LUKE 12:8-12 HOW TO REPRESENT JESUS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 12:8-12 How To Represent Jesus

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. As we look at Luke chapter 8 or chapter 12 verses 8 through 12 today, we are looking at a very serious portion of Scripture.

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And I say that it's very serious. It's one that we need to consider because if I were to ask this question, now I don't, I'm not asking you to raise your hand or stand up, but if I were to ask you, who would respond? Who would stand up if I said, who of you wants Jesus to deny you in heaven?

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Who would stand up? Who would raise their hand and say, yes, I want Jesus to deny me when I get to heaven. I want him to not receive me when I enter into eternity. I don't think that any of us would stand up or say, yes, you know, that's what I want. I want Jesus to deny me.

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But that is exactly what Jesus is talking about as we look at this portion. He's dealing with some very serious things that go right along with, in fact, it's the continuation of what we studied last Sunday.

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Jesus begins in verse 8 saying, Also I say to you. And so there's this strong link and connection between what we studied last Sunday and what we're looking at this Sunday. Last week we talked about the right way to fear.

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And we saw three things in that. That first of all, you're not to pretend to fear God. That it's not to be hypocrisy. It's not just a show. You pretend like you fear God. You pretend like you walk with the Lord. But there's no real substance in your own heart. You don't really walk with Jesus. You're just pretending to.

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Then Jesus went on to teach us to fear God and not man. And we saw the snare, the danger of fearing man, paying attention to man, seeking to please man,

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Instead of trying to please God and fearing God because God can cast our soul into hell and the worst that man can do is hurt or kill your body. But it's limited to that. God can do far worse and so he needs to be our first priority. We need to fear God and not man. And then we went on as Jesus encouraged us that we do not need to fear being forgotten.

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That God will never leave us nor forsake us. He knows exactly our situations and we don't need to fear being abandoned by the Lord that we can always trust that he will be right there with us. And so we saw the right way to fear and specifically looking at the fear of God and not man. We continue on that train of thought, that line of thinking as we go into verses 8 through 12 this morning and we look at the subject I've titled it, How to Represent Jesus.

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How to represent Jesus. There's three things I'd like to point out for you in how to represent Jesus. The first one we find in verses 8 and 9, and that is to profess Jesus publicly. To represent Jesus, we are going to profess Jesus publicly. Look at verse 8 with me. It says, Also I say to you,

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Whoever confesses me before men, him, the son of man, also will confess before the angels of God. Jesus, he's continuing on his line of thought. He says, also I say to you, whoever confesses me before men. Jesus is building a connection here that we need to grasp hold of and understand well.

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He says, if you confess me before men, then I will confess you before the angels of God. If you'll confess me here and now, I will confess you in eternity. He's building this connection. He's helping us to see what we do and how we represent Jesus right now

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affects our eternity and it has an important part in well our entrance into the kingdom of God and so Jesus says whoever confesses me before men he's explaining that it's important for us to confess Jesus before

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before men or confess Jesus publicly. Now, does that mean that Jesus is saying that we have to announce constantly and all the time to everyone that we're with that we believe in Jesus? Is that what Jesus is saying? You know, the idea that we would have to have a bullhorn with us, you know, so as you go Christmas shopping in the mall, you're using the bullhorn to say, attention everybody in the mall, I believe in Jesus, but I'm just here to do my Christmas shopping, you know. Are you supposed to

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Announce, using a PA system, announce, is that what Jesus is saying to confess him before men? Or, you know, we gave out the shirts, you know, to say Jesus loves you. Ask me how I know. Inviting people to ask you for prayer. Is that, you know, what Jesus is saying that you have to wear that all the time wherever you go? That's the way that he wants you to confess him before men? Or maybe, you know, is Jesus talking about introductions?

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You know, when you're introduced to somebody, you say, hi, yeah, my name is Jerry. I believe in Jesus. Nice to meet you. You know, do you have to include that in every introduction? Does that what Jesus mean when he says to confess him before men? Well, I would suggest, you know, those are things you could pray about and maybe God would lead you to do those, but that's not exactly what Jesus is talking about.

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When he says, whoever confesses me before men, I think the word confess here gives us some insight. There's three aspects of this word that I want to highlight for you to help us understand the context in which we need to confess Jesus before men. So the first part of this word, it's used in various ways throughout the scriptures and it can be defined in a couple different ways.

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But the main way that this is used is with the idea of confession that we would normally think of when we hear the word confess. It means to admit or declare yourself guilty. So when you confess to something, you admit that you did it. You confess to it. You agree. Yes, I'm guilty. I did, you know, what I'm accused of or I did what I did.

