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Mark 3:20-35 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Go ahead and take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3.
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We proceed with our study through Mark's Gospel account.
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! We have come now to chapter 3, verse 20.
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Mark chapter 3, I'll begin reading in verse 20.
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Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat.
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And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying,
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He is out of his mind.
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And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying,
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He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.
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And he called them to him and said to them in parables,
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How can Satan cast out Satan?
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If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
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And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
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And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand.
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But is coming to an end.
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But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods,
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unless he first binds the strong man.
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Then indeed he may plunder his house.
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Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man,
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and whatever blasphemies they utter.
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But whoever blasphemies against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,
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but is guilty of an eternal sin.
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For they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.
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And his mother and his brothers came.
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And standing outside, they sent to him and called him.
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And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him,
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Your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you.
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And he answered them, Who are my mother and my brothers?
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And looking about those who sat around him, he said,
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Here are my mother and my brothers.
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For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.
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Please pray with me.
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Father God, we thank you for your word,
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and the reading of it, and the preaching of it.
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And pray, Father, this day, by the power of your Spirit,
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for those of us who know you,
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and have been given the gift of the Helper,
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that you will apply these words to our heart,
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that we might be transformed this day.
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And I pray, Father, for anyone here who may not have placed faith in Christ,
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who may not believe he is who he says he is,
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and that he did, in fact, accomplish the things that we see recorded in the Scriptures,
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that this will be the last day that would be true of them,
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that they might believe today and be saved.
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And we pray this in Christ's precious, holy, and magnified name.
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Amen.
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So this is a bit of a chunk of text,
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particularly for us as we typically try to take a little bit smaller bites of things
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and ruminate on them a bit more.
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But I had a very difficult time not including verse 20 down through 35.
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For most of you, as we read that,
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you probably noticed that we passed by a couple of subheadings.
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Please know that those are not inspired in any way whatsoever.
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From the ESV that I'm reading here,
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these are inserted,
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and most of us have the same insertions of this.
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But you'll find that as we looked at verse 28 and verse 29,
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this is the text that is often talked about.
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This is where the unpardonable sin is preached from.
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And there's lots and lots of misunderstanding about what that is and what that means.
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And I hope for us here,
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those of you who are regulars with us,
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this causes a little bit of grief in you
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to see when he says at the end of verse 29,
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but is guilty of an eternal sin.
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What does that mean?
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Because we preach a gospel of forgiveness.
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A gospel that comes by grace alone through faith
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and Christ alone forever.
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We believe that our sins are expunged from us.
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That they are cast as far as the east is from the west.
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That they are forgotten.
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That when God looks at us who have believed in Christ,
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He sees the righteousness of Christ.
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So we preach a gospel of forgiveness.
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And here we see it taught that there's a sin that cannot be forgiven
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and that should cause a little bit of conflict in you
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until we arrive together, I hope,
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at what this really means and how we should understand it.
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There are lots and lots of entirely unacceptable understandings
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of what the unpardonable sin is.
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Some people believe it's just simply saying something against the Holy Spirit.
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That if in some way you speak poorly of,
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it's what this term blasphemy means,
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is to belittle or to utter a,
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some kind of a condemnation against the Spirit,
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that you are therefore cursed.
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That there is no way you could possibly ever have
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forgiveness and acceptance in God.
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I've actually seen some people make the case
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that it's perfectly acceptable to cuss in God's name
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and Jesus Christ's name,
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but not in the Spirit's name,
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which if you think cussing is cool,
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that would definitely take your cool factor down
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if you cuss the Holy Spirit's name.
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That's not what this means.
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Rather commonly,
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it's believed to be that
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it's the act of denying some work of the Spirit,
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whether that's a real work or a supposed work.
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The charismatic movement is classic for railing this against
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those of us who don't believe that the Spirit works
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in exactly the same way they do,
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that we are committing a blasphemy of the Spirit
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because we don't think that the falling out
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and the speaking in tongues
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and all these things that are happening
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in these particular settings
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are actually the work of the Spirit,
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and therefore that is a blasphemy of the Spirit.
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I'd say to you now,
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none of these are what Jesus means at all.
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There are some more acceptable understandings of it,
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although I think we'll see
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as we look at the context together
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that they're a little bit narrow.
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One being an act of resistance
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which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously
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that He withdraws forever
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with His convicting power.
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So we're not able to repent and be forgiven.
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Others say that it's simply,
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as Jesus is responding to the Pharisees,
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that it is to say that Jesus worked by a power
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other than the power of the Holy Spirit.
