE FORGIVEN, BUT ANYONE WHO SPEAKS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN, EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME” VERSES 31–32.
- THE TERM BLASPHEMY MAY BE GENERALLY DEFINED AS “GROSS DISRESPECT AND LACK OF THE FEAR OF GOD .”
- THE TERM CAN BE APPLIED TO SUCH SINS AS CURSING GOD OR WILLFULLY DEGRADING THINGS RELATING TO GOD.
- BLASPHEMY IS ALSO ATTRIBUTING SOME EVIL TO GOD OR DENYING HIM SOME GOODNESS MERCY AND POWER THAT WE SHOULD ATTRIBUTE TO HIM.
- THIS PARTICULAR CASE OF BLASPHEMY” IN MATTHEW 12:31, HOWEVER, IS CALLED “THE BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT.
- THE PHARISEES, HAVING WITNESSED A SURE PROOF THAT JESUS WAS WORKING MIRACLES IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, SIMPLY CLAIMED INSTEAD THAT THE LORD WAS POSSESSED BY A DEMON MATTHEW 12:24.
- NOTICE IN MARK 3:30 JESUS IS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT THE PHARISEES DID TO COMMIT BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT: “HE SAID THIS BECAUSE THEY WERE SAYING, ‘HE HAS AN IMPURE SPIRIT.’”
- BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS TO DO WITH ACCUSING JESUS CHRIST OF BEING DEMON-POSSESSED INSTEAD OF BEING SPIRIT-FILLED.
- YOU CAN EASILY DO THE SAME TODAY BY SPEAKING EVIL AGAINST GOD’S GENUINE SERVANT E.G LEFA,DORO
- THOUGH THIS PARTICULAR TYPE OF BLASPHEMY CAN STILL BE REPEATED TODAY AGAINST GOD’S SERVANTS BY WICKED UNBELIVERS ,IT WAS REALLY THE PROBLEMS OF THE PHARISEES IN A UNIQUE MOMENT IN HISTORY:
- THEY HAD THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS, THEY HAD THE HOLY SPIRIT STIRRING THEIR HEARTS, THEY HAD GREAT ENCOUNTERS WITH ANGELS AND SAW GREAT MIRACLES
- THEY HAD THE SON OF GOD HIMSELF STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM
- AND THEY SAW WITH THEIR OWN EYES THE MIRACLES HE DID.
- NEVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND NEVER SINCE HAD SO MUCH DIVINE LIGHT AND VISITATION BEEN GRANTED TO MANKIND.
- IF ANYONE SHOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED JESUS FOR WHO HE WAS, IT WAS THE PHARISEES
- YET THEY CHOSE REBELLION AND STURBONESSAND SERIOUSLY BLAPHEMED AGAINST HIM 1 SAM 15:23
- THEY DELIBERATELY ATTRIBUTED THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT TO THE DEVIL, EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW THE TRUTH AND HAD THE PROOF.
- JESUS DECLARED THEIR WILLFUL BLINDNESS TO BE UNPARDONABLE.HEB 10:19-23
- THEIR BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS THEIR FINAL REJECTION OF GOD’S GRACE.
- THEY HAD SET THEIR COURSE, AND GOD WAS GOING TO LET THEM SAIL INTO HELL UNHINDERED.
- JESUS TOLD THE CROWD THAT THE PHARISEES’ BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT “WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN, EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME” MATTHEW 12:32.
- THIS IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THAT THEIR SIN WOULD NEVER BE FORGIVEN, EVER.
- NOT NOW, NOT IN ETERNITY.
- AS MARK 3:29 PUTS IT, “THEY ARE GUILTY OF AN ETERNAL SIN.”
- THE IMMEDIATE RESULT OF THE PHARISEES’ PUBLIC REJECTION OF CHRIST WAS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER WHERE GOD ALSO REJECTED THEM
- JESUS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, “TOLD THEM MANY THINGS IN PARABLES”MATTHEW 13
- THE DISCIPLES WERE PUZZLED AT JESUS’ CHANGE OF TEACHING METHOD, AND JESUS EXPLAINED HIS USE OF PARABLES:
- “BECAUSE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SECRETS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU, BUT NOT TO THEM. . . . THOUGH SEEING, THEY DO NOT SEE;
- THOUGH HEARING, THEY DO NOT HEAR OR UNDERSTAND” MATTHEW 13:11, 13.
- JESUS BEGAN TO COVER THE TRUTH WITH PARABLES AND METAPHORS AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE JEWISH LEADERS’ OFFICIAL DENUNCIATION OF HIM.
- AGAIN, THE BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CANNOT REALLY BE REPEATED TODAY, ALTHOUGH SOME PEOPLE TRY.
- THIS IS BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS NOT PHYSICALLY HERE ON EARTH—HE IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.
- THEREFORE NO ONE CAN PERSONALLY WITNESS JESUS PERFORMING A MIRACLE AND THEN FACE THE TEMPTATION OF ATTRIBUTING THAT POWER TO SATAN INSTEAD OF THE SPIRIT.
- BUT THE UNPARDONABLE SIN TODAY IS THE STATE OF CONTINUED UNBELIEF. 1 COR 12:1-3
- THE SPIRIT CURRENTLY CONVICTS THE UNSAVED WORLD OF SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND JUDGMENT TO COME JOHN 16:8.
- TO RESIST THAT CONVICTION AND WILLFULLY REMAIN UNREPENTANT IS TO “BLASPHEME” THE SPIRIT.
- THERE IS NO PARDON, EITHER IN THIS AGE OR IN THE AGE TO COME, FOR A PERSON WHO REJECTS THE SPIRIT’S PROMPTINGS TO TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST AND THEN DIES IN UNBELIEF.
- THE LOVE OF GOD IS EVIDENT:“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE” JOHN 3:16.
- AND THE CHOICE IS CLEAR: “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN THE SON HAS ETERNAL LIFE, BUT WHOEVER REJECTS THE SON WILL NOT SEE LIFE, FOR GOD’S WRATH REMAINS ON HIM” JOHN 3:36.
- JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S COVENANT MERCY TO MANKIND,IF YOU REJECT HIM YOU REJECT GOD’S FINAL EFFORT TO RESCUE YOU FROM SIN SICKNESS AND DEATH GAL 3:13-14
- LET US ALL LIKE DAVID UNDERSTAND THAT GOD IS MERCIFUL AND GOD CALLED HIM A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART
- HE SAYS I WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD FOREVER PS.89:1
- TO DELIBERATELY REFUSE JESUS IS TO BEHAVE LIKE THE PHARISEES AND BLAPHEME AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
- BUT THE DIFFERNCE WITH US IS THAT WE CAN PLEAD THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRISTAND GOD’S DIVINE MERCY
- HERE IS AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION ; ARE YOU WONDERING WHY YOUR LOVED ONE NOT YET SAVED?
- THEY ARE PROBABLY BLASPHEMING AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT AND YOU NEED TO PLEAD GOD’S MERCY ON THEIR SOULS
- IT IS BY HIS MERCIES THAT WE ARE NOT CONSUMED ROMANS 2:4-11 (READ)
- WE MUST BE PLEADING GOD’S MERCIES ON THIS GENERATION IF WE MUST SEE RESULTS
- FOR THE PHARISEES THERE WAS NO HOPE ,BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
- GOD IS MERCIFUL AND HE WILL SHOW MERCY TO OUR GENERATIONS IN JESUS NAME
- EXODUS 20:16, DEUT 34:5-9