Called for an Attitude

Summary of my sermon, based on Luke 12:1-12. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on July 27, 2025.

Back in 2012, a lot of people were caught up in the “end-of-the-world” predictions tied to the Mayan calendar. Some even thought it might be the day of the rapture. That might sound odd because the Mayan prophecy had nothing to do with Christianity, yet some believers connected the two. Opportunists even profited from that fear. One man, Bart Centre, started a company called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA. His pitch was simple: if the rapture took place and Christians disappeared, their pets would need care. For $135 upfront—plus $20 per additional animal—atheist employees promised to collect your pets within 24 hours. To ensure they wouldn’t be “raptured” themselves, those workers were even asked to say something blasphemous against the Holy Spirit.

That detail points us to a serious topic: What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Jesus calls it “the unforgivable sin” in Luke 12:10: “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.” For centuries, Christians have wrestled with this verse. Some—like John Bunyan—feared they had committed it, though he eventually realized he hadn’t. Others, like Puritan John Child, were consumed by guilt and despair.

So what does this actually mean? And could someone commit it accidentally?

The best place to start is context. Luke 12 begins with Jesus warning about hypocrisy: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (v.1). Hypocrisy spreads like yeast in bread—it puffs up, but it also creates holes. You might hide those gaps for a time, but Jesus says: “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (vv.2–3). Judgment Day will expose everything—both sin and good works (1 Timothy 5:24–25). That reality is why Jesus urges His followers to fear God rather than people: “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12:4–5).

This isn’t a call to panic but to reverence. God’s power is like Niagara Falls—awesome, overwhelming, and not something to treat lightly. Yet Jesus immediately reminds us: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (vv.6–7). The same God who judges sin also cares deeply for those who trust Him, enough to send His Son as our Savior.

From there, Jesus explains that we must not only fear God the Father but also acknowledge God the Son: “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” (vv.8–9). Denying Christ is hypocrisy in action—professing faith inwardly but refusing to stand for Him outwardly. Without Christ as our advocate (1 John 2:1), we have no defense on Judgment Day.

Then comes the difficult verse: “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” (v.10). Why is insulting Jesus forgivable, but blaspheming the Spirit is not?

Other Gospels help explain. In Matthew 12 and Mark 3, Jesus gives this warning after the Pharisees claim He casts out demons by Satan’s power: “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:30). Calling the Spirit’s work “evil” is an extreme, deliberate rejection. But Luke’s broader context points to a more general truth: resisting the Spirit’s conviction is unforgivable because it leaves a person unwilling to repent. Jesus said in John 16:8, “When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” If someone continually rejects that conviction—attributing God’s work to Satan or dismissing it entirely—they close the door to salvation.

In other words, the “unforgivable sin” is not a careless word; it’s a hardened heart that permanently rejects the Spirit’s call to repent and trust Christ. If you’re worried you’ve committed it, that very concern is evidence you haven’t.

This passage closes with a promise: “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” (Luke 12:11–12). Those who fear God rather than man will find courage, not despair.

Romans 8:38–39 sums it up: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”