The Unpardonable Sin

Matthew 12:31–32

Intro.

In Scotland, many years ago, there was a man walking on the beach. In Scotland, the tide comes in very fast and very full. On one side was the ocean. On the other side, there were towering cliffs, almost impossible to scale without a stairway or help. As this man was walking way out on the beach, because the tide had gone out, he came to a marker, a sign. That sign said, “Do not go beyond this point. If you do, you will not have sufficient time to get back before the tide comes in.”

Well, he disregarded that sign, thinking he could out-walk or outrun any tide that might come in. But then, the tide turned and began to come in and wash around his feet. He turned and made his way back toward the cliffs, but he had misjudged the distance. He had failed to heed the sign. Then, the water began to wash around his knees and his waist, and he began to struggle. And as he reached the cliff, he tried to climb up. There were those who were watching, and they tried to get to him, but they could not help him. Then, a great wave came and washed him down from the cliff. And the onlookers tragically watched him die. Tragically. Why? Because he had crossed the deadline. He had gone beyond the point of no return.

Our Lord tells us about something like that in the spiritual world. In Matthew chapter 12 and verse 31, He gives one of the most solemn warnings in all of the Bible. Here’s what he says:

Matthew 12:31–32 “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

According to these solemn words by the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a sin that, if one commits it, he will never, never, ever be forgiven.

There is a time, we know not when,

A point we know not where,

That marks the destiny of men

To glory or despair.

There is a line by us unseen,

That crosses every path;

The hidden boundary between

God’s patience and his wrath.

—JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER

If you cross that line, you are irretrievably lost. You can never be saved: not in this world—obviously—nor in the world to come.

There is a sin that theologians have called the unpardonable sin.

Now if there is a sin that is unpardonable, that can never be forgiven, indeed, we need to be advised of it. We need to be warned. We need to be careful.

I want you to listen, as we look into the Word of God, to find out, first of all, what the unpardonable sin is; secondly, what the results of committing this sin are; and, thirdly, what can we do that we may never ever commit the unpardonable sin.

I. What Is the Unpardonable Sin?

What is the unpardonable sin? Well, let me say, first of all, what it is not.

A. It Is Not a Moral Sin

It is not some moral sin. It is not, for example, adultery, or fornication, or sexual perversion, or murder, or rape, suicide—not some moral sin. All of these sins are terrible and horrible, and, unless they’re forgiven, will indeed damn the soul. But, thank God, they can be forgiven.

And the Bible says, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

Hallelujah for that! Every stain, every blot, every blur, every blemish, that ever came across a human soul can be washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ!

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). Thank God for that. It’s not a moral sin.

B. It Is Not an Intellectual Sin

It’s not an intellectual sin. You say, “Well, maybe the unpardonable sin is unbelief.” No, unbelief can be pardoned.

Failing to believe God will not condemn you, if you will repent of it and believe. Jesus prayed for those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Some people, in ignorance, blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ, and they say He’s not the Son of God: “He is an imposter; He was a pious fraud.” They don’t know better. Then they learn better, and get saved.

The Apostle Paul was one like that. Everybody is an unbeliever before he becomes a believer.

So, unbelief—though, if you persist in that unbelief, will drag you down into hell—but unbelief is not an unpardonable sin.

C. It Is Not a Verbal Sin

“Well,” somebody says, “then maybe it’s some verbal sin. Maybe it’s some horrible oath that you might say, especially if you say something about the Holy Ghost.”

Some people think you can curse God the Father, and it can be forgiven; or you can curse God the Son, and it can be forgiven; but don’t curse God the Spirit.

Well, friend, if you have one iota, of sense, don’t curse God the Father, Son, or the Holy Spirit.

To curse one is to curse the other, because they are one in three.

The Bible says, “The LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

And if you take the name of God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit, and take it upon your lips in some vile oath, you have committed a horrible and egregious sin. You’ll face that sin at the judgment, unless it’s forgiven. But it can be forgiven.

D. It Is the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

What is the unpardonable sin? Our Lord calls it the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

Look at it here again. He says here, in verse 31,

Matt.12.31 “And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

To blaspheme means, “to willfully speak hurtfully against someone, to defame one’s character, reputation and his intentions.” That is blasphemy.

Now you can blaspheme God the Father and be forgiven.

You can blaspheme God the Son and be forgiven.

But you can’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. Why is that?

Is one more important that the other? Of course not! But it is the duty and the office work of the Holy Spirit that makes the sin different.

What does the Holy Spirit do? The Holy Spirit of God is the One who opens your understanding.

The Holy Spirit of God is the One who gives light.

God the Father sent the Son. The Son, the Lord Jesus, came willingly and died in agony and blood for our sins.

