The Unforgivable Sin

Notes: The Unforgivable Sin
Pastor Greg Laurie
May, 25 2014
Matthew 12

Pastor Greg tells a story, he says how you do not have to teach children how to sin. We all seem to just know how to sin.

J Vernon Magee said, "If you knew me as well as I knew me, you would never let me preach to you. But, if I knew you as well as you know you then I would not want to preach to you."

God is forgiving!

Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

Exodus 34:6–7 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

Micah 7:18–19 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. 19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our[a] sins Into the depths of the sea.

God throws our sins into the depths of the ocean. Then post a sign that says no fishing allowed.

Israel’s history is one of God’s forgiveness. This is the essence of the Gospel.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.)

God will forgive all sin if it is confessed.

No sin can not be forgiven. He even forgave the killing of his own son. God will only not forgive an unconfessed sin.

The only unforgivable sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Read: Matthew 12:22–32 22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and[a] mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub,[b] the ruler of the demons.” 25 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. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or 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. 30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 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. 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.

Jesus says they will never be forgiven for the blasphemy of God.

Matthew 27:18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.

Mark 12:37 Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly.

Pastor Greg says he does not understand why some pastors will be boring, when the gospel is suppose to be inviting.

The religious leaders in Matthew 12 were jealous of Jesus and they wanted to discredit Him.

When you live a Godly life people will make things up about you!

Daniel 6:4–5 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

Jesus had performed miracles, this was the first time there were miracles in over 400 years from the old testament prophets.

Pastor Greg talks about how people will criticize him for things that are not true. It is really hard when the people are accusing him of things and he agrees with them are bad things and he clearly does not do those things.

To critics: Be careful you do not attribute these things to Satan as these Pharisees did. Pharisees were men that were dedicated to God, they just did not believe Jesus. Their hearts had grown so hard that they were in danger of committing the unforgivable sin.

Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Why did you come to church today? If you have not to come grow spiritually then church can be dangerous.

Knowledge demands responsibility!

Pastor Greg talks about how church can be dangerous for some, he uses the illustration of “the same sun the softens the wax, hardens the clay”. The message goes out and a critical attitude can harden your heart. Such as “and Pharaoh hardened his heart” then eventually the story changes to “and God hardened Pharaoh’s heart” God will honor your free will, in Pharaoh’s case He strengthened Pharaoh heart against God.. 

The Pharisees didn’t want to hear about Jesus because they didn’t want to change their lives.

People don’t want to go to Christ, because it is a threat to their life style. 

Doubt is a matter of the mind.
Unbelief is a matter of the will. It is actually a choice one makes.

John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

The bible identifies sins that can be committed against the Holy Spirit:

1. The sin of resisting the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.)

John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

The Holy Spirit is there to help you identify your sins and to lead you from sin.

Genesis 6:3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive[a] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

2. The sin of insulting the Holy Spirit.
(Hebrews 10:29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?)

When we say “no” to Jesus, we are actually insulting the Holy Spirit.

3. The sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

These three things are all interconnected resist, insult and then the blasphemy.

Blasphemy is the rejection of Jesus Christ as the holy lord. 

Pastor Greg speaks of Balshazar and the writing on the wall in the book of Daniel

Revelation 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

Matthew 12:31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

Hebrews 12:16–17 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Read: Matthew 12:33–36 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

“For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” (v.34)

There are no secrets with God!

Matthew 12:36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

When you have a heart that is getting hard, you will find yourself getting bitter! Bitter people can not keep their bitterness in and they always seem to want to tell people whats on their mind.

1 Peter 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

Ephesians 4:30–32 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Pastor Greg talks about how he has been spoken bad of over the years, he says he does not focus on that. He puts that in God’s hands.

Jeremiah 7:16 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.

1. We must come to church to worship God and to learn and grow spiritually. (Show up on time and don’t leave early, take notes. That is attention with intention.)

2. Never take for granted the blessing of what God has done. (The fact that God has saved me is such a blessing, and I should not take that for granted.)

3. Instead of resisting the Holy Spirit, I need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (Everyday we need to yield to God)

Pastor Greg says as his grandmother says, “Get home before dark"

Matthew 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

What side are you on?