On the night Before His Death, Christ encouraged His Disciples even as he was going through great stress for what He would soon endure. Turn to John 14 and we can read His encouraging words. John 14:12-18 12 " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 15 " If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- 17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. So He tells them of the wondrous work they will do in His name and speaks of a Helper that will make these things possible and allow Him and the Father to abide with them forever. Also notice that the world cannot receive this “Spirit of Truth”.

Moving down to verse 26-29 we read that the Helper is indeed the Holy Spirit. John 14:26-29 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. We also see here that the Holy Spirit brings many things to remembrance that we have been taught. 27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So Jesus wanted them to have peace of mind. In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul tells Timothy 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Moving down to Chapter 15 and starting in verse 26 we learn a little more about the Holy Spirit. John 15:26 - 27 26 " But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 "And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. So Jesus Promised to send this Helper, the Holy Spirit of God that allows miracles, peace, truth, and revelation, as well as connecting us with the Godhead like Christ Today I am going to discuss the Holy Spirit that was promised on this Day of Pentecost to the Church of God; how this Spirit joins each of us together as members of His Family and how we have access to God’s mighty power through it. But I also want to discuss one aspect about the Holy Spirit that we certainly want to understand and that is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit and how that is the one sin that is not forgivable.

The Title of the Sermon today is "Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, and the Unpardonable Sin." The Holy Spirit came to the church over 50 days after Christ promised it on Passover before his death. It came on the Day of Pentecost. We can read about it in Acts 1: Acts 1:1-5 NKJ The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5 "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So these many weeks from the time He was resurrected was spent teaching the disciples and preparing them for what is to come. At the end of 40 days He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise. You know I never hear much made of the significance of waiting those last 10 Days from the churches of this world. Why did the church have to wait? A more significant question we could ask is why Christ didn’t say tomorrow this promise would occur. Why did He leave before it arrived? We see the significance in Acts 2. Acts 2:1-2 NKJ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. God’s Plan Let’s review why God chose the Day of Pentecost for the coming of the Holy Spirit and how it fits into the plan of God. We discussed how God’s Festivals are based on the Agricultural calendar and He uses this as a teaching tool to show us what He is doing to bring all mankind the opportunity for salvation.

This is so important because if Christ is the door in which all must get to the Father, then it would be impossible for all of the billions of people who never new Jesus Christ to have an opportunity. Think of all the people that lived before Christ, before the Flood. Think about the Billions that have lived the last 2000 years and may have heard of Christ but never were baptized and accepted His life to live within them. Most of these people are dead now and if God did not have a plan for them then most of the people who have ever lived would be doomed to eternal death. Fortunately, God does have a plan The Festivals and Holy Days paint a picture of redemption for all of mankind, not just those lucky enough to know God and Christ in this lifetime. It all starts with the harvest. God’s Holy Day Calendar starts with the ripening of the grain in the spring that was planted the fall before.

It shows that what God is doing involves harvesting and the Calendar reflects this as it cannot even start each year without it the Harvest. We discussed this at length on during the Days of Unleavened Bread. When the barley that we planted the previous fall, before the winter, starts to grow in the spring, on God’s timetable, the Sacred Year begins after the first of the Grain ripens. Jesus represents the first of the Harvest as we discussed during the sermon of the Wave Sheaf. And from that wave sheaf ceremony we count the 50 Days to Pentecost we find that only those that keep Unleavened Bread can find the Day of Pentecost. In that way, the Day of Pentecost is cut off from those that do not keep God’s festival days. Pentecost represents the first harvest that was planted during the spring.

This grain completes the Firstfruits of the Harvest and represents the Body of Christ; the church of God. But the story of Salvation does not end with the firstfruits. The very name First Fruits mean there is more after. You can’t have a first without a second. The crops continue to grow all summer long. As they mature you come to the fall when God’s Festival Plan concludes. There is a great Harvest, much larger than the first and represents salvation being offered to the entire world. It is these three harvests that we celebrate each year through the 7 annual Holy Days. The first is Christ, the second is His church, and the final is all of mankind. That is why we rejoice each year when we celebrate these days. Lets get back to Pentecost and see the significance of this day for the Holy Spirit.

The Day after the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread began a 50 day countdown that started with an offering grain representing the first of the harvest representing the future Messiah and ended with another offering on the Day of Pentecost. The Grain Offering during Days of Unleavened Bread accompanied an offering of a Lamb without blemish that represented the sacrifice Christ would make as well as the other Passover Symbols Unleavened bread and Wine representing the Body and Blood of Christ. I would encourage you to review it in Leviticus 23. Ancient Israel did not understand the New Testament symbols for these offerings but did so to foreshadow God’s magnificent plan. When someone tells you the Holy Days were just part of the Old Covenant you can look to these verses to show that they pointed forward to a master plan yet to be fulfilled. We learned last time that this Wave Sheaf ceremony had its fulfillment during the New Testament Passover week and pictured the Death, resurrection and return of Christ to the Father as a Wave offering for the people of God. To be accepted by Him and therefore open the door for the greater harvest yet to come.

