Are Deadlines Taught In the Bible?

The authors of these hymns and
poems are indicating that there may be a time in a person's experience,
in a person's life, when he so sins against the light that God
removes the light. Now, the scripture teaches that
in John 12, verse 35. Jesus said, Yet a little while
the light is with you. Walk while you have the light.
lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth." The authors of these poems are
indicating that there may be a time in a person's life when
he rejects the truth so often that truth is removed and he
believes a lie. Now the scripture indicates this
also in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 Verse 10 and 11, listen to
Paul. Because they receive not the
love of truth, now evidently they heard it and didn't receive
it, and heard it again and didn't receive it. They receive not
the love of the truth that they might deceive, God shall send
them strong delusions that they may believe a lie. Now the authors
of these hymns seem to indicate that there may be a time in a
person's life when he so sins against God's law, and so sins
against divine revelation, and that which he knows to be right,
that God will give him over to corruption, to those things which
are not convenient. Now, the Scripture teaches this.
In Romans 1 verse 28 it says, even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, or did not like to acknowledge
God, his law, his revelation, God gave them up. God gave them
over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient,
or to do evil things. So this poem makes a little more
sense, doesn't it? There is a time, I know not when,
a place I know not where. When a man may, I'm not saying
he does, I say he may cross a line, a deadline, people call it. Are deadlines taught in the Bible?
Well, it's quite evident from the scripture that a man will
refuse the light so much that that light will be removed. Our
Lord said that. Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness come upon you. And a man may sow sin against
the truth, having heard the truth, he that being often reproved,
and hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy. And a man may hear the truth
so much, and sin against that truth, that God will remove it
and replace it with a lie, and that man will believe the lie."
That's what Paul taught in 2 Thessalonians. And the book of Romans, chapter
1, the apostle gives us several examples, as I'll show you in
a little while, of people who so sinned against the law of
God and the revelation of God that they were given up. They
were given over, the scripture says, to a reprobate mind to
do those things which are not convenient. So it's quite evident
from the scriptures that there are deadlines taught in the Bible. And you and I would be wise to
consider the possibility of being ourselves often reproved and
hardening our necks and suddenly be destroyed. Now to be judicially
blinded is to be destroyed. It's the same thing as being
dead while you live. To be reprobated is to be destroyed. To be gospel hardened. Pharaoh
hardened his heart. The more God spoke to him, the
more Moses warned him, the harder his heart became. He hardened
his heart. The scripture says that over
and over and over again. And that's to be destroyed, having
a gospel-hardened heart. And to hide in a false refuge
is certainly to be destroyed. Now, over in the book of Hebrews,
chapter 12, this is what the apostle wrote about Esau. Now,
you listen to this. You know the story of how Esau
sold his birthright to his brother. And it says in Hebrews 12 verse
16, For one morsel of meat Esau sold his birthright. Afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,
and he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. Afterward, when he would have
inherited the blessing, He was rejected, and he found no place
of repentance, though he sought it with tears. Something happened
back then. And he was judicially cut off.
He was reprobated. The truth and the light and the
life of God was removed. And though he sought repentance
with tears, he could not find it. Now there are three areas
that I want to explore with you in the message today. And I think
this will be most interesting to all of you who are interested
in divine things, in spiritual matters, in the kingdom of God,
in your own souls. I'm interested in these three
things. Crossing the deadline. What are the deadlines taught
in the Bible? And I'm going to talk about three things. And
this is very important. Now first, the unpardonable sin.
And that's been butchered and butchered and misinterpreted
all over this land. We're going to talk about the
unpardonable sin. And then we're going to talk,
secondly, about sending away your day of grace. And the Bible
talks about that. And then we're going to talk,
thirdly, about the sin unto death. And when I get through, I believe
you'll be helped on these three very important issues and in
these three very important areas. And they are deadlines. It's
taught in the Now first of all, the unpardonable sin. In Matthew
chapter 12, verse 31, and I wish you'd take your Bibles and turn
to the twelfth chapter of Matthew, verse 31 and 32. Now let's read
what the Master says about this sin which is called by the popular
term, the unpardonable sin. Wherefore I say unto you, all
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. But the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Now whoso speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven
him. But whoso speaketh against the
Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor
in the world to come." Now the popular interpretation of that
is this. Say what you will about the Father. Say what you will about the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Say what you will about either
the Father or the Son, but be careful about what you say concerning
the Holy Spirit. Be careful that you say nothing
against the Holy Spirit. If you want to talk about the
Father in blasphemous terms, that's all right. This is what
the popular interpretation is. If you want to talk about the
Lord Jesus Christ, That's all right, too, but don't say anything
about the Holy Ghost. Now, let's clear some things
up. First of all, when our Lord spoke
these words in Matthew 12, this was about the middle of his ministry.