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That's the idea of this word confession. And so I would suggest to you when Jesus says, confess me before men, he's saying when people ask you about me, that you need to confess. You need to admit. You need to say, yeah, I'm guilty as charged. I believe in Jesus. I love Jesus. I follow Jesus. Guilty as charged. That's the idea of this confession. When Jesus says, confess me before men, when people ask,

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When they say, hey, what do you think? Do you believe in Jesus? Are you a Christian? That you would not try to dodge the question, that you would not try to, you know, change the subject, but that you would be honest and accurate in your response that yes, you believe in Jesus, that you love him, that you serve him, that you follow him.

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So confession has with it this idea of admitting when asked or admitting when questioned. But then also this word confess has an element of profession to it as well. So not only do we confess, but we profess. And it means to declare openly or to speak out freely.

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And so the idea here is not just when you're asked, hey, are you a Christian or do you believe in Jesus? Are you to let that be known? But there also needs to be, well, this profession of Jesus in our lives that we openly declare, that we openly share, that we speak out freely about our relationship with Jesus Christ, what we believe and what he has done for us.

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I like what John Corson has to say about this. He says, when you begin a new job or move into a new neighborhood or enroll in a new school, go on record from day one and let people know you're a believer. So when you're in a new situation, he's saying, you need to let the people know that you believe in Jesus. You need to let the people know where you stand, who Jesus is to you.

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What that means, you need to let people know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. I would also extend that to say, if you're not necessarily in a new situation, you're in the same situation you've been in for a while, but you've never made that known.

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And people don't know that you're a Christian. People don't know that you believe in Jesus Christ. People don't know that you've received him as Savior and Lord. I would suggest to you that that's an important thing that needs to happen. That there needs to be the profession, this open declaration. I believe in Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus.

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It's interesting because, you know, for us as believers, when we're amongst one another, it's not real difficult to put this into practice. Right? Maybe you've been at the Harvest Crusade.

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Have you been to the stadium? And you'll know if you've been to the stadium, something that happens every year is one group of the stadium, one section will say, we love Jesus. Yes, we do. We love Jesus. How about you? And they'll point to another section, right? And then the other section stands up and says, we love Jesus. Yes, we do. We love Jesus. You guys aren't going to do it with me? Come on. What's up with that? We love Jesus. Yes, we do. We love Jesus. How about you?

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you and then the other section goes we love jesus yes we do we love jesus how about you right and they go back and forth and back and forth right no problem hey maybe you feel a little awkward this morning but you know some of you did it some of you participated nobody stood up you know i don't want to get too wild and crazy you know it's church but it's a lot easier for us to do it in this context it's a lot easier for us to do it at a stadium get us outside of that

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And a lot of times, Christians just shut down. We don't mention the name of Jesus. We don't talk about Jesus. We don't openly, publicly share. I love Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I follow Jesus. Jesus says here, whoever confesses me before men, that he wants us, when people ask us about him, he wants us to be accurate and honest and share with them, yes, I believe in Jesus. Yes, I follow Jesus.

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But also he desires for you and I to also profess that not only when we're asked, but to go out of our way to make sure that the people around us know where we stand with Jesus. So to confess Jesus before men has this idea of confessing when people ask, professing when people don't know. But then the third element I want to highlight of this word is praise. This word also can be used to say to praise or to celebrate something.

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celebrate Jesus before men. That we're to praise the Lord. Now again, it's easy for us to do that in certain contexts. You know, you come in and you're sharing something great that happened this week and you're like, man, praise the Lord. This thing happened. This thing came together. But a couple days ago when it was happening and there were not

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church around you, but it was your co-workers or it was your family, you weren't saying, praise the Lord. You were saying, yes, or wow, oh, this is so cool. You know, you were using other words to describe, but here around Christians, you're like, praise the Lord. And there's this difference between the way that you communicate, the way that you praise the Lord is different when you're around believers than when you're not around believers. And I would suggest to you that you need to really challenge your thinking on this, that

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You need to make sure that God gets the glory. That Jesus is praised. That the people aren't looking on and thinking, wow, good things are happening to you. You must be a good person. You need to make sure that people aren't thinking, you're so smart. That's why that happened for you. You're so good with your money. That's why, you know, these things happen. You're so diligent that you're not getting, you need to make sure you're not getting the glory. But that you're praising Jesus.

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We talked about hypocrisy last week, where we pretend to fear God in front of other people. But we also do the opposite of that sometimes, where we pretend to not know God when we're around people who do not know God. Jesus says, whoever confesses me before men. That is, when people ask, we need to be honest and accurate and share with them our love for the Lord and our relationship to him.

