A Sin Too Far

Mt 12:22-37

Who can you believe these days?

Used to be the news media reported the news, but now they offer opinion and manipulate the news.

Used to be that scientists sought the truth about the world we live in, but now many of them have to make sure their papers don’t suggeest something politically incorrect, or else they’ll be deplatformed.

Used to be that universities Used to encourage debate and discourse, but now only a particular agenda is allowed to be heard.

In this passage in Matthew’s gospel, the scribes were trying to manipulate the truth to suit their agenda, but in doing so, they exposed their own hard-heartedness and bias, and ended up going a sin too far.

But what is “a sin too far”?

1. Truth Resisted

Scribes accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons.

Jesus reveals how foolish that idea was - Satan couldn’t be as effective as he is in the world if he started working aginst his own agenda.

Yet, because they despised the Lord Jesus so much, they accused Him of being empowered by Satan.

That was a very serious accusation. In fact, under Israel’s laws there were two capital crimes they may have been accusing Jesus of: the crime of blasphemy, by claiming to be using the power of God, and the crime of being a false prophet, trying to turn people away from God - both were punishable by death (Le 24 & De 13).

But how did Jesus work while He was on earth? He worked using the power of the Holy Spirit. He could have used His own power as God the Son, but He chose not to and instead live as a man and use the power of God the Holy Spirit to do what He had been sent to do.

Ac 10:38

[38] "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”

In fact, in His challenge to the scribes in this chapter, He tells them it is the Holy Spirit who is at work:

Mt 12:28

[28] "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”

And then the Lord confronts them with their sin:

Mt 12:31–32

[31] "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

[32] "And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

How had the scribes committed this sin of speaking against the Holy Spirit?

Obvious that the power that cast out the demons was from God, but scribes said that the work done by the Holy Spirit was not of God, but was of the devil.

They were saying that the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Lord Jesus was:

Not good, but evil

Not true, but deceptive

Not liberating, but binding

That was speaking against the Holy Spirit. It literally means they were talking down the work of the Holy Spirit. They were minimising His work. That was slander against the Holy Spirit, or, as Mark ch 3 puts it, it was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Now you may say, “I would never behave like that. I would never blaspheme God the Holy Spirit like they did!”

But what happens when a sinner refuses to believe the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit? Or what is happening when the sinner refuses to act on the prompting of the Holy Spirit?

They are saying that the Holy Spirit is:

Not good, but evil - “this gospel is not good for me; I reckon I can find a better way myself”

Not true, but deceptive - “I don’t believe that what you say is true; you’re just trying to get me to join you’re religious club”

Not liberating, but binding - “I just don’t want to be restricted by all your dos and don’ts; I want my own freedom”

Do you not realise that by resisting the Holy Spirit convicting you, you’re guilty of the same sin as those scribes?

By refusing God’s gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ you’re telling the Holy Spirit that He can’t be trusted. That’s speaking against the Holy Spirit. It’s a form of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and as long as you continue to do that and refuse God’s call to be saved, you have no hope.

In fact, so long as you keep refusing God’s salvation there can be no forgiveness for you.

Mk 3:29

[29] "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:”

Hope remains for the person who hasn’t yet accepted Christ, but who remains open to the Holy Spirit’s call and leading.

But there is no hope for the one who may admit who Christ is, but who refuses to listen any more to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. They may put feelings of conviction down to “Just emotion”, or “psychological manipulation”, or an attempt by the preacher to change their denomination, but if they have determined to reject any further conviction, they have rejected the Holy Spirit and there is no hope for them.

Notice, that you are in danger of eternal damnation. As long as you resist there is no forgiveness, now nor in eternity. But once you stop resisting, once you stop denying the truth the Holy Spirit is revealing to you, once you respond to His call with repentance and faith, turning from sin and trusting the Saviour, then you’re no longer speaking against the Holy Spirit but you’re saying the same thing as the Holy Spirit - that’s confession.

Holy Spirit convicting:

That you are a sinner

That you can do nothing about your sin

That your sin deserves eternal punishment

That Christ paid the price of your sin, so you don’t need to be condemned

That you must repent of your sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ

That you must do it now

Will you confess that now? Will you agree to all of that now and come to Jesus to be saved?

Truth Resisted

2. Hearts Revealed

A time coming when God will reveal the hearts of all people.

When reading verses 33-35 we need to remember what Jesus means by good. He told the rich young ruler, “There is none good, save God” - so when Jesus says good we can read “godly” or “like God”. The unsaved person can’t speak godly things - God can’t approve of what they say, for even when they speak the truth it’s spoiled by a heart of sin.

A man can preach a clear gospel message, with structure, alliteration, illustrations, and eloquence, but if the preacher is not a saved man, that sermon doesn’t come with God’s approval. God may choose to save in spite of the preacher, but there’s no “Well done” from God to that man, because his words came out of a corrupted heart.

Another man, a saved man this time, preaches a gospel message even though he’s not a gifted preacher. He’s stumbling over his words out of nervousness. He gets a bit mixed up when he’s quoting verses. He’s not looking up in case he makes eye-contact with anyone. His message hasn’t got any structure or alliteration. But he’s preaching from his heart out of love for lost souls. No matter the outcome of that message, the nervous preacher has God’s approval. He will hear a well done, not because of his eloquence, for he didn’t have any, but because of his faithful service for his Lord.

