We're going to look at Luke chapter
12, verse 10, 11, and 12. Luke chapter 12, verse 10, 11,
and 12. Now, let's read verse 10. Whosoever shall speak a word
against the Son of Man, speak evil or blaspheme the Son of
Man, it shall be forgiven him. unto him that blasphemeth." And
the word simply means speaking evil against the Holy Ghost or
the Holy God. It shall not be forgiven. That's a fearful thing to think
about, isn't it? Having sin not forgiven. I know I'm a sinner, and I know
this, I want my sin forgiven. I want my sin forgiven for one
reason, for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. But I want
to ask this question and try to answer it from what is said
there in verse 10. What is the unpardonable sin? What is the unpardonable sin? Whatever it is, and I think I
know what it is, but whatever it is, I don't want to commit
it. I don't want to commit it. Now, let me ask you this, can
a believer commit the unpardonable sin? And notice how I phrased
that. Can a believer commit the unpardonable
sin? No. Absolutely not. And here's the reason why. 1
Peter 1.5, we're kept by the power of God through faith. Faith that is true and genuine
keeps on believing God. We are restrained by His grace
and He's able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless
before the presence of God's glory with exceeding joy. But there is a sin that is committed
against God of which there is no forgiveness. No pardon will
never be forgiven in this world nor even in the world to come.
Now hold your place there in Luke 12 and turn to Matthew 12. I want you to put a marker in
Matthew 12 because we're going to come back to Matthew 12 in
just a moment. Matthew 12 verse 31. Matthew
12 31. Wherefore I say unto you all
manner of sin and blasphemy, All manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto man, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost
shall not be forgiven unto man. One more verse. Whosoever shall
speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven
him. But whosoever speaks against
the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is the Holy God. God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world, neither in that world which is to come. Sin that's never, never forgiven. Now, I want to warn all of us
about this terrible sin. against God, speaking evil against
God, of which there is no forgiveness and no repentance. It says in
the scripture of Esau that Esau found no place of repentance. No place of repentance. Now,
first of all, let's establish this fact. Let's establish this
fact. There is the forgiveness of sin,
the blessed truth of which believers have and which brings great comfort
unto them. For those who believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the forgiveness of all our
sin, all of them. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. John put it this way, if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The Apostle Paul in Acts 13 said,
by him all that believe are justified from all things, which we could
not be justified by the law of Moses. We have in Christ right
now, every believer does, The total and complete eternal forgiveness
of all our sin. That gives me comfort because
I know I'm a sinner. Now let me give you several scriptures
to enforce that fact. In Ephesians chapter 1, the Apostle
Paul said, "...in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sin according to the riches of His grace." And then we know
Peter said, we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all our sin. If you would find Isaiah
40, hold your place there in Luke 12 and find Isaiah 40, when
Isaiah the prophet, by inspiration of God, seeks to comfort the
people of God, Isaiah 40 verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my
people, sayeth your God, speaking comfortably to Jerusalem, crying
to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her
sin. Is there forgiveness of sin in
Christ? Yes, there is. The Apostle Paul
put it this way in Psalm 130, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. Let Israel hope in the
Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous
redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities. Call His name Jesus Christ, Jesus. He shall save His people from
their sin. All our sins, All our iniquities,
all our transgressions, all forgiven. This is the promise we have as
believers through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Lord even says
there in verse 10, Whosoever shall speak a word against the
Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. whosoever speaks against his
son of man." Many people spoke against him as a man, as the
man from Nazareth. You remember they said, he's
that despised Nazarene. Many spoke against him as they
knew him as the man from Nazareth. Matter of fact, someone said
this, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? asked that question, and Philip
said, come and see. Come and see. He is the only
one that is good. And then many spoke evil against
him as a son of man. They said, well, he's a winebibber.
He's a gluttonous man. He's a friend of sinners. He's
a carpenter's son. Many spoke against him as a son
of man, but were later granted repentance, granted faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and their sin was All forgiven. Those things will be forgiven.
