March 12 2025

Wednesday March 12

Depending on the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Luke 12:8-12

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."

Luke 12:1-12 is a great lesson for us to learn how to overcome the temptation of hypocrisy and compromising our Christian faith. In Luke 11, Jesus publicly denounced the religious leaders and Pharisees by exposing their hypocrisy, and in this chapter, He is 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 hypocrites like the Pharisees of His day.

I believe that one of the greatest obstacles for lost sinners to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ is the hypocrisy displayed in the lives of believers. When they see us acting like the rest of the world around us, and at the same time claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ, they think we are a bunch of fakes, or flakes, and use us an excuse not to trust Christ. Jesus denounced hypocrisy of any type in the harshest terms possible.

Yesterday we gave a summary of how Jesus said we can avoid hypocrisy in our own lives, but it bears repeating: 1) 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). 2) 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). 3) 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). 4) Jesus tells us to be courageous enough to publicly profess and confess our faith openly (vv. 8-9)!

In verses 10-12, Jesus promises us that we have a fifth powerful “Helper” that we should also recognize and depend on, which is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (Please watch or listen to our Pastor’s Chat today. It probably says it better than I can write about it.) I also should point out that the Old Testament emphasizes the ministry of God the Father. The Gospels emphasizes the ministry of Jesus Christ. And the Acts and Epistles belong to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

You might remember in the previous chapter, Luke 11:13, when Jesus was teaching about prayer, that He finished His lesson with these words: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  Jesus knew the disciples and all future believers and followers would face tremendous opposition and persecution throughout their lives (John 16:33). They would find it difficult, and most likely, impossible to “keep their faith”.

That is why Jesus spent much time in His last hours and days with His disciples assuring them of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In His Upper Room discourses, Jesus told them He would not leave them “orphans”. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:16-18).

John chapter 15, finishes with this promise from Jesus: "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” In John 16:7-14, Jesus continues to assure them: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

Jesus last words to His disciples before He ascended into heaven were: “Wait for the Promise of the Father, which you heard of Me… and you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:4-8).

Have you ever asked and received the Promise and Gift of the Holy Spirit to give you grace, strength, and wisdom, to live for Jesus every hour of every day?

God bless!