The Sin That Can’t Be Forgiven
– Mark 3:22-30
1. It seems the young are forever doing foolish things.
2. The group I hung out with was no exception – we did some crazy
things.
3. One of them was to listen to music really, really loud.
a. we loved concerts at the Forum, at the
b. a solid wall of
c. no matter how loud it was, we told them to turn
it up!
d. we blasted the stereos in our cars and rooms until
our parents told us to turn it down,
e. then we’d slip on the headphones and crank it
to 10.
4. No wonder our parents thought we were ignoring them; we’d gone
nearly deaf and couldn’t hear them when they were talking to us.
5. Later we learned what all of that loudness had done to our ears.
a. it had damaged the hearing mechanism.
b. the tiny hairs that pick up sound in the cochlea
in the inner ear had been sheared off and worn down – especially those hairs
that sense higher frequencies.
c. it was this damage that caused a continual
ringing & buzzing in our ears for hours after the concert was
over,
d. and why we had to keep turning the hi tone
knob higher and higher on our stereos.
6. Repeated abuse of our hearing led to the loss of its ability
to function.
1. Just as constant abuse of your ears leads to a loss of hearing,
the continual abuse of truth will lead to a far more dangerous loss.
2. We see that in our text today.
1. Let’s set the scene. Jesus
has been working His way through the cities, towns, and villages of
2. His power to heal and authority in teaching have been reported far
and wide.
3. Vs. 7-8 tell us people were coming from many miles away to see
& hear Him.
4. The religious authorities in
a. they had reason to be concerned –
b. in the years before Jesus came there’d been
several false teachers & prophets who’d managed to raise a loyal following.
c. then they’d gone off and tried to defeat the
Romans.
d. the Romans had always responded with yet
another harsh crack-down on all the Jews.
e. they would also depose the current Jewish
rulers, saying if they couldn’t keep the peace, they’d find men who could.
5. So as the Jewish authorities of
6. They tried to squelch His popularity by asking Him some tough
questions and challenging His practices.
a. but every attempt they made, backfired badly.
b. they came off looking like fools before the
common people,
c. and this only served to elevate Jesus in the
public’s eyes.
7. So in desperation, the religious leaders of Galilee sent a call
for help to their headquarters in
a. that’s where the heavy-weights of Jewish
thought and teaching were.
b.
22 And the scribes who came down from
1. As you look at a map,
2. While we think of travel in terms of map & compass directions,
the ancients thought of it in terms of elevation.
a.
b. but even more importantly than
c.
3. As these scribes left their lofty perch of importance & privilege
in
a. oh yes, that’s the way they saw the
Galileans, as country bumpkins.
b. though Galilee was a gorgeous and lush area,
the people who lived there were thought by the urbane and sophisticated people
of
c. they even had a funny accent.
d. remember at the high priest’s house when
Peter was charged with being one of Jesus’ disciples, they said his speech
gave him away.
e. these scribes
from
f. this upstart rabbi would be no match for
their towering intellects and learning.
4. So they arrived and witnessed Jesus’ power to heal and cast out
demons from the possessed.
5. The miracles were so obvious, there was no denying them
– but they weren’t about to accept what the miracles gave evidence to – that
Jesus was the Messiah.
6. Though that was the obvious & logical conclusion, it was not
something they would admit.
7. And since they’re the experts and have to render some explanation
– they latch on to this – “Uh, Jesus is Himself possessed.
a. “Yeah, that’s it. He’s possessed by a really powerful demon and
is using that power to conquer lesser demons.”
b. they even had a name for the demon that was
controlling Jesus – “Beelzebub.”
c. just as we know the name of some of the
angels; Michael & Gabriel for instance – so they thought they had
discovered the names of some of the chief demons who assisted Satan. This was one of them.
8. Among the Jews, exorcism was something they practiced and saw a
measure of success in.
a. Jewish exorcists would spend hours in
elaborate rituals seeking to do one thing – discover the demon’s name.
b. they thought knowing its name was the key for
casting it out, because then you could apply the authority of God to it specifically.
c. so they would try to trick the demon into
giving up its name.
9. Jesus’ method with the demon possessed was totally different – He
didn’t need the demon’s name; He simply said, “Come out!” and the demon
fled! This amazed the people for they
had never seen or heard of such authority and power before.
10. These scribes try to dispense with Jesus by saying that His power
comes from the demonic realm – in fact, they’re so confident in their diagnosis
of Jesus, they say they know the demon’s name.
11.Now, if that were the
case, then why didn’t they help Jesus out and deliver Him? After all, they have the demon’s name.
a. all that’s left is to follow through and cast
it out. But they don’t. Why?
b. well, it’s because of one of two reasons
1)
either they were wrong! -or-
2)
Jesus is actually doing good by the power of a demon so it’s best to just let Him
carry on ???
12. They can’t admit they’re wrong, so it must be they think Jesus is
doing good – and doing it by the power of a demon.
13. Jesus shows them the utter idiocy of this reasoning
. . .
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them
in parables: “How can Satan
cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that
kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself,
that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself,
and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
1. Jesus shows the scribes there’s no logic in their position.
2. The devil is not at war with himself – he’s at war with God.
a. the battlefield is earth, and the prize is
mankind.
b. the devil hates man because he bears the
image of God –
c. so he attacks humanity and seeks to deface it
with evil, to mar it with sorrow and suffering.
d. sin, sickness, disease, possession,
obsession, compulsion, illness; all these are the result of the long-laid
diabolical plans of Satan.
e. where ever Jesus went, these things were undone;
1)
sickness was healed, disease was removed --
2)
obsessions & compulsions were broken --
3)
sin was forgiven, freedom from bondage was secured.
f. if Jesus was doing all of this through
demonic power then it would mean a civil war had begun in Satan’s realm
– and that’s ridiculous.
3. So, these lofty intellectuals from
4. Truly – if they were as wise as they fancied themselves to be,
they would have accepted that Jesus was Who He was – the Son of God & their
Messiah.
5. After showing them the total illogic of their conclusions about
Him, He makes clear to them what authority He IS operating in . . .
27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and
plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will
plunder his house.
1. If a thief wants to rob a house while the owner is there, the
first thing he has to do is restrain the owner. If he doesn’t, the owner will stop him.
2. Jesus came to Earth to reclaim mankind’s lost dominion.
a. dominion of Earth had been given to Adam and
then forfeited to Satan in the Fall.
b. Jesus came to free humanity and restore what
had been lost.
3. The scribes believed that when the Messiah came He would remove
the curse and break the devil’s grip on Earth.
4. This is exactly what Jesus was doing – He’d entered the devil’s
domain and was breaking his power over the lives of men, women, & children
– over all who came to Him.
5. This was something the scribes said they believed the Messiah
would do when He came – but now as they see Jesus doing it they chalk
it up to the power of a demon, which is a totally ridiculous thing to say – and
they knew it!!!
6. Jesus knew they knew it and that’s why He goes on to say –
28 “Assuredly, I say to you,
1. We need to stop right there – that word “assuredly” is the Greek
word, “amen” ah-mane
a. when used at the end of a saying or
prayer, it meant, “May it be fulfilled.”
1)
it was the custom in the synagogue when a passage was read or a prayer said,
2)
for the congregation to voice their agreement and participation with the
word “Amen – Yes, may it be so.”
b. when was used at the beginning of a saying, it
was a way for the speaker to arrest the attention of His audience and let them
know an important truth was about to be spoken.
2. When Jesus says to the scribes, “Assuredly,
I say to you,” He’s telling them He’s about to say something they need
to pay the most earnest attention to because it’s something so true and
important, their fate hinges on it.
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will
be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;
3. Again, let’s stop right there and make sure we’re tracking with
Jesus.
4. There isn’t a single sin that cannot be forgiven; NOT ONE!
5. Even the sin of blasphemy can be forgiven.
a. blasphemy means to speak ill of God. It’s speech which defames the glory of the
Lord.
b. the scribes considered blasphemy the worst of
all sins but Jesus said even it can be forgiven.
6. No matter what a man or woman has done, God’s grace finds in
Christ’s blood more than sufficient atonement.
7. After making it clear that no sin goes beyond God’s
forgiveness, Jesus then says -
29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean
spirit.”
8. While all sin can be forgiven by God, there is a condition to that
forgiveness – the one needing forgiveness must not blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
9. Just what does this mean? In light of the seriousness of what
Jesus says here, we’d better make sure we have a firm grasp on just what this
unforgivable sin is.
1. In John 16:8-11 Jesus said this to the disciples . . .
8 When [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will
convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of
sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because
I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged.
2. The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to bring people to Christ.
a. He does this through conviction, by gently
speaking to them of their need of forgiveness.
b. He shows them the error of their sin &
causes them to feel the weight of guilt for it.
c. then He prompts them to see in Jesus the remedy
for that guilt and the sin that causes it.
d. He presses upon them in the gentlest way that
they need to repent and turn to the Lord, and to do it now!
e. conviction brings a holy sense of urgency to
get right with God by putting one’s faith in Jesus.
3. In the process of conviction, the Holy Spirit brings much evidence
to bear in seeking to convince a person to turn to Christ.
4. That’s why Jesus went on in the next verses to say . . .
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth,
has come, He will guide you into all truth.
5. The Spirit’s main tool in bringing people to Christ is TRUTH.
6. But what happens (?) when a person is confronted with
the truth time and again, and again, and again, and refuses to respond?
7. What happens (?) when the Spirit convicts a
person of their need for Christ and that person resists?
8. They end up doing what the scribes did when challenged with the Person
and power of Jesus – they look at the evidence and see where it leads, but
reject it and instead grasp hold of foolish reasons and explanations for their
rejection of Christ.
9. The sin that can’t be forgiven is to attribute the work of the Holy
Spirit to evil.
a. it’s to say that the truth the Spirit is
bringing to bear is false.
b. it’s to turn the loving, compassionate work
of God wooing one’s soul into a malicious attack.
10. Think of it this way – What’s the basis of all forgiveness? To believe in Jesus – that His death pays for
our sins.
11. If faith in Jesus is the key that unlocks forgiveness, what’s the
one thing God CANNOT forgive? A lack of faith in Jesus!
12. Who is the only One who can bring us to faith
in Christ? The Holy Spirit.
a. without conviction, no one would ever see
their need or be compelled to come to Christ.
b. so the sin that can never be forgiven is to resist
the conviction the Holy Spirit is working in us; to judge & condemn it as
wrong, evil, to be avoided.
13. That’s exactly what the scribes were doing.
a. note once again that they couldn’t refute or
deny the evidence of Jesus’ power – there was no doubt at all Jesus was
performing miracles.
b. His authoritative teaching, endorsed by His
power to work miracles led to one inescapable conclusion – He was the Messiah
and they owed Him worship!
c. but that was something they simply would
not do because it would mean changing the way they were living, and
they just wouldn’t go there!
14. Look at v. 30 – “... because they said, ‘He
has an unclean spirit.’”
a. it ought to be translated this way “…because they kept
saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”
b. Jesus warned them about the danger they were
in because the scribes had camped on this excuse for their
unbelief.
c. He didn’t issue this warning to them the first
time they suggested He was operating in the power of the demonic.
d. no, this had become their settled
conclusion, not to be edited or changed.
e. they had dismissed Jesus, wrapped Him up
neatly in their absurd explanations.
15. Like the host of Who Wants To
Be A Millionaire, Jesus said to them, “Is that your final answer? Because if it is, then know this – there’s no
going back. Your fate is sealed – and you will perish in your sins.”
1. To be human means to have the power to chose.
2. This is God’s great gift to man – volition!
3. It’s something the devil would love to take from us & tries
to steal by bringing us in bondage to sin.
4. God works to empower our ability to chose.
5. This is why the Holy Spirit convicts us.
a. really, He opens our eyes to the glorious option
of a whole
new life.
b. at the same time the Spirit speaks to us
about the wonderful privilege and offer of choosing Jesus,
c. the devil tells us we don’t really have a
choice;
1)
we’re stuck where we are.
2)
being a Christian means giving up so much.
d. to that the Holy Spirit says, “Yes, you can
give up your guilt. You can give up
the pain and sorrow your sins cause you and those around you.”
e. the devil gets desperate, “If you become a
Christian and start going to church you’ll have to buy a big black Bible and
carry it around with your wherever you go and people will call you a FREAK!”
f. the Spirit says, “You’re going to love My
people and My word and if you carry a Bible around with you it’ll be because
you want to.
g. the devil says, “You’ll be giving up all your
fun!”
h. the Spirit says, “Fun? Yeah hell is going to
be a pile of laughs! No, you’re giving up hell and gaining
heaven in which is eternal pleasure & joy forevermore.”
1. Because God is a God of infinite love, I believe every person in
this room today will experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit drawing us to
Jesus.
2. Most of us have already responded to that conviction and have
placed our faith in Christ. But others
of us haven’t.
3. You’ve known the conviction of the Holy Spirit, showing you your
need of Christ, but you’ve resisted.
4. Resist no longer – let this be the day you exercise your power to
chose and respond to God’s offering of forgiveness.
5. If you find yourself more prone to resisting than responding, let
me follow in Jesus’ example and warn you about the consequences.
6. In Genesis 6:3 God says, “My Spirit will not always strive with
man.”
There is a time we know not when, a line
we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men between
sorrow and despair.
There is a line, though by man unseen
that once it has been crossed
Even God in Himself and all His love has
sworn that all is lost.
8. Every time you hear of the offer of God’s forgiveness and reject
it, every time you resist the truth the Holy Spirit shows you – you diminish
your capacity to distinguish truth and know what your ought to do.
9. It’s like the famous composer who’d heard the A note so many times
as the orchestra tuned up he simply lost the capacity to hear it any longer.
10. Your rejection of truth, your resistance to the Holy Spirit, will
result in your inability to discern the truth and to come to Jesus.
11. If you invite me to your house again and again, and each time I
refuse and start calling you names and mocking you, eventually you’ll stop
inviting me.
12. At that point, I can’t come to your house because you’ve withdrawn
the invitation.
13. God invites you to His House. Jesus has paved the way there and the
Holy Spirit brings the invitation.
14. Will you receive it – NOW?