Path of Discipleship - Luke 12:1-12

We look forward to a blessing from the Lord just for being here today. Especially as we look into the word and as we sing praises to the

Lord. We pray that it's a blessing to all of you. Okay and now listen up real good and get your pencils out because next

Sunday morning, what time do we normally have Sunday school?

9 .30. Next Sunday we're going to start Sunday school at 10 o 'clock.

And we'll probably, and the reason being Jack and Bev McMahon, missionaries that we support, missionaries to New Zealand, will be here for our service next week.

So during the Sunday school hour from 10 to probably 10 .30, they're going to show their

PowerPoint and talk about their ministry in New Zealand. And so I'd encourage all of you to be out if you could for 10 o 'clock to get acquainted with one of our missionaries that we support.

And they will be here next week. But then Jack will be speaking the

Sunday morning service. Just might mention Jack and Bev McMahon were our missionaries of the month for last month.

Our missionaries of the month this month is Steve and Joyce Louie. They came from the

Bay Area originally and was pastoring in a church there. But the

Lord led them to BMW headquarters because they're very well equipped to get together literature and to arrange things for the missionaries.

And so they work in the headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The next Bible study is

Wednesday, November the 8th at 5 .30 here at the church. So put that on your calendar.

They're going through the book of Ruth. Everyone's welcome to that. So also biblical counseling course,

I would just say for the month of November, they do not meet. They start again in December. But you ladies also look at the women's

Christmas tea. It's going to be December 9th at 10 AM in the morning. And so keep that in mind and they'll probably have more instructions before then, so keep your ears open for that.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before your throne this morning thanking you for the privilege that we have to get together corporately as a church, a body of Christ.

To meet together with one another, to praise you, to listen to your word.

We would ask Lord that you would be a blessing to each one of us today for as we praise you in music, we pray that you would be a pastor as he brings your word.

And we would pray Heavenly Father also for our missionary of the month, the

Louise and their ministry there at the headquarters of Biblical Ministries Worldwide. We pray that you would meet their each and every need.

We thank you for their willingness to serve you in that capacity. We would pray

Heavenly Father for our country, Lord. We see things that we do not like to see personally,

Lord. And we would wish for the time when we consider ourselves a

Christian nation, Lord, and we would just ask for our leaders that you might direct them in your direction, that we pray that we might have leaders,

Lord, that at least know that there is a God and put the trust in you.

And we would thank you for it. We pray now that you would be with us on all that's said and done in the rest of this service, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Stand together with me if you would. Today's scripture reading is taken from the

Book of Acts, chapter 4, verses from 8 to 13.

Scripture reading is taken from Book of Acts, chapter 4, verses from 8 through 13.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus, Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom

God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.

And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. May God bless this reading.

Please turn with me to Luke chapter 12, verses 1 through 12. Luke chapter 12, verses 1 through 12.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all, beware of the leaven of the

Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.

Therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light. And what you have spoken in the ear of in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.

Yes, I say to you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.

Also, I say to you, whoever confesses me before men, him, the son of man, also will confess before the angels of God.

But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And anyone who speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven him.

But to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Now, when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should ever answer or what you should say.

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

This is the word of the Lord, let us pray. Father, we're thankful, despite the promise of persecution, that you never leave us, and that you would carry us through the trials.

Help us to trust in you for everything, including the words that we would say in our defense and in defense of the gospel.

Help us to know that we are truly yours and we belong to you.

And help us to remember how much you love us and how much of worth we are to you because of Jesus Christ.

In his name we pray, amen. This passage follows last week's text, which was a great condemnation against the

Pharisees and the scribes. And now, after condemning the religious establishment,

Jesus addresses his disciples. Because we go through the books of the

Bible, we don't necessarily have topical sermons. But rather, the text allows for it.

We do kind of go into a topical series. The majority of chapter 12 from verses 1 through 48 is all about how the disciples are to live in this world.

So in that sense, it is topical. The whole of chapter 12 really is about Jesus' instruction to the disciples, his followers, how we ought to live.

And today, we get to see the disciples' relationship with the world that is hostile.

Note how the majority of the text is about whom they ought to fear, but also why they ought to not fear anything but God.

And that's because persecution is assumed for Christians.

As Victor prayed, we did live in a nation that was so friendly to Christian ideologies and Christian practices.

Many of the leaders were openly Christian and lived that way.

