The Holy Spirit in Action in the Christian Part 2 — Billy Strachan

Now, under your present outline, put number four. Now, just let me clue you in, in case you're upset. We are at number 14, the gifts of the Spirit. Number one was the enumeration of the gifts. Two, the bestowing of the gifts.

Three, the using of the gifts. Four, the withholding of the gifts. The withholding of the gifts. Now, this is a term that's been created by men and is found nowhere in the scripture. It's only human beings that will think in terms of if you are doing one thing or another, you'll find that God will withhold his gifts from you.

The Holy Spirit Equips Believers With Spiritual Gifts

Listen, the work of the Holy Spirit is to equip the organism with everything it requires to be complete. The work of the Holy Spirit is to equip the organism with everything it requires to be complete.

He is more willing to give than we are to receive. If we yield, someone said today, how do you yield? I'll give you one good way of learning very speedily. Get yourself onto the interchange at Los Angeles in a very fast car and try to get onto the lines of traffic at 90 miles an hour knowing that just as you get to the gap there's a great big semi, a juggernaut just about at the same spot.

And there's a little triangle as you come down the slipway to take onto the motorway and it says on it, yield. I have watched Americans approach motorways. I have driven on your motorways. And I can assure you, I've never had any difficulty yielding.

It's simple. You either put your foot on the brake or bye-bye. You give in. It's as simple as that. Giving in. Giving in. So remember that. If we yield to God's will, He will give us by His Holy Spirit.

If we yield to God's will, He will give us by His Holy Spirit the gift or gifts which at His discretion He knows we need. He never gives you the gifts you don't need. Remember that. He gives you the gifts He knows you need.

The Holy Spirit’s Witness to the Believer

Now then, number 15. The witness of the Holy Spirit. The witness of the Holy Spirit. Number 15. The witness of the Holy Spirit. The law of the Old Testament declared that by the mouth of two witnesses would truth be established.

Deuteronomy 19, verse 15. Deuteronomy 19, verse 15. One witness shall not rise up against any man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established.

Now the truth of our being a child of God is witnessed by two. The truth of my being a Christian is witnessed by two. Number one, the Holy Spirit. Number two, our spirit. The very fact that I am a Christian is witnessed to by two personages.

One, the Holy Spirit. Two, my spirit. Romans 8, 16. The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We know it. Our own innermost being witnesses to the fact alongside the Holy Spirit that we are the children of God.

Romans 8, 16. Number 16, the unction of the Spirit. The unction, U-N-C-T-I-O-N. The unction of the Holy Spirit. The unction and the anointing of the Holy Spirit are the same. The unction and the anointing of the Holy Spirit are the same.

Anointing in both Testaments was always for some form of service. Anointing in both Testaments was always for some service. Christ was anointed. Christ was anointed. 10, 38. 10, 38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him.

We are anointed. We are anointed. 1 John 2, 20 and 27. 1 John 2, 20 and 27. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Verse 27. But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you.

And ye need not that any man teacheth you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. You have already been anointed.

Ye have the anointing. You have Him within. You have the unction. Number 17. Worship by the Holy Spirit. Worship by the Holy Spirit. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Worshiping God in Spirit and Truth

Now many believers never get around to doing that because they're so busy worshiping a system or carrying out a form of worship that will satisfy other people. And they're never real. I had one girl last year, the daughter of a missionary family, and she said to me on one occasion in the lounge, you know, if I become real, I'm going to go home and head straight into trouble.

And I said, why? She said, because I've always grown up in a missionary family, and my brother and I know that every night Mom and Dad are going to gather us together, and we're going to have a reading and a prayer.

And ever since I can remember, we've had to take it in turn. And to be quite honest, I've known every time I've done it that I was doing what they wanted done, but I never meant it, and it was never real.

I never meant my prayers, but I knew the kind of things to say to keep Mom and Dad off my back. And it's their faith, but it had never really become mine. And I would like it to be mine, but it's not mine yet.

She says, what do you do? I said, you be real. And if there's any worship, it has to be between yourself and God and Spirit and in truth. And first of all, you're going to have to tell God, my prayers aren't real.

And all this nonsense that I go through, it just isn't real for me. God will understand. But when you stop pretending, He's prepared to start doing something about it. But as long as you go through with the act, God's not very interested.

And she said, but I'll find it very difficult to turn around and say to Mom and Dad, sorry Mom, I'm not praying tonight because you see, I don't really believe that my prayers go any higher than your ceiling.

Somebody else has found that out too. And I said, well, why not do that? When you get home and Mom hands you the Bible, just say, Mom, not tonight, thanks. Thus far in my experience, prayer isn't real.

And until I can have a real prayer that I know God will answer and does answer, I'm not going to pretend anymore that I'm praying. She said, it'll shock them. I said, no, it won't. It'll make them thankful.

They'll change their prayer. Because I bet you thus far in your family, all the prayers have been for the world. It's lost. And if you turn around and be honest with your Mom and Dad, they'll start praying for you as well.

And that'll help you. And no parent would ever be in the slightest bit upset at a kid being honest. It's far better to be honest, to be real, in your worship with God the Father and with your parents, your brothers and sisters of the church.

Now, I know how difficult it is. Because even parents have got so bogged down on the business of never being honest with their kids. And very often I find people coming to me, for instance, saying, I just can't live up to the standard they expect of me.

The pastor, the Sunday school teacher, the parents are always saying to me, they don't do that. And I've gathered that kids seem to get the impression when parents say to them, don't do that, what they're trying to say is if you do it, you'll let God down, the Lord down, the pastor down, the church down, yourself down, the home down, us down.

I say, you've got it all wrong, kid. What Dad and Mom's really trying to say is, kids, don't do it because we did. And we're so hurt. We don't want to see you get hurt the same way. But we just haven't been able to get around pulling down the spiritual facade to be honest enough to say, kid, your Dad did do it.

Your Mom has done it. And we're paying the price. But I think you'll find that if they did come clean, it would be a great relief. A great relief. Because we often think that the preacher, the minister, the Sunday school teacher and the parents have never got any problems.

How do these guys enjoy this victory with no sin? There's a simple answer. They don't. They sin just like you and I sin. And they have an advocate and a merciful father that stands between to help just as you and I have.

And if more parents were capable of saying to their kids, son, I've fallen. God picked me up, he can pick you up. It would be a big help. And we lose communication because there's no truth. I know what I want to say to him, but if I say to him that, he'll think this.

So I'd better say that to him because he'll know I'm thinking this. But then he'll know that I know, he knows I know I think he thinks like that, so I'll think the other thing. So I'd better say the first thing first.

But then he'll know that the first thing isn't what the second thing was before the first thing was said second. And boy, don't we get ourselves messed up. Instead of truth. Bringing a thing to the light absolutely destroys fear and produces reality.

It's like a kid that came into the office and said, I've packed. I said, have you? Yeah. Why? Because you're going to throw me out. I said, am I? He said, why am I going to throw you out? You know what's going on.

So I said, tell me what's going on. Well, he said, if you know what's going on, why should I tell you what's going on? I said, all right, you know I know what's going on, but still tell me. He said, but why should I tell you if I know I know you know you what's going on?

I said, well, you know I know, you know I know you know I know what's going on, but still why don't you tell me? And I just kept at it until I could see the veins filling up in his neck. And then he just hung his head down on his chest and he says, I'm on drugs.

Christian on drugs. I said, great, now you can unpack your bag. And he just looked up and he was in tears. First school in four years and didn't fling him out. And he'd been living since the day he got here in fear.

What would they do if they ever found out? He said he thought he'd better beard the line, pack his case, come and get it over with. I said, you can unpack your bag. That's where life begins. When you live by the truth.

When it comes right out. This is the start, kid. We're not running a school for good people. It's for sinners. And if you're good, get out. You're in bad company. And he stayed and he's doing well and I get correspondence from him.

And he's doing very well. And the Lord's really being real to him. But that was the start, being real, coming out into the open, bringing it out into the light. Then you can help. Then you can do it. And he says, well, if this is the beginning, what's the first thing I can do?

I said, stop being the first to pray in the prayer meetings in the morning. And I said, I've noticed that every morning, even when the principal's taking them in, he says, let's turn to prayer. You're the first to pray.

And boy, isn't it beautiful. And thoroughly evangelical. But I said, you are fooling yourself. It's all a big facade to cover what you are. You can't go on fooling God like that. You can't worship him in spirit and truth.

Say, good morning, Father. Here's your Christian drug addict. And he'll say, yes, I know. Now let's get to work on it. But if you come in prayer thinking that God doesn't know, and we just brainwash ourselves into thinking he doesn't really know about us, you know.

And as long as we keep up the evangelical stuff, it's the only thing God's tuned into hearing. And so he's as fooled as everybody else. He isn't, kid. And he just waits. Because the minute you're going to worship him in spirit and truth, go fetch thy husband.

I have no husband. Thou hast well truly said thou hast no husband because thou hast had five husbands and the one you've got now isn't even your husband. Oh. And then she said, but I know that when the Messiah comes, he's going to put it all right.

That's my hope, that when the Messiah comes and he says, I that speak unto thee, am he. Let's begin. And isn't it interesting that that laugh left the well, ran right into Psyche, and the scripture tells us that she went to the name of the city.

Every man that had ever used her. Come and see a man that told me everything I've ever done. Aha. The whole town went to hear him. On that testimony, that sermon, that was the most evangelical thing recorded in scripture.

No theology attached. Didn't even mention the blood. No repentance. No cross. Calvin was left out of it. No mention of the gift. She just went straight up to all the men that had used her and said, hey.

Come see a man that told me everything I've ever done. And what was evangelical about it? Nothing but, boy, she was out in the open then. She was right out in the open. She didn't care anymore. And the town came to hear him and many believed.

Worship. Half of us have no idea what worship is. Worship is to be in the Spirit and in truth. And we worship by the Spirit of God. The only worship acceptable to God is that worship which is inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

Philippians 3 .3. Philippians 3 .3. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Even worship is something that's to be Holy Spirit inspired.

And I wonder how many Christians come into church on a Sunday morning, sit down, and when they bow their heads and scratch their eyebrow or play with the end of their nose or touch their earlobe and call it praying, I wonder if they ever really say in their prayer, now, indwelling teacher, raise me up in an attitude of worship today.

I love sitting in pulpits watching them come in because I love watching people. That's something I do all the time. You learn a lot just by watching people. And I very seldom miss a thing. And it's great.

But worship is something even the Holy Spirit has to inspire you. And it's not a matter of, you know, you see them in meetings. You can easily tell if you're touching their doctrine. They sit there going, many of you say something they don't believe in.

Oh, yeah. They're all with you as long as it suits. And it's not worship. Number 18. The communion of the Holy Spirit. The communion of the Holy Spirit. Hold on to your chair, dear. The noise we don't like, but the eggs we can use.

Naughty! I'm supposed to be sitting. All right. The communion of the Holy Spirit. Communion is better translated fellowship. Communion is better translated fellowship. And the Holy Spirit and the Christians have one thing in common.

That's the sharing of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit and the Christians have one thing in common. The sharing of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 14. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

Praying in the Holy Spirit

Amen. Number 19. Praying in the Spirit. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Number 19. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Romans 8, verses 26 and 27. Romans 8, 26 and 27. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.

For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what's in the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

So praying in the Holy Spirit is when the Holy Spirit is laying upon your heart the things you ought to pray for. Now, it's one of the most difficult lessons you'll learn, especially if you become a preacher.

Because it used to delight me knowing to think that people thought I was such a tremendous giant of prayer. Because at the end of meetings people would come up and say, Brother Billy, and that used to tickle me for a start, would you pray for my son John?

