Mark chapter 3, verse 22. The scribes which came down from
Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils casteth
he out devils. And he called them unto him and
said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And
if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against himself and be divided, he cannot
stand but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong
man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the
strong man, and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say
unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against
the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation,
because they said he hath an unclean spirit." The scribes
came down from Jerusalem specifically to slander the Son of God, our
Savior. They saw the miracles He performed,
and they couldn't deny them. They heard the doctrine He taught,
and they couldn't refute it. They, however, would not acknowledge
Him as their Lord and Savior. They would not bow to Him as
their Master, their King, the Christ of God. They would not
repent of their sins. And therefore, instead of turning
to Him in repentance. Instead of bowing to Him, instead
of acknowledging what they could not refute, and acknowledging
that He is indeed the Christ of God, they accused Him of being
in league with the devil. They said, He hath to be Elzebo,
the prince of devils, and by the prince of devils casteth
he out devils. You see, throughout our Lord's
life upon this earth, He was constantly subject to being misunderstood
by his family and friends and misrepresented by his enemies
while he walked here upon the earth. This was the trial he
had to endure from his childhood through his manhood, even until
his death, as I substitute upon the cursed tree. While he was
most humble, and he was, he humbled himself and took upon himself
the form of a servant. came here in the likeness of
human flesh and humbled himself still more than that, he became
a servant in human flesh, humbled himself still more than that,
and he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
And while he was most humble, he was accused by men of being
most arrogant and private. You see, the world without the
knowledge of Christ. The world, apart from the knowledge
of the Son of God, the world, without being taught by the Spirit
of God, doesn't even know the difference between pride and
humility. Our Lord was most humble, but in His utmost humility, they
presumed He was most arrogant. When our Lord Jesus went about
His Father's business with great diligence and faithfulness, He
was accused of being negligent and irresponsible. Though he
was perfectly righteous in all things, he was accused by men
of being a glutton, a drunk, and a friend of publicans and
senators. You see, the religious world, though they were very,
very astutely aware of their religious creeds and their notions,
had no idea what righteousness really is. None whatsoever, and
they still don't. We must not expect, therefore,
to be treated any different while we live in this world. As we
endeavor to live for Christ and seek the glory of God, as we
try to walk in obedience to the will of God, others will judge
us to be self-serving, self-promoting rebels and antinomians. You can
expect that. Unbelieving friends and relatives
simply will not understand you. They just won't understand you.
They won't understand what makes you tick. They won't understand
what motivates you. They won't understand why you
do the things you do. Enemies will deliberately misrepresent
your actions and deliberately accuse you of being ruled by
the most vile base motives imaginable. Our Lord Jesus told us plainly
that these things must come to pass. He said the disciple is
not above his master nor the servant above his Lord. It is
enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the
servant that he be as his lord. If they have called the master
of the house Beelzebub, if they've called him a devil, how much
more shall they call the children, them of his household, Beelzebub? They'll call you a devil too.
You can just expect it. Our Savior's kinsman said he
is beside himself. In the latter part of the passage
just preceding this, they said, y'all don't pay any attention
to him. He's lost his mind. He's beside himself. The Pharisees
called him a glutton, a drunk, and a sinner. The scribes said
he hath to be Elzebub. We will be wise to expect and
be prepared for the same treatment, because the world knoweth us
not, even as it knew him not. That's what John told us, isn't
it? The world knoweth us not, even as it knew him not. And
yet even these base actions of wicked men were turned by the
hand of our sovereign Redeemer to do us good. Even these base
accusations made against his glorious character were ordained
and purposed of him and arranged by him to bring about specific
lessons to teach us spiritual things that need to be constantly
remembered by us. I want to show you five things
in these verses this morning. First, I want us to see in these
verses the sinfulness of strife. Look at verses 23 through 26
again. Our Lord Jesus responded to the
scribes' accusations in giving them this parable. In the parable,
he clearly shows us the absurdity of their accusation against him.
