Mark 3:22-29

Mark 3:22-29  And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub!  By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”  So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables:  “How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.  In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.  Then he can rob his house.  I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”   

In the above verses, we see the teachers of the law accusing Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebub.  Jesus directly attacks their accusation by saying, How can Satan drive out Satan?  Can sin drive out sin, can dirtiness wipe away dirt, can unrighteousness triumph over unrighteousness, can evil dispose of evil?  No, darkness cannot bring light, dirt cannot produce purity, uncleanness will not birth holiness, and sin will not bring godliness.  By claiming Jesus' miraculous works of goodness were evil, his accusers clearly implied that the Holy Spirit inside Jesus was evil.  They were saying that the Holy Spirit, who Jesus depended on minute by minute, was a minister of sin and darkness.  Those who knew Jesus realized He walked in the power of the Spirit.  They had witnessed his baptism: When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3:16-17 NKJV)  Hearing their condemning words now, Jesus responds to their accusations with these words: I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.  But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”  He warns them, to categorize the Holy Spirit's work as evil is to revile God's salvation message on the earth.  God will not forgive such a filthy, blasphemous spirit.  He will not forgive because the Holy Spirit is God's avenue to his holy kingdom, his plan from the beginning of time.  The Spirit woos sinners to God's presence through Christ the Son: He is THE WAY.  Through Christ's work on the cross, the Holy Spirit implements God's salvation plan of grace and mercy by drawing men and women to their Father in heaven.  No man will hear God's voice of grace and mercy without the Holy Spirit's wooing power.  Without the Spirit's work, we are eternally dead in our sins, without hope. "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.  Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”  For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.  He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”  (John 6:63-65)

Many churches and Christians underestimate or even ignore the significance and the importance of the Holy Spirit as the third member of the godhead.  Yet when we study God's Word, we find the Spirit active throughout the history of the church.  If we look at Christ's life, we see the involvement of the Holy Spirit from the time of his conception: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  (Matthew 1:18)  The Holy Spirit continues this involvement throughout Jesus' life because He does not function on his own.  The Holy Spirit is his guide, his source of strength, power, and wisdom.  From leading him out in the desert to be tempted by the devil to leading him to the cross, Jesus follows the bidding of the Holy Spirit in his life.  When Jesus sent out the twelve to the lost sheep of Israel to preach the kingdom of heaven was near, He said, But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.  At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  (Matthew 10:19-20)  Jesus knew they could not go out in their own strength; they must ask the Holy Spirit to come upon them and give them the words they needed to break down the rebellion in the hearts of the people.  When it came time for Jesus to go to the cross, He comforted his disciples with the thought that He would not leave them alone.  They were filled with sorrow at the thought of him going away, but He said, I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  (John 16:7)  He knew they would fail without the Holy Spirit.  He knew they needed more that what He had given them.  Seeing the miracles and hearing him preach and teach was not enough.  So He told them of a wonderful plan, and He sent them to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of power from on high.

The disciples did as Jesus told them: they gathered with a group of people in an upper room and waited to see what would happen.  The Bible tells us: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  (Acts 2:1-4)  Of course this caused quite a stir among the people who heard the noise and came to investigate: some praised God; others laughed and mocked them, saying they were drunkards so early in the morning.  But they were noticed.  Peter preached an amazing sermon and when he said, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation,  three thousand people accepted the Lord as Savior and were baptized.  (Acts 2:40)  Surely the Holy Spirit was in that place.  Every one of us has that same Spirit dwelling within us, wanting to use us for God's glory as his instruments.  We are not going to blaspheme the Holy Spirit today.  We are not going to say that the Spirit is a liar or a fraud.  We are not going to turn from Christ or reject our salvation.  But we may ignore opportunities to share our faith.  We may push aside a chance to communicate with someone in need of encouragement or love.  We might not listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, telling us to write a note or a card or to post a message or make a phone call.  The Holy Spirit is an active force in our lives.  When Paul wrote his second letter to his spiritual son, Timothy, he reminded him of the faith he received growing up, and he said, Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  (2 Timothy 1:6-7)  We have all prayed for faith, for the Holy Spirit's power, for a ministry to serve God.  Now is the time for us to let the Holy Spirit stir up the gift of God that we might bolding confess our faith to others and serve those God has placed in our lives.  Serve the Lord with gladness today!