It's been a long time since we've
been in Matthew, a couple of months actually. Part of the reason is, well, I've just been looking
at other things, but this is such a difficult passage. The older I get, the more difficult
it all becomes, actually. The more you learn, the more
ignorant you feel. And this passage about blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost, there's a lot of talk about this, a lot
of talk about the Holy Ghost today. This is vitally important,
or else it wouldn't be recorded. Now, what our Lord is saying
here, let's go ahead and read the whole passage, verses 22-37. Matthew 12, 22-37, Then was brought
unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he
healed him in so much that the blind and dumb both spake and
saw. And all the people were amazed
and said, Is not this the Son of David, Christ? But when the
Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out
devils, but by Beelzebub, prince of devils. Jesus knew their thoughts. They said this to themselves,
and he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought
to desolation. Every city or house divided against
itself shall not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he's
divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand?
If I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children
cast them out, or those who seem to, or said they did, therefore
they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else
how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods
except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his
house? He that is not with me is against
me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore, I say unto you, all
matter of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." But the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall
be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against
the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good,
and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit
corrupt. For the tree is known by its fruit. generation of vipers,
how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things. An evil man out of the
evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you
that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment." For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." You see
how vital it is that we know what the blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit is? He said it will not be forgiven.
And idle words, what are they? So it behooves us to understand
this. It's important. What the Lord
says is both wonderful and horrible. should give us great fear. It's wonderful. He said all manner
of sin should be forgiven. All manner of sin. How wonderful
that is. Except this. And then by your words you'll
be justified. In other words, you speak right.
You speak good things, whatever that is. You'll be justified
before God. But if you don't speak idle words, How important is it? How difficult? You see why? It's been a while,
and I've almost avoided this. I'm not avoiding anything, but
it's so difficult. The Lord had just cast out a
devil. The man was blind, and the man was dumb. He couldn't speak. This is significant. It all started right there, didn't
it? And these Pharisees, who themselves were devils, they
were ministers of Satan, transformed themselves, or appeared to be
ministers of light, when in fact they were ministers of Satan.
But everybody thought they were God's amen. They were against
Jesus Christ. They were against Him. And they
said that what he did was of the devil. And yet the people
thought what they were doing was of God. Now that's clearly,
that's how it all started. Now, this blind and this dumb
man, he could not see and he could not speak. And the only way that a blind... Now, who blinded him? Who blinded
him? Well, in the Scriptures, in 2
Corinthians 4, it says that God of this world hath blinded the
minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ should appear unto them. That God of this world
hath blinded. The minds, the hearts of men
and women throughout this world are blind to who God is, to what
they are, to who Christ is, their need of Him. And religious leaders
are blind leaders of the blind. That's what the Lord said. That's
what Scripture said. Men talk a lot of things. They say a lot
of things. Religion is so full of talk. But unless it's of God's glory,
unless it's of man's utter sinfulness, unless it's of Christ's work,
Christ's glory, Christ's righteousness, Christ's blood, the salvations
of the Lord, if coming out of their mouth is not salvations
of the Lord a hundred percent, it's idle words. And yet the world says what we
preach, what the truth is, is the doctrine of devils. So there
you have it. I've already explained it all. And our Lord makes it plain.
He says, how can a devil be cast out except one stronger than
him? Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Blind eyes can be opened by the
Spirit of God. That's the first thing the Lord
does to a blind sinner, is open his eyes and see who God is.
See what they are, what we are, sinners, and who Christ is. Loosen
tongue. Loosen the string of our tongue
to speak what? About man? Well, that will talk. Know about God and His glory.
Christ alone. Every other way is blasphemy. And to say that this gospel of
God's sovereign electing mercy and grace, the only way a sinner
can come before God, is to say that it is a doctrine of the
devil, is blasphemy. Let me just go ahead and say
this right off. A man that's highly esteemed
among religious people today named John Wesley. Wesleyism, you know, that's where
they get their name. And Methodists. You know, George
Whitefield was a contemporary of John Wesley and Charles Wesley. I believe Charles Wesley was
a believer. Charles, you've got a good name.
