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8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” ~ Luke 12:8-12
Today, we come back to this conversation between the Lord Jesus and His disciples. It takes place in the context of a very large crowd, just after the Lord Jesus had eaten a meal at a Pharisee's house. During that meal, He pronounced six woes upon the religious establishment.
After warning the disciples of hypocrisy in v.1-7, the Lord Jesus now says to the disciples in v.8, "I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others." The word "acknowledges" means "to own up to what is true" or “to say what is true” or "to agree with God."
In Matthew 7:21-22 we read, "Many will say unto Me on that day, Lord, Lord, we did this, we did that, we did this." He says, "Depart from Me, I never knew you." You know, “You honor Me with your lips and your heart is far from Me. "I don't know you, depart from Me you workers of iniquity."
True salvation comes only to those who own up to God the Father's definition of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These religious leaders of Israel were trying to honor God while cursing the Lord Jesus, at the same time. We dishonor God by rejecting or denying Christ because God Himself has said, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, listen to Him."
In the second part of v.8 we read, "... the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God." If we own up to the correct identity of the Lord Jesus, He says, "I will own up to knowing you before the angels of God." Heaven will belong to those who honor God by honoring the Son. We cannot honor the Father without honoring the Son. True conversion is evidenced by a confession of the Father's definition of the Lord Jesus, that He is His Son and we are to be defined by Him as our Messiah.
In v.9 we read, "But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God." The Holy Spirit is always at work in those who make this true confession of the Lord Jesus. We can't know Christ without the work of the Spirit. It is the Spirit who reveals Him to us. It is Christ who shows us the Father. The way to Christ is through the work of the Holy Spirit. And, the way to the Father is through the work of the Son.
It is the purpose, the job, the ministry of the Holy Spirit to convict mankind of sin and to convince us of our need for the savior. If a person, after hearing the gospel, continually rejects the work of the Holy Spirit, the drawing of the Holy Spirit, by rejecting the One God sent, there is no forgiveness for sin for that person. This is the unforgivable sin.
Peter denied the Lord three times before and during the trial of the Lord Jesus. Yet, at the end of His life He affirmed the Father's definition of His Son. He died having been forgiven.
Judas Iscariot walked with the Lord Jesus for years, he had seen His miracles and heard His messages. He, at the end of his life, denied the identity of the Father of the Lord Jesus. And, he died in his sin.
In Matthew 7:22-23 we read, "Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name," Jesus says to them, "I never knew you!" Are there things that God does not know? No, He knows all things. The key, here, is He knows us. He uses the Greek word "gnosko" which means personal relationship. You see, the Lord Jesus knows us as a result of us agreeing with the Father regarding the identity of His Son. When that happens, the Holy Spirit makes us alive to God and we have entered into a personal relationship with Him. This relationship is not perpetuated by our good works or by our determination to be good, it is continued by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
In v.10 of today's text, we read, "And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." It is blasphemy to ignore God, to resist the Holy Spirit's call to believe in the Lord Jesus. And, the moment you and I believed on the Lord Jesus, we were forgiven of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The only thing that gets us into heaven is the only thing that keeps us out. That is: what do we do with the Lord Jesus.
Then in v.11-12 of today's text, we read, "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say."
Once we began to believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit about the Lord Jesus, the Spirit began to assure us that we will always be a believer in the Spirit's testimony. And, the Holy Spirit gives us a story with the Lord Jesus that will be useful in our most difficult hours. The Holy Spirit is our internal teacher and He will continue to keep our faith alive and intact even in the severest conditions.
This is how we avoid the disaster of being a hypocrite, by believing the testimony of God the Father about the Lord Jesus, and by believing the testimony of the Holy Spirit about the Son.
