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Do We Know The Holy Spirit?
Short explanations to 335 Bible texts that speak of the Holy Spirit
II. The Holy Spirit in the Gospels

6. Jesus and those opposing the Holy Spirit


Matthew 12:32
“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come”
(Mark 3:29; Luke 10:10,12).

Mark 3:29
“but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”

Unfortunately, one encounters again and again enemies of the gospel, those who mock and blaspheme Christ and His Spirit. On the cross, Jesus atoned for and forgave their words and evil deeds directed against Him (Luke 23:34). He waits, however, for the hard-hearted to repent. Whoever denies, makes a joke of, or attributes the working of the spirit of love, truth and power to Satan, falls under eternal judgment, and finds no more forgiveness, either in this world or in the next.

Perhaps the danger of sinning against the Holy Spirit was one of the reasons why the apostles mostly spoke about Jesus and His resurrection when talking to those having no connection to the faith. On the other hand, they only explained the mystery of the Holy Spirit and the ways to receive Him to those who had already believed. The Spirit of God cannot be fathomed by logic or cleverness. He reveals Himself to those who have trusted and turned to Jesus and His love, as well as to those who search for, believe, and proclaim the gospel.

Luke 10:21
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”
(Matt. 11:25-26)

Perhaps Jesus rejoiced because proud unbelievers could neither recognize nor receive the Holy Spirit, for otherwise they would have mocked and blasphemed Him. To be sure, the Son of God wanted to carry all the sinners in the region of the Sea of Galilee to heaven. They had heard Him speak, seen His miracles, and had personally met Him. But the flame of the Spirit never sprang upon most of them. They remained spiritually deaf, dumb and dead. Jesus spoke with authority, which in most of His hearers brought forth amazement, fear, doubt or anger. The Lord suffered under the hard-heartedness of His people (Matt. 13:10-17). He later wept over Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37-39; Luke 19:41).

When Jesus analyzed who it was that rejected Him and who it was that could not understand Him, He found many: pious Pharisees, overly subtle teachers of the law, liberal high priests, gluttonous rich, the arrogant and clever, influential politicians, and those belonging to the upper class of religious society. To all of these the mystery of the Holy Spirit remained hidden. Jesus openly testified to them the truth of their spiritual situation: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do” (John 8:43-44).

On the other hand, Jesus recognized all who could understand Him, loved Him, and who received the power of the Holy Spirit. These were mostly the poor and wretched, those who laboured and were heavy laden, beggars in the spirit, many sick, and those who had repented in the presence of John the Baptist. These He blessed: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given…16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matt. 13:11, 16, 17).

Jesus praised and exalted His Father in heaven in spite of this distressing development! With a heavy heart, but with His complete will, He said “Yes” to this spiritual mystery. He confessed that both the pleasure and the satisfaction of His Father rested upon these called-out sufferers. We can recognize from this prayer of Jesus who the ones are who hear the gospel and open themselves to His Holy Spirit.

Mark 13:11
“But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”
(Matt. 10:20; Luke 10:10-12)

Jesus knew in advance that the worldwide evangelism of His Spirit-gifted ambassadors would call forth, in some places, hefty reactions. Their ministry could result in legal consequences, defamations, accusations and torture. Nevertheless, He commanded His followers to remain comforted in the event they did not know what to say during cunning interrogations and brutal trial proceedings.

Therefore, Jesus assured His trusted followers that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of His Father, would remain with them. He is their attorney, their comforter, their intelligence and their wisdom. They are to remain consoled and certain, knowing that this Spirit will inspire in them the right words in critical situations. He will remind them what it is the Lord would also say to His adversaries. This revelation indirectly makes evident that the followers of Jesus receive prophetic gifts through the Holy Spirit. They can, therefore, like children trustfully held in the arms of their parents, look toward the future. God is their Father and cares for them. The Spirit of the Father not only represents them, but speaks through them (Matt. 10:20).

Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This well-known missions command of the Resurrected One testifies to us of the unlimited authority of Jesus over all creation (Matt. 11:27; John 3:35; 5:20; 16:15; 17:10). We should believe on this all-encompassing confession of our Lord, and draw from it the necessary consequences for our life.

For the sake of His authority, we are called to overcome our spiritual egoism and no longer let everything rotate around the comfortable “I” in our pampered society. Much more, we are to let His Spirit move us so that we can speak to and offer unbelievers the fullness of grace of His gospel.

Whoever hears and obeys this summons of Christ´s servants should be baptized into God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. For conscientious believers, such a baptism can signify their entry into the New Covenant, their security before the coming wrath of God, their anointing for service to the Lord, and their receiving of power from the Triune God (Mark 16:16; Eph. 1:13; 1 John 2:27; Acts 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:7 ).

Whoever loves Jesus will learn to speak of and practice the more than “one thousand commands and orders He gave (John 14:15, 21, 23). Whoever wants to teach them to others should first have read, practiced, and lived them out in the power of the Holy Spirit. The one who comprehends the height and depth of these commands of Christ will practice a complete and lifelong repentance.

Jesus challenges us to open the spiritual eyes of our heart so that we can recognize that He is, by His Spirit, ever-present with us. He graciously forgives us our sins, leads, comforts, and carries us in everyday life. Even the coming of the Antichrist will not be able to tear us out of His hand (John 10:27-30).

PRAYER: Father in heaven, we thank and worship You that You sent Your only begotten Son into our rebellious world. You had Him sacrificed in our place that we might be justified by grace and receive Your Holy Spirit. We wilfully worship You. Thank You that Christ lived out before us the attributes and characteristics of the Holy Spirit so that we might comprehend who You are, and recognize what we are to become. We thank You that the Spirit of truth will remind us on all things that Your Son commanded and promised us, for He leads us into all truth. Help us to be obedient to Your word. Amen.

“The Spirit of the Lord
is upon Me,
because He has anointed me
to preach the gospel
to the poor.
He has sent Me to
heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance
to the captives
and recovery of sight
to the blind,
to set at liberty those
who are oppressed,
to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord.”

( A self-testimony of Jesus from Luke 4:18-19)

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