Teach Us to Pray

PREAMBLE:
One of the accusations commonly thrown at us is that we are blaspheming the Holy Spirit when we attempt to discern whether a particular manifestation is truly of the Lord or not. It seems that this phrase is often mindlessly regurgitated in order to keep us from obeying the divine command to test all the spirits c/f 1 John 4: 1 with 1 Thess 5:21. In the following article, as part of his ongoing series about the Lord's prayer, Philip Foster looks at this controversial topic. By way of an introduction, we present an excerpt from an interview with Benny Hinn, which demonstrates the kind of threats, which are made. The context is that Paul Crouch (PC) is interviewing Benny Hinn (BH) on TBN with Paul and Jan Crouch Sept 13, 1999.
In the opening exchanges of the interview reference is made to Kathryn Kuhlmann, who BH appeals to as a precedent for his "cursing and blessing" pronouncements at a recently held healing crusade in Denver, USA. He also refers to Fred Roberts, whom he calls "an apostle", as being another person who encouraged him to "speak judgment" on his opponents. BH: "He said you are entitled now because they blasphemed the Holy Spirit to tell God what you want to see done."
PC: "Because they were attributing your works to the devil; exactly what they did to Jesus." Hinn agrees.
BH: "See the second they attribute the work of God to Satan, we, as believers step into, legally step into, a place we can ask God to stop them." Just how this "judgment" will take place, and in what circumstances God will "stop" us, remains to be seen. Following Philip Foster's excellent article, there is a short editorial note, which presents an alternative view. We recognise that this is a controversial issue and, as always, we welcome any comments which our readers may have.

---

"Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, `Could this be the Son of David?'

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, `It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.'

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, `Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Or again, how can anyone 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.

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognised by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.'

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Him, `Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.'

He answered, `A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here'"(Matthew 12:22-42).

Just recently I heard a news profile of the Mike Tyson fight. It focused on the behaviour of Mike Tyson. Ordinary people were asked their opinion. One person said something like this: "We have all been forgiven so why can't we forgive Mike Tyson?"

A curious statement, which, if I may take it seriously, betrays a huge misunderstanding about God's forgiveness. The assumption in that statement was that we are all forgiven already - it has happened. But then this would mean that the petition in the Lord's prayer `forgive us our sins' is meaningless and should be scrapped. This is clearly nonsense of course. We MUST ask for forgiveness from God for our sins, as the apostle John reminds us in his letter:

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 1:8_2:2).

This is clearly conditional on confession and repentance. Yes, God's PROVISION through the shed blood of His Son is there for all - but it is only for those who come. We are not universalists: those who hold that God will save everyone with or without repentance. That is to misunderstand the whole message of bible.

It is true we cannot say a man is damned, but we must declare that every man is damnable!

Thus repentance and confession to God are vital in prayer. Indeed unless we do this we are effectively talking to ourselves: remember the pharisee and the tax collector?

" To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: `Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18).

I want to deal with a question that often bothers many new Christians (and some old ones as well!) Is there such a thing as the unforgivable sin? In particular the sin mentioned by Jesus in the passage: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit... "but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:32).

Perhaps no one verse has caused more distress among genuine believers; the fear that they might at some point have committed this sin and so be rejected by God. The traditional answer is often - "if you are worried that you have, then you have not, because someone who has would not want forgiveness". Now this is quite true, but as it stands lacks apparent support - a reassuring statement - yes - but is it valid?

Let me say the answer is yes, but perhaps for reasons that may not have occurred to us.

Previously I mentioned the peculiar position that the Jews had (and have) with respect to God's plan and purpose of salvation.

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: `Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near."

In my last article I wrote about how, if Israel as whole had accepted Jesus as Messiah, then they and the scattered communities of Jews from every nation under heaven (Acts 2:5) would have become centres of mission. That of course was not to be - though Acts 2 shows a faithful remnant who DID believe etc.

But in Matthew 10 things had not yet come to a head. There were beginning to be rumblings of course - but as of that time opposition had been verbal and not violent.

For example, chapter 9 verse 3 "This fellow is blaspheming" (because he had declared forgiveness to the paralytic). At least they had their theology correct! In that God alone can forgive sins - but then they had not realised that Jesus is God made man.

In chapter 11 however John is imprisoned by the `king' of the Jews: Herod. He was not of course a true representative of the Jewish nation - the politics of the Herods are highly complex - but the signs are getting more ominous and in that chapter on John, Jesus castigates not just Herod (indeed he does not mention him here) but the unrepentant cities - warning of the potential for judgment to fall. The `establishment' and the tacit supporters they represent are being warned - yet, as always, there is a remnant over whom Jesus rejoices:

"Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. `Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the Day of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the Day of Judgment than for you.'

At that time Jesus said, `I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure'" (Matthew 11:20-26).

But in chapter 12 comes the watershed - the crisis. It comes with the healing of the man with the withered hand (9-14) the rejection of Jesus by the leaders takes a new turn:

"But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."

Immediately following this Matthew quotes from the Servant songs of Isaiah the particular passage about the Spirit.

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations" (v18).

He does this as if to remind his readers who Jesus truly is - the Anointed One in whom the Spirit of God dwells in all His fullness.

Then comes the climax. Jesus heals a demon-possessed man (v22). Immediately a question arises: could this be the Son of David? The Messiah.

The pharisees reply, "NO it is by Beelzebub ..." (v24).

In one last appeal to plain reason - Jesus, in effect, asks them to reconsider such a terrible verdict. And for good reason.

They have seen the proofs that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed of the Spirit prophesied in the OT. They had heard the testimony of John and had allowed him to be silenced (and in due time executed). They have seen this man Jesus perfectly ministering in the full power of the Holy Spirit - undimmed in any way by sin or self-seeking. As we well know Jesus and Jesus alone is perfect man as well as pure Son of God. "In Him was life and that life was the light of men" (John 1:4).

"Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it" (Luke 10:23-24).

To have seen Jesus walk this earth, preach the gospel, heal the sick (as clear evidences of His Messiahship) to have been there and witnessed it all and yet still reject Him that is the blasphemy against the Spirit. It was a sin uniquely possible to that generation:

"The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here" (Luke 10:41).

As Jesus was to say later in Matthew chapter 23:33-36-

"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation."

Why? Had THEY committed all these sins? No, but by rejecting Jesus who had NO sin, who in a sense incorporated everything that all these other righteous men and prophets to some degree em bodied (though they were still sinners) they stood condemned. In Jesus everything was writ clearly without blemish and without therefore the excuse of saying, as can be said of any other believer, that their sinfulness obscured the truth. Noah sinned Moses sinned, Elijah sinned ... But Jesus has never sinned. As Jesus says to Thomas

"Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

Therefore this sin cannot occur today: because no man or woman filled by God's Spirit lives a perfect life: we all obscure the light of God - deny it if you dare! Therefore no one rejecting our message can be brought under this charge.

This has a spin off. If there has been a difficulty in recent times it has been a fear to assess some `ministries', which make great claims - for fear of committing this very sin! You cannot do this. Indeed God's Word enjoins every Christian to test the spirits:

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Messiah has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world" (1 John 4:1-3).

And we need to be able to do that without being cowed by the fear of committing some unforgivable sin. We must indeed do this in our own prayer time. When we believe that God may be speaking to us - test the spirits.

To return just briefly to Matthew 12.

From here on in His ministry Jesus refuses to perform a public miracle except one:

"He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:39-40).

They were to receive one more public sign - their real `last last' chance - followed by a hidden sign as a result of their rejection once more of that last sign (from their point of view).

This would be the raising of Lazarus from the dead (sign of Jonah) John 11:53 "So from that day on they plotted to take his life".

The hidden sign was of course His own resurrection - where he never appeared to the unbelieving authorities but to those who followed Him.

Whereas a nation might have committed the unforgivable sin (and perhaps it is worth noting that Jesus warned that they could: not necessarily that they had) - individuals within it none the less were at liberty to turn and repent. For those there was salvation - even for those who opposed Jesus during His life.

Thus we can conclude that there is no sin too grave that the forgiveness that God offers us in Christ cannot deal with as long as we repent. That no one need fear that they have gone `too far'. So take courage, turn again and be forgiven.