Prayer
Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:129-131
LORD, Your statutes are wonderful;
and when You unfold Your words
they bring light in the darkness
and understanding to the simple.
I thirst for Your Word. I long for Your commands.
Speak to me now, Lord! Amen.
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.
Reading
Jesus makes it impossible for His disciples to take this matter lightly. He says,
“Blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven … anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Don’t forget, Jesus spoke these words in the context of the Pharisees ascribing His ministry to the devil. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, was liberating people from the stronghold of the devil through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet the Pharisees ascribed His powerful ministry to the devil. They were so envious, so jealous, and their hearts were so absolutely hardened against Jesus, that they were blind to the clear evidence of God’s Kingdom working in Him and through His ministry.
Generally, “blasphemy” is the expression of disrespect, contempt or irreverence towards God. In the case of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” it is widely accepted that by this, Jesus means the act of declaring the work of the Holy Spirit to be the work of the evil one. The Pharisees had fallen into this trap. They had begun to call good evil.
Reaching this point cannot happen overnight. It is a matter of one’s heart gradually hardening against the work of the Holy Spirit. In relation to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit works to reveal Jesus to people, to draw people to faith in Jesus, and then to set people free from the power of sin and temptation so that we can be transformed into the image of Christ and be empowered to do His work in the world.
Clearly, to resist the Holy Spirit and treat His beautiful, holy work as evil, is to place oneself in grave spiritual danger. We should flee from even the slightest hint of this in our lives. But, rest assured, if the thought of being guilty of this bothers you … you have not yet arrived at the point of hardening your heart! You are not guilty of the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Finally, to state this command of Jesus positively, I would put these words in Jesus’ mouth:
“Honour the work of the Holy Spirit. Hunger for, gladly receive, and joyfully cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit as He draws you to Me, as He works to liberate you from sin and to transform you into My image.”
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ,
- I will honour the work of the Holy Spirit,
- I will cooperate with Him in every way I can.
Lord Jesus, please grant me the grace to honour the precious work of the Holy Spirit in my life, and to cooperate with Him in every way. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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