And I used to be so thrilled that they would commit to me the art of interceding on their behalf between them and God. But I used to say, certainly, I shall remember him daily in prayer. And I never did.

I was an utter hypocrite. You would be aghast at the people that have stopped and asked me to pray for people, and I've always said I would and I didn't. Until I learned this one thing. There's one person that has my prayer list.

That's the Holy Spirit. And I now say to people when they come up and flood me with their magazines to pray for this missionary need, that missionary need, this missionary cause, that missionary cause, pray for all these things, I always say, I do exactly what my Master tells me.

And if he brings to my remembrance at a time of prayer your work, I'll pray for it. I can remember Dr. Lionel Germany coming to Northwestern College in Minneapolis when I was a student there, and someone tipped him off that there was a British person in the school.

And so he gave his talk, and he's from the Red Sea Mission that deals with the Muslims in Ethiopia and the Yemen and things like that. And so he singled me out after one of his talks in the corridor and came up to me and he said, are you Bill Strachan?

And I said, yes. He said, Bill, what about the Muslims? And he was renowned and still is renowned for cornering people about their obligations to full-time service, you see. He said, what about the Muslims?

And I looked at him and said, I don't care two hoots about the Muslims. Oh, and he was taken aback, you know. Don't you care? I said, no, God does. My worry is the British people, the pagans in Britain.

He's laid them in my heart. So you go to Africa, you deal with the Muslims. I'll be in Britain. And if he ever lays it in my heart to pray for the Muslims, I will. But up until he does, I don't care twopence about them.

I'm too busy fulfilling that which he has laid in my heart. That's enough. I've discovered my heart isn't big enough to take on the whole world. It would bust. There's only one that can do that, and that's the Lord.

But he'll lay in your heart the things you ought to pray for. Pray for them. And anything that comes to memory, that's the thing I'll pray for. And very often I find there are people, I say to myself, that I've met them at a conference or something, I must remember that fellow, that girl in prayer, and I never do.

And yet there's somebody else you had a casual brush with. And suddenly they're coming up in your prayer all the time. And so every time you remember them, you pray for them. And then suddenly you'll discover that, you know, for days we haven't prayed for somebody.

But that's because the need's been met. And they disappear from the list. His list. So be careful and watch what you're doing in praying. Praying in the Holy Spirit means he's teaching you what to pray for.

Now note this statement. Never pray to the Spirit, but to God. Never pray to the Holy Spirit, but to the entire Godhead, to God. Number 20. The warfare of the Spirit. The warfare of the Spirit. Galatians 5, 17.

The Holy Spirit’s Warfare Against the Flesh

Galatians 5, 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. Within your life and mine, every day there is a war going on.

A war of your old nature and the Holy Spirit. Fighting for supremacy. And that's why it is on the map, for the Christian experience, that he cannot have perfection. He cannot have perfection. And we ought not to look for perfection, because you won't get it until you're in the presence of the Lord.

Because the minute you think you're maturing, he suddenly reveals to you how much there is yet to be done. And you have a long way to go. You see, I have found that my life was like a house. And before I was converted, my problem was, I knew that I had a life, but I couldn't get on the doorstep.

I just couldn't get on the doorstep of my life for bottles. And there weren't milk bottles. And so it was nearly killing me and dragging me down to despair, and I turned to Christ to get delivered from this impossibility in my life that I couldn't even get onto the doorstep of my life.

And he saved me. And the first thing he did was break the dominion of the bottle and clean up the doorstep. Boy, did I really think I was somebody. I was walking about the doorstep of my house. Isn't this tremendous to be this clean, this reinstated into society, this marvel, this wonder how wonderful it is to be able to walk about healthy, sober, and be Christian.

And I thought, boy, I'm ready to be a bishop. Oh, yes, that's what I thought 24 hours after my conversion. And suddenly it's as though the Spirit of God said in my heart, look over your shoulder. And I looked over and I saw the door.

