back to indexBerean Community Church - Sunday Service 8/24/2025
00:07:09.760 |
In the words of my bow, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:07:19.760 |
I beg you, you're my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:07:29.760 |
You're my heart, you're my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:07:59.740 |
Every hour, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:08:29.720 |
May the words, in the words, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:08:59.700 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:09:29.680 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:09:59.660 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:10:29.640 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:10:59.620 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:11:29.600 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:11:59.580 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:12:29.560 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:12:59.540 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:13:29.520 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:13:59.500 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:14:29.480 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:14:59.460 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:15:29.440 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:15:59.420 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:16:29.400 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:16:59.380 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:17:29.360 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:17:59.340 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:18:29.320 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:18:59.300 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:19:29.280 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:19:59.260 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:20:29.240 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:20:59.220 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:21:29.200 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:22:29.160 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:22:59.140 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:23:29.120 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:23:59.100 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:24:29.080 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:24:59.060 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:25:29.040 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:25:59.020 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:26:29.000 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:26:58.980 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:27:28.960 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:27:58.940 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:28:28.920 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:28:29.920 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:28:58.900 |
That Jesus was, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:29:28.880 |
Most people who are, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:29:58.860 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:30:28.840 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:30:58.820 |
What to do with the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:31:28.800 |
All over the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:31:58.800 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:32:28.760 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:32:58.740 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:33:28.720 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:33:58.700 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:34:28.680 |
And if you say that, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:34:58.660 |
But he who does the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:35:28.640 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:35:58.620 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:36:28.600 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:36:58.580 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:37:28.560 |
And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. 00:37:58.540 |
They're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer belong here, but belong to God. 00:38:01.360 |
And so, the third meaning of it is to embrace this new identity. 00:38:05.980 |
So, to believe, to acknowledge and turn, and then to embrace this new identity. 00:38:12.020 |
So, the word confess is used in all of these contexts. 00:38:16.960 |
So, let me summarize the meaning behind the word confess. 00:38:21.800 |
To confess, to confess in this context means to embrace with our life and confession what we have come to believe. 00:38:31.360 |
When Jesus says, he who confesses me before men, the word confess, in this context, means to embrace with our life and confession what we have come to believe. 00:38:44.460 |
Because this helps us to understand the next part. 00:38:48.180 |
The next part that we see in chapter 12, verse 10. 00:38:52.140 |
What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? 00:38:55.700 |
So, any text that's difficult, the first thing that you have to understand is the context. 00:39:09.900 |
So, there is the immediate context, and then the larger context. 00:39:14.720 |
The immediate context, when he says, everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 00:39:25.700 |
Now, if you read verses 8 through 12, verses 8 and 9, it talks about confessing Jesus. 00:39:34.920 |
If you read verses 11 and 12, it talks about confessing Jesus. 00:39:40.960 |
And then in verse 10, right in the middle of that, it says, he who says a word against the Son of Man, and he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven. 00:39:50.500 |
So, clearly the context in which this verse is given is in the context of confessing Christ. 00:39:58.740 |