The difference is the heart. The heart of one is still steeped in sin, and so every word is spoiled by sin. The other has been cleansed from sin, so every word is shining with the glory of Heaven upon it.

So how do we know which is which?

Well, for us, we may never know. We can certainly have an indication from the fruit in a persons life.

Mt 7:20

[20] "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

But sometimes it can be hard for us to see what’s genuinely from God and what isn’t.

But God knows - and there’s coming a day when God will reveal what every person’s heart is really like.

Heb 4:13

[13] "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

1 Co 4:5

[5] "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”

There is coming a day when everything will be revealed.

For the saved person, none of our sins will be revealed because they’ve all been covered by the blood of Christ, and that means we’re now justified, made pure in God’s eyes.

But for the unsaved person, every thought, every attitude, every whispered word, every hidden act will be exposed. How do I know?

Because the Bible tells me that God will judge the lost sinners out of the books that record every moment of their lives.

Re 20:12

[12] "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Now we have something today that tells us what’s right and what’s wrong, a moral code, something that shows us our sin. It’s sometimes called “The Law” - we usually call it the Bible, or God’s Word, or the Scriptures - and it’s there to show us what our sin is really like before God.

Ro 3:19–20

[19] "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

[20] "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Well, God’s Word is also in Heaven. So picture the millions of lost souls gathered around the Great White Throne, and one by one their names are called and they step forward, excuses ready. And then every deed they ever did, and every thought they ever had, and every word they ever spoke is read out of their books, and in their hearts God’s Law rings out and they know that they’re guilty. Their mouths are stopped, their excuses are worthless, they know they’re condemned and now they have no hope. And as they’re taken and cast into the lake of fire, in that moment they know they’re forever lost, banished from God’s presence into eternal flames.

God knows what the fruit of our lives are. He knows whether our lives are like a corrupt tree or a good tree, and some day the state of our hearts will be revealed.

Now you might say, “Well, what makes you think your heart’s any better than mine?”

The answer is, absolutely nothing. My hearts was just as corrupt as yours, maybe more so - but my God cleansed my heart, He gave me a new heart, and a new life, and with that new heart and new life, He gave me a new hope - His promise that I would never be lost.

And you can have that tonight too.

Truth Resisted

Hearts Revealed

3. Words Reviewed

Mt 12:36–37

[36] "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

[37] "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

What does this mean?

Our words reveal a lot about who we are. There’s no doubt that with a bit of care we can make sure we say the right thing a lot of the time, but eventually the truth will reveal itself in something we say, either publicly or in private - God hears every word.

The word idle means something that doesn’t work, or doesn’t bear fruit.

Listen to the words of Oprah Winfrey:

“My definition of God: ALL that IS.”

Well she’s wrong in her understanding of God from the outset. This is more like Buddhism.

She once said in a TV interview:

“For me at this particular time in my life I recognize that everything is about moving closer to that which is God. And without a full, spiritual center — and I’m not talking about religion — I’m talking about without understanding the fullness from which you’ve come, you can’t really fulfill your supreme moment of destiny. And I think everybody has a supreme moment of destiny.”

Now that sounds all nice and fluffy, but what does it mean? I’ve read over it a few times and I still don’t know what it means. Those words won’t work for eternal life.

George Clooney said, “I don’t believe in heaven and hell … I don’t know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual, I won’t allow this life - the only thing I know to exist - to be wasted.”

Sadly, those words don’t work either - what greater waste of life could there be than to have it cast into outer darkness to endure torments forever and ever?

Let me give you one final example from the world of celebrities that I think is one of the saddest and most tragic statements I have read:

Carrie Fisher, best known for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars, said this:

“I love the idea of God, but it’s not stylistically in keeping with the way I function. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown there is a God. I can see that people who believe in God are happier. My brother is. My dad is, too. But I doubt.”

Sadly, Carrie Fisher dies on 27th December, 2016, and as far as I know never did believe in God. She seemed so open, and her words are hopeful, but tragically they don’t work for eternal life.

Can I give you some words that will work for eternal life?

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”

“…whosoever believeth on Him (the only begotten Son of God) should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

“He that hath the Son of God hath life”

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that you sins may be blotted out.”

“Repent ye, and believe the gospel”

“God … now commandeth all men everywhere to repent”

“repent and turn to God”

What words are you thinking or saying in response to God’s Word tonight?

“Thank goodness this is nearly over”?

“That’s interesting … what’s for supper”?

“I should really do something about that - sometime”?

“Basically the same message again”?

Or how about, “I need to get saved now!”

If God has been speaking to you tonight, don’t reject Him; don’t pretend He doesn’t exist; don’t speak against Him by rejecting His gift of salvation.

Call on Him and say something like, “Lord, I know I’m a sinner and I deserve Hell. But I know you love me and sent Jesus to die for me, even though I don’t deserve it. And here and now I turn repenting from my sin and turn to God. I accept what Jesus did on the cross and thankfully receive your free gift of salvation. I ask you, Lord, to change my life and help me to live for you as proof of what you have done for me today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

If you pray those words or words like them, you will be made right tonight, and you’ll be saved forever and ever.