He is saying to them, well, any fool knows that a kingdom divided
against itself cannot stand. You fellows ought to know better
than to make this accusation. Look at verse 43. He called them unto
him and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
If Satan rise up against himself and be divided, he cannot stand
but hath an end. Now, there are many, many things
that could properly be and probably should be properly taught from
this parable. However, that which is, in my
opinion, the most important thing to be taught in this parable
is that which is most commonly ignored, even by good expositors. I read quite a few on this passage
of Scripture, and most of them, just totally ignored or barely
mentioned, that which is the primary lesson of the parable.
This parable shows us the shameful sinfulness of strife and division
among those who are supposed to be friends and allies in the
same cause. I realize that wicked men who
would utterly destroy the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ
promote peace and harmony and unity at any cost. I'm fully
aware of that. There are many who tell us that
we should never oppose anything and never oppose anyone. Don't
ever call anything evil and something else good. Don't ever say this
is right and that which opposes it is wrong. Don't ever call
light light and darkness darkness. If you do, you bring down upon
you the wrath of men. How can you dare be so judgmental?
Judge not that you be not judged. Why, that's utter nonsense. The
Word of God gives us clear-cut revelation with regard to that
which is right and wrong. Clear-cut revelation with regard
to light and darkness so that we can distinguish the one from
the other. Clear-cut revelation between
truth and error so we can distinguish truth from error. I recognize
that we must not pay any attention to those traitors of the gospel,
those traitors to the souls of men who, in the name of God,
would come along and preach such ambiguous things as to suggest
that there is no real distinction to be made between truth and
error. And yet, at the same time, there is a form of strife and
division that is evil, always evil, and only evil. It is to
be avoided by us at all costs. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
4 for a moment. Ephesians 4. Let me give you
two or three things in this regard that I believe to be very important,
pertinent, and practical. First, it is our responsibility,
it is our responsibility as believers to seek to pray for and do all
that is within our power to promote the peace of Jerusalem. Remember
the psalmist says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. He's not
talking about that land over in Palestine, he's talking about
the kingdom of God. It is our duty, our responsibility to pray
for, promote, to do everything within our power to seek the
peace of God's church and God's kingdom in this world. So that
we seek to build up the kingdom of God in unity, harmony, and
peace. Look here at Ephesians chapter
4 verse 1. I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
you are called. What vocation? He's not talking
now about and carpenters and plumbers and lawyers and doctors
and teachers. He's talking about one vocation
to which we're all called. We are all called to the glory
of God. Every one of us. We are all called
to do the will of God. Every one of us. We are all called
to build up the kingdom of God. Every one of us. That's our responsibility
in this world. Do so with all lowliness and
meekness. with long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love. Read it again. How do you do
this? How do you walk worthy of this
vocation to which you have been called by the grace of God? You
do so with loneliness and meekness, recognizing that you're nothing
but sinners saved by grace, and we are all in the same boat.
Recognize that we have no goodness in ourselves. We are all utterly
sinful by nature. Our only standing and acceptance
before God is Christ's blood and righteousness. With long-suffering. Being patient with one another.
Forbearing one another. That means put up with each other.
You know, like Shelby puts up with me when I misbehave. She's
been doing it for nearly 30 years. Just put up with each other.
Put up with each other not because you have to, because you want
to. Put up with each other not because you're compelled to,
but because you love each other. You just put up with one another's
weaknesses. Put up with one another's faults and failures. Put up with
one another's sins. Put up with one another's difficulties.
Put up with one another's eccentricities. Forbearing one another in love. Endeavoring. It takes some work,
Rex. It doesn't just happen. It doesn't
just happen. Brother Hines and his wife are
with us from Ashland. I recall distinctly the first visit I
made to Ashland, Kentucky. I went down to preach for Henry
one night, one Sunday, spent the day, stayed with Brother
John Thornberry and his wife Sandy, or Cecil Thornberry, rather,
and his wife Sandy, and we spent the weekend there. Several of
the folks were gathered at Cecil and Sandy's house on Sunday evening
before we left We had a get-together, and I, being impressed with the
tremendous ministry God had given that congregation, the tremendous
unity and fellowship and harmony God had been pleased to establish
there, before I left, I said to those people, God's given
you something worth cherishing and worth defending. Endeavor
to keep the unity of the Spirit. Satan will distort it if he can.