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But then we don't have to wait always for people to ask. We also need to profess and share with them, this is who Jesus is to me. I believe in him and I follow him. But then also when God does good works, you make sure that you praise him, that you celebrate Jesus no matter who's around, that you do that publicly before men. That's part of what we're doing this coming Wednesday. We're thanking God publicly. It's a biblical thing to praise God, to remember and recount what he's done for us.

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But don't let it be limited to what we do around believers. Because then Thursday, so here come Wednesday, you're going to say, oh, praise God, he did this. And then Thursday, you're going to say, well, I'm thankful for, and disregard or leave out the whole Jesus part of it just to say what you're thankful for. I would encourage you. You need to praise Jesus before men and celebrate Jesus before men.

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Praise him when praise is due. So Jesus says, whoever confesses me before men, he goes on to say, him, the son of man, will also confess before the angels of God. So make sure you get this. Make sure you grab hold of what Jesus is saying here. He is declaring that his acceptance of you in heaven is

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is related to your acceptance of him on earth. Your representation of him on earth relates to his representation of you in heaven. Think about it this way. Your life is cut short today and you stand before the Lord. You're looking for entrance into eternity with him. You're looking for entrance into heaven. And here's Jesus thinking, I don't know if I can let you in.

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I mean, if I let you in, what are the angels going to think if I let you in? Oh man, I don't know if I want them thinking that about me. Why? Well, let's back it up. A couple days ago, you're like, man, what are people going to think if I confess that I believe in Jesus? I don't know if I want the people thinking about me like that. See, Jesus is saying there's a connection there. The way that you confess him before men.

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The way that you have grasped hold of Him. If it's not fully and wholeheartedly, which includes life at church, life privately, but also life publicly, Jesus says, look, when you stand before Him in heaven, there's a connection. There's a relationship. You see, we learn that believing in Jesus is not just a profession of faith. It's not just, you know, one time you said a prayer, one time you responded and went on the field, or you responded at church, and you say, you know, I pray this prayer, I believe in Jesus.

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But we learn in the scriptures, we learn in Jesus' teachings that believing in him means a wholehearted turning towards him. To follow him regardless of what the world may say. And that's where we go back to fear God and not man. That we have to put God first and seek to please God. Be more concerned about him than people because, well, he's the one who has the authority to cast our soul into hell.

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entrance into the kingdom of God requires a full commitment to Jesus Christ right now. Right now, a wholehearted commitment is required to enter into eternity with God. A fake relationship with Jesus, that's not sufficient. It has to be wholehearted. It has to be for real. And if it's for real, then confess Jesus before men. Do it publicly. When people ask,

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When people don't know, when praise is due, confess Jesus before men. Now Jesus will go on to make this even more clear in the next verse. Verse 9 says, But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. So Jesus now says the inverse. Confess me before men, I'll confess you before the angels of God. Deny me before men, I will deny you before the angels of God. To deny Jesus...

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means that he will deny you think about peter we remember peter right he denied the lord not just once but three times in the same night he denied jesus someone asked him hey aren't you a follower of jesus so no don't be silly i don't follow that guy someone else came and said hey are you i'm pretty sure you're one of his disciples i mean your accent gives you away i i think you're a disciple of jesus oh no no no i'm not i'm not a follower of that jesus i don't know him

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And then someone else comes along and says, all right, we're pretty sure we saw you in the garden with Jesus. You're one of his disciples. Admit it. And Peter even went as far as to curse. Hey, may I be cursed to the lowest hell if I know that guy? I don't know him, I tell you. He denied the Lord. We need to be careful not to do the same. Jesus says, if you deny me before men, that you will be denied before the angels of God. Now,

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This was before the Holy Spirit came upon the church and Peter. And so lots of things changed in Acts chapter 2. But we still have this warning from the Lord to not deny him before men. And I'm not suggesting that this is a one-time thing. Hey, you deny Jesus one time, that's it. You're out of heaven. Forget it. No, we'll see in just a moment. That's forgivable. But we need to be growing in this. And I would challenge you to be growing in this. That...

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When praise is due to the Lord that you don't deny the Lord by not mentioning his name. And again there's this difference you know around people at church. Or you go home and you say praise the Lord honey. Look what God did today. But you know just a few hours earlier you're like yes. Oh things work together. Oh I'm so good you know. That the glory is not going where glory is due. That you need to praise the Lord when praise is due.

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And it needs to be open and public and before the people that are around you. That you make sure that God gets the glory or that you profess who Jesus is. That you love him, that you believe in him when people don't know.

