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10. The blasphemy of The Holy Spirit 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 (matt c12:v31-v32). Why could one blaspheme Christ and be forgiven and not do so in the case of the Holy Spirit? To understand God’s love for the reasoning behind this we must go to His word, for the scriptures interpret themselves. The Pharisees of Jesus' day are just representing the attitude of man in general, we know this through John's gospel, “So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."(john c11:v47-48). This is the fundamental problem with man's mind they are by nature corrupt. One has only to look at society today to see that people are prepared to say anything and do anything to get position, and this sadly is within the so called church today. The Pharisaical council brought accusations against Christ’s ministry of love not from idle words but anger, jealousy, profound and deliberate devilish hate. Man in general, has not learned that every idle word (against the Holy Ghost) that they speak shall have to be accounted for in the Day of Judgement. “For by your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned”. (matt c12:v36-v37). Why did Jesus bring up the subject? Look carefully and you can see. The Jews were blaspheming Him. They had accused Him of casting out demons by the spirit of the Devil. There are those who assume this was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, for they think that since He was really casting them out by the Holy Spirit, they were calling the Holy Spirit the spirit of the Devil. This assumption is wrong for several reasons, but the simplest is that Jesus Himself makes a distinction between blaspheming Him and blaspheming the Holy Spirit. But since they were blaspheming Him and knew they were lying, He warns them, in effect, "If you continue in that direction, you will become so hardened that you may get to the place where you can speak evil against even the Holy Spirit. If you ever get to that condition, you will never be forgiven! We need to know that principle: Any time a person sins in a deliberate fashion, calling "good" "evil," he becomes hardened, and if he persists in that kind of deliberate sin may become so hardened that he may not care if he speaks evil of the Holy Spirit Himself. Another question may be raised: Why could one blaspheme Christ and be forgiven and not do so in the case of the Holy Spirit? Paul gives a clue to at least one reason, when he says about himself, "I was a blasphemer and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief." He was able to blaspheme Christ ignorantly. One could not do that with the Holy Spirit. One cannot even know who the Holy Spirit is and be ignorant of His nature. It was not so with Christ. He was in the flesh, historically as a man, and one could ignorantly assume He was no more than a mere man and thus accuse Him of lying when He claimed to be the Son of God. They could get forgiveness when they learned better, for they could repent. Yet we must come to the understanding that God is no respecter of man, "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that fears Him, and works righteousness, is accepted with Him." (acts c10:v34). The Lord God does what He wishes to do, He is not subjected to man. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. The Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for dishonour”? (rom c9:v14-v21). God brought the nation out of Egypt, despite Pharaohs opposition. No one could keep God from doing what He deemed necessary to achieve His plan to bring Christ into the world. “If that nation against whom I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart” (jer c18:v6-v12). This passage demonstrates that people make their own choices to do evil or good, to obey or disobey God. But God can work over, under, around, or through people, depending upon their personal choices. Either way, God achieves His will, while simultaneously allowing each individual to make his or her own decisions and clinch his or her own fate. In that sense, and only in that sense, He is a potter with clay in His hands (isa c29:v16; c45:v9). Each individual decides their own conduct, and God then uses them accordingly. Let us look at the scriptures were the Lord's influence can be seen. “While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest's maids came along. Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, "You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus." But he denied it saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." So he went out into the outer court. Then the cock crowed. The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." Once again he denied it. A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more, "Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean." He began to curse and to swear, "I do not know this man about whom you are talking." And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times." He broke down and wept. (mark c14:v64-v72). Note that the scriptures record the apostle Peter as “cursing and swearing in his denial of Christ, did he commit the unpardonable sin, of course the answer is no, facts record that he received the keys of the kingdom,when Jesus asked “who do you say that I am,” Peter replied “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” then Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."