 Matthew 12, what we're going to be looking at this morning is actually a very, very serious portion of Scripture. It is dealing with a sin that many of you have heard about. It is called the unforgivable or the unpardonable sin. It is referring to what has been called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And so as we go through our study here in the Gospel of Matthew, we've arrived at a portion of Scripture in chapter 12 where the Lord Jesus Christ begins to speak concerning this particular sin. So let's begin at verse 22 here in Matthew chapter 12, and I'll read up to verse 32. We're looking at the unpardonable sin, beginning at verse 22. Then one was brought to him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute, and he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, could this be the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or else, how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods 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 abroad. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Well, let me begin by saying something that's quite obvious is Valentine's Day. And Valentine's Day has come to be associated with love, especially romantic love. Now, a lot of us have more than likely experienced Valentine's Day for years. I mean, when you're in elementary school, they would have times when you'd actually bring Valentine's for the kids and all, and they were the Be My Valentine kind of thing. And you would give Valentine cards out. But a lot of us really don't know the, you know, the basic history of the day and why it's being observed even to this day. And I wanted to kind of share with you a little bit about that as a contrast. And so even as we're looking today at this passage about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, what we're looking at is a rejection of love. And Valentine's Day in the United States to this day, and I actually applaud the fact that we want to remember what, remember things about love, even though I believe very strongly that what Valentine's Day has become for many today is not necessarily a celebration of love so much as a celebration of lust, but that's something different. But in the origin, you may or may not know how it has traditionally evolved and how it came about. I was doing a little bit of a search on this and looking at it just to get some basic things and discover that Valentine's Day obviously is clouded by legend and myth, but it has ingredients that many agree upon. There was a Roman emperor named Claudius II, and he ruled from 268 to 270 AD, and he decided that single men made better soldiers than those who had wives and families. And because of this, he outlawed marriage for young men. So during that time, it was not uncommon for men to have more than one wife, and it would seem that some had become attracted to the Christian faith, but they wanted to continue practicing polygamy. The church taught that marriage was sacred and was to be experienced between one man and one woman for one lifetime and that the marriage arrangement was sacred. So that presented a problem to the church of what to do about the emperor's decree and the church's teaching concerning marriage. Well, there was a priest at that time by the name of Valentineus, and he realized the injustice of the decree, so he defied Claudius, and he secretly continued to perform marriages for young men and women. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death, and he was killed around 270 AD. His death provided the foundation for what eventually became a celebration of the value of romantic love. Valentine's Day was first associated with romantic love around 1,000 AD, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for one another by giving flowers, offering candy, and sending greeting cards which were known as Valentine's. So Valentine's Day still lifts up the idea of love, but it does emphasize the romantic aspect of it. And again, love should be celebrated. It's something we all need. It's something we should learn to give. In this passage, though, we have an opportunity of seeing love and the depth of love that God has for us, but we also see within this passage that love should be celebrated, but there are consequences when love is rejected. And what we're looking at is what has been called the unpardonable sin, the unforgivable sin. It is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. And we will see that as we get to verses 31 and 32. So allow me to lay a foundation, and then we're going to move to the conclusion and actually conclude by looking at this sin called the unpardonable sin. We're going to begin by saying some very basic things. I'm going to give to you what I call Bible 101, some very, very basic things to lay a foundation so that we can look at this particular passage more clearly. We need to remember that the Bible teaches that man, humankind, by nature, is sinful and that we sin because it is natural for us to do so. We sin because we are sinners. We don't become sinners when we sin. No, we just do what is natural for us to do. And by nature, we are sinners. There are various words that are translated by the single English word sin. The common word that is used is a word that means to miss the mark. And when it speaks concerning, you all have sinned. It's simply a saying that mankind has missed the mark. It's like if I were an archer and I was aiming at a target and I missed the bull's eye. That's what we all do. Not a single one of us, the Bible teaches very clearly, hits the bull's eye every day, every moment of the day, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And we do that because it's our nature to do that. We miss the mark of perfection. And we're guilty. We're guilty of sin. We're guilty of sin in thought, in word, and in action. In Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse 20, it says there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. So the Bible condemns all under sin. Romans five, verse 12 says, as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, in this way death came to all men because all sinned. What that means is we have the Adamic nature. Adam is called theologically the federal head of mankind. And so because he had children with Eve, his sin nature, which has fallen, has been given to us. So every one of us has been born with a sin nature. Again, this is Bible 101. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible also teaches that with sin comes the repercussion, comes death. Ezekiel 18, verse 20 says, the soul that sins, it shall die. And with death comes judgment. It is appointed and amended. I once and after this, the judgment, the Bible teaches nothing related to reincarnation other than there is no such thing. The Bible says that you live one time and it's that one life that you have that matters. You're not going to get a second, third or fourth chance. You die. And if you die in sin, you enter into eternity in sin. You die in the grace of God and you enter into eternity in God's grace. But there's no second chances. There's no reincarnation. There's no opportunity to work off bad karma. None of that exists in scripture. And with death will come judgment. Ecclesiastes 12, 14 says, God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. So even the things that we think we're hiding, God sees very clearly. And so on the one hand, you have man clearly portrayed as sinful and ultimately dying and entering into judgment. But on the other hand, throughout the Bible, God is revealed by nature as being forgiving. Psalm 86 verse five says for you, oh Lord, you are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. In Psalm 103 verse three, the psalmist said, God forgives all your iniquities. In first John 119, John said, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God forgives. God by nature forgives and God forgives all sins. So God is open to forgive no matter how terrible the sin is. And there are some horrible sins or some terrible sins that all of us would agree those are horrible and terrible sins. But as terrible as some sins are, there is no sin that is worse than the killing of God's son. And yet Jesus prayed for those who put him to death in Luke 23 verse 34. He records that he prayed, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. So the Bible teaches God is forgiving and is able to forgive no matter how terrible the sin is. He also forgives no matter how long a person is sinned. I mean, it's wonderful if you got saved when you were a little boy, little girl. But I remember giving an invitation in this church where a man who was around 80 years old came up and gave his heart to Christ no matter how long you sin, even a lifetime of sin, God is willing and able to forgive. There was a man on the cross next to Jesus a thief. And at the very last moment of his life, he asked Christ for forgiveness. And Jesus said today you shall be with me in paradise. And God will forgive no matter what kind of sin we commit. God is able and willing to forgive. In verse 31 it said, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. God will forgive any sin, no matter what kind of sin it is. I had a friend of mine, his name was Rick. His name is Rick. And I had been saved for a very short time. I was 23 years old. And there was a knock on the door. I was living at my parents' home. I had just gotten out of the military. And I was living at my parents' house and I'd started a Bible study. And I answered the door. And there standing in front of me is a friend of mine I went to high school with. Actually, I'd known him since we were in elementary school. His name was Rick. And as I looked at him, he was a little inebriated. And he said, I didn't know if you were going to be here or not. I just got out. He was in the military also. I just got out. And I thought I'd come in and check you out. See how you're doing. So I welcomed him into my parents' home. My parents were not there at the time. And we sat at the kitchen table and began to kind of speak and all. And I'd known him, like I said, since we were kids. And now we're in our early twenties. And he's a little inebriated. And he says to me, why don't you walk with me? I want to go to the liquor store. And a five minute walk from my house, just at the corner, was a store that he wanted me to go with him too. And I began to think and I thought, well, you know, Rick, you're drunk, man. I mean, you've been drinking and I've been saved in just a couple of years. And my testimony, I want people in this neighborhood, because they knew me. My neighbors knew me and they knew what kind of person I was. And I don't want to soil my reputation. I, you know, if they see me watering with you and you're kind of staggering, they're going to think that I'm getting drunk too. And it's and I'm thinking within myself and it all just is going so quickly. And the Spirit of the Lord speaks to my heart and says, you need to go with them. And I remember saying, but I don't want to be identified with this. And he said, I'm identified with you. And I said, okay, I'll go. True story. I'm identified with you. Go. So I went with him. And yes, he went into the store and he bought himself a bottle of wine, but he was one of these real sneaky guys. He hid it in a brown bag so nobody would know what was in that bag. He likes to drink his soda that way and all. But he finished the bottle before we even got to my house. I mean, he just downed it. It was gone. And then he threw the bottle in the field. There was a field right across the street from where I lived at that time. Then he comes to my house and he sits down and he's across from me at the table and we're continuing to talk. And I finally begin to share a little more about the gospel. And I say to him, Rick, you need the Lord. You need Jesus, man. You need Jesus. And he says, why would I need Jesus? I say, you need Jesus because you're a sinner. You need Jesus because you're lost. I gave my heart to Christ and I told him how I had gotten saved more clearly, gave more testimony. He and I knew each other. Like I said, I mean, we got loaded together. We got drunk together, got in trouble together. I mean, we were friends for a long time and we were real mischief makers there where we lived and my friends, all of us were. And that was just the way it was. And Rick was part of the gang. Some of you guys will understand when I say this. Rick was one of the guys, though, that was kind of like the fringe guy. He was the guy that was the low man on the totem pole. So when kids are 12, 13, 14 years old and they're hanging around and mom's not home and just the boys are in the front room. He was the one where we would yell dog pile and we'd jump on Rick and we'd lovingly punch him. That was the guy. You know, he couldn't take care of himself. You know, we're like, you know, piranhas. You know, young kids can be that way and that's how we were. And that's a lot of the boys where we just like to fight and mess with each other. And Rick was the guy who always got piled on. Always. And so as we're there talking and I'm sharing with them about the Lord, he says to me, does God forgive every sin? And I said, yes. Yes, Rick. He forgives every sin. So he says, even the sin of murder? And I said, well, of course, I said, Jesus said that even if I were to hate somebody in my heart without a just cause, I've he said, no, I'm not talking about theory. I'm talking about fact. I'm saying, does God forgive murder? And I looked at him and I sobered up. I'm the one who sobered up for a moment. And I said, what do you mean, Rick? He says, Dave, I killed a man. And as I'm looking at him, I'm thinking, no, no, you're the guy we used to pile on. You're the guy who didn't have that in you. You didn't have that in you. I said, you killed a man. Turns out he was in the military stationed in Korea. He was a courier. He would carry documents that were secret. They assigned him a 45 that he strapped on his hip. And he carried the docks in his briefcase. He was on a platform in a train station. And as he was there holding on to these documents, somebody came and took the police, ripped it off, and started running down the platform. Rick pulled out his 45 and leveled and said, halt. And the guy wouldn't stop. He said, I said, halt. He wouldn't stop. He said, Dave, I leveled on him and I shot him and I killed him dead on a platform in a Korean train station. I want to ask you again, does God forgive every sin? And as I looked at him, you never know what somebody's done. You never know what they've gone through. You never know what their history, their story is. You don't know. None of us do. God does. God knows your heart. God knows what you've done. God knows everything. I didn't know that. If you'd have asked me a thousand times, is this a man who could kill somebody a thousand times? I just said, no, of course not. This is Rick. He said, I killed a man. Will God forgive me? And I said, Rick, God will forgive every sin. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yes, God will forgive your sin. In 1st John chapter 1 verse 7, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin. I said, Rick, you need to get right with God, man. You need your conscience to be cleansed by the blood of Christ. You need to release this pain to Jesus. And though he was a bit inebriated as we're speaking, he bowed his head there at my parents' table and I let him in a prayer to commit his heart to Christ and Rick began to come every week to the Bible studies that I would teach and he attended until he moved up north and he got his life together with Jesus Christ because God forgives every sin, every sin. Amen. Amen. Man, by nature, is sinful. God, by nature, is loving and compassionate and God will forgive your sin. He is open to doing it no matter how terrible it is, no matter how long a person has sinned, no matter what kind of sin we commit. The Bible teaches us very clearly that God will do so. How did he do that? Well, he has made provision for people to be forgiven. He did that through his Son. God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. The most famous New Testament scripture, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. When Jesus was speaking in John chapter 5 verse 24, he said, most assuredly I say unto you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. And so you hear the gospel message and the message says God loves you and God sent his Son to dine across for you and God will forgive you and this shows you what love really is. It's more than the Valentine's expression that we on a yearly basis remind ourselves that we ought to show affection to one another and it's deeper than romantic love it's that self sacrificing love of God that he gave to us even though he knew many would reject him yet he loved and poured out his love completely for us through his Son Jesus Christ. God loves us. God forgives and God forgives every sin with the exception of one and that is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and that's what we'll be looking at as we continue through this passage. So as we begin by looking at verse 22 let's look at that together and we'll come to verses 31 and 32 and summarizing conclude but let's begin by looking at verse 22 where it says one was brought to him who was demon possessed blind and mute and he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw and all the multitudes were amazed and said could this be the son of David but when the Pharisees heard heard it they said this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons and so by now Jesus's ministry has spread far and wide and it is well known as a result people with needs are being brought to him on a fairly regular basis we've been seeing this through Matthew's gospel we saw in Matthew chapter 8 verse 16 when evening had come they brought to him many who were demon possessed he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick we saw it in chapter 9 verse 2 behold they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed we saw it in Matthew 9 32 while they were going out a man who was demon possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus so people are now bringing people to Jesus Christ that's what we see in the New Testament and that's what we see even to this day believers still bring people to Jesus Christ and that's what they're doing they're bringing him bringing people with their needs to the Lord in this particular case they bring a demon possessed man now Matthew tells us he has basically what we would say is three afflictions he's demon possessed he's blind and he's mute and Jesus instantly delivers instantly healed this man Jesus exercises authority and what we're dealing with by the way is a question of authority and so Jesus is now exercising his authority over the demonized individual over the demons that are within him now he's already been demonstrating his authority and the demons already have voice that they know who he is when he was in Capernaum it's recorded in mark 1 23 through 25 that there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit and he cried out saying let us alone what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth did you come to destroy us I know who you are the holy one of God but Jesus rebuked him saying be quiet come out of him in Matthew 8 we saw it in verses 28 and 29 when he had come to the other side to the to the country of the Gurgazines there met him two demon possessed men coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass that way suddenly they cried out saying what have we to do with you Jesus son of God have you come here to torment us before the time they knew who he was these demons knew who Jesus Christ was when the people were denying him the the demons were acknowledging him when the Pharisees were were saying oh no he's of this sort the demons already were recognized that you are the son of God and they also recognized that he was going to bring them to judgment have you come to torment us before the time they knew who he was how did they know well Jesus is the creator of all things Jesus created the angelic hosts and the demons were part of the angelic hosts but what happened is they followed Lucifer they followed Satan when satan rebelled and he took with him a third of the stars of heaven so there was a great multitude of angels who fell and they're the ones that we refer to to this day as demons and so Jesus is there and he's ministering but they're aware of what's going on and they're beginning to ask questions concerning him and the things that he's doing and they know that Jesus Christ has authority and they know that he's going to exercise that and as that is taking place they begin to question him related to that well it says to us in verse 22 that he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw now that wasn't an unusual work for him to perform he'd been doing this already but this time the Pharisees are prepared to resist him so when it says in verse 23 all the multitudes were amazed and said could this be the son of David when this happened they began to ask a question now it says in verse 23 they were amazed the word amazed simply means to be astounded it is a word that speaks of being beside oneself with amazement and wonder they see this take place and they're amazed by it that Jesus has that kind of power and authority so they asked the question can this be the son of David now the reason they said is he the son of David is because David had been promised that Messiah King David in the Old Testament was promised that Messiah would come through his line in Psalm 89 verses 3 and 4 it reads I have made a covenant with my chosen I have sworn into David my servant your seed will I establish forever build up your throne to all generations the same thing is said in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 following it was a promise to King David Messiah would be from his lineage and so they're asking the question can this be Messiah is what they're saying but verse 24 says a Pharisees heard it and so they respond they said this fellow doesn't cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons Beelzebub is another name for Satan Beelzebub speaks of the prince of demons and it really literally is Lord of flies Lord of decay Lord of death is what Beelzebub is and so they're saying that that what Jesus is doing is happening but it's that Jesus is really being empowered by by Satan himself what's interesting is they encourage the doubt that the people have because the question is being asked could this be the son of David but it says when the Pharisees heard it they said this fellow doesn't cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons so what they're doing is they are they are capitalizing on a question they're actually attempting to encourage doubt the doubt that the people have because they're not saying this is the son of David they're saying could this be encouraging honest investigation and evaluation is a good thing Jesus will pass that test somebody says to me I don't know about God I don't know about Jesus you know I'll say read the gospel of John see what John testifies concerning Christ and then let's talk again you have questions there's nothing wrong with questions God is bigger than any questions you have so ask of God you think that you can stump him I don't think so do you think he'd lose at Jeopardy I don't think so he knows everything so go ahead and ask him don't don't feel that it's wrong for you to say but I have questions of the Lord I want to ask so that they may be answered God has the ability and an honest question should be entertained as a pastor I've had questions asked me that I honestly I I I don't know I I can't answer that but that doesn't mean there isn't an answer it simply means that I'm just not well versed enough to be able to do that I don't know everything but I do know certain things and the things that I do know I hold fast to and the things I'm not sure about I continue to study and in this side of heaven I may not know but when I'm there before the Lord then then I shall know even as I am known there will be no questions in heaven there are people who say you know when I get to heaven I'm going to ask Jesus some questions no you're not no you're not no all of your questions will be answered in that moment there are no questions in heaven only answers and so when you're there you're not going to say I just want to know why you didn't let me marry that girl you're not going to do that you know and how come I you'll never do that it's not going to happen I've had people say to me oh I'm going to you know I want to see the apostle Paul when I get to heaven I want to see the apostle Paul and I always encourage him to do that I'll say you know what that'd be great man spend time with Paul that gives me more time with Jesus because when you get to heaven and some people think he is a really a heaven well we're not studying heaven today but Jesus spoke about it and he made a promise and he said I go and prepare a place for you and one day he's going to return and take me to be with him and so that's my heavenly hope and indeed one of these days I'll see him face to face there's no doubt about that that's the root of my Christian faith that Jesus Christ has prepared that place for me through faith in him but the bottom line is is that questions are okay there's nothing wrong with having them and we Christians don't try to brutalize people and to believe in everything we say we allow the word of God to speak in the way that it does and there are answers and so encouraging honest investigation and evaluation is a good thing because the Lord will always pass that test but provoking people to reject him on the basis of bias and uninformed prejudice is not right and that's what a lot of people do a lot of people will just use their bias you see they couldn't tolerate the thought that Jesus might actually be their Messiah that's why they say this fellow when they say this fellow that's obvious contempt they're trying to undermine Jesus his credibility as well as his character and they were blind they were filled with theological pride and they're using sarcasm to bully and they're saying in essence well you know there are some who say similar things to this day I mean even in Bible studies like this there'll be some who will say perhaps they'll hear it on the radio or perhaps they'll converse after a service and they'll say that's his opinion you know that's what he thinks others who believe differently and all of that and I understand that kind of line of reasoning and all bottom line is that sometimes they do that because they want to convince the person that they're speaking to that their own opinion is greater than God's word years ago we had a lady in our fellowship many years ago now who came and visited on a Wednesday night Bible study this is when we were in Ontario and we're meeting in a location in Maple Street in Ontario and I was teaching through First Corinthians and I got to a certain portion of scripture that speaks concerning a variety of sins and as you know those of you who've been part of this church we do a verse by verse approach and we go through what the scripture says and so I was there in a particular portion of the Bible that spoke concerning a lot of different kinds of sins that included the sin of homosexuality and I'll always try to give you know a clear meaning and what that means and all and that's what I did that night I spoke concerning it I spoke how that many people in the Corinthian church have practiced a variety of sins but Paul goes on to say and such were some of you but you've been washed and cleansed justified and I shared about how we have our testimonies and we do have different sins but God can forgive us of all the sins and that's what it says and it's not like I was taking one sin and making it greater than the other it was a list of sins and these are all things that he's speaking about and so that's what I did and all and so shortly after this young woman approaches me and says can I speak to you you know a week or so later she approaches me and she says I want you to know I was in church on Wednesday when you were teaching at the first Corinthians and I said yes she says I want you to know that I'm a lesbian and when you were sharing that she says my girlfriend and I were present in the Bible study and I listened to what it said and I went home and we were living together she said and so I said to my girlfriend what we're doing is is not right the Bible says it's a sin and says that we shouldn't be deceived into thinking that it's okay because that's what Paul was saying let no one deceive you her friend said that's his opinion because she didn't want to step out of the lesbian relationship and she wasn't convicted but this other young woman was and so as I was speaking to this young woman she said that's what the Bible says she says I want to believe and act on what the Bible says make a long story short she gave her heart to Christ and as she gave her heart to Christ she was in our church for a long time then she moved up north and now she's a Facebook friend so I still have once in a while I'll have connection one former another with this young woman and she'll post pictures or she'll speak about her husband and her children and her life of service to Jesus Christ because God forgives every sin but you you will amen that's worthy of of saying thank you Jesus absolutely and yet you will have some will say oh no nah no and that's what the Pharisees are doing we have given invitations here where somebody has wanted to get up only to have a boyfriend holding them back I've had ushers tell me that that the young lady wants to get up and you'll see her and then the argument ensues nah no no that's what the Pharisees do the Pharisees did that so there's they're not denying that Christ performs these deliverances they're saying he does it through the power of Satan and they're trying to undermine who Jesus Christ is and what he does and they use a bullying technique to do that that the Pharisees are well known for their sarcasm in John 7 47 through 49 it says the Pharisees answered them are you also deceived have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed in him this crowd that does not know the laws occurs that's how they would think and that's how they spoke so they weren't saying that Jesus didn't do works they were simply crediting those works to Satan they couldn't deny that he performed miracles so they had to find another source of his power and that's what they wanted to do this is an attitude that remains by the way it remains with them to the very end in John 11 47 and 48 it says the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said what shall we do for this man works many signs if we let him alone like this everyone will believe in him the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation this man works many signs they didn't deny that he was doing signs so they wanted to ascribe the signs of power to Satan now we've seen this before this isn't a new accusation when we were in chapter nine of Matthew in verses 32 through 34 there it says they went out behold and they went out behold they brought to him a man mute and demon possessed and when the demon was cast out the mute spoke and the multitudes marveled saying it was never seen like this in Israel but the Pharisees said he cast out demons by the rule of the demons that is common practice by the way when you are in opposition to somebody or their ideas or teachings if you want to undermine their ideas all you need to do is call question into question their character it's called ad hominem arguments you argue against the man not the ideas and if you could make the man look bad the ideas go out with the man you see this in politics all the time I'm not going to get political on you it's just something we're all familiar with that's what they do instead of arguing the argument the idea we just suddenly will speak concerning the person and in doing so we undermine their credibility but the bible tells us in verse 25 that Jesus knew their thoughts that word thought there means their deliberations or their plans Jesus saw through them he knew what their plan was the psalmist in psalm 21 11 says they intended evil against you they devised a plot which they are not able to perform so they intended evil against the Lord Jesus Christ now it's apparent that they're a distance away but Jesus knows what they're doing and what they're planning mark 323 tells us that he called them to him they didn't approach Christ they were at a distance but Jesus confronts them directly now what's he do well first he reveals the logical absurdity of their statement he's saying to them division undermines effectiveness in verse 25 every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation every 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 he says that's a logical absurdity if you divide everything you're going to destroy everything division undermines effectiveness when he says every kingdom he's speaking of government is ineffective when it has no common goal when he speaks about every house he's obviously referring to how families can be destroyed when they don't live in unity in verse 26 when he said if satan casts out satan he's divided against himself how then will his kingdom stand unity of purpose is necessary if satan is to continue to oppose God as the leader of the rebellious host that oppose him satan would not have them fight against each other because internal strife ultimately renders his opposition in ineffective any he will not tolerate that there has to be a unity in opposition we all know that we know that when a house doesn't get together when the family is divided there's no unity there's no peace and so unity is always a good thing and we know that if we're going to do something that we plan together and work together we can see good things happen but if we're divided amongst ourselves then we're not going to be able to pursue and to accomplish the things that we'd like to accomplish and so Jesus is simply pointing that out he's saying this is what's going on when he says in verse 27 if I cast out demons by Beelzebub by whom do your sons cast them out when he speaks of your sons it's not their biological sons the rabbis had those whom they were mentoring and they would be called their sons their sons in the faith so by whom do your sons cast them out therefore they shall be your judges you believe in casting demons out and you've even taught your disciples how to do it so the question I'm asking you is by what power are they utilizing to do the works that you're saying that they accomplish you see the fact is you are rejecting me because I'm not one of you and that shows your bias and that is a great sin because what you're doing is you're resisting the Holy Spirit and you're intentionally doing that when he says in verse 28 but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you or else how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house and so Jesus just makes his point he's simply saying I'm anointed by God I cast out demons by the Spirit of God if I do my work by the Spirit he's saying then my miracles obviously originate with God and if I'm doing this by the power of God then obviously I'm Messiah because you see Isaiah 29 18 a verse that speaks of Messiah says in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity out of darkness so he's the one who has opened up the ears and opened up the eyes that's a passage of Messiah and he's pointing out as he said in verse 28 that the kingdom of God has come upon you when he speaks of the kingdom of God we know that when you study your scripture that there's going to be a time when Jesus reigns and rules on planet earth for a thousand years it's called the millennium we know that the millennium will stretch into eternity that Jesus Christ is going to be ruler forever but in a very real sense Jesus Christ is a ruler right now over those who love and those who serve him the kingdom of God is already appearing in a sense with those who already are serving him in verse 29 he asks the question how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds that strong man then he plunders his house this is again showing the authority that Christ has because he's plundering Satan's domain he is setting captives free in 2 Timothy 2 25 and 26 it says those who oppose him those who oppose the Lord's servant he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth that they will come to their senses escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will Jesus Christ came to set the captives free and then he makes this powerful statement he who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters a block there is no neutrality in this war there is no conscientious objectors in this war when I got saved I had been drafted I won't go into a long story other than say I had been drafted I was dodging the draft I had a friend of mine who advised me how to do that at that time when they had the draft they would send you a a letter the government would send you a letter and it said you are hereby ordered to report for active service or active duty on such and so date but I was told if you write them a letter and say you can't make it they'll just write another one to you which is exactly true I know that because I did it so I was supposed to go in August 25th and actually went in it's a longer story than I'm going to give you but they said you know you were arrested for a felony and we need to review your records and we'll send you home so I went home well in September I got a letter you are hereby ordered to report for active duty and I wrote a letter sorry I got to go to court and I became a pen pal with whoever was writing me my my letters I did that for some time then I got saved and after getting saved I eventually volunteered for the draft and went into the military but before that happened I began to question whether or not I might be a CO a conscientious objector because I'm a believer and can I go into combat could I potentially take the life of an enemy combat am I able to do that as a believer and for me was a very very real crisis of faith do I or do I not enter into the military can I can I not be put in a position where I might have to in defense of myself or somebody else use a weapon in such a way I had to come to that conclusion and long story made very short Lord I find in my case has a bit of a humor because I was watching a movie called Sergeant York and Sergeant York who was decorated 82nd member of the 82nd was going through the same thing and he spoke and tried to get some direction spoke to a minister and then went off and prayed and sought the Lord and read the scriptures render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar unto God the things that belong to God he made his determination he went into the military and the rest is American in military history and and as I saw that I came to the same conclusion and that's how I went into the military is making a decision to do that which I should do you see I was not a CEO then and I'm not a CEO now I believe we're in a war right now and I'm not on the sidelines I'm somebody who's an active combatant the way we all are so you cannot choose to not be in the war you can't write letters to God saying you know I'm sorry I'm going to court it doesn't work either you are on his side and this is very very real either you are on the Lord side he says and we'll read it again and I'll say this he who is not with me is against me he's not saying potentially he's not saying could be no he's saying if you are not with me you are against me you see with the Lord there are some very black and white statements that he makes and I realize that today I realize that we'd like to find the loophole in everything so that we don't have to do what it says especially when it's difficult but that's not how Jesus works that's not how God works either he says you are for me or you are against me either you gather with me or you scatter but you're not going to do both at the same time that's where it becomes very very important for us to know which one am I Joshua made it clear in the Old Testament book of Joshua as for me in my house we will serve the Lord and he said to the nation of Israel you choose this day whom you shall serve whether it's God Almighty or the false gods that you were raised to worship but as for me in my house we will serve the Lord there has to be a determination you see you have to make a choice you cannot sit on the sidelines it doesn't happen that way you cannot go before the Lord and say you know you didn't give me enough time to make up my mind because God makes it clear and that's where people have problems listen especially in this age that's not new by the way the spirit of this age is not just simply this age that's the spirit that the enemy has been invigorating forever I mean the Pharisees were saying this man cast out demons by Beelzebub they've already tried to discredit him even before he went to the cross even before people began to understand there's no other way to God except the Christ Jesus he was already in opposition and that spirit of rejection is still here to this day it's just been kind of like streamlined into different ways of thinking oh you know the people of Islam they worship the same God no they don't no they don't in Islam they say that God has no Son but the Bible says Jesus Christ is God's Son they are not the same God God does not contradict himself you have to understand that it's a fact that doesn't mean we hate them no I don't hate I don't hate Muslims of course I don't hate Buddhists either but I love God and I have made up my mind I will stand with him because he said it it isn't something we made up let's face it if we made it up then we'd be kind of like the Buddhists you know follow your own path doesn't really matter all roads end up before God yes that's true in a sense yes all paths lead to God either as your savior or your judge so you have to make up your mind and that's what Jesus is saying that is not a popular message it is not a popular message today because people just don't want to believe it they never have but the enemy is working overtime to cloud the minds of people one he encourages you to be biblically ignorant not to read your Bible not to be in Bible studies not to be a real divider of the word of God he doesn't want you to be that he wants you to be a part-time Christian he wants you to be the kind who says I'll pick it up at church when he reads it to me and when he reads it to me I'll listen and then I'll then I'll say I do or do not believe because after all I've got all freedom to make up my own mind and all of that but in reality a person who thinks that way has not been set free by Jesus Christ yet they haven't totally understood now God is either God's word or it's not either for me or you're against me that's pretty strong that's pretty strong and so Jesus made that statement and he's making it clear the Pharisees are against him because they're saying that he's doing works but by the power of Satan and then he closes the door verse 31 therefore I say to you every sin in blasphemy will be forgiven men but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven men anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man it will be forgiven him but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the age to come blasphemy of the Holy Spirit the word blasphemy is the conscious denouncing and rejecting of God blasphemy is willful and defiant irreverence it is openly mocking defaming and speaking evil of God blasphemy is insolently opposing God and yet if someone lives a blasphemous life they can be forgiven perhaps you've used the name of the Lord in vain you've hit your thumb with a hammer you've gotten mad at somebody and you've used choice words and you've used God's name when you were using those words possible that you said you know Jesus I mean he's just one of many teachers you want to call Messiah call Messiah but but I just as soon think that that Buddha had some great things to say too and and Confucius was a great philosopher and and Krishna you know Krishna has some great things and observations and and you could be thinking that way so Jesus well he's just one of many teachers and many masters that this world has known and Jesus said every blasphemy every sin will be forgiven including including when I blasphemed God and I would use his name in vain including when I rejected Christ and I said he's just one of many and he's basically worthless he's not really the one who's going to bring me to to heaven he's just one of those teachers and he said those sins will be forgiven you but there is one that won't and that is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit now what do you mean by that well one they're attributing the works of Christ to Satan himself rejecting him consciously making a determination that they want nothing to do with him now how did a person how does a person get saved Bible in John 16 8 says it like this the Holy Spirit comes to bring conviction of sin righteousness and judgment when the Holy Spirit brings conviction it is not condemnation it is conviction when the Holy Spirit brings conviction it causes your heart to realize you're being spoken to it's no longer one of those oh I wish I had somebody in here that's been bothering me they should have heard this today it's when the Holy Spirit is saying no I'm speaking to you it's like when my my children were young and and I would be trying to speak to them and being young they would their eyes would wander all over the house and and I would have reached and on occasion I would take them by their little faces not in a mean way as in a loving way I'd gently draw their gaze to mine and I'd say daddy speaking to you I want to tell you something listen carefully and I'd say something very quick and then they'd look at me for a moment the Holy Spirit does that have you ever since that he does you'll be you know there's 378 tiles on the wall I've been counting them all service and the Holy Spirit says I'm talking to you and your attention is drawn because the Spirit with his gentle hand is taking you and he's gazed into your eyes and he has said this is true and you know I'm talking to you that's how I got saved that's how you got saved when I was there sitting on a carpet with 4,000 hippie kids and Arthur Blessed was speaking and I hear his message and the Spirit of the Lord begins to speak to my heart and says to me you're uncomfortable and I say yes I am and then I hear a question in my heart why and I say because I'm not like these people then he says and what is different about you and I say I'm not a Christian I'm not a Christian the first time I ever admitted even within my own self in my own mind that I was not a Christian came through the conviction of the Holy Spirit it wasn't just the words of that evangelist Arthur Blessed it was the Spirit of God speaking to my heart and me admitting it he brings conviction of sin righteousness and judgment but if we make a determination and say I don't need that I can do it on my own well God would forgive me for saying poorly things about him and God would forgive me for saying things about Jesus because I did and he forgave me all of my sins that's what we've read several times already the blood of Jesus Christ's Son cleanses us from all sin that includes all the blasphemy and all the profanity and all of the worthless that I'd say of Christ but if I would have said and the Holy Spirit is worthless too Jesus said that's the unpardonable sin why because if you reject the conviction of the Spirit you cannot be saved that's how you got saved and the Pharisees were making a determination that they did not want what God was offering and were even going so far as to try to convince other people that Jesus was empowered by Satan himself it's been called sinning against the light it's a determination to reject what God has revealed to be true and the question is asked in Hebrews 2 verses 3 and 4 how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation the answer is there is no escape listen ultimately and we know this we have to choose we have to choose choose this day who you're going to serve is it the Lord or is it the enemy we make that choice I have to choose will I be gathering or will I be scattering but I'm not able to do both simultaneously I have to make a choice and that's what Jesus was saying here and he's saying do not blaspheme the spirit of God that is the sin that will not be forgiven I haven't committed that sin and I pray none in here do