Luke 12:8-9 (ESV) “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
Again judgement day in eternity is in view here. To acknowledge Jesus before men is to be a bold witness for Jesus. If you are a bold witness for Jesus, Jesus will acknowledge that you are his before the angels on judgement day. But if you fear man, are not a bold witness and deny Jesus, He will deny you on judgement day. If Jesus denies knowing you on judgement day, you won’t spend eternity with him. Now we know that Peter denied Jesus before men, but he repented and Jesus forgave him. But there is an unforgiveable sin.
Luke 12:10 (ESV) And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that will not be forgiven. An unforgiven sin will send that person to spend eternity in hell. In the other Gospels, this statement of Jesus was made after the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of delivering people from demons by the power of Satan. The sin which cannot be forgiven is denying the power of the Holy Spirit and attributing it to the devil. I believe those that commit the unforgivable sin have no desire to repent. They are become entrenched in their unbelief and disrespect for the Holy Spirit.
Luke 12:11-12 (ESV) And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Jesus looks forward to persecution that his disciples would face in the future. When they were required to defend themselves before rulers, they should rely on the Holy Spirit to give them the right words. Words that would show no fear of the rulers, but would give a bold witness for Jesus. When we fear God alone, we have the power to be a fearless witness for Jesus.
Someone once asked the question, if you were brought up to trial as a follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you? You see, most people would say that they would never deny Jesus. Yet, they go through life, fearing about what other people would think, they never tell others about Jesus. In fact, many or most of some people’s friends have no idea they are a Christian.
You can deny Jesus verbally by saying you don’t know him or you can deny Jesus simply by silence. Never speaking of him to others who are unbelievers. As we grow in our fear of the Lord, our fears of being a bold witness will decrease. We will be able to acknowledge our faith in any and all circumstances. We will boldly witness for Jesus. Finally, Jesus encourages us to consider eternity and to …