They were spoken about him in ignorance because they did not
know who he really was. They did not know him at the
time. as God our Savior because they had no revelation of Him
by the Holy Spirit who He is as the Christ, as the Messiah,
as the Son of God. I think Saul of Tarsus is a good
example of one who spoke against the Son of Man and yet he found
mercy. He found grace to help in time
of need. He was indeed guilty of speaking
against the Son of Man, was He not? When He did not know Him,
as He did later by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit, later
He was granted faith, later He was granted repentance in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read this again to you
over here in 1 Timothy chapter 1. He says, I thank Christ Jesus
our Lord, 1 Timothy 1.12, who enabled me, for that he counted
me faithful, that is, he granted me faith, he put me in the ministry,
because he put me in Christ, who was before a blasphemer. Here's one who blasphemed against
the Son of Man and yet found repentance. He said, I was a
persecutor. I was one who caused great injury. Even when those people were stoned
to death, he said, that's a good thing. Amen. Brother, let me
hold your coat while you cast the stone. He participated in
that, didn't he? He said, but I obtained mercy.
I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor. I did it
ignorantly. I didn't know who he was. I did
it in unbelief. But he said, And the grace of
our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is
in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and
this is worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ, or Christ
Jesus, came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the
chief offender. Here's a man who spoke against
the Son of Man vehemently and yet was granted repentance and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit revealed
to Saul of Tarsus that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, is
God our Savior, the promised Redeemer, what did he do? He
didn't speak evil against that revelation of God the Holy Spirit,
did He? But rather He bowed and submitted
to God the Son. He believed the revelation of
the Holy Spirit, who alone takes the things of Christ and shows
them unto us. Now, hold your place there and
find the book of Acts chapter 9. And here we have the conversion
story of the Apostle Paul. As he journeyed, came near Damascus,
suddenly there appeared, there shined round about him a light
from heaven. This is Acts 9 verse 3. And he
fell to the earth, and I heard a voice saying unto him, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? Now when he had the revelation
of Jesus Christ as Lord, and the Lord said, I am Jesus, the
Savior, whom you persecuted, it's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Acts 9 verse 6. And he trembling,
astonished, said, Lord, He's not speaking evil against the
Son of Man now, is he? You see, he has a revelation
of God, the Holy Spirit, that the Lord Jesus Christ is God,
our Savior. Lord, what will you have me to
do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into a city, and
that shall be told thee what you must do. You must bear my
name before the Gentiles. Now, we know the rest of the
story, don't we? of the conversion of Saul of
Tarsus, who was a very proud Pharisee. As a matter of fact,
he said, concerning the law, he said, I was blameless. That's
what he said as a Pharisee. But as the believer, Apostle
Paul said, when the law came, it killed me. It slew me. It
revealed that I'm a sinner. We know the rest of the story,
how he was made. The Apostle Paul, he was that
twelfth apostle that replaced Judas, and how the Lord put him
in the ministry, and how the Apostle Paul gave his life to
the constant preaching of the Gospel of God concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I was separated unto
the Gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
time he had the opportunity to open his mouth, he declared the
Gospel of God, didn't he? He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He said, another
place we preach not ourselves, but the Lord Jesus Christ, and
ourselves your servant for His sake. Yes, He did speak against
the Son of Man, but He never spoke against God the Son when
He had a revelation of God the Holy Spirit in His heart. Those
who do so commit that unpardonable sin. Now, let me give you an
example. of those who committed the unpardonable
sin in these religious Pharisees who were left to themselves.
Now turn back to Matthew 12. There's an example of a sinner
who spoke against the Son of Man and was forgiven. And here
is an example of those who spoke against God the Holy Spirit who
were not forgiven. Matthew chapter 12, verse 22. Then was brought unto him one
possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him,
insomuch that the blind and dumb both saw and spake. Now how was
that done? It was done by the power of God,
was it not? And all the people were amazed
and said, Is not this the Son of David? Is not this the Messiah? Is not this the Christ of God?
But when the Pharisees heard it and saw this man healed, they
said, This fellow doth cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince
of devils. That's speaking and blaspheming
against the Holy Spirit. And Jesus knew their thoughts,
and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought
to desolation, and every city and house divided against itself
shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan,
he divided against himself, how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I, by Beelzebub, cast
out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they
shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the
Spirit of God, Then the kingdom of God is come to you. You cannot deny the kingdom of
God if I do this by the Spirit and power of God, or else how
can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his good, except
he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against
me. He that gathers not with me is scattered abroad. This
is when he says, Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be given unto men, but blaspheme against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven. This is exactly what those Pharisees
did. When God the Holy Spirit, through
the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, healed that man completely,
they said, this is of the devil. That's the unpardonable sin.
And whosoever speaks the 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 that world to come." What a horrible thing
that would be to have sin unpardoned. Hear the Lord Jesus Christ clearly
and powerfully reveals that he is God come into flesh, that
he is the promised Messiah, the Christ of God, the Messiah, the
one that all the prophets said should come. He completely heals
this man by his miraculous power, by the power of God. And some
people were amazed and said, this must be the Christ of God.
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This is the work
of a demon. This is the work of the devil.
Clearly, it was the work of God alone. They spoke against the
clear, revealed testimony of God. These Pharisees, these religious
leaders were not speaking against the Son of Man. Not now. They
were not speaking against the man Jesus of Nazareth. They were
rejecting and blaspheming a clear revelation by God the Holy Spirit
of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, calling him evil
and calling him a demon. That's the unpardonable sin. It's the Holy Spirit's chief
business, chief office, and tasked to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ,
to reveal Christ, that's why the Holy Spirit has come. You
read John chapter 16, when He the Spirit of truth has come,
He'll take the things of Christ and reveal them unto you. When you reject the clear revelation
of God the Holy Spirit concerning the person and work of Christ,
and reject that, and disdain that, and put it from you, There's
no hope of forgiveness of sin. When you call the salvation that's
of the Lord evil, there's no salvation for you. When you speak
evil against the revealed way of salvation in Christ, You have
no hope of forgiveness of sin, because there's only forgiveness
of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do so prove that they
are true reprobates, given up to their own wicked heart, own
wicked mind, given over to a reprobate mind, twice dead, plucked up
by the roots, and their conscience is seared with a hot iron. The Apostle Paul put it this
way in 1 Timothy 4. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the later times, some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of, notice, doctrines,
plural, of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience
seared with a hot iron. Now a believer, cannot commit
this unpardonable sin. He's kept by the power of God.
Now, let us always seek mercy where it's found. Let us always
seek to be justified upon the ground of the Lord's grace revealed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us always bow and submit
to the Lord in the way of salvation found only in Him. He hath the
Son hath life. Let us always speak of Christ
with our words, being seasoned of grace. And let us always think
highly of Him. Let us always say of Him that
His name is holy and reverent. Let us never even entertain any
thought of evil against Him. Now we have wicked thoughts in
and of ourselves, but not of Him. Let us always rejoice that
we have the forgiveness of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ now
and forever. Now, here's the second part of
this message found in Luke chapter 12 verse 11 and verse 12. And when they bring you into
the synagogues, when they bring you into the synagogues, what
are you to speak? What are you to speak? What are
you to say? By your words you'll be condemned or by your words
you'll be justified. And when they bring you unto
the synagogue, unto magistrates and powers, take ye no thought
how or what thing you shall answer or what you shall say. But the
Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, shall teach you in that same
hour what you shall say. The promise of God's grace unto
those who believe the gospel and those that confess Him by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. Now hold your place there in
Luke 12 and turn back to Matthew chapter 10 this time. This promise
was specifically given to the apostles when He called them
and sent them out to preach the gospel, but it also has application
to us as well. Matthew chapter 10, Luke verse
16, Matthew 10 verse 16, this is when the Lord called His 12
apostles and commissioned them, Behold, I send you forth as sheep,
Matthew 10, 16, in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise
as serpents, harmless as doves, beware of men, For they will
deliver you up to councils, and they will scourge you in their
synagogues, synagogues were assemblies of God. And you shall be brought
before governors and kings for my sake, for testimony against
them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up,
take no thought how or what you shall speak. For it shall be
given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not
you that speak, but the Spirit which speaks through you." Now
what a blessed, blessed promise of God. Now I'll give you an
example of that very thing that happened. If you'll turn back
to the book of Acts, or to the book of Acts, chapter 4. The
book of Acts chapter 4 this time. Peter and John. were going to
the temple one day, and there was a crippled man there who
was begging for bread, remember? Asking for a little bit of money.
