[0:00] Let's turn to the chapter that we read previously, Mark chapter 3, and I want us to look together at particularly verse 28 and 29 and 30, but I'll take up the reading at verse 22.
[0:23] And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, he is possessed, that is, Jesus is possessed by Beelzebub. That's another name for the devil. And by the prince of demons, he casts out the demons. And he called them to him and said to them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
[0:53] And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.
[1:06] Then indeed he may plunder his house. Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man. And whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they had said, he has an unclean spirit.
[1:36] Forgiveness stands at the heart of the Christian faith.
[1:54] A person who follows Jesus has come to know him and the cleansing, the complete forgiveness, which Jesus has brought to us in his death on the cross.
[2:13] And the Bible gives us some very strong statements about the completeness of God's forgiveness. For example, God says to his people, your sins and your iniquities, I will not remember anymore.
[2:31] It doesn't come stronger than that, does it? Or when he says through Isaiah to his people, though your sins were as scarlet, using colorful pictorial language, though your sins were as crimson or scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
[2:53] And even in this passage, difficult as this passage is, these verses are. And I want us to think this evening about the difficulty of what is known as the unpardonable sin.
[3:06] But even here, Jesus begins in verse 28 by making a very strong, reassuring statement about the completeness of forgiveness.
[3:20] He says, all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. All sins.
[3:31] Now, that doesn't leave any exceptions. All sins will be forgiven. And that means the most notorious sins. The ones that you and I perhaps would have difficulty in forgiving.
[3:45] Even the ones we find in the Bible. Like, for example, David and Bathsheba. When David cheated and when he persuaded Bathsheba to cheat on her husband.
[4:01] And when it looked as if he was going to be found out. He arranged for the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Who was forgiven him.
[4:13] That's the psalm that we sang in Psalm 51. Where David asks for God's forgiveness. And he speaks about the completeness of how God cleanses his guilt and his sin.
[4:26] The prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. Having taken all his father's money. Or at least that which was that he thought he was entitled to. And having gone away and blown the lot.
[4:39] When he came back again. The father received him as if he had never run away in the first place. And you have example after example.
[4:50] In the Old Testament and the New Testament. From Simon Peter to Vanassie. Robbers, slanderers, cheats, murderers. People have lived a life of darkness and shame.
[5:01] There in the Bible and ever since. Can tell you and have testified to the new life that God has given. In which God has raised them and cleansed them.
[5:13] And washed them from their sins. And yet there are one or two passages in the Bible. That appear to speak about a sin which will not be forgiven.
[5:28] That's why it's sometimes referred to as the unforgivable sin. Or the unpardonable sin. You'll find it here in verse 32.
[5:40] Rather verse 29. Where Jesus says whoever blasphemes. Blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. Never has forgiveness. But is guilty of an eternal sin.
[5:55] And then in Hebrews chapter 6. Something quite similar is said. Verses 4 to verse 6. For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened.
[6:10] Who have tasted the heavenly gift. And have shared in the Holy Spirit. And have tasted the goodness of the word of God. And the powers of the age to come. If they then fall away. Since they are crucifying once again the Son of God.
[6:21] To their own harm. And holding him up to contempt. To contempt. And there's another passage that appears to say something similar. There's another passage too.
[6:32] And that's in 1 John and chapter 5. And verse 16. Where John says. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin. Not leading to death.
[6:43] He shall ask and God will give him life. To those who commit sins. That do not lead to death. Then he says. There is a sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that.
[6:55] All wrongdoing is sin. But there is a sin that does not lead to death. Now this is a question that disturbs. Many people. And I guess.
[7:06] There are many of us tonight. And you've probably. Found it difficult to get your head round. This statement that Jesus make. And it disturbs us personally as well.
[7:18] Some people fear. That they may have committed this sin. The unpardonable sin. Or. They fear that they might one day.
[7:31] Commit the unpardonable sin. And people ask. How do you know? If you have. Committed it in the past. Maybe I might.
[7:42] Be here. And sometime. At some point. I might have done this. And there is no possibility. Of my forgiveness. And. I don't even know anything about it. I'm deluded. I'm. I think I'm all right.
[7:53] And. And when. Whereas all the time. I'm not. I'm under God's wrath. And judgment. There's not a single thing. Anybody can do about it. Some people fear that. And other people.
[8:05] Ask the question. Is it possible for. A Christian. To commit. This. Unpardonable sin. Could I commit it. Without knowing.
[8:16] Could I be actually doing it right now. And not know. What I'm doing. And then. We ask. The all important question. Which is this. What is it?
[8:28] What is it that makes this sin. So different. That makes it. Unforgivable. Is it just. Too big. Does it lie.
[8:39] Outside the ability. Of God. To forgive. Does there exist. One sin. For which Christ's death. Was insufficient. What about.
[8:49] How does that square up then. With first John chapter one. Where it says. The blood of Jesus Christ. Cleanses us. From all sin. Is there an exception.
[9:00] To this. That's the difficulties. Or these are. Some of the difficulties. That people have had. Over this passage. What are we to make. Of it. Well.
[9:11] Let's see what others. Have made. Of it. It's always. Interesting. And useful. To go. Into the books. And to see what other scholars. Have said. About this.
[9:22] Particular. Wrongdoing. If you go. All the way. Back to the fourth century. You get. Jerome. And Chrysostom. Who were. Fourth century. Theologians.
[9:33] Way back. In the early church. Who said. That you could. Only commit. This unpardonable. Sin. While. Jesus. Was. On.
[9:43] The earth. That's what they thought. That's where that was their view. I'm not quite sure. How they came. To that conclusion. But that was. Their view. That you could only commit it. And since Jesus. Has gone up to heaven.
[9:54] And he's at the father's right hand. It's impossible for anyone. To commit. This sin. Well. If that's the case. Then. This passage. Has nothing to say to us. Then. It's completely irrelevant. And I fear.
[10:06] It's not irrelevant. Because the whole bible. Is relevant. To every age. Some believe. That if you somehow. Mock. The holy spirit. Because Jesus.
[10:16] Talks about blasphemy. Against. The holy spirit. So if you. If you. Mock. In some way. The holy spirit. As an unbeliever. You commit. This sin.
[10:27] Others say. That it is. Unbelief. That continues. To the time. That you die. And there's a certain element. Of truth in that. The person who.
[10:39] Continues. In unbelief. All the way. Through his life. And dies. In that unbelief. The bible says. There is. No forgiveness. That person. Is condemned. John chapter 3.
[10:50] He who does not believe. Is condemned already. That's the warning. That the bible gives. To each one of us. Not that god. Takes delight. In condemning us. For not believing. But god warns us.
[11:01] And he says. That if we die. Unforgiven. Then. We die. Condemned. And then. Other people. Will say.
[11:12] That it is. A serious. Falling away. By a believer. When a believer. At some point. In his christian life. That it's possible. For that person. To actually. Become an unbeliever. Again. And once that has happened.
[11:24] Then. There is no hope. There is no way back. There is no. There is no forgiveness. No second chance. For that person. Because that person. Has been a follower. Of Jesus.
[11:34] And he is now not. He has chosen. Not to be a follower. Then there is no way back. Well. Let me say. For your encouragement. To anyone here. This evening. Who has backslidden.
[11:46] That that is not. What it means. And if you have backslidden. Tonight. You're conscious. Of not being in the place. Where you ought to be. In relation.
[11:56] To the lord. Lord. Then you come back. And don't delay. You know. That. The life that you are living. At the moment. Is only producing emptiness.
[12:08] And misery for you. And you would love to be back. In fellowship with the lord. Well. God's love for you. Has not changed. Neither has his willingness. To forgive.
[12:20] The blood of Jesus Christ. Cleanses us. From all sin. I say that. For your encouragement. And to encourage you. To come back. And so on.
