Well, let me encourage everyone to follow along in your Bibles. We're going to be, as you can see there in Luke chapter 12, we've come to verse 10. But we really began this section last week when we looked at verses 8 and 9, but if you'll remember there was so much in those verses, particularly pertaining to baptism, that we didn't really have time to interact with the three verses that we're going to be looking at today. And it may not seem like it at first glance, if you just jump in there at verse 10, but I think when we really think about these verses all together, we'll see that they really are pretty explicitly connected by Luke, that that's his intent there. And I would argue that they're meant to keep on working out that foundational principle that we saw there in verses four and five that we'll talk about in just a minute. I'll leave you hanging for that for now. Hopefully everybody's there that wants to be there. Gonna jump on in. We're gonna start reading back up in verse eight just so we can be reminded of that immediate context. And as always, I remind you that this is the holy and inspired word of God. Verse eight, excuse me. And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the son of man also will acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we receive your word. Help us to receive it truly. Lord, reveal it to us. Give us understanding. That's our request. Planet in our hearts, our minds. Circumcise our ears and hearts. Help us to. Respond to it. In a way that glorifies you. Please give us this grace. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. So, so far in this longer section that we've been looking at that goes all the way back, I think, to verse four, I've been telling you that there's sort of this underlying and overarching theme of the fear of the Lord. Hopefully you can remember that. Last week we saw that theme of the fear of the Lord being applied to the particular context of our publicly confessing Christ, right? And we made the connection of that to baptism and other things. Well, the verses that we're gonna be looking at this morning, I think they're still carrying that same theme forward, but here too, again, they have a very specific focus. Notice, scan over it with me, and we'll jump in in a minute, but notice that that warning in verse 10, that consolation there in verse 12, in both of those, there's a particular focus being given to the person and work of the Holy Spirit, and our response to his person and work, and our reliance upon his person and work. Additionally, there's another little sub-theme that we see continuing on in this section, beginning in verse eight. If you'll notice, every verse, or at least every little sub-section, has to do something with our speech, something with the things that we say and testify to, et cetera. Remember verse 8, look at it with me, and I want to remind you of a couple of details before we move forward. Jesus had said, I say to you, everyone who confesses me before men, do you remember what that word meant? to say, to speak the same thing. Remember, it was a compound word, right? In other words, to say, to speak in agreement with the claims that Jesus had made about himself. And he said, those who do that, the son of man will say the same thing about them, will confess them before the angels of God on the day of judgment, remember. Same way, he who denies me before men, the connotation there is through his speech, with his words, will be denied. at the judgment before the angels of God. Hopefully everybody can remember that. If you weren't here, now you're caught up. It was a much longer sermon then. I could have just done this. But notice now when we get to verse 10, that then that's the first kind of theme, the first connecting kind of theme that we see there. See, he introduces that with a little conjunction connecting the verses and in the English, but he says, Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, right? So, just before we read on, think about it. He said, those who confess me with their lips, I'll also confess. Those who deny me, I'll deny with my lips, right? Okay, now. Look back at verse 10. Notice what he said. I think if we weren't so familiar with it, it would surprise us. Because he says, and everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, remember that's the title of the messianic king in his real humanity, will be forgiven. Now, when we first read that, it seems like it sort of takes away the force that we read in verse nine, right? In other words, it sounds like if we stop there, he's saying, if you deny Christ, he'll deny you, but if you only speak evil of him, right? If you only revile him, not to worry, you'll be forgiven, right? It's a little confusing if it rests right there. But look what he goes on to say. It almost adds to the confusion in an immediate sense. He says, back in verse 10, everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes, that's the same thing, to speak evil of someone, whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, he says, will not be forgiven. Now, Calvin asks an important question here. I'm gonna let him ask it of you. He says, why is it said that he who blasphemes against the Spirit is a more heinous sinner than he who blasphemes against Christ? You ever think about it in those terms? We need to. He says, asked rhetorically, is it because the majesty of the Spirit is greater Is it