March 26, 2023

Then he went home and the crowd gathered again so, that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him for they were saying He is out of his mind. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying He is possessed by Beelzebul, by the Prince of demons. He cast out the demons and he called them to him and he said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but it's 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 and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. But his guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean spirit. And his mother and his brothers came and standing outside, they sent to him and called him and a crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.

And he answered them, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, here, are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of God. He is my brother and sister and mother. So, the passage that we just read, of course, is just dripping with authenticity because in this one parrot passage we see these two incidents that if anyone was going to make up this story of, of this teacher who was later claimed to be God, nobody would include details such as the teacher's, immediate family, not believing in him and thinking that he's crazy.

And then furthermore, the religious leaders of the land also thinking that not only is he not to be believed, but he's possessed of demons, nobody would include it such details if they were making this up. So, once, Mark's Gospel just comes to us as one of the most clear gospels to see just the authenticity of what Mark is writing.

This is not the pro, the, the product of men writing this and making the story up. This is the authentic gospel delivered to us from the, from the pin of Mark. So, in the passage that we turn to today, one thing that, that I think about is I'm thinking of the, the interchange between Jesus and these religious leaders and the declaration that, that they believe that he's possessed of demons and then Jesus' parables that are to follow.

I'm reminded of, of course, the, the fantastically successful trilogy of the original Star Wars movies. Remember those original Star Wars movies from the seventies? George Lucas just really hit it big with that trilogy of movies because among other things it was a, an imaginative story. But among other things, it really tied into, it tapped into something All of us have deep within our hearts, and that is a sense.

Of the battle between good and evil. In the language of the Star Wars movies, it was the dark side versus the light side, of course, with Luke Skywalker and his Jedi warriors. It was the dark side and the light side against one another. But that was just a retelling, so, to speak, of the ancient story since mankind has existed of, of the battle between good and evil, the battle between light and dark.

However, in the Star Wars movies, one thing, one of the most notable things that's different from our battle between good and evil is because even in the Star Wars movies, when the, the two sides were never really evenly matched, it could always be said that either side could emerge victorious. You never really knew which side was going, going to emerge victorious, which was what made it into a good story.

But the story, the reality of good versus evil in our world. Is nothing of the sort. Our story of good versus evil is one in which the victor has been determined before the story began. So, that's what we come to this morning when we see the strong man, the true and right strong man who is here now, and he declares, I am here to reclaim my rightful kingdom.

We realize this was how it was going to be all along. So, with that just brief introduction, let's now just jump into the passage we have before us this morning. An enormous passage, an enormously weighty passage. This wrestles with the question of doctrine. That probably is one of the most weighty questions that Christians face today.

I can think back through all the, the questions that I've been asked as a pastor, and I think that that probably the three most common questions the pastors are often asked are, well, number one, how can I know for sure that I'm saved? Uh, number two would be, I think that I've committed the unpardonable sin.

I think you've committed the, the unforgivable sin. Number three would be, where did Kane find his wife? But number one and number two certainly are, are the most, two of the most popular questions that pastors are asked. This is a very common question that people wrestle with. I've indeed wrestled with it on my myself, this idea that there is a sin that is so, heinous, that is so, offensive to God that there is no forgiveness for this.

Sin naturally leads one to ask the question Will, is this something that I've done myself? And so, you too probably have wrestled with this question at some point or another. So, in order to wrestle with this question, with any amount of fairness, we have a large amount of things to cover this morning. So, parts of the message this morning is going to feel like that we are flying through this and we have to, in order to get all this in.

So, parts of it, we're just going to have to go. But at the same time, we need to dial ourselves in and pay attention because what God has for us is indeed very, very significant and very important for us. So, as we dive right in beginning for verse 22, and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he's possessed by Beelzebul.

So, the scribes are coming, we're told down from Jerusalem, and that's always the language that we see in scripture. Whenever someone comes away from Jerusalem, it's always said to come down from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is higher in elevation than the surrounding areas. But it's not a, a question of elevation, it's a question of theology.

It's a, it's a question of doctrine. So, Jerusalem was always sort of seen as the high point. And anytime you went to Jerusalem, you were said to be going up to Jerusalem. Anytime you came from Jerusalem, you were said to be coming down from Jerusalem, regardless in the change of elevation. So, this clues us in.

So, first of all, just something of the mindset of these scribes who are coming down from Jerusalem to attend this matter of this. Up upstart little preacher up in the north area of Galilee who's now preaching all these things, and we're hearing these stories about him doing all these miraculous deeds and casting out demons and everything.

So, let's come down from Jerusalem to look into this. You can kind of see the, the, the, the mind frame already, the mindset already. So, verse 22 again, and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, the word has reached the far corners of the kingdom by this point all the way in Jerusalem. The scribes have heard of this, and they make it a point now to come and make this visit.

So, they come down to from Jerusalem and they were saying he is possessed up by Beelzebul. So, two times here we're going to see. This, this phrase or a similar phrase in the imperfect, which means to say that they were continually saying this was sort of a not, they didn't just say this once. They didn't make the statement one time, oh, we think he's possessed of Beelzebul.

This was something that was being said over and over. This was a common thing. They were saying he is possessed by Beelzebul, so, so, at this point, from verse 23, he called them to himself, oh, I'm sorry. And he's possessed by Beelzebul and by the prince of demons. He casts out demons. Then verse 23, he called them to himself.

So, let's pause right there and let's interject just a little bit of information from Matthew's Gospel, which gives us a little bit more information that will help us. To really get a firm grasp on the mindset of the scribes who are coming down to attend this matter. So, in your notes from Matthew chapter 12, verse 22, then this is the same incident in Matthews gospel.

Then a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him to Jesus and he healed him or he cast the demon out so, that the man spoke and saw. So, there's a man possessed of a demon. The demon is causing the man to be both blind and mute. Can't see, he can't speak, and they bring him to Jesus.

Jesus cast the demon out afterwards, he is then able to see and speak as well. So, then verse 23, and all the people were amazed and they said, can this be the son of David? So, the people see this and they start saying, could this be the son of David? Now, they don't mean, could this be a descendant of David?

Could this be someone in the tribe of Judah descended down from David. What they mean is, could this be Messiah? Could this be the son of David for whom we have been waiting? So, Jesus has cast this demon out, this Demon who has double plagued this man with blindness and mutants. Upon seeing this, the people are so, amazed that they now begin saying, could this be the Messiah that we're waiting for?

Now, upon hearing that, upon hearing, could this man be the Messiah? Now we read, but when the Pharisees heard it, or Mark says when the scribes heard it, there's no contradiction there. The Pharisees had their own scribes. So, the Pharisees heard it. They said in response, it is by be eligible. Again then, then the story picks up where Mark picks up.

So, you see there what happens that sort of initiates this is not only are the people flocking to Jesus, not only is he doing powerful works and signs and wonders, not only is he giving this powerful teaching and people are following him. But people are now saying, could this be the Messiah for whom we've been waiting in response to that, in response to that revelation or that illumination or that understanding that people are now seeing and thinking of Jesus as possibly the Messiah, they respond by saying, no, this is by the power of Beelzebul that he does these things so, they cannot deny.

His mighty works. They cannot deny his miracles. Even Jesus' most avowed enemies were never able to deny his miracles. Nowhere in the gospels do we hear anybody saying, oh, he's doing this by slight of hand. He's doing this by trickery. He's really fooling the people. Nowhere is that said, even by Jesus's staunchest enemies.

So, not being able to attack the things that he's doing, the miracles that he's performing, they're only left to attack the means by which he's doing them. They have to more or less admit that he's doing these powerful works, but they can only therefore attack the way or the means in which he's doing them.

Well, he's, yeah, he's doing these powerful things, but he's doing them by the power of Beelzebul. So, he's possessed by Beelzebul. So, this, this word Beelzebul, just a quick little note about this. We don't need to, , talk too much about Beelzebul, but what is this Beelzebul? It's a word that only shows up in the New Testament. And it's a, a word that is a, an intentional distortion of a word that we find in the Old Testament by Beelzebub, or Ba’al zebub.

So, Ba’al zebub shows up in the Old Testament. You may remember way back when we were in Elijah and we talked about the same sort of thing in Eli, in the story of Elijah. But, Ba’al zebub was the Canaanite god of the flies. It doesn't mean that he was a fly, but it meant that he had power over the flies and the swarming insects.

And so, he was able to use them at his discretion, that sort of thing. So, he was known as Ba’al zebub or the God of the Flies. So, when we come to the New Testament, that word Ba’al zebub or Baalzebub disappears, and we now find exclusively Baalzebul, which is an intentional scholar's belief, an intentional perversion of the word Ba’al zebub.

By changing the one little sound, it went from the God of the flies. To the God of the manure pile. And so, that's what the Jews did intentionally to just sort of change the, just a little bit to just make a, a dig at this Canaanite false God to say, oh, here's the God of the dung pile, the God of the manure pile.

So, that's what's going on here. So, they say he's possessed by the all zal, the God of the dung pile. They don't mean here that Jesus is possessed by some lesser deity known as the God of the flies are now perverted into the God of, of the dung hill. Instead, all we need to do to see what they mean is just look at the very next sentence.

He's possessed by, by Alible and by the prince of demons. He casts out demons. So, clearly what they mean by Beelzebul is a stand-in word for Satan because they go on to sat and by the princes of the power of demons. That's how he's doing this. So, now that word prince. In our English vernacular, we often think of the child of a king who's sort of waiting his turn to be king.

Like it went too long ago that Queen Elizabeth died and so, for how many decades was there, there this Prince Charles who was waiting his turn to be king? So, that's what we sort of think of with Prince, but the word here is Arcon, and it doesn't mean someone who's waiting to be king. What it means literally is first in line, the first one, the head one.

So, Prince of the Demons. What is meant here is Satan himself. So, Baals above is just a stand in word to mean Satan. It is by the power of Satan, by the Prince of demons that he's casting out these demons. So, then here's the accusation, the insulting accusation against Jesus. Yes. We can't deny your works.

Yes, we can't deny these things, but we can assert that what you're doing, you're doing by the power of Satan. So, an incredibly insulting accusation against the King of King's. , but let's now move on. So, verse 23, and he called them to him. So, Matthew includes here that, , knowing their thoughts, he called them to himself.

So, just a reminder there that Jesus knows their thoughts, but Jesus in this instance, didn't need to know their thoughts because notice the progression of animosity against Jesus. The first two, , altercations with Jesus on the part of the religious leaders. They were, they were in their heads. They were thought, remember that they were in the home where he was going to heal the the paralytic man.

And they were thinking, who is this man to say he's got the power to forgive sins? And then in the synagogue, when the man with the withered hand was there, they were thinking, I wonder if he's going to heal him. Right? Jesus, in both of those ca occasions, knew their thoughts, but here he doesn't have to, because now the opposition, they're speaking it out loud.

It is by the power of Beelzebul that he's doing this. So, that's what they say. They're saying this. And so, he then called them to himself. So, you can kind of get the, the picture here. There's these, these, , scribes and the Pharisees. They're saying, oh yeah, they're maybe, maybe over to the side telling people who are gathered around to see Jesus and hear Jesus, and they're sort of spreading the word.

He's doing this by the power of Beelzebul. And then Jesus hearing this says, Hey, you come over here. Let's talk about this. So, he calls them to himself. He says he called them to him. And he said to them, in parables that were parables, parabola, there just means a, a throwing alongside to throw something alongside.

And so, this is the first of Jesus' parables in Mark. And that that throwing alongside just tells us what a parable is. It's like a, a casting something along the side of something else. So, there's a teaching, there's a truth, there's an instruction. And alongside of that, it's cast this. Uh, parable to illustrate or to further teach or to further clarify.

And so, this is the first of Jesus' parables. We're going to look at more of those to come, but now he says he that he speaks to them in parables. And now first, here's not a, this is not a parable, but first straightforward that he says, how can Satan cast out Satan? So, Jesus then, then confronts them with this most logical of questions to say, what a dumb thing to say.

What an absolutely dumb thing to say that I'm casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons, because how can Satan cast out Satan? Verse 24, if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand verse 25. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

I mean, that's just common sense. Verse 25 there, by the way, is. Our, , government, our nation gets is, is it the motto, United, we stand, divided. This comes from, from that passage there. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but it's coming to an end.

In other words, this is really dumb people. This is really dumb guys to say that what I'm doing, I'm doing by the power of Satan. Because if Satan is opposing himself, is he, if he is working against himself, then clearly his kingdom will not last his, his kingdom. Satan is not going to oppose himself. So, just picture in your mind here, what it might look like for the kingdom of Satan to be opposing itself and to cast, be casting out its own demons, so, to speak.

It would be like, , imagine if you. Hired someone perhaps to build you a house. And this person was going to build your house and they were going to start a course with the foundation. And so, they come over on the first day and they've got the site ready and they start laying the block for the foundation.

And from eight o'clock in the morning until lunchtime, they lay the block for the foundation, get everything straight and plum and nice and, and, , all everything's all nice and, and straight. And then at lunchtime they take their lunch break and they eat their sandwich and everything. And then after lunch, they start back work.

And they take apart what they just did until they're completely taken it apart. And then the next day they come back at eight o'clock and they put that part, they start putting the foundation back together again. Everything's nice and straight and square. After lunch, they take it back apart again. And you say, that's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

And Jesus says, says, listen to what you just. It's the most idiotic thing of all, the most idiotic accusation to say that it's by the power of Satan that I'm casting out Satan's cronies, and now he's going to now cast alongside of that, the parable. Verse 27. But no one can enter strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.

Then indeed, he may plunder his. So, here we come across the teaching. We've already looked ahead to this teaching because this is a major theme in Mark's gospel, at least for the first eight chapters, the theme of the true, strong man. The right strong man who has returned, so, to speak, to regain his rightful kingdom.

There's been a false strong man. There's been an unrighteous strong man who's come and he has made inroads into the strong man's kingdom, and he has taken captive some of those of the strong man's kingdom. Now, the true strong man, the right strong man, he is now here and he is here to bind and to cast out the false strong man.

So, we've been talking about that. Since way back in chapter one, so, we don't need to spend a great deal of time with that other than just, just to say that this is the imagery that Jesus wants us to have of himself, that the true and righteous strong man has come. We can just see the, the meaning of the parable here is, is plain and open and right out front for us to see.

If you were wanting to rob someone's house, then most naturally what you've gotta do is you've got to either overcome the people that are in the house, either by greater force or you've gotta somehow get them out of the way. You can't just go in and take someone's things unless you first either bind or take away or deal with the ones who are there a stronger one than them has to bind them in order to take their stuff.

