Sunday, May 28, 2023

BLASPHEMY AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

 WHEREFORE  I  SAY  UNTO  YOU,  ALL  MANNER  OF  SIN  AND  BLASPHEMY  SHALL  BE  FORGIVEN  UNTO  MEN,  BUT  THE  BLASPHEMY  AGAINST  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  SHALL  NOT  BE  FORGIVEN  UNTO  MEN.


JESUS  SPOKE  THESE  WORDS  IN  MATTHEW  12: 31.


Let  me start  this  study  by  first  giving  you  part  of  an  excellent  old  article  by  David  Antion.   had  the  pleasure  of  attending   Feast  of  Tabernacles  long  long  time  ago,  where  David  Antion  was  one  of  the  speakers.


Quote


Blasphemy is dangerous. And it ought to be considered so

because one form of blasphemy is the UNPARDONABLE sin. Let us

understand this.


     The case of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is shown in

Matthew 12:22-32. "Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a

demon, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the

blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were

amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the

Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out

devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew

their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against

itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided

against itself shall not stand; And if Satan cast out Satan, he

is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And

if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast

them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out

devils by the SPIRIT of GOD, then the Kingdom of God is come unto

you." Then Jesus said in verse 31, "Wherefore I say unto you, All

manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ... "

Notice in this statement that Jesus said there were different

manners or kinds of blasphemy just as there were different kinds

of sin. All the other types of blasphemy can be forgiven. The

Apostle Paul was one who was forgiven of blasphemy that he had

done in ignorance. See I Timothy 1:13.

     "But," Jesus went on in verse 31 and 32, "the blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men. And ...

whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be

forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to

come."

     What did the Pharisees do or say against the Holy Spirit

that Christ should say this to them? Let us notice.


     In verse 23, after the people saw the miracle, "And all the

people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?" The

people let the work performed by the Holy Spirit in this miracle

prick their hearts. They were ready to acknowledge that God was

working through His Son Jesus Christ. And that Jesus was not just

an ordinary man but that He truly was the Messiah who was

prophesied to come. They let the manifested power of the Holy

Spirit convict them, and begin to bring them to repentance.

     But the Pharisees, who saw the same miracle, who saw the

blind and dumb man speak and see, did not allow the work of the

Holy Spirit to convict them. They hardened their hearts. They

probably had a feeling that they should give God glory. They knew

that what Jesus did was an act of God - that it was good and

right. But instead of allowing this wonderful work to soften

their hearts and bring them to repentance, they hardened

themselves and spoke against the miracle done by the Holy Spirit.

They said, "This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by

Beelzebub the prince of the devils [or demons]." This was

blasphemy! They called a work done by the Holy Spirit - a work

done to bring them to repentance - the work of Satan the Devil.

Instead of repenting, they struck back at God's Holy Spirit -

which is the power that brings us to repentance. They spoke

against and blasphemed the only power that could make them

repent. They therefore seared their consciences and hardened

their hearts to the point they could never repent. Therefore they

could never be forgiven.


     If we get into a habit of blaspheming God, His Word, His

doctrine by our words and misdeeds, we are only a step away from

blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. We are walking the cliff, so to

speak. It is a dangerous walk, for one slip could mean our

eternal end.


     Let us put away all forms of blasphemy…….

    And above all, let us never attribute work done by and through the

power of God's Holy Spirit as being the work of Satan the Devil.

For if we harden our hearts to this extent we shall have

committed the sin of which Jesus Christ said, "... it shall not

be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to

come."


End Quote


                      


Did you get the truth of the "unpardonable sin" in the last part of this study? ALL sins can be forgiven UPON REPENTANCE. The sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin of NOT repenting! When God, uses His spirit to bring a person to the knowledge of the truth, to salvation knowledge, and that person will NOT give his/her mind to REPENTING and moving forth to accepting Christ Jesus as Savior, willing to now live by every word of God (Mat.4:4) and build a personal relationship with the Father and His Son Jesus, then THAT SIN of NOT repenting cannot be forgiven. The person has committed the unpardonable sin. The person has blasphemed the Holy Spirit, the power the Father uses to bring people to the knowledge of the truth and to repentance. 


We as Christians are not perfect, we are still in the flesh while in this physical body. We do sometimes sin; though our mind-set is to serve God, to obey His way of life, His commandments. Our weakness of the flesh, the pressures of the sinful world, Satan and his demon helpers, all still pull at us, and at times, though we do not want to, we find that we fall, we miss the mark, we sin. This is all explained in 1 John and the first few chapters.