So, is he all of a sudden giving a parenthetical meaning? 00:40:06.180 |
Meaning, he took a break and decided to kind of, hey, hey, you know, I'm talking about confession, but I want to make sure that you understand this. 00:40:23.300 |
He's not taking a break and saying, hey, I'm talking about confessing Christ before men. 00:40:28.220 |
But then I'm going to just take a, hey, but don't forget that there are certain sins that you cannot commit or you're not going to be forgiven. 00:40:33.720 |
No, the immediate context of it is he's talking about confession. 00:40:37.340 |
We've already concluded that confessing means to come to faith in something, embracing and turning away from sin. 00:40:48.520 |
It's not just talking about what you're saying with your words, right? 00:40:57.000 |
What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that he is referring to? 00:41:01.300 |
Now, people have, you know, different opinions about this. 00:41:04.260 |
But again, if you're going to come to a conclusion, you have to give evidence, hermeneutical, contextual, biblical evidence behind your conclusion. 00:41:13.060 |
You can't just say, oh, this is what I think, right? 00:41:16.220 |
Whatever your thoughts are, it has to be based upon your careful study of the Word of God. 00:41:21.940 |
He's talking about confession, a genuine conversion of faith. 00:41:34.520 |
The word blasphemy, blasphemeia, means to slander, insult, speak evil against something. 00:41:45.260 |
But again, when Jesus is speaking here, what is the larger context? 00:41:50.560 |
The immediate context is talking about confession, genuine conversion. 00:41:58.620 |
In the previous passage, we looked at how Jesus was warning about the Pharisees, about the leaven of their hypocrisy, to not to fear them. 00:42:09.560 |
And the reason why, if you go all the way back to chapter 11, Jesus is casting out demons. 00:42:17.440 |
I think in verse 9, it begins to start, and the Pharisees come in, and they accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. 00:42:26.440 |
That Satan is casting out Satan, and Jesus gives a whole discourse about how that doesn't make any sense. 00:42:33.520 |
But basically, they were pointing to Jesus and saying, because they didn't like what Jesus was saying, that he must be demonic. 00:42:41.160 |
So that's the context in which Jesus is speaking, about their blasphemy, because they're pointing to the Son of God, and they're saying that he is from the devil. 00:42:57.380 |
So, the general understanding of this is that he is referring to, in the immediate context, of unbelief. 00:43:08.900 |
Because the confession means believing, genuinely believing. 00:43:13.100 |
So, here, he's in general reference to the Pharisees who are rejecting Christ. 00:43:19.680 |
Generally speaking, Pharisees who are rejecting Christ and blaspheming his name, because they do not receive him. 00:43:29.140 |
In fact, Paul himself says in 1 Timothy 1.13, 00:43:32.620 |
Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, yet I have been shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. 00:43:41.060 |
Now, was Apostle Paul a blasphemer in the context of him being a Jew? 00:43:52.700 |
Would he have been considered a blasphemer as a Jew before his conversion? 00:43:57.920 |
What is he referring to when he says he was a blasphemer? 00:44:02.000 |
Paul himself says he was a Pharisee among Pharisees. 00:44:07.620 |
So, he said, you want to go toe-to-toe about the law? 00:44:16.820 |
So, if you're talking about who's righteous by the law, I can beat you. 00:44:22.360 |
So, when he says that he was a blasphemer, he's not talking about disobeying the law. 00:44:31.380 |
Before he believed in Jesus, he was a blasphemer because he rejected the Son of God. 00:44:46.160 |
Unbelief of the Pharisees who are saying because he can't be from God, he must be from the devil. 00:44:53.260 |
So, the next question is, if he's talking about unbelief, why does he say that if you speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him? 00:45:04.440 |
But if you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. 00:45:09.380 |
I'm trying to see how many of you are following along. 00:45:18.820 |
If it's just unbelief, why would the unbelief of Jesus be forgiven, but unbelief of the Holy Spirit not be forgiven? 00:45:29.960 |
At this point, the Holy Spirit has not been given. 00:45:35.480 |
What is the distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? 00:45:41.920 |
What is the primary distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? 00:46:05.240 |
He said that in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit is going to be indwelling in you. 00:46:09.200 |
In fact, before the Holy Spirit, what did the disciples do? 00:46:17.140 |
So if this is just in reference to, right, just saying the words, obviously even the disciples were guilty of this. 00:46:25.080 |
Before the Holy Spirit came, the disciples did not have the courage, did not have the power. 00:46:29.140 |
They knew what was right, but they couldn't do it. 00:46:31.800 |
That's why in Romans chapter 7, he says, what I want to do, I do not want to do. 00:46:38.680 |
There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:46:41.360 |
Christ did what we could not do in the flesh by sending his Holy Spirit. 00:46:47.420 |
So the Holy Spirit is a distinction between the Old and the New Covenant. 00:46:51.280 |
And that's why in Acts chapter 1, he says, you will be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. 00:47:00.580 |
When the power comes upon you in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the remotest part of the world. 00:47:04.920 |
And then when the New Covenant is inaugurated, at the day of Pentecost, and Pentecost is when they celebrated the receiving of the law in the Old Covenant. 00:47:18.760 |
So he says, even as Jesus is going, in John chapter 14, he says, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will teach you and guide you and to remember everything that I have said to you. 00:47:30.200 |
