Blasphemy Part Two | The Great Awareness Church

Okay. Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you so much for this day. I thank you for the people that are here. I thank you for your love and your grace.

I just pray that your hand be all over this place today, Lord, that it'll move amongst everybody here and um that we learn and grow together, Lord. We love you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Juan, good job.

Let's give him a hand. Huh? So, we do have a new music u minister coming um the beginning of July. Uh, but Juan has been holding down the fort solo um since Kelsey went went off too.

So, he's done a really good job and um I'm really proud of him for how he's growing and everything that he's doing. So, I'm back from vacation. I'm very happy um about that. I had a great vacation with my kids, but uh I missed this place, man.

I missed you guys. Um I did have an incident. So, um, for those who don't know, my mom and my brother and other people watch online. And, uh, so my mom who's 82 said, you know, I just want to go in the ocean one time, you know, one more time, you know.

So, so it's very, you know, the sand and everything else. So, I'm helping her down there and and Josh is on the other side of her helping her down there, my my boy Josh. And we get down there and she's like, "Closer, closer." And we get right down there and a wave breaks over us.

So, I'm trying to hold her up and and Josh has probably actually got her, but but my leg gets stuck in the sand and the wave pushes down in it and I tear my hamstring. Um, so I'm still So, I go down helping my mom, right? When it's over, mom's sitting there fine. Josh is sitting there fine, and Josh and Zach have to now carry me off the beach uh up to the hotel.

Okay. And not only that, at insult to injury, the people up at the hotel were thinking they were carrying me up there because I was drunk. At 11 o'clock in the morning, the pirature was drunk, right? So I'm like, "Oh my goodness, what is going on?"

So the rest, thankfully it was near the end, so I was just icing in heat, ice and heat for the rest of the time. But I don't know what God's purposes for that. Um, still trying to dialogue through that. But uh I do know that last time I was here we we did a a session on blasphemy and um that was part one and this is this is basically part two.

The first verse we focused on the main verse was Matthew 12:31 and 32 and I'm going to read it now. 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.

And to fully understand what that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit means, we've got to understand what the Holy Spirit's role is. Okay? And so Jesus describes the Holy Spirit's role in John 16:es 8-10. And I'm going to read it now.

And when he, the Holy Spirit, has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they do not believe in me. of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. So from that we see three kind of roles of the Holy Spirit.

Okay. The first is to convict unbelievers of their sin. Note it was singular sin not plural. And that and what is that sin?

Because they did not know me. They did not believe in me. Okay. So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, the unforgivable sin is essentially not knowing uh or not believing in Jesus Christ the son.

Okay. Um the reason it's unforgivable is because Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except to me." Okay.

Through me. Now, if then someone rejects Jesus and then he still lets him in, that statement was a lie. and Jesus can't deny himself. So, so that is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

But that's just the first role of the Holy Spirit is to reach the lost um and and point the way to Jesus. The second is to convict us believers to righteousness. Okay. Um that's its ministry to us.

And as the Holy Spirit pricks your conscious and you begin to believe, you begin to obey the Holy Spirit, he will continue to grow you and mold you until you get the fruits of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, you know, patience, etc. Okay. Um and then the third thing it says is um of judgment. He says because the ruler of this world is judged.

Now, back when Jesus stated that comment, the ruler of the world was indeed Satan at that time. Okay? Um, but that's no longer true. All right.

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus Christ as he as he's about to give the great commission says, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." Do you have it up there? Yeah. All authority has been given to me on heaven and earth.

Now, if he has all authority, how much authority does the devil have? >> None. Okay. So why does the devil still mess with us?

Because we have to allow him in for him to still mess with us. Okay? He has no authority unless we allow him in. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.

It judged the ruler of this world guilty. He's no longer the ruler. And we have to let Satan in. And we give him way too much power.

Okay? We give him way too much leeway into our lives. and and and he really can only play and mess with us if we keep things in the dark. Okay?

It's the hidden sins. It's the things we hide. It's the lies we try to cover up. Those things allow the devil to continue to mess with us believers.

Okay? So, it's very important, man. My my deep deep um desire is for us to bring things into the light and confess our sins even to each other so that so that we can be free because once you do, you're free. Okay, so to recap, Holy Spirit's constantly at work bringing people to Christ.

The Bible says God draws us to him, right? So that means you're here for a purpose. All right? No matter what, you are here today for a reason.

And and because my messages are not watered down, if you come more than once, it's likely the Holy Spirit is doing something in you. And that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. Praise the Lord. Okay.

So when you accept Jesus into your heart, the Holy Spirit comes in. That's God himself in front of inside of you. Okay. From that point, it's an everpresent guide.

John 16 um 13 says this. However, when he, the spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit has come, he will guide you into all truth. So, he's an everpresent guide. The convictions of the Holy Spirit will grow you more and more like Christ and you'll eventually have that love, joy, peace that is promised to us in scripture.

Do do you get it? That's how it works. Okay? That's that's kind of how this thing works.

So, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. All right, back to our main verse here in Matthew um 12. Blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, okay, is unforgivable because you don't give God any choice. But he says here, anyone who speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven him.

So you can actually blaspheme Jesus and God and not go to hell. Okay? You can sin according to Jesus and not go to hell necessarily. you.

As long as you ask for forgiveness and you repent, you can be forgiven. God is just and righteous to forgive us of our sins. All of our sins. Okay?

The only way you mess this up and end up in hell is if you reject Jesus Christ. All right? Now, that doesn't mean you want to run around and sin. Okay?

Um but but and the Holy Spirit is going to make sure of that. Um so, The best thing to do is allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life. Okay? And and you do that by spending time in his Bible and in his word.

And so I want to talk today not about blaspheming the Holy Spirit because we just talked about that. But but another way we blaspheme God, okay, without realizing it, another sin that we do that that trips us up, okay? It's a devious way. And I see it in a lot of Christians, okay?

Um, when you believe the lies, when you believe, a lot of times when you're young, you develop a a negative self-image. Okay? And when you believe that negative self-image above and beyond what God himself says about you, okay? Think about it now.

If you're putting more more credence in what you say than over what God says, what are you doing? You're putting yourself above God. That's the very definition of blasphemy, right? That's the very definition.

And here's what happens. It's subtle. Many Christians struggle mightily here and they don't realize that they're sinning, but it's clear as day. You're putting yourself, what you think about yourself, above God.

And if that's a negative view, then you're hurting yourself. You've heard the saying, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." Right? You've heard that.

and I'm just a sinner saved by grace. If you ask Jesus Christ in your heart, that statement is no longer true. You were a sinner saved by grace, but now you are a saint who sometimes sins. Okay?

You understand that you're no longer a sin. What Jesus Christ did on the cross matters. It changes everything. It cleans up everything.

You're a new creation when you asked Jesus into your heart. What Christ did on the cross, he did once and for all. You don't have to keep beating yourself up. And yet, we often do.

Okay? And we're not embracing the truth of what God says about us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says this, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old things have passed away.

Behold, all things have become new." Okay? You're a new creation. That means you're no longer a sinner saved by grace.

You were, but now you're saved. Okay? You are a saint now who sometimes sins. We should look at each other that way, too.

Not look down at each other. Look at each other as, "Hey, man, we all struggle in areas." Okay? No matter who you are, none of us are perfect.

Just because we're saved doesn't mean we're perfect. Okay? Um just because we bring something in the light doesn't mean it's healed yet. We need God to work in us.

Okay? Um, we need to have the kind of grace that Jesus had. You are a new creation in Christ. How dare you think little of yourself?

How dare you think little of yourself? Okay. Ephesians 4:23 and 24 says, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness." You're created a new in righteousness and holiness.

Okay. You're not some piece of dirt person, loser, whatever that you used to think of yourself as. You're not that person anymore. You got saved.

Okay? Um you're righteous and holy. And when you talk down on yourself about yourself, it's not humility. Okay?

It's blasphemy. You're a new creation. The old is gone. Galatians 5:1.

Pull that up there because I didn't even do it. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. And do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. That means don't go back to the way you used to be.

Don't start talking about yourself like the way you used to be. Don't stop start thinking about yourself like the way you used to be. You're a new creation. Okay?

You're a co-air with Christ. Romans 8:16 and1 17 says this the spirit itself himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then hes of God and joint heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together then you we are children of God and we're co-airs with Christ okay That's powerful. And I mean, there has to be some quote out of Revelation anytime I'm I'm up here, right? Just this is just the way it's going to roll.

I've read Revelation a lot. I even wrote a book. It's up there. It's free for you guys to grab if you want on on the seven churches.

But I was reading this two weeks ago and something I never saw before popped out at me and it's so cool. Revelation 59 and 10. And they sang a new song saying, "You are worthy. You, Jesus, are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals.

For you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood. Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. The first thing that God told Adam and Eve was for them to have dominion over all things. That was Genesis.

Here we are in Revelation, the last book. And again, he's saying we're kings and priests to reign over the earth. You have the Holy Spirit inside of you. God is literally inside of you.

And we need to walk in that spirit and that authority, not like the way we used to be thinking of ourselves in the negative way we used to be. Okay? We must embrace the new creation. You can do this slow or you can do this quick.

Okay? My mentor, Bill Prince, was a I've told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again because it it it plays to my point. He uh by the time he was 14, his dad was a drunk. His mom wasn't there.

By the time he was 14, he was he was in bars every night drinking and having getting in fights. Okay. So, a few years later, he meets this girl who he really thinks is beautiful, but she won't even go out with him unless he goes to church, which she hasn't graced the doors of the church ever. And so for months he's trying to convince her.

Finally, one night um or one morning, Sunday morning, yes, he went out the night before drinking and getting in fights, but that morning he goes in hung over, whatever. And God got all over him, okay? And he came to the altar crying and weeping and he asked Jesus in a heart. And from that moment on, he completely embraced his new creation self.

He didn't drink another drop of alcohol the rest of his life. The rest of his life. He married that woman a few months later and they were married 50 plus years before he died. Okay, that he just he started tithing.

He he didn't slowly work into it. Okay, for me it was a little bit different. When I got saved, I still was clinging to some of that old junk and still trying to clean up. I felt like I had to to prove that I was good enough for God to love me.

Do do you know what I mean? And it took a while for me to finally grasp the truth of what I'm sharing today, which is you don't have to clean up to earn it. You are a new creation. The Bible says so.

You just have to walk in it. You have to believe God over the lies and that that probably were formed in childhood and just believe in what Jesus did on that cross. It changed everything for you and for me. The trouble comes when we don't completely embrace this truth.

Deep down, we still feel like, I don't know, a loser, someone who still needs to clean up, someone we have to prove that we're lovable. And whenever we embrace these thoughts instead of what Jesus says about us, it's actually blasphemy. One in a thousand persons like Bill. Most people take time to finally believe what Jesus did on the cross was real.

That's how it had to play out for me. Okay. But it is absolutely true. And the devil has no authority as long as you're in the light.

Okay? But it's when we keep these negative thoughts and we keep them down, you know, because the devil has access to the spiritual realm. All right? We we learned that from Job.

He can still even go up and talk to God in heaven. Okay. Heaven once and for all, never to be uh allowed back in. Okay.

So, even right now, the devil can roam around. And what is he doing? Roaming around trying to find who he can steal, kill, and destroy. Right?

That's what that's what the Bible says about him. So, when we cling to those old beliefs, when we keep hiding past sins and hurts in the dark, we're allowing the devil to continue to influence us. okay to be continue to whisper negative things to us and that can hurt us even even make bad decisions.

Okay, I know a lady she was uh committing adultery with her husband on her husband and she's on a boat and she's got a beer and the sun is setting and she's like she feels so peaceful and she's like she just knew that God was telling her it was okay to do the adultery. Okay. Um, first off, setting it is peaceful. Okay.

That's a country western song. That's like every Kenny Chzn song. All right. So, so that is peaceful.

But that's God is never going to tell you to sin. He's not going to go against his character. That's a litmus test. If you feel like God's telling you to do something, look at what he's telling you to do.

And If it's not scriptural, if it's goes against his character, that's you're not listening to God in that moment, okay? There's other spirits whispering in your ear and you're and you need to reject those spirits okay? And cling to the truth because God's never going to go against his character. Okay?

So, follow me now. All authority has been given to Jesus. When we let the devil in by keeping things in the dark, it allows him to mess with us. Okay.

He has no ability to mess with us. And and it can happen from so many ways. You know, I my torn I woke up at two in the morning the other night, uh morning, whatever. And I was in a lot of pain with my leg and I was kind of bummed.

All right. And and some negative selft talk started happening. You ever have the negative selft talk starts and then it goes down a rabbit hole and soon you're like you're like, you know, depressed. And don't ever go online in those moments, you know, because you're gonna end up, you know, somewhere you don't want to be.

All right. Um, and and I was starting to get down and and I literally did this. I I I look in the mirror and I go, "He has no authority. The devil's mess."

I said, "Get behind me, Satan. Get out of here." And I just went on did my Bible study and went into my day and I and and rocked my day. I had to tell him to get away, okay, from me because he has no authority.

He doesn't. All right, but but little things, okay, can be gateways, okay, depressed thoughts can lead down rabbit holes. Drugs and alcohol are gateways of course but thinking in these old negative sin-based self, allowing the accuser of the brethren to sit there and criticize you. That's one of the biggest ways Christians get into trouble.

Okay? We're not putting on the armor of God. All right? We're not believing what God says about us.

And that's where we need to be. We let the snake in and now we've got competing voices. Okay? It's like that old cartoon.

You know, you had the the little devil on the one shoulder and the little angel on the other. You know what I mean? And they're whispering in your ear and which one are you listening to? Listen to the one that's telling you to do the stuff that's in the Bible.

Okay? Um I know people who always seem to make the wrong decision. Decisions that hurt themselves, their kids, their loved ones. A loving God is not going to steer you outside of his will.

Okay? He's going to keep you in his will. It can be tough sometimes to know God's will, but the Bible says he's not an author of confusion. So, he'll give us wisdom if we ask for it.

But the biggest litmus test, the biggest easiest thing you can do is is what he's telling me to do here in his word. Okay? If it's in his word and in if it's in his character, okay, then it's good. How do you know his word and his character?

You got to read his word. Okay? And that's this book is all about Jesus and you'll learn. Listening to a podcast is good and there's a lot of great preachers out there, man.

But when you're in this thing by itself, God's speaking directly to you. He can speak through a scripture here right into your heart. Okay? And it's powerful when that happens.

So having a mentor can be a good thing, too. But think through when you make decisions. Think through the consequences. Will the end result of this decision glorify me or glorify God?

If it's something that glorifies God, it's probably a good decision. If not, it's not. Not every door that opens is from God. Okay?

You have to think through it and make sure you can't escape decisions in life. You have to make decisions. And sometimes they're big ones. And that's why this particular sin, this negative self sin is so dangerous because you begin to to make decisions from a place of fear instead of a place of faith.

Okay? And God, the Bible says 365 times, do not fear. Okay? Fear is not from God.

Okay? There's one type of fear that's okay, the fear of the Lord. That's a reverential fear. But any other fear is not from God.

Okay? God is faith, not fear. So if you're, if you're, you know, when he asked me to start a church last year, that was a scary thing. I I never started a church before.

I didn't know what I was doing. Okay? But if God tells you to do something and you know he's telling you to do it, he will give you the ability to do it. He will come in and give you the power to do it.

he will come in and and and then you'll you keep your eyes on Jesus and it's going to work out really well. And we got a neat little church here. Okay, it's neat. It's growing.

The people in it are growing. 70% of the people that are regulars are in um some sort of small group. Uh it's just it's just beautiful. And we but but the key is keeping our eyes on Jesus.

We must walk in our new creation power. look at these decisions and use a lit litmus test and match his word and his character to that decision. If you keep repeating, here's a here's a test for you. If you keep repeating the same patterns and the same mistakes over and over again, okay?

Asking God to forgive you, then you're doing it again, you got to go deeper. There's a deeper root cause as to why it's happening again and again and again, okay? there's some deep belief that you're clinging to that's not right. All right?

Or there's something you're hiding. And when that happens, the way to get free is to bring it to Jesus. Just because you repent, God will forgive you. But just because you repent doesn't mean you're healed.

Okay? That doesn't mean you're healed. You have to you have to take it in front of God and ask God to heal the deep hurt. There's someone here that that I'm I constantly pray for their deep hurt to be healed.

Okay? Um they're not here today, but they're a member of our church. Um but first bring it to Jesus because the Bible says against you alone and you alone have sinned. And then you've got to bring it to all those that are affected if you want healing and to walk in the light.

A pastor, true story, pastor told a story about two people in his congregation. So they met in his youth group, okay? And they committed both of them to staying celibate until marriage, okay? And they were um just two really god-fearing, lovely people according to this pastor.

And about a week before their marriage date, I forget what he said, how it happened, but the the woman had sex, okay, with somebody else. All right. She was in a bad situation, she got drunk, whatever. Okay, but she hid it.

Not only that, she got pregnant. So now she had to have an abortion as well. Okay, if she was going to hide it, which she did, she hid it from the man that she was going to marry because she was so embarrassed and so ashamed. Okay, they went ahead and got married.

Fast forward 15 years, their marriage is in shambles. Sex is really not happening. Um there's just all this contention and and drama. And so they go into the pastor who they've been going to his church for all this time.

And after hours and hours, she finally opens up and reveals what had happened, okay? To with her husband right there. And you know what he did? He forgave her.

That's what any loving man who loves that woman would do. Why? Because God forgave us. Okay?

He forgave her. Within three months, their marriage was like on fire. Okay. The reason their marriage was so struggling is because she hid that lie.

The devil had a way to mess with that marriage. She brought it into the light and received forgiveness. And they were able to now come together like the way they originally dreamed of coming together as as a new husband and bride. Okay.

It changed everything and their marriage blossomed and took off. Okay. And so I tell that story because I beg you today, you got to understand how deeply loved you are by God. Okay?

You're so loved by God. And your past is the past. Your past is not your fault. I think about that movie Goodwill Hunting, that key time where Robin Williams kept saying to him, "It's not your fault.

It's not your fault." And finally, he broke down. Your past is not your fault. Whatever happened to you in the past, it's the past.

Once you ask Jesus in your heart, it's gone. And we've got to get it out and walk in our new creation power. It's time to walk like that. The last five years, ever since I read a book called Bose Cafe, I've been on this journey of just taking every deep hurt and wound in front of the Lord.

I've apologized to my kids for things that I've done in the the the uh marriages. I've apologized I've let everybody knows everything. There's like nothing that's being hidden here that that you guys don't all the ones who have been here every week don't already know. I I I bring every one of my sins in front of everybody so that there's nothing to hide.

And if if if you see that I sin and I forg and I ask God for forgiveness, then you don't hopefully feel bad about confessing your own stuff to each other. Okay? And repenting and asking for forgiveness of all that I've hurt and allowing that God to heal that hurt. Okay.

Is an amazing thing when you begin to walk in the freedom and to have love, joy, peace. It's amazing. So don't blasphem God any longer, believing the lies and giving the devil a chance to mess with you. Okay?

Start believing the truth and opening yourself up to the healing light of Jesus. We must bring our deep hurts and our deep sins into the light if we want love, joy, peace. Okay? And as Juan comes up, I want to pray over us.

Um, what I've talked about today is something that, um, I've been guilty of and and it's taken me a long time to to understand it. Okay? And I now can speak from authority that it is way better once you finally understand how much you're loved by God and you walk in that easy yoke of Jesus. It's just way better.

And so I want to pray over you now. Heavenly Father, Lord I every person in this room, God, is someone that you died for, is someone that loves you, is someone that um you love, Lord, and you you you treasure them. Okay? You say we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You say we're your children, Lord. We can call you Aba, which is daddy. Um your You're just a good and loving father, Lord. And I pray right now as we sit here that if someone has a deep sin, if someone has a deep wound, a deep hurt and they want to bring it and bring it down and and let it go, I pray that they come forward and and do that on their knees in front of you, Lord, and release it to you.

So, I just pray that um this message hits home that they are precious and they are no longer who they were and that it's now time to walk in the new creation free. You say we cannot put new wine in old wine skins. We have to let go of those that old wine skin, our old self. Let go of it and walk in the new creation, a new wine skin, Lord.

And I just pray right now that everyone in here will take this time to to to get real with you and get quiet before you. Um let you heal the deep hurt in Jesus name. Amen.