The Unpardonable Sin

Introduction

Good to see you all tonight. I’m going to talk about a subject that, again, there’s no way that I can exhaust this in a single sermon. This is simply a springboard for you for further study, some thoughts that came to me recently on this subject, and David said I should preach about it during the meeting, so I’m going to do it. So I hope you’ll buckle down with me tonight. We’re going to be looking at a few passages. We’re going to have to read a number of scriptures to get what’s going on in these texts. And I think you’ll benefit from this. These are questions that people have. And oh, remember. What are you going to be reading this week? Very good. Psalm 119. Good. You listened this morning.

Psalm 119. Add these to the list as some verses for future study and consideration, perhaps even this week. Okay. Categorization of sin. We tend to categorize sin. Some are worse than others, right? Well, in regard to some of the implications of certain sins, some of the consequences of certain sins, there are greater ramifications to some sins. You could experience a lifetime of guilt for perhaps committing the sin of abortion if you understand that you are indeed taking a life. Or murder. The sin of homosexuality, robbery, rape, pornography, adultery, divorce for unscriptural causes. Those might be in the list of some of the worst kinds of sins. Or you might just say, look at Romans chapter 1. You have a pretty involved list there of the kinds of sins that the Gentiles had committed.

And then he says in chapter 2, the Jews are equally sinful before God. Well, in the news this week, was the Boston Marathon survivor bomber. The rest of them didn’t make it. And the charge. Bombing a public place. The use of weapons of mass destruction. Conspiracy. Aiding and abetting. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Thirty-two times the verdict of guilty was read as he stood with a blank expression on his face, his head bowed, and his hands clasped. He faces the death penalty, potentially. That’s pretty bad. But there are other sins that we don’t seem to think are as bad as some of those that I mentioned. A little white lie, if the intention was good, perhaps revealing that little nugget of truth might have been seen as negative in that situation.

The little white lie, perhaps some fudging on the income tax. Hopefully you haven’t done that recently or presently. A juicy morsel of gossip. A brief, but a lapse into lust nonetheless. Materialism. Spiritual neglect. And then I might add this when we talk about categorizing sins. We sometimes look at sins, well, yes, they’re all bad. And I’ve talked about that many times. We’re going to talk about that a little bit more later, but we tend to see the sins of others as worse than our own. We like to give ourselves the path. Mine aren’t really that bad or significant, but we can really get on our high horse about the sins of others. You know, the sins of others are worse than mine. So as we talk about categorizing sin, I want to ask this question tonight.

1. Passages About a Worst Kind of Sin

What is the worst sin? What’s the worst sin? Well, there’s some passages that seem to be saying that there is a worst kind of sin. Four passages, in fact, come to mind. And one would be the sin that is mentioned in Matthew chapter 12. A sin that cannot be pardoned. Look with me in Matthew 12, 31 and 32. If you have a book Bible with you tonight that has strings. Put a string there. Or if you can mark it on your iPad or whatever device you’re using, mark it. We’re coming back. We’re going to just read two verses at this time. Therefore, I say to you, verse 31 Any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men. But blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Now, some of the sins that we’ve talked about are sins that people have committed and they receive forgiveness.

And we’re going to talk about some horrific sins that a person committed that we read about in the Bible story and his repentance a little bit later on. So here we’re talking about a sin that shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, that would be Jesus’ reference to himself, it shall be forgiven him. Okay, that’s not it. Because this one can be forgiven, but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit. That’s the sin of verse 31. Whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him.

You certainly want to watch your tongue in relation to that one. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Okay, now this is serious. We need to know what this is. You don’t want to commit this sin, right? A sin that cannot be forgiven, that’s the worst kind of sin. What about some other passages that seem to be saying something similar? In Hebrews chapter 6, let’s look at these. Hebrews 6 speaks of the case of those who have once been enlightened. That is, they came to a knowledge of the truth. The eyes of their heart have been enlightened. And as a result of that, notice these verses, young people, what you have in Christ is special.

You have tasted of the heavenly gift. A gift that is originated from heaven. Just a taste, but more to come. You’ve been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. The one who’s being blasphemed in chapter 12. You’ve been made partakers of the good gifts that come from the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. Now that’s all good, but verse 6 is not. And then have fallen away. And then this, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. Okay, so we’re talking about those who have fallen away. It is impossible to fix this. To renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God. Well, this is different than Matthew 12, isn’t it?

They crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame. Impossible. Impossible to renew them again into repentance. Now this in chapter 10, later in the context of Hebrews, verse 26, after that passage that talks about not forsaking the assembling, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Verse 26 of Hebrews chapter 10. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there has to be some connection with this in chapter 6, right? Those who had once been enlightened. He says, if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. No longer remains. This isn’t doable. And in verse 29, how much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, very similar to crucifying him afresh.

Who have trampled underfoot the Son of God, regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted the Spirit of grace. Dire circumstance. One more.

Verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, okay, that’s bad, not leading unto death. There’s a glimmer of hope here. He shall ask, and God will for him give life to those who commit sin, not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. Okay, now that’s not good. None of it’s good, but this is worse. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin. All unrighteousness is sin. It’s bad. And there is a sin not leading to death. We know that no one who is born of God sins. But he who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

2. Not a Specific Kind of Sin

So by implication, there is a sin. That’s rude. There is a sin not leading unto death, and there is a sin that does lead unto death, and you’re not even supposed to pray for it. Make request for it. Now, I want to tell you the thought that I’ve had about this, is that these four texts all have something in common. There is a thread that goes with all four of them that I believe explains what they’re saying in light of what the scripture is saying consistently about the practice of sin and its forgiveness in our lives. Well, let’s look at some things, first of all, tonight. Is it talking about a specific kind of sin that people commit? If that’s the case, whatever it is, we need to be doing a lot of instruction on that and saying, whatever you do, of all the sins you could commit, even murder.

Don’t commit that one. Because murder can be forgiven. Now, isn’t that something? If we’re talking about a specific sin, murder isn’t off limits. Now, there’s again, there’s some repercussions to that. You’re probably going to go to jail and you may face the death penalty. But you can be forgiven. Remember the Ricky Blackman story that David talked to us about on Sunday night. If you didn’t hear that, listen to it on the website. Listen to all those sermons. They were great. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9. Sin can keep us from all of the joys and blessings of the kingdom of God. And he gives some specifics here and says, don’t be deceived.

And somebody made the observation that I’ve made before. Somebody made it just recently. Whatever the Bible says, don’t be deceived about. Listen to it, because those are the things people are deceived about. And we don’t want to be deceived. Fornicators. The blueprint for purity we talked about this morning. God takes fornication seriously. Fornicators, idolaters, keep yourselves from idols, 1 John 5 21. Adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers. I mean, Paul is just running down the list of the worst kinds of sins that people can imagine. It’s not an exhaustive list. But we know where he goes with that, right? We’ve studied this text before. He says to the brethren, the saints in Corinth, he says, and that’s what some of you were. And such were some of you.

It doesn’t mean that in Corinth you had every one of those sins in the past of those Christians. But some of those sins were in the past of these believers. And he says, and he knew them. Such were some of you. But forgiven. Good. This is a sin that can be forgiven. Murders in this list. Adultery, homosexuality, drunkards. Murder is not in a specific list, but it can be forgiven.

But you were washed, you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Listen. Whatever the specific sin is, Jesus’ blood can cleanse.

3. Not a Specific Number of Sins

The most heinous of sins. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only, but the sins of the whole world. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2. That’s the first observation I would make. Secondly, I would say it is not a specific number of sins. Okay, you can be forgiven of a murder. How about two or three murders? How many adulteries is too many? What about a specific number of sins? Is there a limit? You know, Jesus talks about a lack of limits in some passages, doesn’t he? How often should I forgive my brother? Remember Peter asked him that question? What did he offer? Peter said, Seven times. Very generous. But Jesus wanted Peter to be thinking differently, and what did he say?

Seventy times. Seven. That’s a lot of sins against one person. 490. And we’ve all studied that in Matthew 18, 21, 22. He’s not talking about, okay, when you get to 491, that’s it. Stop. You’re done. Unpardonable after that. 491 is the limit. He talks about sinning against you seven times in a day. In Luke 17. I mean, that’s that’s pretty tough. And what about the sins of Manasseh? That’s the person that I referenced a minute ago in 2 Chronicles 33. I mean, this guy is an enigma for me. I look at the story of Manasseh and I’m scratching my head, and the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, 2 Chronicles 33 and verse 10. Nobody paid attention. And so the Lord brought in the king of Assyria.

They captured Manasseh and took him in chains to Babylon. It says, and when he was in distress, 2 Chronicles 33, 12, he entered, he entreated rather the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly. I mean, this is someone else’s assessment of the response of Manasseh after all of his wickedness. And what were some of the things that he did? He made his sons to pass through the fire. It says earlier in 2 Chronicles chapter 33 and verse 6. He practiced witchcraft. I mean, that’s bad. Divination and sorcery, dealing with mediums and spiritus. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord. Not just bad sins, but a lot of them. And yet he humbled himself. And when it concludes the summary of his reign in verse 18, now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, even his prayer to his God, it mentions it again in verse 18.