Now we have some of the leaders who are openly Christian, and may not live that way.

And the reason is, for the majority of the world and majority of history, that was the norm.

The norm was that there's hostility toward Christians. And we do see this increasing more and more, right?

Christian bakers, florists, they get sued for, quote unquote, discrimination when they're practicing what the

Bible tells them by believing marriage is between one man and one woman.

Persecution is ramping up. It might not be exponential, but it sneaks in.

It's a little step like that, little precedent after little precedent that it becomes full on, right?

And for the majority of the world, many

Christians in the world, persecution is a daily reality, right? I talked to one church history professor just stopping by saying, how are you doing?

And he was old and he was not doing well. He was battling cancer. But I didn't know that until later.

He said, you know, doing doing all right. And then with tears in his eyes, he said, you know, there was one

Nigerian brother who talked to me and he said on a given

Sunday, if there's no explosion during the church service, that's a good

Sunday. That's that. And that's something I'm not saying that there are there will be explosions in America.

But what we do need to remember is there is hostility against Christianity. And it's only going to get worse unless God intervenes.

But but this lesson that God, Jesus is teaching us is an instruction on whom to depend on when there is persecution, not if when.

So the main point of this text is, despite the growing opposition, we live without hypocrisy because God will provide for us in every way.

Despite the growing opposition, we live without hypocrisy because God will provide for us in every way.

So first it starts with a warning in ministry. Beware that we don't live a double life because our hearts will be revealed at the end.

Beware. We don't live a double life because our hearts will be revealed in the end.

So the beginning of verse one sets the context of Jesus warning to his disciples.

In the meantime, when in numerous, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together so that they trampled one another.

So what this is saying is Jesus has become so popular that there is no space for even each person to stand or stepping on each other.

That's how crowded it was becoming. Now, for many ministers, seeing a sea of people, that's an occasion for celebration, right?

Many churches and seminaries even might label it as a revival. Like, wow, people are getting saved, not

Jesus. Instead, Jesus sets his disciples aside and warns them.

He began to say his disciples, first of all, beware of the 11 of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

When Jesus popularity grew. His caution increased.

He did not let the positive impact of his ministry go to his head. He remained a realist rather than an optimist.

And this is a strict warning to beware of the 11 of the Pharisees, and this is a metaphor, of course, the 11

Pharisees are not bakers, right? It's not saying don't buy leaven from the

Pharisees. Leaven in baking is an organism that makes the bread rise.

And for any bakers out there, you only need to put a little bit of it. And it the process of fermentation will affect the whole wall.

And the fermentation produces gases, carbon dioxide, and that would make the bread rise and fluffy.

And the important note of this metaphor is that even a small amount of it will have a huge impact on the whole loaf.

Right. So the warning then is to beware of the way of the Pharisees, their hypocrisy, because even a small amount of it, although very tempting, will affect the whole church, the whole group.

Now, let's talk about hypocrisy. So what is this 11 of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy from last week's passage?

We know how the Pharisees carried themselves, right? While their inside was full of wickedness and filth, they rigorously kept the outside clean, right?

Following the traditions of men nowhere in the law. And they would place that standard on other people.

And it was becoming very, very overwhelming to carry. And they basically left lived a double life, right?

Externally, they impress the people and please the people. But in the end, they had really no regard for God's people at all, right?

They fed off the positive opinions of men rather than the word of God. And they place obstacles on people who truly want to access

God by putting all sorts of standards that they themselves did not even touch.

That's the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It's about the outward concern, how they're viewed rather than who they are.

And Jesus knew that such a temptation would be powerful for even his disciples, right?

Think about this. Jesus ministry is growing so much. And as you know, the disciples of Jesus, they're a wrong ahead because they're close to Jesus, not in rank necessarily, but they're close to Jesus.

So the eyes are watching. Wow, they're the original twelve. The temptation is.

Yes, we are. The temptation is. Yes, you look to us, the temptation is.

To start. Making your outside. Personality shiny.

While neglecting the inside. It's to start decorating, embellishing how you're viewed.

While the inside remains the same. What Jesus is warning against is that his disciples must not become

Pharisees, 2 .0. Self -centered appearance, obsessed and serving as obstacles to others who want to know

God. And that is all too common in the church today. Pastors who use words and concepts that are popular.

But their inner life is nowhere close to God, filled with sexual immorality and greed.