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Jesus said in Luke chapter 9, this is not a new thought that we're looking at here. It's not the first time we've ever seen this, or it's not the first time Jesus has ever shared it. In Luke chapter 9 verse 26, he said, Jesus says, look, if you're ashamed of me and my words, then entering into eternity now,

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I'll be ashamed of you. There's this relationship that exists. The way that you confess, profess, and praise Jesus relates to the way that you will be received or rejected in the kingdom of God. Profess Jesus publicly. Let me put it to you this way. There should not be people who interact with you regularly who do not know about your faith in Jesus.

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Think about that for a moment. Think about your life. Think about the people you come in contact with on a normal basis, regularly, throughout the week. You come in contact with people. I would suggest to you there should not be people that you interact with regularly who do not know about your faith in Jesus. That you need to be confessing Jesus before men, professing Jesus before men, praising Jesus before men. That those that you're interacting with regularly need to know

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That you believe in Jesus. And that's connected to your reception into eternity. Is what Jesus is saying. Now I think many of us would begin to object. And we would say well this is going to mess up my family life. If I start professing Jesus. Praising Jesus and celebrating Jesus. This is going to make some serious waves in my family. That the holidays are not going to be the same. I mean it's really going to mess some things up.

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I don't know if I can do this. But see, it goes back to what we looked at last week. Do you fear God or do you fear man? Who will you fear? Who's your priority? Pleasing your family, not rocking the boat, not making waves, or is pleasing God the most important thing to you? Do you fear God or do you fear man? Or you might think, man, if I start acting like this in the workplace, oh boy, this is really going to mess up my career path. You know, I have this plan.

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I'm working towards this goal and I'm going to be in that position. I'm going to have that career. I start telling people about Jesus. Letting people know that I believe in Jesus. If I start sharing these things, well, that's going to mess it up. I don't think I can make it to that position. I don't think I can have that career. I don't think I can have that position. They're not going to let me have it. It's going to cause lots of problems in the workplace. And again, I would say,

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Who are you going to fear? You have to choose. Fear God or fear man. And if your career in that position is the most important thing to you, then God is not your God. And so you need to recognize that. That's a need. That's a concern. Because if you do not confess Jesus before men, he says he will not confess you before the angels of God. You see, to be a Christian, well, it's to be on a mission to let people know about Jesus. And you need to be accurate. You need to be honest.

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About who Jesus is to you. With the people around you. There should not be people in your life. That you interact with on a regular basis. Who do not know about your faith in Jesus. Confess him. Publicly profess Jesus. Well going on now into verse 10. We have the second point. And that is. Do not reject Jesus personally. So not only do we profess Jesus publicly. But we also do not reject Jesus personally.

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He goes on now to call us to not reject Jesus personally. You could also flip this around and just say, receive Jesus personally. If you like that as the point better, that's fine. Receive Jesus personally. But here's what it says in verse 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.

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An important verse here, a key verse, maybe one that you're a little bit familiar with as we talk about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But let's start out with what Jesus starts with. He says, anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, he says, it will be forgiven him. As we talk about professing Jesus publicly, you and I understand it's not always easy and sometimes we will mess it up and we won't praise the Lord when praise is due. We'll

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Kind of shrink back and not profess when we need to. Or not confess when prompted. Sometimes we're going to mess up. We're going to be timid. We're going to be scared. Jesus is saying, look, to speak a word against me, to speak a word against Jesus, that can be forgiven. When we fall short in professing Jesus publicly, that can be forgiven. In fact, taking it a step further, the Pharisees said,

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have been speaking against Jesus. The context of what we're studying here goes back to chapter 11 when Jesus cast out the demon from the boy and the Pharisee said, he casts out demons by Beelzebub. He's a minister of Satan. That's why he has this power. That's why he can cast out demons. They've been speaking against Jesus, accusing him of being an agent of Satan.

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Not only that, but they are plotting against Jesus. They're scheming how they can put him to death. And then eventually they actually turn him over to be crucified. The Pharisees are speaking against Jesus. And what Jesus is saying here, all that can be forgiven. The Pharisees speaking against Jesus, scheming and plotting against Jesus, handing him over to be crucified. They still had the opportunity to be forgiven. All of that could be forgiven.

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But then he goes on to explain what cannot be forgiven. He says, to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. So Jesus says, here's what can be forgiven. Here's the specific thing that cannot be forgiven. And so we refer to this as the unpardonable sin. You've probably heard about that.