because a crime committed against him, the Holy Spirit, must be punished with a greater severity? Now guys, many today, certain persuasions, they won't say it like that, but that's basically what they infer by the way they present this warning. Calvin says, reminds us, certainly that is not the reason. Okay? Now, you could say it'd be easy to think, well, maybe this is in reference to Christ and his humanity. And in his humanity, he's making a deference to the deity of the Holy Spirit. Right? Now, that's not my position. I'm just saying you could see where people could take that. But think about what Calvin points out here. This is why I wanted to go here. He says, certainly that's not the reason, for as the fullness of the Godhead shines, radiates in Christ, he who pours contempt over him overturns and destroys, as far as it lies in his power, the whole glory of God. Where's he getting that from? He referenced it, Colossians 2.9, which says what? In the human Jesus, in his humanity, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Guys, is Jesus part God and part man? No, right? He's fully God and fully man, right? Those things are, those, I can't say, you gotta be careful here, right? Those natures are inseparable, okay? So what that tells us is that whatever the distinction is that Jesus is making, it can't be attributed to differences that we see in the two divine persons, right? In the nature, at least, of the two divine persons. So then the question, of course, is what's the cause for the difference that he makes here? Clearly he's making a distinguishment, right? The blasphemy of the one can be forgiven. The blasphemy against the other cannot be forgiven. Well, I think there's two elements to this. I think the one has to do with the nature of the sin itself. We'll talk about that in a minute. And secondly, I think the distinction here has to do with the nature of the work of the Holy Spirit, particularly in the first century. I'll have to qualify all that. But let's talk about the nature of the sin first. And I know we've talked about this back in chapter 11. We didn't spend a long time on it, so we'll spend a little more time here. But probably many of you weren't here, and this is one of those passages that's so enigmatic that really the repetition helps us, because we quickly forget it and get lost, myself included, get lost in the mystery and the fear. Regarding the nature of the sin, this is one of the kind of, okay, yep. Again, overarching, prominent themes of scripture right here, and that's that the greater the light you sin against, the greater your guilt. We've been taught, I was going to say programmed, it sounds so nefarious, but we've been taught, most of us here in our lifetimes, that all sin is the same, and there's no distinction in it, and that's just not biblical. I'm going to show you that, but there's many other places where you can. But for example, this is from the law, Numbers 15.27, watch. If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. That's not a very costly sacrifice. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake when he sins unintentionally to make atonement for him, and look, and he shall be forgiven, okay? We all can relate to that sort of thing, right? But look at the language. The person who does anything with a high hand, what's that? Knowingly, willfully, in the face of God, knowing he's sinning, knowing he's challenging God's authority. The one who does it with a raised fist reviles the Lord, see the similar language of blasphemy, right? Speaking even, he reviles the Lord and that person shall be cut off from among his people, why? Because he's despised the word of the Lord, has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off, his iniquity shall be upon him, shall remain on him. So you see the differences in those two, right? Okay. Now think about this. Paul said, he kind of affirmed this principle in his own life. We'll revisit this in a commentary in a minute, but I thought it good to present it to you here first. Remember Paul said, 1 Timothy 1.13, about himself, he said, formerly, before his conversion, he says, I was a blasphemer, right? He says, I was a persecutor. He describes himself as an insolent opponent, of whom? of Christ, right? Remember, he was hunting down Christians, right? He was seeing to it that they were put to death if he could. Why? Because he genuinely thought that Christ was a false messiah, right? He genuinely thought that Christianity was a heretical Jewish cult that would damn men's souls to hell. He genuinely, with a clear conscience, thought that, right? He says, I receive mercy Because I acted ignorantly. Because I acted in unbelief. Right? See the difference there. Those are the inspired words of the apostle here. Now, was he wrong? Did he still sin? Was his sin heinous? Yes, okay. But he did not commit this sin that we're talking about. And the fact that he converted is proof of that. We'll tie them together with a commentary in a minute. So just hang in there with me. Actually, that's where we're at now. I should have looked down. Sorry. All right. Watch how these connect, meaning the nature of the sin and the nature of the work of the spirit, the two things that I think are being distinct here. I actually read this to you back when we did chapter 11. This is from a commentator named Daniel Doriani. He says, the distinction between blasphemy against Jesus, which is