And I thought, oh, how long has that been there? All your life. Well, how come I never knew there was a door there? Because you couldn't see it for bottles. And I opened it and go in. And I opened the porchway of my life, and boy, did I belt in there and shut that door quick.

I never saw a room so cluttered up with the next thing in my life that I wanted to deal with. I said, Father, how long have I been like that? I never knew I was doing things like that in my life. No, you were too drunk to notice.

Now we're going to clean up this porch. And boy, by the Spirit of God, he got to work in my life, and we cleaned up the entryway so that I was not afraid to leave the front door open anymore. People could see in the entryway.

Tidy house. I'm really getting somewhere. So the Holy Spirit says, hey, look over your shoulder. And there was another door. And do you know something, kids? Do you know what the Holy Spirit said to me about two and a half months ago?

After 18 years? Hey, look over your shoulder. There's another door.

I'm getting used to it. I must have the most gigantic house in the world. Because I can assure you that to me it's a marvel. When he reveals to me another thing in my life that's got to come under the domination of the Holy Spirit and that has to come under his control so that he can change me in the process through life into the image of Christ, it staggers me that with all that there must be yet to be cleaned up, he's used me.

And yet I find people that are sitting around waiting for perfection in order to be used. And they're so busy getting themselves... You'll never get perfect till you're in his presence. And the person that pleads perfection is in great danger.

Let him that think he's standard take heed lest he fall. Oh, yeah. We don't know half of what's in there waiting to come out. And so get used to it. There's a daily warfare of the Spirit in your life.

Constantly warring to take over areas that you don't even believe are there yet. And that's the gracious thing about the Spirit of God. When he takes over a life, he sees the whole mess. And he never says, let's show that person what the whole mess is like tonight.

It would kill us. Only Christians do that. That's why one of the worst things I find I have to do is to turn a new convert over to Christians. They murder the poor things in a night. It's like getting a mouse under a teacup.

Cut! You got converted, did you? Now then, before you come out tomorrow morning, haircut, new suit, bad habits. And boy, we just take the new baby and we show it all the dirt at once. All the dirt at once and expect it overnight to be like a bishop.

And the thing is that we only legislate. We just say to them, don't do that, it's not Christian. Don't do that, it's not Christian. Don't do that, it's not Christian. But the Holy Spirit looks at the mess and he says, now this next two or three years we'll work on this thing.

The character's a liar. Let's work on his lying life. That'll take us about three years, but we'll just work on that. And he never says to a believer, stop lying. He says, hey, stop lying. And by the way, he has the power to stop it.

Christians just say don't and give no power. The Holy Spirit, when he says it's time to have that dealt with, he says, my child, not anymore. And he has the power not to. He has the power not to. So learn to have as much patience with yourself as the Holy Spirit's going to have with you.

And let him get on with the battle of conquering and putting under control the life that he's cleaning up and conforming to the image of Christ. Twenty-one. The teaching of the Spirit. The teaching of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2, 10. 1 Corinthians 2, 10. That God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all the things, yea, all the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit's there to teach us the things that are in the mind of God for us.

The Holy Spirit and the Inspiration of Scripture

Now then. E in your outline. A big E. The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. Number one, inspiration. Inspiration. Now we've looked at many of these verses already on our way through this.

So just put them down and you can look at them again later yourself. 2 Timothy 3, 16. 2 Timothy 3, 16. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 2, 12 and 13. 1 Corinthians 2, 12 and 13. 1 Corinthians 10, 11. 1 Corinthians 10, 11.

Romans 4, 20 to 25. Romans 4, 20 to 25. And Romans 15, 4. Number two, enlightenment. Enlightenment. And put down 1 Corinthians 2, 9 to 14. The Holy Spirit's business is to enlighten us as to the truth of the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 2, 9 to 14. F in your outline. F. The Holy Spirit and sins. The Holy Spirit and sins. S-I-N-S. Sins. Number one. Grieving the Holy Spirit. Grieving the Holy Spirit. Now we already looked when we were going through his personality that he could be grieved.

