I'm passing around again the men's prayer sign-up sheet, guys, if you are willing to do that. You're now unclean until even. You're now unclean until even. Mark chapter three. Kind of my standard disclaimer, I don't think by any stretch we've exhausted everything there is to say, but I'm going to wind down our study of the Holy Spirit this morning. So let's go ahead and pray. And we'll. Look at the text father, we thank you for. Who you are and we. Appreciate and ask that you would help us always to more deeply understand the nature of the Trinity. Father, Son and Spirit, thank you for your ministry to us through your spirit. Who is? the totality of deity. And we ask that you would help us to appreciate our response to him. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we have, to this point in time, been turning our attention to the Holy Spirit and His work, His nature and His work. He is, of course, deity. He is a person. by which we mean he has all the attributes of his own living being, identity. And we've talked then about some of the ways that he ministers and relates to us. He is how we are born again. He is the agent of regeneration and then he seals us as permanently belonging to God and baptizes us into the greater body of Christ. We have his anointing or his unction so that we believe the truth, right? We don't believe the truth out of our own intellect. We believe the truth because that is a ministry of the Spirit to us, and we saw that in John. And he is, kind of in summary, he is everything to us that you could imagine Christ being to the disciples. This is how Jesus describes him in John 16 when he speaks about the comforter. I will give you another comforter. I will give you someone just like me. And so Jesus was a teacher. He was a helper. He was an encouragement. At times he was a rebuker, a corrector, and he was authoritative in the lives of the apostles. And so these are ministries that the spirit has to us. He empowers us to obey. He enables us to understand. He leads us into the truth of God's word. And he gives us a number of passages deal with this. Peter deals with it. Paul deals with it in Romans 12 and in first Corinthians 12 through 14. He gives us gifts out of his own will to enable us to minister to each other. And this morning then, in conclusion, I wanna just talk about the ways that we can respond to him. And what I'm choosing are what the Bible identifies as kind of the negative aspects of that, right? We are commanded positively to walk in the spirit, right? And then we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So I hope that it's kind of understood that There is a positive response to him. We listen to him, we obey him, we follow his promptings. But again, flowing in large part out of his personhood, his own identity as deity, and not just a force, not just the force of God, but as deity, there are ways that we can respond to him that are negative in nature. So Mark, let's begin with one of the most controversial of ones. Mark chapter three, beginning in verse number 28. Well, let's look back at verse number 22 and read the entirety of the context. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, he hath Beelzebub, And by the prince of devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him and said unto them in parables, how can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself and be divided, he cannot stand. but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation, because they said he hath an unclean spirit. So this is one of the passages, Matthew chapter 12 deals with it. Luke, in a much shorter rendition, deals with it. The passage, it gives to us the concept of the unpardonable sin. And it is one of the most controversial statements that Jesus has made in the sense that we keep talking and talking and talking and talking about what it is and what it means. And in endeavoring to answer the question, there are a lot of considerations that have to be brought to bear. And I'm going to deal with them, again, very simply and very quickly, the writing and Material that is available on this is extensive because, again, it is one of those things that has raised a lot of questions and people are not exactly certain how to interpret this and how to think about it. So in thinking through this, what does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, which may be the unpardonable sin? Some of the considerations that have to be brought to bear are this. Is Jesus describing a specific sin? Is there one thing that you do or say? Or is it just simply saying something generally untrue or blasphemous? The word blasphemy refers to slanderous or evil speaking. many, many years ago. I mean, this was not very long after we came to Omaha. We had a family in the church. She had a brother who was one of those men who just lived a very, at times, wicked and a very troubled life. And so he came to me one day and he said, I think I've blasphemed the Holy Spirit and I can't be forgiven. And so, and so what he had done, what he had done was he had cursed God. And so that was what was troubling him, which he should not have done. But the question is, if you just curse God in general, is that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Is there a specific thing or is it just kind of a general attitude of disrespect and slanderous speech? Another question that comes up that has been highly debated in the church is who can commit this sin? Could you commit it as a believer? Could you as a believer blaspheme the Holy Spirit? And there are no shortage of believing people who have argued historically that it is possible for believing people to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. And within this framework, right, coming out of this context, which