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The unpardonable sin. The sin that cannot be forgiven. Here is the way that James Vernon McGee describes this sin. He says, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to resist his convicting work in the heart and life. This is a permanent condition unless he stops resisting. So this is the way that McGee and most Bible commentators will describe sin.

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Or define the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. To resist the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. So that's the conclusion that they come to. But let me walk you through and help us understand why that is. First of all, looking at Jesus for just a moment longer. He said, if you speak a word against me, that can be forgiven. Because think about the ministry and the mission of Jesus. When Jesus was on the cross, he was there hanging.

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One of the things that he said right near the end, he said, it is finished. Or more literally, paid in full. In dying upon the cross, the price for sin, the penalty for sin was paid in full. And Jesus is saying, mission accomplished. That the reason why he came to the earth, he's God, he's always existed, but he became man again.

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Not just to teach some good teachings, give us some good parables, give us lots of materials to teach sermons from. He didn't just come to be a good example, to be a good role model for us, or to give us some good insights in life. No, the mission that he came to accomplish was to die upon the cross, to pay the full penalty for sin. And so his job is done. It's completed. It's completed.

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So much so it's illustrated by the fact that he is now seated at the right hand of the father in heaven. Now yesterday we had a food and craft fair here and we had lots of people involved. Many of you were involved. Thank you for your help. It was a great opportunity. We got to minister to some people but there's work involved and so we're here early. We're setting up tables and speakers and all that kind of thing and then after it's all done then we pack it all up

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We put it all away and then we go home. And what do we do when we go home? Well, what we often, the way we phrase it often is we crash. We go home because the work is done. We can sit down because the work is done. Or maybe you lay down because the work is done. The work is completed. And so we go home and sit down. In the same way, Jesus accomplished his mission. His job is done. And so now he's seated at the right hand of the Father.

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Now he ever lives to make intercession for us there. He's communicating with the Father on our behalf. But his work regarding the payment for sin, the penalty of sin, it's done, it's completed. The price is paid for fully so that you and I, to have our sins forgiven, doesn't require another act of sacrifice by Jesus. That you and I to be forgiven, all we need to do is receive by faith what he accomplished for us upon the cross.

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Because on the cross, he paid the price for the sin of all humanity, past, present, and future. So it's all paid for. All sin has already been paid for at the cross. It's already been done. So we simply have to receive by believing in Jesus, by faith in Jesus, what he has accomplished for us. And we have the forgiveness that he promises to us. So here's the point I'm getting at.

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Speaking against Jesus does not change any of that because his work is already done. It's already completed. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, has a different mission. His job is different and it's not yet completed. It's ongoing. So to speak against Jesus, that, he says, can be forgiven. But to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Because here's the mission, here's the job of the Holy Spirit that is ongoing. It's to help people

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You receive the work that Jesus accomplished. That's the Holy Spirit's mission. Jesus describes this in John chapter 16. You can check it out later on, verses 8 through 11. Where he tells his disciples, he says, look, I'm going away, but I'm sending the Holy Spirit to you. And here's what the Holy Spirit is going to be doing. He says in verse 8 of John 16, when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

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So I'm sending the Holy Spirit for you. Here's what he's going to be doing. Convicting the world. Convicting those who do not believe in sin, righteousness, and judgment. In these three aspects, the Holy Spirit is going to be working in the lives of those who do not believe. He says of sin because they do not believe in me. And so the Holy Spirit...

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is at work amongst those who do not believe in Jesus to help them to understand that they sin. That is, that they fall short of the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is at work to reveal, to show you're not as awesome as you think you are. That you fall short. You're a sinner. You don't measure up to God's standard. So the Holy Spirit is convicting people of sin. But then Jesus also says He's convicting people of righteousness. Right?

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And he says, he's convicting people of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more. So the Holy Spirit is first of all showing people, you fall short. You have sin issues. Then he's also involved in saying, here's the standard of righteousness.

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Jesus isn't in front of you anymore to show you the standard. So the Holy Spirit is convicting people. Here's the standard. The standard is righteousness. The standard is perfection. This is the standard. Here's where you are. Here's the standard. See the difference? That's what the Holy Spirit is doing. And then he also says, convict the world of judgment. So can you see the picture of the work of the Holy Spirit? He comes alongside those who do not believe and he's revealing to them that

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You have some sin. You have some serious issues. You need some help. Here's the standard. It's perfection. It's righteousness. There's a gap here. You don't measure up. And if this continues, the result will be judgment. So the Holy Spirit is bringing this awareness of this need of a Savior to the world. That's His job. That's His mission. That's what He is doing.

