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Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? - M.M. - 10-31-2011 08:59 AM
"God will forgive you for saying anything bad about Him or His Son, but if you speak against the Holy Spirit, God will not forgive you!"
I heard my peers using God's name in vain and even saying "Jesus!" as a dirty word. But I never heard my friends speak against the Holy Spirit. As far as I was concern they were safe! Obviously, blasphemy against the Spirit has nothing to do with cussing; it has to do with mocking the works of the Holy Spirit, with the intent on keeping others from wholeheartedly following Christ. Jesus alerted the Pharisees to the possibility of them committing this unpardonable sin when they accused Him of driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. (see Matthew 12:22-32 and Mark 3:22-30). Did Jesus take this slander personally? No. He, in fact, steers their criticism away from Himself and directs their criticism toward the Holy Spirit. He indicates that their judgment, though it seemed targeted against Himself, was really aimed at the Holy Spirit. "I drive out demons by the Spirit of God," Jesus proclaimed to His accusers. To criticize a miracle from Jesus was equivalent to criticizing a miracle of the Holy Spirit. His power came from the Spirit.
I'm aware of the differences of interpretation concerning blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. One group says that it is impossible for anyone to commit this sin except those in Jesus' day. But they miss the point. Today is the age of the Holy Spirit. If there ever was a time that a person could commit this sin it would be now. Another group claims that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is simply the act of rejecting Christ. But they, too, seem to miss the point. The unpardonable blasphemy is not action against Christ, but words against the Holy Spirit. "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven," Jesus assured. The unforgivable sin is not related to Christ but to the Spirit. It is clear that Jesus was endeavoring to protect the charismatic ministry of the church. On another occasion Jesus seems to bend over backwards to do this. He cautions the disciples from misusing their authority when they tried to silence a renegade disciple who obviously had a supernatural ministry. "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me" (Mark 9:39).
Perhaps, for the sake of unity between evangelicals and charismatics, we leaders have been hesitant to echo Christ' warning against blasphemy of the Spirit. But we should not think doing so will bring division. Most non-charismatics do not even come close to blasphemy. They wisely remain silent, instead of talking against the manifestations of the Spirit. At worst, they simply propagate their view that the gifts have passed away without condemning those who believe differently.
But there appears to be a vocal segment of anti-charismatic leaders who arrogantly speak against the gifts of the Holy Spirit. (Of course they claim only to be speaking against charismatic leaders, not the Holy Spirit. But after listening to their scathing accusations I can't tell the difference.) I met two Mormon missionaries who had more fear of God than these charismatic-bashers. They politely shared with my wife and me their view that only Mormons could be saved. I kindly objected and told them how I was born again. I shared how I was filled with the Holy Spirit. "How do you know that you have the Holy Spirit?" the head missionary asked. "I know because I have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues," I answered boldly. And without hesitation, he questioned, "How can you be sure that your speaking in tongues is from the Holy Spirit and not from an evil spirit?" I cleverly answered, "You tell me, did I receive the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit?" The other missionary interrupted, "It is not our place to judge." "But you say that no one can receive the Holy Spirit without being a Mormon," I baited. The leader spoke up. "I'm prepared to tell you whether you received the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit!" "Go, ahead. Tell me." He paused. He thought for a moment. His mind seemed to drift. Finally, he forced the words out slowly, but almost wishing to keep silent, "You received an evil spirit." With a boldness not my own, I pointed my finger at him and fired the words, "Jesus said you can blaspheme Him or His Father and still be forgiven, but if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you'll not be forgiven in this age or the age to come! If you're right, then you have nothing to fear; but if your wrong, then you are in danger of eternal damnation!" The other Mormon jumped in, "I didn't say it." Then he pointed to his friend. "HE SAID IT!" A couple of minutes elapsed when the leader softly said, "I want to take back my statement." And with humility, he apologized, "Sir, not only should I not have judged you, but I was wrong in my judgment of you. According to my Mormon teaching, you can not have the Holy Spirit. But, I believe, you are the first non-Mormon I've met who has the Holy Spirit." I wish some fundamentalist would have the same fear of God as these Mormons.