Charles Wesley Hudson over here. But John Wesley was a heretic. I'll tell you why. He renounced
the truth. Then he, those of you who know
and have read his work, he said, imputed righteousness is imputed
nonsense. That's exactly what he said.
He preached works. It was veiled under preaching.
It was under a pretense of preaching Christ. No, he preached sinless
perfection. He preached man's righteousness. And he said all this talk about
being accepted by God solely on the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, he said that's nonsense. That man's a devil. And yet he was so couched, and
he was such a moral man, seemingly a moral man, and people looked
up to him and just spoke so highly of him. And if the world would
hear what I'm saying right now, they'd call me a heretic. The
Pharisees were just like that. The Pharisees, nobody suspected
the Pharisees. They all thought they were godly
men. You're of your father the devil.
He said you're blighted sepulchers. You appear before men to be righteous,
but inside you're full of extortion and exile. He knew their thoughts.
He knew their thoughts. They weren't out for God's glory.
They weren't seeking Christ, His kingdom. Christ came and
they were against Him. Well, where am I? Let's see here. Down in verse 25 and 26, He knew
their thoughts and said unto them. They said
this among themselves privately. They said this. They were afraid
of Him. They were afraid of the Lord.
And they were afraid of the people, for some people believed him,
and they were afraid they were trying to please men. They just
didn't want to be afraid of offending anybody. But they were afraid
of the Lord, because they couldn't withstand his wisdom. And they
said this among themselves, but he knew their thoughts. Boy,
right there is a key verse in it. The Lord Jesus Christ knows
thoughts. He knows the thoughts of Everyone,
he knows all men, the word of the Lord, the scripture says,
the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. And they said, or he said, every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. It
can't stand. Satan cast out Satan, he divided
against himself. His kingdom won't stand. Satan
cannot do, and his preachers cannot do, or his people cannot
do or say anything against him. And neither can the people of
Christ, the ministers of Christ. It's all for him. Now, the kingdom
of Satan is of this world. The God of this world. Look,
go over to 1 John. with me, 1 John chapter 4. Satan's kingdom is of this world. Though our God still reigns and
rules over this world, yet he has given him a little season
here. Scripture says, given him a little
season. giving him some authority here
to do God's will. Satan's not doing as he will. He's doing God's will. He's God's
devil. Now, if you say things like that,
people say you're a devil. Don't they? If you just say what
God's Word says, like Proverbs 16.4, God hath made all things
for himself, even the wicked, for the day of evil. They call
you a devil for saying it. I'll just tell you what God's
Word says. The second Thessalonians, God sends them strong delusions.
There are scriptures in the Old Testament where God put a lying
spirit in some of them to deceive them. Right? You've read this
thing. You know this thing. Well, the world will call you
a devil for saying things like that. God reigns and rules. God's will is free alone. God
does as He will. The devil can't do what He will.
The devil does the Lord's will. That's not doctrine of the devil,
that's just truth. But his kingdom is of this world,
and he speaks of this world, the flesh, and things that appeal
to men. Look at it, 1 John 4, talking
about these spirits of antichrist, many false prophets, verse 1,
have gone out into the world. And down in verse 5, it says,
They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world. And
the world hears them. They speak about man. They speak
about man's will, about man's works, about man's worth. People
love to hear that, don't they? And Satan, this is his sphere. Religion is his principal area
of work. Yes, sin and open corruption
and evil Those people are completely, obviously under the dominion
of the Godless world and corruption, sin. But religion is this. When he sought to bring man down,
to destroy God's kingdom in the beginning, it was Adam and Eve,
right? How did he do it? Quoting Scripture. Quoting Scripture. Misquoting Scripture. Questioning
God's Word. until he finally out and out
denied it, like John Westmoreland. That's how he did it. Who did
he deceive? Adam or Eve? The woman being deceived. What
does the scripture say about women? Let your women keep silence
in the church. What is women dominated by today?