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And both of these things are true
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in their proper sense,
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but I don't think they're quite inclusive enough
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of what Jesus is trying to teach here.
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And so let me tell you,
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not to leave you hanging too long,
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quick summary,
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and then I'll build the case
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for why I believe
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that what Jesus is saying here
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is that the unpardonable sin
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is denying that Jesus is the Christ
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or the anointed one with finality.
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Denying that Jesus is the Christ
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with finality.
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And I arrive at that
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by looking at the context.
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That's why we started in verse 20
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and we're ending in verse 35.
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It's incredibly important.
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But before we even get to that,
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we should look at the context
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of the Gospel of Mark to this point.
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There have been many proclamations
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up to this point
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that Jesus is in fact the Son of God,
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the Christ,
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the one who has come
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to bring forgiveness to His people.
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Mark states that
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in chapter 1, verse 1.
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He says the beginning of the Gospel
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of Jesus Christ,
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the Son of God.
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John the Baptist makes that declaration
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in chapter 1, verse 8.
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He says,
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I have baptized you with water,
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but He will baptize you
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with the Holy Spirit.
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God the Spirit and God the Father
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have declared that Jesus is the Christ.
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When Jesus was baptized,
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the Spirit of God descended on Him
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like a dove,
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which would have been representative
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of both the indwelling power
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of the Spirit in His life
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and the blessing of the Spirit.
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And God spoke out of heaven
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and said in verse 11 of chapter 1,
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You are my beloved Son.
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With you I am well pleased.
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This was a fulfillment
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of messianic prophecy.
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2 Samuel 7, 12-14.
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A promise given to David
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speaking of his son Solomon,
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but in a greater way
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speaking of the Christ.
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Nathan said to David,
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When your days are fulfilled
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and you lie down with your fathers,
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I will raise up your offspring after you
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who shall come from your body
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and I will establish his kingdom.
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He shall build a house for my name
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and I will establish the throne
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of his kingdom forever.
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I will be to him a father
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and he shall be to me a son.
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This is speaking both of Solomon
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and of our Lord.
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And Jesus has declared this of himself,
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that he is the Christ.
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When he states in chapter 2,
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verses 10-11,
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that he has the power to forgive sin.
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And in chapter 2, verse 28,
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when he says that he is the Lord
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of the Sabbath.
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This has been established,
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this reality,
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throughout the book so far.
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Now as we look at our text today,
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beginning in verse 20
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and going through verse 35,
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there emerges a common literary device
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that was used in the days of Mark.
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I've said to you before
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that this was a rhetorical writing,
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not in the sense that we use rhetoric today,
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which is typically pointless argument
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or unvaluable argument,
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just meant to convince people of something.
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But this would have been considered
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valuable argument,
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based in fact,
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but aimed at convincing us of something.
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You see here,
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we're being driven towards understanding
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that Jesus is in fact the Christ.
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And he uses a literary form
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called a chiasm.
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It's not important for you to write down,
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but I happen to know what it's called.
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So there you have it.
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It's called a chiasm.
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And he follows a pattern,
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beginning in verse 20
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and working himself down to verse 35.
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And a chiasm is reflective.
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So if you can track this in your mind,
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we have A, B, C, C prime, B prime, A prime.
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They reflect one another.
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And we see this in verse 20.
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We see a crowd.
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In verse 21, we see Jesus' family.
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There's A and B.
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C, verse 22, we see the scribes.
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Then in verses 23 through 30,
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he addresses the scribes.
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Verse 31 through 33,
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he addresses the family.
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In verse 34 through 35,
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he addresses the crowd.
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This is significant.
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It means that this was meant
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to be taken together.
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So as we look at verse 28 and 29,
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and we really try to understand
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what is it that Jesus was teaching,
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we can't simply look at verse 28 and 29.
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We have to look at the context.
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We have to back up to this broader picture
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of this situation that's happening
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with the scribes and the crowd
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and his family.
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Very significant in this way.
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So let me say to you again,
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my assertion is that the unpardonable sin
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is denying that Jesus is the Christ
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with finality.
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The same account of this story
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in Matthew chapter 12.
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Let me ask you to actually turn there.
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I'm going to show you a few things
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from this text.
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Matthew chapter 12, verse 32.
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Jesus says,
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And whoever speaks a word
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against the Son of Man
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will be forgiven.
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But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit
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will not be forgiven,
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either in this age
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or in the age to come.
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So here, Jesus is saying,
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If you speak words against me,
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Jesus, the Christ,
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you'll be forgiven.
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But if you speak words against the Spirit,
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you will not be forgiven.
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So this seems to be contradictory
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to the very thing I just told you,
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that the unpardonable sin is denying that Jesus is the Christ with finality.
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So as he's making this point to us,
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we must understand why would he have chosen to say this the way that he said it.
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Now note firstly, in verse 32 of chapter 12,
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he uses a term he gives to himself consistently and constantly,
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son of man.
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He talks about his humanity in this case.
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And we see many, many insults railed against him,
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many blasphemies spoken against Jesus himself as he is here on earth.
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So keep that in mind.
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But also recognize that when Jesus was here on earth in human form,
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his will and his power,
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his will and his power as he was absolutely God,
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his will and his power bowed to that of the Father and of the Spirit.
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He set aside that part of his deity.
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Jesus could have come down and done whatever he wanted to do,
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but he set it aside and he bowed that will and that power
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to that of the Father and of the Spirit.
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John chapter 5, verse 19.
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Jesus says,
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Truly, truly, truly, I say to you,
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the Son can do nothing of his own accord,
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but only what he sees the Father doing.
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For whatever the Father does,
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the Son does likewise.
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Right?
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He was humble in that way.
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He took direction from the Father.
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John chapter 14, verses 10 and 11.
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He says,
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Do you not believe that I am in the Father
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and the Father is in me?
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The words that I say to you,
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I do not speak on my own authority,
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but the Father who dwells in me
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does his work.
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Here's the Spirit abiding within him.
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Believe me that I am in the Father
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and the Father is in me.
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Or else, believe on account of the works themselves.
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So both the things that he spoke
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and the things that he did
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were in submission to the work of the Father
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and of the Spirit.
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So here we have this understanding
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that he's bowing now to the will of the Father
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that is accomplished by the work of the Spirit.
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And we have to then talk a bit about
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what is it that the Spirit exists to do?
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Why is it that not believing
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that Jesus is the Christ with finality
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would be to blaspheme the Spirit?
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Would be to insult the Holy Spirit of God?
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It's kind of a phrase that we've lost.
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I think it's been mentioned here now
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in the last couple of months
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a couple of times.
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But that the Spirit of God
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is often referred to as the shy spirit.
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The Spirit of God works in this world
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not to magnify himself,
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as many believe,
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but to rather magnify and exalt Christ.
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Listen to what Jesus says about the Spirit.
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John 14, verse 26.
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But the Helper, the Holy Spirit...
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So we see this term Helper.
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He defines for us what he means.
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But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
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whom the Father will send in my name,
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he will teach you all things
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and to bring remembrance to all things
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that I have said to you.
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He is going to come to help you remember
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all of the things,
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he's speaking to the apostles,
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that Jesus had taught them.
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Chapter 15, verse 26.
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Jesus says,
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But when the Helper comes,
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whom I will send to you from the Father,
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the Spirit of truth,
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who proceeds from the Father,
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he will bear witness about me.
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Chapter 16, verses 12-14.
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I still have many things to say to you,
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but you cannot bear them now.
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When the Spirit of truth comes,
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he will guide you into all the truth.
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For he will not speak on his own authority,
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but whatever he hears, he will speak.
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And he will declare to you
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the things that are to come.
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He will glorify me,
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for he will take what is mine
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and declare it to you.
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So here is the work of the Spirit.
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It's to exalt Jesus as the Christ.
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So denying that Jesus is the Christ
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with finality
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is to blaspheme the Spirit
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and that his work is not taking effect.
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It's not having an effectual work
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in your heart.
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All of this is really a matter of the heart.
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Not so much about what we say,
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but about what we believe.
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About who we are at our very core.
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And we become who we are as Christians
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by the work of the Spirit.
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We were once dead in trespasses and sins.
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Our heart were stoned.
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But God sent his Son
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that by his Son,
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he could send a Spirit into our hearts
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to make them hearts of flesh.
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That we might believe
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that faith would be birthed in us
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to pursue him
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and be disciple-making disciples
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of Jesus Christ.
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So this is a matter ultimately of the heart.
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I hope you're still in Matthew 12.
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I didn't deceive you
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and tell you I wouldn't show you
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something from there
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and just show you verse 32.
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This is the more extended account
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of this interaction with these scribes.
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Now, I want to point out to you
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that in verse 22,
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the record in Mark
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is that the scribes
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who came down from Jerusalem...
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Jesus at this point
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has already had
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many scribes and Pharisees
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following him around,
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railing accusations at him,
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trying to discredit
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the things that he was saying
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to be true of himself.