Pastors who are serving publicly when the camera is rolling. But when it's turned off.

There's no regard for the person they're serving. Now. Why must be they?

Why must they be aware of their love enough of Pharisees? Verses two to three tell them the reason why they must beware.

For there is nothing cover that will be revealed nor hidden that will not be known. So verse two, ultimately,

Jesus disciples are motivated in ministry as they work day to day.

Thinking of the last day. Judgment day. Their faithfulness and integrity in ministry are dependent on Jesus' status as the judge.

And guaranteed promise of judgment. And the promise is actually twofold.

It's not just negative, but I will cover the negative first in a negative sense. It is a warning against hypocrisy.

If Jesus disciples. Do adopt 11 of the

Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Because God knows their hearts and the intentions of the heart cannot be hidden from God.

Their hypocrisy will one day be revealed, and this does not bode well for the hypocrites like the

Pharisees, your family, friends, and followers may applaud you right as the best.

But what Jesus is saying, you are not fooling God. Not only that, not only

God knows it, the world will know it. It will be public knowledge. And that's guaranteed.

In a positive sense, it is an encouragement for endurance.

Jesus knows that he's all followers will be persecuted and slandered.

After all, if you don't go along with the religious establishment and follow their hypocrisy, well, naturally you will be attacked because it's either in the eyes of the religious leaders establishment, either they're right or you're wrong, right?

Either they're right or you're right. Well, what would they do with all their power? They will actually try to attack. Jesus followers are kind of like what we saw in the reading of Acts four that Carlick's read.

And what Jesus is saying. Is. You guys, you disciples, you followers of Christ.

All the things, no matter what lies, what rumor, what gossip that these people may speak against you, the truth will in the in the end be revealed.

It means that God's people will one day be vindicated. Right. We live in a culture where we're called bigots for holding faithful, faithfully holding onto scripture on marriage, sexuality, gender, all sorts.

But what Jesus is saying, you'll be vindicated. It will be known that you will be on the right side of history because you are on God's side.

Now, what does that look like? Verse three tells us, therefore, whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light and what you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

And this is a clear portrayal of full revelation. First, just as the light exposes the dark secrets, all of your thoughts will be revealed.

Nothing will remain in the dark. Second, we see a more concrete example.

Even the secrets whispered in the privacy of your bedroom will be publicly announced.

All the thoughts and intentions will be made known. Nothing will be hidden on the last day.

And this is an important warning because it is easy to live a double life as followers of Christ.

And what's more is that it is dangerous to live for the attention of others.

You live by the positive opinions of men. You die by positive or negative opinions of men.

You're no longer living for God. And this, this is how people promote themselves, how they are self promotional.

All you have to do is learn to speak the right words. Praise the Lord. God bless.

Amen. But draw the attention to yourself. That self promotion.

Praise the Lord that I got to finish this big project, which was really learned to serve in the right ministry.

One that is obvious, one that you can take credit for and then add in Jesus or God after your accomplishment.

But mention how, how, how important this was for the church.

And you just had to take that on. How good it looks out, man, that really looks good.

And then another thing you can do is you can buy the opinions of men. Donate an exorbitant sum of money to the church.

Of course, make sure it goes to something noticeable. Like, you know, maybe, maybe the cross needs some remodeling.

Have you seen that cross? It's been paid for. And of course, never anonymously.

If you could get a plaque there, do it. Write your name on it. That's self promotion. That's the leaven of hypocrisy.

And the danger in all of this is that you may look like a saint, talk like a saint, worship like a saint.

But God sees what's inside. God sees the motivation and the intent that's driving all that you do that outwardly look fabulous.

You may fool the congregants. You may fool the pastor. You may even fool yourself.

I'm a really good person. You may believe serving yourself is actually serving

God. Ironically, if you are God to you, then yeah,

I guess, but you can't fool the true God. You can verbally praise the

Lord, yet praise yourself inside. You can pour out hours in serving God's people, yet fill your heart with self adoration.

These behaviors can be honed so much that most Christians will not have the slightest idea of your true intention.

And Jesus, in this passage, proclaims that there's actually an expiration date for hypocrisy.

Now, only he knows what is truly in your heart. But the day is coming when the content of your heart will be publicly poured out like a filth from a bucket.

And it will be cast on live television. And on that day, no amount of flattery will cover it.

Well, that's that's how it looks like, actually. And this is the warning.