I mean, what is religion dominated by that? Women. It's a religion
of women. Satan knows that. He knows that. Look at verse 5. They are of the world, therefore
speak thou of the world. The world heareth him. We are
of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth
not us. This is how you know the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error. What do we speak? John said,
we can't help but speak the things we've seen here. We beheld His
glory, the glory of the only begotten Son, full of grace and
truth. The God of this world, the Scripture
says, is blind and demised. How else would people follow
men and women that are so obviously corrupt? Like Catholicism. How else would people continue
to follow these blind leaders who are so obviously perverted
and corrupt and could just keep following them. How else would
they do that except they're blind too. They're blind. I was watching,
just flipping through the channels yesterday, the religious channels. I've every now and then looked
at them and I almost always wish I hadn't. You know, you need
to know what's going on, I guess. I knew, but it would shock you,
though, if you don't see it. But that Catholic, so-called
Catholic channel, you know. And I hear this woman is so revered
by all these nuns, was sitting up in front of a big packed room
full of these young, mostly young girls in their habits, you know.
and repeating that Hail Mary over and over and over and over
Hail Mary full of grace. Now that is blasphemy. Mary's not full of grace. Who's
full of grace? Jesus Christ is full of grace.
Mary's not full of grace. She had some grace while she
was on this earth. She was full of grace. Christ
was full of grace, and it went on to say, merrily full of grace,
mother of God? You know how many millions of people
follow that? Believe that? Mother of God? Pray for us poor sinners, now
and in the time of our death. That's the Hail Mary. And they
just kept repeating that, these poor, blind girls, and they're
thinking they're holy, you know, and trying to, you know, binding
themselves, you know, I guess to keep from, most of them may
have been, many of them may have been, you know, prostitutes or
whatever out there in the world, and they think, if I can get
in here and just, you know, Keep myself out of the world and just
keep repeating this over and over again. I get this sin out
of me. Oh, poor ignorant fool. Blind
leaders, blind following the blind. And there's millions
all over the world following that. Yet a man stand up and
just declare, that's all a lie. That's of the devil. There's
one way. Christ's way. look unto him and
be his side. And they'll call him a devil. That's the blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit. Well, you know, one of the old
writers, I forget who it was, I read, Matthew Henry, maybe,
said, we all blaspheme until the time that the Lord saves
us. We all blaspheme. So the blasphemy
he's talking about is After hearing the truth, a heretic
after the first and second admonition, keep hearing the gospel and you
obstinately rebel against it, you can never be forgiven. There
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. There is no blood shed for
that. And apostasy is the same thing.
You have to leave the truth and not be forgiven. But our Lord
said there's only one way. Verse 28, I cast out devils by
the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God is coming to you. And
here's the way devils are cast out. A strong man, stronger than
he, stronger than Satan. There's only one stronger than
Satan. That's the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel. The gospel is the power of God
and salvation. Our Lord said, go into the world
to His disciples. Go into the world and preach
the gospel. Cast out devils. He said, go
preach casting out devils. The only thing that will cast
out devils is the gospel by the power of the Spirit of God. Only
that. Only that. He's got to mine that
strong man, spoil his goods, and lead captivity captive. And
such were some of you. And you know, you know. So he
said in verse 30, He that is not with me is against me. He that gathereth not with me
scattereth abroad. Many say they're with Christ. Many say they're for Christ.
Many say they're doing what they do for God. Go over to Revelation
3 with me. Revelation 3. Go over there. Many say that. They're not. They're against
it. They're for themselves. They're for their own works.
