March 11 2025

Tuesday March 11

Be a Public Witness for Christ

Luke 12:8-10

8 "Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 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. 11 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. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

Today, in our passage here in Luke 12:8-10, we have one of the most interesting and discussed topics in the Gospels and that is the question of what does it mean to “blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.” To properly answer this question, we must remember the context of both Luke 11-12. In Luke 11, some of the people had publicly accused Jesus of casting out a demon by the power of Satan (Luke 11:19). Jesus then publicly denounced the religious leaders and Pharisees by exposing their hypocrisy.

Luke 12 begins with Jesus warning the disciples to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy”. Over the next several verses Jesus instructs both the disciples and the crowd on how to avoid becoming a hypocrite like the Pharisees of His day. Of course this is very much for us believers today. There are some very practical things we can do that will keep us from compromising our faith and going along with the crowd. Sometimes it might be the crowd in the world with their ungodly ways, or most likely it could be the crowd in our religious circles with their emphasis on the external rituals, ceremonies, legalism, and made-up rules and preferences.

First, Jesus tells us to remember that everything we say or do in secret, or behind closed doors, will one day be exposed to everyone to see and hear (vv. 2-3). Secondly, Jesus tells us not to fear men, or anyone, and what they might say or do against us, but to fear God (vv. 4-5). Third, Jesus reminds us that despite our circumstances during difficult and tragic times, God stills loves and cares for us and notices the smallest detail of our lives and all the needs of our lives (vv. 6-7).

Now in our verses today (vv. 8-12), which begin with, “Also, I say unto you”, Jesus gives us another way to avoid hypocrisy is to be courageous enough to publicly profess and confess Christ openly (vv. 8-9)! And we should also recognize and depend on the ministry of the Holy Spirit (vv.10-12).

We need to remember that one day we will have to stand before God at the Judgement Seat of Christ and give an account of our deeds. (Not our sins, because they are taken care of at the cross.) If we obediently and courageously profess Christ openly now to the lost world around us, on that day Christ will confess that we have been “good and faithful servants” before both the Father and the angels in heaven. But if we deny Him now, fail to live and stand up for Him, Jesus says we will be ashamed before the angels in heaven on that day. What a great motivation to avoid being a hypocrite!!!!!

Now what about the statement concerning the “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit’? We need to recognize that this statement is connected with the ministry of the Spirit in and through the Apostles (Luke 12:11-12). The Jewish nation rejected God the Father when they refused to obey John the Baptist and repent, for John was sent by the Father. They rejected God the Son when they asked Pilate to crucify Him. But that sin could be forgiven because there was still the ministry of the Spirit.

God did not judge the nation immediately. Instead, Jesus prayed for them as He hanged on the cross (Luke 23:34; see also Acts 3:17). Then God sent the Holy Spirit who ministered through the Apostles and other believers in the church. This was the last opportunity for the nation, and they failed by rejecting the witness of the Spirit (Acts 7:51). Luke 12:11-12 was fulfilled during the first chapters of Acts when the message went "to the Jew first" (Acts 3:26; 13:46; Rom. 1:16). Israel's third "national sin" was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7), after which the message went out to the Samaritans (Acts 8), and then the Gentiles (Acts 10). Note that Stephen said, "You always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51).

I do not believe that the "sin against the Holy Spirit" is committed by people today as it was by Israel centuries ago. In John 16:8-9, Jesus told His disciples “that when the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me.

I believe that the only "unpardonable sin" today is the final rejection of Jesus Christ (John 3:36). Make sure you have trusted Jesus today! Tomorrow might be too late.

God bless!