And the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, they’re recorded. His prayer also, and how God was entreated by him and all his sin, his unfaithfulness and the sites on which he built high places, and so he slept with his father, verse 19. But notice it references his humbling and his prayer several times. And so I’ve been left with this thought so many times. Is it possible that somebody so wicked as King Manasseh, whose sins and leadership was such that the nation of Judah never recovered after this? Even in the reign of his grandson Josiah, they never recovered as a nation after this because of the wickedness of Manasseh. And yet he himself personally humbles himself before God.

4. Willful Sins Versus Sins of Ignorance

The scripture makes account of it. Is it possible? That despite all of his atrocities, he finds himself ultimately in the presence of God. I could not deny that it’s so. Or that someone like Asa, who was generally faithful for decades, who ended rather poorly, throwing God’s seer into prison, getting deceased in his feet, and not appealing to God over that. And that’s the footnote of his life. Is it possible that Manasseh, despite the number of his sins, could be saved, and Asa could be lost. Only God knows. The third observation I would make is in regard to what the Bible speaks of as deliberate, presumptuous and willful sins versus a sin of ignorance. There is a distinction to be made between these two categories. This is the area that I don’t have time to run down every passage about this.

The psalmist says in Psalm 19, keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins. What is that talking about? Sins that are done consciously, intentionally, planned and pursued rather than something that sort of blindsides us because we lack sufficient information. And that’s what Paul says about his murder of his past when he was a persecutor of the church. He said, I was given mercy because I did this ignorantly. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul did not see what he was doing as murder, but was in his mind a zealous stand for the Lord. He was just misinformed. And when the Lord informed him on the road to Damascus and subsequently, he turned from his evil way. And so it was sin of ignorance. It wasn’t that Saul of Tarsus was saying, man, I just hate Stephen and I want to kill him because I hate him.

He thought he was defending God’cause. It was a sin of ignorance versus one that is planned, cold, and calculated, defiance of the will of God. And we saw that in Hebrews 10, right? He who goes on sinning willfully. And so somebody says, okay, so the sin I need to avoid then is a sin that is willful and defiant. Sins of ignorance, where you just sort of lapse into transgression. You weren’t planning it, things just sort of happened.

There’s a difference, right? Don’t make the mistake of thinking in relation to the practice of sin, even though the Bible talks about things being done ignorantly.

All sin involves the act of our wills. Nothing happens to us that was so strong and so alluring that our wills could not intervene and overcome. So he said, I don’t know, that passion was running pretty strong there. Well, that might not be the place when you are in a compromised position, things have gone to a certain point, and now all of a sudden you’re trying to put the brakes on. It may seem to be a little too late. But I want to tell you, there was at some point back here where you could have put the brakes on and not gotten into that circumstance. And let me just say, in regard to most sins that people commit, it was our defiance and rebellion against the righteousness of God.

That is at the heart of those transgressions. The exaltation of my will. All of us have committed sins like this where we were faced with a choice. And it wasn’t a case of ignorance, like was the case of Paul, but we were defiant and rebellious, and we knew the will of God, and we said, Nope, I’m doing this. This is my will, my wisdom. I’m better off if I do this. This is best for me, not what you have said, God. Now we might not go through all of that dialogue in our minds, but that’s really what’s happened. I’ve decided in this case, sin is the best thing for me. And you knew it was sin when you did it. You knew it was opposed to the righteousness of God.

5. A Heart Condition That Cannot Be Fixed

The will is involved in acts of sin. So it’s not, okay, I can be forgiven as long as I do it ignorantly. Not all sins are committed in ignorance. As Paul sins against the church when he persecuted the church of God. Most often it is a deliberate, willful act of rebellion. Okay, so what is it then, Tony? I mean, you’ve led me down this path all this way. What are these passages saying to us about the sin that cannot be forgiven? Let me tell you what I believe they all have in common. It is simply this. A heart condition.

A heart condition that cannot be fixed. Remember, we read this morning in our Bible class about being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sometimes in the practice of sin and in certain kinds of sins, that we can become so hardened about the practice of those things that the heart can no longer be affected by the preaching of the gospel. And that’s what’s being said in the Hebrews text. When he says, you’re crucifying afresh the Son of God. Well, is that a specific sin that one commits? Well, Simon the sorcerer didn’t commit it because even though he was in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity in Acts chapter 8, he was told to pray that the thought of his heart might be forgiven. So what kind of sin is this?