Instead many anti-charismatics have spewed their venom to ministers like me who operate in the gifts of the Spirit and will actually judge our salvation. They will tell others that we are not even saved. I have noticed that when a person vehemently rejects the ministry of the Holy Spirit that eventually they will hate those ministers who operate in the gifts of healing, miracles and casting out demons. They will turn their hatred toward the charismatic ministry into a crusade.
I get many hate emails from these people who are very opposed to the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. Many have told me that they do not even think I am saved. Why? Simply because I heal the sick, cast out demons and speak in tongues. If I would abstain from the gifts of the Spirit, then they would accept me, so it is clear that what they really reject is the Holy Spirit and not me.
On the other hand, I get many that write to me telling me they are afraid that maybe in the past they have blasphemed the Spirit out of ignorance, now they accept the gifts of the Spirit. They do not need to worry, because Jesus was not speaking to those who get carried away by wrong teaching, rather He warns those who have a hateful attitude toward the gifts of the Spirit. I think most people may have simply "grieved" the Holy Spirit, instead of blaspheming Him. To grieve Him is to simply limit what He wants to do because of doubt. But blasphemy involves "hate" not "doubt".
The word "blasphemy" is a term that speaks of damnable heresy, not misjudgment. Many, because of poor teaching, misjudge others— that's forgivable. The Pharisees, on the other hand, went beyond judging to trying to keep others from following Christ. Blasphemy against the Spirit is the absolute, permanent, hateful rejection of the gifts of the Holy Spirit with the motive to keep others from fully following Christ as well as to keep one's position of power. A person who has committed this sin has no desire for repentance, will divide the body of Christ, judge the salvation of others, and will ultimately die in this state.
RE: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? - Guest - 10-31-2011 06:20 PM
Example of holy vs unholy spirit
Matthew 23: 1-12
1 Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat;
3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice.
4 They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.
11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant;
12 whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The fruits of The Holy Spirit:
Love
Charity
Joy
Peace
Patience
Goodness
Long-suffering
Mildness
Faith
Modesty
Consistancy
Chastity
RE: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? - Guest - 10-31-2011 08:54 PM
Praise the Lord! That someone here finally got it right. Thank you Lord and bless this person for the wisdom of opening our eyes with you scriptures in love and not with anger, curses, or damnation. For this is the way us Christian should live our life and witness to other so they can come to know and love you. In your name I pray amen.
RE: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? - adoring1 - 10-31-2011 08:57 PM
(10-31-2011 06:20 PM)Guest Wrote: Example of holy vs unholy spirit
Matthew 23: 1-12
1 Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat;
3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice.
4 They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.
11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant;
12 whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The fruits of The Holy Spirit:
Love
Charity
Joy
Peace
Patience
Goodness
Long-suffering
Mildness
Faith
Modesty
Consistancy
Chastity
Thank you Jesus. Amen and Amen!
RE: Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? - M.M. - 11-01-2011 12:52 AM
You are not getting the above message again. You are the same person who has been attacking JW123. You are grieving the Holy Spirit. The message above is not about the fruits of the spirits I know about the fruits and the gifts. THE MESSAGE IS ABOUT Blaspheming the Holy Spirit?
"God will forgive you for saying anything bad about Him or His Son, but if you speak against the Holy Spirit, God will not forgive you! "
YOU ARE BLASPHEMING THE HOLY SPIRIT BY ADDING ON YOUR REASONING ABOUT THE MESSAGE ABOVE. You are worshipping an idol which is your dead statue. You are twisting the message around and throws in your philosophies and added ["Example of holy vs unholy spirit - Matthew 23: 1-12"] Since you brought this up and this is for the believers in Christ Jesus who doesn't know about the whole message of Matthew 23: 1-12. It is not about holy vs. unholy spirit. Matthew 23: 1-12 is about Jesus speaking to the Scribes and the Pharisees.