God's given us something worth keeping. God's given us something
worth promoting. Satan will destroy it if he can,
so endeavor with all the fiber of your being to promote and
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Paul's
language there is so very pertinent. If we would be useful as a church,
as the kingdom of God, if we would be useful together in the
cause of Christ, we must be bound together in strength of unity
and peace. You take a bunch of branches,
just branches laid out in the field, or just twigs that fall
down in the woods, or just fresh-cut green branches that you go along
and cut off from tree limbs. And you can't move by themselves,
you can just lead them any which way you want to. You can't stand
on them, you can't build anything with them. But you can't bind
them together so that they stand as one. You can't bend them,
you can't break them, and you can't build something with them.
That's what we are. Larry, we're just green, limp
branches, good for nothing by ourselves. Oh, but together. Ain't many of us, but we're enough
to be strong. There ain't many of us, but we're
enough to do something, bound together as one in Jesus Christ
our Lord. The Apostle says there is one
body and one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of
your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all who is above all and through all and in you all. In other
words, we are all in one body, walk in one spirit, have been
called to one hope. We all have been brought into
one faith under one Lord with one baptism and one God and Father. Therefore, let us walk together
as one. Move on down to verse 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God. Such a tender word. If I was visiting your home and
I've got my little girl, just a little girl still, and I'm
visiting your home and she gets into something and turns something
over, does what she's not supposed to do, you get angry with her.
If it's your little girl and she's in my home and she gets
into stuff she's not supposed to get into and she misbehaves
and acts up, you'd grieve with her. There's a big difference.
There's a big difference. He doesn't say, don't make the
Holy Spirit angry. You're His sons and daughters,
but don't grieve Him. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, He who dwells in you in love, whereby you're sealed into
the day of redemption. Well, how do we avoid grieving
Him? Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speak. Isn't it interesting that he
puts evil speaking last in the list? Because if evil speaking
ceases, then bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor have ceased. All evil speaking arises, you
see, from envy and bitterness and wrath. Put those things away
from you with all malice and be kind one to another. tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you." We should, as much as possible, avoid needless
differences and disputes and debates about spiritual things,
not only in our own congregation, but in the Kingdom of God at
large. Nothing so weakens the arms of the Church as carnal
strife which divides it. Needless disputes, needless controversies
absorb thought, energy, time, and effort that ought to be expended
in preaching the gospel. They furnish infidels with weapons
to use against us. The divisions that exist among
God's true people, and how I loathe the fact, but it is a fact nonetheless,
divisions do exist among God's true people on this earth. no
matter how justified we think they are, as we try to maintain
our particular petty quarrels, are just taking sides with the
devil against ourselves. That's all it is. Satan's the
one who initiates them, he's the one who maintains them, and
he's the one who profits by them. If he can't extinguish the kingdom
of God, and he can't, The old serpent labors tirelessly to
divide the kingdom, for he understands, that crafty, wretched thing understands,
more than anybody else seems to understand, to divide is to
conquer. We should, we must be zealous
for the glory of God and the truth of God revealed in the
gospel. I utterly abhor that sentimentality,
that sloppy emotionalism. that is willing to sacrifice
the truth of God and the glory of God upon the altar of what
men call unity and peace. We cannot be too jealous for
God's truth or too jealous for His glory. matters of revealed
truth that are vital to God's glory and vital to the souls
of men. Man's depravity, God's sovereignty,
free eternal election, effectual atonement, effectual redemption,
effectual irresistible preserving grace, those things are vital
to God's glory and vital to God's truth, vital to your souls. But
the method of church governance, you know, some folks, they have
committees and they have church manuals and all those things.
We don't fool with them. But if somebody else chooses
to, that doesn't make any difference. Just leave it alone. No need
fussing about it. Sometimes you'll be talking to
folks and they'll say, well, I think we ought to have this, we ought to have that.
OK. It's all right. It's all right.