And so, this is the picture that Jesus is painting. If somebody's going to plunder somebody's. Then the only one that can do that is one who's stronger, one who has bound them. So,, so, the picture that you have of binding them and plundering their goods, you, I'm thinking of like the, , this ancient army, you know, where they, they conquer a city and they plunder the city and they plunder the people's houses.

And anything that they wanted, they just take, that's the image that Jesus wants us to have, not of this ravaging army that's taking what's not theirs, but instead the one who is the rightful strong man, the rightful king, the rightful ruler who has come and he's plundering the weaker, strong man's goods.

So, what of Satan's is the strong man Jesus plundering. What is Satan's possessions? Is the right strong man taking or plundering? Of course, Satan has no material possessions, right? Satan doesn't own any buildings or cars or, or any equipment or any physical things. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. And so, the plundering of Satan's goods is the plundering of souls, because that's what Satan owns.

He owns souls. And that's what Jesus is saying, that the strong man is here. He's bound the other one, and he's plundering the souls that the, the weaker, strong man has claimed for himself. And so, Jesus is saying, y y your analogy, your idea that I'm doing this by the power of Satan is just ludicrous. But instead, what this is really showing you is that one who's stronger than eligible, stronger than the prince of the demons is here because that's the only way that the demons goods meaning.

The souls of people will be plundered from him as if one stronger than him binds it. And so, here we come across once again, the scripture's teaching that, that Jesus has bound Satan. Satan right now is bound as regards God's people as regards the church. So, when you think of Satan and what he's doing today, when you think about Satan's.

Do not think of some supernatural being that just has free reign to run amok and do whatever he wants. That is not the case as regards God's people. Satan is absolutely bound. Take a look at Colossians two in verse 15. Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities, or Luke in chapter 10, verse 17 and 18. This, this is when Jesus sends out the 72, the 72 return, and the they return with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

And Jesus said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from the heavens. Or Matthew chapter 16 in verse 18, on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail. Satan right now is given a, a type of short leash, a type of short chain in which God is allowing him in the sovereignty of God.

As God looks over all of his creation, God is allowing Satan to do certain things and to particularly with those who are not God's people. God's allowing Satan to do certain things, but it's all within God's control. And as regards God's people, Satan has no authority or no power to touch you. He has no ability to do anything to God's people, aside from God's sovereign, loving permission.

So, the strong man has come. He has bound the , the lesser strong man. Then indeed, Jesus says he may plunder his house. Now, we come to verse 28, and the next three verses are really the meat of what we're here to talk about this morning. Verse 28. Truly, I say to you, so, that word truly is the word I'm in.

we would say, amen. It's something that Jesus says quite often in John's gospel, he will double it and say, amen. Amen. Or in the King James language, verily. Verily, or truly, truly, we've come across that quite a bit, right? It's the word, amen from which we get our word. Amen. So,, amen. Truly what Jesus means here is pay close attention to what I'm about to say.

Everything that Jesus ever said is worthy of our close attention. Right? But when Jesus says Amen, or in John's gospel, amen. Amen. What he means is pay particularly close attention to what I'm about to say, because what I'm about to say is crucial. What I'm about to say is highly important, so, truly, or verily, or amen.

I say to you, all sins will be forgiven. The children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasts themes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness. So, in the passage, you may have just noticed a bomb went off, but you may not have noticed that actually two bombs were just exploded.

And the reason you may not have noticed that because is because the second bomb often overpowers in our thinking, the first one, because the second one is whoever blasting against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness. That I think can oftentimes cause us to forget what we just read, which was an absolute atomic bomb.

Cuz what Jesus just said, listen to it. Truly. Listen closely. Listen carefully. What I'm about to say is worthy of your close attention. I say to you, all sins will be forgiven. The children of man. And whatever blasphemies they utter

that is staggering for the Lord of creation to say All sins, all sins, all blasphemies will be forgiven. Now, to be sure Jesus is not now preaching some sort of universalist gospel to say at the end, on the last day, everybody's sins will be forgiven and everybody will be in heaven together. Clearly that's not what he's saying because just like all scripture, we must take this in context.

We can't ever just, just take a verse or a passage and just rip it off from its context and separate it from everything that's been said before this and everything that's coming after this and, and make it appear to say something else. And this is no. Because the context of what Jesus just says, of course, follows the context from the very beginning of chapter one, when John the Baptizer came saying, repent.

And Jesus himself, in chapter one, begins his ministry by saying, repent and believe the gospel. So, Jesus is not saying all of a sudden just out of the blue, all sins will be forgiven absent of the repentance that he's been preaching since chapter one. So, just to establish that, I know, but we weren't thinking that.

But just to be clear that the text is not saying some sort of a new gospel here in which Jesus is going to say, there's going to come a day in which all sins will be forgiven. What he's saying is within the context of what I've been preaching since chapter one, in the context of repentance, the one who repents can expect.

all categories of sin to be forgiven and all categories of blasphemy. Now, a real key to understanding this passage is going to be in just a moment, is understanding or, or trying to understand how it is that Jesus can then immediately turn around and say, but there is a blasphemy that won't be forgiven when he just said All blasphemies will be forgiven.

So, we'll get there in just a moment, but that'll, that'll help open up the passage for us. But for now, we would really be doing the passage of great injustice to not stop and say, this is the most astounding words that we could possibly read. All sins will be forgiven. There is not a category of sin that Jesus said with true repentance is beyond forgiveness.

There is not a blasphemy. , even what he's about to say, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. There is not a type of blasphemy that is beyond what God is willing to forgive him. You know what? Blasphemy is blasphemy. We won't spend any more time than this, but o other than, than to just say blasphemy is speaking or, or writing.

You could say communicating something untrue and insulting and scandalous about God. That's, that's what the scriptures mean when they say blasphemy. So, think of blasphemy as the polar opposite of praise. There's praise. Go around to the other side of the globe, that's blasphemy. So, speaking, writing, or communicating something untrue, scandalous, scandalously insulting to God.

So, Jesus says there is no insult. That you can lift up to God's name that won't be forgiven with repentance. There, there is no sin that you can commit. That is beyond my willingness to forgive that with repentance. That is, that's an earth moving reality. How do you, how do you truly come to grips with the maker who says, you can't offend me enough that I'm not willing to forgive that sin.

You can't lie about me enough. You can't offend me to such a degree that with repentance, I won't forgive it. Take a look at Acts chapter 16 in verse 31 and they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved to, of course, Peter, or I'm sorry, Paul and Silas speaking to the Philippian jailer. Notice what they didn't say.

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and as long as you haven't committed that unpardonable sin, you will be saved as long as you haven't done that one particular blasphemy. That's not what they said. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. John six in verse 44, this is the will of my Father. That everyone who looks on the son and just happens to have not committed the unpardonable sin will be saved.

No, that's not what he said. Everyone who looks upon the son and believes in him shall have eternal life. First John one in verse nine. If we confess our sins, he's faithful in just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness as long as one of those sins wasn't this one, not what he says.

Psalm 1 0 3 in verse 10, he does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our. For, they are all under the umbrella of what he will forgive with repentance. John six in verse 37. All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. Just make sure you haven't done that one.