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Ultimately,
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what he would be crucified for
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would be for blaspheming God,
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for saying that he himself
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was God.
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And here we see
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now kind of a raising of the bar.
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They've called in the big shots.
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The scribes were the theological experts
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of the day for apostate Judaism.
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Right?
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So they've called in the big wigs now.
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The ones who reside in Jerusalem
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have now come to accuse him.
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So beginning in verse 30
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of Matthew 12,
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Jesus sets for us some position.
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He says,
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For whoever is not with me
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is against me.
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And whoever does not gather with me
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scatters.
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Two categories of humanity.
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Those who are with Christ,
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who believe he is
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who he says he is,
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and those who do not.
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Verse 31,
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Therefore I tell you,
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every sin and blasphemy
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will be forgiven people,
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but the blasphemy against the Spirit
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will not be forgiven.
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It's our same thing
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we found in verse 29.
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And whoever speaks a word
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against the Son of Man
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will be forgiven,
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but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit
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will not be forgiven,
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either in this age
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or in the age to come.
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Now here we go.
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Here's my context.
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It's so important.
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Jesus goes on to say
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in verse 33,
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Either make the tree good
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and its fruit good,
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or make the tree bad
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and its fruit bad.
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For the tree is known
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by its fruit.
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You brood of vipers,
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how can you speak good
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when you are evil?
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For out of the abundance
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of the heart
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the mouth speaks.
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The good person
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out of his good treasure
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brings forth good.
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And the evil person
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out of his evil treasure
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brings forth evil.
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I tell you,
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on the day of judgment
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people will give an account
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for every careless word
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they speak.
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For by your words
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you will be justified
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and by your words
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you will be condemned.
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Our words give evidence
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of what we believe.
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Right?
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Out of the outflow of the heart
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the mouth speaks.
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So for you to deny
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that Jesus is the Christ
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with finality,
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and I'll explain what I mean
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by that here eventually,
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to deny that
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gives evidence
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of where your heart is.
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If you do not believe
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that Jesus is the Christ,
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you are not regenerate.
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You do not have
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the Spirit of God.
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You do not have that seal
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that the accomplished work
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of Christ was done
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on your behalf
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and therefore
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you are damned.
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But if you do,
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if you do recognize
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that Jesus Christ
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is who He says He is,
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you believe
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in His person
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and His work,
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you can have great confidence
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in that.
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this is important doctrine
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for us.
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It's important for us
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to get this right.
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As John MacArthur said,
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properly understanding this
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brings comfort
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to the fearful
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and should bring fear
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to the comforted.
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Those of us
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who understand
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the weight of sin,
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understand the great offense
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that it is
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to our God
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should be fearful
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of judgment.
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But this should bring us
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great comfort
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that we believe
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that Jesus
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is the Christ.
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That His accomplished
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work on the cross
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has meaning
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for my life
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today.
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That there is no thing
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that I can do
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that will not be
20:19
forgiven
20:20
by grace
20:22
in Christ.
20:25
There's a
20:25
fairly common argument
20:27
made,
20:28
was originally
20:29
penned,
20:30
I'm sure it was made
20:31
prior to this,
20:32
by C.S. Lewis.
20:33
It's often summed up
20:35
as the liar,
20:36
lunatic,
20:37
or Lord argument.
20:38
If you ever heard this,
20:39
it's an argument
20:40
against Jesus
20:41
simply being a good
20:42
and moral teacher.
20:43
I heard it said
20:43
that a lot of people
20:45
in this world
20:45
think that Jesus
20:46
was just a rather
20:47
good guy.
20:48
I've heard very few
20:49
people say
20:50
that He wasn't.
20:51
Just kind of a good guy,
20:53
but He made some
20:54
really audacious claims,
20:56
didn't He?
20:56
He claimed to be
20:57
the Son of God.
20:58
He claimed to be
20:59
the way,
20:59
the truth,
21:00
the life.
21:02
And so,
21:02
C.S. Lewis wrote
21:03
in this great quote,
21:04
essentially,
21:05
in summation,
21:06
that you have to believe
21:08
either that He's a liar,
21:09
a lunatic,
21:10
or Lord.
21:11
And I think He probably
21:12
pulled that
21:13
from this text itself.
21:15
So listen carefully
21:16
to what C.S. Lewis wrote
21:17
in a book he wrote
21:18
called Mere Christianity.
21:19
A man who was merely
21:22
a man and said
21:23
the sort of things
21:25
Jesus said
21:25
would not be
21:26
a great moral teacher.