I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS MESSAGE THAT I AM TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO "GUEST" IS LENGTHY. Only those who are filled with the Holy Spirit will be able to understand not to those who has a religious spirit.
Matthew 23, verses 1 through 12.
“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying, ‘the Scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say things and do not do them. And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments. and they love the place of honor as banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called by men, rabbi. But do not be called rabbi; for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for one is your father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for one is your leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Wherever religion is valued, wherever religion is respected, where Christianity is through highly of, wherever people who are spiritual are seen, there will be a temptation to counterfeit religion. AND THAT IS WHO YOU ARE "GUEST" and WHOEVER AGREE WITH GUEST. If we think it is to our advantage to be thought of as religious or spiritual people, you can bet that there will be some people who will fake that. They will attempt to look spiritual, to look religious, without actually being religious, without actually being changed from the heart. This is exactly what Jesus is speaking to the Scribes and the Pharisees when He is speaking to the crowd and to the disciples about in these passages.
Jesus is speaking to a very religious people. The people of Israel, at the time the Lord Jesus ministered on the earth, were not secularized; very much different situation than our current situation in America today. These were very religiously committed people. Religion was part of the warp and woof of their lives, it permeated every aspect of their experience. But, the spiritual leaders of Israel were modeling an external religion which drew attention to itself and lacked the heart of the true religion of the scriptures. They wanted people to look at them and saw, “look how holy those men are.” But their lives did not reflect the holiness which they possessed with their lips. and so, Jesus speaks against this religion of ostentation. And He calls His people back to the heart religion of holy Scripture.
And I’d like you to see three or four things in this passage with me today. The first thing you’ll see in verses 1 through 4. There, Jesus diagnoses the problem of the Scribes and the Pharisees, and it is the problem of religious hypocrisy. And conversely, He teaches that true religion, saving religion, requires integrity. Jesus is speaking in this passage in a long extended discourse or message. Remember there are about six of them recorded in the gospel of Matthew, and this is the fifth of those six messages. He is speaking to the Passover pilgrims in Jerusalem, and He is speaking to these disciples, as we learn in verse 1.
He is speaking about the Scribes. The Scribes were the teachers of the law. And He is speaking about the Pharisees. They were the strictest religious sect of the day. Now, before you think that Jesus is speaking behind their backs, I want to remind you of a couple of things. Jesus had always consistently told these men what He thought of them to their faces. He’s not waiting for them to go away so that He can then say bad things about them. Jesus is speaking these words, and they are perfectly consistent with what He has said to them to their faces. Jesus didn’t have to talk behind anybody’s back. He was straightforward with them when He spoke to their faces.
But why is He speaking about them when they’re going? Because Jesus knows that the temptation which the Scribes and the Pharisees had fallen prey to was just as much a temptation to His disciples as it was to them.
And so His reason for warning against their hypocrisy was because of His fear that His own disciples might fall prey. We’ll see before we finish today that Jesus’ concerns about that were very much warranted.
Now Jesus in verse 3 let’s you know that He is not just making a shotgun blast criticism that was not thought through. Jesus is making a very nuanced criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees. How do you learn that from verse 3? Because Jesus is careful enough to say, look, many of the things that these people say are true. So when they say what is true, you listen to them. You follow those things when they teach you, if it is something which is true from the word. You be obedient to that.
But He goes on to say that they have a fundamental problem. And that fundamental problem, He says at the end of verse three and the beginning of verse 4, is that they are hypocritical. They are inconsistent. They say one thing and they do another. They make much of the teaching of the Law, they make much of the imposition of the law on others. They make tremendous demands of others about the Law of God, but they are lax in their own practice. They talk like they were the true upholders of God’s Law, and yet Jesus says they did not live like it. Look again at the end of verse 3: “they say things and do not do them.” They were inconsistent. They were not conscientious in practicing what they professed.
