 What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and are we in danger of it? You hear this brought up often times by people just wondering either if they've done it, if others have done it or just to get clarification in the Bible. And that is what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. There are some that even go so far as to say that if you deny what they're doing in their particular ministry, if they have claimed some sort of move of the Spirit and then there are those who may be skeptics and say that we have some sort of reservations about it, then in denying them or just being skeptical, are we also in danger of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Well, the answer to that question is absolutely not. Let's go ahead and jump to the scriptures and let's just see what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. So we're going to go to Matthew chapter 12 starting in verse 22. And we say, and a demon possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus and he healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. Now, the Bible didn't give any indication as to how they knew that he was demon possessed other than him being blind and mute. And so maybe there was some sort of outward manifestations. We just don't know, but we do see the result of that. So let's continue verse 23. All the crowds were amazed and we're saying this man cannot be the son of David, can he? But the Pharisees heard this. They said this man cast out demons by bells above the ruler of the demons. Now, real briefly, the people were asking, seeing they literally saw this miracle occur. And what did they say? First of all, they marveled, they knew, they understood that something had happened. And then they stated, this must be, is this the son of David, the one that we've been waiting for? This must be it. They're saying so in an affirmative fashion, in an affirmative questioning way, but out of jealousy, out of spite, out of evil. The Pharisees go the opposite route. They state that no, he does so only by the power of the devil. This is really important to see what's happening here. Then verse 25, he says, knowing all their thoughts. And so before we continue, Jesus is knowing all of their thoughts. That's important. Jesus said to them, any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. And a city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? Now, I want to make this point also, if a believer, if another brother in Christ has an issue with you or you have a problem with another Christian or professed Christian, and you disagree, that is not the same as a house divided. Disagreeing or having skepticism about what someone has done or said. That part acts in many cases healthy because it causes us to go back and look at the scriptures for ourselves and to verify just like the Bereans would go and search what Paul told them. And Paul committed them for doing so. We also see Paul coming against Peter. That was not a house divided. We see Paul and Barnum as having this breakup, this split because of John Mark. That also was not a house divided. Again, these things can happen. And so don't let anyone tell you that because you disagree with another person or you have some sort of skepticism about what they're saying or doing, that is not the same as what we're talking about here. That is not a house being divided. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that iron sharpens iron. So sometimes we need to come together and say, wait a second, help me to see what it is you're seeing. Amen. Back to it though. Verse 26, If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? Verse 27, If I by Belzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. Now, real briefly, Jesus makes a statement that if I cast out demons by Belzebub, well, then how then do your sons cast out demons? Meaning we don't know if he's affirming that they actually do. But if that's the case, then he's saying that these people of yours who are not followers of mine, they're doing it also. And so what do you attribute that to? Verse 28, he says, but if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry his property unless he first binds a strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me scatters. And so Jesus is making it known that not only are you not with me, more to the point you are against me. Now let's keep in mind that it's already stated that Jesus knew their thoughts. That is very important as we go into the next verse in verse 31. And it says, therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the spirit shall not be forgiven. So what we need to do is first figure out what the word blasphemy means. We throw that term around, that's blasphemy, that's blasphemous. And then we'll say that that is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Well, a couple of things. First of all, when we say blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, one thing that it is not, it is not not placing your faith in Christ. Is that a sin? Sure. Is it unforgivable sin? Well, in so much as if you don't place your faith in Christ. Well, sure, that sin will be unforgiven. There is no forgiveness once you go back. But all you have to do is place your faith in Christ. But this is something that there is no coming back from. People who place their faith in Christ, who have the spirit of a living God in them, cannot. And we'll get to more of this in a second, but cannot blaspheme the Holy Spirit. And if you have