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His job, his mission is to help people see their need for Jesus and then to believe in Jesus. So now, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, to speak against the Holy Spirit, is to speak against or to reject the Holy Spirit's presentation of the Savior. Here's his work. Here's your need. This is the standard.

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Judgment will result if you don't change things. If you don't receive the Savior. Jesus is the Savior. This is what the Holy Spirit is communicating to those who don't believe. And if you say, I don't want that. I reject that. I don't believe you. Jesus is saying, that's not forgivable. Because forgiveness is only found in Jesus Christ. Sometimes people get concerned. Oh, maybe I've committed the unpardonable sin. Why do you think that? Well, I went and I did this and that.

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I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyways. That's not the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, but the Spirit was convicting me and I knew it was wrong, but you don't understand. I mean, it was really terrible what I did. That's not the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It's sin. You need to repent of it. I'm not trying to say it's fine, but that's not the sin that's not forgivable. The sin that's not forgivable is the sin of rejecting Jesus as Savior.

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Rejecting the forgiveness that is offered by faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, this is not an accidental sin. Where, oops, you know, you accidentally blaspheme the Holy Spirit. You know, there's a saying, hell hath no fury like the Holy Spirit scorned. No, no, no. That's not what it is. Like you accidentally hurt his feelings and so now you can't be forgiven? No. This is not an accidental sin. This is the permanent rejection of Jesus. Because he's at work.

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Sharing with you the reality of Jesus. And if you reject that, there is no other forgiveness available. Here's the way that David Guzik puts it. He says, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, not because it is a sin too big for God to forgive, but because it is an attitude of heart that cares nothing for God's forgiveness. It never has forgiveness because it never wants forgiveness God's way.

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It may want forgiveness on its own terms, but never God's way. So someone who says, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe, I think that I can get to heaven, that I can be forgiven as long as my good works outweigh my bad works. So I'm kind of measuring them out, trying to make sure I have enough good works to outweigh my bad works. And I think that's reasonable enough that God should forgive me, that I should be able to enter into heaven because I have more good works than bad works.

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You see, that's making your own terms. Well, I think I should go to heaven because I'm very religious and I go to church every Sunday and I read my Bible all the time and, you know, I'm really diligent in this and so, you see, we try to set our own terms. This is why God should forgive me. But God has only presented one way of forgiveness. It's found by faith in Jesus Christ and if you reject that, there is no other forgiveness.

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Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It's the only way of salvation, the only way of forgiveness. And so what do we need to do? We need to receive Jesus personally or not reject Jesus personally. The Holy Spirit is presenting Jesus to us. And if we reject him, there's no other way of forgiveness and salvation. Instead, we need to receive the presentation of Jesus as our Savior.

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You really cannot profess Jesus publicly unless you have received him personally. But lots of people try anyway. You cannot profess Jesus publicly unless you've received him personally. But lots of people try anyway. And that's why we have the saying, there's so many hypocrites in the church. Why do we have that saying? Because lots of people, they're not really following Jesus. They're not really walking with Jesus. But they proclaim the name of Jesus publicly.

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And it's interesting, we have kind of the opposite problems. There are those who have not received Jesus personally, but they proclaim his name publicly. They're real bold. They'll talk about Jesus. They'll mention his name. They'll be bold about that. But in reality, their hearts are not for him. There's that hypocrisy like we were talking about last week.

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So there's that problem. And then you have on the other side, the issue where there are those who have received Jesus personally. They believe in Jesus. But when it comes to being around people who don't believe, there's this great fear, this timidity. And so those who receive Jesus personally oftentimes don't profess him publicly. The people who haven't received him, they profess him publicly. The people who have received him, they don't profess him publicly. Both are an issue.

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We need both to be involved. We need both to be happening. You need to receive Jesus, which is more than just saying a prayer one time, but it's giving your whole life to Him. Believing in Jesus involves turning over the authority, the keys, the rights to your whole life. Jesus said, if you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me. It needs to be an all-out, a wholehearted prayer.

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A full commitment to Jesus. Receive him personally. Don't just fake it. Don't just pretend. If there's these things that are out of order. Where you're different behind the scenes than you are publicly. You need to re-examine. You need to check your heart. Make sure you receive Jesus personally. And then profess him publicly. Well thirdly we come now to verse 11 and 12. And here...

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How to represent Jesus? We learn we need to represent Jesus boldly. Boldly in the power of the Holy Spirit. Verse 11 says, 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. Jesus is explaining to the disciples, his followers, you and I today. There's this connection. Confess me before men, I'll confess you before the angels of God. But understand, when you confess me before men...

