The Unforgivable Sin

Bob, if you would to Mark chapter 3 and were gonna start this one versus 2330 go through verse 35 as we get into the message.

Then he went home crowd gathered again so they could not even eat when his family heard it, they went out to see Sam for they were saying he's out of his mind. The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by be eligible by the prince of demons he cast out the demons we call them to him and said to them in parables. How can Satan cast out Satan.

If the kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand the Satan has risen up against himself and his divided, he cannot stand but is coming to an end, but no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven. The children of man what and whatever blaspheme blasphemies they utter. But whosoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness is guilty of an eternal sin, for they were saying. He has an unclean spirit that with me as we go to our Lord in prayer.

Heavenly father, we continue to pray for our sick today. I pray for Nicole Losey struggling continually with vertigo. Nancy Lindley and Dolores Stillwell recovering from surgery. Wanda Abercrombie experiencing renal failure. Pray for Ed Nolan, who this week experienced his mother's passing. Alicia Colwell was her husband Doug is going to be with the Lord we all lift up our lost loved ones in Ascot you do that work in their hearts that we can't do. Father, we deal with the subject today, since chills up and down our spines. Subject is unforgivable sin. Is that possible, is it really a sin that a person can commit that is so horrible and horrendous that he or she could never be forgiven. Is there really a sense of the heinous that you will separate yourself so far from them that there is no present hope in the future hope this biblical truth should awaken our hearts, but not fill us with fear. It should deepen our love for you and your grace.

It should increase our hatred for Satan and sin, it should drive us to the cross.

Lord, please do a work in our hearts this morning. May we leave Grace Church today with joy in our hearts, a burden for the lost board is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Verse 20 says. Then he went home.

The crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat after long hard day at work. Many of you probably experienced this, you get tired. Maybe you've not been able to go to break all day long. Maybe you completely missed lunch and as the days coming to any and you just really look forward to be unable to leave that place to go back home to maybe even a little bit right back in your La-Z-Boy and just finally get some relaxation and little bit of rest I think is what Jesus and the disciples were experiencing that day. I had worked hard to been extremely busy but finally they get back home and the crowns are so big and that they're not even able to eat.

They have to continue to keep working. That's the scenario that we are looking at as we get into this particular passage today. I will sure remember that as I got five points and I will share with you in this passage .1 is the S. Lord, liar or lunatic look at me.

In verses 20 through 21 then he went home and the crowd gathered again so they could not even eat and when his family heard it, they went out to seizing for they were saying.

He is out of his mind. CS Lewis was an atheist.

As a young man Lord broke his heart. He came to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior came a great Christian author an amazing biblical apologist.

He was a great man of God.

There was one particular thing that irritated the dickens out of him and that is when people would say I believe that Jesus is a good man. Good moral man.

I believe that Jesus was a great teacher, but I just don't believe that Jesus was God in his book mere Christianity. He dealt with that will take a moment and just share with you what Lewis said. He said I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him. That is, Christ.

I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That's the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of hail. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and he is the son of God rails a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a full, you can spit at him and killing him as a demon you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He is not left that open to us.

He did not intend to now seems to me Lewis said it's obvious that Jesus was neither a lunatic nor a feigned and consequently however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem I have to accept the view that he was and is God. Jesus is teaching now in his hometown. The crowds are unbelievably large and Jesus is saying things to this crowd that is just blowing them out of the saddle. Well, his mother's brother and sisters heard that he was in Capernaum and that the crowds were huge and they came and they came to taking back home and I came in and what they said about him was the S we think maybe he's lost his mind now to think about who his brothers were we know two of them pretty well. They were James and James was the first pastor at the church in Jerusalem. He was also the man who wrote the epistle of James.

Judas was a great great evangelist and wrote they the epistle of Jude and so these were men who at this point in time do not believe in Jesus at all, and they will not believe in Christ until after the resurrection, so they look in Jesus and I hear what he's saying and they say oh my goodness he is he is lost his mind and so I can just see James, and Judas is there over there at Jesus in their pulling on his tunic and their AL on his sleeve and this in Jesus please stop this.