Now "GUEST", that is a totally different picture of the Scribes and the Pharisees than you have been taught over the years, and which the people of Israel would have had in the days of Jesus. In the days of Jesus these people would have been thought of as the most conservative, most Bible-believing, most holy, most faithful people around. They would have been esteemed in the eyes of people. To talk badly about them would’ve been just like someone speaking to you about your favorite minister or religious writer in contemptible terms. You would be angry if someone named your favorite religious writers or ministers or preachers and spoke in strong words denouncing them. You would be offended and hurt, and that would have been the reaction of many people in the crowd to someone speaking and denouncing them and their heart focus. And of course in our own day, we have been conditioned by two thousand years of Christian preaching to know that the Scribes and the Pharisees are the bad guys. They wear black hats and so we know that they are against Jesus, and so we are not supposed to root for them.
But we have gotten the wrong impression about what their sins were. Very often we think that their sin was that they were too precise about they law, they were too nit-picky about the law, they cared too much about God’s word. Jesus says that was not their problem. Jesus says that they pretended to care a lot about the law, but they themselves were lax in their obedience to it. In other words, they could be very strict when they were telling you what you ought to do in accordance with the law, but they were very lax in finding loopholes for themselves and their friends when it was convenient. So they talked a very strict game, and yet their living was not in accord with it. They tied up heavy burdens and laid them on men’s shoulders, yet they themselves could be very careless in their obedience to God’s law, paying attention to small matters while ignoring great matters like justice and mercy.
And so Jesus does not accuse them of being too strict or too scrupulous; they were in fact, too lax.. As John Blanchard said, “hypocrisy is nothing better than skin deep holiness.” Jesus is respectful of their authority, and He is even respectful of their teaching to a certain extent, as far as it conforms to the word of God. But He is critical of their lives. He says that their heart motivation was wrong. They are hypocritical and they are insensitive. By their conduct, they showed their heart. They had buried the law of God, and they had deprived men of peace and conscience. They were hypocrites. They said one thing and they did another.
And friends, this is something that we ourselves must guard against. We must guard ourselves against hypocrisy and heartlessness and cultivate true integrity in religion. Jesus is calling us here not to follow the example of religious hypocrites. He is calling us to integrity. Integrity means looking on the outside like you are on the inside. Integrity means not simply looking like you have a clean heart, but your actions actually flow from a heart which has been cleansed. Integrity requires that we are on the outside like we are on the inside. That our conduct is an expression of who we really are. Integrity means that our conduct is consistent with our profession of faith. AND THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING "GUEST", CRITIZING EVERYONE THAT STAND FOR JESUS AND HIS MESSAGE. WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WHOLE CHAPTER OF WHAT YOU POSTED.
To be looking like a Christian in public where you can be seen, and yet in those private places, in our homes, in our other relationships where we are not seen as clearly by men, to live as if we were not believers of the things that we have professed. Jesus is warning against religious hypocrisy here. He saw it in the leaders of Israel, but this warning is just as relevant for us today. He is calling His disciples not to live a charade, but to be aware of the fact that the heavenly father sees the heart, and so, letting our lips and our lives express the better grace we owe to Christ.
In verses 5 through 7 He doesn’t stop with His critique of the Pharisees and the Scribes, but He says that basically their problem of hypocrisy was derived from a desire to please men. The Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus says, in verses 5 through 7, were men-pleasers. Their problem was pride. They wanted to look good in the eyes of men. And again, in verses 5 through 7, we learn that true religion aims to please God. True religion aims for humility before men. Jesus doesn’t stop in His criticism of the Scribes and the Pharisees, He goes on to criticize them for their pride. They desire to be recognized and they lack humility. And Jesus gives us some examples in those verses of some ways in which they tried to impress men of their piety, and to draw attention to themselves. You’ll see them there beginning in verse 5.