Read it in a modern translation, and you will see what John was inspired to tell us, about our life as a Christian. Then also we have the apostle Paul being inspired to write Romans chapter 7. The Christian may find themselves in exactly the mind of Paul in Romans 7. None of that is the unpardonable sin.


The blasphemy of the unpardonable sin is when you KNOW THE TRUTH, and you coldly, with a clear mind, say to God's Holy Spirit, which He is using to lead you into truth, "I want no part of this. I will NOT serve, I will not OBEY, I will NOT walk with you

God."


With such an attitude of mind, God CANNOT forgive or have mercy on that person. They have sinned against the Holy Spirit; they have sinned against God, and the Holy One can only show mercy through Christ Jesus to someone who will REPENT of sin. 


It is a one, two, three, movement that God has decreed, set down as to how any person can have salvation. God uses His Spirit to take away spiritual blindness from the mind of a person. The person must be willing to acknowledge truth and sin, be willing to repent of sin, change the mind-set to obey God, and then FORGIVENESS is given to that person. If the person will not acknowledge sin and repent of practicing sin as a way of life, then they have REJECTED the Holy Spirit - blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and hence CANNOT be forgiven in this life, and cannot have eternal life in the future.


If you have not done so, make sure you study my study called "Saved by Grace" and you should then be clear in your mind (if you are not at present) what the unpardonable sin is - what the sin is against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven in this life nor in the life to come.


THIS  IS  THE  ULTIMATE  BLASPHEMY  AGAINST  GOD'S  HOLY  SPIRIT


THERE  ARE  OTHER  FORMS  OF  BLASPHEMY [TIME  SPENT  WITH  SAY  STRONG'S  CONCORDANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE,  UNDER  THE  WORD  "BLASPHEMY"  WILL  GIVE  YOU  ALL  PLACES  WHERE  THE  WORD  IS  USED  IN  THE  KING  JAMES  BIBLE;  OR   BOOK  LIKE  "NAVE'S  TOPICAL  BIBLE"  WILL  GUIDE  YOU  IN  STUDYING  THIS  WORD  "BLASPHEMY."


 type  of  blasphemy  is  found  in  Acts 6  where  Ananas  and  Sapphira  his  wife  LIED  to  the  Holy  Spirit [to  God]  about  the  money  they  got  from  selling  some  land  possession.  They  were  making  out  they  got  "such  and  such"  money  and  gave  it  all  to  the  apostles  for  God's  work. You  will  notice  verse   shows  it  was  always  theirs   to  do  with  it  as  they  desired.  They  could  have  given  some  of  it  and  kept  some  of  it.  They  could  do  whatever  they  wanted  with  it  per  se.  But  they  had  to  make  out  they  were  giving  the  total  amount  to  the  apostles   it  was   deliberate  lie.


In  this  case  God  took  severe  action,  they  both  died!


This  is  not  saying  that  God  will  use  such  dramatic  power  on  every  Christian  that  lies.  It  is  simply  showing  God  knows  the  truth  and  the  heart  of  persons,  and  could,  can,  if  He  so  decides,  take  pretty   powerful  action,  even  to  death.


DAVID  ANTION  brings  out  the  meaning  of  the  context  in  Matthew  12  and  blaspheming  against  the  Holy  Spirit. 


IT  IS  THE  SET-IN-STONE  MINDSET  OF  ATTRIBUTING  SOMETHING  THAT  GOD  IS  DOING  THROUGH   PERSON,  TO  BE  THE  WORK  OF  THE  DEVIL,  TO  PUT  IT  BLUNTLY!!


 DO  HAVE  AN  EXAMPLE  THAT  WAS  VERY  PERSONAL  TO  ME,  AND  THE  POWERFUL  WAY  GOD  DECIDED  TO  ANSWER  IT.