Sin not what He says. All who come to me, all who come to me, whoever comes to me, I will never. So, repentance, which is of course we know to be granted from the Father Grant a gift from God. Acts chapter 11 in verse 18, where, where it said that, that God has granted to the Gentile repentance or or second Timothy two in verse 25, when Peter, when, , Tim, when, , Paul says to Timothy that perhaps God will grant them repentance, that leads to the knowledge of the truth, right?

So, repentance is something that God grants, and if God grants that repentance, there is no sin that scripture teaches us that is beyond what he's willing to forgive. That is a staggering thing that Jesus says, listen closely to this, all sins will be forgiven. The children of man and whatever blasphemies they, they, , speak, they utter whatever insults they utter, I made them.

I have been nothing but good and gracious and merciful to them. Yet when they scorn me and despise me and speak lies about me. If they repent, I will forgive them all. So, then Jesus says to follow this up, verse 29, but whoever blasts themes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean spirit.

Alright, so, now the teaching seems to have turned on a dime, and Jesus just went from this atomic bomb of forgiveness to another atomic bomb of, well, there is one thing that will never be forgiven. So, Jesus just said, all sins will be forgiven, all blasphemies will be forgiven. Then he says, but those who commit this type of blasphemy, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness.

They will be guilty of an eternal sin. So, the weight of this teaching rests upon us in great force. it is simply not treating the scriptures with anything like due respect to take this passage to be any less weighty than what it feels on surface value to read. It feels like a weighty, heavy teaching, and that's what it is.

So, this teaching, first of all says to us, let's not miss this. When Jesus says He will be guilty of an eternal sin. This is just, by the way, one of the places that scripture teaches us that this teaching that, , it's not new. It's been around since as almost as long as the church has been around, but the, the false teaching that those who are not in Christ when they die will just cease to exist, called Annihilationism or it is just the idea people often.

We want to ease the burden of our conscience. Sometimes when we think about loved ones or, or friends or family, people that, that we, , love who are not professors, not believers in, in Christ, we would rather think of them stopping to exist upon death, then entering into an eternal hell. That, that's just a lot, a lot easier thought to accommodate.

And so, we've come up with this doctrine called annihilationism, that those who are not in Christ will just cease to exist upon, , physical death. Simply not true. One of the places that scripture tells us this is not true is right here because Jesus says quite plainly, they'll be guilty of an eternal sin.

So, a soul cannot be guilty if it doesn't exist. That's just common sense. So, in order for a soul to be eternally guilty, , the soul has to eternally exist. You see, I'm, I'm just connecting a couple dots there. The, the, the false teaching that those who are not in Christ will cease to exist upon death, must be discarded for what it is garbage.

Because the scriptures teach us that all of us will live forever. We will live forever, either in God's presence or we will live forever in the torment of hell. So, they will be guilty of this eternal sin. But now let's really turn to really the, the brunch, the weight of the teaching here, verse 29 again.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. I've thought about this quite a bit over the last couple of weeks and, um, I, I think that after thinking through this, I, I'm, I'm safe to say there is not another doctrine of the Christian faith. That has such a wildly divergent range of interpretation as the unpardonable sin.

I mean, everything is out there, the full gamut of what this means. So, let's start by just talking about what it doesn't mean, because you can, don't do it right now, but you can, once you leave here, you can Google unpardonable sin and you'll find every interpretation under the sun. And I don't mean just from some sort of coop that you might find on YouTube.

I mean, reputable theologians who in many cases have very sound teaching in other areas will teach things like of of the unpardonable sin that are not just a little bit divergent, but wildly dive. So, you can, you can sort of agree with this if, if, if you've heard these things before. I think that probably everybody in the room has, has heard of these teachings before.

I've heard the unpardonable sin taught as everything from first of all, really heinous sins like murder or adultery, that those are unpardonable sins. And that comes from really the Old Testament teaching that things like murder should receive the capital punishment. And so, if an Old Testament sin received the capital punishment, well that has to mean that that's the most heinous of sins.

So, I've heard it taught that things like murder and adultery, really heinous, really destructive kinds of sins are the unpardonable sin. You probably also have heard it taught that the unpardonable sin is denying. Denying Jesus that if we deny Jesus, that is a sin that cannot be forgiven. Because Jesus himself says, if you deny me before men, I'll deny you before the angel.

So, that has to be the unpardonable sin, right? If we deny Jesus, then we can't be forgiven of that. I've also heard it taught that the unpardonable sin is suicide. That's unpardonable because, well, if you commit that sin, then you can't ask for forgiveness, and so, then you can't be forgiven. So, that's the unpardonable sin.

I've heard all those things and more I've heard that the unpardonable sin, it was, it was a common teaching of the church for many centuries in the early church that the unpardonable sin was to teach anything that was false about the Holy Spirit. That was a common teaching for centuries. I've heard it also taught that the unpardonable sin is, this is probably the most common one.

The, the unpardonable sin is to, to credit to Satan, what God is doing. I've heard it taught that the unpardonable sin could only have been committed in the first century when Jesus was alive. It was something that only could have been done in Jesus's presence as what we see here. So, that, that's the, the range of some of the things that I've heard and more, but all of those, none of those, did I pull from some sort of quack?

All of those came from someone who is in most ways Orthodox, except it seems like, and this, so, why do we have such a wildly divergent understanding of this? I think two reasons. One is because of the heaviness of it, the seriousness of it, and secondly, because it's, well just straightforwardly to say this, it, it's not easy to understand what Jesus means here.

So, just real quickly, let, let me just say why those understandings of the unpardonable sin or the unforgivable sin. Could not be what Jesus is talking about. First of all, really heinous, really bad sins. Murder, adultery, rape, those kinds of things. They cannot be the unforgivable sin because scripture gives us examples of people who committed those very sins and were forgiven.

David was a murderer and an adulterer. Paul was a persecutor of the church, and we know that they received forgiveness and more examples that we could point to. So, that can't be what Jesus is talking about. Secondly, the, , the idea that denying Christ, if we deny Jesus, we can't be forgiven of that because Jesus himself said, if you'd done deny, deny me before men, then I won't claim you before the angels.

That can't be what Jesus is talking about either because once again, Peter denied Jesus. Not once, but three. and Jesus's forgiveness of Peter. He went so, far out of his way to show his forgiveness of Peter that it literally takes up an entire chapter of God, John's Gospel when Jesus forgave and restored Peter.

So, clearly it can't be the sin of denying Jesus. Uh, furthermore, it can't be the sin of suicide if one commits self-murder, that that can't be the sin that comes from a false Catholic doctrine that teaches that in order to be forgiven, we have to have this confession sort of thing, right? That's where the whole Catholic Doctrine of Last Rights comes from and that sort of thing.

So, that can't be the case because the scriptures do not teach us that we must confess sin in order to receive righteousness because the scriptures tell us that we receive the righteousness of Christ once and for. Upon conversion, upon regeneration, we are given the righteousness of Christ, which results in a life of repentance and confession of sin.

But the righteousness of Christ is not contingent upon the confessions. The right, the confessions are an outgrowth of the righteousness given to us, right? So, it can't be that. Well, if you commit suicide, you can't ask for forgiveness, which by the way, all of us, if, if we are here when the, when, , before, if we die before the Lord returns, all of us will leave this life with sins that haven't been confessed and repented up.

How do we know that? Because you don't even know of all your sentence. This is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to even teach you of your sin. So, you don't even know all of your sins to confess to start with. So, it can't be the sin of not confessing of something like self-murder or suicide.