First of all, He says that they have widened their phylacteries. Phylacteries were capsules in which particular Scripture passages from Exodus or Deuteronomy or other parts of the Law or Prophets were stuffed in, and those phylacteries were worn on the forehead and on the left arm while one was praying. And apparently they would widen the thongs of those phylacteries, the things that attached them to themselves, so that people would notice them, and say, “Boy, they must be really committed, look how big that phylactery is.” That is not the only thing they did. Jesus goes on to say, they lengthened the tassels. You know that in God’s Law, tassels had been commanded for the people of God to wear, to separate them from the unbelieving nations, and these people decided well, if tassels are commanded, we’ll have really big tassels, and so, they told their tailors, make sure and make my tassels extra long, so that when they walk through the streets people would say, look how long that man’s tassels are, boy he must be holy. We’re also told that they loved and sought places of honor. They liked those special seats at the banquet. When the people would be celebrating a wedding or some other special occasion, they would save that special seat for the rabbi and at the very last minute he would make a dramatic entrance and be ushered up to that special seat and people would say, oh, you see, he’s the holy man, and they saved that special seat for him. Or, they would come in at the last minute into the synagogue, and they would be ushered right up to that seat, right next to the platform where the Law was read from and people would say, ‘Oh, you see that man, he is being seated in the seat of honor, he must be a very holy man. And Jesus is saying, these people loved that kind of thing. He doesn’t stop there, for He goes on to say that they cherished being greeted with deference and respect when they were in the marketplace. They would bump into someone and he would say, “Oh, honored rabbi, how wonderful it is to see you and even be in your presence.” They loved that kind of deferential treatment, and Jesus says that reflects the fact that they were men-pleasers. They desired to be honored by men. They cared more about how they were perceived than the reality of their holiness. In other words, they wanted to appear to be holy without actually being holy. I don’t know what the parallel would be for us today. I was talking with someone about this between services and he said, “Would this be kind of like folks who have bumper stickers and t-shirts, but don’t live the walk of faith?” Maybe so. There are all sorts of outward ways that we can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and yet live as if we were not followers of Him, live as if we have not been changed by grace in our hearts.
We live in a day which cares a lot more about appearances than it does about reality. We live in a day and age that cares more about perception than it does reality. We live in a day of political spinsters who can make black look white and white look black. Give ‘em a little bit of a budget and they can make anything look good. And we have gotten used to that. And Jesus is saying to us, don’t do that in your relationship with God. Don’t try and spin your relationship with God. Don’t care more about what other people think about you, than you care about what your heavenly father thinks of you. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us about attempting to please men in our religion. Our desire ought to be to please God. Jesus is warning against that type of pride and ostentation.
And then in verses 8 and 9 He goes on to give a warning to His disciples. And He teaches us in this passage not to court honor as believers. Not to seek to be exalted. He wants us both as teachers not to seek honor, and He warns us as disciples not to unduly exalt those who are our Christian teachers. And in so doing He teaches us a very important truth. True disciples do not seek exaltation from the brethren, nor do they tempt them by it. True disciples neither seek to be exalted in their teaching and in their ministry, nor do they tempt others by exalting them too highly in the way they speak.
Look again at these words, “Do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher. Do not call anyone on earth your father, because one is your father. Do not be called leader, for one is your leader.”