But God the Holy Spirit is the One who helps you to understand that.

That’s the reason that, when I pray before I came out here, I said, “Oh, God, give me power, give me anointing, give me the ability to make the message clear and plain; because I cannot do it by myself.”

“Anything I can talk you into somebody else can talk you out of.” You need what the Holy Spirit of God can do.

You need the Holy Spirit of God to speak to you.

And so my prayer is that it will be fulfilled in the Word of the Scripture: “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32).

My prayer is that when I preach to you, the Holy Spirit will be saying to your heart, “Amen, that’s right; what he’s saying is true.”

The Holy Spirit is the One who opens the understanding.

The Holy Spirit is the One who gives light.

The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals truth.

So, when the Holy Spirit is working, then you can no longer plead ignorance. When the Holy Spirit is working, there is light. And where there is light, there is responsibility.

Listen carefully. When the judgment comes, the judgment is not primarily sin committed; it is light rejected. It is light rejected.

God will judge you, not primarily for the sin that you’ve committed—although you deserve to be judged for that—but the judgment is, first and foremost, a judgment, because you sinned against the light.

John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

II. The Sin of the Pharisees

I think I can illustrate it if I give you an episode that happened just before Jesus gave this solemn warning. Matt.12:22-31 “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, —obviously, not every blind person has a demon, and not every speechless person has a demon. But this man did. He was possessed with a demon. He was blind and dumb—

and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

And when they said the word or the phrase, Son of David, they meant, “Is this not the Messiah, David’s greater Son?”—

But when the Pharisees heard this,

now, who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were the religious leaders of that day, full of pomposity and pride. The Pharisees were those religious leaders who cared for form and not substance.

they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

Matt.12:30-31 ““Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. That brings us back to our text:

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

Note:

Here’s a man. He’s blind. He’s dumb. He’s demon-possessed. They bring him to Jesus Christ. And Jesus, with the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God upon his life, performs a miracle. It was an obvious miracle. I mean, he was a blind man—and now he sees. Here is a man who cannot speak—and now he is speaking. There is no way to deny it.

And so the Pharisees were there, and they saw the crowds turning to Jesus. They were listening to the Holy Spirit of God. And they said, “Is this not the son of David? Is this not the Messiah?” And they saw the crowds leaving them and beginning to follow the Lord Jesus Christ because of this miracle that had been done by the Spirit of God. They couldn’t deny it, so they tried to explain it away.

So here’s what they said: “Oh, yes, sure. Surely. Yes. Why, He cast the devils out of this man, the demons out of this man. Why, surely He did that. But, ladies and gentlemen, listen to us. We’ll tell you how He did it. He did it by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.”

What they were saying was: Jesus Himself was demon-possessed; Jesus was full of the devil.

And when they said He cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, that was the vilest thing they could possibly say.

Who was Beelzebub? Let me tell you who Beelzebub was.

The Phoenicians, who gave us the alphabet, a seafaring people, a very intelligent people in many ways, had reached the very bottom of the garbage pail, so far as depravity and idolatry is concerned.

The Phoenicians had a god they called Beelzebub, and he was the god of filth, the god of putrefaction, the god of decay and muck and slime and garbage.

You ask, “Well, why would anybody worship a god like that?” Well, the Phoenicians, a very observant people, would notice that, when there was a carcass of an animal on the ground and after a while it became bloated and began to stink and decay, then, ipso facto, it seemed to them, miraculously, there would be little white worms that would begin to work in that filth.

Well, you know what it was: maggots, the larvae of flies. The flies had come, and would light upon that, and would lay their microscopic eggs.

And those eggs would hatch, and the larvae—the maggots—would work there, and after a while, there would be flies.

And the Phoenicians said, “Look at that! Out of rottenness, out of stench, out of filth, there comes life! So life comes out of filth!”

And so they began to worship the god of filth. And the name they gave him was Beelzebub, the lord of the flies. And that’s what they worshiped.

Now To a Jew—and rightly so—that was the worst thing they could think of. How stupid! How ungodly to worship filth!

Now you know what they did when they said this to Jesus. I mean, they went through the lexicon of their vocabulary to get the worst thing they could possibly get. They said, “That’s who He is: He casts out devils by the prince of devils, Beelzebub.” And when they said that, that’s when Jesus gave the warning about the unpardonable sin.

A. They Sinned Against Redemption

Now, you see, what did they do? Well, in the first place, they sinned against redemption and love. I mean, what was the Lord Jesus Christ doing, anyway?

Why did they hate Him? Why did they oppose Him? What was He doing?

Opening blind eyes, loosing dumb tongues. What was Jesus doing?