(matt c16:v17-v19). Note "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers." (luke c22:v31-v32). See the intervention of God. Or the thieves on the cross who were mocking “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." “Those who were crucified with Him also kept abusing him”. (mark c15:v32; matt c27:v44), “Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (luke c23:v39-v43). See the intervention of God. The scriptures teach us many things concerning the Holy spirit such as “Quench not the Spirit”(1 thess c5:v19). The word "quench" means to extinguish. It is used for putting out a fire,(mark c9:v48) or for putting out a lamp.(matt c25:v8. ) That's what it means, to extinguish, to quench, to stifle. To quench the Holy spirit means to prevent a child of God from using their God given gift, although it can be classed as a sin or at worst iniquitous, yet it is not the committing of the unpardonable sin, it just needs repentance to restore the right relationship with God and the assembly. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. (1 john c1:v9). The Holy Spirit can also be Grieved. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.(eph c4:v30). The Holy spirit is grieved when we are argumentative or angry, when we slander another person or want retribution because we believe someone has put us down and we are embittered, harbouring an unforgiving attitude toward them,” “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.”(eph c4:v30-v31). We may grieve the Holy spirit but repentance will heal that rift and restore our fellowship with the Lord God and one with the other, Grieving the Holy spirit is not the unpardonable sin. The Holy Spirit can also be Resisted. "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the Holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it." (acts c7:v51-v53), the Holy Spirit does all He can to bring every sinner unto salvation but inasmuch as man has a free-will, he can successfully resist the Spirit's call. The Holy Spirit cannot regenerate the sinner until he believes and accepts the Lord Jesus into his heart as his Saviour. Faith precedes and makes possible the new birth. The Holy Spirit can only draw to Christ, those who allow Him to have His way with them. God's grace, therefore, is not invincible; it can be, and often is, resisted and thwarted by men. The Holy spirit can be quieted, “Then cried he upon me, and spoke unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country”. (zec c6;v8). How can one “quiet” the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a gentle spirit. He will never force Himself upon you. If you continually resist Him, or “say” that you don’t want to hear what He has to say He will back off and be quiet where you are concerned. “Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh, (gen c6:v3). Remember if you harden your heart against the Lord He will harden your heart forever. That is a question which is often pondered by many. Many are confused as to why the Lord would harden the heart of Pharaoh when He wanted him to let the people go. It would seem at first glance that God was defeating the very thing that He set out to do. When we read the book of Exodus it shall become clear; "yes the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh", (exod c9:v12; c10:v20) it is quite easy to come to erroneous conclusions if we aren't careful. But the truth is, the Lord was not making Pharaoh do evil, the Lord was "allowing" him to do evil. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:" (matt c15:v19). Only God truly understands the total depravity of man's heart against Him. "The Heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?(jer c7:v9). I the Lord search the heart, I try the reigns, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing." God is releasing His restraint of sin in Pharaoh, that his heart would be in it's normal unreasonable and deceitful state. In this hardening of Pharaohs heart, the Glory of God will be seen in the signs and wonders for generations to come. "And I will harden Pharaohs heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt." (exod c7:v3). The sin of the hardened heart, was truly Pharaohs, as it is with every man. "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:" (ezek c11:v19). "But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said." Indeed, it was He that made Pharaohs heart hardened by removing His hand of restraint. He indirectly hardened it, as this was His judgement and He takes responsibility for this hardening. A judgement upon Pharaoh and a Blessing for generations to come. (exod c8:v15). While God removed His hand of restraint and hardened the Heart of Pharaoh by this action, the sin is Pharaohs, not God's. We see this plainly in verses such as, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” Here's the answer. It was Pharaohs own free will? For when Pharaoh was asked to let the people go or God would take his first born.