Quit talking like this, people think you're crazy you just come along with us that you need some rest and will just take you back home and you can get some much much needed rest. At this point in time. They are essentially saying maybe Jesus is a lunatic yet. In less than two months two months only two years after that and lessen that time he goes that James and John experience something that they never would've imagined in a million years Jesus has been resurrected from the dead and they talk with him and he ministers to his sins back into heaven. And guess what they say Jesus was not the one that was a lunatic. We were the ones that were fools.

Now we understand who he is. He is Lord is King of Kings and Lord of lords is the son of God is the Messiah. Now we can believe everything that he ever said and they bow before him unconditionally surrendering their lives to him close. What we have in verse 20 and 21 would have surely embarrass James and John all but that didn't stop them.

They went on to become mighty mighty men of God, and they finished whale hunt .2 is a wicked accusation look at that verse 22 and the scribes came down from Jerusalem were saying he is Pat he is possessed by the eligible and by the prince of demons cast out the demons in Luke chapter 11 verse 14 we are given more detail than than Mark gives us some great background information. Listen, because Martin tell us about this in verse 14 it says they was casting out a demon that was mute when the demon he gone out the mute man spoke and the people marveled that we don't know the age of this guy, but he was an adult.

We had a great problem.

He was not able to speak this in those days. If a person had that kind of malady for that kind of handicap. He was in trouble for he could not be taught how to do sign language because sign language had not been developed yet and he couldn't read or write because people would look at a mute person or thing with their unteachable leg would even try to teaching and so he was in a situation where the only way he could communicate was eager to point to make facial expressions and he was extremely extremely limited and I've known people who were meet and many of them were mute, and unable to sleep because of some disease and they had maybe throat cancer, maybe a problem that they had the disease and the layer heard about one guy was a pitcher and this is true story. You through the bowels of the batter.

The batter hit a line drive back to him hitting right in the front and crushed his layer next and he was never able to speak again, but this kind of story is not mute because of the disease or deformity or some kind of injury.

He is mute because he's indwelt by demon and that demon has has stopped him from being able to speak and he so wanted his life that he can't get out anything.

All I can do is make these guttural sounds. Jesus easing and he walks over to the Manny immediately knows exactly what's wrong with them in the Scripture says that Jesus cast out the demon and as soon as he did this man could speak and and he could speak clearly fluently and coherently and the people marveled absolutely marveled. This was an exorcism and exceedingly successful exorcism. Nobody their questions. This miracle nobody there thinks that it's possibility being a fake or for here was this man at one point, that could not even say a word could do nothing but just make these guttural sounds of appointed stuff and now he's talking hundred miles an hour less the background for this wicked accusation. Mark don't even mention the mute man and Luke mentions him, but he talks a whole lot more about what happened after the miracle miracle than the than he did before folks is a group of people here who are extremely belligerent and they could care less about what's going on with this poor man who could not speak. I don't care about him at all and what are they say I say well yeah Jesus did a miracle, no doubt about that. Everybody knows that he did a miracle, but he did it by the power of the ills of all. That's how we accomplish the milk miracle by the power of the eligible who is that folks be eligible is synonymous with Satan. The eligible was the false god of Akron be eligible is the elongated name of bail is elongated name of bail. What is that name mean that name means Lord who flies's probably most of you back in high school days might remember reading a novel by William Golding call the Lord of the flies. I want you to know that William Golding didn't come up with that name that name.

He derived from this false god of Akron be eligible, the Lord of the flies. One of the column that will back in that day the evening in Israel would go out into pastures. They go out into pastures and they'd see a heaping pile of sheet when you're or a pile of cow manure and what they would notice about it is that all of a sudden all these flies were sending right up out of it and what they didn't see was it flies had come and landed on it. They laid their eggs in the warmth of the of the manure would would hatch out the larva what they saw was the flies just coming up out of it and what they said was this look at that that that pile of manure is a life giver. It gives life, it must be a God, and they bailed down before a pile of sheet when you're and worshiped it as if it were God, folks. That's one of the most vile man and I can think of anything more of how and more blasphemous in that kind of absolute satanic field.

These religious leaders were saying that Jesus was in cahoots with the eligible that that he did his power and perform these miracles through the power of Satan when you don't know the word of God you don't know the son of God. That's the kind of stupidity that you can get hung up in satin in America today in unless the Lord brings deep spiritual awakening to our nation brothers and sisters we can count on this. The antagonism against Christ and the antagonism against God's people is going to get heavier and heavier.