21:28
He would either
21:28
be a lunatic
21:29
on the level
21:30
with a man
21:30
who says he is
21:31
a poached egg,
21:32
or he would be
21:32
the devil of hell.
21:34
You must take
21:35
your choice.
21:36
Either this was
21:37
and is the Son of God,
21:38
or else a madman,
21:40
or something worse.
21:41
You can shut him up
21:42
for a fool,
21:43
or you can fall
21:44
at his feet
21:44
and call him Lord
21:46
and God.
21:47
But let us not come
21:49
with any patronizing nonsense
21:50
about his being
21:51
a great human teacher.
21:53
He has not left
21:53
that open to us.
21:55
The things he said
21:56
were so audacious
21:57
that we either
21:58
have to dismiss him
21:59
completely
21:59
or worship him
22:02
as the Christ.
22:04
We see in our text here,
22:05
we see all of these
22:06
different summations
22:08
of who Jesus was.
22:10
Liar, lunatic,
22:11
or Lord.
22:13
The Pharisees
22:14
are essentially
22:15
the scribes
22:15
who are accusing him
22:16
of being a liar.
22:18
Verse 22,
22:19
they said,
22:20
and the scribes
22:20
came down from Jerusalem
22:21
and were saying,
22:21
he is possessed
22:22
by Beelzebul
22:23
and by the prince
22:24
of demons.
22:25
He casts out
22:26
the demons.
22:28
This term they gave
22:29
to him,
22:29
Beelzebul,
22:30
was a bit of a changing
22:31
of a common term
22:33
used of the devil.
22:36
We use today
22:37
Beelzebub.
22:38
It's used five times
22:40
in the Old Testament
22:41
and it's derived
22:43
from a Canaanite god,
22:45
the lord of the
22:47
Ekronites,
22:48
which was
22:49
Beelzebub,
22:51
which meant in Hebrew
22:54
lord of the high place.
22:56
But they had changed
22:57
that word a bit
22:58
and just swapped out
23:00
the B
23:00
and replaced it
23:01
with the L
23:01
and that one little letter
23:03
changed the meaning
23:04
to mean lord of the flies.
23:08
Interesting.
23:09
Right?
23:10
Which expressed
23:11
the Jewish disdain
23:11
for the god of the Canaanites.
23:14
This was their way
23:14
of really saying
23:16
that they hated Satan.
23:19
Right?
23:19
This false god.
23:21
That was a way
23:22
of really belittling him.
23:23
And this is the very accusation
23:24
that they're making
23:25
of Christ
23:26
who has said,
23:27
I am myself god.
23:28
They're calling him
23:29
the great antithesis
23:31
to who God is
23:33
and was
23:33
and will be forever.
23:34
And that is this
23:35
false god
23:36
of the Ekronites
23:37
that they contorted
23:39
the word
23:39
to mean the lord
23:41
of the flies.
23:42
They're accusing him
23:43
of being a liar.
23:44
They're calling him
23:45
something completely different.
23:48
And he responds to them
23:49
so cleverly
23:50
as Jesus always does
23:52
in our first
23:53
recorded parables
23:54
that we see
23:54
in the Gospel of Mark
23:56
and we'll see many more
23:57
in the coming months.
23:59
Verse 23 says,
23:59
And he called to them,
24:01
Hey, come over here.
24:02
And he said to them
24:03
in parables.
24:04
And he essentially
24:06
goes through
24:06
a number of true statements.
24:08
Things that would be
24:09
really hard for anybody
24:10
to deny.
24:11
How can Satan
24:12
cast out Satan?
24:13
That makes no sense.
24:14
How can someone
24:15
who is possessed
24:16
by Satan
24:16
cast out Satan?
24:18
If a kingdom
24:19
is divided against itself,
24:21
that kingdom cannot stand.
24:23
Much civil unrest.
24:25
And if a house
24:25
is divided against itself,
24:27
that house
24:27
will not be able
24:28
to stand.
24:29
Those of you
24:30
who are married
24:30
know this to be true.
24:32
Your house
24:32
will not stand
24:33
if you seek strife
24:36
in it.
24:37
And if Satan
24:38
has risen up
24:38
against himself
24:39
and is divided,
24:39
he cannot stand
24:40
but is coming to an end.
24:41
He's simply
24:41
rattling off points.
24:43
How ridiculous
24:44
is it that you're
24:45
making an accusation
24:46
that I'm casting out
24:47
evil spirits
24:48
and you're saying
24:48
I'm doing that
24:49
by an evil spirit.
24:50
That makes no sense.
24:52
And they would have been
24:53
entirely on board
24:53
with him at this point.