Right now, you're hearing me, but you don't understand. 00:47:37.720 |
And then in chapter 16, after telling them, you're not going to bear fruit unless you abide in me. 00:47:43.000 |
Meaning that you're going to have to continue in the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:47:47.380 |
In chapter 16, the Holy Spirit is going to convict the world of sin and righteousness. 00:47:52.700 |
So what he means here is that now, you may not understand who I am. 00:47:59.060 |
Now you may speak these things of me, but when the work is finished. 00:48:04.680 |
When the new wine comes into the new wineskin. 00:48:08.760 |
Remember when Jesus said, a new wine cannot go into the old wineskin or else the old wineskin is going to burst. 00:48:17.100 |
Is he saying that those of you who drink, that you need to get new bags? 00:48:26.760 |
He said the Holy Spirit cannot go into the old covenant. 00:48:30.620 |
The reason why we need to be made new by the blood of Christ is because only those who have been covered by the blood of Christ can the Holy Spirit enter. 00:48:39.980 |
So in the old covenant, they're hearing Jesus, but the power of the Holy Spirit is not upon them yet. 00:48:46.740 |
So he says, if you speak against the Son of Man because you don't have the Holy Spirit, just like the disciples did, but when the new covenant comes and the Holy Spirit comes, you have been given everything that you need for the life of godliness. 00:49:00.120 |
And this is why Jesus says, when he was crucified on the cross, what does he say? 00:49:14.480 |
What is the last thing that he says on the cross? 00:49:17.180 |
Everything that was needed for salvation is complete. 00:49:29.880 |
So what he means by blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, after you have received everything that you need, and you still walk away from God, there is no forgiveness. 00:49:45.360 |
This is illustrated in Hebrews chapter 6, 4 to 6. 00:49:48.640 |
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. 00:49:56.780 |
He's not talking about somebody who's genuinely converted. 00:49:59.540 |
He's talking about somebody who's in the church, who's around the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:50:05.800 |
They understand what the gospel is, and have tasted the good word of God and powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away. 00:50:14.960 |
It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucified to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shape. 00:50:20.820 |
Does that mean that anybody who backslides, if they come back and repent, God will not forgive them? 00:50:29.540 |
No, he's talking about somebody after he's received everything that is necessary for salvation, and then he says, it is not enough. 00:50:38.560 |
He chooses, he continues to choose to live his old life. 00:50:44.480 |
Because salvation is found in Christ and Christ alone. 00:50:47.080 |
He says, I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:50:51.080 |
But after he finished his work on the cross, after the Holy Spirit has come as an indwelling, as a guarantee, a deposit, and you've been exposed to all of that, and then you choose not to come to Christ. 00:51:08.800 |
He says, there is no other path of forgiveness. 00:51:11.080 |
There's only one mediator between us and God, which is Christ Jesus. 00:51:16.420 |
So the reason why he distinguishes between the Son of Man and the Holy Spirit is because the Holy Spirit is the power of the covenant, the new covenant. 00:51:24.780 |
That's why he says in verse 7 and 8 of Hebrews, for the ground that drinks the rain, which often falls on it, and brings forth vegetation, useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God. 00:51:36.980 |
But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. 00:51:42.020 |
In other words, all of us has been given the same benefit. 00:51:47.560 |
The rain fell everywhere, and yet you chose to walk away. 00:51:55.420 |
So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is seeing and participant and having the same access to God, and then you choose not to take it. 00:52:11.740 |
So the natural question that we ask is, why is unbelief so offensive to God? 00:52:26.680 |
I mean, I don't even want to mention some of the hideous sins that you and I can possibly imagine. 00:52:35.680 |
But they can all be forgiven if they come before Christ. 00:52:38.380 |
But this sin of unbelief, that you can live your life righteously and feed the poor, and you can live your life generously and taking care of the people who are in need, and yet you do not believe and you reject Christ, there is no other forgiveness. 00:52:51.880 |
One, we don't understand the hideousness of every sin. 00:53:03.220 |
But I want you to think of it from God's perspective. 00:53:11.140 |
Finished means that what he started came to conclusion. 00:53:17.700 |
So is he saying that what he came to do, so 33 years of work, now it is finished. 00:53:24.700 |
But the beginning was not Jesus' incarnation. 00:53:28.740 |
The beginning goes all the way back to Genesis. 00:53:36.060 |
He made a promise that the seed of the woman was going to crush the head of the serpent. 00:53:41.660 |
So he promised that the Messiah was going to come. 00:53:44.700 |
So if you look at the redemptive history, when he says it is finished, he's saying that all that he has been doing through history, 00:53:51.360 |
everything that he has been doing to bring about the salvation of sinners, 00:53:59.220 |
he chose and prepared for the coming of his son. 00:54:05.840 |
So he endured the nation of Israel as they were rebelling stiff-necked. 00:54:13.020 |
Like, if you look at Israel's history, you don't come out of that thinking like, wow, these are good people. 00:54:21.120 |
There's moments of revival in their history, but majority of it is they're rebelling against God over and over and over again. 00:54:30.420 |
And most people who read the Old Testament think, wow, God is harsh. 00:54:34.640 |
He goes to Jericho and he wipes out this whole city, everything in it, even the animals. 00:54:41.020 |