They're for their own glory. Look at Revelation 3. Here's
what the redeemed. These people are redeemed. And they... Chapter 4. I'm sorry. Revelation
Chapter 4. Look at this. Verse 10, here's
what the redeemed all say in heaven and on earth. Verse 10,
the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the
throne and worshiped Him, and liveth forever, cast their crowns
before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory, and honor, and power, for Thou hast created all things. Thy pleasure they are and were
created. Chapter 5, verse 9. They sung
a new song. Verse 9, chapter 5. Thou art
worthy to take the book, open the seals thereof, for thou wast
slain. You know what Mary's doing right
now? She's saying, thou art worthy, for thou hast redeemed us. Mary
didn't die for sinners, Christ did. Mary doesn't pray for sinners. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man of Christ Jesus. That's the doctrine of
the devil, talking about Mary and whoever. But here's the doctrine
of God of Christ, saying, Thou art worthy, for Thou hast redeemed
us by Thy blood. Down in verse 12 of chapter 5,
they say with a loud voice, thousands and ten thousands, Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive riches, and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing, and every creature in heaven,
on earth, and under the earth, in the sea, all that in them
heard I say in blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be
unto Him." So much idle talk, and our Lord
said, Down there in verse 33, make
a tree good and its fruit good, or make a tree corrupt. A tree
is known by its fruit. Who makes a tree good? You can't
make yourself good. Only God brings about the fruit
of the Spirit and makes a person worth anything. And that fruit
is for the glory of God. That's what that fruit is. And
he says in verse 34, you're a generation of vipers. Poison is in their lips. Poison. What they say is poisonous. Vipers. John called them that
name. Vipers. It seems good. Smooth tongue. Like Satan. The
serpent. Smooth-tongued devil. But what
he was saying was poisonous. And so do they. Oh, it sounds
good, but it's poison. It's poison. It says you're vipers,
you speak, how can you being evil speak good things? What
are good things? We've just been talking about
the glory of God, the glory of Christ. The depravity of man
to tell men and women that they're evil is a good thing. Because
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When the Holy Spirit
comes, the first thing He does is what? It convinces of what? Sin. Sin. Righteousness. Right? This is
what the Holy Spirit does. Sin. What? You, me, sin. Through and through. Righteousness. God is righteous. Righteousness
of God. Righteousness we don't have.
The righteousness we can't produce. Where do we get it? The Holy
Spirit says, Christ. Christ. Judgment. Judgment. There's a judgment to face. You'll
either be judged or Christ will judge for you. That's the truth. They can't say these things.
It's not in their vocabulary. It's not in religion's vocabulary
to talk about righteousness and beauty. Not there. You can't. You can't. It says a good man out of the
good treasure of the heart brings forth good things. Let's talk
of him who alone is good. An evil man out of the evil treasure
brings forth evil things. So here is what he said in context. Every idle word that men shall speak I'll give
an account in the day of judgment. And by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words condeemed." What are idle words? Anything
said, in the context of anything said, that's not giving all glory
to God. A whole lot of talk going on
today in religion. There's a whole lot of so-called
preachers standing up preaching today. Mostly idle words. We're going to give an account
for it. We're going to do one thing. We've got sinners coming
to hear, coming to sit and listen. And a man's told to stand up
and preach what? What words? Whose words? God's
words. To point to Christ like Moses
held up that serpent on the pole. That's the job of the preacher,
like Moses. Look unto me, to hold forth,
set forth. Christ said, if I be lifted up,
I'll draw men to me. Are preachers doing that? No,
sir. No, sir. So everything they're saying
is idle words. And our Lord said, you'll give
an account for it. He had an opportunity to point
men to Christ. But I like this next verse, people,
verse 37, by thy word shalt thou be justified, by your words condemned. If you go, if you ask, you know,
out of the abundance of heart, our Lord said, the mouth speaketh.
If you ask the true believer, what's your hope of salvation?
I guarantee the first thing out of their mouth. Because it's
in their heart, it's Christ. Right. You ask the people of
this world, how do you hope to get to heaven? It'll begin with
I. Every time. Because I accepted
Jesus. Because I was baptized. Because out of the abundance of the heart,
you're going to be justified. You stand before God. It's not
going to happen. But were we to stand before God and He were
to ask us, like old Roland Hill, what right do you have to come
in here? Why should I let you in my heaven? It's not going
to happen. But if it did, what would you
say? Say, if you say the right thing,
I'll let you in here. You don't have to stop and think.
I don't deserve to be here. Christ. Christ is my hope. Christ is my prayer. Justify. Justify. Those people in Matthew 7, our
Lord said, and many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord,
what do they say? What do they say? They say, Lord,
Lord, You died for us. Lord, Lord, You worked out the
law for us. Lord, Lord, you are our righteousness. Lord, Lord, it's by your mercy
that we're saved. Not by works of right... No,
no, that's not what they're saying, is it? They say, Lord, Lord,
have we not preached, cast out deadness, and done many wonderful
works? Oh, oh yeah, in your name. Get
out of here. Get out of here. I have one hope and one plea.
If you ask my salvation in one word, it's Christ. He said you'll
be justified. If you speak the word, you'll
be justified. Okay.