This was long before the cross. This was long before Pentecost.
When our Lord spoke these words to that group of people, the
Pharisees and the people, who in his presence among all these
people knew anything about the Holy Ghost as a person? distinct from the Father and
the Son. The Holy Ghost was not yet given. The Scripture plainly
says that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, for Jesus was
not yet glorified. And when he said, when he was
talking to these people and said, Say what you will about the Son
of Man, but whoso speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not
be forgiven him in this life, nor in the life to come. Who
among that crowd knew anything about the Holy Ghost? He was
not yet given, Christ was not yet glorified. And certain disciples,
after Christ was crucified and buried and rose again, and even
the apostles were preaching, long after the Lord had gone
back to glory, certain disciples in Ephesus said to Paul, now
listen, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy
Ghost. They didn't know anything about
the Holy Ghost. And it was long after this that our Lord said
to his disciples, if I go away, I will send the Holy Spirit to
you, and when he is come, he will convince the world of sinning
and of righteousness and of judgment. So when this was spoken, when
our Lord delivered this statement, say what you will about the Son
of Man, now watch that right there, that's what it says, the
Son of Man. But whoso speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall
not be forgiven him in this world, or in the world to come." Now,
when he said this, the Holy Ghost had not yet been given. These
people knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. It was long after
this that our Lord said to his disciples that, I will go away
and I will send the Holy Spirit to you, the Holy Ghost. So the
answer to the unpardonable sin which men can commit today, and
which they do commit and which these men were committing when
Christ said it. These religious Pharisees, they
were committing right then this sin. He was charging them with
this sin right here, this sin against the Holy Ghost, this
unpardonable sin. He was charging these men who
knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. He was charging them with committing
the unpardonable sin. So the unpardonable sin He is
not a contrast between blasphemy against one person in the Trinity,
as opposed to blasphemy against another person in the Trinity.
And I'll show you that. Now let's see what took place
here. Let's look together. Matthew chapter 12. What had
taken place? What was the background of this
statement? Now this will help you in your study of the Bible.
If you'll find out who said something, and when he said it, and why
he said it, and to whom he said it, it'll help you understand
it a great deal. So let's just don't reach and
pick out this verse and tack it on the wall and build a doctrine
on it. Let's find out to whom Christ spoke. Why he said this? What had taken place, do you
know? You who interpret the unpardonable sin, do you know what had just
taken place and why he said this? Well, let me remind you. First
of all, our Lord had healed a man who was possessed of an evil
spirit. a dumb spirit, a blind spirit. This man was both dumb and blind.
He had not spoken and he had not seen. And our Lord Jesus
Christ cast this demon out of this man, and he could see and
he could hear, and the people who observed it, the common people,
the ordinary people, I'm not talking about the religious leaders
and the preachers and the theologians and the Sadducees, I'm talking
about the ordinary people. When they saw it, they said,
this is the Messiah. This is the Son of David. This
is the Christ. That's what Nicodemus said something
to the same effect when he said, Why, we know you've come from
God. Why, no man could do these miracles except God be with him.
Our Lord did his miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was given unto him without measure. He was filled
with the Holy Spirit. He did what he did by the power
of the Spirit. And when these people saw this
miracle, So the blind see and the dumb speak, they said, now
this is the Messiah, this is the Son of David, this is the
one for whom we look. You know, when John was down
in prison, John the Baptist, and he sent word to Christ by
two of his disciples and asked this question, he said, are you
the Messiah, are you the Christ, are you the one for whom we look,
or do we look for another? What word did Christ send back
to him? in proof that he was the Messiah.
He told his disciples, he said, you go tell John that the blind
see, the lame walk, the dumb speak, and the dead are raised,
and be not offended in me. I am he. These works prove I
am he. And that's exactly what he was
doing. Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the carpenter's son, Jesus the
Jew, were standing here and healed a blind man, and the dumb spake,
and he cast out the demon, and these people recognized this
power from God, and they said, surely this is the Messiah. Then
somebody spoke. The religious leaders, the Pharisees,
said, he's not the Messiah. He's not the Messiah. He is an
imposter. He is a devil. He is casting
out demons by the power of the devil. And that's when Christ
said, when these men declared that what he was doing, he was
doing by the power of the devil, that's when he said, say what
you will about the Son of Man. Say what you will about Jesus
of Nazareth. Say what you will about Joseph's
son. Say what you will about Mary's
son. Say what you will about the brother
of Josie and Judy and these other people that were in the family.
And it will be forgiven you. And a lot of people did during
his earthly walk. Many people through ignorance
didn't believe on him. His brethren didn't believe on
him. His own family. They thought he was a mere man.
That's what they thought. They said so. They reproached
him for his heritage. They reproached him for his friendship
with sinners. They said, well, look at him.
He's the friend of sinners. Publicans and harlots are his
friends. They rebuked him for his lack
of education. They said, why, do you teach
us? And then they rebuked him for his treatment of the Sabbath
day. But many of these people later were brought to repentance
and faith. His own brethren were brought
to faith. Saul of Tarsus, who had nothing for Jesus of Nazareth.
He thought he was an imposter. In fact, he wanted to kill everybody
that professed his name. He thought he was an imposter,
but he was later brought to repentance and faith. But these men were
not finding fault with Jesus of Nazareth. They were not finding
fault with Joseph's son. These men were not speaking against
Jesus, the man. They had witnessed the clear
evidence that God was in him, and God was with him, and God
was upon him. And they attributed that which
they saw him do to the devil. God was in Christ by the Spirit
of God." Look at verse 28, "...by the Spirit of God he cast out
demons." By the Spirit of God. And these religious leaders,
through their pride and through their envy and through their
malice, refused to recognize Christ the Messiah when he clearly
revealed himself to them in the power of the Spirit, in the miracles
of the Spirit, in the mighty works of God. They refused to
believe. And that's when he said, when
you speak against God in the summer, revealing himself in
his great power, revealing himself in a way in which only God can
reveal himself. When you speak against the work
of God done in the strength and power of God's Spirit in the
person of the Messiah, it won't be forgiven you, not in this
life, nor in the life to come. William Kendall once said this,
the sin against the Holy Ghost is despising the gospel. The sin against the Holy Ghost
is despising the gospel of substitution, and where this abideth, there
is no remedy." What is the work of the Holy Spirit? To speak
of himself? Christ said this in John 16,
13 and 14. When the Holy Ghost is come,
he shall not speak of himself. When you hear preachers talk
about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Ghost, they don't have the Holy Ghost. because the Holy Spirit
didn't come to testify of himself. Christ said he shall speak not
of himself, but he shall take the things of mine and show them
to you. He shall glorify me. He'll not glorify himself or
his works or his power. He'll glorify me. That's the
mission of the Holy Spirit. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
And this is exactly what the Holy Spirit was doing right here
when this blind man saw, when the dumb man spoke, it was the
Holy Spirit saying, this is the Messiah. And these people said,
no, it's not. No, it's not. It's a demon. This
man is a devil. This man is casting out demons
by the power that fells above the devil. And that's when our
Lord said, now there are people who through ignorance have not
believed on me. There are people who heard my
name and never believed it. But you had a clear revelation
and a clear witness and a clear evidence that I am the Messiah,
that God is with me, and you speak against this testimony
and this gospel, it won't be forgiven you in this world nor
in the world to come. There's no other hope. There's
no other way of salvation but through Christ. That's the reason
it won't be forgiven. There's no hope. All right. sending away our day of grace.
Now, over in the book of Proverbs, chapter 1, verse 28, the Lord
says, Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer them. Then shall they seek me early,
but they shall not find me. Now, here are some people who
are calling on God, and God won't hear them. Here are some people
who are seeking the Lord. We go forth preaching, we say,
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But here are some people who are calling on the Lord, and
he says, I won't answer. And we say, seek the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
But here he says, there are some people seeking me, and they won't
find me. What has happened? Something's
happened. Well, let's see what's happened. Back in verse 24 of
Proverbs 1, God says, I have called. I have stretched forth
my hand." Now, every son of Adam enjoys a day of grace. There
are many ways in which God calls. There are many ways in which
God stretches forth his hands to every son of Adam. I'll give
you just a few of those ways. First of all, he calls in nature.