means then that you have people who are believing that their sins are forgiven who are also believing that it is possible to commit a sin that will not be forgiven. So you kind of have to hold those factors in balance. Another thing that is debated about Jesus' statement is when this sin can be committed. When can somebody blaspheme against the Holy Spirit? And again, there are no shortage of people who teach that the Spirit of God could be blasphemed only during the earthly life of Christ. That the sin that Jesus is describing is not one that could be committed in the absence of Christ himself. And again, I don't know that I could not, I could tell you what I would think about that, but that doesn't necessarily make it your answer. If you look at the whole context of what's going on in Mark 3, 22 through 30, right, it is the accusation, right, in other words, with reference simply to the passage. Let's forget about the whole body of religious writing and the whole body of history to it and all the things that people have said about it, all the people who wonder if they've ever committed it, right? The specific blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is Mark 3.22. The scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, he hath Beelzebub. and by the prince of devils he casteth out devils. Jesus responds to that in verses 23 through 29. And Jesus's entire response is a reaction to that accusation. The things that you are doing, right, because the framework is, and especially when you go back, well, let's go back to Matthew chapter 12. I think we will have time to do this. Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? In other words, is not this the Messiah? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said of them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand? If I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? He's referring now to Jewish exorcists. And we have reference to them in the book of Acts. I don't remember the exact chapter. 12, 11, 12. Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? Then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me. And he that gathereth, gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad. 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. And whosoever speaketh the 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. And of course, Jesus continues on there. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but the framework is that Jesus has been casting out demons. And the Pharisees don't say they weren't really demons, and neither do they say he didn't really do that. They say he did it by Satan. Satan is how he was able to cast out the demons. Supernatural power, but not God's power. Satanic power. And that's where Jesus then just begins to probe their thinking logically. You'll notice, folks, that he doesn't bring any Old Testament scriptures to bear. He just speaks to them out of this idea that their argument is ludicrous. Right? Satan casting out Satan? What are the ramifications of Satan casting out Satan? Well, let's bring it down to a national level. What happens when a nation goes at civil war? Let's take it down even a lower level than that. What happens to a house? And Jesus probably has more in mind than a single household, but a family dynasty. What happens to a family dynasty when it goes to war? What does it really play out like in real life if it's a real-life Romeo and Juliet story? So your argument is completely ludicrous. So to accuse Satan of casting out one of his own is just crazy. But if I'm doing it by God, then the kingdom is here. So back to Mark chapter 3. One of the questions that I raised is, is it a general sin or a specific sin? And I think that the context of both Matthew and Mark argue, folks, that it is a very specific sin. It is not the generalized cursing of God. It is not uttering a dirty word against God. It is a very specific... I mean, notice... Right, you're in Mark chapter three, look at verse number 28. Verily I say unto you, all sin shall be forgiven unto the sons of men. And I would argue that in that context, the word all means all kinds of sin, not every single sin. But all kinds of sin, and that's the way Jesus deals with it in Matthew chapter 12. All sin shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, And blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme. And Matthew points out, even if they're blaspheming the Son of Man. So if you say something evil against Jesus, that could be forgiven. If you say something evil against someone else, that could be forgiven. But if you say this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, that cannot be forgiven. That will not be forgiven. So it is, folks, a very specific sin that is being discussed. Whether or not we could continue to commit it today, I think the answer to that would be yes, at maybe a different kind of level, but it certainly in reference to the works of Christ. I mean, you could, not you individually, but a person could go back, read the Bible, and come to the same conclusion about the miracles that the Pharisees did. Jesus did real miracles. He just didn't do them in God's real power, but in Satan's power. So not only is there a specific sin involved, there is the outlining of the limits of forgiveness. If you want to think of it like that, It's a little bit radical to us, and one of the questions that you have to kind of sort through is, why is this sin unforgivable? What is it about this sin that makes it unforgivable? Blaspheme Jesus, forgiveness. Blaspheme the Spirit, no forgiveness. There is a line, but why is the line there, and what does the line suggest? And again, to go back to the text, Mark chapter 3 and verse number 22, it doesn't come across as clearly in