And we have a tendency to look at what God's doing. 00:54:43.400 |
And then if you look at, if you read the Old Testament carefully, I think you're going to have the same conclusion that I have. 00:54:53.420 |
Why would he, why didn't he just crush them over and over again? 00:54:56.820 |
He endured through stiff-necked people who kept on forgetting, kept on going after idols. 00:55:05.660 |
The whole point of the law is to make sure that when his son came, that they would be able to recognize him. 00:55:13.700 |
Instead, they used the law to think that somehow, that if they kept the law, that they were going to somehow pay for their sins. 00:55:21.900 |
And they became proud and arrogant through the law, instead of being humbled and waiting for the son. 00:55:44.580 |
To demonstrate his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners. 00:55:51.140 |
That he would send the only begotten son to die for us. 00:55:53.840 |
And you ever hear politicians where they get so nasty and they start going after their wives and their children. 00:56:00.400 |
And you can tell that they're pretty thick skinned because that's part of politics. 00:56:04.100 |
And then all of a sudden they start attacking their wife or attacking their children. 00:56:09.600 |
You know, I may be fair game because I entered politics. 00:56:13.640 |
But when you start attacking my kids, now it's personal. 00:56:17.900 |
Christ's intention from the beginning was to offer up his only begotten son. 00:56:41.200 |
Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. 00:56:45.780 |
He was the second person of the Trinity sitting on the throne. 00:56:51.680 |
Where the creatures are traveling around the throne saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. 00:56:59.220 |
All the angels, all the creatures are constantly worshiping and giving glory to Jesus. 00:57:09.640 |
And he said, he let go of all of that in obedience to his father to be humiliated and walked on this earth for 30 years with people questioning him. 00:57:29.300 |
Can you imagine how much restraint it must have taken him not to crush them in every instance? 00:57:37.820 |
Again, so the question is, why did he not do that? 00:58:06.720 |
How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? 00:58:25.780 |
Their rebellion against God was they considered something so sacred. 00:59:16.760 |
How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve. 00:59:21.840 |
And has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant. 01:00:13.020 |
How can a Christian ever come before God and say. 01:00:18.060 |
I am the way I am because I don't have what I need. 01:00:48.660 |
We have 50 different translations of the Bible. 01:01:27.680 |
I was going to leave the application for next week. 01:03:52.940 |
Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. 01:03:55.460 |
But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 01:05:16.740 |
That you should have no other gods before me. 01:07:05.060 |
And I was in my third year when I heard that. 01:07:11.260 |
The hardest thing to do is to figure out what I'm going to preach. 01:07:25.400 |
And then I remember about two-thirds into preaching the Bible after many years. 01:07:29.240 |
I realized so much of my view of God was not wrong. 01:07:36.260 |
There's so many things I didn't understand about God and the gospel. 01:07:43.480 |
Because the cross never really made much sense to me. 01:08:03.000 |
The same God who created heaven also created hell. 01:08:10.560 |
And the way we describe hell is like God just withdrew. 01:08:16.200 |
He's kind of ignoring what's happening over there. 01:08:17.880 |
No, he said he was created for Satan and his angels. 01:08:24.040 |
And so I began to understand that my view of God was not necessarily formed completely from scripture. 01:08:32.200 |
And then the more I studied through scripture, I started to get to know God. 01:08:36.600 |
God never compromises his holiness or his love. 01:08:39.840 |
God never compromises his holiness or his love. 01:08:43.440 |
And we can never emphasize love and exclude his wrath and his justice. 01:08:51.980 |
And we can never emphasize justice outside of the context of his grace and love. 01:08:58.820 |
The reason why I say all of this is because the reason why the Pharisees blasphemed against God, even though they were looking through scripture, is because they formed an image of God that wasn't God. 01:09:14.520 |
And so when the actual Messiah came, not only did they not recognize him, they said, that must be demonic because it is so far. 01:09:30.800 |
It is so far from the image of God that they have in their heads, they ended up blaspheming his name and called the son of God and the agent of Satan. 01:09:52.380 |
That's why we shouldn't be teaching too early. 01:10:04.940 |
Just like it takes time for us to get to know people, study the word of God, know who he is. 01:10:21.520 |
So many people in the church reject Christ because they do not know Christ. 01:10:35.820 |
Whether it is encouraging or whether it sounds harsh. 01:10:45.940 |
Because the only hope for mankind is the God in this Bible. 01:10:53.520 |
Not the God who will soothe all your wounds even when you sin and unrepentant. 01:11:18.620 |
I pray that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. 01:11:30.040 |
Because of our prejudice of what we think that we know. 01:11:33.500 |
Help us not to conform to the pattern of this world. 01:11:40.620 |
That we may be able to discern that which is good and perfect will that you have for us. 01:11:44.820 |
So we ask, Lord God, that your grace may be sufficient for us. 01:15:49.660 |
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 01:15:51.800 |
and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, 01:15:56.700 |
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 01:16:05.040 |
The tented soul, the golden Jesus, he came to me. 01:16:33.480 |
Took by the door, an empty grave is there to my Savior lives. 01:17:26.740 |
And life is worth the living, just because he lives.