forgivable, and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, unforgivable, he says, rests upon the work of the Holy Spirit. He's more singular with it. But watch, he reminds us, he, the Holy Spirit, convicts of sin and testifies that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior. Jesus says someone can reject Jesus and God will forgive if he repents and believes, like Paul, and then he He brings that theme together, watch, sins, or those themes together, sins of ignorance, however severe, are pardonable. He says, remember, Paul blasphemed and persecuted the church, but God had mercy on him because he sinned in ignorance. He says, likewise, and guys, we need to remember this, many Jews who participated in the crucifixion did not understand what they were doing and eventually repented. How do we know that? Well, for one thing, Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they're doing, right? So not all of them were sinning against this clearest light. Why? Because some of them came to repentance later. We see that in these references that he includes in the book of Acts, right? A minority, but many thousands did repent, right? And then, so then, he then concludes this, blasphemy against the Spirit then is the sober, clear-minded, deliberate rejection of Jesus as a very agent of evil despite full knowledge of His work and in the face of the Spirit's full testimony to Him. Let me show you something. We read this from Hebrews 2 a couple of weeks back on Sunday night when we were looking at cessationism. Remember this, Hebrews 2.1, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard. Remember, he had introduced that book with saying that the fullness of God's self-revelation has now come not in prophets like in the Old Testament, but now in a son. In a son who's the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature. Right? And then spent the whole rest of the chapter talking about the supremacy of the son. And then comes here. and says, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard lest we drift away from it. In other words, that apostolic deposit of truth that we now lovingly refer to as the New Testament, right? Now watch the contrast. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, talking about the law in the Old Testament, watch. This language is everywhere, if we think about it. How shall we escape? judgment, condemnation, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation, i.e., as has been delivered to us through the apostles? Look, I should have read on. It was declared at first by the Lord Jesus and was attested to us by those who heard, the apostles. That's the chain of command, if you will, right? But watch. While God also bore witness, How did God in heaven bear witness to the things that were being spoken on earth by the man Jesus and later by his apostles? By signs and wonders. By signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. What's the point? The point is that all those miraculous phenomena that were happening They were the Spirit of God's attestation on the truth of what Jesus was preaching. And later, on the truth of what Jesus' authoritative apostles were preaching. See that? It was the Spirit of God doing things that no one could deny. Guys, not like alleged miracle workers of the day who heal people with, you know, air quotes, people with back pain or some kind of little, you know, I grew a finger trick or something like that for the cameras. I'm not talking about that. Okay. These were things nobody could deny. Like a man who's been dead for three days comes alive. A man who's been crippled for 40 years jumps up and can carry his bed. You see a man who's been blind all his life can suddenly see a man who couldn't speak for years, potentially decades could now speak. Those are the kinds of miracles that the spirit of God was performing through Jesus and his apostles. And it was all meant to testify to the truth of the gospel, guys. And this sin, see, is the knowing, willful casting of that aside, knowing it to be true. We'll see that in a commentary in a minute. But let me deal with something first. That being said, okay, There's a sense in which nobody that's living today can commit this sin. In what sense? In the sense that Jesus and His apostles are not outgoing about performing signs and wonders as they preach. You see what I'm saying? You know me, I don't delimit it to that, but I want to recognize that there's some validity to that, okay? There's a particular focus, there was a particular warning and indictment to those first century Jews, particularly the first century Jewish leaders. There's a way that this applies to them that cannot apply to us, okay? But guys, think about it, because there is a sense in which this is very applicable. Brandon's already going there, right? Is the Holy Spirit still testifying to the truth of Jesus, to the truth of the gospel to those living today? Amen. How? In the deposit that he laid down through Jesus and those apostles, in his word, in the deposit that he attested to with those miracles then. How else? In the consciences of men, brethren. And just in a sense, the same that was true for them then, if they reject the Spirit's testimony that he was giving them through signs and wonders, the same consequence happens today when we reject the Spirit's testimony that he's confirmed, laid down, and preserved in the Word of God. What's that? an