the English as it does in the Greek. But the word said in verse number 22, and the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, is in the imperfect tense, which means they kept repeating this. This is what they kept on saying. They were adamant in their position. I think that would be the way to understand it. That at any time when anybody asked them about this, what do you think about that man Jesus and all the miracles he's doing? Oh, Satan, he's doing it in Satan's power. He's of the devil. that they kept on saying it. And so it appears, folks, that the sin of blaspheming the Spirit is the sin of attributing miracle-working power to Satan and denying it to God. That it is not God who is doing it, but it is Satan who is doing it. This is not an error. These men are not making a mistake. They're not sincere men who are a little bit flawed in their theology. Which kind of goes to answer this question, who can commit this sin? Well, you obviously have to be an unbeliever to commit this sin. Believers would never, would any sincere believer take the position that Jesus did miracles through the power of Satan. The whole point of that statement is to deny to Jesus his, I wanna, what would be the best way to put it? certainly to deny Jesus his deity, but to deny Jesus his legitimate connection to God. Jesus came claiming to be the Messiah, God's predicted deliverer. And that is the connection that they were trying to deny. He is not from God. He is, right? He is either a raging lunatic madman, or he is working in the power of Satan, but he is not God's friend. We're God's friends. That was the fair sacral position. We're God's friends. He's not God's friend. And that's the reason, folks, that it is an unforgivable sin. Now again, there are some sympathetic, merciful, well-intentioned people who are always trying to come to the end of things and kind of force God out of the riches of his grace and mercy to simply forgive everybody, whether they want to be forgiven or not. And that is just not what the Bible teaches. Anybody who persistently denies The authority of Christ and the ability of Christ to work in the power of the Spirit, who denies to God his rightful place as the miracle worker, who brings that accusation from a position of lostness, cannot be forgiven as long as they hold that position. It's not like it's just automatically by default an unforgivable sin and it's, well, it's too late for you. You're repenting and you're full of tears, but that's too sad. It is. As long as you hold that position, and Mark does put it a little bit differently than Jesus does, is in danger, right? Verse number 29, but is in danger of eternal damnation. So, I would put it this way, it is an unpardonable sin because the people who are committing it are not seeking to be pardoned. And folks, this is just another biblical reality, right? Forgiveness is never just simply a one-way dimension that God forgives people even though they do not want to be forgiven, even though they will take no responsibility for their wrongdoing and God just goes, well, I just forgive you anyway. Here, here's the kingdom, enjoy. There's just no biblical support for that. So, right? So it isn't that God can't say, right, oh, you know, you said something bad about Jesus, I can forgive that, but you said something bad about the Spirit, I can't forgive that. It is that, I think additionally, the reality is when people get to this point in time, they rarely change their minds. they rarely change their minds. And again, not that God can't change their minds. Paul talks about the possibility of God granting to people repentance. So I'm not dismissing the power of the gospel or the power of spirit or the power of Christ. But when somebody holds to this position and this is what they believe strongly enough to the point that this is their position, that they keep repeating it, right? It is their unwillingness to repent and their undesire for forgiveness that puts them in the well, I can't forgive you, kind of position. Now, again, it is a very complex issue and there are lots of things that are written and said about it. But I think that it's a pretty narrow sin, the sin of rejecting the deity and the supernatural ability of Christ. That can always happen. And the end result of that is always going to be forgiveness unless a person repents, right? Nobody gets to invent the Jesus that they want him to be and then place their trust in that Jesus and hope to have salvation. That's just not, that's never been the scriptural model. Okay, so that's that. Let's move on. Acts chapter seven, we'll deal with the other three. a little more quickly, right? So the Holy Spirit can be blasphemed, and I think that that is the work of an unbeliever, that that is not going to be the work of a believer. In Acts chapter seven, Stephen is preaching. It is Stephen's sermon that will lead to his death. and will introduce us to the man who will become the great apostle Paul. And so in part of his historical sermon about Israel, verse number 51 of Acts chapter 7, ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Which, by the way, clues us in right at the outset, does it not, as to what Stephen thinks about his audience. Are they believers or unbelievers? Does Stephen think he's preaching to believing people or unbelieving people? Unbelieving people, right? In Stephen's mind, he's clearly speaking to unbelieving people. Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardened ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. And that word resist there is not used a lot in the New Testament. Obviously, it means to oppose. Literally, the Greek expression is to lean against or to fall against. the way a defensive player would get in the way physically of an offensive player trying to make yardage. You lean against, you run into the Holy Spirit. If you want to turn to Romans chapter 13, it is not the exact same word, but it is a similar sentiment. Romans chapter 13, let's just look at verse number one. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth, and that word means to stand in opposition to, for whosoever resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation or condemnation. The third word resist, right, you have resisteth, which again, in the King James Bible, normally when that ETH ending is attached to a verb, it is informing you that there is, again, that idea of repetition to the verb, or perpetuity. So whosoever continues to stand in resistance to the law is not really in resistance to the law. They are in resistance to the Lord. And that is the reason that they will end up in condemnation. And that word that is simply translated resist towards the end of the verse is a Greek word that you all know. We can all speak Greek this morning because it is the word antihistamine. I'm just guessing with it being January in Nebraska, there are probably some antihistamines in our wallets or in our pockets and in our purses. Standing in opposition to. So a person can be in opposition to, go back to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23 and beginning in verse number 34. Whoops, maybe I should get to Matthew 23 myself. Verse number 34 of Matthew 23. Let's look at verse number 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men, like Stephen, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify. And by the way, if I could just pause here and talk once again a little bit about the grammar. You notice the way Jesus speaks. I send. I send. And then he kind of covers the whole realm of Jewish history. Because he's always been sending these people. That's the point that he's making there. It's not I have sent, and it's not I will in the future send. It is I send right now in the present moment. There have been prophets. There have been a long history of people speaking to the Jewish people the word of God. Behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you shall kill and crucify. Some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barakias, whom he slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. So it has been the history of unbelieving people. It is the history of Jewish people and the history of unbelieving people to resist God. to stand in opposition to him. When Paul says in Romans chapter 1, I'm assuming you know this, when Paul says in Romans chapter 1 that in the condemnation of God he condemns those who hold the truth in unrighteousness, he is referring to people who are trying to compress the truth, to contain the truth, to to put it into a box and screw the lid down so the truth cannot get out. This is the nature of unbelieving people always. And so the Spirit of God has an ongoing outreach ministry, right? One of the things that the Spirit has done, that God has used the Spirit to do is bring to men their awareness of their sinfulness and to bring to men the awareness of their judgment. This is historical. Our consciences bear witness against sin. God's spirit bears witness against sin. The Bible bears witness against sin, and people resist it. People resist it. Now, again, I would just say this, we're talking about, right? The framework of Bible language to resist is in the framework of lost people. Jesus is using it about lost people. Stephen was referring to lost people. the way lost people stand against God. Two final passages that are probably the most familiar to us as believers. Turn first of all to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Let's start in verse number 14. Now we exhort you, brethren, and now Paul begins to kind of issue what we might call a series of bullet points about human conduct. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak. Be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesying. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. abstain from all appearance of evil. So you have a rather extensive list there, and I read through it because when we get to these next two, which are quenching the spirit and grieving the spirit, part of the ongoing conversation about what they mean is whether we should, again, interpret them kind of broadly or whether we should interpret them in light of their immediate context. 1 Thessalonians 5, like many of these kind of composite summary statements, heavily emphasizes human language. I think that it is both condemning and enlightening that God finds so much fault with the things we say. And I think that it is a testimony to our own depravity that we frequently tend to be very dismissive of the things that we say. as if we can say things and then go, but I didn't really mean that, or I was just talking, or it's just idle chatter. And sometimes it is just idle chatter, not that any of it is immune, but I'm not suggesting that all the time, always we're trash talking people and bad mouthing people. But it is a little disturbing, is it not, how easily we do that and how quickly we are to dismiss that as not being a really big deal. When so very often, so much of the Bible instruction to us is, watch your language. Watch what you say and who you say it about and where you say it and the way in which you say it, the intention you have when you say it. Verse number 19 of First Thessalonians chapter five, quench not the spirit is given as a command. So that within this book, and Paul is very positive toward the Thessalonians and highly commending of the Thessalonians. This comes as a little bit of a shocker to us that Paul would write to them along these lines, but it is what he is saying. Stop quenching the spirit. Stop quenching the