The Bible says He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). Tell me, why would anyone not love Jesus? Why? How good He is! How wonderful He is! How kind and loving is the Lord Jesus Christ! But they turned their back on such love and such redemption.

B. They Sinned Against Reason

But not only did they sin against redemption. They sinned against reason. They said, “He cast out devils by the devil.”

Jesus, knowing you don’t get to be a Pharisee by being stupid—these were people who were educated, these were the equivalent of the Ph.D.s of our day—and Jesus said, “You say that I have cast out devils by the prince of devils.” Jesus said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand” (Matthew 12:25).

How can Satan cast out Satan? Nobody works for Satan by working against Satan. If Satan cast out Satan, his house comes tumbling down. He’s working against Himself.

Jesus is saying, “What you are saying doesn’t make sense.” Nobody works for Satan by delivering people of evil spirits and healing broken hearts, redeeming men from sin.

It was so obvious Jesus was not in collusion with the devil. And they could see that, except for the fact that sin had caused them to put out their eyes.

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

But you’d have to be a preacher—to know that there are plenty of people just like these Pharisees who are alive today.

Some may be listening to me online, or maybe you’re here today, and you sin against reason.

You know better, but yet you refuse the Lord Jesus Christ. And you give some silly reason that wouldn’t stand up in any other place.

You say, “Well, I don’t want to be a Christian, because there are so many hypocrites in the church.”

Well, you know, that doesn’t make sense. You know, there are hypocrites in every area of life. Some lawyers are shysters. Some doctors are quacks. But you go to lawyers and doctors if you need one.

Some money is counterfeit. But you haven’t thrown away all of yours. Some food is poison. But you still eat.

I mean, you know better than that. You know that every hypocrite only proves the worth and validity of the real.

A hypocrite is a counterfeit Christian. People don’t counterfeit gum wrappers. They counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. Why? Because it is the counterfeit that proves the worth and the validity of the real.

You know that, but your mind gives some silly reason: “Well, I don’t go to church, because my mama made me go when I was a little boy.” Oh? I bet you she made you take baths too. So now you’ve stopped taking baths—haven’t you?—because your mama made you take a bath when you were a little boy.

What I’m trying to say is, “Pardon me, but the excuse you give is stupid”—stupid.

What the Pharisees said to Jesus was stupid: that He, Satan, cast out Satan. And Jesus pointed that out to them.

A person says, “Well, I’m not going to be a Christian, because there’s so much to give up.” Oh? Well, what has God asked you to give up? Only that which will hurt you.

“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

That would be like saying, “I’d like to get healed, but I hate giving up my cancer.”

All that God asks you to give up is that which harms you and hurts you. God loves you.

C. They Sinned Against Revelation

People give silly reasons. They sinned against redemption. He was infinite love. They sinned against reason. What they did, did not make sense.

You could sin against redemption, and sin against reason, and be forgiven.

But here’s where they made their big mistake: they sinned against revelation—they sinned against revelation.

They knew better. Jesus said that, “the kingdom of God is come upon you” (Matthew 12:28).

He was the King. He was in their midst. Not only was He performing miracles, but the Holy Spirit of God was speaking to their hearts—and they sinned against the light.

John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

When God comes to judge our city, your city, God is not going to judge our city, your, primarily because of the sins of SS, D, but because of the light that was rejected.

You’re in Matthew 12. Go back to Matthew 11. Just look, if you will, in Matthew 11—look in verse 23:

“And you, Capernaum,- Capernaum was Jesus’ headquarters city. Capernaum was the buckle on the Bible belt. Capernaum was the place where Jesus had done his most notable miracles. Capernaum was where Jesus began his public ministry. Capernaum was a beautifully situated city. It had a wonderful synagogue there, and Jesus speaks to Capernaum—

will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom,

—you know what Sodom was? Sodom was that city down by the Dead Sea from which we get the name for one of the most terrible sins known to man: sodomy. A vile, wicked city. God destroyed Sodom with fire and brimstone. And Sodom’s smoking ruins are an eternal testimony as to how He feels about that sin. But He says to Capernaum, this headquarter city, this buckle on the Bible belt where He did his miracles—“Capernaum …

if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom,

it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.””

How does God judge in the Day of Judgment? Not primarily by the sin committed, but by the light rejected.

Capernaum, like this city, SS, DC, LA, SF,NY, RJ, DF,..

had so much light, had heard so much truth; but they sinned against the light, they put out their own eyes; and when they did, they blasphemed the Holy Spirit who is the messenger of light, who is the One who opens eyes spiritually that people might see.

III. The Consequences of Crossing the Deadline

Now, what happens when a person commits this sin? What are the consequences of crossing the deadline, of saying no to God until the Holy Spirit of God is so insulted, so wounded, that He ceases to strive and speak to a human heart?