24:55
But then he makes
24:56
an even more
24:56
audacious statement
24:58
when he says,
24:59
No one can enter
25:00
a strong man's house
25:00
and plunder his goods
25:01
unless he first
25:02
binds the strong man
25:04
then indeed
25:05
he may plunder his house.
25:06
And he's referring here
25:07
to the world
25:09
being Satan's house
25:10
and Satan being
25:11
that strong man.
25:13
So you wanted to
25:14
break into somebody's home
25:15
and they're there.
25:17
You've got to do something
25:18
with the man of the house
25:20
or else you're not
25:20
going to be able
25:21
to take his stuff.
25:21
He's going to
25:22
overpower you
25:23
and call the police.
25:25
This is what will happen.
25:26
You come into my house
25:27
you better come armed.
25:29
You better have
25:30
more ammunition
25:31
and better aim
25:32
than I do
25:33
if you're going to
25:34
plunder my goods
25:35
in my house.
25:37
This is what you would
25:37
have to do
25:38
if you're going to
25:39
plunder somebody's house.
25:40
So it would take
25:41
a stronger man
25:43
to accomplish this.
25:44
So Jesus is again
25:46
proclaiming his deity.
25:47
Who's stronger
25:48
than Beelzebul?
25:50
God.
25:51
And that is the very thing
25:52
that he's saying
25:53
to them here.
25:54
I am working
25:55
by the power
25:56
of the Spirit.
25:58
I am working
25:59
by the power
25:59
of God
26:00
and that is how
26:01
I'm able to cast out
26:02
demons.
26:03
A very simple
26:04
and poignant
26:05
argument.
26:06
Jesus is
26:07
the Christ.
26:10
You could take
26:10
Jesus for a lunatic.
26:12
It's a possibility.
26:13
We see his family here
26:15
do that very thing.
26:18
They come to him.
26:19
He's more than likely
26:20
in Capernaum.
26:22
He's not back
26:22
in Nazareth
26:23
Nazareth
26:24
in Bethlehem
26:24
but in Capernaum
26:25
kind of his home base
26:27
for where he was operating
26:28
and there's such a crowd
26:30
that they can't even
26:31
recline at table
26:32
and eat.
26:32
They're pressed
26:33
into the house.
26:34
They're pressed in
26:34
around him
26:34
and his family comes
26:36
and they're in
26:37
probably with good motive
26:38
trying to get him
26:40
out of the situation
26:41
he's found himself in
26:42
with countless
26:42
thousands of people
26:43
pressing him in
26:44
around him
26:45
to see these miracles
26:45
because they just
26:46
think that he's crazy.
26:49
They just think
26:49
that he's absolutely
26:50
lost his mind.
26:51
I like to muse
26:53
we have no record
26:54
of it but I like to muse
26:55
about what it must have
26:56
been like to be
26:57
the brother of Jesus
26:58
and hear your mom
26:59
and dad say to you
27:00
constantly
27:00
why can't you be
27:01
more like your brother?
27:02
It cracks me up
27:05
or what it would even
27:05
be like to raise
27:06
a perfect child
27:07
I'm not sure
27:08
I have no idea
27:08
what that would
27:09
possibly look like
27:11
I can dream of that
27:12
but here they come
27:14
to him and they
27:14
have missed the point
27:15
at this station
27:16
in their life.
27:17
They do not get
27:19
who he is.
27:20
Here in the record
27:22
they're denying
27:23
that Jesus is the Christ.
27:25
Are they not?
27:26
They're calling him
27:27
a lunatic.
27:27
They think he's
27:28
absolutely out of
27:29
his gourd.
27:30
There's no way
27:31
that our brother
27:32
that my son
27:33
Mary
27:34
like Mary
27:35
she was visited
27:36
by an angel
27:36
who told him
27:37
who he was going
27:38
to be.
27:39
She gave birth
27:40
to an immaculately
27:41
conceived child.
27:42
How could she not
27:43
believe at this point?
27:46
Right?
27:46
We know
27:47
that it's her
27:48
because we see
27:48
later on
27:49
that his mother
27:49
and brothers
27:50
are outside.
27:52
Don't piecemeal
27:53
this up.
27:53
This is all happening
27:54
at the same time.
27:55
They've come.
27:56
We see the record
27:56
of them coming.
27:57
He's inside
27:58
dealing with the scribes
27:59
and the crowd reports
28:01
that his mother
28:02
and his brothers
28:02
are standing outside
28:03
to seize him.
28:05
Right?
28:05
Because they think
28:06
he's crazy.
28:09
The blessing of this
28:11
is that
28:13
Jesus must be denied
28:14
as the Christ
28:15
with finality
28:16
for that not
28:17
to be forgiven.
28:19
John 7.5
28:20
says for not
28:21
even his brothers
28:22
believed in him.
28:23
But then we have
28:24
a record
28:24
in Acts 1
28:27
that as they were
28:28
fearfully gathered
28:29
together and praying
28:30
together,
28:30
those who were
28:31
faithful to Christ,
28:33
his mother
28:33
and his brothers
28:34
were there.
28:36
That they had
28:37
accepted him
28:38
for who he is
28:40
and who he was
28:41
to them.
28:42
Right?
28:42
So it's important
28:43
for us to see
28:44
that that is the
28:45
case.
28:45
Just because
28:46
you've denied
28:46
that Jesus
28:47
is the Christ
28:47
at some point
28:48
in your life
28:49
doesn't mean
28:50
that you can't
28:51
begin to believe
28:51
by the work
28:52
of the Spirit
28:52
that he is now
28:53
the Christ.
28:55
Right?
28:55
That can happen.
28:57
So you must
28:57
reject to be
28:58
guilty of an
29:00
eternal sin.
29:02
You must
29:02
blaspheme the
29:03
Spirit by
29:04
rejecting that
29:05
Jesus is the
29:06
Christ with
29:06
finality.
29:08
So you live
29:08
your life,
29:09
you go about
29:10
your days,
29:10
and when you
29:11
pass and you're
29:12
judged,
29:12
if you have not
29:12
believed that
29:13
Jesus is the
29:13
Christ,
29:14
you don't
29:14
believe in
29:14
his person
29:15
and his
29:15
work for
29:16
the forgiveness
29:16
of your sins,
29:17
that will not
29:18
be forgiven.
29:20
And there is
29:20
your consistency
29:21
with this gospel
29:22
of forgiveness
29:23
that is taught
29:23
over and over
29:25
and over and
29:26
over again in
29:26
the Scriptures.
29:27
This entire book
29:28
speaks of Christ
29:29
and this gospel
29:30
of forgiveness.
29:31
It is all about
29:32
redemptive history.
29:35
So the final thing
29:36
that we're left with
29:37
is to believe
29:37
that he's Lord.
29:39
To believe that he's
29:39
Lord,
29:40
verse 34 and 35
29:42
in Mark chapter 3,
29:43
he looks around
29:44
at those who sat
29:45
around and he said,
29:46
here are my mother
29:46
and my brothers.
29:48
For whoever does
29:48
the will of God,
29:50
he is my brother
29:50
and sister
29:51
and mother.
29:53
John chapter 6,
29:54
beginning in verse 26,
29:56
Jesus says,
29:57
truly, truly,
29:57
I say to you,
29:58
you are seeking me
29:59
not because you saw
30:00
signs,
30:00
but because you ate
30:01
your fill of the loaves.
30:03
So there's a massive
30:04
group of people
30:05
that followed him
30:05
around everywhere
30:06
and as we've said
30:07
repeatedly,
30:08
these people were
30:09
not to understand
30:10
as disciples of Christ.
30:14
Many of them,
30:15
most of them,
30:16
were following him
30:17
because of the things
30:18
he was doing.
30:19
He was feeding them.
30:20
He was healing sicknesses.
30:22
He was giving all
30:23
this affirmation
30:24
to the gospel message
30:25
that he was preaching.
30:26
But we're not to understand
30:27
that they all
30:27
were regenerate believers
30:30
that were pursuing him
30:31
and he gives us
30:31
evidence of that
30:32
in John 6, 26.
30:34
You are seeking me
30:35
not because you saw signs,
30:36
but because you ate
30:37
your fill of the loaves.
30:38
Do not work
30:39
for the food
30:40
that perishes,
30:41
but for the food
30:41
that endures
30:42
to eternal life,
30:43
which the Son of Man
30:44
will give to you.
30:45
For on him
30:46
God the Father
30:47
has set his seal,
30:48
the Spirit.
30:49
Then they said to him,
30:50
what must we do
30:51
to be doing
30:51
the works of God?
30:52
Jesus answered,
30:53
so here's the question
30:54
they're asking,
30:55
right?
30:55
We get this,
30:57
verse 35,
30:58
whoever does the will
30:59
of God,
30:59
he is my brother
31:00
and sister and mother.
31:01
What is the will of God?
31:02
This is the question
31:02
they ask in verse 28.
31:05
Jesus answered them,
31:05
this is the work of God,
31:07
that you believe in him
31:08
whom he has sent.