Furthermore, Some have said, well, this is a common understanding. A a very common teaching is that the unpardonable or the unforgivable sin is the sin of denying Jesus or or refusing to believe in Jesus resolutely all the way to the point of death. And that seems like sort of basic common sense. Well, yeah.

If you refuse to believe in Jesus or refuse to repent and you die in your sins in that way, then that's not something you'll be forgiven of. Right? But that's not what Jesus is talking about. Let me tell you why that can't be what Jesus is talking about. He's not talking about just resisting and not repenting and not believing until death.

Because if we were to look at Matthew's account of this, we won't turn there. But if we were to look at Matthew's account of this, Jesus says they will have no forgiveness in this age or the next. He says very plainly that they will not be forgiven in this age or the next. He can't be talking about a sin that's not committed until the point of death.

If he says, you won't have forgiveness in this life. So, that can't be what Jesus is talking about either. Furthermore, I don't think that Jesus is talking about the ascribing to Satan, what God has done. We'll go, we'll get to that one a little bit later. That I think is on kind of on the right track. So, that's what, what the sin is not, and it's a wide array, isn't it, of things that are taught that this unforgivable, unpardonable sin is not.

But now let's now talk about what the sin is. What does Jesus mean and why does he mean this? And how do we know this? Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven. The children, a man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever Blas themes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying he has an unclean spirit.

Okay? So, the blasphemy is what's spoken. That's what's what, that's what's uttered. And so, we know that scripture looks at our words as a true and right indicator of what's in our heart. Matthew three, , 12 verse 34. That's what Jesus says. For outta the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So, when the mouth speaks blasphemies, it's, it's coming from a heart that that is holding that blasphemy, that that is generating, so, to speak, that blasphemy.

So, Jesus is not talking about words here. He's talking about heart. He's getting at the heart issue. So, let's talk first of all about this verse, verse 30, for they were saying, and there's another imperfect. They were saying. So, they didn't just say it once. This was their mantra. They were saying it over and over again.

They were repeating this. He's got a demon. He's got a demon. You guys know he's possessed of demon. Wherever they would go, they'd hear people talking about Jesus. You know, he's possessed of demons. This was a mantra of theirs that they were repeating over and over. And the mantra is, he has an unclean spirit.

So, the blasphemy, the, the sin here is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So, and the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit takes place in the context. Jesus says here of this declaration that the miracles are done at the hands of Satan, or by the power of Satan. So, first of all, remind yourself of what is the role of miracles in the ministry of Christ?

What role did miracles serve in Jesus'? Jesus' miracles were performed, we're told to validate his identity and validate his teaching. We are told from John chapter 14 and verse 11, Jesus says, believe me that I'm in the Father and the fathers in me, or else believe on the account of the works themselves.

In other words, I, if you can't quite believe in me, then start with the miracles, because the miracles are testifying to me and who I am. Start there because they will take you to me. They will lead you to me or John 20, verse 30 and 31. Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ.

So, the miracles, the mighty wonders are done in order to authenticate Jesus' identity and authenticate his words. All right, so, now let's talk about the Holy Spirit. What was the role of the Holy Spirit in the Ministry of Christ? Well, the role of the Holy Spirit was to anoint Jesus. With the power to perform all of his signs and wonders, all of his healings and all of his mighty works, and to empower his teaching.

So, everything that Jesus did, he did by the power of the Spirit. We talked about this back when we looked at Jesus's baptism and if you want to refresh yourself, and that's, that was the message from chapter one of Jesus' baptism and how the Spirit anointed him with power. And everything that Jesus did was done in the power of the Spirit.

Jesus did nothing in the power of himself. He did it all by the power of the Spirit. So, let's think of the miracles of Jesus and let's think specifically, , for example, the two miracles that Jesus per that were performed, that we must believe in order to be saved. What are the two miracles that you must believe in order to be saved?

You must believe first of all of the incarnation. You must believe that God became man. Secondly, you must believe the resurrection that you cannot. You could possibly, I guess, not believe the other miracles. But if you don't believe those two you, you are not a child of God. You must believe the incarnation and the resurrection.

So, now look with me at how both of those miracles are specifically said to have been performed by the Holy Spirit. Luke chapter one, verse 35, the angel answered, Mary, how will God enter my womb? The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, there's the incarnation, specifically said to be the Holy Spirit.

Now, the resurrection, Romans chapters. Romans chapter one, verse four, he was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness. That's not the typical phrase for the Holy Spirit, but that's what it means. Spirit of holiness, holy Spirit. So, he was declared in power by the Holy Spirit through the resurrection.

Okay, so, specifically the incarnation, the resurrection are said to be by the Holy Spirit and every other miracle in between Acts, chapter 10 and verse 38, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and he went about doing good and healing all those who are oppressed by the devil.

So, the Holy Spirit is the power that came upon Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a person, not a power, but he comes upon Jesus and he an annoyance, Jesus with power to perform in the mighty works. The mighty works are intended to testify of himself, and those things are giving. And here's a word, enlightenment.

Let's latch onto that word, enlightenment. Understanding, revealing. The Holy Spirit is revealing truth by way of the mighty works that Jesus is performing. Now, these scribes say, well, those mighty works that Jesus is performing. Don't say what they're intended to say, which is he is the son of God. Instead, they are saying the opposite, that he is the son of the devil.

Therein lies the sin, and here's a phrase, you may not have heard this, I think I coined it, but it's the phrase enlightened blasphemy. That is the unpardonable sin. There comes a point in which one has been enlightened in their mind to understand that Jesus is God, and in the face of that enlightenment, the heart will not yield, and that sin, if it progresses, will reach a point at which the Holy Spirit.

Who is doing the enlightening becomes so, offended that the Holy Spirit is done, and when Holy Spirit is done, there is no repentance. All sins will be forgiven with repentance, but when Holy Spirit is done, there is no repentance and therefore Jesus will say there comes a point where there's eternal guilt because there will be no repentance.

Once Holy Spirit has been so, offended once he has been so, outraged once he has been so, belittled because his work of enlightenment to your, make sure you understand this mind. We're not talking about a heart conversion. We're not talking about being made alive to God. We're talking about the Holy Spirit communicating to your mind that these things are true.

And yet your heart resolutely saying, even though I must say those things are true, I will not believe it. I will not yield to it. I will not submit to it. That is the sin that eventually becomes unforgivable and unpardonable notice with me that Jesus does not say that these scribes have committed that sin.

What he's saying is a warning. You're on the way to committing that sin unless you turn, unless you yield to what you have been shown in your mind to be true. This is where this will take you to the point at which there is no longer the chance for repentance. So, this is not a sin that could only have been committed in Jesus' lifetime.

Furthermore, or this is a sin that can be committed today and is still committed today. Furthermore, this is not just the sin of looking to the work that Jesus does in ascribing it to the devil. That's a very narrow view of what Jesus is saying here, that that's like Jesus, Jesus is giving one manifestation of this sin, and that would be tantamount to, to saying, this one manifestation is the same as the sin.

For example, if, if you were to say, if I were to say to you, you know what, if you were to go home and, and um, and, , take out a butcher knife and, and stab somebody in the heart until they're dead, that's murder. And then you say, okay, well that's the sin of murder then is stabbing somebody with a butcher knife?