Don't follow the path of the Pharisees. The adulation may be sweet for now, but the judgment will be utterly bitter.

Now, how do you avoid this fate? The only antidote to hypocrisy is a permanent heart change.

It's a heart change. It's a change on the inside. In fact, if you look for more things you can do to appear pure, you're just slapping on another layer of hypocrisy.

Right. If you get a book that says how to not seem like a hypocrite, then you're just covering it on with another lie.

A heart change only occurs when you honestly face how wicked you are and how no possible good things you can do.

Can purify your filthy desires, filthy hearts, and when you realize everything you do to make yourself even seem clean on the outside.

That is futile, futile. You actually look to the one who can actually purify the inside.

No problem. You look to the one who can power wash even the deepest crevices of your heart.

You look to Jesus who purifies your soul by taking away that filthy sin and nailing it on the cross.

You look to Jesus whose blood whitens even the darkest corner of the heart.

You trust in Jesus and in him alone. And that's the beginning of the heart change.

Hypocrisy cannot be fought with another behavior or behavioral modification because it's not a behavioral issue.

It's a heart issue. And only Jesus can purify our hearts.

Now, how must Jesus disciples survive against the hypocritical religious establishment?

Right? Now, the second part is the attitude for ministry. Do not fear anyone who has no power over your soul, but only fear

God who completely cares for you. So, the next address address focuses on how

Jesus disciples must survive. After all, leaving the life of hypocrisy means directly opposing the hypocritical religious establishment, the

Pharisees. Now, how could these uneducated, barely known followers of Christ survive such persecution of the powerful establishment?

Verse four. And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

And after that, you have no more that they can do. Here, Jesus calls his followers friends.

What this means is if you're not living the life of hypocrisy because you have trusted your life in Christ, then you're his friend.

Those who follow Jesus from the heart and live it out are his friends.

And his friends are dear to him. His friends are precious to him.

You matter to him. And his exhortation is to not fear any human persecution.

And this assumes that trial and persecution actually will be a part of the church's

DNA. Any teacher or pastor or person who claim to be

Christian and tell you that life will be good and smooth as long as you do ABC is trying to sell you something.

It's fraud. The Bible does not talk about smooth and easy life as a

Christian. Now it is when persecution comes.

What our attitude must be. And it is that a boldness.

We do not fear any human persecutors because they have no authority over our lives.

Sure, they may harm the body. They can kill the body. But after it, they have nothing to do with us.

And Jesus tells us whom we need to really fear. But I will show you whom you should fear.

Fear him who after he has killed has no has the power to cast into hell.

Yes, I say to you, fear him. The only being that Christians need to fear is

God himself. He not only has authority over your life now, but after it as well.

He has complete authority. And first, we do need to note that Jesus has no problem talking about hell.

It is a place of torment. And it's an eternal place of torment. And God alone has the authority to send the wicked to hell.

None of us. He does. Second, because we don't really, we live in a culture that jokes about hell.

And it's such a vague idea for most people. Because they don't have that biblical foundation.

I have a great illustration of what hell, a glimpse of what hell would look like.

The Jews back in the days knew of a place called the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom.

Which lies about southwest of Jerusalem. And many believe that's what eternal hell would look like.

Because it was that grotesque and torturous. In this valley, people discarded trash and executed criminals.

And after a while, it builds up. It's a valley, it's low, but still it builds up.

Well, what do you do? You burn it. You smell the burning trash, which is disgusting already, but burning flesh.

Anytime you go near that. For them, it was the closest thing to hell on earth.

Not only that, historically, the evil kings of Israel used this valley to perform child sacrifice.

Again, by burning them. Passing through the fire, that's what it would say in the Old Testament.

It's not just physically grotesque, it's morally heinous. It's disturbing, it's disgusting.

And that's just a glance of what hell would be like. Now, how is this

God comforting to the disciples? If Jesus ended there, that's just scary. Fear Him.

Yes, it is scary. He has the full authority over your soul. While God's disposition toward the wicked is hellish,

God's disposition toward Jesus' followers is that of utter compassion. Verse 6 makes the argument of how

God cares for the small and insignificant things. How much more than does

God care for you? Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?

And not one of them is forgotten before God. Now, in Israel, sparrows were the cheapest animals that you could buy with two copper coins.

And you could buy them at a market. Now, two copper coins are about a half an hour wage for most people.