On Sunday Morning, the Day after the Sabbath, Jesus told Mary not to touch him as He has not yet ascended to the Father but He was going to His Father and Our Father, to His God and Our God. The first time he refers that we could regard that we have the same relationship to the Father that He had. This wave sheaf offering made possible the inclusion into the Family of God. But it did not end there. They were to count 50 days until the Day of Pentecost. Last time we only read until verse 14 of Leviticus 23. Let’s pick up the story in verse 15 and read about Pentecost. Now remember that to Ancient Israel, these festivals were agricultural in nature and from their point of view, they were supposed to show the gratitude of the people toward God as the provider of all blessings on earth.

They did not understand these would have a future fulfillment and therefore had much more meaning than their understanding of them. It is easy to get lost in the long lists of animals and produce that was required in these sacrifices. It is not my purpose today to go over all the symbolism contained in these passages but to show how they are connected to the wave sheaf ceremony during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Leviticus 23:15-21 15 ' And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 'You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD. 18 'And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the LORD. 19 'Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 'The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs.

The part I want to focus on here is that in verse 20 there is another Wave offering linking these two together; first during the Days of Unleavened Bread, and then 50 Days later again of Pentecost. Pentecost is linked to Days of Unleavened bread because both refer to the first of the harvest. Both are Firstfruits and both are linked. What links us together with Christ? As we read earlier, it is the Holy Spirit and with it we have access to God but more importantly, we abide with God and Christ through it. Christ Lives in us by this power and we have the spirit to help us grow into the future family members of God. The world views the Holy Spirit as a third person of a divine trinity. The King James Version renders the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost and many people assign personage to it. But consider this; the New King James only uses the word ghost in 2 places, neither of which refers to the Holy Spirit. The King James has the word ghost 109 times and some even in the Old Testament referring to death where is says in many places, “he gave up the ghost and died." 

Now, the Old Testament people did not have the Holy Spirit but rather the Spirit in man that God gives to every person. The word ghost is used to refer to people here. In the New Testament the words for Holy Spirit are Hagios Pneuma hagios {hag'-ee-os} Meaning: 1) most holy thing pneuma {pnyoo'-mah} Meaning: 1) a movement of air, hence the wind itself 1b) breath of nostrils or mouth 2) the spirit So these words do not refer to a person but of a Holy Power of God. Here’s another problem with seeing the Holy Spirit as a person.

Mark 3:28-29 28 " Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 "but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- NKJ Luke 12:10 "And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. blasphemeo {blas-fay-meh'-o} Meaning: 1) to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, 2) to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed at blasphemia {blas-fay-me'-ah} Meaning: 1) slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another's good name 2) impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty Now, when I did some research about the unpardonable sin the focus was on rejecting Christ. One of the reasons for this believes come from the Old Testament. Looking at Numbers 15:30 we read this of those that speak ill of God: Numbers 15:30-31 30 ' But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people. 31 'Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.'"

We can further read in Isaiah 22:12-14 another condemnation by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 22:12-14 12 And in that day the Lord GOD of hosts Called for weeping and for mourning, For baldness and for girding with sackcloth. 13 But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" 14 Then it was revealed in my hearing by the LORD of hosts, "Surely for this iniquity there will be no atonement for you, Even to your death," says the Lord GOD of hosts. Notice that it says the sin will remain your entire life KJV Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, NIV "Till your dying day NJB until you are dead NRS until you die, So even in the tough days of the Old covenant there was an escape clause at death. But now lets turn to Matthew 12:31 and let’s see what it says about rejecting Christ.

NKJ Matthew 12:31-32 31 " Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 "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. Barclays Daily Study Bible: There is one section in this saying which is undoubtedly puzzling. In the Revised Standard Version Jesus is made to say that a sin against the Son of man is forgivable, whereas a sin against the Holy Spirit is not forgivable. If that is to be taken as it stands, it is indeed a hard saying. Matthew has already said that Jesus is the touchstone of all truth (Matt 10:32-33); and it is difficult to see what the difference between the two sins is. NLT Matthew 12:32 Anyone who blasphemes against me, the Son of Man, can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come. So, if the Holy Spirit is a person, then you have to get by the impossible by saying it is OK to Blaspheme God and Christ but the Holy GHOST? That makes no sense. The reason why Barclay and so many others have trouble with this is they do not understand what the Holy Spirit is and why blaspheming it is so perilous.