I don't care. What kind of musical instrument
somebody has? We come here, we have an organ and a piano. I
would like to have a harp, that'd be all right. Somebody knew how
to play the thing. I'd be fine with me to have a
guitar over here. Somebody knew how to play it, play it well.
Some folks have drums and banjos. I'm not particularly interested
in that, but that's all right too. As long as the music's song
is gospel music, it doesn't matter whether they sing it fast or
slow. That's irrelevant. We shouldn't get upset with that.
I recall the first time I went somewhere and preached, and when
I got done preaching, The congregation broke out in applause. I so needless
to say, I was taken aback. I hardly knew what to do. There
was a thousand people sitting out there clapping after I had
done preaching. And I started to say something.
I thought to myself, what difference does it make really, as long
as they heard the message? Whether they say amen when I
get done, say nothing when I get done, or clap when I get done.
Now, here in this place, Don't start clapping. We don't do things
that way. But in another place, that's
all right. The issue is not those petty things. The issues are
the gospel of God's grace and the truth of God. So I don't
like that. That's all right. You don't have
to tell anybody. I don't approve of that. Keep it to yourself.
Why should I keep it to myself? So you don't divide. We shouldn't make a fuss about
trifles. Far too many are morbidly scrupulous about pointing out
and calling attention to differences and debating differences with
others. Far more interested in letting
you know where we differ than they are in locking arms and
joining together and marching in the battle against the enemy
of the Armenian free will heresies that are bound around us. I got
a letter from someone the other day, I forgot who it was, just
as well. They said, They said, well, I really appreciated your
message. I don't always agree with you.
Well, I'm so glad you told me. That was the real message. What's
the point? The point is just to cause differences,
to raise up controversy. Well, to leave it alone. Nothing
justifies brethren being divided from one another and opposing
one another. Nothing. Did you hear me? Nothing
justifies brethren being divided against one another and opposing
one another. There's something more important
than you and me, something more important than our desires, our
opinions, our names. The truth of God, the glory of
God, the kingdom of God, the gospel of God, heapsight more
important. There are fellows I hear from
occasionally, I don't hear from often, I can mark it down. I can mark it down with an open
envelope. Fellas, I've known them for years. I've known them
for years. I can mark it down with an open envelope. They found
something in something I wrote, something I said, or something
they heard I wrote or said, they disagree with. They're going
to let you know about it. I get so sick of it. I got to
the place anymore. When I get those letters, I say,
well, shall we take them off of every list I've got back there? I don't
want to hear anymore from them. Not interested in hearing anymore.
Just tired of it. Because the only time you ever
hear from them is when they've got some bone to pick. And it's
over some petty issue that means nothing. The fact is, all debate
is wicked. All of it. Folks say, well, we
need to sharpen our minds. I don't want to sharpen my mind
on a wet stock, wet rock of iniquity. It's of the flesh. Debate does
nothing for God's glory. Accomplishes no good in the kingdom
of God. It only gratifies the flesh.
Debate is always listed in the book of God with envy, wrath,
strife, whisperings, backbiting, slander, and murder. That's where
it comes from. Folks say, well, we'll debate
this issue. No. No. We're not going to debate
anything. I'm not interested in debate.
as we ought to scrupulously avoid needless strife about words and
promote the unity of God's church and kingdom throughout the world. Let us doubly be scrupulous in
protecting and promoting the peace and harmony and unity of
our own church family. I urge you, my brothers and sisters,
my sons and daughters, in the kingdom of God, love each other. Love each other. God teaches to love each other. I got lots of things written
down here to urge you to, but I'll just leave it at that. Love
each other. Larry, Chris, if I love you,
I'm not gonna harm you. Not in name, not in property,
not in reputation, I'm not gonna harm you. Not if I love you.
Not willingly, not knowingly, not going to harm you. Love each
other. Love each other. I wonder if I ought to say that.
Does it reflect love or not? I wonder if I ought to think
that. Does it reflect love or not?