The huge fight in American culture today is a fight over a moral absolutes. The American culture today saying there are no amount moral absolutes. Everything is relative. There is no good. There is no bad there is no right.

There is no wrong. There are no moral absolutes. The Bible says yes, there are moral absolutes. The Bible says that God created man and God created woman and if a man chooses to say I'm not a man.

I am a woman that and change anything. He's still a man. How stupid can this get limitations stupid. There is a there is a couple of our students girls up in Michigan going to school and they decided that they were good. Identify as cats. They call themselves ferns and they climb up in the in the window seal of their school room and they kiss it people as they go by and they call anthem. They asked if they asked the principal to put cat litter in the in the girls bathroom for them.

Now that's crazy bulimic tail was crazier is the school officials are telling the students in telling their teachers affirm they in their identity. Tell them that it's okay that they think their cats because if I think their cast their cats.

That's what happens when the word of God is no longer your standard. With that said me for something else in that Luke shares in and Luke chapter 11 verse 16. The Pharisees are accusing Jesus of doing his miracles by the power of Satan's another group of their that's they are and and these people are our skeptics. They are skeptics. Verse 16 says this about them while others to testing him Seeking from him a sign from heaven folks.

These folks were not antagonistic toward Jesus I were just skeptics there were skeptical.

I said well we know he ate the dinner miracle. Here we see that but that doesn't really prove anything, doesn't prove that he's a son of God, it doesn't prove that he is he is really the Messiah, so we need more miracles we need more evidence to make us believe that Jesus is is really the Messiah, JC Ryle said the us is one mark of a thoroughly unbelieving heart to pretend to want more evidence of the truth of religion. The truth is that God has given more than enough evidence. What holds people back is the pride of their own skepticism. In Luke 16 Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus rich man and Lazarus die.

Lazarus goes to a place called Abraham's bosom is a place of comfort, of rest, of peace and of great joy. The rich man dies and goes to place call hail hell is a place of great torment, a place of pain, a place of frustration, a place of great anguish, a place of burning and the rich man cries out the father Abraham says father Abraham send Lazarus back to the earth to tell my five brothers about this horrible place called hail telling them and making go back and make him do that and father Abraham says none says they have the Moses and the prophets of the words they have the word of God and if they won't believe the word of God. Neither would they believe it. If one were to rise from the dead year that folks if you refuse to listen to the word of God.

If you reject the written word of God. It doesn't matter what kind of miracle you might see it's not gonna be enough to change your mind, even if one were to be raised from the dead was one raising the dead absolutely. Jesus was raising the dead is a believing Herod knew that Jesus was raising the dead and Pilate knew that Jesus was raised from the dead. The religious leaders knew that Jesus was raised from the dead religious leaders went and paid off the they are soldiers and said look good at an end tell a lie. Tell people that the that the disciples came and stole the body out of the tomb, tell that lie folks we could go on and on but the bottom line is this. If you reject the word of God. No amount of miracles is going to change your mind all right .3 is a logical conclusion. Look at verse 23 through 27 and he called them to him and said to them in parables.

How can Satan cast out Satan. If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan is risen up against himself and is divided cannot stand but is coming to an end, but no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man then indeed he may plunder his house strong man here is Satan. The stronger man is Christ folks before we came to know Christ.

We run to the power of Satan.

Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 that before we were saved.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins that we were by nature that we were by nature children of the devil, children of God's wrath we were controlled by three things the world the flesh and the devil.

But God, who is rich in mercy hath quickened us and seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus first before we were safe when Satan said jump. We set out hi before we were safe. Once Satan had a power over us and that that we couldn't do anything about. So we gave in to his temptations and we gave into his power. But Jesus the real strongman set us free from that power when he saved us, and he not only set us free, but he change her appetite to change our heart we changed our desires and gave us power to be able to overcome.

I like the way Paul said it in acts chapter 26 verse 18. He said Jesus gave us power to overcome Satan's power in order that we might relish in God's power.

Luke chapter 11 verse 23 through 26. Is this when the unclean spirit is gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and find it none it says I returned to my house from which I came in when it comes if eyes I have swept, and put in order.