So, if you work at McDonald's, it would be $10 nowadays. The argument is that if God takes care of and remembers these sparrows, the least valuable animals in the whole market,

God remembers them. If God is mindful of the least of the beasts, how much does

God remember you? How much more does God remember you if He is considerate of the sparrows?

Now, this is comforting during the persecution. The one who has absolute authority over heaven and hell remembers you, finds value in you, because you are of greater value than the sparrows.

And the second illustration is more personal. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Do not fear, therefore, you are more value than many sparrows. Not only is

God aware of the birds, but He is personally aware of you. Not just you, but your own head and all the hairs that are growing from it.

God numbers each strand of your hair. And the hair strands are seemingly the most insignificant part of your body.

They fall out any time, and hopefully none of you grieve over that. Most of us, it's just forgotten.

I don't know how many hair strands I've lost even this morning. I scratched, it comes out. Falls, it gets vacuumed up.

But it's just the insignificance of that, but God numbered each one. If you lose one hair, what's it to you?

But to God, He has numbered it. His care for you is thorough.

It's meticulous. He doesn't miss a thing. And what

Jesus is saying, if He cares for each of your hair strands, do you think He has forgotten the whole body?

Do you think He only cares about that hair? The answer, of course, is

He values the whole body, your whole self. When you're going through the hard time,

He sees worth in your whole self, body and soul. Now, for those who are persecuted for their faith, those who are abandoned for their faith, those who are rejected for their faith,

God's exhortation is an excellent encouragement to endure. Think about it.

You may lose out on a promotion because of your faith. Because if your faith is public enough, they know you're

Christian. They know what you believe. You don't have to post it on social media, they'll know.

You may receive a worse grade because of your faith. A lot of public schools, especially public universities, are notoriously known for failing or giving them the lowest passing grade for the view, the

Christian view. I think my wife, I forget what grade she got, it was either

B or C, because she said in her college course that she doesn't believe in evolution.

That's a form of persecution. Your friend may unfriend you on social media because of your faith -related contents.

Your family may shun you because of your stances. All of a sudden, you find out you didn't get invited to the family gathering last year.

Oh, there was one? Well, then it might be because you became that crazy uncle who's a

Christian. Your co -workers, friends, family may reject you for your faith, but there is someone who will never forget you.

There is someone who watches over even the seemingly most insignificant things about you. There is someone who takes the time, takes the care and the effort to know who you are and has numbered each of your hair.

That someone has full authority over heaven and hell. That's the encouragement that the persecuted have in Christ.

When you worry because you face some persecution or rejection because of Christ, you can always consider how much

God cares for you through this time. God is present during your persecution.

Despite the persecution, God will be there with you.

And this is really important to note that Jesus does not promise the absence of persecution when you follow him.

He promises the right person will care for you during the persecution.

And that is God. Now, how must the disciples respond to God?

The third is the response in ministry. When you respond in faith to Jesus, God will completely provide for every need during persecution through the

Spirit. When you respond in faith to Jesus, God will completely provide for every need during persecution through the

Spirit. The third difference between the Pharisees and Jesus' disciples is how they respond.

Verses 8 -9 show the eschatological consequences of the opposite responses.

Eschatological is regarding the last days. Also, I say to you, whoever confesses me before men, him, the

Son of Man, also will confess before the angels of God. There are only two options when it comes to responding to Christ.

You receive him or you reject him. There's no middle ground. I sort of like him, but I don't really want to commit to him.

That's not an option. I respect him, but he's not my Savior. That's also not an option.

And verse 8 starts with the faithful response. When you confess Jesus publicly, the

Son of Man will also witness that you are his. You belong to him before the heavenly court.

The Son of Man language actually comes from Daniel 7. This is a mysterious figure in Judaism, right?

And he receives all authority to rule and judge the world, all the nations. The ancient of days,

God himself gives a man -like figure all authority.

And what Jesus is saying, he is that man. He's saying, I am that man and I will confess you before the court.

If you confess me publicly, right? So although it may be difficult to confess your allegiance and loyalty to Christ publicly, those who faithfully respond to Jesus will be publicly recognized in heaven before the angels.

Higher than any court on earth. You'll be recognized, acknowledged by the one who matters the most.

That is the greatest honor you can ever receive in life.

A recognition from Christ himself. The court of human opinion may find you guilty over and over again, but you will be acquitted and not only that, but honored before the heavenly court.

