Never Forgiveness

Mark 3:20-30

Never say never. I have heard that many times in my lifetime. But there are many times in our Bible that we are told never is a reality. Some of the blessed nevers of the Scriptures.

Judges 2:1 I will never break my covenant with you.

Charity never faileth.

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Those are nevers that I am glad to be a part of. There are, however, some nevers that have a much more negative tone to them. But the one tome never is mentioned that seems to overshadow any other time is found here in our text this morning. Jesus said, “never forgiveness.” Every person in this room this morning that has accepted by faith the grace of God, has experienced the ultimate act of forgiveness. Your sins are gone. Under the blood. Each day we fall short and commit sin, yet as we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I think it is hard for us to comprehend a sin that is so vile, wicked, and heinous that it is beyond the loving reach of Jesus Christ. Please understand that this is not some off handed comment that was made, it came form the mouth of the very Lamb of God. When God says never, He means never. When man says never, it may or may not be true. There was quite a crowd that had gathered around, and many people heard these words firsthand. What is the unpardonable sin? This morning we will look at the events and illustrations leading up to the pronouncement of the unpardonable sin, and then the meaning of the unpardonable sin, in a message I have called, “Never Forgiveness.”

1. The events and illustrations leading up to it. There were many in the crowd that were against what the Lord was saying and doing. He had claimed to be God, he had healed many diseases, blindness, and deformities. He had gone so far as to perform miracles on the Sabbath, so many people had been offended, including His own friends and family. So the plan was to lay hold on Him. They wanted to basically arrest Him, take Him back to Nazareth, and give Him time to get His thinking straight. Then some scribes chimed in and said that Jesus had been casting devils in the name of the Devil. They also said He had Beelzebub. That is the lord of the flies. It wasn’t a pleasant name; in reality they were calling Him the lord of filth. Why did they lodge such a brutal attack on the personhood of Christ? If they acknowledged that He was working in the power of God, then they would be obligated to follow Him. They would have to admit that their religious system was dead, and that they were in need of a spiritual transformation. He immediately asks them, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” Even though He addresses the issue to their logic, they were beyond logical reasoning in their anger and unbelief. In order to set them straight on their wild, unfounded accusation, the Lord teaches them the truth in by parables.

Kingdom Divided Against Itself. When there is civil war or great political strife, the kingdoms is compromised, and is heading for a fall.

House Divided. This brings the illustration closer to home. When mom and dad aren’t on the same page, its hard for the house to be home. The same idea is true for the House of God. People get the idea that they are going to defend their honor, or their belief, no matter how wacky, in Jesus name. Then some split occurs, and there is a schism in the body. Can I just remind you of some words from the Bible?

Even now are there many antichrists. Where do they come from?

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

The last illustration explains how difficult it is to rob a well defended home. If the strong man is not bound, then you are in for a rough time. Is the unbeliever bound in the dreadful chains of sin? Yes, but Jesus is able to break our bondage and set us free.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. My chains fell off.

2. An education concerning the unpardonable sin. You have to appreciate the fullness of verse 28, before you can even consider defining any unpardonable sin. All sins and blasphemies are forgivable offenses. Does that mean those that violate the 10 commandments? Yes. The adultery, the murderer, the persecutor, the fool who had in times past doubted the very existence of God, all these can be forgiven. Think of Peter as he stood outside and denied the Lord three times. Think of Mark who deserted Paul on his missionary trip. Think of David who committed adultery, devised a plan to have a man killed. Forgiven. When God forgives our sins; they are as far as the east is from the west. They are buried in the depths of the sea of forgetfulness.

The attention getter; in danger of eternal damnation. Doesn’t say that it is a sure thing. You are in danger of losing your job. Let’s go back to the context of the passage. The scribes were guilty of speaking evil of the Holy Ghost. Jesus was casting out demons, healing the sick, and preaching the Word in the power of the Holy Ghost. When they accused Him of doing these things in the power of Satan, they were blaspheming the very Spirit of God. In reality, the unpardonable sin cannot be committed the same way it was back then. These people were eye witnesses of the miracles of Christ, but chose to reject them. If someone tells you have committed the unpardonable sin, ask them how they know! Let just say this: if you have the spiritual awareness to ask yourself if you have ever committed the unpardonable sin, then you probably haven’t. One old preacher said this: The unpardonable sin is the absence of two things:

1. Contrition

2. And the Desire to be forgiven.

But there is a principle that closely parallels this that can lead a person into eternity having never forgiveness. Those that continually reject the Spirit’s convicting presence and call to be saved are in danger of entering eternity without being pardoned.

During World War II, an American naval force in the North Atlantic was engaged in heavy battle with enemy ships and submarines on an exceptionally dark night. Six planes took off from the carrier to search out those targets, but while they were in the air a total blackout was ordered for the carrier in order to protect it from attack. Without lights on the carrier’s deck the six planes could not possibly land, and they made a radio request for the lights to be turned on just long enough for them to come in. But because the entire carrier, with its several thousand men as well as all the other planes and equipment, would have been put in jeopardy, no lights were permitted. When the six planes ran out of fuel, they had to ditch in the freezing water and all crew members perished into eternity.

There comes a time when God turns out the lights, when further opportunity for salvation is forever lost. That is why Paul told the Corinthians, “Now is ‘the accepted time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’ ” (2 Cor. 6:2). One who rejects full light can have no more light-and no forgiveness.