[12:31] There are many views. That have been expressed. For this difficult. And this perplexing. Verse. John Calvin. Defined it in this way. And I'm going to.
[12:42] Pick him up. On this. Because I think that he has. Come closest. To. The right. Definition. What he said was this. That this sin. Is resistance.
[12:53] In one's heart. Against the truth of God. Even though one is touched. With the glory of that truth. And cannot plead ignorance.
[13:05] Therefore. It is this. It's bitter. And hardened resistance. Against the truth. Now we'll go into that. In a few moments time. In fact.
[13:15] In fact. Let's do that now. Let's do three things. Let's first of all. Eliminate. Once and for all. The idea. That the blood of Jesus.
[13:26] Can cleanse us. From everything. Except one sin. There is nothing. Outside. Of God's willingness. And ability. To forgive.
[13:37] The blood of Jesus. Can cleanse us. From all sin. Let's read the verse again. It's not that Jesus. Is saying that. A sin.
[13:48] Cannot. Be forgiven. He's not saying. That there is something. That is impossible. For God. To forgive. You and I both know. That that is not true. There is nothing impossible.
[13:59] With God. And there is no sin. That's outside his reach. None of us tonight. Are outside God's reach. And that should encourage. Each one of us.
[14:10] To come. To him. If you've never come before. Then come and. Ask the Lord. To forgive you. Even if you're conscious. Of some pretty bad stuff. In the past.
[14:21] Whatever that is. Whatever these shameful events. That have taken place. Perhaps. You've never ever. Faced up to them. Perhaps you know. That if you were to come to Christ.
[14:32] You were. You will have to. You would have to confess. What you've never confessed. To anyone before. Not even yourself. We have a. We have a. We're experts.
[14:43] At covering up. Aren't we? We're experts. Are trying to make. Do. What we've done wrong. The shameful stuff. That's gone on. In the past. And pretending.
[14:54] It didn't happen. You know. As well as I do. That God. Doesn't pretend. And he can't pretend. You know. That if you were to come. To Jesus. This evening. You're going to have to. Bring all that.
[15:05] To the surface. And you're going to have to. Confess it to him. He knows. In any case. What your life. Has been like. Like. But let me ask you a question. Is there any other way. Of being forgiven.
[15:17] And what good is it going to do. Just pretending. That things. Are different. From what they are. You can't pretend. It's useless. To pretend. The best thing.
[15:27] You can do tonight. Is to come to the person. To the one who knows. And who's able to forgive you. Through his blood. At Calvary. And who promises.
[15:39] To forgive you. You say. You have no idea. What I've done. No I don't. But the Lord does. And he is the one. Who's able to wash away.
[15:50] The darkest. Most shameful. Things. That you have ever done. Or thought. Or said. That nobody else knows about. Perhaps. The things that you could never. You thought that you could never.
[16:03] Confess. To. Anyone. So there's no sin. That is outside. Of Jesus. Of ability. And that's not what it says. It says. That whoever blasphemes.
[16:13] Against the Holy Spirit. Never has forgiveness. He doesn't say. Cannot have forgiveness. He says. Never has. Forgiveness. Because he's guilty. Of an eternal.
[16:24] Sin. But I should also remember. In the second place. That. Sin is not the. Things that we do. We also. We're so good. At reducing things. To. To.
[16:35] To the things. That we do. If I steal something. I sin. If I hit somebody. I sin. If I do something wrong. That's sin. In my life. If I.
[16:45] If I extort money. I sin. If I cheat. I sin. Sin. Sin is much more than that. According to the Bible. It's a disease. That every one of us.
[16:56] Is born with. It's a virus. If you like. A virus. Is something that. Reproduces. And it takes over. If it's not. Checked. It's. To the point where. It's out of our control.
[17:07] We think we can control. When we do right. And when we do wrong. And we think. That if we've done. Too much wrong stuff. Then all we have to do. Is to do enough right stuff. And that will. That will. Right the whole thing.
[17:18] The balance. You know. That that's not true. If you're honest with yourself. You know. That you do not control yourself.
[17:29] You've tried. Maybe. On many occasions. And you know. Besides. That whatever control. You might think you have.
[17:40] That God demands. Perfection. And there are. There are. Wrongdoings. And guilt. In your life. And in mine. That cannot be. Eliminated.
[17:51] Unless. We are. Totally. Forgiven. By God. Himself. The third thing. I want to do tonight. Is to look back. At the context.
[18:01] Of this passage. And that's really. Important. Because that way. We make sense. Of what Jesus says. Mark's gospel. It gives an account. Not only of what Jesus did.
[18:12] But it gives an account. Of the opposition. That he faced. Particularly. From the religious. Jewish leaders. At that time. And that conflict. Doesn't seem to have.
[18:24] Followed. Any logical path. In fact. It was absurd. Because chapter 2. And chapter 3. Are a series. Of events. In which Jesus. Proves time.
[18:36] And again. That he. Was God. And if he was God. Then that means. That the people. Who saw him. They were staring. God.
[18:46] In the face. And that's what. Really. Challenged them. And instead of. Facing up to that challenge. And bowing down. And worshiping God. They preferred. Of course. That's what John says.
[18:57] In John chapter 1. Light came into the world. But men loved darkness. Rather than light. That's why we don't believe. That's why you don't come to Jesus. That's why the whole world.
[19:09] Doesn't come to Jesus. Because he challenges. Our lifestyle. And calls us to faith. And worship. To submit and surrender. To his lordship. And we don't want that.
[19:20] We don't want anybody. To be lords. Over us. We want to be the masters. Of our own universe. And to make what we want. Out of life. And to do what we want. And God is a challenge to us.
[19:32] And it's what we find. In these chapters. Chapter 2. And chapter 3. For example. Going back to chapter 2. In verse 7. You don't need to read it with me. I'll just summarize it for you. He goes. There's all this crowd of people.
[19:43] In the room. And. The flat roof gets opened. And this man. Gets let down. A paralytic. He wasn't able to move. And he's let down. By his friends. Who have brought him to Jesus.
[19:55] They lower him. All the way down. In Jesus. To Jesus. And Jesus says to him. Your sins. Are forgiven. Now right away. The Jewish religious leaders.
[20:05] They say. This is not. Proper. This man has no authority. Who does he think he is. That he has the authority. To forgive sins. Only God. Has that authority.
[20:15] Now that was a perfectly. Reasonable question. Nobody has the authority. To forgive anyone's sins. Except God alone. That's why Jesus said it. Precisely to challenge them.
[20:26] As to their understanding of Jesus. And it ought to do the same for us tonight. Because it's just the same challenge for us. Who is this man. Who forgives. The sins of this man. And Jesus says.
[20:37] Okay. I'll answer your question. Here's my answer. That you must know. That you may know. This is my way of preaching to you. That I have come in here. I have come to this world.
[20:48] Because. I have the authority. And I'm going to show you. I'm going to demonstrate. Right here and now. I'm going to demonstrate that authority. So he said to the man. Rise.
[20:59] Take up your bed and walk. The man. All his life has been. Unable to move. He rises. And he gets up. In front of everyone. And.
[21:10] He walks. Now. Now. What do you think.
[21:20] They said to that. Most of the crowd who were there. They were. Awestruck. Never seen anything like this before. And they came to the conclusion that.
[21:33] This man. Is. Something different. We've never seen it. We want to know more about this man. Because he has a power. He has a peculiar power. That we've never come across before. And so they.
[21:44] They wondered. That's what you would expect. Isn't it? I hope that that's what we would have done. Because many as a person has started off.
[21:55] On the road to the Christian faith. By wondering. It's a good way to start off. But instead of wondering. The religious leaders.
[22:06] They plotted against him. They hated him. Now I'm asking a question.
[22:19] Is that logical? To hate someone. Because they have the power. To raise. A lame person. A person who is paralyzed.
[22:31] And to give them the power to walk again. Is that logical? To hate the person who's done that? And then as you move on. In verse 16. There's question.
[22:42] After question. After question. To which Jesus gives. A perfectly. Reasonable. Rational. Answer. Why does. Jesus.
[22:53] Eat with. Tax collectors. And sinners. They asked. Jesus answer was this. Because it's not the healthy. You need a doctor. But the sick. These people. They need the forgiveness.
[23:04] That God is willing to give them. And to be brought into my kingdom. And these are people who are empty. And they're dead. And they need to be. They need to be changed. Reasonable.
[23:15] Perfectly reasonable. But instead. The Jewish. Ruling. Leaders. They hated him all the more. And it didn't matter what they asked him. It didn't seem to matter how much power he.
[23:25] He showed. For example. In chapter 3. If you move on into chapter 3. Here's a man with a. Withered hand. And a withered hand. Was. Something.
[23:36] Very very debilitating. In those days. He wasn't able to work. Wasn't able to provide. For himself. And so Jesus. He. Said to him. Come here. And he said to them. Is it lawful.
[23:47] And the Sabbath. To do good. Or to do harm. To save life. Or to kill. And they looked. And he said. Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out. And his hand was. Restored. And then.
[23:58] It's quite absurd. Isn't it? It really is astonishing. Isn't it? Here's another one. Here's another. Inexplicable. Miracle. Done in an instant of time.
[24:09] The man stretches out his hand. And it is in front of everyone. It is. It is made whole. It's made. It's made. Well again. And very next moment.
[24:19] The Pharisees went out. And immediately. Held counsel. With the Herodians. Against him. How to destroy him. And so it goes on. Doesn't matter.
[24:31] How much Jesus is doing. Or how awesome it is. The Pharisees. And the scribes. And the religious leaders. They are utterly determined. The more they see. The more they hate.
[24:42] Now what's happening here? What's happening here? Is that Jesus. Is revealing himself. To those around him. Including.
[24:53] The Jewish religious leaders. And the revelation of God. Is the work of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit. That was. That was displaying.
[25:04] That's what the Holy Spirit. Always does. He opens. Our understanding. To who Jesus. Was. And why he came. Into the world.
[25:15] And next stage. Why we need him. And his forgiveness. And his death on the cross. And here was the Holy Spirit. He was. He was. Revealing Jesus.
[25:26] To the crowds. Around him. Who were. Awestruck. They were amazed. At what was happening. But the scribes. And the Pharisees. They hated him. And hated him. Despite. The clarity.
[25:38] And the obvious. Evidence. By which. The Holy Spirit. Was making clear. To those people. That this truly. Was. The son of God.
[25:49] It didn't seem to matter. How much evidence. There was. The more they saw. The more they hated. It was absurd. To the point.
[26:00] Where. What was really happening. Was. That these men. Were saying. God. Don't show me anymore. I don't. Want to know.
[26:10] Anymore. I don't care. How powerful it is. I don't care. How obvious it is. I don't care. How clear it is. I don't want. To know. Anymore.
[26:20] Because. The more I see. The more I hate. Now. Tell me. How logical. That is. It doesn't. Follow. Any logic. Whatsoever.
[26:30] The logical thing. Would have been. For the scribes. And the Pharisees. To fall down. At Jesus feet. And to worship him. Recognizing. Who he was. Because it was.
[26:41] So blatantly. Obvious. And it's just. As obvious. To us. Tonight. From the writings. Of the four gospels.
[26:52] Because here. You have. Eyewitness. Accounts. To the work. And to the ministry. Of this man. Jesus Christ. You see. It's all very well.
[27:03] Casting judgment. On the Pharisees. And the scribes. But. Where do we stand. Tonight. As we gaze. At the same.
[27:13] Wonderful. Miraculous. Power. Of God. In Jesus Christ. Have we come to know him? Have we. Recognized. Who he was? And have we come. To confess our sin.
[27:24] And put our trust. In him. Or. Like the Pharisees. And the scribes. Perhaps. The more. We see. The more. We hate. So that they came.
[27:35] To the conclusion. Listen to this. This was incredible. They reached. The most perverse. Unimaginable. Conclusion. And that was this. That it was through.
[27:46] Beelzebub. Through the devil. That Jesus. Was casting out. Demons. And they did that. Not because it was. A rational thing. To say. It was because.
[27:57] It was the only thing. That suited them. To say. Out of their hatred. And their bitter opposition. To God himself. And what God was doing. And that.
[28:10] Was their warning. That they were in danger. If they continued. To oppose. The revelation. That God was giving. To them. That they would die.
[28:22] In their sin. And that there would be. No forgiveness. Forgiveness. Because. The more time went on. The more bitter. They became. Unless there was a change. In which God.
[28:33] In which they would come. And they would worship God. And accept Jesus Christ. Then. They were lost. And they were committing. The sin. Sin for which.
[28:44] There was. No forgiveness. Why? Because it was impossible. For God to give. Forgiveness. No. But because they refused. To recognize. The obvious.
[28:57] And I want us. To think tonight. About the way. In which our world. Does exactly. The same thing. Particularly. At the time. In which we live.
[29:10] When the trendy thing. In our world. Is to. Not only. Ask. Whether there is a God. But to. Refuse. Blatantly.
[29:21] To believe. That there is a God. It's now. Fashionable. For us. To have. Absolutely.
[29:31] No time. For God. Whatsoever. And to. Ridicule. Those. Who. In their stupidity. We're told. Decide.
[29:41] To believe. That there is a God. Because. We're told. That the advances. Of science. Have. Obscured. They have. Shown us. That our forefathers.
[29:52] Were so foolish. Our forefathers. They needed. Some reason. To. To behave. In a right way. So they needed. To have God. At that time. In order to. Survive. But we don't need that anymore.
[30:04] Because we have science. And we know so much. About science. That. We've done away. With. The need to believe. In God. God. That's what we're told. And when we are.
[30:17] When we ask. The basic. Fundamental question. Well. If that's the case. Then. Then. Why does the universe exist? Not. How does it exist? But. Why does the universe exist?
[30:29] We're told. Don't ask that question. It's an absurd question. You shouldn't be asking it. Well. Excuse me. I'm very sorry. But. I have to ask that question.
[30:41] Why? Because. It is blatantly. Obvious to me. As a human being. That the world. And the universe. Exists. For. A reason. There is a rationality.
[30:53] About the universe. You see. Science. And again. I don't want to go into this. In too much detail. But again. I want us to. Because. You know. Of course. That the whole Dawkins thing.
[31:04] Is going to rise again. In the next two weeks. Or so. When he pays a visit. To Stornoway. And. Of course. We've been embroiled. In this before. And. The important thing here. Is to know. Why we believe.
[31:16] And to understand. That we believe. For good reasons. The Bible tells us. To know. Why we believe. And at the very least.
[31:28] People like Dawkins. Aggressive. The aggressive atheism. That there is. In our world today. It challenges us. Do we know. Why we believe. Well. I come to the Gospels. To this very chapter.
[31:40] And I say. Here is this man. Jesus. He's doing. What no one else. Has ever. Ever been able to do. Furthermore. He spent three years. Doing it. As the most extraordinary.
[31:50] Figure. In human history. He died on a cross. And rose again. On the third day. No science can do that. Not even in its most advanced form.
[32:02] And it means to me. The resurrection means to me. That here is this. Figure in human history. Who has defeated death. And that's who I want to believe.
[32:13] See. Science. Answers. Some of the questions. How. And there is no question.
[32:26] About the marvels. Of modern discovery. I was watching a program. Quite recently. Called. How small is the universe. You know how people used to ask.
[32:37] How big is the universe. The universe. And of course. Even then. We haven't really. Fathomed the depths. And the size of the universe. And people are talking about. The relationship. Between distance and time. And all the rest of it.
[32:48] It's quite beyond. Our understanding. Isn't it? But now people are asking. How small is the universe. What they mean by that. Is. That they're able now. To discern. What an atom contains.