However, the opposite is also true. But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

Those who publicly reject Jesus will be publicly rejected by him. And there is a tremendous shame in that to be rejected by the one who matters the most.

How you respond to Jesus now by receiving or rejecting your eschatological fate depends on it.

Then verse 10 delves specifically to how a person responds to Jesus. And anyone who speaks a word against the

Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

This is the famous passage of the unpardonable sin. And there are Matthew and Mark equivalents of this parallel passages.

Many of you may have thought that you have committed the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit on accident.

I will explain what it is and assure you that you probably did not commit the unpardonable sin on accident.

However, we do need to look at the first sentence. If you blaspheme against the Son of Man, there's a chance of forgiveness.

This is astounding as a statement knowing who the

Son of Man is that's built up here. He's the one who has all authority over everything.

He's going to judge the whole world. But you blaspheme him and you could be forgiven?

That's got to shock us. I don't know if I could get away with cursing out the president.

Or even the governor. I don't think they'll forgive me for that. But if you blaspheme, slander against the

Son of Man, you'll be forgiven. It really shows what kind of king he is.

He's compassionate. He doesn't hold grudges. He's not self -centered.

He's humble and that king will forgive you even if you blaspheme against him.

Now, what is the blasphemy against Jesus? I'll show you what it would look like.

Well, let's say you heard the gospel. And you understand that Jesus bore your sin on the cross.

And he was punished for your sin. He faced God's wrath on the cross. So that you may be forgiven.

And you hear about the resurrection on the third day. But you're not ready. You don't want to commit to him right now.

You don't think you really need him. And the moment you think that you don't really need what

Jesus did and who Jesus is, you've completely mischaracterized who he is.

Because he's the only savior in the world. But to say you don't need him, to think that you don't need him, you've made him a liar.

And so you reject Christ and the work on the cross, the atoning work on the cross. Because you believe that, no, not right now.

Now, even this rejection, in the future you come to Christ and you realize you've been wrong the whole time.

You go to Christ. You confess to him. And he'll forgive you for that.

There's some of us who have gone through something like that. You've heard the gospel.

I don't think so. But then, you were drawn back.

And you're forgiven. Even though you blasphemed against the Son of Man.

Now, let's get to the difficult part. But to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

The question is, what is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? When we take a look at Matthew's parallel passage, it is in the context of the religious leaders.

They witness Jesus casting out demons. And they say, well, he did it by the power of Satan.

After seeing Jesus' authority over the demons, they do not want to believe, by justifying their unbelief, that the power comes from Satan himself.

You clearly see the power and the work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ.

And you say, I condemn it. That is of the devil.

That's the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They have clearly seen the

Spirit of God work supernaturally to reverse the kingdom of Satan.

But from this stubbornness, this wicked stubbornness, that they refuse to believe what

God has clearly done, they'd rather attribute the

Spirit's work to the devil than to submit to Christ. That's the blasphemy of the

Holy Spirit. This blasphemy is when the person clearly understands the implication and necessity of the gospel.

And when the Spirit has undeniably and irrefutably revealed the Christ to this person, because that's the

Holy Spirit's job, he shines the light unto Christ. Yet the response is rejection.

To label and justify that the work of the Spirit is not that of God, but something or someone else.

That's the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The difference here is the obstinate rejection of Jesus, even when the

Spirit has clearly depicted and revealed the gospel. You understand it.

It made clear sense to you. But you want to serve yourself instead.

And you justify it by saying that it didn't come from God. That is the blasphemy of the

Spirit. And what Christ is saying, such a person cannot be forgiven because it is precisely the

Spirit who guides you to Christ. No one else guides you to Christ. I point to Scripture which the

Holy Spirit uses to guide you to Christ. I am not the ultimate guide to Christ.

It is God himself who brings you to Christ. But if you refuse the guide, there is no source of forgiveness.

How can you surrender to Christ if you refuse to go with him? Now, verses 11 to 12, return to the disciples response through persecution.

Now, when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer or what you should say.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Jesus encourages them by now showing how the

Spirit, whom they have not blasphemed, will provide for them during persecution.

The Holy Spirit will personally give you the words to say when you are brought before the religious authorities.

While last section promised that God would take care of Jesus' disciples, this section shows clearly and specifically how

God will take care of them when the persecution occurs. And Jesus fills in the detail.