Love each other. Just love each other. Secondly,
in verse 27, our Lord Jesus shows us the greatness of God's almighty
grace. No man can enter into a strong
man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the
strong man, and then he will spoil his house. Now there is a direct connection
between these words and the prophetic words of Isaiah the prophet back
in Isaiah 49. But we won't turn there and look
at that now. You can look at it yourself if
you want to. Isaiah 49, verses 24, 25, and 26. Our Lord seems
to be alluding to those verses where he speaks of this. You
see, we are all by nature sinners under the dominion of Satan,
alluded to here as a strong man. Our hearts, our bodies, our souls,
our lives are his palace. And he will never, never, never
relinquish his rule over us until someone mightier than he invades
his house and throws him out. That's what happens in regeneration
and conversion. The Lord Jesus Christ steps in.
He doesn't knock at your door and ask you, pretty please let
him in. Oh no. Oh no. If the Son of God invades
your heart, He comes in uninvited and unasked. And the first time
you think about inviting Him, He's already in. He brought His
welcome with Him. The Lord Jesus will knock your heart's door
down, bolt and bar, and set up His throne in your heart, casting
Satan out, or you will never repent of your sins. Well, they
said, well, doesn't a sinner have to invite the Lord to come
in? No. No. Oh, no, no, no, no. You want him to come in only
after he's already there. You ever have guests come into
your house and kind of come unexpected? But some guests come, and they're
so pleasant. So delightful to be around, so
welcome in your home that whenever they come, they bring their welcome
with them. Some come and the sooner they leave, the better.
But some come and when they come in, you're just delighted to
see them. The Lord Jesus, when he comes and sets up his kingdom
in your heart, he brings his welcome with him. He comes and
you long to have him. He comes and you cry for Him.
He comes and you call out, give me Christ or else I die. But
until He comes into your heart, you will never bow to Him. And
when the Lord Jesus comes into a man's heart, When he takes
possession of a man's soul, when he invades the city of man's
soul, then he causes his people to become his willing servants. As we were Satan's willing servants,
going after Satan in the lust of our flesh, according to our
will by nature, now believers willingly put on the yoke of
Christ, bow to him as Lord, and do his bidding. willingly following
after him. Thy people shall be willing,
the psalmist says, in the day of thy power. So that awakened,
regenerate sinners come to Christ with willing hearts because he
gives them faith and causes them to come. And coming to Christ
with willing hearts, they willingly bow to him, willingly submit
themselves to be his bond slaves forever. They recognize they're
not their own. They've been bought with a price.
Therefore, they are determined to glorify God in their bodies
and in their spirits, which are God's. Thirdly, in verse 28, we see here the glory of the
gospel. I've been hurrying to this because
I want to spend a little bit of time here. Our Lord Jesus
says, Verily I say unto you, All sin All sins shall be forgiven unto
the sons of men. All sins and blasphemies, wherewithsoever
they shall blaspheme. Oh, what a glorious declaration. He who delights in mercy declares
all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men. One of the greatest struggles
of my awakened soul, as Satan took me like that young
man possessed if a devil was taken and thrown down as he came
to the master, so Satan often threw me And he threw me with this, his sin, yes, and her sin, yeah. That can be forgiven. But your
sin, your blasphemy, your ungodliness, the corruption the wickedness of your life, he won't forgive that. But our
Lord says, all sins. All sins. That may appear to be a trifling
matter to some of you, I'm sure it does. To hear those words
is nothing more than hearing a movie advertisement go across
on a TV screen that you've already seen. but to that person who has tasted
his sin. If there's anybody here who knows
the corruption of his heart, whose soul burns with the fire
of hell tormenting your conscience, go to bed at night terrified
of the wrath of God and wake up terrified of sin. These words
are glorious words. All sins shall be forgiven the
sons of men and all blasphemies wherewith they shall blaspheme.
What does that mean? The sins of my youth, all of
them. And the sins of my old age, all
of them. The sins of my heart and the
sins of my hands. All of them. The sins of my mind
and the sins of my mouth. All of them. Open sins that everybody
sees. And secret sins that nobody sees
but God. All of them. Past sins. Present sins. future sins. All of them. My sins as an infidel and my even worse sins as a believer. The sins of persecutors like
Saul, the sins of idolaters like Manasseh, the sins of harlots
like Rahab. All of them. All sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and all blasphemies wherewithsoever
they shall blaspheme. The blood of Christ, God's Son,
cleanseth us from all sin." Isn't that good news? If we confess
our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ has
put away my sin, has blotted out my sin. My sins then are
gone. The righteousness of Christ covers
all iniquity. The intercession of Christ prevails
over every transgression. J.C. Ryle wrote this doctrine
here laid down, is the glory of the gospel. The very first
thing it proposes to man is free pardon, full forgiveness, complete
remission. without money and without price. Well, what if we sin after we've
been forgiven? You can strike out the what if. There's no what if about it.
You who are forgiven know by bitter experience there's no
what if about it. We are sin. We don't do anything
but sin. My little children, these things
write unto you. John said that you sin not. Don't
ever sin. Strive earnestly against sin.
But if any man sin, that includes Buddy and Don, if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous
and He is the propitiation for our sin. You who are without Christ, this
doctrine is the very thing that meets all your needs. Lay hold
of it. Lay hold of it. Come to Christ
right now, right where you are. Right where you are, right now,
don't delay a second. Come to Christ right now. And
as surely as you believe on the Son of God, as surely as you
trust the Son of God, You have the forgiveness of all your sins. Your faith doesn't accomplish
that. You know better than that. Your faith is nothing. Your faith
is just a shaking, trembling hand. But the object of your
faith is Him who has accomplished the forgiveness of sins. And
as surely as God sits on His throne, every sinner who believes
Christ is forgiven of all sins. Children of God, this is the
doctrine we need as well. Often we faint, falter and fail. More often than not. We feel ourselves altogether
unworthy before God. And then ourselves we are. We are cast down in our souls
and Satan harasses us with our countless sins. But this is a
fact beyond all dispute. If we trust Christ alone as our
Lord and Savior, if we trust His blood alone to atone for
all our sins. If we trust His righteousness
alone to give us acceptance with God, then all our sins are forgiven
us. God has cast our sins into the
depths of the sea of His forgiveness. cast our sins behind his back. He's removed our sins from us
as far as the east is from the west and will never, never remember
them against us again forever. Fourthly, our Lord Jesus plainly
speaks in verses 29 and 30 about a danger, the danger of unbelief,
the danger of damnation. But he that shall blaspheme against
the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Because they said he hath an
unclean spirit. Give me your attention now. Give
me your attention. God help you to hear me. Some
of you sitting here are in danger of eternal damnation. It has become popular, acceptable,
even in many circles where people claim to believe the Bible and
claim to preach the gospel, to deny the reality of hell and
eternal punishment. But the Son of God, not me, The
Son of God, not the Baptist Church, the Son of God speaks here about
eternal damnation. Terrible as this truth is, we
must never shut our eyes to it. I must not fail to declare it.
Sin is an infinitely evil thing. It required the infinite merit
of Christ's shed blood. to satisfy the justice of God
and put away the sins of his people. And if God Almighty,
in the day of judgment, finds sin on you, and if you're outside Christ,
there's nothing but sin on you, if God finds sin on you, he shall
sentence you to eternal damnation. Escape for your life. Flee away
to Christ. Come to Christ, there's no other
hope. You have an immortal, undying
soul. Will you lose your own soul?
You're going to meet God in judgment. Will you be damned forever? Our only hope is Christ. Preparing this message, or I
finished preparing it and looking over it last time last night. I turn to that text in Colossians,
I believe it's chapter 2, verse 6, where the apostle says, As
you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. And I keep coming back to it.
I come to Christ, Rod, just like I did the first time 30 years
ago. A sinner trusting Him and nothing
else. In Christ, I now believe. Now trusting in His name. Redemption
through His blood I have. In Him, complete I am. This hope
my soul uplifts when sin and Satan press. Unchanging are my
Father's gifts, who promises to bless. My sins, my sins, my
sins, are all blotted out, each one. No cause for wrath on me
remains. God sees me in his sight. So come to me, what may. It must,
I know, be blessed. God, who for me his Son did slay,
will do for me what's best. One last thing. I call your attention
to that which our Lord here describes as the sin of sins, the unpardonable
sins. In verse 29, the Son of God states
emphatically, He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness. There is such a thing as the
unpardonable sin. Now, this is not a matter of speculation.
