One Unforgivable Sin
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INTRO
ILL Pre-Marriage counseling
(A) Past sins need to come out before, because if you hide it and it comes out later it can destroy the marriage.
(B) Progressives—so open about their sin, they bring it into the relationship.
(A) Christians who attend church fearfully, with doubt that God will really forgive their past.
INTRO
Need comforted
(B) Those who profess Christ, but entirely too comfortable with their sin.
Should be fearful that they are even in Christ
Many who profess Christ suffer from the same problem: attending church in hopes that God won’t reject them. They cannot fathom forgiveness no matter what promises are made. They are frightened to tell the truth and need to be comforted and encouraged.
Many who profess Christ suffer from the same problem: attending church in hopes that God won’t reject them. They cannot fathom forgiveness no matter what promises are made. They are frightened to tell the truth and need to be comforted and encouraged.
This is an analogy for the way we see today’s passage.
This is an analogy for the way we see today’s passage.
The purpose of today’s passage is to comfort the frightened and to frighten the comfortable.
The purpose of the passage is to comfort the frightened and to frighten the comfortable.
To comfort those who are fearful they have no salvation.
And to frighten those who claim salvation, but live as the world.
EPIPHANY: There is a sin that is not forgiven.
Many Christians live in doubt or fear that they will one day stand before God and find out that they did’t make the cut, that God’s grace was not sufficient for their circumstances. Certainly if there is am unforgivable sin, then I have committed it.
And other professing Christians are so comfortable in their sin, blindly confident in God’s grace that they don’t even realize they have completely missed the point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, as we go through this passage and look at the unforgivable sin, I hope to comfort the frightened and at the same time to frighten the comfortable.
BODY
BODY
Our passage centers on an episode where the religious elite of Jesus’s day accused Jesus of casting out demons according to the power of Beelzebub rather than the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re going to work through a series of questions. The first is...
A HOUSE DIVIDED
20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
23 So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”,—30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
What work was the Holy Spirit doing?
Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit (something we accept with little to no context)
Who/what are demons? — 2 usages in the NT (with some crossover)
(A) Lesser gods
Context:
No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!
(B) Shades or ‘departed spirits’ of the Giants (Gospels)
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten secretly is tasty!” But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Explain the verse: thieves, demons, sheol.
departed spirits: rephaim, giants
In life, the giants were violent people who fed on the flesh of humans
In life, the giants were violent people who fed on the flesh of humans
In death, they seek the spiritual destruction of humans
ANSWER: Jesus was freeing people from bondage to oppressive spirits or demons who were seeking their destruction, physically and spiritually for eternity. - elaborate
What was the accusation?
The scribes accused Jesus of casting out these spirits by the power of the devil or Beelzebub, rather than according to the Holy Spirit’s power.
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
Beelzebub (original)
Lord of Flies: that’s a good thing in Caananite thinking; symbolizes death on the battlefield.
Jews play on words: Beelzebul, Lord of Dung
believed to live outside the city in the wilderness
cf. The devil in the wilderness
Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
Scribes: Ruler of the demons.
Lots of names for the Satan: cf. (serpent, devil, Satan)
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
cf. Azazel (The demon in the wilderness from Leviticus)
cf. In Jewish thinking, Satan is in the wilderness ()
Jewish folk lore has Azazel as the leader of the rebellion in heaven who led a third of the angels to rebel against God.
Came to earth and had daughters with human women ()
Their offspring were the Nephilim or Giants
Their disembodied spirits are the demons.
Therefore Satan or the Devil or the Serpent, or the dragon, or Beelzebub, or Beelzebul, or Azazel—whatever you want to call this elusive creature—he is seen by the Jews as the ruler of the demons; the top authority over all evil and demonic things of this world.
You can see how silly the scribes accusation is: Satan is casting out his own minions.
What is Jesus’s defense?
(A) Satan’s house would be divided.
So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished.
NOTE: He summoned them—they weren’t accusing him directly, but spreading rumors.
This is obvious. (unless there is a power struggle among the demons, which is referenced no where)
ILL: You can’t win a war by killing your own people.
(B) You need a greater authority (to command demons you need an authority higher than Satan).
But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
Explain
(cf. Great Commission)
Authority on earth had been trusted to Satan and his angels.
Now, all authority belongs to Jesus.
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
Phil 2
Casting out demons is an expression of Jesus’s authority even over Satan.
The heart of Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (cf. other Gospel accounts) was to place Jesus under Satan’s authority.
Jesus isn’t just more powerful than Satan, but he has bound him so that the Great Commission can go forward into this world.
Binding of Satan (What does it mean?) — two views
Authority (partial binding)
In the Abyss (full binding)
Either way, Satan and his demons have no authority over you.
SIDE NOTE: Jesus expressed his authority over the demons when previously they had power from the prince of this world (the Devil). No longer do any of the divine beings have authority to rule on the earth, but only Jesus (cf. Great Commission)
SIDE NOTE: Jesus expressed his authority over the demons when previously they had power from the prince of this world (the Devil). No longer do any of the divine beings have authority to rule on the earth, but only Jesus (cf. Great Commission)
The scribes didn’t believe Jesus was sent by God and so they accused Jesus of casting out demons by Satan’s power. And Jesus responded by claiming a higher authority.
This is why Jesus does not feel any need to submit to Satan in the wildernesss; He will recieve greater authority from the Father; cf. .
What is the consequence of the scribe’s disbelief?
Jesus insinuated that they committed the unforgivable sin; blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
Disbelief
Jesus spoke to them in parables because the were saying He had an unclean spirit. I.e. they refused to believe and attributed the work of God to the devil as a result.
Grammar:
So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
:
, So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables… —because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus spoke In parables so as not to communicate (cf. Note on parables in parable of the sower) who he really is lest the repent and believe (cf. ).
The sin is not so much doubt or disbelief as it is a lifelong refusal to believe. There is always opportunity to believe as long as you have breath.
What about his family?
Jesus’s family refused to believe.
Bookends of the story.
Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”
story ensues
His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.” He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus refused them when they came to take him away.
He denied his own family when the disciples came to tell him they were there for him.
Who is Jesus’s true family?
Blood relatives are not family for Jesus, but those who believe.
Jesus placed his own flesh and blood, brothers and sisters on the same level as the scribes because of their disbelief.
Children of God
Not all are children of God (at least not in every sense).
Children of God and brothers of Christ are those who believe in Jesus and are joined to Him in life and purpose ().
This is about who is God’s family and who is not.
Those who believe are adopted as sons of God. Those who don’t believe are not and their sins are not forgiven.
EXH:
If you are guilty of the unforgivable sin, the sin of denial, the sin of disbelief, then you have every reason to fear.
For eternity (separated from God and everything good)
For now (alone)
Let today be your day of repentance when you choose to believe in Jesus and commit your life to His purposes. And enter into the family of God.
(What if I doubted or didn’t believe for a time?)
If you are confident in your faith in Jesus (cf. : if you confess… ) then you should be encouraged; you have been adopted as sons and daughters of God; you have become God’s family. You are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and you will receive an eternal inheritance of peace, joy, and love in the Holy Spirit.
You have no reason to be frightened.
The purpose of the passage is to comfort the frightened and to frighten the comfortable.
Comfort for the frightened.
The purpose of the passage is to comfort the frightened and to frighten the comfortable.
Fright for the comfortable. — don’t be like the scribes