First, the Spirit, we do have to realize, is a person. Only a person can disciple what the disciples ought to say.

The Spirit is not an inanimate force that people think of like in Star Wars.

He's a person. He's a personal being. And second, the Spirit is given to all the believers so that they're always in God's presence.

What that means is every believer of Christ has an instant access to God himself because God the

Spirit dwells in them. Third, our response during persecution does not depend on our eloquence or power, but God himself will step in to see us through.

And this is why Jesus tells them, do not worry. God, who is utterly faithful and capable, will be their defense the very hour they need it.

They don't have to have a whole lengthy paper ready to read out loud to defend their faith.

When they're persecuted, which would be any instant, the Spirit will give it to them.

This, of course, assumes that you know who God is and you know what he has said.

This is not an excuse to not read Scripture. But it is precisely that all the knowledge of Scripture that's in your head, the

Holy Spirit will guide you through that. And what it shows is that the

Spirit is the reason why the bumbling, uneducated fishermen like John and Peter can stand before the most educated, powerful religious leaders in Israel and still testify about Jesus powerfully and boldly.

And they, the religious leaders themselves, are shocked and cannot answer them. The Spirit is the one who gave them the words to say.

And when you respond to Jesus, what Jesus is saying,

God does not leave you on your own to even defend yourself. Many of us, oftentimes in Christianity, focus on the starting point and the end point.

Yes, this is what I started believing. And I can't wait until I get to heaven, right?

When faith will be sight, right? When we see Jesus face to face, it will all be okay.

Now, those are two important dates. But Jesus exhorts his disciples, who are worried about the time in between, how do

I remain faithful on earth? How do I persevere when the opposition mounts up?

Jesus, what if I get converted by the Pharisees? They know scripture way better than I do.

To that, Jesus says God will personally provide his defense. God did not save you because you were capable of defending his son.

God chose you out of sheer grace and mercy. And furthermore, he will defend you and your faith until the very end.

The Holy Spirit is the reason why we have the perseverance of the saints.

He works in us and outside of us to make sure that the faith that we first held onto in Christ endures till the very end.

And for Christians, persecution must be a part of our dictionary. This is because the gospel is offensive to every religion and culture.

The gospel offends this pluralistic culture because it proclaims that Jesus is the only way. Pluralism says that there are many ways to God.

Well, Christians say there's only one way to God and that's Jesus Christ alone. The gospel offends this hedonistic culture because it requires us to repent of our sinful ways.

We got to drop that after we believe. The gospel offends all man -made religions because it provides every believer a direct access to God through Jesus Christ.

No popes, no prophets, and no priests come between you and God.

You have direct access to God. And if you have direct access to God, other people cannot come in between and control and manipulate you with fear and tactics.

Now, how will you possibly study all these oppositions and have the right words to say at the right time when you're falsely accused or outright mocked?

You can't read a book on every possible opposition to the gospel. What Jesus says is the

Holy Spirit, whom God has provided, will give you the right words to say at the right time.

That's why you don't have to worry. We do not need to worry about the next heretical movement that's coming, right?

During the pandemic, it was that white guilt and all that, white guilt, white privilege.

But we don't talk about that anymore because something else is brewing in Satan's pot.

But when it does come, and I don't know when it's coming, and I don't know what it is, we can be assured that as the church, as the faithful believers of Christ, we'll be able to defend it, defend the faith, because the

Holy Spirit works in us. It is not because of our intellect. It is not because of our eloquence.

You don't need a law degree. You don't need a theological degree. When you are attacked for your faith, you only depend on God alone.

He will do the job. You just stand back in faith. And when you read through the book of Acts, that's precisely what we see.

The arguments spoken by the apostles and other believers are superb. They are logical.

They're biblical. Without any lesson in logic or seminary degree.

And they silence the accusers, and the religious leaders are completely caught off guard.

So they start using violence because they couldn't win in verbal argument.

And that's not because the Christians were educated and talented, but because the Spirit used them to defend the faith.

The Spirit gave them the right words to say at the right moment. And that is why we do not worry when we face persecution.

Because God will be there, even to give you the right words.

Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that we're never left alone.

That salvation is just a beginning of our continued relationship in the presence of the very

God who saved us. Thank you for all that you do, and we pray that you would protect and provide for this church, just as you protected and provided for the early church in Acts.

Help us to remain faithful until the end. Help us to publicly proclaim