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Some people aren't going to like it. And so when they bring you before these authorities, they're going to put you on trial. They're going to challenge you. There's going to be some questions and some opposition because you have now publicly professed Jesus. You will experience some opposition. And so people who oppose, people who question, they're going to take you and bring you or drag you

43:48
Before these authorities. And there's different kinds here. He mentions synagogues, magistrates, and then authorities. So synagogues, he's saying some of the opposition that you experience will be religious. We can see these things played out through the book of Acts. Where the disciples are challenged because of their profession of Jesus publicly. And they're taken before the religious leaders. In the synagogues. They're taken before the Sanhedrin. They're challenged by God.

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The religious authority. And so there's these religious trials that go on against Jesus, but then also against his followers. And remember, Jesus has just been contending against religion there at the end of chapter 11, as he's been challenging the Pharisees and the lawyers. And so sometimes professing Jesus publicly will result in religious opposition. You could understand this as you think about, we don't see it a lot here, but

44:48
But think about in other countries, you know, Muslim controlled areas where Islam reigns, Islam rules. And those who believe in Jesus, if they profess publicly, there will be religious opposition. They will be challenged. They will be opposed. They will be persecuted. They will be put to death in many places. Jesus said that's the case. When that happens, he says, do not worry. But then also there's magistrates.

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This is the idea of legal or judicial or political opposition. So sometimes professing Jesus publicly is going to land you in some legal trouble. It's going to land you in court. It's going to land you before some political authorities. And in those situations, Jesus is saying, do not worry. This happens, for example, in China. I just heard from one of the guys that we know in China where they, you know, have an underground church and Bible school and

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Someone came knocking. It's the authorities. And they say, we think you're involved in illegal practices. Show us what you're doing. So they brought him in and showed him what they're doing. Yeah, we were right. You're involved in illegal practices. Now they said, you can keep doing that for now, but we'll be back. We're not done with this. And so you can keep them in prayer. But there's this political opposition. Opposition by the government, by the governing force.

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You profess Jesus publicly. We have some issues with that. Now, please understand. What we're talking about here is this opposition that comes from professing Jesus publicly. So if you're doing illegal things and you end up in court, that's not what Jesus is talking about.

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So you get a DUI and you're like, oh, I'm scared to go to court. But Jesus says, hey, don't worry. The Holy Spirit will speak for you. Okay, that's good. That's a different context. That's a whole other thing. That's a whole other issue. But Jesus is talking about when you're professing me, when you're put on trial religiously, politically for my sake, for representing me because you're faithful to me, because you are fulfilling what I've called you to do, do not worry. Okay?

47:27
So synagogues or religious opposition, magistrates or political opposition, or finally he says and authorities. So I'll just kind of use that to be an overall any kind of authority. So when there's opposition from any kind of authority, this could extend from family authority, employer authority, those kinds of authorities that have been placed in our lives and

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Understand, the Bible teaches very clearly, authority has been given by God. Authority is placed by God. And so we are accountable to authorities in this life. But Jesus is saying, when you're brought before those authorities for my namesake, for professing me publicly, then do not worry.

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Now I'm going to use the workplace as an example. I think it's an easy one for us to relate to. Listen, in the workplace it's the same thing as, you know, hey, if you land before a judge because you're practicing illegal things, that's a different story. When you get called into the boss's office because you're late every day, that's a different story.

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That's not what Jesus is talking about. As an employee, listen, as a believer in Jesus, as part of professing Jesus publicly, you need to be the best employee that you can be and perform the job that you were hired to perform.

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Go through what Paul talks about in the book of Ephesians. It's very clear we need to respect and be obedient to those who are in authority over us as if they were the Lord. That when authorities give us instruction, that's God giving us instruction. And to disobey that is to disobey God. And so I want to be very clear here. As far as your relationship with your employer, you need to be the best employee you can be.

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You need to fulfill your obligations and perform the duties that you were hired to do. At the same time, you need to profess Jesus publicly. There's going to be some conflict there. You're going to have to work out those situations. You're going to have to work out what that means for you and how that plays out for you. But when your boss calls you into his office or you get brought into the boss's office because of your failures as an employee,

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Well, that's an issue with your professing Jesus publicly. That is, you're not fulfilling your role, your duties, your obligation. And you need to repent of that and be faithful to that. But when you're brought in before your boss because you have been faithful to the Lord and what he has called you to do, well then, Jesus says, do not worry. But don't use it as an excuse to be lazy in your duties. So you're late to work all the time.