Yes, it is. But that's one manifestation of it. That's one expression of it. In the same way Jesus is saying here, that that's one expression of the sin. to resolutely in the face of miracles. Say, no, that's Satan doing that. Jesus is saying that's one expression of that not the only expression. Okay, so, now let's just bend real quickly.

Let's just see that this is not the only place that this sin shows up. All three synoptic gospels have this story, but this is not the only place this sin occurs. So, we see the beginnings of this in the Old Testament. If we were to go all the way back to the Old Testament, we will see the beginnings of it.

For example, in Hebrews 12, verse 17, and I know somebody in the room is saying, wait a minute, Hebrews is in the New Testament, not the old I know that, but it's talking about an Old Testament character, Esau. So, you remember the story of Esau so, hungry, he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, right? So, the writer to the Hebrews of that says this for you know that afterwards, Esau, when he desired to inherit the blessing, He was rejected for.

He found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. He desperately wanted to repent, but he couldn't. Okay, so, that's, that's just a hint of it in the Old Testament. We also see another hint of it in numbers 15. Numbers 15 is a teaching in which we're told. The priest can declare forgiveness for, for an unintentional sins.

If you commit the sin unintentionally and you come and you give the proper sacrifice and you're repentant in your heart, then the priest can declare you forgiven unless it was what's called the sin of the high hand. You can see it in the passage there, the sin of the high hand. The sin of the high hand was not unintentional, but it was committed with full knowledge of what you are doing.

The person who does anything with a high hand, whether he's a native of or sojourner, reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from his people because he has despised the word of the Lord. So, there's sort of the traces of it from the Old Testament, but the sin that is unforgivable is the resolute and rebellious resistance to the enlightenment that the Holy Spirit brings.

So, it stands to reason that in the new covenant, in the New Testament is when the Holy Spirit brings the most enlightenment, the most understanding, right? So, it makes sense to us that the New Testament is where this sin really comes to fruition. Where we really see the sin clearly is under the ministry of the, of the Holy Spirit, under the new covenant, because that's where the revelation is the most.

And the sin. The sin that's unforgivable, that's unpardonable is the resolute, rebellious refusal to yield what the Holy Spirit has enlightened you to know in your mind. Okay, so, we see this in, , the writings of the Apostle John. First John chapter five. This shows up verse , 16. Uh, John mentions this in passing.

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leaving to death, he shall ask and God will give him life. So, John says, you see your brother sinning, pray to God. God will hear that prayer, and God will answer that prayer. If you see your brother stuck in sin, or your sister stuck in sin and committing sin, pray for them.

But there is a sin that leads to death. And notice what John says. I do not say that that one sh, that one should pray for that. In other words, this is staggering. But John just said, if your brother is committing the sin that leads unto death, there's no sense praying. Isn't that surprising? Now, John doesn't say what that sin is, but he did address it earlier in chapter two.

So, now let's look at one John chapter two. One John chapter two. Follow the train of thought children. It is the last hour, and as you have heard, that anti-Christ is coming. So, now many anti-Christ have come. So, the subject matter here is anti-Christ or against Christ. Those who are outside the family of God.

Those who have set themselves up in opposition to God, the anti-Christ John says have come verse 19. They meaning the anti-Christ. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For, if they had been of us, they would've continued with us. Do not use that verse to speak of those who were part of a church and then left to go to another church.

That's not what John's talking about. He, he's not saying they went out from us to join that other church on the other side of town. Because John is writing this in the context in which there were no multiple churches and you either, there was one gathering of Christians in an area and you were either part of that or you weren't.

And so, John is not saying, oh, they went out from us because they didn't like the preacher, or they didn't really care for the music or whatever he's saying they left the church. Why? Because they were anti-Christ. They were not of us. If they'd been of us, they would've continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain, that they are not of us.

Verse 20, but you, here's the contrast, but you have been anointed by the holy one and that anointing by the holy one does what brings you all knowledge. So, you in opposition, in contrast to the anti-Christ, have received from Holy Spirit knowledge, understanding, insight, enlightenment. Verse 21. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it.

I'm writing to people who have been illumined, who have been enlightened to the truth of God. Again, not speaking of heart conversion, but speaking mainly of the mind, that the mind has been shown. God has shown the Holy Spirit has come, and he has communicated to you, to your thoughts, to your mind that this is believable, this is true.

This is right. You should believe what this is about, the Son of God. So, you have this knowledge I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you do know him. And now, now he says, well, who's the liar? The liar's the one that denies Jesus as the Christ. That's the anti-Christ who denies the Father and the Son.

The anti-Christ is the one who having been made privy to the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ. Nevertheless, they're the liar that says, no, he's not. You see? So, they're the ones who lie in the face of enlightenment, in the face of illumination, they, and they say, oh no, he's not the Christ, even though they've been shown.

He is. Verse 24, let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. In other words, the enlightenment that you've received, the understanding that you've received, continue in it. Continue in that so, that you will not go down the path of the anti-Christ who having been shown that, that Jesus is God nevertheless refused to yield to it.

Okay? So, that's what he's saying in one John chapter two. Look with me at Hebrews chapter six verses four through. Here, the sin comes up once again. And here's how. Here's one of the places that we know that Jesus wasn't talking specifically about attributing to Satan, the things that God does, because in these contexts, we're talking about the same sin, but nowhere is this talking about attributing to the devil what God does.

Look at Hebrews chapter six for it is impossible. It is impossible. In the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly lift gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, does that sound to you like those who have received enlightenment from the Holy Spirit? Those who have, in the case of the scribes seen miracles performed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of attesting to the identity of Christ and the words of Christ, and nevertheless saying, , I will not yield to that.

I will instead believe that this is be ball doing this rather than yield to what's obvious before my eyes. Does it sound like the same thing? It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift. And I take that to mean that they have received, not regeneration, but illuminating, , an opening of the mind, an understanding in the mental faculties, an an a, a, a mental understanding, an intellectual understanding that the scriptures are believable, that those who have once been enlightened and have shared in the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the bringer of truth.

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. It's impossible for those who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the ace to come and then have fallen away. It's impossible to restore them again through repentance. Do you hear Esau in there?, it's impossible to restore them again through repentance, there's hearkening us back to Esau, since they're crucifying once again, the son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

So, here we see that the, this is addressing the same sin that Jesus is addressing, and it's in a different context. So, the heart of the sin is the heart of blasphemy. Now, we've said before that blasphemy is the absolute apex of the manifestation of evil in the world. The greatest display of evil in the world is not murder, , gang, rape wars, all these heinous, awful, terrible sins.

The progressive sexual agenda, all of that is not the apex of evil in the world. The apex of the manifestation of evil is blasphemy. And if blasphemy is the apex of the expression of evil, then enlightened blasphemy is the apex of the apex because enlightened blasphemy. Is blasphemy that has been shown in the mind.

He is God. Jesus is the son of God. Jesus came in the flesh. Jesus died. Jesus rose. Yet I will not yield. That is enlightened blasphemy. And that is the apex of the apex and that is the sin that if one continues in that sin, there will come a point at which the Holy Spirit has become so, insulted as the agent of illumination has become so, insulted and so, grieved that he will then withdraw and there will, from that point on, be no repentance.

Now, there is a stunning picture of this when we see the, a picture of, of both sides of this, and it comes to us in one passage. One passage, one incredible passage in Acts chapter seven. The context of that passage is the stoning of Stephen. Remember the stoning of Stephen? Okay, so, Stephen had just delivered this sermon, this long sermon, and the point of the sermon was, you, Jews do not have a monopoly on God.