spirit. And to quench just really refers to that. It's kind of a fascinating word to me, right? Because we don't have a lot of words that we use that begin with the letter Q. That, right, not probably the most the most common word, and it just means to extinguish. You can quench fire, you can quench your thirst, and you can quench the spirit. So within the immediate framework of the surrounding verses, the spirit is responsive. I think this is pretty much safe to say that the spirit is attentive. Let's put it this way. Let's put it this way. The Spirit is attentive to these things. Verse 14, that we warned the unruly, those that are out of step. And again, I would point out, we find it far easier to talk about people than we find it to talk to people. The command is not talk to your brother or sister about somebody who is unruly, but talk to the unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded, which is not a joke. Those who are small of soul, those who really struggle and who really labor, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men, to the church and to outsiders. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks. Despise not prophesying, prove all things, put them to the test, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil. I think that you could safely conclude, folks, that violation of any of those is going to contribute to the offense of verse number 19. They're going to dampen the spirit. They're going to reduce, right? Now, one of the great debates, and I don't know that I have the answer to that is, right? Okay, what does it mean to quench him? Will I be less effective in ministry? Will I have less joy? And I think the potential is for all of those things. And then Ephesians chapter four, which is really in some way, I don't want, it's not a companion passage, but I don't know that there's a gigantic technical distinction between quenching and grieving. In other words, I don't know how I would make the case that quenching doesn't grieve him and grieving doesn't quench him. Ephesians chapter four. And again, within the broader framework, let's begin at verse number 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that she put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that she put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry, sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth it. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. All right, so I think, again, very simply, much is within the framework of quenching. When my words and my works are contrary to what God wants, because those are the things that are being dressed in the broader context. Much of it has to do with words, but not all of it. When my words and my works are contrary to the will of God, God's spirit suffers. And as a New Testament believer, part of that suffering includes the fact that the spirit of God, so to speak, has nowhere to go. which I think is why Paul points out that he has sealed us unto the day of redemption. I mean, this is not the most appropriate, perhaps, illustration, but it's, I think, an accurate illustration. In our world, when people really cannot get along with each other, frequently they just divorce and go their separate ways. That brings its own set of problems, But that immediate conflict has been addressed. That is something the Spirit of God cannot do and will not do. He will not depart. And so he must suffer. Psalm 78, 41, using, of course, a different language, points out that they had limited the Holy One of Israel, which has the same idea. They had made him sad. That's what the word grieve means, right? It made him sad. If I do something, folks, if I do something publicly or you see me do it or listen to me say it privately that is inconsistent with the office of a pastor, the likelihood is that one of the responses is gonna be is it makes you sad. And we can make God's spirit sad. And so again, I don't think that there's a gigantic technical distinction between grieving and quenching, but that because the Holy Spirit is a person, he has his own identity, he is deity in his own right, and because he lives in us, and because he is, as God, perfect, pure, holy. And by the way, folks, you'll notice that none of these things are assigned to the Spirit of God simply for having to live in us. I think that's noteworthy. In the Old Testament, God was hidden behind not only the tabernacle, but through the tabernacle into the most holy place, and God's presence was hidden from the people there, and nobody went in to get to it, and if anybody did go in to get close to it, They would die unless they went in only at the appropriate time in the appropriate way because the presence of God was sacred and off limits to us. And now the presence of God lives within us and he does not find simply doing that to be owed. Right? I mean, it would be one thing if you had a Bible verse that went, the spirit of God lives in you and boy is he sad about having to live in that ghetto. but it is not merely his presence in humanity that either quenches him or grieves him. It is when we are disobedient to the very basics, right? This is not, you'll notice folks, right? A kind of a, sometimes maybe a critique of we who are in pastoral ministry and pastoral theology, that the spirit is not grieved over your inability to make these minor nuanced theological distinctions, right? He just grieved when we tell lies and when we slander people and when we're malicious in our hearts and when we're filled with hate and when we're filled with spite and when we will not forgive. So very basic sinful humanity is the kind of conduct that he finds grievous. Okay, I'm gonna stop there. We'll be back at 11 o'clock. As always, happy to visit with you about anything I said after the service.