(exod c7) his own answer was. "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go". Surely Pharaoh did know of the Lord, that is the God of “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, he would have known that the Hebrews ,who numbered over three million, got there through Joseph.(exod c12:v37). Man's problem is not the believing in God it is his rejection in not wanting to believe in God. The Holy Spirit can be insulted. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? To "insult" is to "act with insolence" "to treat shamefully", this is revealed within the scriptures concerning the “end times” the coming to the end of the period known as the times of the Gentiles, (luke c21:v23-v24). Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My Name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. (matt c24;v9-v10). “Do not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” (2thess c2:v2-v3). Those who turn their hearts from following the Spirit of truth, having once believed and obeyed Christ's Word, now insult him. (heb c10:v39). Blasphemy against the Holy spirit comes when a person cannot forgive. That is to say that they have been wronged (or sinned against) and they refuse to forgive the person. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in Heaven forgive your trespasses. (mark c11:v25-v26). When we deliberately sin, we are not walking with the Spirit. When we do sin, our conscience testifies that we are not in the Spirit, so we lose the peace of walking with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells inside the Child of God and guides the actions of those who desire His presence. Remember it is the Holy spirit who searches the mind and heart of a man nothing is hidden from Him. When your walk is right and you are walking in the light, the transformation begins. The filling of the Spirit involves transforming our minds to the mind of Christ, as we engage in spiritual activities. Walking in the Spirit leads to a sense of peace and joy. Violating our conscience through acts of disobedience leads to a loss of filling by the Holy Spirit, which takes away our joy and peace. Although God will not take the Holy Spirit away from the child of God, if they continually sin, they shall surely lose out on the Lord's blessing for their lives. To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1corin c5:v5). It is possible to be saved and yet lose your salvation. “For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the Holy Spirit and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to bring them to repentance again, since they are re-crucifying the Son of God for themselves and holding him up to contempt. (heb c6:v4-v6). This speaks of those who have been enlightened spiritually, and who "have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit," but who then have fallen away. Of these it is said, "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance." Why? Because they have partaken of God's best , and have rejected it. For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness rather than after knowing it to turn back from the Holy commandment handed down to them. What is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them, "The dog returns to its own vomit," and "A bathed sow returns to wallowing in the mire."(2 pet c2:v20-v22). Those persons "who go on sinning wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth" have placed themselves in a position where "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgement, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries" (heb c10:v26-v27). Such people have "insulted the Spirit of grace" It is a hardness of heart and mind that insults the Holy Spirit, and leaves one with absolutely no hope of forgiveness. There is a harsh reality proclaimed repeatedly in Scriptures, men may resist and grieve and insult God's Spirit only for so long; then the Lord abandons them to themselves. (rom c1:v26). Whenever this happens, they are beyond Hope! The Spirit ceases to strive with those who make the Gospel of Christ a mockery (gen c 6v:3). When a person hardens their heart to the Word of God forgiveness can never be sought. “hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron”, (1 tim c4:v2). Confession of sin by these people will never be made, however; repentance will never occur; thus, they exclude themselves forever from His Spirit of grace. If someone believes that they can lose their salvation then they might fall into the error of trying to keep their salvation by what they do. This is a serious error, on the other hand, if they believed they could not lose their salvation then, they might fall into the error of sinning wilfully because they believe it can't be lost no matter how much they sin. This also is very wrong. The proper understanding of salvation is that works play no part in it, that it is a free gift, and that it is received by faith. Once we are saved we are to live a Holy life. (gal c3:v1-v3; rom c4:v5; c6:v1-v23; c11:v12; eph c2:v8-v9; 1 thess c4:v7). It is important that you study the word of God and are convinced in your own mind of what you believe. You are the one who has to answer to God. You are the one who needs to study to show yourself approved, (rom c3:v19; c14:v5; 2 tim c2:v15). Unfortunately the topic of 'have I committed the unpardonable sin and blasphemed against the Holy spirit', or 'am I saved or lost' has caused far too much friction within the church today. God's grace is that no one should perish but that all should come to salvation. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which is the same as the unpardonable sin, is living in the state of continued unbelief. There is no pardon for a person who dies in unbelief. Continual rejection of the Holy Spirit’s promptings to trust in Jesus Christ is the unpardonable blasphemy against Him. Remember what is stated in John Gospel; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” and further on in the same chapter is the verse “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him”. The only condition where someone would have no forgiveness, is if they are not among the “whosoever believes in Him,” for it is “they” who have “rejected the Son.”(john c3:v16; v36). There are so many thoughts and so much said about the blasphemy of the Holy spirit and the unpardonable sin that when you read or listen about them you only become more confused about the whole matter. So the best way to come to any understanding of any biblical matter is through the word of God. But before we go any further let me just say that if you are wondering if you have committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy spirit I can tell you now, if you are reading this you have not. Remember all blasphemy may be sin, but all sin is not blasphemy. The truth is that "sin" refers to general transgressions and every sin is a sin against the Holy Spirit; "blasphemy" refers to a particular one. Under the Law of Moses, one could sin against God and be forgiven, but one who blasphemed Him was stoned to death. (lev c24:v16). Blasphemy against Christ is not simply rejecting His word, or disobeying Him. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the rejection of the gospel of Christ Jesus until death. It is dying without the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. (john c8:v21). Read what scripture has to say on the matter. “ There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the Hades, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.'But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.' (luke c16:v19-v31). Scripture is clear on this matter, that if we die in our sins, we shall be separate from God.(isa c59v2). Scripture teaches that we “fall short” of God's glory because of sin. (rom c3:v23). God also cannot look upon sin with approval. Scripture reveals to us how God had to turn his back on Jesus while Jesus was on the Cross because He bore the sin of the world.(matt c27:v14). Jesus had taken on all the sins of mankind in His sacrificial death, but God would not look upon them. (hab c1:v13). Sin has serious consequences in this life and the life after. The scriptures teach us that the price of sin is death. (rom c6:v23). Death is physical and spiritual, which means to spend eternity separated from God. The scriptures make it clear that sin can be forgiven. The word of God provides a way for all to be forgiven of their sin.(john c1:v29). The scriptures teach of God's promise to forgive our sins if we confess them to Him. (1 john c1:v9). Yet the scripture teaches that the “gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (matt c7:v14). Remember no one shall see God's face without Holiness. (heb c12:v14). Salvation can only come if we look away from self and surrender our self-will before a merciful God, that through faith in His love, we may be clothed with the righteousness of His Son, the gift of God; “Christ Jesus,” for it is only through our faith in Christ, that the Lord God reveals His will to us, from a saving faith to a faith that shall move a mountain, to the greatest faith of all. (matt c8:v10; c15:v28, luke c7:v9), When you are in love with some one, it is your desire to know all you can about that person, thus the call by the Lord God to love Him with all your heart, mind, body, strength and soul, (matt c 22:v37, mark c12:v30-v33; luke c10:v27). The Lord God seeks total commitment in every part of the recipients life, for if you lack commitment towards Him, you shall lack knowledge about Him, and this shall put you outside of the perfect will of God, and shall only led to grief throughout your life, but to commit yourself to Him, is to be assured of the peace that passes all understanding, you shall lack nothing, nor shall you fear anything. To grow in fellowship with Christ Jesus is to grow in relationship with Him that shall become as intimate as in marriage, two hearts knitted together as one, for intimacy with His children is at the Heart of the Lord God, His love is so deep, that He gave His Son (Christ) as an Atonement, that we may be reconciled to Him, the ransom paid in full, the just for the unjust, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, this was His love in action, the ultimate sacrifice, no greater love can be found, than the love of one who would lay his life down for a friend, (john c15:v14-v15). It is not His will, that we should stay at the cross, and debate over issues that are not part of salvation, of whether you have a gift or am I saved or lost, for this does not reflect maturity. It is His desire that we be raised to the level of Holiness and that we be transformed into His image, for such is His love that He cries out, come let us reason together, though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool, (isa c1:v18), the Lord has given His righteousness to us through faith, it is His will that we as His children do not continuously try to work through Him, but that He may work through us, it is for this reason that the child of God is called to obedience, to surrender his life to Christ, and that 'self will' (ego) dies, nailed to the cross, so that your soul may thirst and hunger after His will for your life, (ps 42:v1-v7), this is the will of the Lord for His children, and this is the only way in which we may travel the narrow road, and as we travel along the narrow road our trusted companion the Holy spirit shall comfort, counsel and lead us into all truth, ( rom c8:v26-v39), producing within us the nature of Christ through the manifestation of His fruit, (gal c5:v22-v25). It is not a journey where we are taught 'self esteem', but 'Christ esteem', for it shall be the Christ in us, that the Father shall look upon, and it shall be the Christ in us, through which we shall be able to have fellowship and communion with the Father, we have become a new creation, born of the spirit of God, possessing within our heart His perfect love, the love that covers a multitude of sin, for as many as receive Him, to them He gave the power (authority) to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, (john c1:v12-v13), note; this comes only by the will of the Lord God, and it is only possible to reach your full potential for what the Lord has for you in your life, when you are completely within His perfect will. This is the inheritance that the Lord God has for His children, that each be fully within His will, but sadly not everyone who says Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven. (matt c7:v22). What is the perfect will of the Father, (Elyon, the Most High God), that we as His children present our bodies a living sacrifice, Holy and acceptable to Him, which is our reasonable service to Him, (rom c12:v1-v2), to be Holy as He is Holy, (1 pet c 1:v16), to glorify His name, (matt c5:v15), to love our enemies, (matt c5:v45), to be perfect in love, (matt c5:v48), not to be a hypocrites, (matt c6:v1-v8), to place the Lord first in our lives, (matt c6:v9), to have a spirit of forgiveness, (matt c6:v14), to seek first His kingdom, (matt c6:v32),to trust Him, (matt c6:v26), to have an intimate relationship with Him, (matt c7:v11), to surrender your life to Him, (matt c7:v21), to bear witness of Him, (matt c10:v31-v32), to pray to Him, (matt c11:v25), to reveal the truth to the world and the children of God, (matt c11:v26-v27), to seek after His righteousness, (matt c13:43), to have a sincere heart, (matt c15:v11), to renounce selfcenterdness, (matt c16:v27), for it is His will to guide us, (matt c18:v19), for us to have a forgiving heart, (matt c18:v35), for His children to show humility, (matt c20:v23), to have a Father son relationship, (matt c23:v9), for His children to have a good character, (matt c25:v34), to have confidence in him, (matt c26: v53), it is His will that we all come to salvation, (mark c8:v38), that we do not grieve the Holy spirit, (mark v11:v26), that we show mercy, (luke c6:v36), that we worship Him only, (luke c10:v21), that we recognize that all authority is in Him, (luke c10:v22), that He is Lord over all our life, not just part, (luke c12:v30), that we know our need for repentance, (luke c15:v18-v21), that we do not divorce, (mal c2:v16), to trust in Him knowing that you shall receive eternal life, (luke c22:v29), to know that the Father loves the Son, (john c3:v35), and that it is His will that we are born-again, (john c1:v13), that we know to worship Him in spirit and truth, (john c4:v23), to honour the Father and the Son, (john c5:v23), that the world knows you are a child of God, (john c5:v36), that you learn from Him, (john c6:v45), that you know He is the living God, (john c6:v57), that you are sanctified through Him, (john c10:v36), and that the Father is glorified through Christ, (john c12:v28), that none shall come unto the Father except through Christ, (john c14:v6), that the Father and the Son are inseparable, (john c14:11), that He upholds you, (isa c41:v10), that He is your friend and brother as well as your Saviour, (mark c3:v35), that we do not go outside of His will, (rom c1:v10), that we intercede for others in prayer, rom c8:v27), that we can enter into His perfect will, (rom c12:v1-v2), that He has filled us with joy, (acts c15:v32), so that we give freely of our wealth, (2cor c8:v5), that He died for our sin, (gal c1:v4), that we should serve Him with all our heart, (eph c6:v6), that we should stand perfect and complete in His will, (col c4:v12), to give thanks for all that He has done for us, (1thess c5:v18), that we endure and hold to our faith and love in Him, (heb c10:v36), that we do good, (1pet2:v15), to live our lives in accordance to His will, (1 pet c4:v2), to