I mean, crucifying afresh the Son of God, that is a severe response in opposition to the message of salvation. And the similar passage in Hebrews 10 says, if we go on sinning willfully. It’s not a willful sin. It is going on. It’s a pattern of sinfulness. And it says, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. What does that mean? I thought Jesus died for sin. But the point is, if you reject the provisions of Jesus’ sacrifice, there is nothing else.

You reject what Jesus provided and the means by which he provided it and the conditions that he provided it. You reject that. There’s no other Johnny come lately plan that’s going to come along and save you from your sins. There’s one and only one plan. You reject that, you’re done. And if you’re going to persist in sinful rebellion, go on sinning willfully, not walking worthy of our vocation, not walking this path, but this path of unrighteousness and being steadfast and determined in it, he says, You’ve considered unclean the blood of the covenant. You’ve insulted the Spirit of grace. The only thing left is punishment. Again, there’s no other solution. And I believe that’s what we have in 1 John 5 as well. The sin that leads unto death is a sin from which people refuse to turn.

More on that in just a second. But I want you to go back to Matthew 12 now, and I want to show you something here. The word therefore started in verse 31, so it’s telling you to go back and look at the context. Whatever Jesus is saying is building on what has previously been stated. And this whole context deals with Jesus performing miracles and casting out demons in particular. And what they’re saying in verse 24, the Pharisees said, Jesus is doing this by the power of the demonic realm, the power of the devil, the Elzebub.

And Jesus said, now if you just think about that for a second, how absurd is that.

A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. This does not make sense.

How shall the kingdom stand? And he said, Furthermore, if I’m casting out demons by the realm of Satan, then by whom are your sons casting them out? People that you approve of who have the same ability, which is remarkable to me. There were others who had the ability to cast out demons. That was true when Paul was casting out demons in Acts 19. He said, If I’m casting out demons by the realm of Satan, then from what realm are your sons casting them out? You should be saying the same thing about them. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, it’s by the finger of God that he casts out demons, other texts say. This is the Holy Spirit’s role in Jesus’ ministry.

If I by the Spirit of God, if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then I’ll tell you this the kingdom of God has come upon you. This was a sign of the coming kingdom of the Messiah. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house? This is definitely being done in opposition to the demonic realm in regard to Satan’s realm. So what is he saying then when he gets to 30 and 31? I think he’s talking about his opposers in Matthew 12. And I don’t think he’s talking about a specific sin. Let’s say they said some really bad things about the Holy Spirit. They blaspheme with their tongue in relation to the Holy Spirit.

I don’t believe that’s what he’s talking about. Why would it be okay to blaspheme the Son of Man in that way? But not okay to blaspheme the Holy Spirit in that way, or for even further, the Father. He doesn’t even mention the Father. Okay, so is it good or not good if you blaspheme the Father? He’s not mentioned. We’ve got three members of the Godhead. It’s okay if you blaspheme, not okay, but you can be forgiven of a sin that blasphemes the Son of Man, but not the Holy Spirit. Where does that leave the Father? I don’t believe this passage is talking about a single act of sin where one says something bad about the Holy Spirit versus saying something bad about Jesus. But in the context, what it’s saying is what were the Pharisees doing?

Here were miracles being performed by the Spirit of God, and they were saying these were works of the devil. Let me tell you, this is what this past is talking about. They have a heart so hardened against truth, against righteousness, against Jesus as a representative of the righteousness of God. They had a heart so hardened that it could not be fixed. If you look in John 9, I would parallel passage to this is John 9. The story of the blind man who was healed. And when they’re talking to the blind man, trying to get to the bottom of what happened, this healing of the man who’d been born blind, has been healed by Jesus. They say, give glory to God. His parents won’t answer their question, so they go back to the blind man.

Give glory to God. This man is a sinner.

Same thing. Here’s Guy doing the works of God. He’s healed a man, a blind man. And they want to call him a sinner. And I love what the blind man says. Whether he’s a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see.

How did he open your eyes? He goes, I told you already. Look at this. I told you already, and you did not listen. Okay, there’s the heart condition. You did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? I’ve already told you, weren’t you listening the first time? You don’t want to become one of his disciples, do you? Oh. Stick the knife in and turn it. And they revile him. Oh, you’re his disciple. We’re Moses’ disciples. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but for this man, we don’t know where he’s from. Well, here’s an amazing thing, the blind man says that you do not know where he is from. And yet he opened my eyes. I know where he’s from. How do you not know that?