My  wife  at  the  time  and   were  in  Florida  for  the  winter  months,  having  sold  up  in  B.C.  and  on  our  way  to  New  Brunswick [on the other side of the country] via  some  winter  months  in  Florida  [where  my  wife's  mother  went  for  the  winter]. We  walked  into   Sabbath  service  of  the  CGI [Church of God, International].  Wow,  after  the  regular  service,  this  deacon  and  his  wife  stood  up  and  they  were  throwing  out  accusations  of  this  and  that,  when  the  minister  was  with  them [he  had  just  recently  been  transferred  via  his  secular  job  to  another  town  in  another  State].  It  was  very  plain  to  see  this  congregation  was  divided  down  the  middle  with  supporters  of  this  deacon  and  his  wife,  and  those  opposed  to  them.  It  was  quite  the  open  mess,  the  anger  from  this  deacon  backed  by  his  wife  was  unreal,  just  unreal.   finally  had  to  stand  up  and  say  something.   told  them   was  an  ordained  minister,  who  years  before  had  had   working  connection  with  the  CGI.   told  them  this  was  not  the  way  to  solve  problems  in  the  church.  Well   was [with  my  wife]  enemy  number  two.  They  thought   was  infiltrating  their  congregation,  and  it  would  seem,  to  take  it  away  from  this  deacon  now  in  charge  since  the  minister  was  no  longer  there. Within  one  week   was  accused  of  this  and  that,  especially  to  break  up  or  take  over  this  congregation.  


Ron  Dart [one  of  the  leading  ministers  of  the  CGI  at  the  time]  sent  the  minister  back  to  this  Florida  congregation  within  about  three  weeks  of  my  arrival,  to  see  if  things  could  be  solved.  He  came,  gave  his  sermon,  then  it  was  open  forum  mayhem  once  more.  This  deacon  and  his  wife  tearing  into  this  minister.  He  left  and  went  home  with  no  result  of  the  problem  being  solved.  


Again,  after  this  episode,   was  being  attacked,  maligned,  as  someone  with  sinister  motives.  Now  about  half  the  congregation  was  cold  and  suspicious  towards  my  wife  and  I,  the  other  half  warm  and  friendly.


 did  what  Matthew  18  tells  us  to  do…… go  to  your  brother  privately  and  try  to  solve  the  problem.  My  meeting  with  the  deacon  and  his  wife  was  very  cold  from  them,  very  blunt  words  of  unkindness  from  them.  They  saw  things   certain  way,  and  had  already  put  us  in  the  basket  of  the  "bad"  apples  part  of  the  congregation  that  was  not  quite  following  them.


Over   period  of  about  three  months  with  this  cold  hostile  atmosphere  in  this  local  CGI  church,   wrote   few  times  telling  Ron  Dart  the  situation.  And  the  hostility  from  this  deacon  and  his  wife,  and  the  cold  split  that  hung  over  the  congregation.


Another  CGI  minster  from  across  the  other  side  of  Florida  was  sent  about  every   or   weeks,  to  try  and  heal  the  wound  taking  place.  He  and   got  along  just  fine;  some  of  the  "not  so  sure"  people [from  the  influence  of  this  deacon]  began  to  warm  up  to  us.  But  this  trouble  was  far  from  over,  the  unrest  and  confusion  was  still  simmering.  As  we  got  closer  to  Passover  some  more  were  seeing   was  not  harming  them  at  all,  just  the  opposite.


Ron  Dart  decided  to  come  and  lead  the  Passover and  feast  part  of  Unleavened  Bread  service.  After  the  UB  service   spent   little  time  talking  to  Ron.  We  had  more  people,  one  couple   remember  specifically,  came  up  to  my  wife  and  myself  after  services  and  said,  "We  got  off  to   bad  start,  we  are  sorry."


Sadly  the  problem  with  this  deacon  and  his  wife  did  not  go  away.   had  tried  in  different  ways  to  break  the  ice  with  them.  The  friction  in  the  congregation  did  not  heal.  There  was  trouble  in  the  air, in  the  atmosphere  of  this  local  church.


We  were  now  getting  ready  to  leave  Florida.   wrote  to  Ron  saying  so,  and   told  him  I was  leaving  this  problem  in  his  hands,  as   had  gone  out  of  me  way  to  try  and  break  this  cold  ice  with  this  deacon.


Away  we  went  to  New Brunswick.  And  there   found  work  in  my  trade  of  Orthopedic  Shoemaking.  


For  the  holiday  break  in  December  we  decided  to  return  and  enjoy   few  weeks  back  in  Florida.   thought  well  we  have  not  been  there  for   or  more  months,  so  hopefully  by  now  they  knew  we  were  not  there  to  bring  trouble  to  them,  as  this  deacon  and  this  wife  wanted  to  believe.  We  got  out  of  the  car  and  walked  to  the entrance  of  the  building  where  services  were  held.  The  first  man  to  greet  us  was  not  the  most  friendliest  person  towards  us  from  before,  BUT  NOW  he  had   big  smile,  warmest  handshake….."Did  you  hear?"  he  asked  me,  

"Hear  what?"   replied.

"Well   guess  you  did  not  hear  then.  Within  two  or  three  weeks  after  you  went  up  to  Canada,  the  deacon  was  struck  with  cancer  from  head  to  feet.  He  was  dead  within   few  weeks!"


 was  shocked;   know   had  said  to  God,  that   have  to  leave  it  in  His  hands,  this  trouble  with  this  deacon  and  his  wife,  who  just  wanted  to  believe   was  evil,  and  up  to  no  good.   HAD  NOT  THE  SLIGHTEST  THOUGHT  THAT  THE  ETERNAL  GOD  IN  HEAVEN  WOULD  ANSWER  THIS  WAY   SWIFT  AND  SO  POWERFULLY!!


 WAS  STUNNED……. TO  REALIZE  HOW  THE  LORD  SOMETIMES  WHEN  HIS  GOOD  IS  CALLED  EVIL  BY  SOMEONE,  HOW  HE  ANSWERS…..I  WAS  SHOCKED  TO  THINK  THAT  AN  ACTS   HE  WOULD  STILL  USE.  I'D  NEVER  SEEN,  HEARD,  OR  EXPERIENCED  ANYTHING  CLOSE  TO  THIS  IN  MY  LIFE,  AND  THEN  IN  MY  MINISTRY  OF  ONLY  ABOUT   YEARS.


THE  DEACON'S  WIFE…… YOU  WOULD  NEVER  HAVE  KNOWN  HER,  SHE  HAD  BEEN  HUMBLED;  NOT  THE  SAME  WOMAN  AT  ALL,  QUIET  AS  COULD  BE,  JUST   180  DEGREE  TURN-ABOUT.


THE  CONGREGATION  WELCOMED  US  WITH  OPEN  ARMS….. EVERYONE  TOGETHER  AS  ONE,  SERVING  AND  REJOICING  IN  THE  LORD.


DOES  THIS  SOUND  WAY  OUT  TO  YOU?  DOES  IT  SOUND  LIKE  I'M  WRITING  SOME  KIND  OF  FICTION  STORY  WITH  DRAMATIC  EFFECTS  FOR  BETTER  REALISM?


WHAT  I'VE  TOLD  YOU  REALLY  HAPPENED.  THAT  CGI  CONGREGATION  WAS  IN  CLEARWATER,  FLORIDA,  IF  STILL  THERE,  WITH  STILL  SOME  OF  THE  SAME  PEOPLE,  THEY  WILL  TELL  YOU  WHAT  I'VE  RELATED  IS  ABSOLUTELY  TRUE!!!


GOD  AND  JESUS  HIS  SON, ARE  ALIVE,  THEY  ARE  THERE  IN  HEAVEN  ABOVE,  AND  IF  YOU  STEP  OVER  THE  LINE  LONG  ENOUGH,  WITH  AMPLE  TIME  TO  SEE  AND  REPENT,  AND  YOU  CALL  WHAT  GOD'S  SPIRIT  IS  DOING,  EVIL,  AND  FROM,  THE  DEVIL….. BOTH  THE  FATHER  AND  THE  SON  CAN  STILL  DO  AN  ACTS   IF  THEY  SO  WILL.


PENTECOST  IS  ABOUT  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  AND  ITS  WORKING  POWER,  BE  CAREFUL……AS  JESUS  ONCE  SAID,  JUDGE  RIGHTEOUS  JUDGMENT!


THEN  GO  FORWARD  BOLDLY,  IN  THE  POWER  AND  MIGHT  OF  THAT  SPIRIT,  DOING  THE  WORK  OF  GOD,  AS  YOU  CAN,  IN  THE  CALLING  WORK  HE  HAS  GIVEN  YOU  TO  DO.


AS  PAUL  TAUGHT  THE  CORINTHIANS  WE  ARE  ALL  CALLED  TO  FUNCTION  DIFFERENTLY,  BUT  WE  ARE  ALL  ONE  BODY  OF  CHRIST,  ALL  PART  OF  HIM,  ALL  THEN  NIT  TOGETHER  GOING  FORTH  TO  SPREAD  THE  GOSPEL  NEAR  AND  FAR,  BY  AND  THROUGH  THE  HELP  AND  POWER  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.

……….





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