Here Jesus makes a sweeping command about ecclesiastical titles, and He’s been misunderstood by many, so we need to spend a few moments explaining what He’s saying. Jesus is not telling us that we can’t call our dad “father.” Even though He says, “call no man father, for one is your father.” He is not saying you can’t ever use the term father to speak about your father, nor is He even saying that you cannot use terminology like teacher and leader regarding those who have been given spiritual authority in the church. This is very clear from the example of the apostle Paul. Paul called himself Timothy’s “father in the Lord.” He referred to the leaders of Israel’s people in the book of Acts as fathers and brethren. He called the Corinthians and the Thessalonians his children in the Lord. The title is not the point. Jesus is after the heart attitude. He is after religious leaders who want to be exalted because of the titles which they are called by. And He is warning against religious disciples from over exalting their spiritual leaders by using titles improperly. Jesus is saying here, in a general warning which makes it absolute and emphatic, that there are terms that we need to be careful about in our language, that our language helps and aids and reflects our heart attitude towards those who are in position of authority. Jesus is reminding us here that we ought to be careful about the titles we use with ministry. This is, by the way, one of the reasons why Presbyterians do not use terms like “father” or “your holiness “or “your excellency” in referring to those who are the main teachers and spiritual leaders. We simply refer to ministers as the “minister” and we refer to elders as “elders”; there are not differentiating ecclesiastical titles, which are used. Jesus is here after our heart attitude. We are forbidden to seek the honor and the praise of men when we have been put in a position of spiritual authority. Ad we are encouraged as Christian disciples not to over exalt the mere men that are put over us as spiritual leaders. We no longer have priests; we have one priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so those ministers are not intermediaries between us and God; they are simply God’s faithful representatives, messengers, who speak to you His word so that you can have a saving relationship with Him.
The best minister is one who gets out of the way, who preaches you the word of God so that you might relate to the heavenly Father. You do not have to go through him as a mediator, and therefore you do not exalt him by the title with which you use in reference to him. This warning is so important because religious leadGUEers, just like these Scribes and Pharisees, are tempted to seek the praise of those whom they serve. John Flavel, three hundred years ago, said, “A man may have the tongue of an angel and the heart of the devil.” And it is true. It is easy for religious leaders to look spiritual, to look religious, to look like they have more a relationship with God than they do simply because they say true things from the pulpit or from the platform. It is a dangerous spiritual situation to be in, and so Jesus says here. in verses 8 and 9. to be careful how you speak to them so that you do not cultivate an attitude in them that desires more your praise than God’s praise. And then, He of course says directly to those religious leaders, and don’t you seek the praise of men more than you seek the “well done, my good and faithful servant” that you long to hear from God.
Finally, in verses 8 through 10, Jesus turns around this particular message, this warning to His disciples, and He states it positively. He says, in verses 11 and 12, to His disciples that they are to yearn to be servants, and to cultivate humility. He teaches us here that true disciples have their goal as to serve. This passage states positively what Jesus is stating negatively in verses 8 through 10. We are to have service as our goal. A desire to serve others is a great weapon against hypocrisy. Those who long to serve rather than be served, are less prone to the pitfall of hypocrisy.
Jesus closes this passage in verse 12 by quoting a classic spiritual proverb. He says, “whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” What He means by that is that those who attempt to advance themselves in the ministry will be brought low, but those who seek their brethren’s good will be exalted.
In the end He is saying, the way up is the way down. The way to true satisfaction, the way to true harmony, is to abandon the quest to be honored by men, and seek only to please the heavenly Father. And so in the end, the way to glory is the way of servanthood. The desire of the Pharisees was to receive honor and to be called master. But the desire of the true Christian is to glorify God, to do good, and to give himself in all that he has in the service of others. That is what Jesus is telling us, too, as He is warning against the hypocrite that wants to be seen to be a follower of Christ, when in fact the heart does not belong to Him. AND THIS IS YOU "GUEST", you are trying to prove you are right in every post here on the 24hourprayer.com.
(10-31-2011 06:20 PM)Guest Wrote: Example of holy vs unholy spirit
Matthew 23: 1-12
1 Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat;
3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice.
4 They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,
7 and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men.
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren.
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.
11 He who is greatest among you shall be your servant;
12 whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The fruits of The Holy Spirit:
Love
Charity
Joy
Peace
Patience
Goodness
Long-suffering
Mildness
Faith
Modesty
Consistancy
Chastity