eternal sin, guys. No forgiveness, no path to forgiveness that's found in that. Look at what Herman Boving says here. I thought this was really good. He says the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, quote, is a sin against the gospel in its clearest revelation. See the point? God attested to the preaching of Jesus and the apostles in the clearest possible way, the most profound way imaginable, by doing things that no one could deny. I've often said the problem of unbelief is not intellectual, is it? It's moral, okay? These people saw these things over and over and continued to be, and they rejected. He says, It's a sin against the gospel and it's clearest revelation look not in doubting or simply denying the truth but in a denial which goes against the conviction of the intellect in a denial that goes against the enlightenment of the conscience in a denial that goes against the dictates of the heart say he describes as a conscious willful intentional knowing imputation to the influence and working of Satan of that which is clearly recognized as God's work. It says in a willful declaration that the Holy Ghost is the spirit of the abyss, that truth is a lie, and that Christ is Satan himself. If you remember all the passages that we've looked at, we're not going to re-look at them all, but you can see what this language that he's invoking here. But now think about this. We see a case study for this sort of thing at the stoning of Stephen. We see this in real time happening, this blasphemy of the spirit. We'll come back to it twice today, but for now we'll read this. Remember, Stephen sort of concluded that glorious, cost redemptive historical gospel sermon before his accusers like this. His conclusion was this, look, the most high does not dwell in houses made by hands. in your temple that you pride yourselves in. And he points to the scripture, he says, Old Testament scripture says, the Lord says, heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool, what kind of house are you gonna build for me? Guys, God builds his own house, okay? He doesn't need us to give him a place to live on the earth, okay? He's taking care of that himself. If that doesn't make sense, ask me about it afterwards, I'll explain it to you. Now watch. So Stephen concluded like this. He said, you, look at the description, you stiff-necked people. What does that mean? You won't be directed, right? You won't be corrected. No matter what God does, no matter whom he sends, no matter how he attests to it, you just won't. Right? See the imagery. Uncircumcised in heart and ears. What does that mean? You don't hear the Word. You don't receive the Word. You don't respond to the Word. It doesn't change your will or your desires or the direction you want to go. He says, you always resist the Holy Spirit. In other words, in every age, what the Holy Spirit is doing through prophets, et cetera, you're always on the other side of it. You're always working against it. It says, as your fathers did so to you, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? He points to, for example, and they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of Jesus, the righteous one, the Messiah, right? Whom, he says, you've now murdered and betrayed. And look at the connection to the language we saw before in Hebrews 2. You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it. Now watch. Watch the response. Remember, we're going to read it later. At the beginning of this, Luke told us Stephen was doing powerful signs and wonders in the presence of all the people. Everybody knew, couldn't deny what he was doing. So Stephen then gives them this message from God to call them to repentance and here's how they respond. They were enraged and they ground their teeth at him. Right? The minute they throw their coats in the air and their dust and they say, away with the man from the earth. Right? And they murder him. Guys, that's what this sin looks like. I know that's theatrical in a sense, but it really is that severe. Right? The intentionality here really is that great. Now why do I point that out to you? There's actually a comforting reason for it. It's to point out to you the fact that this is not a sin that a regenerate Christian commits. Notice I didn't say can commit, I said commits. They don't do that. Why? Because that Spirit of God dwells within them. Because that Spirit of God has circumcised their hearts. If they're born again, if they're regenerate, that same Holy Spirit has written His law upon their hearts. Guys, this is not a sin they commit. Remember the promises of the New Covenant. Ezekiel 36, I'll sprinkle clean water on you and you'll be clean from all your uncleanness. What's that? That's spiritual baptism, guys. That's the spiritual washing that the Holy Spirit accomplishes. And look, I'll give you a new heart and a new spirit, lowercase s, I'll put within you. What's that? That's rebirth, guys. That's regeneration. That's being made new. That's spiritual rebirth and transformation. And look, I'll remove the heart of stone from your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh. What's that? That's spiritual circumcision. And this is what God's going to accomplish, He says, for those who are in the new covenant. And the New Testament writers tell us that's every Christian. Verse 27, look, I'll put my capital S spirit within you. And when I put the Holy Spirit within you, what's that going to do? That's going to cause you to obey God. You see that? That's going to cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You see the point I'm getting at? If you're in the new covenant, you cannot You will not, because of the very things that have brought you into the, because of the very things that God has accomplished in you, in the new covenant, you will not commit this sin, right? Because the Spirit of God is transforming you from within. Look at what Jesus said about the role of the Holy Spirit in John 16. He says, I tell you the truth, it's to your advantage that I go away. How in the world could that be? Because if I don't, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, won't come to you. But if I go, I'll send Him to you. And look, when He comes, notice the contrast between the world and the church here. When He comes, He'll convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. That's why I said He testifies to men's consciences in a sense. But look, when the spirit of truth comes, verse 13, he'll guide you into all truth. See that? That's what he does. That's what he does to those that he enters and transforms and takes his abode within. Look at this litmus test that John gave in 1 John 4, 6. He said, we are from God, referring to the apostles and those ministering under their authority. He says, whoever knows God listens to us. Do you hear that? Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever's not from God does not listen to us. And he said, it's by this that we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. They were laying down a deposit, a foundation of truth that would later become our New Testament. And he says, whoever listens to us is of God. Whoever rejects what we say is not from God. And he says this is how we know the capital S spirit of truth, John 16, and the lowercase s, spirit of error. What's the point? The Spirit of God binds the Christian's heart to the Word of God. Do you see that? It's everywhere. Now, we've got to move forward. There's somewhat of a segue provided in that to our last two verses. But look at verse 11, and let me remind you again of the constancy of these themes moving forward, the fear of the Lord, the work of the Holy Spirit, and our own speech, the things we affirm and attest. Notice at the beginning, the connective language again, a little conjunction, and there. And notice the certainty here. It says, and when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, for what? To stand trial for your faith, guys. I mean, that's the context. We saw that before, back when Jesus had sent out the 72. Remember, He had warned them then of the same thing. Beware of men, they will deliver you, Matthew 10, 17, they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues. So Gentiles are going to persecute you, the Jews are going to persecute you. Look, you'll be dragged before governors and kings for my sake. Remember? And then he told them this about the future in Mark 13 and other places. He said, be on your guard. They will deliver you over to councils. And you'll be beaten in the synagogues. You'll stand before governors and kings for my sake. And there he went on to say, brother will deliver brother over to death. And the father is child. And children will rise against parents and have them put to death. Yeah. And he says, you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. So he told them that about the past, he told them that about their future, at least. But now, here's the thing about our text. It doesn't have any kind of time stamp on it, does it? It's a little more generic, right? I think that makes it a little more foreboding, because in the fact that we can't write it off to a particular epoch of time and say, oh, glad that's over with, right? The principle is more general. Now guys, think about this. In all three of those contexts in which he gave these very similar warnings, past, present, future, he concluded every time with basically the same thing. What? This is gonna happen to you, but don't worry about it. Right? He says, verse 11 in our text, do not be anxious. Okay? And notice what he says. Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say. Now think about that for a second before we read on. He's telling them, you can expect to be arrested. You can expect to be put on trial. You can expect to have your life hanging in the balances for that trial. People are going to be trying to kill you if they can convict you of whatever this is. And he says, don't worry about it. Don't fret over it. Not only that, he says, don't even put any forethought into how you're gonna defend yourself when you go to trial. Is that a call to faith? Is that a huge call to faith? You see that? And trust and dependence, guys. Now, look at the assurance that he gives. It isn't, oh, just believe in yourself, right? You'll do good. Not at all. In fact, he says, essentially, forget about yourself, right? Let's read it again. Don't be anxious about what you should say or how you should defend yourself or what you should say. Here's why. Because the Holy Spirit will teach you. Look, the Holy Spirit will teach you. Notice the sort of immediacy. in that very hour what you have to say. That's what that word ought means, what you must say, what's necessary. What's necessary for the moment, right? What needs to be said, given the totality of the circumstances, the Holy Spirit will take care of that. Look at the way He said it elsewhere, back in the past commissioning of the 72. Matthew 10, 19, when they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say or what you are. for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. Look, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Now, watch the future context. Luke 21, same Olivet Discourse as Mark 13, different account, as far as I know. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer. Now that one hits close to home, doesn't it? Because that would be all I was thinking about. Like from the very moment they showed up to arrest me, he says, look, Don't even meditate beforehand how to answer. He says, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. That sound similar to Moses' call? Think about that? I'll give you anything. Look at what Philip Rockin says this, it's important. He says, God fulfilled this promise. He says, every time the apostles appeared in court, they had another opportunity to proclaim the gospel. He says, we see this again and again in the book of Acts. He says, the apostles fearlessly preached in the power of the Spirit, and many people were saved through their ministry. We'll look at a couple examples of this, and I want you to notice how Luke, who's recording our text today, was so careful to point these connections out when he recorded the events in the Book of Acts. We're only gonna look at two, but notice there, there are many. Acts 4 and 5, beginning of verse 5. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, so those are the people that are going to judge them, when they had set them in the midst for judgment, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? What had they done? An apostolic sign and wonder. I think this was the healing of the lame man, something like that, right? And then, look, we're not going to read the response. I'm just going to show you the preface to the response. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them. What's the point? The Spirit of God, right, came over Peter and he And he spoke out what the Spirit of God inspired him to speak. See, fulfilling that promise as he was literally in that position. And look, when they saw the boldnesses at the end, the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, guys, this wasn't sophistry. This wasn't intellectual philosophizing. This wasn't just because they were so well trained, they were not. Jesus intentionally chose men like that to lay the foundation for his church. Okay? He says when they saw the bold and speedy, when they saw they were perceived they were uneducated, they were astonished. And look, they made a connection. See that? They recognized that they had been with Jesus. You see that? That's an important connection. Okay? Acts 6, 8, and Stephen. Talked about this before. Full of grace and power was doing great signs and wonders among the people. That's what I said before. And look, some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen and other groups, they rose up and disputed with Stephen. But look, just like the promise it said, what? Verse 10. they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. An exact fulfillment of what Jesus promised in Luke chapter 21. Now, similar to what we looked at with the blasphemy of the spirit, we have to ask the question, is this a very particular promise to the apostles and their those that operated under their authority in the first century? Or is this a promise that's still promised to us today? Not easy to answer, is it? Right? It's one of those yes and no kind of things. In a technical sense, I lean toward no. I'll just be honest. In a technical sense, right? Just like in a technical sense, what I said about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But I think the essence of this promise is still very much a hope upon which we can rely. And I'll talk about that in a second. But let me tell you what I'm certain this is not. Okay? Here's what I'm certain. I could be wrong, but I'm certain it's not. This is not Jesus telling gospel ministers that it's okay for them to forsake the hard work of studying the Word and just expect the Holy Spirit to just overtake their bodies and channel through them and everything that they say will be divinely inspired. That is not what this text is talking about at all. For one thing, we're not apostles. Right? Nobody's going to hear us speak and say, oh, that man was with Jesus. You see what I'm saying? Nobody's gonna make that connection. Why? Because we don't have that authority. We're not his emissaries, okay? More important, or more convincingly, remember what Paul told Timothy, 2 Timothy 2.15, he says, be diligent to present yourself, that King James there says, study, which is probably not the best translation. It would fit my purposes better, but this is probably actually better to the Greek. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed. Key word in that, what? Work, yeah, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed. What does a workman, a minister of God, who doesn't need to be ashamed, what does he do? He accurately handles the word of truth. Some translations say he rightly divides the word of truth. See, there's effort implied in that, isn't there? There's a straining for truth. There's a striving toward the truth. And there's a diligence to recognize and avoid error that's applied in that, right? I think that concept absolutely negates that idea that a pastor, a teacher's job is just to put no forethought on anything and walk up in there and channel the words of the Holy Spirit. That's not what that's saying. But I do think, like I said, the essence is applicable in two ways. Again, the essence of it. I think there's a sense in which should we be called upon to preach or teach or evangelize in a situation where Providence has just not afforded us time to make preparation, right? I think we can rely upon the Holy Spirit to overcome our inadequacies and help us, help bring to mind the things that we've already learned in Scripture, right? It's not to say it's inspiration, as though the Spirit of God were speaking through you, but just the Spirit of God empowering you, helping you to navigate through that. But I think that's the lesser of the two, even though that's the more sort of applicable and comforting to us. I think the greater sense in which this would be an extant promise for us today is, I don't know how to say it exactly, but in that the spirit of God will help us to face martyrdom faithfully. You see that? I like this from Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century. Remember, the early church, have you ever read much like early church fathers, apostolic fathers, that sort of, those sort of eras? They're fixated on martyrdom. Why? I mean, they glorified martyrdom. Why? Because they faced it. Right? And they bolstered it up just like the New Testament does. Why? To encourage one another to face it without apostatizing. See? He said this, if no man can say, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12, if no man can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, notice the quote marks, in other words, If it takes the Spirit of God to confess, like really confess, that Jesus is Lord, truly believe that, not just say the words, but truly believe that, He says, how much more then? Does it take the Spirit of God for a man to give his life for Jesus? I'll read it together. If no man can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit, will any man give his life for Jesus' sake except through the Holy Spirit? I think, and I could be wrong here, okay, this is just my suspicion, certainly I wouldn't be dogmatic about this, but as you read church history and read just the many, many, many, many accounts of martyrdom, It really looks like to me that when you're called upon to face this suffering and death for Jesus' name, that the Spirit of God fills you, shows up in a mighty way and helps you to face those lions, face being burned alive, face being beheaded, face the torture's rack with faithfulness to Christ. Again, I wouldn't be dogmatic, but that's what it seems like to me, okay? Either way, I want to finish here, because we have a very plain, inspired instruction given to us by the Apostle Peter on how we, on what our disposition of heart toward this matter ought to be today. Okay? 1 Peter 3. apologetic students, hopefully will be very familiar with this. Peter says this, and we'll end here, but there's a few verses. He says, now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is doing good? Verse 13. Now, think about that in the context of the things in the warnings that we've just read. In other words, guys, a few weeks ago we read this, don't fear men who can only destroy the body. recognizing that they have the ability to do what? Destroy the body. Peter says, who is there to harm you? Guys, you think Peter was there when Jesus said these things? We know he was, okay? You think something's changed? Or has Peter got an eternal perspective about this? Right? He says, they can't harm you. Why? Because they can only destroy the body. They can't reach beyond the grave. They can't reach further than that. Right? And guess what? The body's going to be destroyed anyway. Right? You can't get around it. Right? Whether martyrdom or the effects of the fall, it's going to. He says, verse 14, but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, He says, look, you'll be blessed. See, that's that same paradox that we've been seeing, right, for the last several weeks. Be faithful unto death, I'll give you a crown of life. Remember, we've looked at all those passages. So then Peter says, in light of that eternal perspective, here's how you should face the prospect of martyrdom. Martyrdom doesn't necessarily mean unto death, right, but certainly it's affliction and suffering. You know what the word martyr means, by the way? Witness, right? It means witness. We think it means someone who dies. No, but see, they were killed because of their testimony to Jesus, right? That was the cause. That was those who gnashed their teeth at the God of the Bible, gnashed their teeth at the biblical Jesus that killed them because they affirmed him. In any event, he says this, sorry. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, those who can kill you. Here's the antidote. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy. Remember how the NAS says it? Sanctify Christ. The Lord is holy. Set him apart from everything else as the most hallowed thing, the most hallowed affection of your soul. And when you do that, see, you can have no fear of men because Christ is all and in all. What did Paul say we looked at two weeks ago? For me to live is Christ to die is gain. He said we didn't look at it in 2 Corinthians 4 or 5, somewhere in there. He says, I'm torn between these two options of dying and going to be with Jesus or living on to help build the church. He says, I should probably live on, but I'd rather die. Why? Because that's far better to be with Christ. See, that's how that works. He says, but look, so when you honor Christ, the Lord is holy. Look, it's not escapism, is it? If I left you there, you can think, oh, that's escapism. Well, watch. Here's what you do when you sanctify Christ as holy in your heart. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. And that's our word from which we get our word apologetics. In a Christian sense, apologetics means defending the faith, not apologizing for it. That's where we get that word from the Greek word there, apologia. He says, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone to ask you for a reason for the hope that is in you. And my point in that is to show what? Does that present a different picture from the text that we read? I mean, think about it, right? It was when they, I mean, it does, and everybody's saying no, and I'm glad, of course, Scripture doesn't contradict itself, but how do we harmonize it? Because the one says, don't put any thought in how you're gonna defend yourself, and here it says, make sure you're always ready to defend, not yourself, but the gospel. See the difference? That's just one way, okay? The defense of yourself That's what he said don't do. Defending the gospel, you need to be diligently prepared for that. And if you sanctify Christ as holy in your heart, you're going to be working toward that end. I forgot my second one. It escaped me. There was a second one. Maybe it'll come to me. But I doubt it. Let's just read on in our text. Notice, don't want to leave this out, yet do it with gentleness and respect, as that negates a lot of internet ministries. I'm not saying you can't have internet ministries, but I'm saying they don't approach the defense of the faith with gentleness and respect. They don't do it with a good conscience, or they shouldn't, right? He says, when you defend the faith, do it with gentleness and respect, having good conscience. Why? Because you're more concerned about the glory of God than winning. So that when you are slandered, meaning what? It's not true, the things they're saying against you. When you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ, your good Christian behavior, your good defense of the faith, may be put to shame. I think it just came to me. Maybe. Now it's lost again. Oh, yes, okay. I think. I'm really struggling here, this is awkward. I'll just go on. He says, look, verse 17 is really important. It's something along the lines of we proactively study, right? We proactively prepare, right, to defend the gospel. But when the time comes, if the time comes where we're put on the spot, right, then we're to entrust the Lord with that. Right? It's something like that. I should have written it down. That's what I get for not writing it down. Watch this, verse 17. He says, four, so remember, when you defend the faith that you've prepared yourself to do, do so with gentleness and respect. Do so, act in such a way that the accusation against you can only be slanderous. They can only be not true, okay? Don't dishonor Christ in it. He says, here's why. Because it's better for you to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for you to do evil. Do you see that? And then look at what he points to. This is the last verse. He points to Jesus. He points to the captain of our salvation. He says, model him, right? He says, why, Christ also suffered once. Why? For sins. The righteous for the unrighteous. See that correlation? What did He accomplish in that? He brought us to God. How? Can the unrighteous appear before God? No. His holiness will consume them, will destroy them. So how does He bring us to God? by bearing our unrighteousness upon himself, by taking the wrath of God for our unrighteousness upon himself, by providing for us the righteousness that the nature of God demands of men in himself, in his earthly life, in his humanity. That's how He brings us to God. See? He suffered and died. He laid down His life for us. To what end? To redeem us. To purchase us. From what? Slavery. Of course. To what? Sin. Satan, right? He saved us from that eternal destruction that our sin deserves. So what's the call in our passage in Luke 12 and our passage in 1 Peter 3? It's to live and die for Him. Not just die, but to live and die for Him. I would argue sometimes the first is harder than the second. Amen? Or oh, me? As Pastor Blackney says. Guys, what it's calling us for here, what our passage is calling us to here is to spend and be spent for Christ, right? And to commit our souls, entrust our souls to a faithful creator while doing good. Amen? Live for him and entrust our fate to his sovereign majesty. It's a call to faith. It's a call to faith that's transcendent of every generation and every epoch of time in its essential call. Amen. Let's pray for grace to trust ourselves, entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit, to trust his revelation. Father, help us please this morning. Help us to abide by these precepts that we've read about. Enlighten our hearts. Enlighten our minds. Help us to be responsive to what your spirit does within us. Thank you for the great gift that you've given us in him and his abiding presence. We praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.