not placed your faith in Christ, that also is not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, because that can be remedied. That can be forgiven once you turn around and place your faith in Christ. I just want to make that point clear. Now, we need to now determine what does it mean to be blasphemous or to blaspheme? The word blasphemy simply just means to speak against. It's an intentional defaming. In other words, you're speaking derogatory or slanderous. That is from the heart that speaks of motive, but it also speaks to you knowing full well the difference. Remember, in this case, they know that a miracle had occurred. The people saw it, they saw it, they heard of it, and they didn't deny that something had happened. They didn't deny that a demon was cast out. They didn't deny that the man who was blind and mute now can speak and see. No, they just simply attributed for their own benefit because they were against him. As a matter of fact, he says they're his enemies. They did that for that reason. Now, to give a little more light, have a little more light shed on the intent and understanding of these people, Nicodemus in John chapter three brings up something that I don't think gets talked about enough, but Nicodemus is alluding to the hearts of the Pharisees in his encounter with Jesus. Chapter three, verse one, now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And so Nicodemus is informing us, Jesus already knew because the Bible says that he knew their thoughts, but he's letting us know that those Pharisees, they know full well that he has come from God and he said, why? Because nobody can do the things that he's done unless he's from God. But still that did not stop them from saying slanderous words. Their hearts are on display. One of the reasons that the Bible indicates that they were against him was because Jesus was bringing about more disciples. He was leading more disciples and leading more people to be baptized, though he himself wasn't baptizing. And so these people were jealous. They were angry. And so what would they do rather than accepting him as Messiah, as their savior? What they did instead was to intentionally slander his name. Let's go back to this passage in Matthew and let's finish reading. He says, whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him either in this age or the age to come. Now there are some that believe that last year the Holy Spirit can only have occurred at this point in time. Not now, but then, because it needed to be in front of Jesus who we know is from God, they see the signs and wonders that he has seen and they, being Pharisees, know the law, they know the rules, they know what God has stated, they know the word or should know the word and then intentionally ascribe what they have seen to the devil, even though they don't believe it such. That would be a little bit different than someone like myself. Let's say if I disagree with what someone has said or done or claimed that they have brought somebody back to life without any proof or they have pulled a demon out of someone's back, what have any of these things, any of these fanciful things that may be true, but if I ask for some proof or some evidence, if I'm skeptic, does that mean that I have blasphemed the Holy Spirit? Well, no, I have not. This is, especially in this case, we see it happening as the Holy Spirit working in the Lord, the power of the Lord working in Jesus and so they know full well. Well, I don't know or neither would anyone else who's a skeptic would know full well what's happening. It's not as though we've seen something and deny what we've seen. No, we have not seen it. And so if you make these claims and we say, wait a second, something doesn't seem to be lining up. Well, just to disagree with another brother or another person's claims does not put you in the category of blasphemy. As a matter of fact, again, let me say it again, a person with the spirit in them, the very same Holy Spirit in you, if you are a believer, cannot blaspheme the Word of God. Will not intentionally state what he knows to be true and call it something else. It is an intentional, slanderous act against what the Holy Spirit is doing. There were people who did not know who Jesus was. He revealed himself in many cases through his deeds, his powers and signs being on display. And so they came to, hey, I think we've got something here versus someone who has never seen him but then when the power of the Spirit comes in and we see the work of the Holy Spirit, as we see here, well then that would be blasphemy. That's saying, no, no, no, I know what you are, but I'm gonna tell everyone else that you're something different. I'm gonna call you something different because I am, as Jesus says, not with you, but even more than that, not against you, not with you, I am against you. It's an intentional act that Christians will not do if they have the Holy Spirit in them and they do if they have it. So I hope that's been helpful. It should be clear that this blasphemy is whether it can be done or not. It is certainly something that is intentional and it's not us disagreeing with someone else. It is not us not accepting Christ, although you will not be forgiven if you do not accept Christ, but you can be forgiven. That's the key, you can be forgiven if you do place your faith in Christ. But the people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, they simply will not place their faith in Christ. And that is the difference. Amen.