31:12
Want to be in the will of God?
31:14
There's your starting point.
31:15
Believe that Jesus
31:16
is the Christ.
31:19
John 6, 40.
31:21
Later in that chapter,
31:22
Jesus says,
31:22
for this is the will
31:23
of my Father,
31:24
that everyone who looks
31:25
on the Son
31:26
and believes in him
31:27
should have eternal life,
31:28
and I will raise him up
31:29
on the last day.
31:30
And how do we do this?
31:35
How is it that we
31:36
become regenerate?
31:37
Well, it's a work
31:38
of the Spirit,
31:38
so hear that clearly.
31:40
It is a work of God
31:41
on our behalf.
31:43
He works in our hearts.
31:44
He shifts who we are
31:46
and causes us to believe.
31:49
But that has to have
31:49
some necessary outflow.
31:51
There has to be
31:52
some visible evidence
31:53
of this thing happening,
31:55
and there's a life of that.
31:56
Oh, the New Testament
31:58
is full of all the things
31:59
that should be happening
31:59
in our lives
32:00
if we do have faith
32:02
in Christ.
32:03
But the simplest
32:03
and the first thing
32:04
that starts at regeneration
32:06
and continues on,
32:08
Romans 10, 9.
32:09
If you confess with your mouth
32:10
that Jesus is Lord
32:11
and believe in your heart
32:12
that God raised him
32:13
from the dead,
32:13
you will be saved.
32:15
Back in Matthew,
32:16
this is why he's saying
32:17
that we will be judged
32:18
by the words
32:19
that come out
32:20
of our mouth.
32:23
And so we ought to believe
32:24
that Jesus is
32:25
who he says he is.
32:27
You've only got
32:27
three categories
32:28
that you can put him in.
32:30
Call him a liar,
32:32
call him a lunatic,
32:33
or bow at his feet
32:35
and call him Lord.
32:37
There's a great,
32:38
great stake
32:39
in this whole thing.
32:41
There's a meta-narrative
32:42
that hangs over this world.
32:43
And it is the reality,
32:45
no matter what people's stories are,
32:46
whatever situation they come from,
32:47
whatever country
32:48
they were born in,
32:49
socioeconomic,
32:51
ethnic,
32:51
it does not matter.
32:52
There's a commonality
32:53
between all mankind,
32:54
and that is that
32:55
we are affected by sin.
32:57
That it has changed
32:57
who we are,
32:58
and it has made us rebels.
33:01
Standing in opposition
33:02
to God.
33:04
That everything we do
33:06
is in hatred of him.
33:08
It sets us up
33:08
on our own thrones.
33:09
The sovereign of heaven,
33:10
we try to supplant him
33:12
in our own lives.
33:14
And this is a damnable offense.
33:16
God will send those
33:17
who are found in this state
33:19
to hell forever.
33:21
Rightly so.
33:22
Justly so.
33:23
Don't think that's unfair.
33:24
If you think it's unfair,
33:24
you don't understand sin.
33:26
You deserve this
33:27
if this is where you stand.
33:30
But then he sent his Son,
33:32
righteous,
33:33
perfect,
33:34
in every respect,
33:36
to be the perfect sacrifice
33:37
on our behalf.
33:38
That he might trade with us
33:39
our sin
33:40
and give to us
33:41
his righteousness.
33:42
That we would be seen in him.
33:44
So God doesn't pass over sin,
33:46
but he punished our sin
33:47
in Christ.
33:49
And if you're not found in Christ,
33:52
you have an eternal doom
33:53
waiting you.
33:55
This is the most
33:56
important question.
33:59
There's this meta-narrative,
34:00
this reality
34:01
that all of us
34:02
are headed towards death
34:03
and miserable death
34:04
forever.
34:05
How do we fix that?
34:06
That is the question
34:07
that everyone needs to answer
34:09
in their hearts.
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So today,
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if you have already
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answered that question,
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and I truly hope
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everyone in this room
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can say it with great confidence,
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Jesus is the Christ.
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I know that.
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I can say that with finality.
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I know forever and ever
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I am redeemed in him.
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Praise God for that.
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But if not,
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I'd ask today
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that you repent
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and believe.
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I've said things
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about the Spirit
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working in your life
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and you may not even
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understand what that looks like.
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If there's anything
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going on in your mind
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that ascends
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to this kind of truth,
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just respond to it.
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That is the work
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of the Spirit
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in your heart.
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Just respond
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to the Gospel of grace
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in faith.
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Let's pray together.
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Let's pray together.