The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth
his handiwork. Romans 1.20 says, His power and
Godhead are seen in the things that are made, so that men are
without excuse. He calls men by conscience. Romans
2.14 says, The law of God is written on the heart, so men
are without excuse. There is a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. Go where ye will, and
men know right from wrong. Who taught it to them? God taught
it when he wrote the law on their hearts. God calls men by judgment. Read Amos 4. You see that sign
along the highway, Prepare to meet God? Did you ever read the
verses that precede that? preceding that, God says over
and over again, I have sent judgment upon you, and you didn't repent.
I've sent a famine, and you didn't repent. I've sent wars, and you
young men have been killed, but you didn't repent. Now prepare
to meet God. That's the way it's written.
God calls men through the preaching of the gospel. Our Lord sent
his disciples out, and he said, Go preach the gospel to every
creature. He that heareth you, heareth He that heareth not you,
heareth not me. He that despiseth you despiseth
me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me. I
have called, that's what God says, I have stretched forth
my hand. But now what's the next verse? But you have refused. No man regarded. You have said
it not my counsel. Men can and do refuse the call
of God. Men can and do refuse to bow
to the claims of Jesus Christ. They do refuse. They sin against
the light, they sin against the word, they sin against the call
of God, they sin against grace, and sometimes God is pleased
to close the door. I'll give you some examples.
Jot these down. You won't have time to look them
up. Jeremiah 7, 16. He said, Jeremiah, now listen,
do not pray for these people. Do not make intercession for
them. I will not hear. Leave him alone." Hosea 4.17,
he said, Ephraim has turned to his idols. Leave him alone. Our
Lord said in Matthew 15.4, the Pharisees are blind leaders of
the blind. Leave them alone. In Romans 1.24-28,
three times it is written, God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. In Romans 1,
24, it says of the idolaters, God gave them up. It says of
the homosexuals, God gave them up. Read it, Romans 1, 24 through
28. Of unbelievers, God gave them up. While you have the life,
walk in it. It may be removed. That's what
he's saying. And then you'll call, and I won't
answer. And then you'll seek me, and
you won't find me. All right, the third deadline
we're talking about now is the sin unto death. Listen to 1 John
5, 16, 17. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray
for it. Now, all our sins are deserving
of death, worthy of death. You know that. The wages of sin
is death, any sin. To offend in one part of the
law is to be guilty of the whole law. Sin, when it's finished,
bringeth forth death. That's what scripture says. But
thank God, Christ died for our sins. And there remaineth no
condemnation, no judgment, no death to them who are in Christ
Jesus. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from
all sin. There is no sin that his blood
cannot cover in the believer. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. But what is this sin unto death?
There is a sin unto death that not only deserves death, but
will result in death. And you know what it is? If you
read this chapter, 1 John 5, it is to deny or to depart from
Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as the Redeemer. and return to
the beggarly elements of the law and works." That's what he
says in Galatians 5, verse 4, "...Christ is become of no effect
to you who seek to be justified by the law, you are fallen from
grace." You've departed from grace, you've departed from the
way of life, Jesus Christ. He says in Hebrews 10, verse
38, "...if any man draw My soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them that draw back under perdition, but of
them who believe to the saving of the soul." God Almighty took
the fig leaf apron of works off of Adam and Eve, and he put an
animal skin covering, typifying Christ's righteousness. Now,
when you fall from grace and depart from Christ and deny the
way of salvation, you take the animal skin off and go back to
the fig leaf and return to work. And God says that's fatal. You've
departed from Christ, you've fallen from grace, you've turned
to the weak and beggarly elements, and Christ is become of no effect. Walk in the light while you have
the light, lest the darkness come upon you. Walk in the truth
while you have the truth, lest the truth be removed, and you
become a subject of delusion and lies. Submit to the Holy
Spirit of God and be led by the Holy Spirit of God, lest you
become judicially blinded. And look to Christ. Never depart
from Christ. Never let anything enter in that
would cause you to depart from Christ alone. Now, these messages
are on cassette tape. There are two messages on each
tape. The one I'm preaching today, the one I'll preach next Sunday.
Our deadlines taught in the Bible. Next Sunday, what is it to you?
These tapes cost three dollars. You'd like to have one right
to me. Until next week, at the same time, I bid you a very pleasant
good day.

Are Deadlines Taught In the Bible?

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Are Deadlines Taught In the Bible?

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