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Your boss says, what's the deal? Well, you know, I pray in the morning. So that's why I'm late to work. Well, listen, that's not being faithful to what God has called you to do. So you always take long lunches. Well, because I was witnessing to this guy in the break room. And so we had to pray at the end and share. I was sharing with them. And so, you know, that's why I just, it always happens. You know, I'm always late because, listen, hey, you need to be faithful to your duties. That's important. But you also need to profess Jesus publicly. Okay.

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Now, it depends on your job. And again, you know, your context might be a little bit different. I've had different kinds of jobs throughout the year. So I've had hourly jobs where I'm paid for the hour. And so if I take from that and do other things, even if it's good things like praying for somebody, I need to be very careful because I could be stealing from my employer by not fulfilling my obligations under the name of, well, I'm doing something spiritual. You know, I'm professing Jesus publicly.

51:43
Well, you might be professing Jesus publicly, but it's not a good witness that you're professing many times. I've also had salary positions where I'm paid more for the job to get done, not so much the moment-by-moment obligation of duties.

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And so there's a little bit more freedom there. So, you know, you got to work out what that means for your situation in the workplace. This isn't only in the workplace. This also applies to the rest of your life as well. It's just an example that I'm using to help us understand there has to be this balance where we profess Jesus publicly. So you're on the clock and someone says, can you pray for me? Maybe your appropriate response would be something like, I have break in about 10 minutes. So meet me then and we can pray together.

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That you are faithful to your duties, but you're also faithful to publicly profess the name of Jesus. So when you're called into the boss's office because you failed as an employee, that's different. But when you're called into the boss's office because you've been praying for people in the parking lot off the clock and people don't like that, that's a different story. That's outside of their realm of authority.

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And so Jesus is saying in that context, in that case where you are faithful as an employee but you are professing Jesus publicly at the same time, you're balancing that well. Then when you stand before those authorities, he goes on to say here, do not worry about how or what you should answer. So don't worry. The idea of worry here is to take careful thoughts. You're strategizing your plan. Oh man, I have this called in front of these guys. Oh, I got to give an account.

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Here's my strategy. Here's what I'm going to say. You have it all figured out. Here's how I'll get them to accept this. Here's how I'll get them to dismiss the charges. Here's how I'll get out of this. Jesus is saying, look, you don't have to have a master strategy to defend yourself. Essentially, he's saying this. Let the Holy Spirit defend you. Look at verse 12. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. You see, when you are being faithful to the Lord...

54:01
And people oppose that and question that and put you on trial for that. It's not your responsibility to defend yourself. It's the Lord's responsibility to defend you. So let the Holy Spirit give you what to say. You don't have to figure it out. You don't have to have it all planned out. You don't have to have the strategy. You need to be led by the Holy Spirit. Think about it this way. The fruit of the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 and 23, right?

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The things that the Holy Spirit produces in you when you're walking in the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. But it ends by saying, against such there is no law. You see, what the Holy Spirit produces in you is not things that are illegal. It's not illegal. It's not things that is against the law. So when you are called to account for those things that the Holy Spirit is producing in you,

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It's not your responsibility to defend yourself. The Holy Spirit's the one who produced those, so he will defend you. So let him give you the words to say. The Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say, Jesus says. And so we need to represent Jesus boldly by first of all being faithful to him.

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In the context that we're talking about. Whether it's religious, political, workplace, home, family, whatever it might be. We need to be faithful to the Lord. But also faithful to profess Jesus publicly. And when we're called on trial for that, we don't have to worry. No stressing. No anxiety. No strategic planning. Let the Holy Spirit lead you and teach you what to say.

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The result will not always be victory in our minds. And we have the example of Stephen in the book of Acts. He was contending against the religious leaders. There was some challenge, some opposition. The Holy Spirit was speaking through him so that the things he was saying, they couldn't be refuted. But the end result was they put him to death. They stoned him. You say, well, that doesn't sound like a good plan. But if this life is the most important thing to you, then you're not living for Jesus. And your priorities are mixed up.

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It doesn't mean you're always going to win, that you're always going to be successful, that you're going to be delivered from every trial or every argument. No, it might mean that you're put to death. But you win, you succeed, you're successful because you are faithful to Jesus. You professed him publicly. You received him personally and you represented him boldly. That's how to represent Jesus. That's what he's calling us to do. The worship team is going to come up and close us in a song. As they do, I want to encourage you.

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Let God continue to minister these things to your heart and challenge you. Are you representing Jesus faithfully? Accurately? Are you professing Him publicly? Have you received Him personally? So that when you're called to account by those authorities in your life, that you can represent Him boldly because the Holy Spirit will be defending you for the things that He has prompted you to do. Let's stand together and sing this closing song.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.