[33:00] They're able now. To know. What an atom. Is made up of. Until very recently. This was impossible. Because we didn't have. The technology. Or the science. To do it. But now. They're discovering. That there's a whole universe.
[33:11] Contained. In. One atom. It's incredible. Amazing. I am so amazed. When I. When I watch.
[33:22] That kind of thing. And they. And what amazes me. Is the skill. And the knowledge. And the genius. Of humankind. To be able to ask. These questions. But they're asking. The how questions. It is perfectly.
[33:35] Legitimate. To ask. The how questions. That's what science. Is all about. I hope. We're even involved. In science. Asking. As many. How questions. As we possibly can. But that's.
[33:45] Only one side. Of the story. The other question. Which to me. Is fundamental. Is why. Laws. and when somebody asked richard dawkins that in inverness two years ago he said don't even ask the question now what a cop out that is that is just a that is him ducking out of the most important question you can ask because it is a denial of what is obvious but it's not just a denial it's a hatred against what is obvious and that's where the danger sets in because when god makes something plain to us and we refuse day after day the more we see the more we refuse to believe and we dig our heels in because of not because of our objective unbelief but because of our hatred against the being of god that's not rational and it's the unforgivable sin because if we continue in that bitter hatred then we die with no forgiveness and we make the most important discovery that anyone will ever make in this world that there is a god but by then it will be too late because we have left this world without his forgiveness so i know i've taken a little detour i hope i've i hope i made it somewhat relevant to our own day let's return to the question the last five minutes let's just return to the question have i committed the unpardonable sin perhaps you're asking well if you're a christian the answer is absolutely definitely no you have not committed the unforgivable sin anyone who follows jesus has experienced the cleansing and the washing that he alone can bring by faith in him we are trusting in his blood and his death on the cross if it concerns you tonight then you can be reasonably sure that you haven't haven't but please don't stop there please don't take that kind of neutral position where we're sort of spectating the gospel if this is the first time you've ever heard something like this first time you've ever opened your bible i would not expect you to believe in jesus right away without even knowing who jesus is but the chances are tonight that you've heard this message many many many times and you probably know as much if not more of the bible than i do and yet you're sitting on the fence you haven't made that commitment which you've surrendered to jesus because you think everything's going to be okay and this passage tells us not because it's possible for you to become hardened and bitter it's possible for you to develop a perverse hatred towards god in which you're driven in which you wander further and further and further away perhaps you're one of these people tonight and you believe the answer to sin is to making sure that the balance the scales and the balances are right and so that if you've done bad stuff in your life then all you need to do is to is to uh get the to achieve the equilibrium of the balance by making sure that you do good things people believe that you go out and you find that probably the majority in the population believe that they say well i know that i know that i've done bad things i know that i'm not perfect but
[37:48] as long as i do things you know it's strange isn't it how that theory has been blown out of the water in the last couple of weeks i don't hear anybody tonight saying excuse me remember all the good stuff that jimmy savile did surely that outweighs anything else i don't hear anybody saying that if they did they get lynched all of a sudden that theory is gone isn't it isn't that amazing because it's a myth good stuff doesn't outweigh bad the bible said that to us all along that what we need is a new beginning and only god can create within us a clean heart can bring us to the point where we start again a new creation that's what the bible calls a person who has come to faith in jesus christ a new creation in which our sin and our iniquity is taken away there's only one safe place and that is by surrendering completely to the lordship and the love of god in jesus christ let's pray our father in heaven we ask that you will bless your word to us now we thank you for it thank you for its perception for the way in which you challenge us where we need to be challenged in the depths of our heart where we have gone astray and where we are the bible calls dead and trespasses and sins but we thank you tonight that jesus can reverse that death and bring us to life again can bring new life out of old we ask lord that you will do that work in us tonight and bring to us that assurance that there is forgiveness if god should mark iniquity who would stand but yet there is forgiveness with you lord may we all know that forgiveness before it's too late in jesus name amen