Peter said, silver and gold have we none, but such as I have,
give I thee in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rise up and
walk. And that man took up his bed
and went leaping and jumping and praising God. You know what
happened? They got in trouble. You read
about it in Acts chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4, they were
brought before this council of the Sanhedrin. Verse 5, it came
to pass on the morrow that the rulers and elders and scribes
and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas John and Alexander,
as many as were the kindred of the high priest, were gathered
together at Jerusalem. Here's a kangaroo court. Kangaroo
court stacked against the apostles. How are they going to defend
themselves? And when they had set them in the midst, they asked,
by what power or by what means have you done this? So, there's
Peter on the spot. What's he going to say? God the
Holy Spirit gave him the message. Peter being filled with the Holy
Spirit, he said to them, you rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done
to this impotent man by what means he is made whole, be it
known unto you and all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, Even by Him doth this man stand here before you
complete, completely healed, completely forgiven. This is
that stone which was set up not of you builders, which is become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved." Well, what a strong message.
Notice the effect of this message. Read on to the next verse. Now
when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, now how were
they bold? God the Holy Spirit gave them
the words to speak and blessed it in unusual power. And perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men, they were ignorant fishermen. They
marveled and they took knowledge of them. Oh, they've been with
Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me give you another
example. That's Peter before the council. Let me give you
another example. Turn to Acts 26. Acts chapter 26. When Paul stood
before those, when he was arrested, you remember for preaching the
gospel? And when he was in Jerusalem making defense of the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he came before Felix, before
Festus, and before Agrippa, you can read about that in Acts 24,
25, and 26. But I want you to look at Acts
26, verse 19, Whereupon, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first
unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, throughout all the
coast of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent,
and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these
causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to
kill me. They went about to stone him.
Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue this day,
Witnessing both to small and great, saying none of the things
than those things which the prophets and Moses did say should come,
that Christ should suffer. Now notice Peter's message was
what? Nor the name under heaven, give him amen, whereby we must
be saved, Christ. That Christ should suffer, that
he should be first, that should rise from the dead, and should
show light unto the people, to the Gentiles. He's preaching
Christ, isn't he? God gave him the words to speak. God the Holy Spirit. And as he
thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul,
thou art beside thyself. Much learning has made you mad. You're crazy. Paul, you're crazy.
But he said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth
the words of truth with sincerity. Soberness before God. Now, there's
that promise fulfilled. Right? God said they're going
to arrest you. They're going to put you in prison.
You're going to be beaten for my name's sake. You're going
to be brought before the council, before these men, and your life
will be in their hands. And don't even think about what
to say. God's going to give you the words.
At the moment you need it, He's going to give you the message.
They had the message, didn't they? Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. But we too can take comfort in
these words. who send the trial of our faith
into our life will also provide the grace for the trial." These
men were tried, weren't they? God gave them grace for that
trial. The Lord who brings a trial into
our life, will also bring us through the trial, and that will
bring glory to His name, and eternal good toward us. Peter, when he talks about trials,
let's turn and read that one more time. 1 Peter chapter 1. The trial that the Lord sends
into our lives, The heartaches, the trouble He sends into our
lives, these are things that He says here, need to be. That's what you need. If you're
going through a trial, you need it. You need it. Look what it
says here, 1 Peter 1. I do too. 1 Peter 1, 6. Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you
are in heaviness through manifold temptation, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having
not seen, you love, in whom though now you see not, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul." The
trial that the Lord brings into our lives are for our good and
His glory. Let me give you these two scriptures
and I'll let you go. 2 Corinthians 4.17, "...for our
light affliction, which is but for a moment..." It's a light
affliction compared to what he suffered. It's a light affliction
that worketh just for a moment, that worketh for us a far more
and exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And then 2 Corinthians
12.9, he said, "...my grace..." You remember when Paul had that
thorn in the flesh and he asked the Lord to remove it? And the
Lord said, Well, I think you need it. You'd be lifted up in
the flesh if you didn't have this thorn in the flesh. And
the Lord said to him, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. For when I'm weak, that's when
I find strength in Christ." Well, I pray the Lord will bless His
Word, bless His truth to our hearts.