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil in itself, and they enter and dwell there in the last date of that person is worse than the first S appear. What happens if you try to do a little small spiritual cleanup, like New Year's resolution. What happens if that's what's going on in your life and it's not a genuine transformation. We tell you what happens. Reformation without regeneration is absolutely meaningless if you had this idea that you can do some good works, and that's gonna put you in right relationship with God that you can do this little thing or do that little thing God's gonna be so pleased with you is gonna bring you into his kingdom.

Then, you have believed alive that is absolute futility.

What has to happen. What has to happen is this God Almighty God has to do work in your heart of regeneration and when that regeneration takes place, then what takes place in your heart. There is an absolute submission unreservedly submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

When that happens, everything changes. Abraham Lincoln use these verses you speak into the nation back during the time of the of the Civil War, trying to bring the nation back together. He made the statement is that a house divided cannot stand the said Jesus said that Jesus said never talking to Harry Reid or one time carries a Civil War buff, but he said that he believed that if the Stonewall Jackson had not died and he had been the general during the time of the battle of Gettysburg then the South with one the battle of Gettysburg and then they probably would've gone on to win the Civil War and if that it happened in the nation would've been divided into two countries and then when World War I started the nations probably would not have gotten back together to go and fight against Germany and Germany would've conquered the world he might be right there. I don't know latte.

This I know Jesus was right. And Jesus said a house divided cannot stand all right .4 is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Look with me at verse 28 to 30 truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven. The children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness is guilty of an eternal sin, for they were saying. He has an unclean spirit. Religious leader said Jesus was casting out demons by the power Satan over and and 11 chapter of Luke. The Scripture says that Jesus was cast out these demons by the finger of God would expression come from have to go all the way back to Exodus chapter 8 God's cast in the 10 plagues on Egypt and the Egyptian magicians were trying to duplicate the plagues that God was doing through the power Satan.

They did that for a couple plagues and then the though of plague of gnats came in the plague of gnats came. They couldn't do a thing. And they step back in human would think said I said while this is the finger of God. Luke 11 says that Jesus was casting out these demons by the finger of God. If you read it in Matthew's gospel it changes the word finger of God to spirit of God. What is the finger of God the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. So Jesus did this miracle the power of the Holy Spirit, but one of the greatest deceptions that Satan has used against the modern evangelical church is to get us because of some of the junk that's going on in the charismatic movement to distrust anything to do with the Holy Spirit. How crazy is that the Holy Spirit is God, the power to fight sin, the power to live holy the power to understand the word of God, the power to stand when others are running away comes from the Holy Spirit of God. Listen you Presbyterians we need to remember that that the Holy Spirit is divine.

He is God.

He should not be the forgotten member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the one who conforms us in the image of Jesus. We are not to run from the Holy Spirit.

We need to run to the Holy Spirit. We need to embrace him. We need to love him. We need to realize that it is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to become like Jesus ago ever in the Matthew's gospel just a second.

Because Matthew add some words that Mark leaves out in Matthew Jesus explains what these religious leaders have done by attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan in Matthew 12 3232 this is this whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven. People but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven, and whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in age to come. Sin is referred to as blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or the unforgivable sin in Matthew 12 and the religious leaders accuse Jesus above doing miracle of exorcism by the power of Satan. Jesus said that what they were doing was blaspheming her guilty of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, don't you think for just a minute, but the most heinous sins that you can think about. I guess there'd be seems like murder and adultery, pedophilia, child abuse, spousal abuse, those type of things are sins biker screens don't like they make us angry. Let me ask you this. If a murderer, and adultery child molester pedophile E if they were to genuinely repent and turn to the Lord would they be forgiven. The answer is absolutely yes, but there is a sin that can be committed. That will never be forgiven and what is that sin is sin is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Now the religious leaders attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. I think that action is the fruit of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

So what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It is a continual rejection of the Holy Spirit's conviction and of the Holy Spirit's illuminating power is rejection that makes the heart so callused that the person has no fear of God, no conviction of sin and no concern for eternity. That person would rather be in the hail that he would be in the presence of God to take a moment I want to address something here because I know that there some people here in this congregation you love very deeply who have very tender and sensitive consciences, and there is the possibility of you being deceived into believing that you committed the whole of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The calls you just don't quite understand that and Satan uses this to bring great destruction. I Rimmon the first church that I pastored there was a young lady that came to me and she said I got a need counseling. I said okay.