We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God fearing, does his will, he hears him since the beginning of time. It has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. What tremendous logic. So the Pharisees respond, okay, you’re right. No. They threw him out of the synagogue. They got rid of him. Jesus had to go and find him. But do you see the heart condition? They can’t acknowledge this is a miracle. This is a God work that’s taken place. I was blind. I see. Doesn’t that tell you something? But what do we see in the Pharisees in John 9 and Matthew 12? They’re going to attribute the work of God to the devil.

Tell you that’s severe. And not just because that in and of itself is wrong. Get the point. It’s not just because that’s wrong and that’s a sin against God, but it reflects a heart that cannot embrace the will of God. A heart so steeped and hardened by sin. Hosea talks about the people of God, Hosea 5 and verse 4. Another passage you need to write in your context of that, Hosea 5 4. Their deeds will not allow them to return to the Lord their God.

6. You Can Become So Hardened in Sin

So ingrained in their hearts that they can’t respond. Let me just add this little point here as we wrap this up tonight. You’ve listened well. I’ll tell you one thing, these passages are telling us. It’s not the commission of a specific sin or a certain kind of sin or a number of sins. But it’s developing a heart condition that is so opposed to righteousness. So I say, well, when do you reach that point? The Pharisees were there. Those guys in Matthew 12 were there. I don’t know for sure. I haven’t been given the specifics of that. But you can become, and you need to be cautious of this, that you can become so hardened in sin that you’re so calloused. Conscience is seared with a branding iron.

We read about that in 1 Timothy, in one of the texts there. So you can become so hardened in the practice of sin that the message of the gospel doesn’t affect you anymore. You can’t be moved by the knowledge of the sacrifice of Christ and the implications of that. You’re not going to change.

The deceitfulness of sin.

Once you practice it, you can recover. There is a way for that to be fixed. But I want to tell you, the more persistently you walk in that sin. Whatever it is.

Your odds of recovery decrease. The longer sin is practiced, the more it becomes ingrained in our hearts, so often less likely it is that we will come to our senses. And I don’t know what that sin could be for you. It’s different things for different folks. Some people can drink for a number of years and they can give it up. Some people start drinking and they can never stop. Pornography, the same way. They start. It’s just a curiosity. Totally dominates and grips their lives. I remember a case several years ago. Where a fellow was involved in an addiction to pornography, and what the doctors were saying is that it’s in the 90 percentile, he said, that’s how many don’t recover from this extensive of a practice in pornography.

That’s what doctors are saying. So hardened in the practice that they don’t recover. So whatever sin it is that’s a temptation for you, maybe it’s several, but whatever sin that you practice, be careful. It could be your undoing. That’s why we preach against it. Just yes, one lie. People today are pathological liars. People that just lie all the time. We talk about narcissism. They’ve been devoted to self for so long that’s all they can think about in any circumstance. We’ve even got titles for it now. That’s people being so ingrained in sin. And once you get to Well, have you committed the sin that cannot be forgiven? Well, listen. If your heart can no longer be affected by the message of gospel to present change in your life, and that’s that’s this word right here.

When we commit a sin, we need to not only acknowledge it, express sorrow for it. But repentance says, I am going to work to overcome it. To discontinuous practice. Lord, fix this, but who knows what next week’s going to look like. That’s no repentance. That’s not it. Well, I was doing pretty good for about two weeks. That’s no repentance.

Oh, I know we can stumble in the same area of transgression. I’m fully aware of that. But let’s talk a little bit about repentance, godly sorrow that produces a change in my behavior and walk of life. I think sometimes we don’t know success over temptation because we don’t spend enough time with Psalm 38, the passage that Jesse preached about the righteous David struggling with his transgression. As it’s foul and festers in his life. Or Psalm 51. We need to spend some time with those Psalms. Maybe write a psalm of our own. So that we can overcome the practice of sin. I know this. If we don’t take sin seriously in our lives. And that’s what the Hebrew writer is saying. And John and 1 John. We could develop a heart condition that cannot be fixed.

Conclusion

Instead, let us pray. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there be any hurtful way in me. And lead me in the everlasting way. May God lead you and me in the everlasting way. Is there someone in our audience tonight who needs to begin walking in the everlasting way? That’s the choice of obedience to the gospel or rejection of this message. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Will you render your heart obedient to the King of Kings? Won’t you respond while we stand and sing?