You think that you've got God all wrapped up here in your temple, in Jerusalem and in the holy Land. Well, let me tell you, God has been at work outside of Israel for a long, long time. You don't have a monopoly on God, right? And, and Stephen finishes that sermon and look at what we read in chapter seven, verse 54.

Now, when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him. That is a picture of one who has received enlightenment and said, I will not yield to that. I will deny that I will blaspheme that even though I have been illumined in my understanding, I've heard Steven's words. They made perfect sense.

There's no argument that I have with them. I can't prove them false. Nevertheless, I will call them a lie and I will grind my teeth to them. That's the picture of the ones who have traversed this point of no return, who have passed the point of the Holy Spirits now withdrawing from them, and they're enraged at what they hear and they grind their teeth at him.

But there's somebody else in that same scene, and you know who it is. It's the one standing over to the side and at his feet, he's got the outer garments of those who are grinding their teeth, and he too has blasphemed. But there's a difference. And he himself says what the difference is. In one Timothy chapter one and verse 13.

He says, I received mercy, though I was a persecutor of the church though I did the same things. I was a blasphemer just like them, but I acted ignorantly in unbelief. That's the key difference. The ones throwing their, the rocks and grinding their teeth weren't acting ignorantly. They were acting, having been illumined to the truth of what Stephen just said.

And they said, even though what he says is true, we will kill this man. Meanwhile, Saul also blaspheming the church was not at that point. He, in his own words, says, I received mercy and forgiveness because I was acting ignorantly in unbelief. A staggering picture of the two of these. So, the scriptures teach us that all of this hinges on knowing.

I'm sure we picked up on this aspect. Everything here is hinging on knowledge. The scriptures teach us that with increased knowledge comes increased guilt. With increased knowledge comes increased guilt. Luke 10 verse 48. To everyone to whom much is given of him, much will be required with increased knowledge comes increased skill.

Look at Jesus' words in John chapter nine. This is the conclusion of the story of the man born blind that Jesus healed. And remember they were accosting him. Who did this? Let's find out who did this, blah, blah, blah. And then at the end of that story, Jesus then says this from verse 39, for judgment, I came into the world that those who do not see may see, and those who may see be may become blind.

We see variations of that statement all over the New Testament that those who see will become blind. Those who are blind will see, or those who hear will become deaf. Those who are deaf may hear. We see the same variations of that same statement all over the New Testament. So, what Jesus saying is that those who are blind may see that they may receive illumination, but those who see those who've received illumination, those who have received knowledge and understanding and rejected well, they'll become blind.

That's what Jesus is saying. So, then after that, we read this verse 40, some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and they said to him, oh, are we B also blind? And Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say, we see your guilt remains, you see plainly there, Jesus is connecting together the level of guilt with the level of sight or the level of knowledge, or the level of understanding or the level of illumination.

Jesus says, if you've been illumined, if, if Holy Spirit has shown to your mind, to your mental faculties, the truth of these things and you reject them, then your guilt is high. Look at Romans chapter one, verse 18 through 20, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness, and here it is, suppress the truth.

They've received the truth. They didn't disbelieve it, but they suppressed it. They suppressed the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. So, there's knowledge about God. It's been shown to people, and God has made it plain to people, and they, instead of disbelieving it, they said, well, we can't prove it untrue, but we don't like it, so, we'll suppress it for his invisible attributes.

Namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived. . So, God doesn't just say, here I've shown you about myself. I've revealed myself to a certain degree in the creation. Anyone can look around at the world and see that some something made this. This didn't just happen. So, we can look at the world and we can know that this world was created.

And God doesn't just say, you can see that in creation. He goes further than that. He says, you've perceived it. I've made sure that not only did you see it, you perceived it and you understood it. Then he says, therefore, they're without excuse. Therefore, they are without excuse. Because they have seen it.

They have perceived it. And with increased knowledge comes increased guilt. And this is what, this is what this whole unforgivable sin hinges on. It hinges on the one who's received knowledge from the spirit and in the face of that knowledge they say. . I can't refute it, but I'm going to rebel against it anyway because I don't like it.

I will suppress it. I will deny it. I will lie about it. I will claim that he's doing this by the power of Beelzebul. I'll do whatever, but I will not yield to it. Jesus says there comes a point where that can, that ship can no longer be turned around. Lastly, let's look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26, verse 29.

Notice how the passages are getting more and more. What should we say in your face? More and more stunning in their clarity? Verse 26, for if we go on sinning deliberately, think of the sin of the high hand from numbers 15. If we go on sinning deliberately when after receiving the knowledge of truth, after you have received the work of the spirit upon your mind to show you.

these things are true after receiving that you go on sinning, not just in ignorance, but deliberately, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. Does that sound like what Jesus is saying in Mark chapter three? Does that sound like Jesus is saying eternal guilt? Does that sound like that there is no more possibility of forgiveness?

There's there is no more repentance. Does that sound like blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Does that sound like blaspheming the spirit of truth, but instead, a fearful expectation of judgment, eternal guilt in Jesus's words, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries? Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses, how much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified?

So, under the old Covenant, two or three witnesses were sufficient to establish knowledge enough to convict. How much more will the testimony of the Holy Spirit bring conviction to those who have received that knowledge and have denied it? Who has trampled under for the son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace?

Does that sound like blasphemed, the Holy Spirit who has outraged the spirit of grace? So, that, I think, establishes what this unforgivable sin is. The unforgivable sin is having received significant understanding, significant knowledge of the truth of God. Again, not to be confused with being made alive to God, a conversion of the heart, , giving a new heart regeneration, but instead the Holy Spirit revealing to your mind, to your understanding.

The truth of the scriptures, the veracity of the scriptures, the trustable of the scriptures, the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came, lived and died and rose again in the face of that saying, nevertheless, I will not yield to it. That sin reaches a point at which forgiveness is no longer possible because the Holy Spirit then retreats.

So, can a Christian commit the sin?

Absolutely not. Romans chapter eight, the end of Romans chapter eight. What shall separate us from the love of God in Christ? Jesus, answer nothing. John chapter 10, who will take out of my hand? Those the Father has given me. Answer. No one can. A Christian profane the illumination. The Enlightenment, the knowledge of the Holy Spirit took such a point that the spirit withdraws from them.

No. So, why are we spending so, much time talking about this? Why don't we just point it out, talk about it for three minutes and move on to a more encouraging passage. Because every sin has different manifestations. Every sin has different expressions, and though the believer, the one who is sealed in Jesus Christ, cannot commit any sin that is beyond forgiveness ever.

Nevertheless, the root of this sin can still manifest itself in the life of the Christian, albeit to infinitely less consequences. Nevertheless, the Christian can still sin with this basic root of this type of sin, which is to. Profane or disdain or despise the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Take a look with me at Ephesians chapter four, verses 17 through 30. Let's just walk through this passage. Paul says this, verse 17. Now I say, and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentile do. So, here's the contrast. There's gentiles, there's unbelievers. Those who don't know the. You must set yourself apart from them, the way they live, the way they behave, the way they think, the way they act is not how you should because they don't know the Lord.

So, there's this contrast right away. No longer walk as the Gentile do in the futility of their minds, the futility of their minds. Futility means something that is not accomplishing the purpose it was designed for. Their minds were designed to inform them of the truth of. To therefore lead them to repentance.

And their minds are not doing that. Though their minds have perceived the truth of God, they have not led them to repentance. So, they are futile. Their minds are futile because they're not producing the conversion that they would produce if that led them into repentance. The they walk in the futility of their minds were Satan.

They are darkened in their understanding. Their understanding of God should have led them to the light, but instead their understanding of God pushed them into the darkness. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God. Why? Because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.

They are ignorant because their hardness of heart would not receive except yield to or surrender to the enlightenment that the Holy Spirit brought them. So, therefore, instead of their hearts leading them into re, or the illumination leading them into repentance, it has led them into ignorance and hardness of heart.

Verse 19, they have become calloused. And I've given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity, but that is not the way you learn Christ. Here's the contrast. That's them. The Holy Spirit has brought to them a certain kind of knowledge about the truth of God. They have not yielded to it, and it's resulted in futility of mine, darkness of understanding.

But that's not you. Instead as as regards you, that's not the way you learn Christ to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and it's corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirits of your mind. You see that? The mind brings the illumination, the knowledge, the understanding of the things of God.

And that is what Romans 12, two fuels. The transformation fuels the Christ-like transformation in our life as we are renewed in our minds, right? So, be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after, like after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away all falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor. For we are members of one another. Be angry. Do not sin. Do not let the son go down on your anger. Give no opportunity to the devil. And he continues on. Therefore, a few more verses with other prescriptions of how to put off certain behaviors, thought patterns, attitudes, lifestyles, , put off, you know, let notes corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as, as good for building up, et cetera.

And then he concludes with this verse 30. And do not, here it is, grieve the Holy Spirit. By whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So, you see right there, you are sealed for the day of redemption. You cannot pass a certain point at which you have committed sins that are unforgivable because you're sealed.

Nevertheless, if you do not receive the Holy Spirit's enlightenment and act upon it and obey it, and let that lead you into Christlikeness. Paul says, the alternative is you will what? Grieve the spirit

That is the same root sin on a much, much lower level. Nevertheless, it's the same roots in it's the root sin of receiving enlightenment from the Holy Spirit and not taking it seriously, not yielding to it, not acting upon it. Not surrendering to it. Not submitting to it. And Paul says, if that happens, then what you do is you grieve the Holy Spirit.

So, that's the warning for us today. All of us in the room who are in Christ must be very careful, must prayerfully and diligently, earnestly seek to not grieve the Holy Spirit. How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? When the Holy Spirit comes to you, prompts you, teaches you, illuminates your thoughts, shows you in your scripture, reading, shows you in your prayer time.

This is an area, this is an area of sinful habits. This is an area of sinful attitudes. This is an area of sinful thought patterns, and I'm bringing to you this truth. And now I want you to act on. And we failed to act on it. That's grieving the Holy Spirit. That's not the unforgivable sin, but nevertheless, this warning stands for us in scripture as warning us likewise to heed the illumination of the spirit.

This warning in scripture shows up, at least depending on how you count it, at least six times. At least six times. This basic warning comes to us in scripture when the Holy Spirit speaks, you either do one of two things, you yield to it, or you grieve the spirit. Now, all of these warnings are fearful warnings.

The ones in Hebrews, Hebrews six, Hebrews 10, as well as the gospels, all these are fearful warnings, and they are saying to the believer, this is a fearful thing. So, the question. , is there a place for the believer to fear the New Testament believer? Is there a place for fear in our life? I mean, doesn't Paul say to Timothy that God's not giving us a spirit of fear, but a power and love and a sound mind?

So, does that mean that anytime that there's something fearful, we are to say no? We are new creations in Christ. We have nothing to fear? No.

What this means is similar to what Paul says to the Corinthians in two Corinthians seven verse one, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. In other words, there is no fear that we will ever be cast out of Jesus' hands. There is no fear that any sin will ever take us beyond a point of no return.

But there is a fear that we would grieve the Holy Spirit. And brothers and sisters, if the Holy Spirit lives in you, then the thought of grieving, the one who drew you into the Savior, the one who called you out of darkness, the one who showed you your own sinfulness and your need of a savior, and then drew you into that savior, the thought of grieving that one is a fearful thing.

If that's not a fearful thing, if you can tolerate the thought of grieving the Holy Spirit with no fearfulness in your heart, then might I suggest you don't know him and he does not reside in you? Because it is a fearful thing for the ones saved by the work of the Holy Spirit to consider grieving that one who brought us into salvation.

So, the warning for us is this God, the Holy Spirit is constantly in teaching mode for every one of his children constantly. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us every son of his, he's chastising constantly. He's discipling every believer in Jesus Christ is under the constant tutelage of the Holy Spirit. He is constantly speaking and working into your heart to say, here's a sinful pattern.

Here's a thought pattern that's not glorifying. Here's something we need to put aside. And so, there are only that you might say, well, I'm not, I'm not sure I know of what the Holy Spirit's telling me right now. You know, all of us. If we are in Christ, we should be able to say, here, here's something the Holy Spirit is communicating to me right now.

This morning, tomorrow morning. Yesterday morning as I sat in prayer, as I searched for him in the scriptures, here's something the Holy Spirit is, is working with me. If you can't say that and you are in Christ Jesus, then the only option is that you have grieved him and having grieved him. What the Holy Spirit does when you grieve him is he gets quiet when you don't listen and when you don't act, he doesn't go away.

He just gets quiet. And so, if you are in Christ this morning and you cannot say, here is what the Holy Spirit is, is wanting me to put to death in my life right now, then seriously ask yourself, have I grieved him? Have I not acted on something? Is there some sort of sinful pattern I knew that he wanted me to put to death?

And nevertheless, I made peace. And so, the warning for us is right now, right where you are. If you do not know how the Holy Spirit is dealing in your life right now, then ask him right now. Ask him to grant you repentance for grieving his spirit and ask him to return and work powerfully in your heart, showing you once again what he would like you to do battle against, and what he would like you to put to death, and then empower you to do it.

If right now you can say, yes, he, I know that the Holy Spirit right now is dealing with my heart in this area, in that area, in this attitude and that thought pattern, whatever. Then here's what you do. You pray right now, holy Spirit empower me to receive that. Do not stop talking. Do not, do not stop illuminating, but instead empower me to act upon what you're showing me.

That's our warning. Let me finish with just one quick story. This story comes from John Piper who tells this story in the context of this is how his father taught him to think of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and the importance of acting on the Holy Spirit's direction. This is a quick story, a parable, if you will, of a buzzer, a buzzard who sees a piece of ice on a river floating downstream, and on that piece of ice is a carcass.

So, the buzzard flies out there and lands on the piece of ice and begins eating the carcass. Now that piece of ice is floating quickly to the waterfall downstream, and the buzzard hears it. He knows that they're, that the waterfall is coming, but he's just feasting on this carcass. He looks at his big, strong wings and says, I can fly away in any moment's notice, but as the waterfall approaches and right the last moment when the, when the buzzard has g has gotten what he felt like was the last possible bite.

He spreads his big mighty wings to fly off the piece of ice, only to find that his claws are now frozen in the ice. And that's just a little parable to teach us of the importance of acting upon the prompting of the spirit of truth. When he prompts his prompting is not for three days from now or next week or next year, or when I can deal with this situation or get around to that or get around to this.

When he prompts you, he's saying, I know you better than anyone knows you. And I'm saying to you, this is the time for you to act on this.