It may not fit well with my theology or yours, but it's a matter of
divine revelation that's playing its nose on your face. The apostle
says it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and
have tasted the heavenly gift who may partake because of the
Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers
of the world to come, if they shall fall away, it's impossible
to renew them again to repentance." He said, if we sin again willfully
after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sin. The Apostle John wrote, if any
man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall
ask, And he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death.
There is a sin unto death. I do not say that you shall pray
for it. What is this unpardonable sin? Let me use caution. The Scriptures
clearly reveal the fact that there is an unpardonable sin,
but they don't expressly tell us what it is. They give us some
examples though. There was a man by the name of
Esau who understood the value of his birthright. He wasn't
a boy, he was a grown man. He knew what that birthright
involved. That birthright represented God's blessing and God's mercy
and God's covenant and God's promise to him and his family.
And one day he was hungry and he said goodbye to the birthright
and took a bowl of beans instead. And when he saw what he had done,
he would have repented and sought a place of repentance with tears.
But there was no repentance granted him. We read in the scripture
of a man, of a tribe in the name of Ephraim. heard the word of God from God's
prophets and God's patriarchs for hundreds and hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of years. And finally, one day, God said
to his prophet, Ephraim won't pay any attention. Ephraim is
joined to his idols. Let him alone. The nation of Israel was given
the light of God's word, the light of God's revelation, the
light of God's law, the light of God's prophets, the light
of God's own son ministering among them. And they would not
believe, therefore God sent hardness to them so that they could not
believe and said to his prophet, don't you even mention their
name in prayer. Don't pray for them. Judas. Oh, what a man Judas was. He walked with the Son of God
three and a half years, preached the gospel of the Son of God
for three and a half years, was among the apostles in the original
College of the Apostles three and a half carried the treasury
bag for the early church, three and a half years. He knew who Jesus Christ is. He knew what he was doing. And for 30 pieces of silver,
one day when he was upset, because a woman had taken 300 pence and
sacrificed it just to anoint the Lord for his burial, and
he didn't get any of the money. He looked at it as a waste, and
he was reproved and rebuked in anger. He walked away, but he
didn't forget. He sought a means by which he
could betray the Son of God, and for 30 pieces of silver,
deliberately sold his soul. And afterwards, he was so earnest,
he brought the money and cast it at the feet of those Jewish
rulers and said, I betrayed innocent blood. But he couldn't repent. He went out and hanged himself. The unpardonable sin appears
then to be the willful rejection of Christ and his gospel. A deliberate,
persistent refusal to bow to the claims of Christ as Lord.
It seems to be a combination of intellectual knowledge of
the gospel and a deliberate rejection of it. Knowledge of Christ in
the head, but an unrelenting hatred of Christ in the heart. Some of you are asking, have
I committed the unpardonable sin? Let me give you two answers. Some of you are in real danger
of it. It is a weight on my heart and
soul every time I preach to you. You've heard the gospel, and
heard the gospel, and heard the gospel, but you trifle with the
gospel of God's grace. And you who trifle with God,
trifle with your souls. You who trifle with God trifle
with your souls. He ain't playing games. He ain't playing games. Yet, I'm confident that there's
still hope for your soul if you're concerned about your soul. You may yet obtain forgiveness
if you want forgiveness. You can yet come to Christ if
you want Christ. Do you? I send you home to seriously
consider these two facts. I pray that God the Holy Spirit
will burn them in your heart. I pray that you'll not be able
to put them out of your mind. First, there is forgiveness with
God. There is abundant pardon with
God for all sins through the blood of Christ. So today you'll
hear his voice. Harden not your heart. Seek ye
the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. And secondly, I want you to understand this.
God help you to hear me now. Hear me now. God Almighty will
not always be gracious. The door will not always be open. You cannot always be saved. Amen.