So just put down the verse again. 4 .30. Ephesians 4 .30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit a promise whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4 .30. Number two. Lying to the Holy Spirit. Lying to the Holy Spirit.

Number three. Number three. Quenching the Holy Spirit. Quenching the Holy Spirit. Q-U-E-N-C-H-I-N-G. One can quench the Spirit within one's own life. One can quench the Spirit within one's own life.

You don't put him out of your life. You just quench him so that he's no longer operable in your life. But he's there. 1 Thessalonians 5 .19. Quench not the Spirit. And one can quench the Spirit within another, which is very important to remember.

One can quench the Spirit within another. Numbers 11 .28 and 29. Numbers 11 .28 and 29. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My Lord Moses, forbid them.

And Moses said unto him, Envious thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them. Joshua wanted to quench the Spirit within others.

And Moses forbade him. So that means that it's possible to hold other people back. It is possible to hold other people back in their Christian walk. Number four. Resisting the Holy Spirit. Resisting the Holy Spirit.

7 .51. Resisting the Holy Spirit. Stephen said in his apology to the Jews, You do resist the Holy Ghost as did your fathers. Number five. Insulting the Holy Spirit. Insulting the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10 .29.

Hebrews 10 .29. Of how much sore of punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.

You can insult the Holy Spirit. Six. Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. This is the so-called unpardonable sin. The so-called unpardonable sin. Now if you will turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 12, verses 31 and 32.

Matthew 12, 31 and 32. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. So blasphemers can be forgiven. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Mark's Gospel chapter 3, verse 29. Mark 3, 29. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation, because they said he hath an unclean spirit.

Now, if the grace of God will pardon all manner of sins, but not this one, it must be an unusual sin. If the grace of God will pardon all manner of sins, but not this one, it must be an unusual sin. Murder is not the unpardonable sin.

Unbelief is not the unpardonable sin. Many think that it is the rejection of Jesus Christ that's the unpardonable sin. However, this is not true. Although a person who refuses to receive Christ is a person who is unpardoned, but not unpardonable.

All right? Did you get that last one? Many think that it is the rejection of Jesus Christ that is the unpardonable sin. However, that's not true. Although a person who refuses to receive Christ is a person who is unpardoned, but not unpardonable.

In other words, the forgiveness was there for them through Christ's work in the cross. They said, no, thank you, so they didn't participate in the benefits of the cross and they remain unpardoned. But not because they were unpardonable.

It's because they've refused to pardon. Therefore, we must distinguish between, one, unpardoned and unpardonable. Unpardoned and unpardonable. Two, unforgiven and unforgivable. Unforgiven and unforgivable.

Number three, unsaved and unsavable. Unsaved and unsavable. It would appear from scripture to be a sin that could only be committed during the 33 years of the presence of Christ here on the earth prior to his passion.

It appears from scripture to be a sin that can only be committed during the 33 years of the presence of Christ here on the earth prior to his passion. The apostle Paul confesses to having been a blasphemer and that his forgiveness is an example to everyone that God can and does forgive blasphemers.

And the reference for that is 1 Timothy 13 and 16. 1 Timothy 13 and 16. 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1, 13 and 16. Who was before a blasphemer, speaking of himself, look at verse 12,. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Verse 16. How be it for this reason I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. He says this was to be used as an example from now on that the Lord Jesus Christ could come into the life of one who was murdering people that believed in Jesus Christ hailing them into prison chaining them consenting to their death through the casting vote for Stephen's death blaspheming Jesus Christ but he says I am an everlasting example that you could go that far in your religious mania and doing it for God's sake and Jesus Christ could forgive you pick you up and put you in the ministry.

Note the word speaketh in the following references. Mark 3 .30. Because they said they said he had a demon. Matthew 12 .32. Matthew 12 .32. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Holy Spirit this unforgivable unpardonable unsavable person is a person who said something not who did something but said something.