Weekend Musings

Hey gang!

I just got the new Leeland CD. It’s called Opposite Way and it is really good.

BTW, Leeland will be at our Southern California Harvest this August at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, along with the Katinas, Lincoln Brewster, Crystal Lewis, and for the first time at one of our events, the very gifted Michael W. Smith. P.O.D. will be rocking the house on Saturday night, along with Kutless.

We have another special guest who will be us Friday night that I cannot announce yet, but you will love them! I will not tell you if they are a guy or girl, but you can guess!

For more info on this event, click here.

Check out my weekend ramblings

WorldNetDaily is running a series of articles around Lost Boy. To read this weekend’s article, click here.

Here is my long-form weekend devotion, as well.

This Sunday at Harvest, I will teaching from our new series, Upside-Down Living. I am going to look at the life of the first martyr of the Church, young Stephen. The message title will be “A Life Well-Lived.” You can read ahead in Acts 6-7.

To watch this or any of our webcasts, click here.

The Unforgivable Sin

I want to wrap up this series I have been doing about “Sins against the Spirit.” We have dealt with lying to, quenching, grieving, and insulting the Holy Spirit.

We can resist the Holy Spirit

Stephen, as he spoke to the unbelieving Sanhedrin, said, “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? But your ancestors did, and so do you!” (Acts 7:51 NLT).

The Holy Spirit seeks to speak to the heart of the unbeliever and lead him or her to God. The Holy Spirit is incredibly patient and persistent, but it is possible to resist all His pleadings, as we discover from Genesis 6:3, where God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.”

Apparently, the spiritual leaders of Israel whom Stephen was addressing had resisted the Holy Spirit. It seems they were convinced of the truth of what Stephen was telling them, yet they would not yield their hearts.

This, along with insulting the Holy Spirit, can lead to the ultimate sin.

We can blaspheme the Holy Spirit

This is the “unpardonable sin,” which can be committed only by unbelievers. In speaking of this sin, Jesus said:

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 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” (Matthew 12:31–32 NKJV).

This is the most serious offense against the Holy Spirit, because there is no forgiveness for the one who commits it.

So what is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Again, the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of sin and bring us to Jesus Christ (John 16:8). To blaspheme Him is similar to insulting Him, in that we resist His work altogether. It no doubt follows the pattern of insulting Him and resisting Him, ultimately leading to this horrendous and unpardonable sin.

This sin should not be the concern of any Christian, because it is not a sin a believer can or will commit.

There is a point of no return

But for the person who is playing some silly religious game, there is great cause for concern, because this is a point of no return. Where and when this would occur in an individual’s life, only God could say.

So instead of grieving, quenching, insulting, or resisting the Holy Spirit, we should be open to His work in our lives.

I have a better idea than resisting or insulting the Holy Spirit. “Be filled with the Holy Spirit” (see Ephesians 5:18). Pray that God will fill and empower you even now to live the life He has called you to live!