A. You Are Deceived

Well, first of all, you’re deceived. The unpardonable sin has great deceptive power. One of the most terrifying passages is one that is linked with this passage,

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion

—“Wait a minute, pastor. Reread that. You read it wrong. It’s the devil that deludes people, not God.” No, I read it right. I read it right. You read it right. —well, why would God do this?—so that they will believe the lie

—“Well, wait a minute. God doesn’t want people to believe a lie. That’s Satan. He wants people to believe the truth. That’s Jesus.” But according to this scripture, there is a cause that caused God to send delusion. Why?

and so that all will be condemned - Why? Well, look—

who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

(2 Thessalonians 2:11–12).

Now, listen very carefully. In this passage of Scripture, the opposite of truth is not error; it is unrighteousness.

You see, so many times people think that the choice is between truth and error. It is not. There are people here today who are 100% convinced that what I say is true, but yet they will not yield their heart to Jesus Christ. Do you know why?

Because of unrighteousness. It is not that they don’t believe. It is that they will not yield to what they believe.

They hear the truth, but they believe not the truth. And why do they believe not the truth? Because they have pleasure in unrighteousness.

So they’re faced with a choice. If I receive the truth, that means that I’m going to have to change my lifestyle, because the truth has certain demands upon it.

Truth is not merely interesting; it is disturbing. When you hear the truth and obey the truth, it changes your life.

So a man says, “If I obey the truth, then I’m going to have to leave my unrighteousness.

Here’s truth; here’s sin. I choose my sin.” And when he does that, he sins against the light, and he does something very terrible, something very horrible: he has pleasure in unrighteousness.

Let me see if I can illustrate it for you. Here’s a man who comes to church on a Sunday morning. Now the pastor probably does not preach enough on tithing, but he knows he ought to preach tithing, because he’s got to preach the whole counsel of God. And so upon a Sunday, this man, who’s an unsaved man, visits church. And there’s the pastor, and he preaches on tithing. That man begins to mutter and fume. And he says to himself, “Money, money, money! That’s all they ever talk about down there is money! They’re just trying to get your money down there at that church!” This man, he has a god. His god is gold; his creed is greed; and his motto is: “Get all you can, and can all you get; sit on the lid, and poison the rest.” So when the preacher begins to talk about giving, he touches this man’s god. This man begins to fume and say, “I’m not coming back”—oh, I forgot to tell you. He was there a year ago when the preacher preached on tithing. And the devil said, “Now it’s time for you to come back. He’s going to preach it again a year later.” Now he knows better. He never stops to ask, “Is this true?” He never stops to ask, “Is the preacher preaching the Word of God?” He never stops to ask the whole thing. No. He doesn’t want to know. And so he’s faced with truth and unrighteousness, which is in this place, greed. So he stomps out, muttering that he will never be back again.

A few months later he’s sitting at home on Sunday morning. The wife and children have gone to church. He’s sitting there watching TV, when somebody comes and knocks on the door. It’s two of Jehovah’s False Witnesses. They say, “We are here to tell you there is no hell.” He says, “Come in, come in.” He listens, and he believes a lie.

You say, “Well, he was sincere.” He was sincerely wrong, and he has delusion, that he would believe a lie, that he might be damned. Why? Because he never heard the truth? No. Because he heard the truth, and chose his rotten sin over the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:11 “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie”

I’m convinced that many who were once in the church, but now are not, are in New Age cults today, many people who are in all of these kind of weird, bizarre beliefs, are there because, when they heard truth, they refused truth.

They had pleasure in their sin, they followed their sin; and the baggage of their sin is their delusion and the lies.

But it’s the sin itself that causes them to carry that baggage.

They sin against the light. When a man does that, he crosses the deadline and can never ever be saved.

Conclusion

Where is that point? Where is that point where a man crosses the deadline? I don’t know.

But in front of every unsaved man there is a point of no return.

And if you feel any desire to come to Jesus Christ, you ought to do it.

You say, “Pastor, I would think that if a person committed the unpardonable sin, they would be tormented day and night.” No, you’re wrong. He’ll be in perfect calmness. He won’t worry about it at all.

If you’re worried that you’ve committed the unpardonable sin, thank God, you haven’t. If you want to be saved, you can be saved.

“Pastor, I think I’ve committed the unpardonable sin. Is there hope for me?” Absolutely! If you want to be saved, come. Whosoever will may come. When you commit the unpardonable sin, no longer will you will to will, because it’s the Holy Spirit of God that works in you to draw you to Jesus Christ.

If you have a desire to come to Jesus, come today; and I promise you, on the authority of the Word of God, that He’ll save you.