abstain from sexual immorality, (1thess c4:v3), that we share in Christ’s suffering, (1pet c4:v19), that we test all spirits, (1john c4:v1), that we are not ignorant of satan nor his schemes (2cor c2:v11), it is the Lord’s will for you to bless those that curse you and pray for those that persecute you, to give to those who you know won’t give you back, (luke c6), it is His will that we love the unlovable, if our enemy takes us a mile we must go two, if we are struck on the cheek we must turn the other cheek, for this is the attitude that Christ displayed, (phil c2:v1-v11), and if we are to be His disciple we must display the same attitude as Christ, but the child of God can be sure of one thing as they walk through life, and that is, they shall suffer at the hands of satan and the world, (2thess c1:v5; 1thess c3:v4), we are not to be unwise, but are called to understand how our enemy works, and what the will of the Lord Jesus is in any given situation, (1pet c5:v8, eph c5:v17), and to be filled with the knowledge of His will, His wisdom and spiritual understanding, (col c1:v9), we must pray, for only through prayer, do we stand complete in the perfect will of the Lord God, (col c4:v12), for the effective prayer of a righteous man shall accomplish much, (jam c5:v16). Within the perfect will of the Lord God you shall never find, sickness or disease, for such is His grace for His children, (isa c53:v5, 1 pet c2:v24-v25), but you shall find within scripture three area’s where sickness and disease are mentioned, 1.the flesh, 2.the world and 3. the devil. If we have a disease or a sickness, its not because the Lord God has failed us, and I don’t want to sound pompous or come over arrogant and not sensitive to a sister or brother who may be suffering an illness at the hands of the enemy, all I can say in this matter is, that your suffering is to the God of glory and for the glory of God, (ps 29:v3; john c11:v4), but our sickness or diseases are more than likely of our own making, due to our failure to study the word of God or pray for understanding of the word, it is we who do not meet the requirements laid down for us, it is because of our lack of knowledge towards the Lord God, that our relationship with Him is one of a distant cousin and not of reverence, we imprison ourselves with ignorance, and defeat ourselves because of our lack of understanding, which results with us always struggling with issues that have already been put to rest, and that is why we have so many backsliders within the nation and within the church. If you go back to the book of Genesis, to the fall of man, you cannot help but notice that the first utterance from satan was his opposition towards the spoken word of God, (gen c3:v1), and his opposition is carried right throughout the old testament, and when you open the new testament, we find that the first utterance of satan was in like manner, (matt c4:v3; luke c4:v3), satan knows that ignorance of God’s word shall cause confusion and division, and left to your own devices, you shall struggle and even doubt the validity of the Lord in your life, and the more you struggle the more you shall become deluded and walk out of the Lord God’s hand, (john c10:v28-v29), and when this occurs you will have walked away from your only protection. Satan knows he cannot pluck you out of the Lord’s hand, but he also knows that you have a “free will”, so through persecution, tribulation and affliction he will try to get you to walk out of the hand of the Lord, remember the Lord cannot force you to stay in His will and protection, He may put many obstacles before you to try and prevent you from going out of his will and protection, but such is His love that He shall never force you to stay. So when is blasphemy not forgiven by God? After we are dead, it is too late to seek forgiveness for any sin. God says that we all die once, and after our death we will be judged. There is no period after we die to ask God for forgiveness of our sins. We must seek God, turn from sin, and ask God for forgiveness of our sin against Him, “For He saith, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of of salvation”. (2 corin c6:v2), while we are alive. For it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: (heb c6:v27). Yet remember if you harden your heart against the Lord God He'll harden it for ever, He did this with Pharaoh in Egypt, and others. However look at the book of Romans chapter 1, and it explains why and when He does this. God gives us many, many chances to soften our hearts to Him but when we continue in our sin, and deliberately go against His teachings, then and only then will He harden the heart. He is not a God that will force you to believe. However He is a God that is merciful for years and years. You can be spiritually dead long before the flesh dies. Remember king Saul. He didn't even know that the Holy spirit had departed from Him.(1 sam c1;v1). Walk in the spirit and your find the way of Holiness, and the narrow way. May the LORD bless you and keep you; May The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; May The LORD lift up His countenance upon you And give you peace. Amen!

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