I met with her and her husband in my office.

And as as we sat down. Her hands were shaking and trembling. She started crime I said what's the matter. She said Doug I'm afraid that I'm I might committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This lady was a strong Christian she sang in the choir. She taught children Sunday school. She had a wonderful godly family.

One of her sons recently called me told me about the work that he is doing as a missionary in Africa. She love the Lord. She loved the church and yet Satan was having a field day with her emotions.

Satan was just bringing all counted junk into her mind in order that he could steal away her assurance of salvation. Remember looking right into her eyes and said while in the world you think you might have blasting the Holy Spirit and she's the one I had a dream and she said in my dream I said something against the Holy Spirit. I said listen, listen carefully. The unforgivable sin is not something that can happen accidentally if a person has committed the unforgivable sin, then it is purposeful. It is intentional it is it it it is hardening of the heart.

Hardening of the heart against Jesus Christ. I said if you had committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit you wouldn't be concerned about your salvation said it wouldn't bother you in the least you eat you will.

You wouldn't have a fear of God, you would not be tender and sensitive and introspective like you are, you would be this is be angry and be better.

You would be hard and you wouldn't give a rip what God thinks of us. We had made about five times for that bondage was broken and that young ladies life. I talked to a recently she's walking with the Lord strong strong Christian that I know there's so many that that take this passage wrong and others that are Christians that love the Lord that had been born again. If that's the case with you, and you have been born again by the spirit of God. Realize this. You have eternal life and and nothing can take that away from you. I love the way the apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter 1 verse six when he said being confident of this very thing that he has begun a good work and you shall perform it or completed to the day of Jesus Christ. I love what Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 38 and 39 when he said prime persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor powers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I love what Jesus said in John 1028 when he said I given to them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. You get that truth in your mind is a genuine Christian and Satan will not be able to shaky .5 those who belong to Jesus for 31 through 35 and his mother and his brothers came in, standing outside.

They sent to him and calling the crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you and answer them who are my mother and brothers looking about those who sat around me said here my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of God.

He is my brother and sister and mother Jesus and mother and brothers were genuinely concerned about. I thought that he had worked so hard that he just become totally delusional and so they came to him in order that they might taking home when they when they got there the crowd so big they could even get towing so finally, a messenger was sent to Jesus and messenger said your mom's here in your brothers and your sisters are here.

Come to take you home.

Jesus uses as a teaching lesson and he said, who are my mother and my brother and my sisters and he said this is the answer. Those who do the will of God.

John chapter 1 and verse 11 and 12 says he came into his own and his own receiving not the as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to those who believe in his name Jesus spoke to Nicodemus to Nicodemus, except to be born again.

You shall not see the kingdom of God. In other words, don't depend on your family line. Don't depend on your physical lineage depend on this as a God work in your heart. Have you been born again as you come to the point in your life when you realize that your hope is in the grace of God in and through that your submission to his Lordship on close-up John Stott said he said in order to follow Christ, we have to deny our sales to crucify our sales to lose our sales. The full and exhort an inexorable demand of Jesus Christ is now laid bare does not call us to a sloppy half heartedness but to a vigorous absolute commitment to cause us to making our Lord. The astonishing idea is is current in some circles today that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ's salvation without accepting the challenge of his sovereign Lordship.

Such an unbalanced notion is not to be found in the New Testament, Jesus is Lord is earliest known formulation of the creative Christians in days when Imperial Rome was pressing its citizens to say Caesar is Lord.

These words had a dangerous flavor. The Christians did not flinch, they cannot give Caesar their first allegiance because they had already given it to the Emperor Jesus God is exalted, his son, Jesus, far above all principality and power and invested him with the ranks appeared every right that before him every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, a man and list price. Heavenly father is passage is an eye-opener. We all tend to be feel with pride we say to ourselves. I love Jesus I desire to walk in his statutes and obey his commands. I could have never blasting the Holy Spirit. I could have never committed the unforgivable sin. Father, help us to see our arrow except for the grace of God, we could have all been hopelessly lost for all of eternity. Lord help us to revel in your grace, help us to see that anything that we do that is pleasing to you is simply your grace extended to an unworthy creature made the subject of the unforgivable sin.

Humble us and make sleep and make us deeply appreciative of Christ's work on the cross 40 is in the precious holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen