Have You Not Read - S1:E14

Welcome to have you not read a podcast seeking to answer questions from the text of scripture for the honor of Christ and the edification

Of the Saints before we dig into our topic. We humbly ask you to rate review and share the podcast.

Thank you I'm Andrew Hudson and joining me today is Michael Durham and Kyle Smith We have received a questionnaire and it reads thus.

I'm not sure I understand the unforgivable sin Believing that Jesus Christ is the

Son of God Accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and believing that God has raised him from the dead it is my understanding that Jesus Christ has saved us from our sins and they cite

Ephesians 2 and Also say and nearly the whole Bible however,

Matthew 12 verse 31 says Therefore I say to you any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people

But blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven How and why is this sin different from any other sin?

Okay, so good question Matthew chapter 12 Matthew chapter 12 we read

We read that verse 31 therefore I say to you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men

But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men Verse 32 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 so first of all we need to recognize that as Believers in Christ being born again of the

Holy Spirit and dwelt by the Spirit of God Justified by the righteousness of Christ our faith in Christ having his righteousness to our account and Accepted to the

Father that There is not a sin that we would commit or can commit that would

Rest us away from the hand of Christ and the hand of the Father this blasphemy against the

Spirit Versus blasphemy against the Son of Man These are things that Jesus is talking about those who are in need of coming to faith in Christ those who are in need of salvation and that there are those who have done heinous and terrible things, but they can be forgiven by Christ forgiven by God through the person and work of Christ and brought

Into a saving relationship with God, but there is a sin There is a sin that sinners can commit that Jesus says will not be forgiven the meaning that they will remain forever in an unforgiven state

So Jesus is not talking about a believer one who was saved and born again slipping with the tongue saying something inappropriate

Maybe getting the doctrine of the Holy Spirit wrong or something or maybe just having a bad day

Okay, and then losing their salvation because they committed the unpardonable sin this is not that's not what

Jesus is talking about this that's not the scenario and we know it's not the scenario because we can read the context so We need to back up in Matthew 12 a little while To see what's going on.

So when you read the whole chapter of Matthew 12, you'll see the story about Jesus contending with the scribes and Pharisees about the

Sabbath and the Pharisees Lose this encounter very badly.

And so now they go out and plot to kill him and Jesus, of course knows this and he withdraws we read in verse 15 and We see that his ministry his way of handling the crowds his way of doing things fulfills

Prophecy from the prophet Isaiah, and so we see this fulfilled prophecy in verses 18 to 21

So these are the words of Isaiah the prophet behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved in whom my soul is well -pleased

I will put my spirit upon him Now that sounds a lot like the baptism of Jesus we remember when

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist the heavens parted the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and alighted upon Christ and The voice from heaven said this is my beloved

Son with whom I am well -pleased Hey, look the the Messiah is the anointed one

He's the chosen one And so this passage here reminds us of that and it says he will declare justice to the

Gentiles He will not quarrel nor cry out nor any anyone hear his voice in the streets a bruised reed

He will not break and smoking flax He will not quench till he sends forth justice to victory and in his name

Gentiles will trust meaning all the nations will receive Him his good news and so forth now the spirit anointed

Servant that's who Jesus is. He is the spirit anointed Servant and he goes forth and he has compassion and he heals and restores even a bruised reed

Think of a think of a plant that's been folded over Rather than sharp and upright.

Well, Jesus will not simply snap off the bruised reed He will restore it and make it whole again

Good example verse 22 then one was brought to him who was demon -possessed blind and mute

Well, if there ever was a bruised reed There you go 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?

Now, how do you think that goes over with the Pharisees? You're so jealous of Jesus. They're ready to kill him I'm sure they're convinced now, right?

Yes, so they don't like that. And so they begin to respond in their own way

Verse 24 now in the Pharisees heard it. They said this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons

So what do they say? They say that Jesus is casting out demons by according to the power of Beelzebub or Satan the ruler of the demons

Now Jesus responds to their idea to their claim So Jesus knew their thoughts verse 25 and said to them every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation

And every city or house divided against itself will not stand if Satan cast out Satan He is divided against himself.

How then will his kingdom stand? He's simply pointing out He's simply pointing out that their logic is

Illogical their claim makes no sense They're being absurd and he's letting everybody know it now verse 27 and just notice that he's not saying well

It's possible that you have a valid point. You know, he's just saying no This is ridiculous and then verse 27 and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub by whom do your sons cast them out?

Right, therefore that they shall be your judges There was a healthy Exorcist tradition amongst the

Jewish religious leaders verse 28, but now notice how Jesus Clarifies how he cast out demons.

Okay, but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God Now, what did they say?

He cast out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons Jesus as I cast out demons by the

Spirit of God So the power by which he cast out demons was the

Spirit of God and they called the Spirit of God Beelzebub the ruler of the demons Now that is an excellent example of the blasphemy of the

Holy Spirit blasphemy the Holy Spirit speaking a word against the Holy Spirit Okay, so that's in the that's in the context.

That's that's verse 28 He says but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God Sure that the kingdom of God has come upon you or how can one enter a strongman's house and plunder his goods?

Unless he first binds the strongman and then he will plunder his house. Jesus is saying I'm not working with Satan I am

I am stealing from his house I'm I'm tying him up and defeating him verse 30

He who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad Now we come to verses 31 and 32 where Jesus says

If you speak a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven him if you speak a word or blaspheme the

Holy Spirit It will not be forgiven him We're wondering an example of what does it look like to blaspheme the

Holy Spirit all we got to do is read the context So we're still left with a few questions right, we're still left with a few questions of Why?

Can someone say something awful about Jesus and be forgiven? But someone can't say something terrible about the

Holy Spirit Right What makes the difference and what are the challenges that we have when we see

Those things laid side -by -side here in Jesus is teaching Are we saying the

Holy Spirit's more important than Jesus? No, we're not really saying that what are we dealing with here?

We're dealing with the fact that The Holy Spirit has a particular ministry.

The Holy Spirit has a particular role in the economy of salvation

So Jesus Christ God the Son took upon human flesh and died upon the cross and rose from the dead

Ascended to the right hand of the Father to to reign Until all his enemies are placed as a footstool for his feet.

So The Holy Spirit doesn't do that. Holy Spirit didn't take upon human flesh Holy Spirit didn't die on the cross and raised from the dead.

Holy Spirit isn't reigning from the right hand of God So what role is the Holy Spirit?

What did Jesus say? What do we know from Scripture? No, he's a helper. He's yeah, he's a helper a

Spirit of truth who would testify or disclose of what is Christ which the Father had given him exactly good

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would bring to mind all that all that he had said He would convince the world of sin and bring about repentance to the nations

When we see and at Pentecost remember that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost Preaching of the gospel and then

Past that point and actually read time and again about how God grants repentance to the Gentiles or he grants faith

In order for or for the people to believe well who's doing that work? Who's doing that work?

What's the Holy Spirit? So we have particularly the reason why? blasphemy against the

Holy Spirit will not be forgiven is because Blasphemy against the

Holy Spirit comes from somebody who has Encountered the life -giving gracious power of the

Holy Spirit Seen the light of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people being turned away from sin turned away from darkness freed from the bondage of slavery to Satan encountering all these good and wonderful things and then having had all of this

Understanding and contact with the Holy Spirit being blessed by his ministry They turn against all of that with false

Accusations slanderous words trying to disprove it discredit it call it anything, but what it is that's blasphemy against the

Holy Spirit and Rejecting the one who brings you the good news of Jesus Christ the one who does the work of Regeneration the one who brings forward

Everything that we know about salvation to our lives to speak against him

This is the unpardonable sin It's beyond what just an individual who's heard the gospel over and over and over again and They reject and they reject and they said well that's not for me or You know some other excuse but at some point

Christ reaches down and says you're mine and at that point

They had never committed the unpardonable sin. That's what we're talking about. Right? So it's somebody you know

It's not just a rejection of the gospel. No, no, you can obviously we have people who

Heard the gospel and heard the gospel and then later on respond by the grace of God to that word and are saved

We're not talking about that There's something more robust about this.

I think if anything we see from the context, there's a very robust encounter with the goodness of the

Holy Spirit and then a very settled rejection and slanderous profaning rejection

Of what was encountered so, I mean and this maybe we'll talk about like personal examples of People that we have encountered and had to deal with with regard to this but in Hebrews chapter 6 deals with this very same topic so in Hebrews 6 and verse 4 says it is impossible for those who were once enlightened

Now let's keep track of these terms because they're very important you once enlightened and have tasted tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the

Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come

If they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the

Son of God and put him to an Open shame and later on the preacher to the Hebrew says but beloved we are confident of better things concerning you

Yes things that accompany salvation In other words what he just listed there

None of that were things that actually accompany salvation meaning that they're not those the which in and of themselves

Signify salvation you see so when we read this list Enlightened tasting the heavenly gift tasted the good word partaking of the

Holy Spirit in some fashion tasting the the powers of the age to come and all of that those are expressions of Anybody who was within the community of the church

Those who live as a part of a Christian community You're going to taste these things you're going to encounter these things you're going to be

Participating in the in the blessings of the Holy Spirit even if you yourself are not born again

How many young people grow up in a church blessed blessed blessed because they are they are part of this this community

Are they born again yet? No, but how blessed are they all along the way until they are born again, right?

So they've encountered all these wonderful, but later on we really read that these things are not which in and of themselves

Speak of salvation and those very same terms for those interested in the the grammar

You can take those very same terms and look through the rest of the book of Hebrews and none of them are used to describe

Those who are saved Okay, these are just the expressions of those how blessed somebody is just to be in a

Christian community So that's who we're talking about. We're taught what that's we're talking about those who have a good handle on what it means to live in the light and the blessing of the

Holy Spirit and then and then Turn against all of that and call it something else.

I reject it Modern equivalents would be different than what they were back then You know modern equivalent would not be somebody saying.

Oh That's just be eligible Right some some other type of Blasphemy would be in use today there's a

I don't know if you'd call it popular, but the idea of deconstructionism within Christianity, is that what we're talking about here of the people who like you said grew up in the church and now

Oftentimes in very public ways Come out and say, you know after kind of deconstructing my faith.

I Really think that I made a mistake and here's why are they in danger of the unpardonable sin here?

Yeah, I would say that let's take somebody who? begins to use, you know some form of Critical theory pours the acid upon the

Christian Church and away we go and they begin to deconstruct everything that there is About the their experience and so on and they explain away people's conversion experiences they they explain away the

Answered prayers explain away worship. They explain away the the scriptures everything that the

Holy Spirit does okay, they rename as some kind of Phenomenon that you can just just not only dismiss but despise as not worth your time and this is this waste people's lives

Sure has mine You know that kind of thing that that would be a great example of the blasphemy of the

Holy Spirit So I'm gonna read a passage from 1st Timothy in chapter 4 it begins now

The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons

Speaking lies and hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. Is that exemplary of the blaspheming of the

Holy Spirit Well, it could end up being a particular manifestation of it.

I mean for example, it's possible for someone to Be identifying themselves as a follower of Christ a

Christian and then to be exposed later as a fake Okay, or as somebody maybe as the one who falls away because of persecution or falls away because of the cares of the world care to this age

Say Demas or somebody like that in examples. Did they particularly?

Commit the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit Maybe they didn't maybe it was something else.

I want to be careful because of the way that Jesus puts it Blasphemy isn't any old kind of thing you say

Blasphemy isn't any kind of old approach of the heart Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is fairly specific and we have a good example of it in the text.

So We need to be careful that we don't begin to assign every apostasy

To that you see what I mean? I would want to be careful to say well that was the unpardonable sin

I think would be really very specific with it. So some people may bring up Acts chapter 5 Ananias and Sapphira I can remember as a kid my parents teaching me that cautionary tale through a song

You know and you you think and it persists maybe throughout Adulthood that they were guilty of the unpardonable sin because if you look in Acts chapter 5 talking about Them selling a piece of property and and their intention to keep part of it back and Really give the impression to the

Apostles that they were giving them everything And then Peter calls him out on it in verse 3

He says Peter Ananias Peter says Ananias Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold did it not remain your own and after it was sold was it not at your disposal?

Why is it that you've contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man, but God When Ananias heard these words

He fell down and breathed his last He was killed.

So is that the unpardonable sin? This story certainly reminds us that the

Holy Spirit is a person to whom you may lie, but you better not We don't have anything in the text where?

Ananias and Sapphira Considered the blessings of the Holy Spirit in the life of the early church and With vitriol or sinister doublespeak tried to claim that what the

Spirit was doing was something else or sourced from the devil or something like that what they did Was certainly wrong certainly sinful

But it wasn't blasphemy of the Holy Spirit You see people dying because of their sin in the scripture

But it's not always because of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. So it's you know, it's one of those things. It's It's fairly

I would say that it needs to be fairly specific in that regard Now, you know, what do you

I mean, what do you do if you think you see it? Right. What do you do when you think you see it?

How do you? How do you pray I mean don't you sometimes maybe feel a loss to pray for certain kinds of folks who

Maybe the story goes. Oh, they they used to they used to believe and now oh my goodness

They they've turned their back on it all. What do you mean? What do you do? Yeah, I know a mother

Whose son is this situation? Hmm? Yeah, and and how heartbreaking is that there was a person who was a part of a church that might dad -pastored heavy part of a school that my dad helped to start and to administrate

Christian school and this person was involved with you know, like everything and Later on totally turns against all of it claims that they had never

Ever believed it Right mocked it all turned to lesbianism and denied denied at all just raging and hate against it all

Now that's that's a good example of somebody who you know looks back on their past experiences where the blessings of the

Holy Spirit were there where there was, you know, they they partook of These things and then later on now, they're going to call it some kind of abuse.

That would be a prime example That mean if it's the definition If it's the definition does it show a lack of faith on our part to not believe that God can restore those people

Well, I think it's faith to believe what Jesus said about it, hmm, you know Obviously, I know

God can save if he saved the chief of sinners Bible says is he saved the chief of sinners?

He saved Saul of Tarsus. So save anybody So God can save but there it does.

I mean there is a Do we believe what Jesus said? Right. That's the that's the challenge do we believe what

Jesus said about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Certainly is first and foremost a warning to everybody who hears it to everybody who reads it

It's a warning to them primarily It's not necessarily Primarily our diagnostic tool to always be looking around and thinking okay

Did this person commit the unbarnables in I would say that it that's something that you end up concluding after a while perhaps if it fits the biblical definition but that we recognize, you know lists of sins like in in 1st

Corinthians chapter 6 about all these Horrific sins and sinners who identify themselves by their sins, but such were some of you

But you were washed and you were you were sanctified you were justified in the name of Christ I mean you were saved now and that's really where the the balance of our

Hope is hey God can save you God can forgive you God can change your life

That should be where our emphasis is on the sovereignty of God not the sinfulness of man

Yeah, obviously, we're very sinful But God is sovereign and gracious Anything else you'd like to say

I think Michael pretty well covered it All right. Well, then what are you thankful for?

well, I I'm thankful for Sent this before but I need to say it again.

I'm thankful for the patience of others. I'm thankful for the long -suffering that people have with me as I continue to fall short of many obligations and Expectations and that's easy to take for granted that people are patient with you

It can become something where when people are patient with you And long -suffering with you and they're just bearing with you and not saying anything because they're covering a multitude of Sins with love you can begin to think

I'm nailing it But God reminds us through the

Clarity of his word and in his work as a heavenly father chastising his children

That not only is he being patient with us He's being patient with me, but that by his grace others are doing so as well, so that's what

I'm thankful for They can kind of dovetail with that a little bit sounds cliche

But I'm thankful for my family who is very patient with me My four kids

Hudson Lincoln Afton and Luke, you know, I do my best In the power of the

Holy Spirit and in reading his word, but I don't always live up to that In parenting them.

I lose my temper and I make bad decisions More often than not and yet they still love me and are patient with me and that especially goes for my wife

I'm so thankful for her and all that she does for our family the educating of our kids

The discipling of them while they're at home the love for God's Word that she helps to instill in them

You know as it says in Scripture a good wife is to be treasured above everything

So just talking with somebody the other day, you know, I think was Jacob call. It's like yeah,

I think we all married up I know that that I can definitely say that is that's the truth

So God is good when he gives us good families. So that's what

I'm thankful for I'm thankful to God for his word recently a lady was asked what the definition of woman

Was and she didn't know But the word says and the Adam said this is now bone of my bones flesh of my flesh

She shall be called woman Because she was taken out of man I'm very thankful for the

Word of God and His light in this dark world Amen, amen

And that wraps it up for today We are very thankful for our listeners and hope you will join us again as we meet to answer common questions and objections