[0:00] Please join me back in Luke chapter number 11. Some of you parents I know have done this. I must admit I've done this on more than one occasion. I've got home on Sunday night.
[0:12] I put everything in the place where it's supposed to go. I walk to see Stephanie in the kitchen, and she says, Where's Carter or Carson? Or where's Carson? Where's one of the kids, right?
[0:22] And I say, They were with you. And she said, No, they're not. All right. And so I run back here. And some of you relate, and some of you said, I can't imagine ever doing that.
[0:34] All right. Well, I can imagine doing that. I only live a few miles from the church here, and I have driven off and left my kids here before. And so if you could help me when I leave today, make sure that doesn't happen.
[0:47] But that feeling that I had when I thought everything was in place, minus the fact I left one of my kids at church, is the feeling that I have a lot of times when we go through a passage of Scripture, like last week, and I'll say, yeah, we talked about most of the verses in the passage, but I left that one kid behind.
[1:03] I left that one verse behind that is so important, and I wish I would have had more time for it. So as an addendum of last week, look at verse number 13. So we saw the anxiety of Martha, and she was overcome with this.
[1:17] And then out of coming out of that story, we saw what was the Lord's Prayer, and how the Lord's Prayer, if we were to not only say those things, but believe those things, how it would address the anxiety in our lives.
[1:29] And then Jesus gave a story about asking and receiving, and if a son was to ask something of his father, his dad wouldn't give him something that he didn't need. And then it ended in verse 13, it says, And it doesn't say just give good gifts, but it says, So not only would this verse deserve a whole Sunday, it would deserve a lifetime of understanding.
[1:59] In the passage that I've already read for the day, the Holy Spirit has a very central role in the story that you need to understand. Your relationship. Since the day is of Pentecost, now as believers, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, I received, I was indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation.
[2:17] So I don't pray for the Holy Spirit to come into my life, but I thank the God of heaven for the role of the Holy Spirit in leading me and guiding me, and having convicted me of sin to bring me to a saving knowledge of him.
[2:31] And so we'll look at that as we go through this passage. So Jesus did not come to collude with Satan, but came to confront and to destroy his works. That's what he was accused of. As I read through it, Jesus said, He healed a man, and they should celebrate.
[2:44] The song that we had today was celebrating the liberty that would come from the cross of Jesus Christ. Well, there's this man, he wasn't able to speak because he had an evil spirit, but then Jesus heals him.
[2:55] There ought to be a great cause of rejoicing. But that isn't what happens. They accused Jesus of working and being in association with Beelzebub of the devil.
[3:07] And so there's this accusation that comes. Beelzebub, we get that name from 1 Kings 1, chapter 1, verse 3. And he was the king, the God of Ekron.
[3:18] And it meant the God of high places, but through the years and where we get to the day, it would mean the Lord of the flies, the Lord of the filth, the Lord of something that would have been vile.
[3:30] It was a term that would be used to speak of the devil and Satan. So when Jesus brings this healing to this man, instead of wondering, seeing how wonderful and righteous and clean and perfect he is, they accused the lovely Lord Jesus of something very vile.
[3:47] Many years ago, I was in an outdoor drama that took place in Dawsonville, and I played the role of the Antichrist, the character that we know that after the rapture, during the time of tribulation, there'll be a human that is a puppet on a string, the devil, if you will.
[4:05] And so in a video, I was the Antichrist. And I don't know what about me made them think that it was the role that I wanted to play. That's why I grew the beard out, all right? I'll play Jesus from now on in that play.
[4:17] But a few times I would go through that play, and they would be watching the video, then they would turn and look at me, and they're like, you're that guy, you know? And brought more dimension to them. But that's what they were accusing Jesus of.
[4:30] They were saying that Jesus is an Antichrist. He is in association with the devil, that he is not of God, but he is of Satan. And can you imagine the accusation that's here?
[4:43] But this false teaching seems to be common. It appears it's not logical. For them to just say that on the spot, it isn't logical for them to see that. If a group of us came, and you saw Jesus bring healing to a man, the logical conclusion would not be, that man must be of Satan.
[5:00] But they have been taught that. And the separate stories, Matthew 9, 34, but the Pharisees said he cast out devils through the prince of the devils. Matthew 12, 24, but the Pharisees heard it, and they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.
[5:16] Matthew 11, 18, for John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, he hath a devil. And then now it's recorded, not just by the Pharisees, but just by the common people, all of us.
[5:27] In Luke 11, 15, it said, but some of them said, he cast us out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. And so maybe this passage is a parallel passage to one of those other ones that I mentioned.
[5:38] I don't believe that it is. But on separate occasions, people see Jesus, and they associate him and say, the power he has comes from Satan and from the devil.
[5:50] And it's illogical, but it's the only other option. No man could do this of himself. They knew that no man had this power.
[6:00] It had to come from someplace supernatural above just being a human. And so they're whispering about it. Luke 11, 17, but he knoweth their thoughts and said unto them.
[6:14] Not only did he do the miracle, but he knows their thoughts. They're not, he's not just hearing. It doesn't say that he just heard what they said, but he knew their thoughts, and he addresses that to them.
[6:26] That ought to have been something, right? Not only just seeing the miracle of Jesus, but the fact that he knew their thoughts. And then he says something that all of us and all of them should have been able to say amen. I agree.
[6:36] In verse 18, if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? But because you say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub, is that how would the house stand if it's fighting against itself?
[6:48] And they should have been all like, amen, that makes sense. Of course, a house can't be divided against itself. Tonight, when you're watching, some of you will watch the Super Bowl and there's the Bengals and then the team that they're beating.
[6:59] I don't even know who the other team is. I should have asked before. There's two teams playing tonight and the house shouldn't be divided. You know, you got to pick a team to go for and you can't be picking both teams. You know, you can't go back and forth.
[7:11] You got to pick a team, you know? And it was saying here, how would Satan, why would he cast out demons? Why would he put a demon in a person and then have Jesus come along and cast them out if they were all on the same team?
[7:24] It's just illogical. Not only is it illogical, but it lacks integrity. And that's what Jesus addresses in verse number 19. And if Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?
[7:36] Therefore shall they be your judges. As parents, we've all done this and we've all seen other parents do this, right? Somebody, some kid does something and it's horrible, but when our kids do it, then it's okay, right?
[7:48] And that's what's happening here. They're saying, you say that this is so bad when Jesus did it, but what about your sons that are going around? And not only did there, was the sons of them doing this, but they were far less effective.
[8:02] That when they would cast them out, they would call them in to try to cast out demons and they just were not effective at it. But Jesus here is instantly effective. And so if their sons are doing it by God, and now why would they say that Jesus is doing it by Satan?
[8:19] Satan would allow false teachers to succeed to further the deception. Let me tell you a story in Acts 19 that will help. It's also, I find, very humorous.
[8:30] Acts 19, 11 through 13. And God wrote special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto him the sick. Unto the sick, handkerchiefs of aprons, and the disease departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
[8:48] Then certain of the vagabond of Jews, and that's the group that is being spoken about in this story, same group of people going around, casting out demons and trying to do that.
[8:59] Exorcists took upon them the call over to them which had evil spirits to name the Lord Jesus Christ, saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
[9:10] And then what happens is that the spirit says, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but I don't know who you are. All right? And so when they came over, they had absolutely no power to cast out the spirits.
[9:25] But what they came is they wanted that power that was available that Jesus had given to the apostles because they wanted it for their own selfishness to act upon.
[9:37] And the best they could do, the best that any of them could have done, is seen in verse number 26 of this passage. Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell therein.
[9:51] And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So there is a man who has an evil spirit like in the story here and that if they were to remove the evil spirit but the Holy Spirit, the understanding of Jesus was not placed there, then that empty, clean room, as you would see in an apartment being made clean, seven more would come in and that person would be far worse.
[10:17] And that's all that was available. That's all the world can do. That's all morality can do. All you can do in cleaning up your life is you can clean up something for a moment but in that clean space, all you're doing is inviting something else.
[10:30] So all you can overcome when sinful vice set in your life, the way you would do it is maybe buy another sinful vice. The way you might overcome drugs is by chasing something else. There's this, something has to always replace it in our lives but it's the love of Christ that should come in that would fill the room that should be there and that's what we have as believers and that's why we would, God would give the Holy Spirit it says in verse number 13.
[10:55] So not only is it illogical, it's irrational, it lacks integrity and I'm speaking of the argument that Jesus is not God but he comes of Satan but it's more than that.
[11:07] It's blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Verse 20, But if I with a finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you.
[11:19] And he just says, You and I both know that if you recognize that I am God, then you recognize that the kingdom has come and it's going to radically transform everything.
[11:30] So I understand why you can't accept that I am deity, that I am God because if you admit that, then you're admitting that the kingdom of God had come.
[11:41] So Jesus is pleading with them to recognize it but they couldn't recognize that it was the kingdom of God who stood right there in front of them. So there's some background on this expression, the finger of God.
[11:53] That was used in Exodus chapter number 8. So there's the magicians and there is Moses and they're going back and forth. And so he lays down the stick and they said, All right, you turn that stick into a snake.
[12:07] We can take that and we can lay down this and we can do the same thing. But when they made something that was not alive, alive and the miracle of the lice, they said, We can't do this. This is the hand of God.
[12:21] And so it says in the New Testament that they had a form of godliness and the power thereof is that they were not acting on behalf of God. They were acting upon the work of Satan.
[12:34] And so here they have a decision. There's a real crossroads which is logical and which is rational and which is true is that there's no middle ground. He is either of God or he's of Satan but this man cannot be anywhere in the middle.
[12:51] And so he gives a simple story to illustrate their ignorance. Verse 21, When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divided his spoils.
[13:11] Jesus came and cast out that spirit. Jesus, he comes. And so he's getting them to a point where they have to make a decision is where is the power in which Jesus is acting upon?
[13:22] Is it of God or is it of Satan? And there's no middle ground there. But they blaspheme him and they don't say this is the failure of God. They show their unwillingness.
[13:33] That's why atheism, an unbelief in God, is said to be a matter of the heart. The man has said in his, what the fool has said in his heart that there is no God.
[13:43] It's a matter of the will. It's a matter of the heart. And so here's a question that we'd ask is, is this possible, this blaspheming of the Holy Spirit?
[13:54] Is this something that some would believe the most narrow view, this is, only could be committed by that generation in that moment. Could they do that? Others would say blasphemy could be done by individuals who reject the ministry of the Holy Spirit drawing them to Christ.
[14:08] I believe we'll see that in scripture. That's a more broader view. And then others would say blasphemy against the Spirit could be any time you spoke against a minister who was ministering in the Spirit more broader. And then the broadest would be blasphemy could be committed with your lips.
[14:22] But a real question that everyone else will ask is, is this something possible for us that they're blaspheming against the Holy Spirit? Is that something that can happen today? And exactly what is it?
[14:33] So we need a biblical understanding. John 7, 19 and 20, it says, Did not Moses give you the law and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast the devil who goeth about to kill thee.
[14:49] These people continue to say that Jesus is controlled by Satan. And so in this sense, these people are believers and they're unbelievers.
[15:01] Meaning that they believe that there is something going on that is supernatural. But they also, they call him a Samaritan. They say that he's born of fornication.
[15:12] They say all these negative things about Jesus. And so they say on the negative side, he's not God. He's born, he's a Samaritan. He's born of fornication. And he's, he is of the devil. But on the other side, they recognize that there's something supernatural about him that can't be denied.
[15:29] But they choose to say that he is of the spirit of the devil. Despite all the evidence that was there. Despite everything that should have been there. They should have been rejoicing in verse number 14 when this man was healed, but they weren't.
[15:43] But within context, we will see that this blasphemy can be one of our speech. Matthew 12, 32. And notice all the references to speaking words in verse 32 through 37.
[15:59] But whosoever, and whosoever speaketh a 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 the world to come.
[16:12] Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruits. His fruits. O generation of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things?
[16:24] For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the treasure of the hearts bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment.
[16:41] For by the words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt be condemned. These people are speaking in this manner. They said he is the son of Beelzebub.
[16:52] He has a devil. He is coming from Satan is what they're saying. How could people speak like that? How could people say that? In verse 33 said, either a man is make the tree good or his fruit good, or the tree is corrupt and the fruit corrupt.
[17:08] For the tree is known by its fruits. They were revealing what was in their hearts and that it was utterly corrupt. The sin of speech because it revealed their heart.
[17:19] Speech is important because it's primarily the way we reveal what is in our hearts. And so this blasphemy, as you're listening, and you've got to wonder, you ought to pay close attention if you believe that this is the words of God.
[17:33] If you would say, I want to make sure I'm not missing this, I tell you that blasphemy is not the slip of a tongue. It is a calculated speech from the heart that is so perverse that it chooses to justify its own refusal to submit to God.
[17:50] It's a heart that calls the power of evil when the heart is evil. That's blasphemy against the Holy Spirit when they would say, Jesus gave them all this evidence before them and they said, this is not of God.
[18:04] And so why is this such a serious sin? It's a justification of personal evil by calling the Holy Spirit evil when we see God's willingness to forgive in the Bible, right?
[18:15] We see Him forgive so many things. There's people that wrote big portions of this Bible that one persecuted the church. He killed believing people. One of them had an affair and he killed people and killed a man to cover it up and he wrote many of the Psalms that we have.
[18:33] So many stories and we get through the Bible and we see God graces this and willingness to forgive but then we get to this one and say this sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. What makes this such an awful sin?
[18:46] Is it that the Holy Spirit is more important than the Father and Son? Certainly not. Is it the Holy Spirit is more sensitive? It's this. Is that if you reject the conviction and the light of the Holy Spirit, you're rejecting the only means of coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
[19:05] And so it's very serious. And so you put yourself in that story with such a strong claim, Jesus is of Satan but isn't it necessary to say that Jesus is of Satan if you don't say that He is Lord?
[19:20] Isn't that the only place that you could be? How could there ever be any middle ground? I recently read somebody put it on social media said they enjoy as an atheist saying this they said I enjoy watching Star Trek because it gives me hope that in the future there will be no religion.
[19:38] They thought they were witty and cute to say that I like this idea of a future world where there's no religion. And so there's two extremes there, right? There's this one that says okay there should be no religion at all there should be no thoughts of the afterlife there's this this is all there is we live, we die, that's it don't think about religion but then there's another one that is not on the other side but it's right beside it which is this all religions are equal that they're all just equally valid or invalid it has the same results either no religion so Jesus is not Lord there's or all religions are equal and Jesus is not Lord they aren't on opposite sides of the spectrum they're right beside each other years ago in India I went to a Baha'i temple it's called the Lotus Temple like the lotus flower it's a beautiful structure and we went there filmed the time lapse and when I went in there and they gave permission and they said in here you have worshippers for Islam Christianity from
[20:40] I named all the major religions of the world and when I went in I was very curious what to see and it was a very empty room for the most part there's no drawings on the wall nothing descriptive but it was a huge circle and it made of all the chairs you know how in a Baptist church everybody wants to sit in the back it wasn't possible it was a big circle okay so everybody was on the back row it's a very our new auditorium ought to just be all back rows alright and we'll fill them up and so you got the big circle that's there and in the middle there was nothing there was no pulpit there was no place to teach from you know when you hear today and I'm glad there's my Bible and there's the pulpit because this is a more adequate example of what's supposed to happen we came and we give our attention to what's center of this room which is the word of God it has authority it's Greg met Greg and I went on a trip this weekend he went to a coffee shop it's what he does every couple hours wherever he's at in the world and while he was there an old preacher came up to him and gave him some advice and when he left he tapped on the Bible and he said young man this is the only authority that you have this is all you have this is the only thing that will change anybody's life this is the only thing that you have that will make any difference but in that room there was no point of authority there was nobody could teach it was let's all get together and let's worship the fact that there is no truth and that emptiness is represented that there's obviously a God of heaven
[22:08] Romans 1 tells us by creation there's a God we don't deny that I mean you fight against that in your life but that he left us where he did not make himself known that we live in a world created by a God who did not make himself known to us what a miserable existence we would all have if there's no authority if we'd all sit in a circle and say all of our opinions are equally valid but there's no point of authority I'm so thankful that's not where we're at so you're either in Christ or you're out of Christ it's really that simple verse 23 he that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth and so if I was to draw a circle here that said in Christ then I am now in Christ which is the word Christian is it twice or one time that we're called Christian in the New Testament and it's a good thing to be called if you're going to be a little Christ and follow after him but some 400 times when it references us it says that we are in Christ so I am either in Christ or I am not in Christ but there is no middle place here and that's what Jesus was teaching them that day is that you have to say that I am of Satan or that I am of God but there is no middle ground you're either gathering with him or you're going to be scattered one of the kids in my home this week was painting and their color they had some water there and it was a light bloom and they took kept adding colors to it and as they added colors to it it didn't make it more vibrant but it made it more gray right as they kept doing that they just kept adding it made it more murky
[23:50] Larry King when I interviewed with John MacArthur he said all the world is gray that is not the case the Bible is very definitive on what is true and there is a real contrast between Christianity and all the religions of the world and so moving forward here I want to answer this question could this sin against the Holy Spirit be committed today and by you yes because those who hear his messengers could commit it Luke chapter 12 verse 10 one chapter over and whosoever shall speak a word against the son of man it shall be forgiven him but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven today in this moment the Holy Spirit is active in this world convicting the world of sin verse 13 the Father is willing to give you the Holy Spirit but you can say no to him you can reject him the Holy Spirit is active
[24:52] Hebrews 10 26 for if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins this is not a deliberate stealing a loaf of bread but the willful sin about to be described verse 27 but a certain fearful look for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment suppose ye shall you be thought worthy who have trodden under foot the Son of God and have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he has sanctified and holy thing and has done this bit he has insulted unto the Spirit of grace those of you who have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ when the Holy Spirit comes and convicts you of sin you say no to him you are saying no to being ever found in Christ and you cannot stay in a middle ground to say no to him is to say that he comes from Satan to say no to him to say he is not the Lord do we have as much of a witness of the truth today in this room with a person who is reading the Bible to you as they would have had in the Old Testament or in the New Testament and I would say yes
[26:17] I would say the Bible says far more you have a New Testament that presents to you that Jesus that he did what no man could have done today we should either be burning this book that I have in my hand we should burn it as the greatest collection of lies that ever existed the most damaging book of all kind that has made billions of people delusional throughout all of history that has caused all of us to live based upon a lie and we should absolutely burn this today or we should have a burning desire inside of us to make sure the whole world knows it but there can be no middle opinion on that so don't recoil today from the conviction that the Spirit has brought into your life Jesus Christ is far greater than any prophet or king that has come some of the crowd asked for more evidence 16 and others tempting him sought of him a sign from heaven Jesus had provided ample proof to anyone who was willing to believe but they were being willfully blinded in Luke 12 in verse number 56 he says you hypocrites you can discern the face of the sky and of the earth but how is it that you can't discern the times it's like you can look and say well there's clouds coming in and it's obviously going to rain but you have way more evidence that Jesus is the son of God than you would ever have about the weather and how could you be a hypocrite and say that the signs are not sufficient and so people were willing to recognize that Jesus was special but they wouldn't see that he had demands that he deserved and he had worship he should receive that's verse 27
[27:56] I love God's word and it's always in logical fashion sometimes I don't recognize it as much as I do here but every portion there becomes an argument it gets answered in the next portion verse 27 and it came to pass as he spake these things a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him blessed is the womb that bear thee in the patch which have sucked which is to say your mother is one blessed woman Jesus you're so special your mother is so special that you the healer was born of her and Jesus said these warm feelings that you have towards me or to recognize that my mother is special or to say that I'm a good man and I'm a good teacher that is not what you're to do but yea he said yea rather blessed are ye that hear the word of God and keep it to put your faith in him to come in Christ don't just say yeah you're a special person and your mom is blessed so there in the thick of all this people he addresses their thick hearts verse 29 and when the people were gathered thick together he began to say this is an evil generation they seek a sign and there should no sign be given unto it but the sign of Jonas the prophet for as Jonas was assigned unto the Ninevites so shall also the son of man be to this generation there's one story
[29:20] I'll give you the second one here in a moment so the example Jonas Jonam was swallowed by a well was in there for three days the well spits up Jonam he hits the ground walking towards the city they know the story of a man who was who was came back who was dead and been brought back to them some say that he had probably been even bleached white I've never spent any time inside of a well but I don't imagine it's good for your complexion alright and so there's things about him that give evidence of it maybe there's people on the shore that day but there's a testimony and he comes in preaching in the Nineveh and people say this sign from God and they are repenting and he is going to give them the sign of Jonas because Jesus will resurrect and there will be no greater proof those of you who say that you want a sign there's no greater proof they're going to need that he is going to die and three days again he is going to rise again and then after he does that some people are still going to be willfully ignorant and two thousand years later people will say like this lady well blessed be his mother and he's such a good teacher and he's such a good man and he's a good teacher and I have respect for him but he says obey his word he says there's no middle ground you have to make a decision about is he the Christ is he the Messiah is he the son of God so there's the story of Jonas and the second one is the queen of the south the queen of Sheba and she comes to Solomon's temple we mentioned this a couple weeks ago she sees a table filled with meat and she sees the wisdom of God she sees all the servants in order they are happy and when they look at this she sees the wisdom and he says that you all of us in here have had a greater testimony of the wisdom of God
[31:08] Ephesians says by the work of the church that you can see the manifold wisdom of God so the queen of Sheba in that moment and the people of Nineveh that day they do not have a greater witness than every one of you in this room that Jesus Christ is God and so we have a greater story here and so it says the stronger man let me tell you about the stronger man 1 John 3 8 says this is what Jesus came to this earth to do if he was to have a business card and he had to put his mission statement on it this could be in the verse 1 John 3 8 he that committed sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil no he did not collude with Satan he came to destroy the works of Satan so how could you ever call him anything but Lord and then in a parallel story in Mark 3 27 it says no man can enter to a strong man's house and spoil his goods except he first buying the strong man and then he would spoil his house so what are we talking about this story is about a man being bound up in his house and then somebody stronger comes in what is it that Jesus is unbounding what is it that Jesus is stronger than verse 28 verily I say unto you all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme
[32:36] Jesus the stronger man he can forgive sins he is able to forgive sins and that's what would happen when he would do a miracle and he would say rise up and walk your sins are forgiven and they would say how can you say your sins be forgiven he would say well how can I say stand up and walk how do I do any of the things that I do he is the son of God and so he was able to forgive sins and to bring healing and so today there is no middle road as it's been said before he's either lord liar or lunatic but he cannot find he does not fit in the lotus temple he does not fit with any of the other religions of the world you either are among the group that says I'm in Christ I received the Holy Spirit I am born again and that is who you are and you're in him in Christ as I said 400 times were described that way or you're outside and you may say well I'm close to that opinion the Bible says you can't be close to that opinion you either recognize him as the son of God or you're having to acknowledge that the power in which he has is of something other than
[33:44] God and that it would be of Satan and that is a blasphemous place and no person can stand there and there's a day that's coming where there will be a division between those that are in Christ and those that are outside of him and the fact that there's no middle road will be very clear let me end with just a short and a very simple story in comparison of what we've talked about it was on near the middle school where my son goes to school this week and goes to school and he was walking across the sidewalk and he didn't come parallel with me and then walk across you know the five or six feet which would have been appreciated but he saw my truck and he began running down the middle of the road as he was headed towards me and so I see him running down the road at me and I'm looking in the rear view mirror and I see a truck coming over the hill and I just yell out the thatcher get out of the middle of the road you can't stay there with everything that I can say today based upon God's word could I plead with you do not stand in the middle of the road there is no place and all of eternity there is no place for you for those of you that were friendly in the
[34:59] Jesus and those of you who didn't verbally blaspheme against him there's no other place for you there's either a place prepared for the devil and all those that will reject the son where you'll spend all eternity or there's a place for us that are in Christ and I would beg with you today that there is more evidence that you've been given than those that saw Solomon's temple than those of them that were in Nineveh that day the fact that I could tell you that Jesus Christ died for your sins and that he rose again and that it changed all of history and it's changed my eternity and it's such a simple understanding that those who are not willfully ignorant of it at a very young age can put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and I would beg for you to do that today do not stay in the middle of the road and the believers in here do not believe that anybody in your life is living in the middle of the road don't be comfortable with the fact that they say blessed be the mother of Jesus or blessed be I like he's a good teacher blessed be anything let them know they can't live there in the middle of the road so it is our desire that everyone would leave here today knowing that they are in
[36:16] Christ that would be my prayer and here in a moment when I pray I'm going to pray that I'm going to pray that everyone in here today would leave in Christ as we take the time to pray and I go out into the foyer and then they close on a word of song I'm going to be out there praying that if you're in here today and you do not know that you're in Christ you would allow me the opportunity to take God's word and to show you how you can be in Christ that is my prayer every believer in here you pray the same thing however I am faithful to my assignment if I tell you the day that you would know that is not the case if you do not do not accept Christ that you would just simply understand that there is no middle road position for you to be in the day I would love for all of you to be in Christ but if that is not going to be the case would you recognize God's word that where you're staying at is not a middle position that you have not been indifferent but you have rejected him and that Holy Spirit is the greater preacher he is the one convicting the heart he is the one that says hey that kid up there who has that open book he doesn't have any authority but the word of God that he's speaking from is doing something in my heart and I either have to say yes to it or I have to say no and reject but I have a decision that must be made today this is not anything that piece of
[37:54] I am sorry I have to hear about that. ich