The world’s churches have trouble with this because they see this lifetime as critical for accepting Christ or risk eternal damnation. We understand that God is not calling the world at this time and His plan requires the return of Christ before the world is given the chance at salvation. This is the key to understanding the Unpardonable Sin What the world does not understand is that the Day of Pentecost unlocks this mystery. To understand the role of the Holy Spirit you have to keep the Holy Days. God reveals through these days the true meaning of the Holy Spirit and its purpose in our lives. These days picture the reconciling of mankind to God and this process begins when we are transformed into the body of Christ. This cannot happen without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power that transforms us from the person we were to the being God had called us to become.

Remember: NKJ 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. It is the Holy Spirit that truly reveals God to us. Many people think the know God but without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to know the hidden things of Him. When someone rejects God and His plan they are not held to account unless they truly know God. Without the Holy Spirit this is not possible. That is why Christ asked for forgiveness to those that were killing him. There seems to be no greater rejection of someone than crucifying them but as Christ said, even this is forgivable. God uses the Holy Spirit to opens our minds to see the hidden things because we keep His commandments, His festivals, and have been called for a purpose. The Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost because His people rehearsed this for hundreds of years.

It is God people that the Holy Spirit is given. When we receive it we have a special relationship that we could not have otherwise and we truly know Him. We can be One with God as Christ is One with God. Many times people who speak ill of God are doing so out of ignorance. We can get angry with God when we suffer or others suffer. If someone does not know God it would not be fair to punish them eternally for mistakes. But if they Know God, really know him; then that would be different and we can only know God if we have the Holy Spirit. To really reject God would be to reject the Holy Spirit as that is the way we are connected to Him. We want to hate God; we have to reject His Spirit.

What about those that have left this faith? One of the most often heard fears in the church is for those that were baptized and now have left the church. How many Mothers and fathers in the church have worried about this? I have heard others talk about it for 30 years. It is important to notice a fundamental difference to committing the unpardonable sin. While it is certainly possible to commit the unpardonable sin and thus leave the Body of Christ forever, it is not true that everyone who has left the body has committed the Unpardonable Sin. It is important that we understand that because God is a Merciful God and forgiveness is part of His nature. When I was growing up in the church I heard people talking about those that left the church were doomed. After all, in those days the church seemed like the only game in town and if you rejected that then what chance to do you have?

One of the scriptures used to illustrate this is Luke 9:62 Luke 9:62 62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." The message here is very sobering but we also want to understand the context here. When you read through this section you read that a young man comes up to Christ and wants to follow Him. Jesus warns him that this is a tough road and the man says OK but first… This is where Jesus tells him this lesson about who is or isn’t fit to be in the Kingdom. Now just because Christ here is instructing someone new on counting the costs before he signs on to the plan of God, doesn’t mean we can’t apply this to our lives in a number of ways. How many times have we heard about children being taken away from unfit parents?

Does it mean those parents have forever lost their kids? Sometimes yes but the intent is to help the parent’s change their ways so they can be ruled fit again. The point here is that many have left the faith for so many different reasons it would take a whole sermon to innumerate them all. But there is coming a time we can read about in the Letters to the churches in Rev. 3 that encourages those that have grown week to return to Him while there is time. Many will come back in the years to come and we can have hope for all of those that turned back from the plow. But I also want to offer up another possibility and it is not up to us to judge one another and mark who is and who is not going to be in the Kingdom of God. Too often I have heard arguments and discussions about problems in people that can keep them out of the Kingdom. But there is an assumption that some people make and that is, since they were baptized they have been giving the chance and if they don’t repent then they are doomed. Is that the way it is? We don’t know who God gave His spirit to and by what measure?

Is the Act of becoming baptized proof positive that we have been given our one and only chance? What if we receive the Holy Spirit and the trials of this life overwhelm us and this road is too hard. In those cases I have heard the strongest condemnation from some. But let’s consider something here. Mark 4:2-9 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: 3 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 "And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 "Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 "But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 "And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 "But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." 9 And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

So, are those that were in the faith but sprouted on rocky ground or among thorns going to be lost, or will they have a chance like the rest of the world when God truly reveals himself to them? Only God knows who has been made a part of His family and then rejected Him. We cannot know this nor does God want us to worry. He is merciful, He is patient, remember the instruction to forgive 70 times 7? This is the way God thinks. We should be hard on ourselves though and guard our relationship with all of our ability.

Lets conclude in John 16 with more encouragement from Jesus in regards to the Holy Spirit. John 16:5-13 5 " But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. The reason the Holy Spirit will convicts the world of sin is because without the Holy Spirit we really cannot know the things of God. We cannot truly understand, and we cannot be held totally accountable. But with this accountability come great power, knowledge, understanding, peace and most of all, inclusion into the family of God.