The Unpardonable Sin
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· 225 viewsJesus said that there is room for forgiveness for "whatever impious slanders they utter Mk 3:28," But one crossed the point of no return when they malign the Character of God by slandering His Holy Spirit.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION
Let us begin today with an acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I sat down and tried to list my understanding of the Holy Spirit. I asked myself, what do I understand about what the Bible teaches about the Him? Here is what I wrote:
I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that he exists in conjunction with the Father and the Son, and that together they form the Triune Godhead or Trinity. I believe that the Holy Spirit is God and that he is neither superior nor inferior to the Father or the Son in any way, but that he is distinct in his personhood and work (2 Cor 13:14). I believe that the Holy Spirit is a personal being and should never be referred to as an object or thing; we should always refer to him as a person (John 14:15). I believe that he an intelligent being of the same spiritual substance as the Father and the Son and possessing the same divine attributes: He is Eternal (Heb. 9:14), Omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), Omniscient (1Cor. 2:10-11), and Omnipotent (Luke 1:35).
I believe that the Holy Spirit was involved in the creation of the universe and the world (Gen.1:3), he is said to be Creator, working with the Word to bring forth the creation (Ps. 33:6), and specifically in the creation of man as the breath of God (Gen. 2:7). He was not only involved in the making of creation, but he is the Governor of creator, and is still actively involved in the maintenance of the world (Ps. 104:29-30). This suggests that he is governor of providence, and that all history is under his governance; I believe that he takes the good and bad and mixes them together to make things work out according to the will of the Father (Rom. 8:28) I believe that he is using this truth as a source of peace for the people of God even in our current condition with Covid-19 (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7). I believe that the Holy Spirit provides revelation to the children of God; He takes the things of Christ and reveals to us (John 15:13-15).
I believe that the Holy Spirit is the constant companion and close friend of the believer; he promises always to bestow his provision, protection, and perpetual presence upon them (John 14:18). I believe that it is he who works on the hearts of unbelievers by convicting them of sin and unrighteousness and urging them to repent and be saved (Heb. 3:7). I believe that the Holy Spirit is the heart and the help of the Christian Church and that all its power for ministry hangs and hinges upon him (Acts 1:8). It is the Holy Spirit who supplies the spiritual gifts needed for the church to fulfill its purpose of maintaining the unity of the Spirit, equipping the saints for the work of ministry, and the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:1-13). I believe that the Holy Spirit is deserving as an object of worship because without him our understanding about God is incomplete. We should always be mindful as we worship to remember to “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Spirit).”
With this information in hand, we can see the importance of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Tony Evans says
DEEP sea divers enter the water with tanks on their backs. These tanks contain oxygen. The purpose of these tanks strapped to their backs is so that they can make it in a foreign world. Water is not their natural habitat; it’s not the normal place for them to live, so in order for them to survive in this foreign world of water, they need to be connected to a life source from their real world. In order for them to make it in that world, they need air from this world. In other words, if they get disconnected from the air from this world, they won’t last long in that world. Their connectedness is the key to their survival because they weren’t meant to live in water. So they borrow from this world in order to live in that world.
That life source in the life of a Christian is the Holy Spirit. God has given the Christian a life source because this world to the Christian is foreign territory. In order to live here and make it, you need to be connected to a life source from your real world. If you get disconnected from the life source from your real world, you won’t make it in this world as a Christ follower. You’ll be gagging for air that this world doesn’t offer because it’s foreign territory. This life source comes through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 151–152.
Transition Statement
This message today is for the sinner and the saint. We need to be aware of who it is at work in the world and in our lives and give the proper attribution to Him. What did I say? In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we find Jesus making a disturbing statement. It was in response to a degrading, insulting, and slanderous pronouncement made by the teachers of the Law, the Scribes. Let’s open up Mark to come in on the scene.
SCRIPTURE READING
SCRIPTURE READING
Read Mark 3:20-30
And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.
When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
“If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!
“But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
“Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter;
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
CONTEXT OF THE TEXT
CONTEXT OF THE TEXT
Jesus is home, in Capernaum, and by now the news of his presence has spread. As the result, he is flooded with folk who are in need of his manifold mercies. In the crowd was a man possessed with a demon according to Matthew 9:32-34
Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.
All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?
“If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
CENTRAL IDEA
CENTRAL IDEA
What Jesus has done to the demon possessed man was a good thing that emanated from a pure place, the Spirit of God. Not only do the Pharisees not acknowledge the presence of God in the miracle, but they attribute the work of God to Satan. All in an effort to try and gain honor for themselves by shaming Jesus at the same time. Jesus handles this situation in a delicate manner and informs these opponents that they are standing of shaky ground because God has a no tolerance policy on blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
We can Grieve the Holy Spirit
We can Grieve the Holy Spirit
See Eph 4:30
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
We can Quench the Holy Spirit
We can Quench the Holy Spirit
Read 1 Thes 5:19
Do not quench the Spirit;
POINT THREE
POINT THREE
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION